Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 608 The End of the Fireworks

"full moon."

Fireworks flickered on the sea, and Jun Matsue stood in front of the girl.

He glanced back; Tomatsu Yuka's eyelids were lowered, her expression hidden in the shadow of her bangs, with only the distant flames illuminating the outline of her face.

"What, did I say something wrong?" Mochizuki Haruka looked up at him with displeasure.

She pushed the boy away slightly and continued looking at the girl who was standing motionless.

"Tomoka Tomatsu, how long do you think you can stay in this position?"

"Matsue will ultimately choose me—he told me himself that he can no longer imagine life without Mochizuki Haruka."

Tomatsu Yuka's shoulders trembled slightly. Matsueda Jun completely blocked the girl's cold gaze and reached out to put his hand on her shoulder.

"full moon……"

"Isn't that how it is?" Mochizuki Haruka stared wide-eyed, still speaking to the girl behind the boy.

"In the end, you're just a temporary worker. After you've licked your wounds by his side, you'd better leave obediently!"

"Stop fantasizing about living happily ever after with Songzhi. He and I were just being all lovey-dovey the night before last—"

"full moon!"

Jun Matsueda's voice was no longer gentle, attracting some attention from those around him.

Mochizuki Haruka was startled, and the hand on her shoulder tightened a little. The girl immediately fell silent, just staring blankly at the boy, before pouting aggrievedly after a while.

"Matsueda is yelling at me? You're yelling at me because of Tomatsu?"

"..." Matsueda Jun said helplessly, "I'm not being mean to you, I'm just telling you to stop talking."

He turned to look at Tomatsu Yuka, the girl who had wrapped her left arm around her right arm and stared down at the ground in front of the railing, her eyes showing no trace of the fireworks.

"Yu-hua?" the boy asked worriedly.

"..." Tomatsu Yuka's chest heaved rapidly, the girl's disordered breathing sounded labored, as if something was weighing heavily on her heart.

However, when Jun Matsue approached her, the girl raised her head, and a broken smile reappeared on her face.

"What Mochizuki-kun said...makes sense."

Once the first sentence is successfully uttered, subsequent speech becomes more fluent.

"After all, Jun-kun and I are only lovers in name only."

"I know he's only staying by my side because he's worried about me..."

As she said this, Tomatsu looked into the boy's eyes and gently shook her head, as if to say that she was alright.

"That's enough." But Jun Matsue didn't let her continue.

He glanced at the girls with their heads bowed, leaned against the railing, and sighed as he looked out at the sea.

"I should have just watched our own fireworks."

A continuous round of applause rang out from the shore. The grand fireworks display that filled the sky had ended, and the trailing lights that swayed on the coast gradually faded away.

"It's all because Tomatsu talks too much..." Mochizuki Haruka muttered, watching the swarming crowd.

"I'll go first then." Tomatsu Yuka took out her phone and glanced at it. "Miya and the others asked me to take pictures."

Matsueda Jun watched as the girl put down her phone and smiled at him, "Jun-kun, you don't need to worry about me too much."

"I've had a lot of fun these past few days!"

Her smile was so dazzling that the boy subconsciously followed her as she turned around, but then immediately stopped.

Because Mochizuki Haruka was tugging at his sleeve from behind.

"Is Songzhi going to abandon me...?" the girl asked pitifully.

So Jun Matsue stopped and watched Yuka Tomatsu walk towards the girls holding incense sticks and fireworks not far away. Her back looked somewhat lonely.

Ten minutes later, Jun Matsueda and Haruka Mochizuki walked out of the crowded shore and headed towards the hotel.

The streets were crowded with pedestrians, and the two chose a dimly lit side street. The girl in the dark blue yukata looked at the back of the figure walking ahead of her, quickened her pace, and took the boy's motionless hand.

"Is Matsue angry?" Mochizuki Haruka's tone was like that of a child who had made a mistake but was unaware of it.

“…I’m not angry.” Jun Matsueda glanced at the girl beside him. “I’m just a little tired.”

He had thought the school trip would end peacefully, but now it seems he was being too greedy.

"If you're tired, hurry up and kick Tomatsu off..." Mochizuki Haruka raised the boy's left hand.

"Kick everyone else out, leaving only the two of us. Wouldn't that make things as easy as we want?"

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.

"not like this."

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.

(End of this chapter)