Chiyo Sakura, age 16, tells her crush Umetaro Nozaki that she is his fan, but he responds by giving her his autograph. She then says she wants to be with him always, so Nozaki invites her home and gives her some "beta work", which after several hours, she realizes she is doing inking for him. She realizes he is a shojo manga artist who is published in a magazine she has bought. Later, they think of romance ideas such as making a guy a delinquent but should obey the laws, and taking a girl home with a bicycle. Nozaki invites Sakura home but he has a tandem bicycle, so they see if any of the situations are conducive to romance. After seeing him interact with some cats, Sakura tries to confess her love again, but gets another autograph. Nozaki introduces Sakura to his friend.

Nozaki introduces Sakura to his friend Mikoto Mikoshiba, a popular and flirtatious guy who Sakura soon learns is actually painfully shy and is often ashamed of his own words. He spends a session at Nozaki's place eagerly waiting for Sakura to ask him for help although he is too shy to prompt her. Sakura learns that Mikoshiba's artistic specialty is adding background decorations such as flowers, and she discovers that Mikoshiba is Nozaki's model for the heroine of his manga. Nozaki later asks Sakura if she has any friends who might fit in a shojo manga. Sakura introduces them to Yuzuki Seo, a girl who the guys discover has a habit of being insensitive and oblivious (not reading the atmosphere). However, she has an angelic singing voice, of which she is nicknamed the Glee Club's Lorelei.

Nozaki sees Hirotaka Wakamatsu, his junior from middle school when they were on the basketball club. Wakamatsu tells Nozaki about being stressed out and unable to sleep because of Seo's antics, however, when he hears a recording of Lorelei's singing, he immediately falls asleep and feels refreshed. Using Nozaki's shōjo manga as a basis, he confronts Seo, but she interprets his actions as gestures of friendship. Later on, Nozaki gets a fever and sends the text message "SOS" to Hori, Sakura, and Wakamatsu. The three team up to help Nozaki with his manga, but are challenged with the task of applying screentones.