Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 591

I need to meet Chun-jun at the school gate at 3 o'clock. Although going to the professor's office is just a routine task to receive my assignment and I only need to listen to her say a few words, I still need to hurry, just in case...

The girl with the bag hurried down the corridor, ignoring the sudden commotion behind her—it wasn't until she left the professor's office that Yamami Maki breathed a sigh of relief and checked the time on her phone.

"Ten minutes left..."

The girl's steps quickened again as she walked down the stairs, gripping the handrail and making a rapid, rhythmic thud.

It takes a few minutes to get from the faculty building to the school gate, and Chunjun is used to arriving a little early—he might already be waiting for him at the gate.

Stepping out of the building, Yamami Maki quickened her pace toward the main gate of the campus—passersby looked strangely at her back, but the girl didn't seem to care.

Time is still too tight... The girl on her way thought to herself, I should have arranged to meet Tsun-kun a little later.

But he took the initiative to schedule the time so quickly, is there something urgent?

Or is the issue so important that it requires a lot of time to discuss?

As she pondered this, she raised her chin and gazed into the distance. The bustling main gate came into view before Yamami Maki.

Taking a few steps closer and confirming that there was no familiar figure at the door, Yamami Maki slowed her pace and took out her phone from her pocket.

She opened her camera, switched to selfie mode, and examined her small face. After confirming there were no flaws, the girl took out her lipstick and carefully applied it, looking at herself in the camera lens.

As she slowly walked to the door, Yamami Maki kissed her lips on her phone screen and nodded slightly in satisfaction.

She switched back to camera mode, took a picture of the door in front of her, and sent it to the pinned profile picture in her chat list.

"I just arrived at the door, Matsueda-kun, no need to rush."

A message notification sounded behind her—before the girl could react, a reply popped up in the chat box.

"I've arrived too."

...Huh?

Yamami Maki put down her phone.

Not finding her beloved at the gate, she turned her head blankly, then widened her eyes in surprise and cuteness—

"Good afternoon, senior." Jun Matsueda, who was standing behind her, smiled at her.

"I've arrived too."

Chapter 821 Yamami Maki's Two Great Desires

"What are you doing here, Jun-kun?!"

The exclamation rang out at the entrance of Ochanomizu University—then, as if finally realizing the curious and gossipy gazes around her, Yamami Maki closed her mouth, which had been agape in surprise, and a blush rose on her cheeks.

Jun Matsue smiled, seemingly unconcerned about the gazes directed at them.

"Didn't we agree to meet here?"

"That's true..." The girl opened her mouth in confusion.

She tilted her head and looked at the bustling campus avenue behind the boy.

"But why did Matsueda-kun come from a school?"

"Hmm... how should I put it?" Matsueda Jun then stepped out of the school gate, and the senior student, who was still confused about the situation, obediently followed beside him.

I should apologize to my senior first—

He looked at the girl beside him, who was carrying two bags and following closely behind.

"Although we agreed to meet at three o'clock, I actually sneaked over to Ochanomizu after lunch today."

"Huh?!" Yamami Maki exclaimed, remembering to cover her mouth this time. "So, the mysterious handsome guy everyone's been talking about is you?"

"Maybe..." the boy blinked awkwardly.

"So, Matsueda-kun wants to visit the school?" The girl turned her head to look at him curiously.

“Actually, I can show you around…” she said, her voice trailing off as she thought of another possibility.

Jun-kun probably didn't want to visit the Ochasuki with her, so he came ahead of time...

Before Yami Maki's eyes could dim, Matsueda Jun interrupted her thoughts.

"It's not that I want to visit, it's that I want to observe the senior students' campus life." The boy touched his cheek.

"Although it sounds nicer to say it like that, the actual behavior is no different from stalking and surveillance—that's why I said I wanted to apologize to my senior."

“…Eh?” Yamami Maki stopped at the intersection and stared at him blankly.

Are you observing me?

"Okay." The boy nodded at the traffic light.

"Before chatting with you, I felt it was necessary to have a more comprehensive understanding of your current life—school is certainly a very important part of that."

“I see…” Yami Maki lowered her head and glanced at the handbag she was carrying in front of her.

After realizing what had happened, the girl felt no resentment, only a surge of joy—Tsun-kun wasn't distant from her as she had thought, but rather did so out of concern for her.

But when she looked up, her cheeks turned even redder—

"So... Matsueda-kun was following me the whole time?"

Jun Matsue nodded again. "I followed you when you left the classroom after class, and then I followed you out of the school building."

"Ah..." Yami Maki lowered her head again, staring at the floor tiles in front of her toes.

Did Chun-kun see me hurrying along the street and taking out my phone to apply lipstick?

She felt her face getting hot...

The green light illuminated, accompanied by the chirping of birds signaling passage. The girl looked up and gently patted her cheek.

"Where do we go now?"

Jun Matsue started walking. "I'll go to the station to get my things first, and then find a coffee shop to sit in?"

“Okay.” Yamami Maki raised her hand and slung her handbag over her shoulder.

"I'm with Matsueda-kun!"

The playful clatter of low-heeled shoes crossed the road. After the cold winter wind cooled her cheeks, the girl staring at the sidewalk couldn't help but speak.

"So... what did Matsueda-kun see?"

The boy walking beside her smiled into the wind, "It's nothing really."

“That’s what my senior looked like at school—” His voice became a little more playful.

"Listening up to the lecture, taking notes and drinking coffee, asking questions to the teacher and participating in group discussions... It's a pity I didn't get to see much of it after class, there were too many people in the hallway."

Jun Matsueda put it simply, but he actually saw much more—such as the girl's pen-spinning habit that he "infected," and her adorable posture of drinking coffee with a straw in her mouth while nodding along with the teacher's words.

However, it's best for him to keep these things to himself; there's no need to tell his senior.

"Ugh!" Yami Maki's steps faltered, and she let out a soft moan.

"So many..." She felt even more embarrassed and could only look at the station in the distance.

"So, Mr. Matsuoka, do you feel you've observed enough? Have you reached a conclusion?"

"More or less." Jun Matsue exhaled a puff of white breath, watching it float into the sky.

"I just want to know what your true state is like when I'm not in front of you, and whether you're happy or not."

"So that's how it is..." The girl turned her head, her smile exceptionally clear in the transparent winter sunlight.

"Then I should be able to guess Tsunkun's answer~"

"Hmm." The boy smiled back at her.

"I think my senior genuinely enjoys her current life."

"Of course~" Yamami Maki walked briskly, the hem of her matcha-colored coat swaying gently, making the cool air feel softer.

“After all, leaving the family means having to take care of yourself, but this feeling of freedom…” She put her hands behind her back and took a deep breath.

"It truly made me feel refreshed and relaxed."

“I can tell.” Jun Matsue walked past the girl.

"I was a little worried that you were just putting on a brave face in front of me, but after seeing it today, I'm really relieved."

"—Because my relationship with Tsunkun is also getting better."

Seeing the back of her beloved pause slightly, Yamami Maki smiled and continued walking.

"My relationship with Matsueda-kun is getting better, I'm gradually adapting to my new life, and university is very fulfilling—that's why I can genuinely enjoy my current life."

“…Hmm.” Jun Matsueda straightened his clothes, as if waiting for his senior to catch up.

After standing next to him, the girl spoke again.

"I'm not putting on an act for Matsueda-kun~"

Yamami Maki raised her arm, her slender index finger gliding across the buildings along the roadside.

"For example, I now know the university and the shops near my home like the back of my hand—"

"This FamilyMart is where I often buy snacks and fruit," she said, pointing to the convenience store entrance next to her, where boxes of fruits and vegetables were displayed.

"There's a bookstore called Youlinshe behind it; you can only see it by walking down a side path."

“But I haven’t been inside much.” The girl turned to the boy and smiled. “Because the store is full of comic books.”

"And there's another side—"

Jun Matsue watched as his senior nimbly hopped two steps in front of him and circled around to his other side.

“There’s a big park behind this elementary school and the building next to it!” Yamami Maki said, standing on the curb and pointing to the elementary school playground across the street.

"—Education Forest Park, when I'm not in a hurry to leave school, I'll take a longer route to come here and look at the trees and sculptures..."

The girl, who was walking briskly, swayed her body and was tugged at by the boy's sleeve.

"Be careful." Jun Matsueda pulled her back to his side. "There are a lot of cars on the road."

"Thank you, Matsueda-kun." Yami Maki smiled. "But I want to jump back."

The boy let go of her hand, and the two continued chatting as they walked forward, crossing the intersection and turning into the station.

"So I'm glad that even though I ended up at Ochanomizu University, at least I chose education, which I'm more interested in."

Jun Matsuoka glanced at her first, then walked into the station entrance.

"That was the only consolation for me back then."

"..." Yamami Maki's light expression seemed to be blown away by a gust of wind, revealing a hint of sadness.

"I just mentioned it casually." The boy waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, senior. Just keep talking."

"Hmm..." The girl regained her dignified and calm demeanor, smoothing the black hair on her shoulder.

“Our education major has many courses related to human psychology, such as educational psychology—Matsushi-kun probably heard about the history of human formation this afternoon, so it is also related.”

"Hmm?" Jun Matsueda glanced at the entrance gate and turned to walk towards the luggage lockers against the wall.

“This knowledge is also very helpful to me…” Yami Maki didn’t care about anything else, and just followed behind him with her head down.

"After entering university, I began to learn to analyze myself, or rather, to view myself objectively—"

"Actually, I don't have the material desires that are commensurate with my family background. Maybe it's because I'm still young, or maybe it's because I grew up in a relatively harsh environment. So even with good material conditions, they can't bring me true happiness."

"...So?" Jun Matsue took out the pickup slip from his pocket, but didn't rush to process it.

"So those potential difficulties that my sister once warned me about are actually not important to me." The girl tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and gave him a Yamato Nadeshiko-like smile.

"What's most important to me right now is the freedom to wander around after school like this~"

"as well as……"

The boy's figure shimmered in the clear, autumn-like eyes of Yamami Maki, conveying everything without words.

"Understood." Jun Matsue nodded to the girl and stuck the receipt in his hand onto the locker's scanning window.

"So you mean your senior is living a happy life right now, right?"

Yamami Maki gently touched her lower lip, swallowing the small resentment in her heart.

Yes~