Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 141

"But standing in front of you is—"

"JINIAS's strongest newcomer, the uncrowned king of the idol birth theory."

"This is the world of Laiqiyang!"

Jun Matsue looked at the arrogant young girl, then glanced at the program recordings on the counter screen.

This guy's cuteness and arrogance are directly proportional.

Chapter 234 Number One Fan

"What are you doing, wearing a mask and a hat, acting all high and mighty here?"

Jun Matsueda shook his head at the girl in front of him, then turned to look at the counter, "Be careful not to be mistaken for a suspicious person."

Yosuke Kurusu looked into the aisle behind her. A shop assistant wearing an apron looked over at her, and she hid next to the boy again.

"Songzhi, what are you looking at?" She poked his arm.

He looked at the Visible Light album that took up a large space on the counter and said, "I'm wondering why you have more albums than the other contestants."

"Because I was second before. Only the champion's album had more exposure than mine. If you keep watching the video recording, you'll also find that I appeared for the second most time."

The girl grabbed Matsueda Jun's arm and dragged him away from the counter. "But that's not important, come upstairs with me~"

"Wait, I haven't bought the album yet."

"It's okay, there's still some upstairs."

He had no choice but to follow the girl toward the escalator at the entrance. The two passed the checkout counter, where the girl with dyed hair and the girl with earrings were still queuing up with their albums.

Jun Matsue watched as Yosei Kurusu sneaked up behind the girl with the dyed hair and patted her on the shoulder.

"Huh?" The girl turned around, startled by the heavily bundled-up girl in front of her, and jumped back a step. "Um, is there something you need?"

Yosuke Kurusu pointed at the album in the girl's hand, gave a thumbs up, and said in a gruff voice, "Very tasteful!"

After saying that, she immediately ran towards the exit, leaving the girl who was staring blankly at the album in her hand behind.

“Are you afraid of not being discovered…” Jun Matsueda followed Yosei Kurusu onto the escalator, feeling as if he were watching over a large, runaway dog.

"I can't help it, seeing my fans is such a happy thing." The girl stood on tiptoe, swaying back and forth on the stairs, humming her own song.

"Then what will you do when you hold solo performances or fan meetings in the future?" The two passed the coffee shop on the second floor and continued walking to the third floor.

"Just thinking about it makes me feel like I'm about to fly!"

The escalator brought them to the third floor. Jun Matsueda looked at the sign at the entrance; this floor was the Japanese pop music section.

"Your album should be here, right?" He walked towards the door, but the girl pulled him back to the escalator.

"Not here, it's on the fourth floor!"

There were many people on the escalator on the third and fourth floors. Matsueda Jun and Kurusu Yosei stood very close together, and the girl's breath could be heard right next to his ear.

"My current role is still that of an idol, so my album is in the anime and idol section on the fourth floor."

Yosei Kurusu's voice was very soft, as if she was afraid that others would hear her. So she moved her head closer and closer, almost touching his shoulder. Jun Matsueda could even feel the heat of the girl's tongue.

Ok?

"When did you take off your mask?" He turned his head, his cheek brushing against her hair. Half a year had passed, and the girl's cherry blossom pudding-like hair had disappeared, turning into a shiny black color.

Jun Matsueda pushed the girl's face away, saying, "Don't get so close to me, my hair is itchy."

"Because it's hot indoors wearing a mask." She leaned her head closer again, this time even closer. The large brim of her hat enveloped their world. Matsueda Jun couldn't see the girl's back, but could smell the girl's faint fragrance, with a hint of refreshing lemon.

"Is it really itchy?" Yosei Kurusu looked at him in the small darkness created by the hat, and Jun Matsueda was momentarily dazed.

The girl's eyes shone brightly in the shadow of the hat brim, as if the album cover she had just seen had come to life, and the eyes of a god appeared before her.

The escalator took the two to the fourth floor, and rhythmic music came from the doorway, bringing Matsueda Jun back to his senses.

"With so much hair pressed against you, of course it will itch." He brushed aside the girl's black hair, took the lead and left the escalator, and went into the fourth floor.

"Hmph~" Kurusu Yosei followed behind him, curling the ends of his hair and sliding them between his cheeks and neck.

The two stood in front of the display stand on the fourth floor. The counter was completely dominated by Yosei Kurusu's albums; it seemed to be her dedicated section.

“There’s even a standee of you here.” Jun Matsueda looked at the cardboard in front of him.

Beside the counter was a life-size standee of a girl dressed in a gorgeous stage outfit, winking, holding a microphone in her right hand, and pointing to the person standing in front of the standee with her left.

"Actually, this is where the company spends its resources. The resources on the first floor are for 'Idol's Birth,' and we didn't spend much money on them." Lai Qiyang walked around her booth and was quite satisfied with the company's setup. She returned to the life-size standee, looked left and right, and saw that there were no people around for the time being.

The girl immediately took off her hat and mask, and handed her phone to Jun Matsueda. "Matsueda, quickly take a picture of me! I want to keep it as a souvenir!"

Jun Matsue took the phone and held it up, watching her strike the exact same pose as the standee, with both the 3D girl and the 2D girl pointing at him.

"What a strange feeling..."

"Hurry up and take the picture!" Kurusu Yosei maintained his smile, glancing into the distance out of the corner of his eye. "Someone's coming soon!"

After a series of camera shutter clicks, the girl put on a hat and mask with astonishing speed and hid behind Jun Matsueda.

A group of students in school uniforms passed by them, and a few of them left the group and walked to the counter of "Visible Light".

Jun Matsueda stood behind them, took three albums from the shelf, and walked toward Yosei Kurusu, who was hidden behind the shelf.

"Let's go to the cashier to pay."

Back on the first floor, Oasis songs were playing in the lobby. As Yosuke Kuraki walked out of the store, he saw the yellow bag in the hand of the boy next to him, with the record store's red logo on it.

"I was just punishing you for buying one more ticket, why did you buy three?"

Jun Matsuoka looked up, pretending to think, "One is for listening, one is for preaching, and one is for collecting."

"Is this what they call fan power?" The girl's eyes widened in curiosity as she circled around him. "I accept being Songzhi's number one fan!"

"When we get home, I'll sign all three of your albums. They'll become super valuable limited edition autographed albums!"

"How do we get home?" Jun Matsue ignored the girl's daydreams.

"Let's take a taxi." Kurusu Yosei took out his phone to call a taxi, and five minutes later, the two were already sitting in a taxi.

"Matsueda, being the number one fan isn't easy, you know." The girl sat next to Matsueda Jun, looking at the photos he had taken of her.

"Most agencies run fan clubs, which require membership fees and participation in various activities to increase activity levels. The more money you spend and the more actively you participate, the more likely you are to become the number one fan."

"So complicated?" Jun Matsueda was looking at the booklet that came with the record, which was an introduction to Yosei Kurusu, and it also said that his specialty was cooking.

“But it’s different for Yosuke Kuriki. As a newly debuted idol, her requirements for her number one fan are very simple.”

"As long as I can continue to like her, that's enough~"

The girl winked at him, looking incredibly cute.

Chapter 235 One week ends, another begins

Even though Yosuke Kuraki is a glamorous idol in a nine-story record store, he still has to wash the dishes left over from lunch when he gets back to his apartment.

"By the way, what are the projected sales figures for your debut album? The company should have calculated them, right?"

Jun Matsueda was cleaning the cat hair off the sofa. He twisted the golden fur in his hand into a small ball and looked up at the girl in the kitchen.

"The sales department said they expect sales of 30,000 to 40,000 copies." Yosei Kurusu didn't turn around; her apron-clad back view exuded a softer, more domestic charm.

"It doesn't seem like that much."

Jun Matsueda tossed the pom-pom in his hand and sprayed some air freshener in the living room. It smelled like lemon, so it seemed he had bought it from Yosuke Kishi.

Is the faint lemon scent on her from fabric freshener or perfume?

Or was it from drinking lemon soda?

"That's already a lot! In the last Oricon chart, the 50th-ranked album only sold 33,000 copies in six months!"

If we can sell 30,000 to 40,000 in a year, it seems like we can easily get into the top 100 on the Oricon charts... The fluff ball was tossed up and down in front of Jun Matsueda.

"However, my agent and I think that selling ten or twenty thousand copies would be a victory." Yosuke Kurusu took off his apron and walked out of the kitchen.

“My original positioning was not to focus on physical albums, but now I’m doing quite well on streaming.”

The girl walked past Jun Matsueda, waved, and snatched his pom-pom. "The pre-released single has already made it onto the weekly singles chart."

"Wow, amazing~" Jun Matsue watched her walk into the bedroom and then take out a pom-pom from behind the sofa cushion.

"Luckily, I hid an even bigger one."

After he finished cleaning up the cat hair in every nook and cranny, his phone, which was on the coffee table, rang.

A message arrived from a cat-themed profile picture: Mochizuki Haruka, dressed in a simple white dress, stood on the deck of a ship. The sea breeze billowed her skirt, outlining the contours of her body. The girl's curves were shrouded in a misty haze, and sunlight seeped through the sea fog, evenly bathing her in a hue that simultaneously revealed both purity and desire.

Jun Matsueda replied with a question mark, "You left Tokyo again?"

“I still have some pictures saved.” Mochizuki Haruka replied quickly. “Since they’re already saved, I might as well send them to you.”

Jun Matsue shook his head and put his phone in his pocket. It seemed that Mochizuki was in a good mood, perhaps because there was good news from the hospital.

To celebrate Yosei Kurusu's album release, Jun Matsueda cooked several dishes for dinner: shredded pork with garlic sauce, pumpkin with salted egg yolk, and lettuce with garlic sauce.

The TV was showing a rebroadcast of "The Birth of an Idol," specifically the episode featuring Yosuke Kurusu, which she had specifically requested to watch.

The girl ate while watching herself on the screen, her expression one of utter satisfaction. "Matsugi, you must have been Chinese in your past life!"

Jun Matsue stopped picking up food with his chopsticks, looked up at Yosei Kurusu, and confirmed that she was just joking.

"If we can't make it in Tokyo in the future, let's open a Chinese restaurant together! Matsue will be the chef, and I'll be the waitress and the receptionist~" The girl picked up a piece of pumpkin with salted egg yolk and put it in her mouth, then happily kicked him with her leg.

“You can’t open a Chinese restaurant just by knowing how to cook a few dishes.” Jun Matsueda swallowed the lettuce in his mouth. “And why can’t I make it in Tokyo? I’m going to become the king of part-time jobs.”

"Being a high-earning employee must be too tiring," the girl said, taking a sip of barley tea. "How about when I reach the pinnacle of idol status and start my own company, I'll bring you here as my assistant? All you have to do is cook for me every day, and then I'll even bring over some dairy cows from Hokkaido—I want everything that Mochizuki has..."

Saturday night marks the end of Yosuke Ichi's fantasy time.

The next morning, when Jun Matsue walked out of his bedroom, the door to the next bedroom was already open; the girl had gotten up even earlier than him.

A note left by Yosuke Kurusu on the refrigerator reads: "I went to the company to see my manager, I won't be back for lunch~"

It seems the girl's excitement hasn't faded yet. Matsueda Jun ate the toast she left in the pot, ate the milk he hadn't finished drinking, and went out. Today was his day to work.

He arrived at the Setagaya Literature Museum by bicycle and saw Tomatsu Tomoka's white car in the bike shed. When he entered the library, the girl was already wearing an apron and sitting behind the counter.

Good morning, Songzhi.

"morning."

The two didn't exchange many pleasantries, but focused on their work. They were the same type of people in this respect—finishing their work first, and then enjoying the rest of their leisure time.

After lunch, the books piled up on the counter were finally sorted out, and Tomatsu Yuka put the last book in her hand into its corresponding position on the bookshelf.

The girl turned and walked toward the counter. Jun Matsueda was sipping hot tea. Outside the library’s large floor-to-ceiling windows, cherry blossoms were fluttering down. When a gust of wind blew, the petals fell like rain, casting dappled shadows on the boy behind the counter.

Tomatsu Yuka stood by the bookshelf for more than ten seconds before returning to her seat. She turned to the side, propped her head up with one hand, and changed her angle to appreciate Matsueda Jun's profile.

"Are you just going to watch me spend the afternoon like this?" Jun Matsue put down his teacup.

"There's no way around it, you can never get tired of your first love," the girl said with a smile.

Jun Matsueda turned his gaze to the biology exam questions in front of him, using the classification of hormones to deflect the blunt questions from the girl next to him.

Tomatsu Yuka turned around and looked at the densely packed bookshelves in the hall in front of her, which was the maze she and Matsueda Jun had built together.

"Next week is the time for club recruitment, and I have some feelings about it."

"What are you feeling sentimental about?" This was a topic he could still discuss with the girl.

"It's amazing how we've become seniors now." Tomatsu Yuka held her pen and doodled on her notebook. "These past few days, I've run into Aya-chan on the stairs, and she calls me 'senpai' in such a sweet and obedient way."

"Isn't it nice to become a senior and be relied upon?" Jun Matsueda asked the girl.

"It's not that it's bad, it's just that I'm still not used to these changes."

Tomatsu Yuka forced a smile; perhaps subconsciously she disliked change, just as she disliked waiting.

Class division, subject division, changing classrooms, the departure of senior students—these are all things she hates. She hates the feeling of her accustomed life becoming fragmented.

"Then you'd better hurry up and get used to it. Starting next week, you'll have more and more contact with the new students."

"I will try my best~" The girl clenched her fist and waved it in mid-air.

Perhaps change isn't such a bad thing, Tomatsu Yuka told herself, otherwise how would she have had the opportunity to gradually get closer to Matsueda-kun?

On Monday morning, Tomatsu Yuka walked into the classroom and saw a girl sitting upright in her seat, to the left of Matsueda Jun's seat.