sadslime's manga / #salaryman(38)

Tama is an overworked hotel worker who blows off steam by volunteering at a cat cafe. Shindo is a novelist who recently lost his cat of the same name, so when he comes to the cat cafe to adopt a cat, he decides Tama(human) is the one for him. Tama is reluctantly dragged into this relationship but finds it surprisingly comfortable to be around Shindo and let himself be spoiled. But when Shindo's feelings go beyond what an owner feels for their pet, how will they both handle it? An interesting if bizarre relationship, and Tama is very cute. No trigger warnings.

Hayama is an office worker with a trauma about being touched. Haru is a gay university student who lives nearby and is always hungry. When Haru helps Hayama after a panic attack on the train, Hayama ends up cooking for him as thanks, and the two develop a friendship, but Hayama fears getting too close, and Haru isn't sure if his feelings are love or not. They were a cute and interesting couple, but I wish they'd worked more on gradually helping Hayama overcome his fears. Trigger warning: noncon with a minor.

Hideo and Tomohisa have been dating for several years now, and after doing long-distance while Tomohisa was in medical school, they're finally living together and life seems perfect. But when Hideo's family becomes increasingly pushy about him getting married, he comes out to them suddenly then gets told he's only pitying Tomohisa and begins to doubt his feelings. While they're still dealing with this, Tomohisa is offered a position in Germany, further pulling the two apart, despite their desires to be together. Honestly, this one is pretty good, but I had a hard time wrapping my head around the central conflict they were having. Also the last chapter, 8.1, is a little abrupt and upsetting for some. Trigger warning: homophobia.

Sakuraba loves cutesy things, cooking, and shoujo manga, so when he finds out his favorite manga artist, Megumi, is his next door neighbor, he's amazed. He ends up helping Megumi after he collapses, and after that Sakuraba starts cooking for Megumi, or Sato as he prefers to be called, nearly every day. But when Sakuraba realizes his feelings have crossed the gap between admiration and love, he has no idea how to go on. Cute and sweet, but it felt short. No trigger warnings.

Yokoyama Naoki had his heart broken by his formerly straight ex and swears off straight men. However, fate seems to push him together with and Okada Yuuma, who just broke up with his girlfriend, so Naoki lets him stay the night. After that the two become good friends, but when Yuuma wants it to be something more, Naoki isn't ready to open his heart to a straight man again. Trigger warnings: cheating, drunk sex.

Asagi works at a company for the mascot Docky while hiding his love of cute things, and Docky specifically, ever since a bad breakup with his boyfriend. Meanwhile, he gets along terribly with his coworker Iwamoto until Iwamoto comes to his house to help him while Asagi's sick and sees all his Docky merch but doesn't seem to mind it at all. After that, the two become closer and Iwamoto gives Asagi the courage to come out of his shell and publicly share his love of Docky, but Asagi is worried to get too close because he's gay and Iwamoto isn't. Cute and well paced relationship. No trigger warnings.

Ch.1-4 - Troublemaker! - Shiina Ayumu is openly gay, cheerful, and popular, but he's had some terrible luck with men in the past. Unfortunately, his high school classmate Hayase Souta has seen his bad breakups every time, and when they run into each other again in college, Hayase remembers him as a crybaby. Shiina tries to show him he's changed only to get dumped again, after which he tries to make Hayase "comfort" him. After that, Shiina battles between vindictive feelings and attraction he feels toward Hayase, while Hayase can't help but want to show Shiina a better relationship. Shiina's a bit of a jerk, but I feel like he's struggling and confused, so it's realistic in this setting. Overall, interesting and well-written characters. Trigger warnings: cheating, noncon, rape, bondage, choking. Ch.5-6 - I'm Definitely Cute! - Shirane Keiichi is a salaryman who happened on a cross-dressing shop with his coworkers and insulted the cross-dressing shopkeeper, Kurokawa Naoya. But Keiichi came back the next day, because he's secretly a cross-dresser himself. As he continues to frequent the shop, saying it's for a "friend," he and Naoya are getting closer and he comes to want Naoya to see all his cutest sides. A simple, nice relationship. No trigger warnings.

Aiji is a government worker who spots the beautiful Akira getting groped on the train one day and helps him out. Then, when Akira notices Aiji has gotten hard, Akira takes him to a hotel and ends up "helping him out." After that, Aiji wants to start a relationship with Akira, but Akira is only interested in casual relationships due to his personality of putting on a facade to please whoever he's with. But when Aiji turns down a transfer because of Akira and Akira cuts him off completely, Aiji has to really break through Akira's walls or lose him forever. Not sure why this one is so low rated. It wasn't my favorite by any means, but I did really like Akira's pretty character design and the central conflict wasn't bad, it just ended up kind of being force fed to you by a brother character instead of having the characters get to it naturally. Trigger warning: noncon (train groper).

Takase is a closeted gay who meets his girlfriend at the same cafe each week alongside a gay man meeting his boyfriend, Yuuichi. After both men are cheated on, Takase suggests that they meet up and bond over being heartbroken without revealing his sexuality to Yuuichi, and they become friends. As the two grow closer, Takase wants to face Yuuichi honestly and confess his love, but his early lies make it even harder for Yuuichi to open his heart again in turn. Trigger warning: cheating.

Haruhi has always compared himself to his bright, twin brother Katsuki, leaving him with poor self-esteem, so in university he starts frequenting the gay district and engaging in risky sex under his brother's name out of a desire to defile them both. But when a new friend and businessman, Masahiro, finds Haruhi roughed up after a bad fling, he gently patches him up and gives him a place to stay. Masahiro's kindness makes Haruhi question what he's been doing and begin to heal from his years of self-hatred. Trigger warnings: sex work, violent sex.