Editing Hooked: A Novel of Obsession (section)

==Characters==

* '''Eriko''' — The novel's primary protagonist; a high-achieving, outwardly flawless trading company employee whose profound inability to form female friendships drives her toward obsessive fixation. Eriko has a history of consuming attachments to women she admires.
* '''Shōko''' — A housewife and popular lifestyle blogger whose deliberately unglamorous online persona conceals her own insecurities and loneliness. Initially charmed by Eriko, she grows increasingly frightened as the friendship becomes suffocating.
* '''Shōko's husband''' — A minor but stabilising presence; described as kind and easy-going, he represents the domestic contentment Shōko writes about publicly.
* '''Eriko's parents''' — Devoted and present in Eriko's life; their attentiveness underscores rather than alleviates her isolation outside the home.