Am I being simulated by their love affair?

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As she spoke, she stuck out her tongue and licked the boy's tightly clenched thumb and forefinger. Matsueda Jun glared at the girl and released his grip.

Compared to the pleasant journey there, the return trip was unusually quiet with one person missing. The two quickly returned to the hotel entrance. Walking through the lobby, Mochizuki Haruka looked at the calm-faced boy.

"Is the pine branch really not angry?"

Jun Matsueda shook his head, then smiled at the girl, "Your yukata looks really nice today, I forgot to tell you."

Mochizuki Haruka blinked. The boy's smile was strangely similar to that of Tomatsu Yuka when he left, which made her feel uneasy.

She grabbed the hem of the yukata and shook it. "Then next time we go to the hot springs together, I'll wear it again for you to see."

The boy nodded.

Fifteen minutes later, Jun Matsue, having taken off his yukata, walked alone into the men's bath and soaked in the steamy water.

"Phew..." He let out a long breath and looked up at the water droplets on the ceiling.

Although there's not much to do in Atami, soaking in the hot springs is truly refreshing.

Looking around, there were few people in the white mist. Many boys hadn't returned yet; they seemed to be having a bonfire party on the beach.

Jun Matsueda picked up his phone and checked the time. It was only a little past nine o'clock, but he already wanted to go back to his room and sleep soundly.

After all, once you fall asleep, you can stop thinking about anything.

Recalling the fireworks festival, his thoughts, which had melted because of the hot spring, began to solidify again.

"This can't go on any longer," the boy said to the gently rippling spring water.

Tonight's fireworks display serves as a cautionary tale; if the current situation continues, it will only harm everyone.

Laughter and merriment could be heard from the entrance to the hot spring. Jun Matsueda shifted his position and sat down at the deepest part of the pool.

So, should I break up with Tomatsu Yuka?

The boy fell silent.

The girl's forced smile, when recalled now, only pierced his heart more.

More importantly, when he heard Tomatsu's frail words, Matsueda Jun naturally felt a voice of rebuttal.

"That's not how it works."

He wanted the girl to stay by his side not just out of pity.

"..."

So what should we do?

Jun Matsue lowered his body, letting the warm, almost scalding water flow over his neck.

A simple choice between two options, the easiest possible multiple-choice question.

However, now that things have come to this, it seems he really has no choice left.

Chapter 609 Never Let Go

After soaking in the hot spring, Jun Matsueda went back to his room to change into some comfortable clothes before leaving the hotel.

They were greeted by young men and women in yukatas, jostling and laughing, apparently having just returned from a bonfire party.

"Sakamuro!" Jun Matsueda called out to a boy in the crowd, "Have you seen Yuka?"

Sakamuro Ken, who was clutching several fans in his hand, stopped in his tracks. "Tomatsu, huh...?"

He asked the girl behind him a couple of questions, then turned around.

"They said Tomatsu went back to the hotel a long time ago!"

"Received, thank you." Jun Matsue nodded and walked past the crowd.

"Is Matsue still going out?" Ken Sakamuro called out to his retreating figure.

The boy waved from under the streetlight.

"Let's take a short walk."

The neighborhood where the hotel was located was called Kasuga-cho. After crossing several tree-lined streets that lived up to the name "Kasuga," the dark sea reappeared before his eyes.

Jun Matsue took a deep breath; the damp sea breeze was slightly cool, as if trying to steal away the warmth from under his shirt little by little.

The boy glanced at the road behind him; the empty road surface twisted and stretched towards the distant coastline.

He turned back to look ahead, where a few lights were still lit in the distant Atami Harbor, probably by local residents who, like him, were out for a stroll.

"Let's move forward..."

The sea breeze carried the sound of the tide as Jun Matsue walked along the edge of the road. In the dim light beyond the stone railings, where the streetlights couldn't reach, the waves crashing against the rocky beach shattered weakly into powder, leaving a fleeting silver spray in his peripheral vision.

As the jogging man passed by, panting, the boy who hadn't stopped walking sighed softly.

Some multiple-choice questions are indeed difficult.

To be honest, he understands his senior a little better now.

Jun Matsue was very self-aware; no matter how much his senior liked him, it was hard to compare with the family that had raised him for nearly twenty years.

It wasn't because she was happy at home; it was just that after nearly twenty years of living like that, leaving her family was no different from changing herself—even if she knew it might be a good thing, the pain of change wouldn't be lessened by whether it was good or bad.

Just like now, as he takes a walk, he already knows that the best choice is not to make a choice.

But if he makes this choice, is he still the same Jun Matsuoka?

"...What else can we do?"

The boy turned his head and looked at the boundless sea shrouded in night.

Maki Yami is a greedy perfectionist, but she eventually realizes that perfection is impossible, so she makes a rational decision.

Jun Matsue picked up a stone from the roadside and threw it into the water.

"But I think I've lost my rationality."

A deep "thump" echoed across the silent highway, as if the night in Atami had just awakened.

"I can't let go," he said to himself, watching the ripples disappear into the waves in an instant.

Whether it's Mochizuki Haruka or Tomatsu Tomoka, it seems like she can't let go of either of them.

When Mochizuki uttered those derogatory words to Tomatsu in front of him, Matsueda Jun could no longer deceive himself—

He clearly realized that in his heart, there was no longer any significant difference in their status.

So, is it possible that neither of them will let go?

Jun Matsue continued along the road.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Mochizuki Haruka first.

Are you hungry?

The girl replied with a question mark, and the boy continued typing, "I'm taking a walk outside now, do you want me to bring you something to eat?"

Mochizuki replied after a while, sending a voice message.

I want to eat goldeneye snapper!

Compared to her caution and unease on the road, the girl's tone was much softer—she must have realized that Matsueda Jun wasn't angry with her, so she felt relieved.

Golden-eyed sea bream... Jun Matsueda looked around.

We're almost at the beach where the fireworks festival is held. There aren't many shops open nearby, and I wonder if the ramen place we had for dinner is still open.

"Let me take a look first," the boy replied.

"Then I'll wait for you to come back~"

After staring at Mochizuki Haruka's black cat avatar for a while, Matsueda Jun switched to Tomatsu Yuka's chat window.

"Is there anything you'd like to eat, Yu-Hana?"

"Is Jun-kun outside?" the girl replied just as quickly.

"Yeah, we went for a walk after soaking in the hot springs. You didn't have dinner, you must be hungry now, right?"

"Actually, it's not so bad. But if Tsunku is going to bring some, I'll happily eat it all!"

The answer was very Tomatsu-esque. Jun Matsueda nodded, as if the girls immediately reverted to their usual selves once they stopped seeing each other.

So what do you want to eat?

"Hmm... desserts or snacks are fine, just buy whatever you think is best, Jun-kun~"

As always, Matsumoto Jun gave the same answer: he put down his phone and walked away from the beach where the sound of the waves was deafening.

Not far away was the platform where they had watched the fireworks display. Just over an hour ago, the coastline was ablaze with light and bustling with people, but now it was sparsely populated and left to the ravages of the tide.

Standing on the dimly lit beach, watching the shimmering water under the moonlight for a while, the boy turned around, his footsteps drowned out by the swaying waves.

At 9:40 p.m., Jun Matsue returned to the hotel carrying bags full of stuff. Ken Sakamuro, who was in the room, opened his eyes wide in surprise.

"Did Songzhi go to buy late-night snacks?"

"...I guess so." The boy smiled and took a jar of pudding out of the bag and handed it to him.

"I'll put these things in my room first. Please keep an eye on them for me so that no one who comes to visit steals them."

"No problem!" Ken Sakamuro, busy opening the pudding, saluted and watched his roommate leave again.

Jun Matsue went up to the third floor and glanced at the bag he was carrying—he had just put a golden-eye snapper rice bowl and a fruit sandwich in his room, and now he had some desserts and snacks from the Atami Shopping Street.

So it goes without saying where he's going now.

Stepping into the umbrella building's corridor, Jun Matsue greeted the girls in the corridor and, under their curious gazes as they turned around, knocked on the door of a certain room.

The noisy sounds from behind the door suddenly quieted down, and a spirited girl spoke up to ask.

"Who is it?"

The boy coughed twice. "I'm Jun Matsue. Is Yuka inside?"

The room immediately became noisy again, and the chattering behind the door grew even louder.

"It's Matsueda-kun~"

"Yuhua, Yuhua, I've come to see you."

"My boyfriend came to visit me on set!"

He soon heard Tomatsu Yuka's voice, "Don't stare at me, it feels weird~"

Although she said this, the girl's smile was obvious. Her footsteps approached the door, followed by the sound of turning the handle.

"hello--"

The thin wooden door opened, and Jun Matsue watched as the girls in the room peeked out and waved to him from behind Yuka Tomatsu.

"Wow, this is so lively!" He smiled. "Is this a party?"

“That’s right~” a girl waved the card in her hand at him, “This is UNO!”

“This is Hanafuda~” another girl held up a deck of elegantly patterned playing cards.

"Matsueda-kun, do you want to play together?"

"Alright, alright..." Tomatsu Yuka smiled helplessly, "Let's go outside and chat."

She reached out and put her hand on the boy's shoulder, then pushed him out the door.

"These are snacks I brought for you." Jun Matsueda held up the bag in his hand and waved it in front of the girl. "Butter red bean bread, fried fish cakes, and pudding."

Tomatsu Yuka stared at the three plastic bags, which were completely full, and her mouth dropped open slightly.

"So much... Could it be that Tsun-kun wants to fatten me up like a pig?"

The boy laughed, "You can choose your favorite flavor first, and then share the rest with the others."

The girl nodded obediently, "Then I'll try a bite first~"

She opened the bag in the boy's hand, picked out a fried fish cake, and took a bite.

"Mmm..." Tomatsu Tomohana nodded happily, "Being able to eat whole shrimp meat and melted, hot mayonnaise is super delicious!"

"Then try more of this flavor." Jun Matsue tapped the paper bag with his finger. "The different flavors are packaged separately, so it's easy to find them."

"Mmm!" The girl puffed out her cheeks and chewed. "They must be so happy."