Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 354 How Deep is the Courtyard?

Now that things have come to this, I've fallen for my friend's lover.
Jun Matsue looked up at the sky as if nothing was wrong, "It sounds like one of those clichéd plots."

"As long as it's well-made, there's no such thing as cheesy or not!" Natsumi Imokawa retorted, pouting.

“If you look at the previous 'Tokyo Love Story', just looking at the plot, the male lead is in a love triangle with two childhood friends, and the female lead is the mistress of her married boss.”

"Isn't it also quite melodramatic? And there are still tons of people watching it."

As the girl spoke, she unconsciously began to move closer to the boy's body again.

The thin clothing of summer blurred the boundary of their body temperature. Jun Matsue took a step to the side to prevent himself from being overwhelmed by the girl's softness.

“That seems to make sense.” Jun Matsueda looked at the crew members carrying equipment onto the bus. “Is this scene finished filming?”

Natsumi Imokawa took out her phone and looked at it. "Next up is the train station scene, a kissing scene between the male and female leads. That part is pretty exciting too!"

As she spoke, she walked toward the film crew. However, after taking only a few steps, the shadow above the girl's head disappeared. She turned around, and the boy was still standing there.

"Isn't the pine branch moving?"

"Coffee isn't enough to quench my thirst, I'll go buy a bottle of water." Jun Matsueda pointed to the convenience store on the other side. "You go ahead."

The girl hesitated for a moment, then Jun Matsue handed her the umbrella. “You don’t want to miss any details of the shoot, do you? You don’t need to stay with me, I’ll be there in a bit.”

Natsumi Imokawa had no choice but to nod. "Then I'll send you the address."

"Okay." The boy smiled. "What would you like to drink?"

"Banana milk!" the girl said without hesitation. "Strawberry milk is fine too if you don't have that."

After parting ways with Natsumi Imokawa, Jun Matsueda walked into the convenience store alone, opened the beverage counter, and found the simplest mineral water and the cutest banana milk among the crowded and colorful drinks. He then paid at the counter.

He thought for a moment, then took a few more bottles of cold drinks, paid the bill again, and walked out with the plastic bag.

Maybe other people in the crew want to drink it too—a few bottles of cold drinks won't cost much, but they can improve your and Imokawa's image on set.

His phone vibrated in his pocket; Natsumi Imokawa had sent him the address—the nearest subway station. Jun Matsueda didn't rush off; instead, he looked up and took a picture of the sky filled with piled-up clouds.

"The sky is so beautiful today, I wonder if my senior can see it?" he sent a message.

Looking up at the swirling clouds in the sky, Jun Matsue put the bottled water back into the plastic bag.

He walked toward the station, which was hidden among the buildings, leaving his complaints behind.

"A melodramatic campus love story"

Yamami Maki took out her phone from the sleeve of her kimono—the screen lit up with a message from Matsueda Jun. She tapped the screen, and a sky filled with drifting clouds appeared before her eyes.

The girl seemed to sense something. She looked up at the long corridor where she was and outside. Several birds flew across the sky, their distance making them appear as tiny drops of ink as they flitted across the white canvas.

Yamami Maki lowered her head and replied to Matsueda Jun's message amidst the fragrance of tea.

"I can see it too! The clouds today look like cotton candy. Let's go eat some together next time!"

The boy on the other side didn't reply for a moment. She waited for a while before putting her phone back in her pocket and looking at the men sitting in the center of the Japanese-style room.

Those were her father and grandfather, who were talking. The old man, dressed in a black linen kimono, noticed the girl's gaze. He put down his tea and smiled at Yamami Maki, saying, "Aren't men's affairs too boring? Maki, go play with your sister. Don't miss the family dinner tonight."

"Thank you, Grandpa." The girl bowed her head in greeting, then stood up, gestured to her seated father and the tea master behind her, before walking towards the corridor outside the room.

The wooden corridor was sparsely populated, with only a few servants walking at the end. Yamami Maki walked down the corridor, dressed in a kimono and straw sandals, and strolled in the lush green courtyard.

This is the main residence of the Yami family. The girl's parents come every two weeks, sometimes without her. The garden is located in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo—one of the safest areas with the least population movement, neither too close nor too far from Chiyoda Ward.

Yamami Maki walked slowly, observing every plant and tree in the courtyard, noting any changes since her last visit—this was how she spent her childhood here.

The girl had a very complicated impression of this garden. She used to hate being in that tea-scented Japanese-style room—the time spent kneeling was counted in hours, and no one cared about her opinions or feelings. Yamami Maki just sat there like a delicate doll, for people to admire.

However, as she has grown older, she can now sit kneeling with ease, something she used to find difficult. Her grandfather, worried that she might get tired or bored, would even instruct her to leave first. The once rigid old man has also shown a gentle side.

However, it's hard for Yami Maki to say that these changes are a good thing—those strict rules and requirements sometimes represent genuine importance, a realization she has gained after living in the Yami family for eighteen years.

The girl walked to the end of the road, where a person was sitting in the pavilion by the pond; it was her older sister.

Yamami Ikuka looked at her younger sister sitting in front of her. The woman waved the fan in her hand, her posture leisurely.

"Grandpa seems to be in a good mood today?"

If the old man is in a bad mood, his younger sister won't appear in front of him so early—this mascot-like role was always played by the older sister, Yamami Maki, before she had achieved some success in the tea ceremony.

The girl nodded, then looked at the empty seat next to her sister. "Isn't my brother-in-law here?"

"My brother went to chat with him." The woman put down her fan and looked at the fish swimming in the pond.

There was a brief silence in the pavilion. Then, Yamami Maki's phone vibrated again in the sleeve of her kimono. She glanced at the message, and the corners of her lips, which had been pursed, unconsciously turned up.

The woman looked at her with a smile. "Was that a message from Matsueda-kun?"

"I went to Mingdaqian's studio a few more times after that, but I still didn't see him."

"Why is my sister always thinking about seeing him?" The girl rolled her eyes at her.

"Of course I'm curious! This is the first time I've ever met a guy who can make my little sister's heart flutter!"

"Doesn't Moji have anything to say to me?"

After looking around to make sure no one else was there, Yamami Maki asked cautiously.

"You're not allowed to tell your brother-in-law, okay?"

"Don't worry~"

The girl looked at the sky outside the pavilion, where thick clouds were parted by swaying branches and leaves, casting light and cool shadows.

"I knew about Songzhi when the new students first enrolled last year, but I didn't get to know him until before last summer vacation."

This was the first time she had a topic of conversation of her own in this strictly ordered courtyard.

(End of this chapter)