Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 311

The performance continued, and the next song was "Say So," the most popular song from the new album. The enthusiastic fans became even more excited. The boy, who stood like a pillar in the crowd, seemed a little out of place and walked towards the edge of the square.

Taking a light stick from a girl on the street, Jun Matsueda stood in a corner cheering for the idol on stage. Drones flew around the square, but deliberately avoided the corner where he was.

The crowds, buildings, sky, and young girls were all bathed in the afterglow of the sunset. Everything before their eyes was so romantic that it could spread rapidly through Tokyo's virtual network.

The boy thought to himself, "This show is sure to be a hit." He put down his light stick and took out his constantly vibrating phone from his pocket.

“We just finished filming here.” Mochizuki Haruka’s cool voice rang in his ear.

"Pine branch—" The girl's words were interrupted by the sound coming from the microphone.

"Why is it so noisy? Where are you right now?"

"Uh." Jun Matsue crawled into the building behind him. With an extra layer of walls separating them, the surrounding environment became much quieter.

He glanced at the stage outside the window; Yosuke Kurusu was still walking and singing on stage.

"I'm at Tokyu Tower right now."

"Kabukicho Tower?" Mochizuki Haruka asked, somewhat puzzled. "Weren't you with Aya-chan this afternoon? Why did you go there?"

Songzhi would never go to such a frivolous place that is only for pleasure.

"Hmm..." Jun Matsueda pondered how to explain, "Because there are free performances here?"

"..." Mochizuki Haruka sensed something was wrong. "You wait there, I'll be there in a bit."

Twenty minutes later, Jun Matsue saw the girl in the black dress with a stern face in the dispersing crowd.

“No wonder you came here.” Mochizuki Haruka crossed her arms and glanced at the stage that hadn’t been taken down at the tower entrance—the screen on the building’s exterior was still playing a promotional video for Kurusu Yosei’s new album.

“Every time you’re not careful, you’ll be seduced by another woman.”

She walked up to the boy and poked his chest with her index finger, her expression full of resentment.

"Do you have to tie us together to make me feel at ease?"

Chapter 547 A Heart Lost Its Way

Before taking her beloved home, Mochizuki Haruka took one last look at the large screen on the tower's exterior wall.

Yosei Kurusu, smiling sweetly under the spotlight, is truly infuriating to look at.

"Let's go." She grabbed the boy's hand and led him towards the black car parked on the side of the road outside the square.

No matter how beautiful the outside world is, you still have to go home in the end.

"It sounds a bit strange coming from you with these well-intentioned words," Jun Matsue said, falling behind the girl. He almost laughed.

"What else can I do?" Mochizuki Haruka turned around and rolled her eyes at him.

"Should I lock you up at home to stop you from having affairs, or should I really handcuff us together?"

The two walked through the still-crowded crowd. After the revelry, the people had lost the distance that they usually maintained. The petite girl had some difficulty walking through, so Jun Matsue quickly walked up to her.

"That's more like it," Mochizuki Haruka muttered softly.

She gripped the boy's wrist tightly, her previously tense face softening, as if she had transformed from the ice on Lake Akan into the snow on the shore of Otaru.

Jun Matsue led her through the crowd, and the girl turned back to look at the Tower Plaza, which had been lit up again.

Why didn't Kurusu come home with you this time?

"She's busy." The boy pushed through the excited fans who weren't looking where they were going and said without turning around, "She said she has an event tonight and is already on her way."

"So what you said about philandering is completely slander." He walked to the black car and opened the door for the girl.

"Kurasu and I didn't have any physical contact whatsoever."

The boy was telling the truth. After the flash mob performance, Yosei Kuraki kept looking back in his direction as she walked off the stage. Soon after, Jun Matsueda received a message on her phone that she still had to rush to her schedule.

Mochizuki Haruka gave a soft hum, then stepped into the car beside him. "Can't we be ambiguous without physical contact?"

"What's the difference between her singing that kind of song and confessing her love? Only those fans are still foolishly happy about it."

The head maid, sitting in the driver's seat, stared intently at the traffic lights at the intersection ahead, pretending she hadn't heard a thing.

"How did you know?" Jun Matsue asked in surprise.

He closed the car door, and the sedan started with a steady hum, heading towards the Sanyingtai residential area.

After the boy was settled, Mochizuki Haruka leaned closer to him. "I've been watching her live stream on the way here—Tokyu Tower, you can find it with a simple search."

"So Kurusu's promotional performance this time was quite successful." Jun Matsueda looked at the road in front of the car, as if he were talking to the head maid who was driving.

"Don't change the subject!" Mochizuki Haruka placed her hands on the boy's thighs, leaned forward, and stared into his eyes as if interrogating him.

"You're not thinking of going after breaking up with Ryusei Yosuke, are you?"

The maid, who was holding the steering wheel, shrank back. She pressed the button next to the driver's seat, causing the barrier separating the front and back seats to rise slowly—it was better not to listen to the young lady's gossip and to focus on driving.

Because the girl asked so earnestly, Junya Matsueda looked into her eyes and thought about it carefully.

"It's only possible if she announces her graduation from idol school now."

"Of course, I don't really want her to do that."

“…You said it.” Mochizuki Haruka was fairly satisfied with this answer, and she decided to let Matsue go for the time being.

"So how was your filming today? Didn't your aunt come with you?" The boy then changed the subject.

“My aunt went to the company today. As for filming, it went smoothly. Imokawa said that I have finished filming my recent scenes.”

The girl pouted. Although she was somewhat resistant when she first started acting, she was now quite enthusiastic—more than acting, she felt she was expressing her love through the characters she played.

"As expected of Mochizuki~" Matsueda Jun's tone was like praising a child, earning him an eye roll in return. "Imokawa went back?"

"I took her home, so I arrived at your place a little late." Mochizuki Haruka looked out the car window at the gradually closing twilight.

What should we eat tonight?

"What do you want to eat?" Jun Matsue wanted to make something that a young girl would like to eat. Although he felt that he hadn't done anything wrong, he could still consider it an apology.

“…Never mind, it’s getting late.” Mochizuki Haruka turned her head. “Let’s just grab something to eat outside.”

The black sedan dropped the boy and girl off at the apartment entrance. The two had dinner at the Musashino Forest Cafe at the intersection. Although Mochizuki Haruka didn't seem to care much, Matsueda Jun still treated them and ordered her an extra milk pudding.

It was nearly 8 p.m. when they got home. Jun followed the girl into the living room of room 506. The golden cat lying in its bed meowed and slowly ran to their feet.

"Has Jinzhi lost weight recently?" The boy sat on the sofa, picked up the cat and put it on his lap, and rubbed its head.

“This one is shedding its fur recently.” Mochizuki Haruka poked the little female cat with her index finger. “It’s fine when it’s in the manor, but here I have to clean its fur, which is such a hassle.”

“That’s the owner’s responsibility.” Jun Matsue smiled and scratched its chin, and the cat purred contentedly.

"Just because it's not your own cat doesn't mean you can be so affectionate, right?" The girl gently slapped his hand away. "I'd appreciate it if someone would take on the responsibility of being your owner soon."

"The Golden Week holiday is almost over."

The boy's smile faded slightly.

Today is the third day of the four-day weekend. After tomorrow, the final step of his and Tomatsu Yuka's planned breakup will begin.

Is Tomatsu ready?

Jun Matsueda glanced at the chat history on his phone. Besides informing him about the progress of the private detective's investigation, the girl mostly shared details of her daily life.

"My mom really liked the Chinese cooking I learned from Tsunku! But I think she'd like it even more if it were your cooking~"

"I recently switched to a new shampoo. I heard it's better for hair care and can be used by both men and women!"

"I'll try it myself first, and if it works well, I'll recommend it to Jun-kun~"

"I did some really difficult problems today, and I thought Tsunkun would be interested in them too, so I took pictures of them and sent them to you..."

Cooking and washing clothes alone, taking pictures of myself drying my hair in the mirror alone, studying and reading alone.

He sighed inwardly.

"I'm going to take a shower first." Mochizuki Haruka got up from the sofa. "If you're not in a hurry to go back, you can help Jinzhi comb her fur."

The girl walked into the bathroom, and after the sound of water came from the other side of the corridor, Jun Matsue picked up the cat lying in her arms and looked into its innocent yet beastly eyes.

"What if one day you can no longer move forward in one direction without hesitation?"

The cat, of course, had no answer.

Chapter 548 The World of Imokawa: Changed Yet Remains Unchanged

The next morning, Jun Matsue pushed open the door to his apartment. He had only taken a few steps down the hallway when he heard another door open behind him.

The boy turned around, and behind the open metal door of room 506, Mochizuki Haruka's head peeked out, with her cat peeking out from her feet along with its owner.

"Where is Songzhi going?" The sleepy girl rubbed her eyes and lifted her pajamas that had slipped off her shoulders.

"I'm going to go record with Imokawa today." Jun Matsueda glanced at the time on his phone; it was just past nine o'clock.

"You got up so early today?"

"No." Mochizuki Haruka kicked the cat at her feet, letting it run back into the house. "I was just sleeping, but I think I heard you leave in my dream."

"..." The boy blinked. Is this a cat's keen intuition?

"You're going to record alone?" The girl yawned, her squinting eyes widening slightly. "Or are you going with Tomatsu Yuka?"

"I'm going to the studio at the Imokawa family home by myself."

It was a studio, and of course, also Natsumi Imokawa's little nest. Jun Matsue chose a way of putting it that was easier for Mochizuki to accept.

"Not coming back at noon?"

"I'm not coming back."

"Then I'm going back to sleep." Mochizuki Haruka pulled the doorknob. "Remember to buy groceries when Matsue comes back this afternoon."

Watching the girl raise her arm and close the thick security door, Jun Matsue breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and walked into the stairwell.

These past few days, his attitude towards Mochizuki Haruka seems to have softened more and more, the boy thought to himself as he listened to the footsteps echoing in the stairwell.

He walked out onto the first floor and looked up at the bright sun overhead.

Of course, Mochizuki didn't become more assertive, perhaps because she genuinely felt guilty...

Twenty-five minutes later, Jun Matsue stood in his apartment in Nishi-Ogikubo. He stepped out of the elevator and knocked on the door at the end of the corridor on the eleventh floor.

There was no response. The boy knocked twice more, waited a few seconds, and then took out his phone from his pocket—he still hadn't received a reply to the message he sent to Natsumi Imokawa.

"...Has Imokawa not gotten up yet?"

Jun Matsue opened a voice call, and the waiting ringtone was finally answered in the last few seconds.

"……Hey?"

The girl's voice was slightly hoarse, and she sounded like she hadn't woken up yet.

"Is Imokawa still sleeping?" The boy knocked on the metal door in front of him. "I'm already at your door."

"Didn't we agree to record at this time?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then a sudden noise broke out. Jun Matsue heard the sound of the girl's feet hitting the floor—it seemed she had gotten out of bed.

"I'll open the door for Songzhi right away!"

The boy's phone rang with hurried footsteps, getting closer and closer until they finally sounded from the other side of the metal door.

The tightly closed door was finally opened, and Imokawa Natsumi stood panting in the doorway, having run barefoot from the bedroom.

"I'm sorry, I overslept this morning..." The girl lowered her head, her cheeks flushed.

"Did you stay up late again last night?" Jun Matsuoka looked at her light dark circles under her eyes and took a look at her appearance.

The girl was probably wearing a thin vest that she used to sleep in, with two thin straps struggling to support her full chest, making her look somewhat overburdened.

The boy immediately looked away and towards the room behind her. The curtains in the living room were drawn tightly, and almost no light could be seen.

"Did Imokawa forget to change into his pajamas?"

Jun Matsue was afraid that if he looked any further down, he might see underwear instead of shorts.

"Huh?" Natsumi Imokawa blinked in confusion, then looked down at herself.

The girl quickly ran back to the bedroom. Fortunately, the room was pitch black, and Jun Matsue could not see her back. He could only catch a glimpse of a swaying flesh color.

Thank goodness Mochizuki didn't come along... The thought flashed through the boy's mind.