Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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"You wasted the bed you made."

"It's nothing." Natsumi Imokawa lowered her head, staring at the towel pressed against her chest.

"Being able to go home is more important..."

Twenty minutes passed faster than the girl had imagined. When the boy answered the phone again, the girl walked to the window—in the murky rain, she could see the blurry headlights of cars, waiting alone downstairs.

"Okay, I'll come down now." Jun Matsue stood up and walked towards the door.

"Wait a minute!" Natsumi Imokawa hurriedly turned around, not caring whether the person on the phone could hear her at that moment.

"What's wrong?" The boy turned around.

"Uh..." The girl's mind went blank. She just blurted it out subconsciously, not knowing what she was going to do.

"I'll grab an umbrella!" she thought. "Even though it's just a few steps, it's better not to get wet in the rain."

Natsumi Imokawa walked behind the shelf by the entrance, took out an umbrella, and handed it to the boy. "Be careful on the pine path!"

“Okay.” Jun Matsueda smiled, hung up the phone, and pushed open the apartment door.

"Imokawa, remember to avoid staying up late; it's bad for your health."

The girl didn't reply; she just stood there and waved, watching the boy close the door.

With a soft thud, the motion-activated light in the hallway disappeared into the entryway. After a while, she turned around and sat down in the living room.

The white light from the television became blinding, and the cool air from the air conditioner pressed against her skin. Even though the rain was loud outside the window, Natsumi Imokawa still felt that the room was too quiet.

As if remembering something, the girl got up and walked to the window again.

The dim car lights below the building just started to flicker, and a few seconds later, the rough sound of an off-road vehicle engine came on, quickly disappearing into the heavy rain.

“…” Natsumi Imokawa gently tapped the windowpane in front of her.

She didn't like the feeling of having her expectations dashed.

As he sat inside the tall car, Jun Matsueda folded his umbrella. The cat that had been lying on the girl's lap meowed happily and jumped into his arms.

Mochizuki Haruka stared at the boy sitting next to her, "Kinji missed you."

"Is it Jinzhi who misses me, or someone else?" Matsueda Jun glanced at her and stroked the golden fur ball lying on his lap.

The afternoon checkup involved shaving the fur off the cat's belly, and it felt strange to the touch.

The girl smiled and nuzzled the boy's arm, leaning on his shoulder and sniffing him a few times.

"There's a strong smell of cooking oil." She frowned.

Although it doesn't smell good, it's definitely better than a girl's sweet scent.

"I cooked dinner," Jun Matsue said calmly. "Where's your aunt? Didn't she come with you?"

"Auntie went back in the hospital's special vehicle, so we can go straight back to the apartment."

The small back seat was silent for a moment as the boy looked at the rain streaming through the entire car window.

"I didn't expect it to rain so heavily today."

“Yes.” Mochizuki Haruka pressed her cheek against the glass, watching the apartment building lights being left behind by the cars.

"I almost had to sleep outside tonight."

Almost? Jun Matsueda didn't think so.

If the rain gets any heavier, will Mochizuki come looking for him in a helicopter or rescue boat?

"Did you eat your fill tonight, Wangyue?" the boy asked.

"It's alright," the girl said, clinging to his arm.

"There's definitely no oden to eat in this weather. I'll cook you instant noodles when we get home."

“Okay~” Mochizuki Haruka replied sweetly, then looked at the maid in the driver’s seat.

How much longer until we get to the apartment?

"About ten minutes," the maid replied respectfully. "We can't drive too fast in this weather."

"As long as we can drive back, that's fine." Jun Matsueda stroked the cat in his arms.

The bare belly was still a bit hard for him to get used to touching.

For some reason, the boy and girl didn't say much for the rest of the journey, as if they were appreciating this once-in-a-century rainy night in Tokyo.

Chapter 673 Yamami Maki's Awakening

The next morning, Jun Matsue got up and went to the window to look out.

The muddy water that had flooded the streets had receded, but there were still obvious puddles and wet patches everywhere. At first glance, it looked like a man who had collapsed on the street after a hangover, looking extremely disheveled.

"Looks like I can get a normal job today." The boy yawned.

Last night around 11 p.m., when he was cooking instant noodles for Mochizuki and Kurusu, the rain outside the window started to lessen, but it didn't stop until he fell asleep.

Stepping out of the bedroom, Jun Matsue first opened the balcony door, and fresh, moist air rushed into the room, carrying a hint of earthy scent.

As he turned to walk toward the bathroom, a wooden door suddenly opened, blocking his way.

"Good morning, Songzhi..." The girl walked out from behind the door, tears still glistening in her eyes from yawning, her tone languid.

"Good morning, what would you like for breakfast today?"

"I'll cook today." Yosei Kurusu stretched and walked towards the refrigerator. "Matsue has to work today, so you can go wash up."

The boy obediently went into the bathroom, and a few minutes later when he walked into the living room, there were already golden egg pancakes on the dining table, emitting a faint aroma.

It feels pretty good to reap the benefits without sowing... Jun Matsue opened the milk he had taken from the refrigerator and poured most of it for himself and the girl.

"Let's dig in!"

"Wait!" Kurusu Yosei called out to him as he came out of the kitchen. "Matsueda isn't in a hurry today, is he?"

The man turned on his phone. "It's still early before work starts, what's up?"

"Wait for me to have breakfast together!" the girl pouted. "I haven't brushed my teeth yet."

She ran towards the bathroom, glancing back at me, "Don't eat by yourself, wait for me!"

Jun Matsuoka had no choice but to put down his chopsticks. He turned on the TV, picked up his phone, and browsed the information about last night's torrential rain and the messages he had received.

"Yesterday, record-breaking short-duration torrential rains occurred, mainly in the Kanto region..."

There weren't many valuable messages in the chat list; they were mostly casual conversations from classmates' and colleagues' groups about yesterday's torrential rain. The boy scrolled through them casually, then stopped.

Around 2 a.m., Yamami Maki seemed to have sent him a message, but it was retracted again.

"...What are you doing?" Jun Matsueda frowned slightly.

Was it sent to the wrong person? Or is it a prank?

But my senior sent me the same message yesterday at noon, asking if he had any dreams.

So she's mentally unwell and having nightmares?

The idol's footsteps approached the living room. The boy put down his phone and slowly took a sip of milk.

Whether it's stress or lack of rest, it has nothing to do with him. What the senior should do is see a doctor, not send him messages.

"Sorry to keep you waiting~" Kurusu Yosei sat down in front of him with water droplets still on his face.

"Today's breakfast isn't your average egg pancake; Songzhi will definitely love it."

"Then we should definitely give it a try." Jun Matsue picked up his chopsticks again and took a piece of the rolled-up egg pancake in front of him.

Unlike ordinary scallion pancakes, this one has a slightly complex aroma and a grainy texture as soon as you take a bite. The boy chewed while observing the cross-section of the pancake.

The girl added chopped ham and onions to the batter, and sprinkled some sesame seeds on top before taking it out of the pan, which greatly enriched the texture and flavor.

"Pretty good." He nodded approvingly and took another big bite.

Yosuke Kurusu looked at him with a smile, "You didn't come home for dinner yesterday, so I had some leftover onions and ham from cooking. I'll add them to today's breakfast."

"I didn't expect you to come back last night." She looked at the TV behind the boy. "The rain was so heavy yesterday!"

"A manhole in Ota Ward, Tokyo, spewed water several meters high. At Haneda Airport, ground operations were suspended for nearly two hours due to approaching thunderclouds, and 32 flights were canceled..."

The man on the news broadcast his report with a calm and even expression, and Jun Matsueda nodded slightly.

"Mochizuki brought me back."

"...She really is something." The girl gave an ambiguous snort and chewed the egg pancake in her mouth vigorously.

"So when are you going to make a comeback?" the boy changed the subject.

“Let’s talk about it in September at least—” Kurusu Yosei opened his phone. “The new agency hasn’t been officially set up yet. We still need to do a comeback publicity campaign after the company is settled.”

"Although it was a peaceful relocation, apart from the artist's name, the shows and songs they've appeared on before can't be used for promotion, which is still quite troublesome."

"But it won't be too late, otherwise all the fans will have left."

“So we have to start from scratch.” Jun Matsueda looked up at her.

"Hmm!" The girl held an egg pancake in one hand and made a gesture of showing off her biceps with the other.

"Starting from scratch, becoming stronger and freer!"

"This time, no one can stop me from falling in love!"

"..." Matsueda Jun could only pretend not to hear and swallow the last bite of his breakfast. "I'm going to work."

The girl cheered cheerfully behind him, "Get ready!"

Pushing his bicycle to the side of the road, Jun Matsueda looked at the damp street and casually sent a message to Ikuka Yamami in his contact list.

"It seems like Senior Yamami hasn't been getting enough rest lately."

Isn't that more than enough?

The green light came on, and the boy mounted his bicycle. The rapidly spinning wheels splashed water from the road surface before disappearing into the gradually brightening sunlight.

Tomatsu Tomoka gently exhaled as she placed the large stack of books in front of her onto the cart behind the counter.

"There are quite a lot of visitors today."

“Indeed.” Jun Matsue added the heavier stack to the pile. “I don’t know why.”

"It must be because college students have started their summer break, right?" The girl gracefully stretched her arms. "Early August is the end-of-term week for college students."

“…That makes sense.” The boy recalled the two messages that Yamami Maki had retracted.

So, the senior students are on vacation too?

After sorting out the new and returned books that needed to be categorized, the two sat down at the same time.

"Let's rest for a bit before setting up the books." Tomatsu Yuka looked around the lobby. "It's almost noon, there shouldn't be many people coming to the counter to do business."

Jun Matsuoka nodded, picked up the cup of jasmine tea, and took a few sips.

"The rain was really heavy yesterday," the girl continued, "Luckily, I stayed home the whole time. I fell asleep listening to the downpour hitting the windows, which actually made me feel quite at ease."

“After all, no matter how heavy the rain is, it doesn’t affect me,” the boy smiled. “It makes me feel safer.”

That makes sense.

Tomatsu Yuka casually picked out a book that was about to be put on the shelf. It was an old romance manga. She vaguely remembered that the person who borrowed it was an elementary school girl who was afraid to look people in the eye when she spoke.

"Ah, yesterday before Mom went to bed she asked me for a stick of incense that Jun-kun gave her. She said she slept very well this morning."

"If it's so useful, I should buy more." Jun Matsue leaned over and glanced at the comic book in her hand.

A girl dressed in traditional Chinese clothing is fighting with her father, who has turned into a panda, on the street; it's strangely quite interesting.

“Yesterday at dinner, I told my mom about my plan to move out of the university.”

The boy looked away from the black-and-white comic and at the person next to him.

"She agreed~" Tomatsu Yuka's smile was like the clear sky outside the building. "She even said she'd give me money for rent."

"But I still think it's better to pay for it myself."

“You can keep it for now and return it to her later.” There was no joy in Jun Matsueda’s words. “Refusing might upset your mother.”

"I know." The girl closed the comic book in her hand. "I'll buy her more gifts after I accept it."

"But will Mom be sad because I moved out..." she thought, tapping her chin with her index finger.