Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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"Then I'll treat Imokawa to ice cream, as a way of celebrating in advance."

The old Natsumi Imokawa might have politely declined first, but the current girl simply puffed out her chest proudly and walked to his side.

She pointed her slender index finger at the machine's display window, "I want the Hokkaido milk flavor!"

After throwing the torn wrapper into the trash can, the two ate their ice cream as they walked up the stairs. Watching the girl licking her milk ice cream, Jun Matsueda suddenly remembered something.

"When did Imokawa's seclusion end? I used to get automatic replies when I sent you messages."

"Ah." After carefully licking the ice cream with her pink tongue, Natsumi Imokawa answered the question, "...yesterday."

"Yesterday?" The boy raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, it's not over yet." The girl's melancholy gaze pierced through the stairwell wall, looking towards the direction of Nishi-Ogikubo.

"I originally wanted to finish editing the film in one go, but since school is starting soon, I had to come to school first."

"You need to take care of yourself..." Jun Matsueda sighed and stepped into the fourth-floor corridor. "Don't end up with panda eyes."

Natsumi Imokawa's expression tensed up. "Are my dark circles really that bad?"

The girl who came out of the stairs suddenly leaned closer, standing on tiptoe and tilting her face up so that the boy could get a clear look at her face.

She didn't have any dark circles under her eyes; her fair skin glowed delicately in the sunlight streaming through the corridor windows. The glimpse of cream peeking out from her neckline resembled a milk-flavored ice cream in her hand, sweet enough to make one's heart flutter.

Jun Matsueda had no choice but to take a step to the side, distancing himself from the oblivious girl.

"Actually, it's alright..." He looked at the girl's slightly lowered, innocent eyes to prevent his gaze from wandering elsewhere.

"I'm just giving you a heads-up."

"That's good~" Natsumi Imokawa breathed a sigh of relief, blinking her round, innocent eyes like a puppy.

"I knew it! My mom calls me every day to make sure I go to bed early..."

The girl stopped at the door of her classroom and looked at the boy beside her.

"Even though I'm busy editing, I still check Songzhi's news whenever I have time."

"But so much time has passed that I don't know how to reply, so I thought I might as well not reply at all."

Perhaps it was the heat in the corridor, or perhaps it was the tension caused by being overly concerned about Songzhi's thoughts, but a faint blush rose on her cheeks.

Would Songzhi care?

"It's nothing, I just thought of you so I sent you a message," Jun Matsue said, biting into an ice cream stick.

"You have an automatic reply function, right? I'll call you if it's really urgent."

Upon hearing his answer, Natsumi Imokawa blinked and stared down at the boy's trouser cuffs.

Although she felt a little relieved, why did she seem to feel a little lost again?

The girl wanted to say something more, but the boy's trousers swayed first.

Noticing the hot girls appearing at the other end of the corridor, Jun Matsueda started walking, turning around and waving before leaving.

"I'm leaving now. Imokawa, you still need to be careful not to forget to eat and sleep."

“Oh…” Natsumi Imokawa nodded blankly.

Watching the boy walk away into the distance, she tilted her head and quickly spotted the striking, aloof girl in the approaching crowd.

...Is Songzhi's plan progressing smoothly?

Natsumi Imokawa found herself becoming more concerned about this issue.

Chapter 691 Yamami Maki Wants to Win Back

On the second day of school, at 3:30 pm, the school bell rang on time.

After tidying up the exam papers on the table and putting them in the drawer, Jun Matsue looked at the girl sitting to his right.

Tomatsu Yuka was stuffing her exquisite notebook into her bag, but unlike usual, after tidying up her uniform bag, she took out a handbag from the other side of the desk, out of the boys' sight.

The long, rectangular handbag gleamed with a silvery-gray sheen. Its narrow, rounded shape featured two smooth, flowing lines, giving it an understated yet sophisticated look—the kind of appearance that would make you consider whether you have the ability to carry it before you even pick it up.

Jun Matsue blinked. "Yuka brought her saxophone today?"

"Yes~" The girl nodded, her composure tinged with a hint of pride.

"The wind band has also qualified for the national competition this year, and the younger members hope I can find some time to give them some pointers~"

"Can unrelated people also go to watch?" The boy pointed to himself, "It's been a long time since I've seen you play."

"Really?" Tomatsu Yuka blinked and slightly pouted her pink lips.

"Didn't you play it for Jun-kun before?"

Matsueda Jun took a moment to realize that she was referring to things in bed.

"..."

He cast a helpless glance at her, while the girl stood up with a sweet smile, carrying two bags, one large and one small.

"Let's skip it today. I haven't practiced the saxophone in a while."

"I'll go to the brass band club with Tsunku next time~"

Jun Matsue raised his right hand and waved his fingers, bidding farewell to Tomoka Tomatsu who was walking out the back door.

He sat up straight again and continued to pack his schoolbag, watching the students leave the classroom in twos and threes, carrying their textbooks and water bottles.

After the start of the second semester, many more students chose to stay on campus for two more self-study sessions, which can be seen as a reflection of the gradually intensifying atmosphere of exam preparation.

and so……

The boy turned his head and looked at the girl sitting by the window organizing her textbooks.

The drawn curtains made the area near the window hotter than the rest of the room. Mochizuki Haruka, with her hair tied in a high, cool ponytail, was methodically flipping through the exercises she had done in class during the day.

Her exposed nape was dazzlingly white in the sunlight. Jun Matsue picked up the only pencil case left on the desk and leaned closer to the girl's line of sight.

"So, is Mochizuki also planning to go to study hall? Or is she going straight home?"

Mochizuki Haruka paused in her page-turning motion, glanced at the boy, and quickly turned her face to the other side, revealing only her crystal-clear earlobes and youthful high ponytail.

"I can go wherever I want, it has nothing to do with Songzhi."

"I just wanted to say that I really like Mochizuki's hairstyle today." The boy smiled, picked up his backpack, and stood up.

The girl blinked in surprise as she watched him walk toward the back door.

She's leaving already? She thought Songzhi would accompany her to the study room, or linger a little longer.

Mochizuki Haruka's cheeks puffed out slightly as she watched the boy's back walk out the door—only when Matsueda Jun suddenly peeked out from the door frame did she hurriedly turn around, putting on a cold expression again.

“If Mochizuki finds the window seat too hot, you can tell me.” The boy winked his left eye at her. “I’ll go ask Ms. Kominato to change seats.”

"..." The girl turned her head and glanced at him. "I understand."

This time her tone was a little softer, and Jun Matsue smiled and waved to her.

"Then I'll go first."

Before the girl could reply, the boy standing outside the door turned and walked towards the stairwell, shaking the bag in his hand and looking at the dappled light reflected at the end of the corridor.

To win a girl's heart, simply clinging to her is too inefficient. You need to be flexible, knowing when to let go and when to hold back, so that she can look forward to what you're looking forward to.

There are methods to dating. In order to win Mochizuki back as soon as possible, Matsueda Jun doesn't mind learning from Tomatsu and becoming a little more cunning.

Pushing his bicycle out of the school gate, the boy with the bag on his back climbed onto the bike. Instead of turning right at the intersection leading home, he headed in the opposite direction towards Kugayama Station.

Twenty minutes later, he walked out of Shibuya Station and looked at the coffee shop sign on the building at the intersection not far away.

That was the place he and his senior had agreed to meet. After visiting twice, he was already very familiar with it.

As he entered the building, the sliding doors of the coffee shop opened automatically. Nodding to the smiling waitress, Jun Matsueda walked towards the booth by the window.

This time, the girl by the window didn't immediately look at him as she had before—Yamami Maki was staring down at the open menu in front of her, a hint of melancholy in her eyes that didn't belong to this summer.

Just like the girl I met at Kasuga Station... Matsueda Jun thought to himself as he sat down in the empty seat opposite him.

"What's the senior thinking about?"

Yamami Maki then came to her senses and noticed the boy in the white shirt in front of her. She blinked in a panic.

The girl was looking out the window at the bustling crowd when she realized that the boy hadn't contacted her for several days, and she couldn't help but feel melancholy—recalling their past together made the damp mist in her heart even deeper.

"I was just overthinking..." She pushed the menu on the table towards her. "Would you like some coffee, Matsueda-san?"

Jun Matsueda shook his head. "Just give me a milkshake."

"Then two coconut milkshakes." Yami Maki put the menu aside and looked at the boy in front of her.

"Hamegaoka High School has already started, right?"

"It's been two days since school started." Jun Matsueda glanced at the crowds of people bathed in sunlight outside the window. "I think universities start much later, right?"

"Yes." The girl nodded. "Usually, the holiday starts in early August and school starts at the end of September."

"Almost two months," the boy said, turning his gaze back to her. "That's much better than the arrangements in high school."

"They said it was summer vacation, but the weather was still 36 or 37 degrees Celsius after school started. Yesterday, several students from sports clubs suffered from heatstroke."

"The weather is getting more and more extreme, isn't it?" Yami Maki fanned her face with her hand. "I even felt a bit hot at the station today."

Unlike their previous two meetings, they finally had room for small talk again, and the girl's mood brightened considerably.

The milkshakes for the two were served quickly, and the window seat was quiet for a short while, with the faint sound of cars passing by the intersection outside the window.

After the waiter left with the tray, Yami Maki looked at the boy stirring the milkshake in front of her and spoke nervously.

"The fact that Songzhi came to see me today means you've made up your mind?"

Jun Matsue scooped up a spoonful of milkshake and put it in his mouth, then nodded.

"Just like my senior said before, there's no way I'm going to run away."

"So although conquest is a difficult choice, I have no way back."

"I see..." Yami Maki's expression wasn't surprised. She picked up a straw and slowly inserted it into her cup.

To be honest, she most hoped that Jun Matsueda wouldn't make this decision.

But if the boy chooses to run away, but not to her, the girl will definitely be even more disappointed.

So, even though her former lover was no longer faithful, Yamami Maki still chose to mix her regret and bitterness into other emotions in her heart, just like stirring a milkshake in front of her.

At least I still have a chance to make him happy, right?

The light and shadow outside the window gradually slanted westward. The girl by the window, having composed herself with the sweet taste of the coconut milkshake, spoke again.

"So, what are your specific plans, Matsueda-san?"

"It will be like the plots in those novels and animations..." She paused, her cheeks turning slightly red.

"To...to have a harem?"

Jun Matsue blinked in surprise; he hadn't expected to hear such words from his usually conservative senior.

The boy quickly shook his head. "It's already quite an achievement that they can accept the fact that I'm a womanizer."

"The reason why a novel is a novel is because the kind of harmonious relationship between people is not realistic."

"I can't imagine this kind of future right now."

“I see…” Yami Maki sipped her drink through the straw and nodded slightly, looking a little awkward.

"So, what's the current situation with Matsue-kun?"

"While dating Tomatsu, I'm trying to soften Mochizuki's heart." Jun Matsueda put down the spoon in his hand.

"After breaking up with Tomatsu, I started dating someone else, which was a way of putting an end to our past relationship."

"Mochizuki definitely won't accept my idea. She's moved out of the apartment and is keeping her distance from me both at school and in private now."

The girl didn't speak, silently holding her milkshake—she would be quite happy if Mochizuki Haruka really felt disappointed in Matsueda-san and no longer liked her.

After all, Mochizuki Haruka has to bear half the responsibility for the fact that Matsue-san was so lackluster in the simulation...

"But given enough time, I should be able to win over Mochizuki," the boy continued. "However, getting her aunt's approval is the more troublesome thing."

Yamami Maki thought for a moment, then shook her head helplessly, "It doesn't seem very likely."

"My sister said that Miss Hua is a very opinionated and capable dictator, otherwise she wouldn't be able to manage the Wangyue family well."