Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 569 The Emotions of Time

When Mochizuki Haruka opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the boy's body on the sofa, so close to her.

“…?” She made a nasal sound as she reached out and lifted the hem of the loose white T-shirt in front of her.

As Jun Matsue was watching TV, he felt a sudden emptiness around his waist, followed by the cool touch of slender fingers. He quickly turned his head and pressed down on the girl's hand.

"You've woken up, Wangyue?" The boy looked at her misty eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I thought I was dreaming..."

The girl, who was lying on her side, yawned softly and sat up from the sofa.

There were only the two of them on the sofa, and Mochizuki Haruka blinked in surprise.

"Where did Kurusu go?"

Jun Matsue pointed to the closed door behind her. "I got too hot from playing games, so I went to change my clothes."

Mochizuki looked at him with a skeptical gaze. She climbed up to the boy, carefully examined his expression, and then sniffed his body closely.

"...What are you doubting?" Jun Matsue held the girl's shoulders and pushed her away.

"It's alright now." There was nothing suspicious about it, and Mochizuki Haruka looked relaxed.

"Mochizuki's awake?" Kurusu Yosei, now dressed in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, pushed open the bedroom door and stood behind the girl.

"I bought you curry and butter, and they're in the fridge."

Mochizuki Haruka found her slippers by the sofa, walked to the refrigerator, opened the cabinet door, and inside were indeed the familiar Hokkaido butter and Bactrum curry. She nodded reluctantly.

"Have you been to the supermarket? What time is it now?"

"It's past four o'clock." Jun Matsue carried the cat from the balcony back to the living room. "You were sleeping so soundly, so I didn't wake you."

"I was careless..." The girl pouted and looked at the paused game screen on the TV.

Fortunately, they didn't do anything.

Yosei Kurusu sat down on the sofa again, her fair thighs, encased in shorts, pressed against the fabric, her taut skin slightly deformed.

"Want to keep playing games?" Jun Matsue placed Kinchi at its owner's feet and picked up the controller from the coffee table. "Are there any games that can be played by three people?"

Mochizuki glanced at him, then poked her cat's belly with her toe. The little female cat lazily rolled over.

"Alright, alright, I'm a bit tired from playing." Miss Idol waved her hand. "Let's just pick a TV series and chat while we watch it~"

"Have you finished watching 'Now That Things Have Gone'?" She picked up the remote control.

"After watching the first season, you still say the director is just keeping things in suspense, that's really despicable."

"I remember now!" The girl slapped her thigh. "They talked about breaking up with his senior, then showed a scene with his childhood sweetheart and that was it! That was really annoying!"

Mochizuki Haruka glanced at the boy again. She hadn't seen this drama before, but the plot sounded somewhat familiar.

Yosei Kurusu's final choice for a TV series was "The Solitary Gourmet." The weathered face of the middle-aged man in a suit appeared on the screen, and the cat lying on the floor let out a startled cry.

The girl's attention wasn't on the screen; she turned to the boy beside her and asked, "Is Songzhi graduating soon?"

Jun Matsue nodded. "The common exam is in eight months."

"Eight months..." she blinked, "That doesn't seem like very long. Have you decided which university you want to attend?"

"The University of Tokyo."

"The University of Tokyo?!" Yosei Kurusu's jaw dropped. "Wow—"

"Is Songzhi going to be a lawyer? Or a doctor?"

"...I should be in the Department of Economics."

“Todai isn’t just about these two faculties.” Mochizuki Haruka kicked off her slippers, hugged her feet, and shifted her position on the sofa.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jun Matsuoka saw a pair of delicate, bare feet. He turned his head, and the girl looked at him obediently, appearing extremely well-behaved.

"You're not going to Tokyo University too, are you?" Yosei Kurusu asked, sticking his head out from the other side.

“…I’m not going.” Mochizuki Haruka replied, her tone not very happy. “I’m going to Keio.”

"Keio?" The idol girl who dropped out of high school didn't know much about universities, so she took out her phone and searched for information.

"It's said to be a school for young masters and ladies."

The girl snorted and tilted her chin up like a cat; she couldn't be bothered to explain anything to Kurusu.

"So what will you study at Matsueda University?" Yosei Kurusu asked with great interest.

"The main courses should be business management and marketing, etc."

“Hmm…” The girl looked up and thought, “It sounds like the kind of person who wears a suit and sits in an office directing his subordinates.”

The boy smiled and said, "Nothing special. You can find plenty of people like that on the streets of Tokyo."

She looked to the other side, "Then what does Mochizuki study?"

Wang Yueyao uttered a few words: "Family business management, asset allocation."

"Hey—it sounds pretty much the same as what Songzhi learned."

"There are still differences." The girl smiled happily.

"Once Songzhi graduates, she can work for me."

That was her plan when she first met Jun Matsueda, and after several twists and turns, this goal seems to have become possible again.

"Oh." Kurusu Yosei's expression didn't change much. She glanced at the man on TV, who was enjoying his food and had an involuntary, complicated smile on his face.

"Will Matsue be working for the Mochizuki family from now on?"

"I don't know," Jun Matsue replied crisply. "That's at least four years from now, I don't know about now."

"I can only say that by then, I might be qualified to work for the Mochizuki family."

Yosuke Kurusu cast a smug look at the girl on the other side—"Matsueda never said he wanted to work at your house!"

Mochizuki Haruka turned her face away and ignored him, her right hand, which was wrapped around her legs, gently tugged at the boy's clothes.

Her relationship with Songzhi will only grow closer, not further apart.

"University..." the idol girl said in a tone like a middle-aged man sighing over life, "an unfamiliar territory."

The boy rolled his eyes at her. "If you want, you can go back to high school for two years, or you can take the college entrance exam again."

"Never mind then~" The girl, who had been pretending to be world-weary, immediately reverted to her carefree demeanor. She had only been imitating the middle-aged man on TV.

"After all, my life is already quite fulfilling!"

“I don’t think it’s fulfilling enough…” Mochizuki Haruka said with ill intent, staring at the cat lying on the floor.

It's a pity her family doesn't run an entertainment business, otherwise they would have arranged more business collaborations for her.

Jun Matsue got up, picked up the lemon tea from the refrigerator, and poured a cup for himself and the two girls.

"Has Kurusu been on any shows lately?" He was more interested in the young girl's stage performances than watching the older man eat.

"Yes!" Yosei Kurusu picked up the remote control and quickly switched to another program.

"This is a show I did with my junior. It's a bit like karaoke—two people sing together, and if you get all the notes right, you can get one million yen!" Jun Matsueda watched the idol on TV holding the microphone and singing her heart out. Standing next to her was a slightly shorter girl who looked like the soft and sweet type, and her singing voice was exceptionally gentle.

"This is your junior?"

"Isn't she cute?" the girl asked with a grin. "She just debuted last month. The company felt she didn't have enough exposure, so they arranged for her to attend some shows with me."

"Like the soup that comes with the set meal?" Mochizuki Haruka asked.

“Eri sings really well!” Kurusu Yosei glared at her. “She just needs time to get used to the stage!”

"She has a great personality! But she lacks a bit of camera presence, and her performance on stage and in front of the camera is rather awkward."

"But with me by her side, she'll definitely shine brightly very soon!"

Yosei Kurusu confidently patted his chest, the swaying motion causing Haruka Mochizuki's softened gaze to regain its coldness.

"Kurusu-senpai..." Jun Matsueda stared at the lively girl on the screen.

Even though she intentionally interacted more with her juniors and reduced her own presence, she was still the undisputed protagonist in front of the camera.

Kurusu Yosei is such a special existence that others cannot learn from him, much less replicate him.

"Time really flies." He took a sip of lemon tea, his words full of emotion.

“It feels like just yesterday that I was watching your debut performance from the audience, but now Kurusu is already mentoring younger artists.”

Mochizuki Haruka pursed her lips; she didn't like Matsue talking about his past with other women in front of her.

And it was something she didn't know.

“…Indeed, time flies.” Yosei Kurusu looked at himself on the screen. “It seems like just yesterday, and a whole bunch of days have passed by in a blur.”

There was a strange emotion in her smile, which Jun Matsue noticed, but he didn't understand it.

Five hours later, the noisy living room, which had been filled with noise all day, fell into darkness, and the boy went into his bedroom.

He took off his clothes, got into bed, and crawled under the covers. Just a few minutes after lying down, there was a soft knock on the door.

"..." Jun Matsue glanced at the tightly closed door.

Even though I don't know who's outside, I'd better put my clothes on first.

He got out of bed, put on his slippers, walked to the bedroom door, and turned the handle—before him appeared Yosuke Kurusu's flawless face, slightly damp.

The moisture on her face wasn't from tears, but from the lingering dampness after washing up. Behind the girl was a dark corridor, and the cold light from the bedroom shone on her face, making her appear less radiant and energetic during the day, and more delicate and quiet.

However, this sense of vulnerability disappeared as soon as she raised the corners of her lips.

"Shh—" Kurusu Yosei laughed and held up a finger to the boy, "That Mochizuki guy is definitely still awake, don't let her hear us~"

"Aren't you going to sleep yet?" The girl's smile put Matsueda Jun at ease; she didn't seem to have any strange intentions.

"It's just a chat before bed," she tilted her head. "I just don't want Mochizuki to hear."

Yosei Kurusu bent down and slipped past the boy into the bedroom. Jun Matsueda hesitated at the door for a moment, then turned around and went back into the room without closing the bedroom door.

The girl sat cross-legged in the middle of his bed, her gaze fixed on the window, seemingly focused, yet also as if she were simply gazing at the moonlight.

"Matsue, are you moving out of the apartment soon?"

Jun Matsuoka paused, pulled out a chair from under his desk, and sat down by the bed.

"That'll have to wait until graduation, isn't that still more than half a year away?"

"But these six months will pass quickly, won't they?"

There was a faint hint of doubt in her words. Kurusu Yosei lowered his head and stared at a small patch of the bed in front of him.

"After all, we've known each other for almost two years now, time really flies..."

"Where will you move to after you graduate?"

"...This doesn't seem like something you would consider." A reassuring smile appeared on the boy's face.

"At your current pace, you might already be at the top of the idol world by the time I graduate."

“That’s different!” The girl looked up, her voice a little louder. “An idol is an idol, and a pine branch is a pine branch.”

"After you move out, can we still be roommates?"

The girl's vulnerability at this moment is simple and easy to understand. Today's reflection on time and looking ahead has made her clearly feel that the distance between herself and Songzhi is probably going to widen.

Even a Buddha with unwavering will and decisive action, like the Buddha dwelling in the mortal world, could not help but feel worried—

Songzhi will definitely have more freedom in college, while she is likely to become busier. If she loses her roommate, who has such a close and unique position, how can she ensure that her importance in Songzhi's heart will not diminish?
"I guess there's nothing we can do about it," the boy said softly. "Of course we can't be roommates forever."

"Even if I don't graduate, once your career continues to rise, do you think you can just slip by like this?"

"Now you come back once a month, but in the future it might be every two or three months?"

"Will your soaring popularity allow you to slip away from fans and reporters and sneak into a loosely managed apartment by yourself?"

It was precisely because he knew how precious the present scene was that he cherished it and uttered the exclamation from that afternoon, "If only it could always be like this."

Yosei lowered her bright and beautiful eyes, a hint of sadness in them.

Jun Matsue sighed, his tone gentle and helpless, "Being discouraged doesn't suit you."

“I’m not saying our relationship will fade away in the future. I’ll definitely be more free in college than I am now. We’ll both be in Tokyo, so it will be easy for me to see your performance or visit your company.”

"So there's no need to worry too much. You're the kind of person who never admits defeat, Lai Qiyang. Do you think you'll be discouraged by such a vague and uncertain future?"

"So I'm not the only one who can't bear to leave this place, right?" The girl moved closer to the boy, her eyes shining brightly again.

“…Of course.” Jun Matsueda moved a little closer to the bedside.

"Then Songzhi, come visit me more often, okay?" she asked expectantly.

"I'll definitely have more time in college than I do now, and I want to continue being your number one fan."

"How about you come work for our company after you graduate?" Lai Qiyang asked further.

"If you want to study marketing, you should be able to join our marketing department, right?"

"Aren't you pushing your luck a bit?" Jun Matsue stopped her from getting any closer with a look. "Go back to sleep. You got up so early today, aren't you sleepy yet?"

The girl, relieved, finally realized her belated drowsiness. She knelt on the bed, stretched, and revealed her alluring waistline and sexy navel.

"One last question, when did you and Yuuka break up?"

"...Why are you asking this too?"

"Looks like Mochizuki is urging you to break up?" the girl asked astutely.

"I didn't mean to rush you. It seems something unexpected has happened?"

“But I don’t care~” she laughed again, “Since Mochizuki expects you to break up, then I’ll support you in continuing the relationship even more.”

No matter what, a real girlfriend is definitely harder to deal with than a fake girlfriend, right?

Before leaving the boy's bedroom, the girl turned around and gave Jun Matsueda a thumbs-up.

"Pine branches, hold on tight! Don't give in so easily!"

(End of this chapter)