Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 200

While waiting for their meal, the girl pointed her camera at the street outside the window, while Jun Matsueda opened his phone to chat with Maki Yami.

The senior student went back to her ancestral home today. According to the girl, she goes back to her ancestral home with her parents every now and then, firstly to greet her grandfather, and secondly to report on family affairs.

"Of course, Dad is in charge of reporting family affairs; all I need to do is pour tea for Grandpa."

Judging from the message from her senior, there shouldn't be any surprises for now, and Matsueda Jun breathed a sigh of relief.

When his pasta arrived, he took a picture and sent it to Yamami Maki before putting his phone back in his pocket.

The 800 yen set meal included pasta, coffee, and a small salad. It tasted pretty good. Jun Matsueda put down his fork and looked at the girl who was slurping her noodles while staring intently at him.

He calmly took a sip of coffee. "Why is Imokawa staring at me?"

Natsumi Imokawa looked a little dazed. "I'm thinking, if Matsueda were the main character, how would it be more interesting to film this..."

Jun Matsue didn't want to be like the male actor he had just met, wearing a winter school uniform and being exposed to the sun in the middle of summer, so he chose to change the subject.

How long will it take to film your father's TV series?

"There's no such thing as a long filming period. Most TV dramas are filmed and broadcast simultaneously, and the production cycle is generally three months." The girl licked the sauce off her fork as she pondered, her actions somewhat alluring.

"Today is the second scene, which is the scene where the second female lead meets the male lead at the school gate after the high school results are released."

"At this pace, with a total of twelve episodes, it might be possible to finish filming in two months?" Natsumi Imokawa blinked.

"I see." The boy nodded. "By the way, I thought that one was the female lead."

"Ah..." the girl hesitated, "Isn't she considered the female lead? The female lead and the second female lead actually have about the same amount of screen time."

She wanted to continue speaking, but was stopped by Jun Matsue.

"Stop." The boy held out his hand. "You have to concentrate on eating. If you talk too much, you won't be able to appreciate the deliciousness of the food."

"Oh..." The girl nodded obediently, picked up the noodles covered in red sauce with her silver fork, and licked the sauce off her lips.

After finishing their meal, the two of them went out with their coffee. The afternoon sun broke through the clouds, and they returned to the edge of the film set.

Natsumi Imokawa glanced at the boy beside her. The parasol in Jun Matsueda's hand provided her with some coolness as she was sensitive to the heat. Taking advantage of this coolness, the girl took a small step closer to him, then nodded in satisfaction and looked at the actors in the crowd.

A short-haired girl in a school uniform led a boy with a gloomy expression into a hotel, leaving Jun Matsue somewhat astonished.

"I thought it was just a normal campus romance, is the plot really this exciting?"

"It's a campus romance," Natsumi Imokawa explained earnestly. "It's just a love triangle, that's what people like to watch these days."

"You've already finished reading the script?"

"Mmm." The girl nodded excitedly. "It's based on a comic book, and the plot is quite interesting. I'm really looking forward to the finished product."

"The male lead and the female lead like each other, but due to a series of coincidences, they don't end up together. After this scene is finished, he will start dating the second female lead, who is his senior."

"The fact that the female lead and the second female lead are good friends in the storyline, and this complicated relationship is the biggest selling point of this drama!"

"..." Matsueda Jun fell silent, feeling a sense of déjà vu about the story the girl was telling him.

What's the name of this show?

As the disheveled young man and woman walked out of the hotel, Natsumi Imokawa said with great interest.

"Now that things have come to this, I've fallen for my friend's lover."

Chapter 354 How Deep is the Courtyard?

Now that things have come to this, I've fallen for my friend's boyfriend...

Jun Matsue looked up at the sky as if nothing was wrong, "It sounds like one of those clichéd plots."

"As long as it's well-made, there's no such thing as cheesy or not!" Natsumi Imokawa retorted, pouting.

“If you look at the previous 'Tokyo Love Story', just looking at the plot, the male lead is in a love triangle with two childhood friends, and the female lead is the mistress of her married boss.”

"Isn't it also quite melodramatic? And there are still tons of people watching it."

As the girl spoke, she unconsciously began to move closer to the boy's body again.

The thin clothing of summer blurred the boundary of their body temperature. Jun Matsue took a step to the side to prevent himself from being overwhelmed by the girl's softness.

“That seems to make sense.” Jun Matsueda looked at the crew members carrying equipment onto the bus. “Is this scene finished filming?”

Natsumi Imokawa took out her phone and looked at it. "Next up is the train station scene, a kissing scene between the male and female leads. That part is pretty exciting too!"

As she spoke, she walked toward the film crew. However, after taking only a few steps, the shadow above the girl's head disappeared. She turned around, and the boy was still standing there.

"Isn't the pine branch moving?"

"Coffee isn't enough to quench my thirst, I'll go buy a bottle of water." Jun Matsueda pointed to the convenience store on the other side. "You go ahead."

The girl hesitated for a moment, then Jun Matsue handed her the umbrella. “You don’t want to miss any details of the shoot, do you? You don’t need to stay with me, I’ll be there in a bit.”

Natsumi Imokawa had no choice but to nod. "Then I'll send you the address."

"Okay." The boy smiled. "What would you like to drink?"

"Banana milk!" the girl said without hesitation. "Strawberry milk is fine too if you don't have that."

After parting ways with Natsumi Imokawa, Jun Matsueda walked into the convenience store alone, opened the beverage counter, and found the simplest mineral water and the cutest banana milk among the crowded and colorful drinks. He then paid at the counter.

He thought for a moment, then took a few more bottles of cold drinks, paid the bill again, and walked out with the plastic bag.

Maybe other people in the crew want to drink it too—a few bottles of cold drinks won't cost much, but they can improve your and Imokawa's image on set.

His phone vibrated in his pocket; Natsumi Imokawa had sent him the address—the nearest subway station. Jun Matsueda didn't rush off; instead, he looked up and took a picture of the sky piled high with clouds.

"The sky is so beautiful today, I wonder if my senior can see it?" he sent a message.

Looking up at the swirling clouds in the sky, Jun Matsue put the bottled water back into the plastic bag.

He walked toward the station, which was hidden among the buildings, leaving his complaints behind.

"A melodramatic campus romance..."

Yamami Maki took out her phone from the sleeve of her kimono—the screen lit up with a message from Matsueda Jun. She tapped the screen, and a sky filled with drifting clouds appeared before her eyes.

The girl seemed to sense something. She looked up at the long corridor where she was and outside. Several birds flew across the sky, their distance making them appear as tiny drops of ink as they flitted across the white canvas.

Yamami Maki lowered her head and replied to Matsueda Jun's message amidst the fragrance of tea.

"I can see it too! The clouds today look like cotton candy. Let's go eat some together next time!"

The boy on the other side didn't reply for a moment. She waited for a while before putting her phone back in her pocket and looking at the men sitting in the center of the Japanese-style room.

Those were her father and grandfather, who were talking. The old man, dressed in a black linen kimono, noticed the girl's gaze. He put down his tea and smiled at Yamami Maki.

"Aren't men's affairs too boring? Xiao Moji, go play with your sister. Don't miss the family dinner tonight."

"Thank you, Grandpa." The girl bowed her head in greeting, then stood up, gestured to her seated father and the tea master behind her, before walking towards the corridor outside the room.

The wooden corridor was sparsely populated, with only a few servants walking at the end. Yamami Maki walked down the corridor, dressed in a kimono and straw sandals, and strolled in the lush green courtyard.

This is the main residence of the Yami family. The girl's parents come every two weeks, sometimes without her. The garden is located in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo—one of the safest areas with the least population movement, neither too close nor too far from Chiyoda Ward.

Yamami Maki walked slowly, observing every plant and tree in the courtyard, noting any changes since her last visit—this was how she spent her childhood here.

The girl had a very complicated impression of this garden. She used to hate being in that tea-scented Japanese-style room—the time spent kneeling was counted in hours, and no one cared about her opinions or feelings. Yamami Maki just sat there like a delicate doll, for people to admire.

However, as she has grown older, she can now sit kneeling with ease, something she used to find difficult. Her grandfather, worried that she might get tired or bored, would even instruct her to leave first. The once rigid old man has also shown a gentle side.

However, it's hard for Yami Maki to say that these changes are a good thing—those strict rules and requirements sometimes represent genuine importance, a realization she has gained after living in the Yami family for eighteen years.

The girl walked to the end of the road, where a person was sitting in the pavilion by the pond; it was her older sister.

Yamami Ikuka looked at her younger sister sitting in front of her. The woman waved the fan in her hand, her posture leisurely.

"Grandpa seems to be in a good mood today?"

If the old man is in a bad mood, his younger sister won't appear in front of him so early—this mascot-like role was always played by the older sister, Yamami Maki, before she had achieved some success in the tea ceremony.

The girl nodded, then looked at the empty seat next to her sister. "Isn't my brother-in-law here?"

"My brother went to chat with him." The woman put down her fan and looked at the fish swimming in the pond.

There was a brief silence in the pavilion. Then, Yamami Maki's phone vibrated again in the sleeve of her kimono. She glanced at the message, and the corners of her lips, which had been pursed, unconsciously turned up.

The woman looked at her with a smile. "Was that a message from Matsueda-kun?"

"I went to Mingdaqian's studio a few more times after that, but I still didn't see him."

"Why is my sister always thinking about seeing him?" The girl rolled her eyes at her.

"Of course I'm curious! This is the first time I've ever met a guy who can make my little sister's heart flutter!"

"Doesn't Moji have anything to say to me?"

After looking around to make sure no one else was there, Yamami Maki asked cautiously.

"You're not allowed to tell your brother-in-law, okay?"

"Don't worry~"

The girl looked at the sky outside the pavilion, where thick clouds were parted by swaying branches and leaves, casting light and cool shadows.

"I knew about Songzhi when the new students first enrolled last year, but I didn't get to know him until before last summer vacation..."

This was the first time she had a topic of conversation of her own in this strictly ordered courtyard.

Chapter 355 Yamami Maki's Management Philosophy

The day after visiting the film set, Jun Matsueda returned to the Setagaya Library.

The girl named Yamami Maki was still sitting by the window, as if she had never left.

The girl was reviewing her Japanese history textbook, and the boy sat next to her. He leaned on the table and carefully observed his senior's fair arms, which were so perfect that he couldn't find a single flaw.

Today, Yamami Maki is wearing a spaghetti strap dress, revealing her upper arms and shoulders that are not usually seen. When she's with Matsueda Jun, the girl dresses a little more revealing than usual; she likes to let her crush's gaze linger on her, a little trick she's recently developed.

"How did your schedule go yesterday, senior?" Jun Matsue asked softly.

His breath brushed against the fine hairs on the girl's arm, and Yamami Maki's heart skipped a beat.

"It was quite pleasant." She put the book she was holding on the table. "It was just going home to have tea and dinner together."

"What's your home like, senior?"

The boy, who was lying on the table, tilted his head slightly to meet the girl's gaze. Yamami Maki felt like she had a big dog to raise, and had an urge to pet his head.

"..." The girl hesitated for a moment, "Let me think, how should I tell Matsueda-san?"

"How about we start with yesterday's itinerary?" Jun Matsue sat up.

"I thought my senior wasn't in Tokyo yesterday, but it turns out we're still under the same sky."

To change his senior's college application, he could only start by understanding her family situation. If there was any room for negotiation, he still wanted to attend the same university as her.

Yamami Maki picked up her coffee and took a sip. "I told Matsueda-san that we went back to our family home yesterday, which is in Bunkyo Ward."

"Now only my grandfather and a few of my aunts live there permanently. My father and the others only go back to say hello every now and then..."

“I spent a lot of time there when I was little. My mother’s health was a bit weak. After giving birth to me, she went to my grandfather’s place to recuperate. I am the third child, the youngest sister in the family…”

The girl's tone was gentle, and the memories she recounted were like a gentle breeze, swirling around the two people sitting together.

Jun Matsue listened very carefully. Her senior kept talking about the pond and trees outside, and then she got stuck.

"Senior, you should rest if you're tired." The boy patted his thigh. "I'll give you a lap pillow."

The girl rolled her eyes at him. "I was just thinking about chatting with my sister in the yard yesterday."

Matsueda Jun recalled his older sister's sly smile. "You told her about us?"

Yamami Maki nodded in surprise. "How did Matsueda-san know?"

"This is what they call tacit understanding, isn't it?" The boy smiled, his left hand resting on the girl's right hand, which was resting on the seat. The warm and soft touch made him reluctant to let go.

The first time the two held hands like this was three days ago in the afternoon. The sun was shining brightly that day, and Matsueda Jun was also lying on the table looking at the girl's profile. As he looked, someone took the initiative, and their hands touched.

Jun Matsue still remembers Maki Yami's expression back then. The startled upperclassman's eyes widened and her mouth slightly agape, she was incredibly cute. Although the girl was surprised, she didn't let go of the boy's hand, and this unspoken intimacy became their daily routine.

At this moment, Yamami Maki only glanced at Matsueda Jun, then pinched the boy's little finger as if in a prank, and continued to speak.

“I told my sister how we met—I told her about the training camp, the wind instrument competition, and the competition coaching.”

"That's what happened to Tomoka..." Matsueda Jun thought to himself, but his senior continued, "But I didn't mention Yuka."

A brief silence fell over the library, broken only by the sound of the librarian's footsteps in the distance.