I’ve fallen for the female staff member assigned to me.

I’m Flag Maker, a column writer. One of the elderly complaint-prone customers we deal with has fallen for one of our female employees and keeps filing complaints with head office just to get her attention—it’s painfully obvious. Since she has to deal with him as a customer, she can’t exactly treat him too coldly. But behind his back, she says, “He’s seriously creepy.” I’m sure you’re not like that grandfather, so please come to your senses. ^^

I’m Date◎Yume, a male member. > I’ve fallen for one of the female staff members, and I can’t stop thinking about her. I understand exactly what you mean. Falling for a staff member is probably different from the purpose you originally had when joining. If that’s the case, I feel you should immediately submit your withdrawal request and focus all your efforts on pursuing her. The reason is that the way you approach a relationship arranged through the club is completely different from pursuing a relationship with a female club staff member. Also, she seems to have a fairly strict opinion of you, so continuing as things are now will probably make winning her over extremely difficult. Still, you won’t know unless you try. Whatever the outcome, some things can only be learned by taking action. If you think of it as a learning experience, you may be able to enjoy the challenge again. I look forward to hearing how it turns out.

Maezawa from the Corporate Planning Office here as well. First of all, you say, “If I can start dating that staff member, I’m thinking of quitting papa-katsu,” but then you also say, “I want to remain a member permanently.” At that point, it really just sounds like you want to sleep with her for now. Don’t you actually not care about dating her at all? In other words, you’re only after her body. > I’ve actually fallen for the female staff member I met recently. You can’t stop yourself from falling for someone. But whether that person feels the same way about you is another matter. In most cases, the staff member does not have romantic feelings for the person asking this question. If you’ve been contacting her by phone or otherwise almost every day, like a stalker, I can’t help imagining how troubled she must be. I think you should stop contacting her while you still can, or ask to be assigned to someone else. Otherwise, you’ll eventually be forcibly removed from the service. You may ask, “Why?” But if you’ve been contacting her every day, it interferes with her work—and all the more so if she’s feeling uncomfortable. In that case, unfortunately, it would be better for you to leave the service. (If you’re making an offer every time you contact her, or dating 30 women a month, then it wouldn’t be interfering with business, so I doubt anyone would bring up removing you.) Taking action just because you like someone, even though they’re uncomfortable with it, is no different from stalking.

I’m Basil, a male member. I’d only ever met with male staff before, but when I saw the female staff member at an event, I understood your feelings—she was more wonderful than any of the female members who attended. You must have a respectable social standing, so part of me wants to tell you to do your best to support this woman throughout her life. But what does it mean to say you’re quitting papa-katsu while also wanting to remain a member forever? If you plan to date her secretly so the club doesn’t find out, then return to the club if things don’t work out, while leaving her the option of keeping her current job, that’s incredibly self-serving. You’ll end up losing everything and gaining nothing.

I’m Paper Airplane, a male member. There’s always a possibility, but it may be extremely difficult. That said, if you’re confident in yourself, even something that seems impossible can sometimes work out surprisingly well. Having a genuinely romantic relationship—with no allowance—with someone you met through a club is probably about as unlikely as it gets. It’s basically impossible, just like expecting to meet someone naturally. A girl you meet through a club might have had a purely romantic relationship with you if you’d met outside the club. Sadly, in general, the same principle applies here. Um… if you did start dating that woman, then there’d be no point in continuing your club membership, right? Wait, the woman would continue too?? P.S. To be honest, if you were truly someone she could date, you’d probably already be together. That’s just how fate works. You’ve probably already missed your chance. It’s likely too late now, and no matter how much you approach her, it probably won’t feel fresh or surprising to her anymore. In your situation, your only real chance to catch her off guard was probably during the first or second meeting—one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments. P.P.S. It would be amazing if you could date a truly exceptional woman you met outside the usual arrangements, wouldn’t it? Especially in a situation that’s almost impossible like yours, breaking through and making it work would be incredibly satisfying—an unforgettable thrill. That said, unless you’re extremely confident, a woman probably won’t be drawn to you. But if you are confident, things can surprisingly go your way—especially with beautiful women.