Bar manager Nagisa has spent two years nursing a quiet, hopeless love for his straight coworker Haruma, a younger bartender he supervises. Knowing Haruma will never see him as anything more than a respected senior, Nagisa buries his feelings in casual, meaningless hookups. But when Haruma catches him leaving with a one-night stand, he makes an unexpected offer: he will be Nagisa’s sexual partner from now on. Nagisa accepts, bracing for a purely physical arrangement, yet Haruma’s behaviour quickly blurs the line between a no-strings affair and genuine intimacy. He shows up at Nagisa’s apartment, cooks for him, grows visibly jealous of other men, and treats him with a tenderness that feels far from casual. Nagisa, terrified of hoping for more, struggles to keep his heart in check even as his body and emotions become more entangled.

The story traces this fragile friends-with-benefits dynamic as it slowly shifts into something deeper, driven by Haruma’s growing possessiveness and Nagisa’s inability to stop wanting the real thing. Communication falters, misunderstandings arise, and both men must confront what they truly want before the arrangement can give way to honest love. The narrative resolves in a happy ending where mutual feelings are confessed and accepted.

A sequel series, Imitation Play 2 -dawn-, follows Nagisa and Haruma as a newly established couple. They enjoy a sweet, domestic rhythm, but the relationship remains a secret at their workplace, and a figure from Nagisa’s past reappears, testing their bond and forcing them to navigate jealousy and trust as their romance deepens.