Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 323

"Actually, I've been seeing a lot of videos of people looking at apartments in Bunkyo Ward lately. If I decide to share an apartment, I can start looking now—not only are there plenty of apartments available, but the prices are also cheaper!"

"...We'll talk about it later."

The boy was a bit troubled; Mochizuki had previously planned to buy a house between Tokyo University and Keio University.

Back in the classroom, the first thing Jun Matsueda did upon entering was look at the seat by the window—Haruka Mochizuki was not there.

He breathed a sigh of relief, returned to his seat, and took out his phone. There were no more messages from Yosuke Kuraki; it seemed he was busy again.

Before locking the screen after exiting the chat app, Jun Matsue glanced at the time on the home screen.

2:03 PM, May 14th, Wednesday.

There are seventeen days left until the end of May.

Chapter 564 Tasting the Flavor

May 16th, Friday, fifteen days until the end of May.

After school today, Jun Matsueda did not ride his bike home directly with Haruka Mochizuki, but instead went to a supermarket near their apartment.

The boy parked his bicycle by the roadside and walked into the supermarket. He handed his backpack to the girl following behind him and picked up a dark green basket from the doorway.

Mochizuki Haruka took his bag and placed it horizontally in front of her lap along with her own schoolbag, a posture that looked very traditional and ladylike.

"Aren't there still plenty of vegetables in the fridge? Why are you at the supermarket again today?"

"Summer's here, time to get some ice cream." Jun Matsueda shook the basket in his hand and headed straight for the freezer where the ice cream was kept.

"Ice cream?" The girl frowned. When Songzhi was at home, he wasn't very interested in this stuff; she was the one who put it in front of him.

Mochizuki Haruka slowed her pace slightly, but she quickly figured out what was going on, and then hurried over to the boy's side.

"Was this bought for Lai Qiyang?"

Jun Matsueda didn't hide from Yosei Kurusu that she was going back to her apartment this weekend.

The boy nodded, glancing at the black hair brushing against his shoulder. "Buy more and put them in the fridge. Anyone who wants some can eat them."

The girl puffed out her cheeks slightly, "If you buy it now, I'll eat it all tonight."

Jun Matsueda couldn't help but laugh. "Then you might have to go to the hospital."

Wang Yueyao glared at him and reached out to open the freezer door.

"She can buy hers, I'll buy mine. My ice cream is in room 506, and she's not allowed to have any!"

"I have no objection." The boy nodded.

The girl bent down to choose, then took out two tubs of Lady Borden chocolate and two tubs of Häagen-Dazs matcha brownies. She put the ice cream into the basket in Matsueda Jun's hand, while the boy looked at the English letters on the packaging—the young lady's food has to be a bit fancy.

Having found the ice cream that Yosei Kurusu wanted, Jun Matsueda grabbed a few vanilla-flavored boxes, filling his shopping basket to the brim, and then closed the freezer door.

"Is there anything else you'd like to buy, Mochizuki?"

"No." The girl turned around and walked towards the cashier. "I don't like the things in the supermarket. They're all frozen vegetables and semi-finished products, and the quality of the fresh ingredients isn't very good either."

"I bought a frozen white fish before, and it smelled terrible after it was thawed, so I threw it directly into the trash can."

The clerk standing behind the cashier opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to argue, but upon seeing the girl's aloof gaze, the clerk immediately abandoned that idea.

"No wonder I haven't seen you come here to buy groceries much." The boy put his shopping basket on the checkout counter. "But they do offer pretty good deals when they have promotions."

Mochizuki Haruka pouted, "I prefer Saeki; their shops are prettier."

Seeing the girl's cold eyes suddenly soften, the shop assistant paused in surprise, looking down at the barcode on the ice cream box.

That's so nice...

It's unclear which one she actually envies.

After paying, Jun Matsueda realized that a 5,000 yen bill was missing from his wallet. He walked out of the supermarket carrying two plastic bags—at Haruka Mochizuki's request, her ice cream and Yosei Kurusu's ice cream were not packed together.

Riding home faster than he had come, he and the girl quickly stuffed the ultimate summer dessert into the refrigerator. Jun Matsueda took out the chilled lemon tea from the top shelf of the refrigerator and poured himself a large cup.

Although it was cloudy today, the high temperature didn't drop at all, and the muggy feeling was even more obvious. Mochizuki Haruka went into the bathroom to take a shower, leaving him alone in the living room of 506.

Listening to the pattering sound flowing into the living room, Jun Matsue sat on the sofa and examined the lemon tea in his hand—the light brown liquid was crystal clear, with a few lemon slices floating in it, and the cool touch transmitted from the glass to his fingertips.

When her aunt came to the parent-teacher meeting yesterday, she brought some black tea with her. So, last night, the girl made a big pot of lemon tea in the refrigerator while video chatting with the maid in the kitchen of room 506.

It looked pretty good. The boy shook the cup in his hand and took a sip.

The aroma of tea and lemon was very distinct, with a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and slightly astringent... Just as he was savoring it, he heard footsteps coming from the hallway outside the living room.

"How does it taste? I haven't tried it myself yet."

Mochizuki Haruka changed into a casual tank top and stood behind the sofa, tilting her head cutely as she dried her wet long hair with a towel.

“It tastes much better than barley tea.” Jun Matsueda took a big gulp to show his approval.

"That's good." The girl continued drying her hair, her rounded shoulders swaying along with it.

"Then next time, ask the manor to send more. You've been drinking barley tea for so long, it's time to change things up."

“Barley tea is quite healthy too.” Although he said that, the boy didn’t object. He watched as Mochizuki Haruka walked around the sofa and sat down next to him.

Beyond her thin tank top and shorts, all that remained was dazzling white.

"What are we having for dinner?" the girl asked casually.

"How about some udon?" Jun Matsue stared at the lemon tea on the table, as if tonight's menu was engraved on the glass.

"I want something light today. I have some shrimp on the side, so I'll make shrimp and scrambled eggs to put on top of the udon."

"Then add some shredded cucumber for me."

Mochizuki Haruka put down the towel in her hand. Just as she was about to get closer to the boy's body, Matsueda Jun stood up from the sofa.

"Then I'll go back and cook noodles first." His gaze didn't linger on the fair skin beside him. "I'll call you when it's time to eat."

Before the girl could answer, the boy turned around. His steps were neither hurried nor slow, but firm as he walked towards the entrance.

"..." Mochizuki Haruka watched him walk out of the room, the metal door closing with a soft click.

"What an ungrateful fellow."

She shook her head vigorously, and water droplets flew from her half-wet hair, landing on the sofa where the boy had just been sitting.

The girl had hoped to make some tangible progress before returning from Kiyoshi tomorrow, but unfortunately, Matsueda Jun seemed to have become more vigilant and had seen through her temptation early on.

She leaned back on the sofa and took out her phone to send a message to her aunt.

"It failed."

“I knew it!” Auntie replied quickly, “You can’t just use temptation and hints to get to someone like Songzhi!”

"Xiaoyao, just listen to me, and pretend to be pitiful when the time comes~"

The girl pursed her lips reluctantly, tossed her phone aside, stared blankly at the empty black screen of the TV for a while, and then looked at the table.

A nice-looking cup of lemon tea is standing there.

Mochizuki Haruka picked up the glass and, following the angle at which Matsue Jun had just drunk his tea, pressed her soft lips against the cool glass.

The girl tilted her head back, her slender neck undulating gracefully, emitting soft swallowing sounds.

She finished the rest of her lemon tea in one go, put down the cup, and licked her lips with a lingering sense of satisfaction.

It tastes just like I imagined.

Chapter 565 Sleepless Nights in May

At 9:30 p.m., Jun Matsue returned to the living room after taking a shower.

The television, which had been on, was now off, and the room was quiet. A swaying wind blew from the balcony, making the not-so-spacious room seem to be tinged with a sense of loss.

He dried his hair, sat down on the sofa, and looked down at the cat paw pillow next to him.

These were left behind by Mochizuki Haruka. She liked to bring the cushions, but often forgot to take them back. Every time the boy collected three or four cat paw cushions, he would hug them and carry them back to the next room like he was carrying a group of kittens.

The girl went home early today, perhaps because she was angered by Matsueda Jun. After dinner, Mochizuki Haruka came over and tried to seduce the boy several times, but he ignored her, either openly or subtly.

Matsueda Jun had to admit that the girl's crossed and swaying legs did indeed possess an artistic beauty. Although the way she deliberately leaned over him was somewhat cute in a pretentious way, her slender and graceful waist and delicate collarbone were indeed captivating.

But living in May, he had no choice but to refuse.

Jun Matsueda sighed as he looked at the television. He turned off the lights in the living room and headed towards the bedroom.

However, the boy seemed to remember something. He turned around, turned on the light, and walked to the refrigerator in the corner of the living room.

He opened the lower freezer compartment, took out his phone, took a picture of the tub of ice cream emitting a faint chill, and sent it to Yosuke Kurusu.

"The ice cream has been bought."

The light switch clicked, plunging the living room back into darkness. Jun Matsue walked into the bedroom, which was lit by a cool-toned light. Before getting into bed, he took one last look at his phone.

Kurusu hasn't replied; he's probably still busy.

Lying in bed, the thin blanket did not give him the sense of security of being isolated from the world—the weather was getting warmer, and he had changed the blanket when he cleaned up Qiyang's room a few days ago.

Jun Matsue didn't draw the curtains. The soft light from outside seemed to defy gravity and fell onto the ceiling, allowing him to clearly see the unevenness of the wall with his eyes open. The fine lines cast faint shadows in the dim light.

It was like lying at the bottom of a river, watching the ripples on the surface of the water, and this thought popped into the boy's mind.

He wasn't very sleepy, so he simply let his mind wander like water, filtering out the thoughts that had been floating in his mind during the day.

Thoughts were like grains of sand, and Jun Matsue stood in the flow of memories, washing them over and over again, until finally only one question remained.

What should we do after May ends?

Continuing to be with Tomatsu Tomatsu would disappoint Mochizuki Haruka.

Jun Matsue recalls the kiss he shared with the girl in the snow. From their bloody farewell to their reunion in the spring, it had all been a year ago.

Wangyue had been waiting for him for a very, very long time.

The boy recalled the girl's expression before she left the apartment that night. Her face, now somewhat pale, no longer possessed its usual adorable reserve and pride, which inevitably made him feel heartache.

After breaking up with Tomatsu Yuka, her disappointment will probably be even greater than Mochizuki Haruka's—who knows what will become of the girl after the happiness her parents created disappears.

It took him a lot of effort to bring that self-destructive girl back to normal.

Jun Matsue recalled that turbulent snowy night in Hokkaido. He imagined the aftershocks of the earthquake still lingering, and Yuka Tomatsu running up the stairs in her slippers, stumbling and staggering.

The mottled bloodstains on the girl's legs from that time remain vivid in his memory to this day.

Looking at the ceiling in front of him, the boy reached out and pressed the blanket around himself tighter, letting out a long sigh.

It's all because May was too ambiguous; he started to shift his attention.

It's still springtime, but the temperature has started to rise irrationally, and all the cherry blossoms have fallen, leaving only lush green leaves waiting for summer. Even wearing short sleeves on the street wouldn't feel out of place; in terms of appearance, it's practically no different from summer.

May blurs the lines of the seasons, which is why he couldn't make a decision...

After lost in thought for who knows how long, the faces of the girls reappeared in Jun Matsue's mind.

This time, the memories were more numerous; they no longer flowed by like water, but rather appeared as a series of slides, casting mottled colors in the boy's eyes—

A girl sitting in the bathroom, the gruesome wound on the sole of her foot, her short black hair swaying in the night wind on the street, a tombstone washed by wind and rain on the lawn of the manor, an umbrella lying in the torrential rain outside the teaching building, trampled to pieces...

In the last second before falling asleep, Jun Matsue closed his eyes, barely managing to grasp the last thought in his mind—

Perhaps there was no premonition that May would fly by; he simply wanted to see what choices he would make in June.

When Jun Matsuoka opened his eyes the next morning, he did not feel refreshed or invigorated, but rather a long-lost sense of fatigue and drowsiness.

The boy frowned, feeling as if his brain hadn't had much rest at all.

"What time did you go to sleep last night...?"

He picked up his phone from the bedside table. The screen showed the time as just past seven o'clock, along with a belated reply from a glowing profile picture.

"Received it~ I went to bed early last night, so I didn't see Songzhi's message."

"I'm going to have a huge feast when I get back!"

Jun Matsue blinked, confirming that he hadn't misread the girl's reply time—6:30 in the morning.

"You're up so early today? Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

Yosei Kurusu replied very quickly this time; it seems she really got up.

"Songzhi gets up very early too, so if I get up early, I can go home earlier!"