Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 626 Long Vacation
The boy's footsteps echoed alone in the stairwell, and the old motion-activated light flickered erratically, illuminating the water stains on the steps.

As he approached the first floor, Jun Matsuoka suddenly felt a little nervous. He looked at the rows of mailboxes on the outer wall of the stairwell and slowed his pace slightly.

What would Kurusu be like now?
Listless? Exhausted? Or have you become numb to the malice surrounding you, or are you indifferent to him?
Jun Matsue selfishly hoped that Yosei Kurusu, who was about to appear before him, would still be the same spirited and lively girl she always was when she returned to the apartment.

Because if he were to encounter a distraught young woman, how could he possibly maintain a restrained and calm demeanor when facing her...?

Fortunately, when the boy pushed open the apartment door, the girl who appeared before him seemed to have changed little.

Yosei Kurusu stood in front of the car door, holding an umbrella. She was wearing a simple outfit: black athletic shorts and a white tank top, with a sports jacket draped over her shoulders, the hem of which covered most of her shorts, serving to shield her from the wind and rain.

The girl lowered her eyes slightly, her gaze wandering aimlessly in the dim rain until Jun Matsueda appeared in front of her. Her bright eyes immediately lit up, reminding the boy of the motion-activated lights in the hallway.

"Why did Songzhi come down wearing slippers?" The girl looked him up and down.

"And they didn't even bring an umbrella."

She walked up to the boy, held out her umbrella, and gestured for him to come in quickly.

“…I forgot.” Jun Matsue smiled and stood at the door without going out.

"I thought it was just a few steps away."

After all, the girl clearly said she would come down to pick her up.

"So what's going on? Where are we going?" The boy looked around warily. The heavy rain blurred the figures, and there was no light from the camera lens.

"What do you mean, where are we going?" Kurusu Yosei raised an eyebrow. "I just want you to come down and help me carry my luggage."

"I can't carry two suitcases and other bags up here by myself."

Matsueda Jun was taken aback. The girl seemed a little impatient and pulled him directly under the eaves of the umbrella.

"Go get me a suitcase, and then get a bag from the back seat."

"I'm going to come back and stay for a while," she said, pulling the boy toward the car.

"I'm the legal tenant of room 507, you have no right to refuse!"

"..." Jun Matsue watched as the girl opened the back door of the car, and he naturally bent down and reached in to pick up the backpack that was placed on the seat.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Matsueda." The woman in the driver's seat turned to look at him.

"Given Yang Shi's current situation, work certainly can't proceed smoothly. There are also reporters watching the company's apartments nearby, so we thought it would be better to send her back to you."

The boy straightened up and looked at the agent's tired face.

The car she was driving wasn't the one Matsueda Jun usually saw, so it seems that besides the online public opinion, the situation at the Kōshō World Expo is also not optimistic.

"Is it okay for me?" the boy asked.

"No problem." The woman nodded. "The reporters can't find this area. Just keep an eye on Yang Shi and make sure she doesn't run around."

"What do you mean by running around everywhere? When did I run around everywhere!"

Hearing the girl's strong rebuttal, Jun Matsue naturally felt relieved.

"I understand." He slung the bag over his back. "I will take good care of Kurusu."

"When did I need you to take care of me?" Kurusu Yosei patted his shoulder with dissatisfaction.

"Stop talking nonsense and help me with my suitcase!"

Two minutes later, Jun Matsue and the girl carried two suitcases, a backpack and a handbag down to the apartment building.

The girl folded the umbrellas over their heads and waved to her manager, "Be careful on the road!"

"Wait a minute." The manager stuck his hand out of the car window. "Yang Shi, go up first. Matsueda-kun and I still have something to talk about."

Laiqi Yangshi glanced at the boy beside her, handed him the umbrella, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and walked into the stairwell with her suitcase in her right hand and her bag in her left.

"Then I'll go up first."

"Remember to wear your mask properly," Jun Matsueda reminded him, turning around. "You might run into other people on the stairs."

"understood--"

Watching the girl walk up the stairs, Jun Matsue turned around, opened his umbrella, and walked to the silent car in the rain.

His slippers stepped into the puddles outside, splashing water onto his toes.

The woman in the driver's seat turned off the car and unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Matsueda-kun should be aware of the current situation in the mortal world, right?"

"Of course," the boy nodded, "but most of them come from the internet."

"Anyway, the situation is a complete mess right now." The manager smiled helplessly. "I wonder if that Masahiko Sakurai has something on his company president that makes the company so desperate to protect him..."

"Of course, that's not what I wanted to tell you." She looked up at the apartment building behind the boy. "Do you remember what I told you before?"

"Only in front of you will Yang Shi show his weakness."

Jun Matsue blinked but didn't say anything.

This is what the manager told him when he was being escorted back from his autograph session in Kurusu.

The woman lowered her head and pulled a flat metal box from the inside pocket of her suit jacket.

"As the person involved, Yang Shi seems more relaxed than I am as her agent. To be honest, I really admire her more and more."

“But that’s definitely not her true state.” She pulled a cigarette from the box and held it between her fingers. “So we still have to rely on you, Matsueda-kun.”

“Only when I am by your side can Yosei Kurusu completely shed his idol identity.”

"Try to comfort her."

"I will try my best." The boy said sincerely, "Thank you for your concern for her."

“That’s it.” The agent nodded and took a lighter from the driver’s seat.

"I'll have a smoke before I leave. You can just go back."

Jun Matsue turned and walked toward the apartment. The lighter he lit made a "snap" sound behind him and disappeared into the continuous sound of rain.

I folded up my umbrella, picked up the last suitcase by the door, and stepped onto the stairs. Water droplets gathered at the tip of the umbrella fell onto the steps, leaving a trail of dark stains that gradually spread out.

As soon as he stepped onto the second floor, he saw the girl waiting for him in the corridor—Kurusu Yosei was carrying a suitcase and a handbag, apparently having been spying on the conversation between the boy and his manager.

"What did you say downstairs?" Miss Idol asked, her eyes wide.

"It's nothing, my manager told me to take good care of you." Jun Matsue smiled and continued walking upstairs.

The girl turned her head and glanced at the car downstairs; the embers of her cigarette were faintly visible in the rain.

She followed in the footsteps of the boy, saying, "These past few days I've suddenly realized that being a manager isn't any easier than being an idol."

"At times like this, all I need to do is stay at home and follow the company's instructions to post some statements on the account."

"The agent, however, is constantly busy, communicating with colleagues in the public relations department, coordinating work, and apologizing to partners..."

"If it weren't for this incident, I wouldn't have known she smoked."

“It’s not easy for anyone.” Jun Matsueda shook his head.

"I'm actually quite afraid that you'll turn into someone like that agent."

"I'm here for the world of Qiyang, how could this be!" Before reaching the fifth floor, Jun Matsue stopped at the corner of the middle staircase. A girl with her arms crossed was standing on the steps in front of him.

"I thought Matsue had gone somewhere..." Mochizuki Haruka looked down at the two carrying their luggage.

She looked at the idol behind the boy and said, "So it was you who secretly ran back again."

“That’s right,” Yosei Kurusu said casually. “Could you please not block the stairs? The suitcase I’m carrying is quite heavy.”

Matsueda Jun looked at the girl with a cold expression. To his surprise, Mochizuki Haruka didn't say anything, but turned around and went upstairs, making way for the two of them.

The three of them entered room 507. Mochizuki Haruka took out a pair of spare sandals from the cabinet in the entryway and tossed them at the boy's feet.

"Your slippers are dirty, change them."

Kurusu Yosei glanced at the girl who ignored her, then found her slippers deep in the shoe cabinet and went inside first.

"It's so much more comfortable at home~" She took off her mask and breathed in the fresh air.

Mochizuki Haruka glanced at the bags and packages placed in the entryway and said, "Remember to bring your luggage inside."

"..." Jun Matsue blinked in surprise—Mochizuki, who had a strong sense of territory, seemed to have changed today.

"Why are you staring at me?" The girl tossed her hair. "I just saw that this guy has been having a tough time lately, so I'm just being kind to him."

"Of course, I'm only allowing you to take her in," Mochizuki Haruka said with her eyes—the girl's kindness was not much, just like her patience.

Half an hour later, after taking a shower, Yosuke Kurusu came out of the bathroom and sat down next to the boy and girl on the sofa.

Mochizuki Haruka, who was eating ice cream, glanced at her. Her ordinary T-shirt and shorts were barely within her tolerance range.

"Have you had dinner yet, Kurusu?" Jun Matsue asked, pouring her a glass of water.

As soon as she got back to the apartment, Yosei Kurusu went straight into the bedroom to pack her luggage. Her self-absorbed manner reminded the boy of her slightly aloof demeanor in the chat window.

"I've already eaten." The girl gulped down water and looked at the screen on the television.

That was an advertisement for a beauty brand, and she was originally supposed to film it.

Noticing her strange look, Jun Matsueda subconsciously picked up the remote and changed the channel, while also turning down the volume.

"...How are you doing now?"

His tone was soothing and gentle, and the girl eating ice cream next to him blinked.

"That's it." Yosei Kurusu spread his hands. "I'm very free right now. All my work is on hold. I can only resume my activities after the company finishes dealing with things."

Her tone was relaxed, without any hint of disappointment.

"We were supposed to have a holiday at the end of the year, but it came earlier than expected."

"Will you lose?" Mochizuki Haruka suddenly asked.

"Probably not." The girl lightly tapped her cheek with her finger.

"I think the president has been really angered by the other side. She said she has bought a lot of juicy information and will not let Masahiko Sakurai stay in the entertainment industry no matter what."

Matsueda Jun gazed at the sound of rain outside on the balcony, pondering, "So, in the end, he might just lose his job? And not be sent to jail?"

"It seems a bit difficult to sentence them, because we haven't found any evidence to convict them."

“I see…” The boy turned up the TV volume again. Kurusu had just returned, and he didn’t intend to ask any more questions.

"Since you're resting, don't think too much, just relax."

"Okay!" The girl nodded vigorously. "I want to enjoy a few days of comfortable, carefree life first."

"Sleeping in late, eating snacks, and watching TV!"

"Don't eat mine." Mochizuki Haruka looked up and threw the empty ice cream box into the trash can.

Yosuke Kurusu stuck his tongue out at her, "I'm going to the supermarket tomorrow to buy a ton of snacks!"

However, the girl did not become a useless person as she wished for the rest of the night. She received several phone calls, which seemed to be from her company.

After washing up, Jun Matsue returned to the living room. He glanced at Yosuke Kurusu's black hair flowing in the wind on the balcony, then walked up behind Haruka Mochizuki, who was sitting alone on the sofa.

He gently patted her fair, rounded shoulder, and the girl holding the cat turned around.

"Kurasu is not doing well right now, and I don't want to upset her."

"Let's not act too intimately in front of her these next few days, okay?"

The boy's words carried a pleading tone, and Mochizuki Haruka raised her chin.

"She seems perfectly normal to me, isn't she still as carefree as ever?"

Jun Matsue didn't say anything, but simply massaged her shoulders.

“…It is possible.” The girl squinted her eyes contentedly, “but we haven’t done it for half a month.”

Because of my last visit to Qiyang Shihui Apartment and the subsequent controversy, our bedroom activities for the past two weeks have been canceled.

Now that the Qiyang World has returned, are we going to continue canceling it?

The boy stopped moving.

"We can't leave out anything that's necessary. Songzhi, you can figure it out yourself." The girl got up, holding the cat, and walked towards the entrance.

"Also, once this storm passes, she will go back to being an idol."

Mochizuki Haruka put down the cat in her arms, turned around, wrapped her arms around Matsueda Jun's neck, and kissed him fiercely.

"So remember to keep your heart from softening at the drop of a hat."

As the girl walked out of the room with the cat, the balcony door behind the boy was opened.

After hanging up the phone, Yosuke Kurusu returned to the living room and looked around.

"Has Mochizuki already gone back?"

"I'm going back." Jun Matsue, who had his back to her, turned around and wiped his lips.

"Go to bed early tonight. Didn't you want to buy snacks? I'll go with you tomorrow."

"Okay~" The girl laughed, and the slightly aloof Kurusu Yosei disappeared outside the apartment.

"Oh, right!" she exclaimed, as if remembering something, and went into the bedroom.

She quickly came out again and hung the sign with her name on it on the door.

“…I thought you threw it away.” Jun Matsueda’s tone was somewhat complicated.

"How is that possible!" Kurusu Yosei turned around and strode arrogantly to him.

"I've come to Qiyang World, you don't think you can discourage me with just a few words, do you?"

She reached out and placed her hand on the boy's chest.

"Since I'm just killing time anyway, I'll watch you snatched back from another woman!"

The warm touch on his chest made Jun Matsuoka temporarily forget that it was a slightly chilly rainy night.

(End of this chapter)