Dang, Ichikawa really didn’t want to be around anyone when he saw his exam result. Feeling the intense pressure of wanting to get into a school of his choice and working hard for it is part of why he’s such a goated romcom MC.
I definitely don’t blame him for ignoring Yamada again at first, since he probably feels he isn’t worthy of being with her and is simultaneously mindful of her acting career. He was 100% ready to shoulder the result by himself, even telling her to get off his bike.
I honestly didn’t expect Yamada to step up and comfort her boyfriend in public with quite some people watching. That’s bold and could actually ruin a career in the Japanese showbiz industry if word spreads she has a boyfriend. If she doesn’t prioritize her relationship over her career with this for good — combined with everything she’s been through related to her job since Volume 11 — I don’t know what will (phone ban, no school events, having to keep distance and being secretive, being uncomfortable with the idea of filming certain scenes). No need to quit the industry but trying to treat both her relationship and her career as equally important seems futile.
Regardless, this chapter strongly hints that she won’t film certain scenes, because obviously nobody is happy with that idea except for the producer maybe.
Page 7 confused me a bit. Did Ichi call Yamada an idiot for bragging about the rank of his first choice to Ishimuro?