I would love to have some exciting development to report, or some brilliant new insight into Kono Kaisha ni Suki na Hito ga Imasu. But the truth is this ep was the usual service on this line. It was everything we’ve come to expect from this series, just more of it. Smart, perceptive, funny observations on the challenges of workplace romance (and romance generally) without being overwrought about it. The closest analog from last season, Kekkon suru tte, Hontou desu ka, went much “bigger” in every sense. It utilized some pretty outrageous plot twists and acted as a sort of survey course about why marriages usually don’t work. And did so quite effectively, I might add.

I Have a Crush at Work, by contrast, seems more interested in the small quirks and pleasures of romance. Especially when that romance is still fresh. The MacGuffin this week is the romantic trip – the first one in a relationship, particularly. That’s a huge step (and minefield) in any relationship. Couple that with the fact that it’s one of the biggest trip-wires for secret workplace romances and you have quite the topic. It does help when a lot of people are going to be on vacation at the same time (Japanese companies tend to virtually – or actually – shut down for a few days for Obon in summer). But there are still risks, as this episode illustrates.

As it turns out this is an area where Masugu and Yui are not perfectly aligned. She’s a doer – she wants to pack as much action into a short trip as possible, and in this case her preference is Okinawa. He’s a relaxer – he wants to chill and decompress in a nice onsen, and in this case his preference is Hokkaido. This is a pretty common dichotomy, as people generally tends to gravitate towards one of those two poles. When he flat-out says he wants to relax in a private onsen – with her – that’s enough to win Yui over. She suggests a famous onsen hotel in nearby Yamanashi, which is a complication that more or less writes itself since it’s Masugu’s home prefecture.

Yui especially obsesses over this impending intimacy bomb, which is almost derailed when a supply mishap forces the three people left in Yui’s department to pull an all-nighter the day before the trip. Fortunately the cavalry arrives and Yui catches a midnight train home, but Masugu (my only quibble with this show is that he’s still just a hair too perfect as a boyfriend) has raced over to her neighborhood when she doesn’t return any of his messages. It should also be noted that Somei-san and Hayakawa-san now have an unofficial “once or twice a week” breakfast date at “their cafe”. And both like to blow off summer vacations because of the crowds, chill at work with little to do, and double-up their time off in autumn. Yeah, they’re 1000% totally a thing…

The Yamanashi trip is just a celebration of love, though there are a few hiccups. Like when a TV crew shows up when the pair of them are enjoying “raindrop cake” (a real Yamanashi specialty, though I’d never heard of it). Masugu’s casualness about this – though he justifies it as “it’s just a local news show, no one will see it” – strikes me as a(nother) clue that he may be itching to let the cat out of the bag. Sharing a luxurious room with a private rotemburo with your koibito? Yeah, that may be pretty close to Heaven on Earth. And these two certainly act like it. More power to them, I say – they absolutely should.

But then, there’s work. As I mentioned (after the first or second ep, I forget) I once came back from a ski weekend to find my workplace assumed I’d taken a trip with one of my female subordinates, who vacationed at roughly the same time. These two actually did vacation together. Again the Obon thing provides some cover, but having gone to the same place is still suspicious. Especially as Yui is so giddy she can’t stop raving about how great it was (to Morizono-san, who’s now a sweets bestie it seems). And the Japanese custom (or requirement – interesting that Masugu declined to do it) of bringing back omiyage for co-workers makes this even more of a minefield. The secret lives to see another sunrise, but I think its days are seriously numbered.