College student Iwai accepts work as an assistant to mycologist Murota and initially finds his new employer distant and difficult to read. Fieldwork and daily routines introduce Iwai to a world of fungi he knew almost nothing about, while Murota’s tendency to neglect his own needs gives the younger man reasons to care for him outside strictly professional duties. Curiosity about the work gradually becomes affection for the person who opened that unfamiliar world to him.