Sasaki at forty-five has already lost the plot to ambition, so a cigarette behind a supermarket and Yamada's smile become the only things that feel real. Tayama shows up with that specific kind of teasing that means someone actually sees you, and the show understands that sometimes salvation isn't a grand gesture, it's just another person choosing to be in the same small space you're in. The quietness of it hits harder than any high-stakes romance ever could.

Sasaki is a forty-five-year-old office worker worn down by corporate life and a boss who keeps chewing him out. What gets him through is smoking and the bright smile of Yamada, a cashier at the 24-hour supermarket he visits after work. One night, after an especially rough day, he arrives to find her shift already over. While he looks for somewhere to smoke, a woman behind the store calls him over to join her. Tayama is bold and teasing, and she quickly notices how he always seeks out her coworker, even letting Yamada know about it. Soon Sasaki is visiting the store hoping to see his new smoking partner as well. What he does not realize is that he already knows her, and over shared cigarettes an unlikely friendship starts to grow in this romantic slice-of-life comedy.