Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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"And he was only aware of this fact, but could only remain indifferent."

"Your current state is actually more regrettable and conflicted!"

"..." Jun Matsueda looked down at the river helplessly. "It's probably because of the reasons you gave for making the film that I was a little affected."

"Then forget it all!" Imokawa Natsumi clapped her hands vigorously. "Remember, you are now a numb and powerless adult! Regret won't help!"

"Isn't the director being a bit harsh?" the boy said with a smile.

"Hurry up and get into the zone!" The girl picked up her camera without flinching. "I see dark clouds drifting over from the horizon. If we wait any longer, the lighting and everything will change."

"..." Jun Matsueda had no choice but to take a deep breath, slap his cheeks hard, and get back into character.

"Action!" The girl's soft, sweet voice rang out across the river.

After filming two more takes, Natsumi Imokawa finally got a satisfactory shot. By the time the two finished work and hurriedly walked towards the station, it was already 3:30 pm.

"Is it confirmed to be completed?" Jun Matsue asked the girl beside him, carrying his backpack.

"Yes! The filming is all finished!" Natsumi Imokawa said, walking while intently watching the video on the camera. The boy had to hold her shoulder and act as her guide dog.

"Next is the last part of Songzhi's voice-over." The girl looked up. "Should we do it another day?"

How long will it take?

"About thirty or forty minutes."

"..." Matsueda Jun looked at the approaching dark clouds, "Then let's finish it all today."

He checked his phone. Kurusu Yosei was on his way back to his apartment. The girl said she was buying groceries today, and Mochizuki Haruka was still at the hospital with her aunt, probably not returning until dinnertime.

The journey takes half an hour, and the dubbing takes about an hour. By 5 p.m. at the latest, I should be able to catch the tram home. Getting a little wet in the rain won't matter.

"But I probably won't have time to play games with you today, okay?" the boy said, looking up.

“Hmm…” Natsumi Imokawa’s expression was a little conflicted.

"It's okay, once I finish all the preliminary work today, I can focus on editing the video and preparing my portfolio!"

As for playing with Songzhi, there will be plenty of time after the admission results are announced... The girl thought reassuredly.

However, neither of them expected that the torrential rain that struck Tokyo in the evening would be more severe than ever before, enough to bring all the trains at Nishi-Ogikubo Station to a standstill.

Chapter 670 The Temptation of a Househusband

When Jun Matsueda sat in front of the computer in the recording studio and heard the faint sound of rain through his monitoring headphones, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

The boy took off his headphones and turned off the microphone in front of him. Natsumi Imokawa, who was staring at the computer screen, turned her head in confusion.

What happened to the pine branch?

He pointed to the window, which was covered by a dark curtain, and said, "I can hear the rain in my headphones."

They're sitting in the Imokawa family's recording studio right now, with specially designed sound units to handle ambient sounds—if they can hear the rain under these conditions, it's probably pouring rain outside.

"..." The girl's expression remained unchanged. Her eyes were empty as she listened intently to the sounds outside the room.

"Really!" Exclaimed Natsumi Imokawa, she stood up from her seat, walked around the soundproofing panel to the window, and pulled back the curtains with a whoosh.

An hour ago, the sky was a clear blue with creamy flecks floating in it, but now it has become incredibly dark. Large swaths of rain are pouring down from the low-hanging clouds, and the clear windows are covered with flowing rainwater, blurring the view of the ground.

"The rain is so heavy, it's like a typhoon is coming."

A boy's voice sounded behind her, and Imokawa Natsumi's shoulders trembled—Matsue's breath hit the back of her neck, feeling exceptionally hot compared to the cold air in the air-conditioned room.

The girl felt a little strange. She turned around, and the boy politely kept his distance.

"...Is Songzhi in a hurry to go back?"

Jun Matsuoka took out his phone and checked the time: 4:40, which was actually quite early.

"Given the current situation, is it still possible to continue recording?"

“Yes, you can.” Natsumi Imokawa leaned against the window behind her and nodded gently at him.

"I'll just turn up the noise reduction on the recording device."

“Let’s continue then.” The boy sat back down in front of the computer. “There’s still time. Let’s finish recording this last bit.”

"Since the rain is already so heavy, why not wait a bit? Maybe it will let up in a while."

“I think so too!” The girl nodded in agreement and sat down next to him. “It won’t take much time to record everything.”

Ten minutes later, the two of them simultaneously put down their headphones and looked at the completed audio track on the screen.

"Is it over?" Jun Matsue turned his head.

“It’s over…” Natsumi Imokawa said slowly.

"Well—" As the boy stood up to pack his things, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

It wasn't a call from girls, but a disaster alert from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

"The Chuo Line is suspended due to a personal injury accident; the Yamanote Line is suspended due to heavy rain; the Marunouchi Line is suspended due to heavy rain..."

Matsueda Jun looked at the alarms popping up one after another on his phone's lock screen. "Is it that serious?"

"Let me take another look!" The girl was actually quite excited. She ran to the window and pulled back the curtains again.

"Wow..." Her exclamation sounded as if she were admiring some scenery.

"Songzhi, the street has turned into a small river!"

"Really?" The boy walked up behind her again.

The window was slightly open, and you could clearly see that there were indeed ripples on the street in front of the apartment building. Cars were driving in from the subway station not far away, leaving trails of white water.

"What about the pine branch?" The girl turned to look at him. "Can we still go back?"

"That can't be right." Jun Matsueda glanced at his phone again. "The trains have all stopped running."

He could actually take a taxi, but putting aside whether he could even get one in this weather, the extra service fees and vehicle dispatch fees alone made him give up on that idea.

“Then…” Natsumi Imokawa blinked as she looked at him.

"Let's wait a little longer." Jun Matsue stretched. "If it's not a typhoon, it shouldn't keep raining this heavily."

Two minutes later, the boy sat on the sofa in the studio's living room, watching the serious-looking female news anchor on TV.

"The Tokyo area has experienced a short period of heavy rainfall, and the water levels of six rivers, including the Tama River and the Arakawa River, are rising rapidly and are about to exceed the warning level..."

"Five subway lines, including the Ginza Line and Marunouchi Line, are temporarily suspended. Some areas are experiencing flooding. Please be aware of traffic safety and exercise caution when traveling..."

"Hourly rainfall is expected to reach 100 millimeters in areas such as Shibuya and Nakano..."

The screen alternated between footage of various areas in Tokyo, all showing cities flooded by heavy rain.

"Songzhi, have a cup of hot milk first."

A small girl appeared before Jun Matsueda, holding a mug with a penguin's head drawn on it. The rising steam blended with the white waves on the television screen.

"Thank you." He reached out and took it. Imokawa Natsumi sat down next to him, holding another cup of hot milk in her hands.

The living room curtains were drawn back, and the sound of rain pattering against the half-wall window cast flowing light and shadow on the nearby floor. Jun Matsue sipped his warm milk, the sweet liquid at a perfect 60 degrees Celsius, sliding smoothly down his throat.

Even without air conditioning, the indoor temperature had dropped considerably. The boy glanced to the side and saw that Imokawa had changed into comfortable, close-fitting shorts and a vest as soon as she got home. The two weren't very close, but it was enough for him to feel the sweet heat emanating from the girl's exposed skin.

The cold, heavy rain just a wall away made the milk in my mouth and the gentle warmth of the girl beside me feel so reassuring.

"Didn't Imokawa say he was going to start editing the film right away?" Jun Matsueda casually brought up a topic, breaking the slightly ambiguous silence in the room.

"Hmm?" Natsumi Imokawa licked her lips and looked out the window somewhat awkwardly.

"This kind of weather is so exciting, I don't want to edit any more videos for now."

The boy turned his head to look out the window, the dappled sunlight from the rain falling on his face. "Can this really excite me?"

"Because I'm staying at home with Songzhi right now." The girl twirled the mug she was holding. "Isn't it nice to be able to enjoy this rare weather in peace?"

“That makes sense…” Jun Matsue turned around, and Natsumi Imokawa, who was looking up, met his gaze.

The two stared at each other unexpectedly for a moment, before the boy looked away first and glanced down at the time on his phone.

"Should I have dinner here?"

"It seems so, it's almost six o'clock." Natsumi Imokawa put down her cup and stood up. "Let me see if there's anything left in the fridge!"

Watching the soft flesh on the girl's thighs tremble slightly as she marched, Jun Matsueda held his phone up to his face.

"If we're having dinner out, we need to let them know..."

He opened the chat window, and the girls' avatars all started flashing simultaneously. He thought for a second and then clicked on the black cat avatar first.

"Has Songzhi gone home yet?"

Mochizuki Haruka was still in the hospital. She filmed a video, but she didn't appear in it herself. Instead, her aunt opened the window of the hospital corridor and let out a cheerful shout in the wind.

The woman's black hair swayed in the wind like water snakes, and her long black dress fluttered in the breeze. The boy recalled the typhoon day when he first met his aunt; she was just as mysterious and charming.

"No, I'm still at the Yuchuan Studio." He replied truthfully. "The final recording work just finished not long ago. It's raining heavily outside, so I probably won't be able to go home for dinner."

"The trams in Nishi-Ogikubo have stopped running?" the girl asked immediately.

"Hmm." Just as Jun Matsueda pressed the send button, he heard a sharp alarm pierce through the window and ring in his ears.

"A flood warning has been issued."

A call request immediately popped up on the phone screen. The boy made a "shh" gesture to Natsumi Imokawa, who was walking over, and she nodded in a panic.

Jun Matsueda took the phone, got up, and walked to the window. "Mochizuki?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone as Mochizuki Haruka listened intently to the alarm sounding on his end.

"Is it that serious in Matsue? I feel fine at the hospital in Bunkyo Ward."

"The Nakano Ward, which was flooded, is right next door."

"Shall we come pick you up?" the girl asked, as her aunt's indistinct teasing voice rang out beside her.

"No need, it's just that I can't go back for dinner." The boy turned around and looked behind him. Imokawa was sitting on the sofa, drinking milk obediently.

"The roads are severely flooded now, and there's a risk of your car breaking down if you drive here."

The girl thought for a moment, "Then I won't go back to the apartment. My aunt still has a few tests to do and the results aren't out yet."

Jun Matsue nodded. "See you later then?"

"uh-huh."

After hanging up the phone, he looked at Imokawa Natsumi who was approaching. "What do you mean?"

"So, is Songzhi going to stay for dinner?" the girl asked first.

The boy shrugged. "The flood warning has gone off, where else can I go?"

Natsumi Imokawa waved her hand cheerfully behind her back. "There are still some vegetables in the refrigerator, but no meat, only eggs and crab sticks."

"I'll make fried rice for Songzhi!" she said eagerly.

"Fried rice again?" Jun Matsueda closed the window behind him tightly. "Is this all I know how to make?"

"I can also cook noodles." The girl pouted her full lips. "Isn't fried rice better? It's convenient and nutritious!"

"I'll cook for you tonight." The boy returned to the sofa. "How about crab stick and scrambled egg rice?"

"Matsue is a guest, is it really appropriate for him to cook?" Natsumi Imokawa said apologetically.

...When you threw your bra on the sofa, didn't you think of me as a guest?

Jun Matsue didn't say these words aloud; he simply drank his hot milk in one gulp.

"It's settled then. I'll show you my skills tonight."

After the breaking news on TV finished, the apologetic girl went into the kitchen first to prepare the ingredients according to the chef's instructions for the evening. The boy, on the other hand, sat leisurely on the sofa, listening to the rain and reading the messages on his phone.

The lucky idol returned to her apartment before the rain started, and the girl filmed a video on the balcony. Although Matsueda Jun didn't turn on the sound, he could almost hear Kurusu's boisterous and unrestrained voice through the haphazardly moving camera lens.

"Neither Wangyue nor I will be coming home for dinner tonight," he replied.

"You're not coming back for dinner?!" Kurusu Yosei asked in surprise. "You guys aren't renting rooms outside, are you?"

"...Mochizuki is accompanying her aunt for a medical check-up. I'm at the studio in Imogawa. The trams are out of service and the streets are flooded, so I can't come back for the time being."

"Are you sure you're not booking a hotel room?" the girl asked, still somewhat doubtful.

Jun Matsueda had no choice but to take a picture of the studio full of DVDs and scripts and send it to her to dispel Miss Idol's suspicions.