Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 652 The Curse of the Idol

Watching the Mochizuki family's car drive away, Director Matsueda Jun and the director turned and went inside.

The elderly woman still had work to do, so the young man accompanied her upstairs. When they returned to the activity room on the first floor, there were far fewer people inside.

"Where did they all go?" Jun Matsue sat down next to a little girl who was doodling with crayons.

The girl had only been at the orphanage for a short time. She looked up at the older boy next to her, then hurriedly looked away, her cheeks stained with the red of the crayon in her hand.

“…went outside to play.” She pointed to the sliding glass door with the curtains drawn.

Jun Matsue walked over and drew back the curtains. The bright sunlight on the lawn had disappeared. The boys were chasing a bouncing soccer ball in the shadows of the clouds, while the girls were playing their own games. Aya Miyamura sat facing the children on the porch outside the door, her chair swaying gently. The girl seemed to be in a good mood.

The boy didn't bother Aya, who was carrying out her guard duties, and sat back down next to the girl to start a conversation.

Aren't you going out to play with them?

"I'll go after I finish drawing..." the girl said slowly, no longer looking up, concentrating on scribbling with her crayons.

Jun Matsue looked down at the white paper. On it was a roughly drawn cartoon figure, its gender indiscernible.

However, the cascading pink color behind the little figure's head still allowed him to recognize who the painting depicted.

Where did the older sister you drew go?

"My sister is lazy. She said she was sleepy and went back to her room to sleep."

"Then take your time drawing, and remember to show it to your sister later." The boy smiled, got up, and walked towards the lawn outside the door.

Miyamura Aya heard the sound of a sliding door being pushed and pulled behind her. She turned around and saw Matsueda Jun walk straight past her, whistling loudly at the boys playing soccer.

"I'll be the goalkeeper today!"

He ran towards the noisy children, and the girl left behind stood up from the deck chair and cheered him on fiercely.

When Yosuke Kurusu woke up and saw Jun Matsueda in the activity room, the boy had changed his short-sleeved shirt again.

The girl yawned lazily, "What have you been doing again?"

“I went to play soccer with them.” Jun Matsueda waved his arms proudly. “Those naughty kids tried to pounce on me and entangle me, preventing me from guarding the goal.”

"So you're just dragging them along with you?" Miyamura Aya glared at him from behind.

"As expected of Matsueda~" Miss Idol patted the boy's arm, "Where did all the kids go?"

"The adults took me to a nearby forest park for a field study."

"So now it's just us left?" She blinked. "What should we do?"

The girl stared at the two people in front of her for a while, then clapped her hands.

"I want ice cream!"

"There's no ice cream at the orphanage," said Aya Miyamura, watching an old-fashioned morning drama on TV. "If you want some, you'll have to go outside and buy it yourself."

"Then let's go buy it!" Lai Qiyang raised his arm. "Songzhi, come with me!"

"That works too." The boy, who had been huddled in his chair, sat up. "What about Aya-chan?"

"I won't go," she waved her hand. "Just bring me an ice cream when you come back."

"..." Matsueda Jun glanced at the girl in front of the TV who didn't turn her head back, and was pulled out of the room by the idol girl.

Before leaving, Lai Qiyang went back to his room to get a hat and a mask.

"Do we still have to wear these things now?" Jun Matsue asked as they walked toward the gate of the orphanage.

"Otherwise what?" The girl glared at him. "What if we run into strangers outside? What if the convenience store owner recognizes me?"

She pulled up her mask. "I don't want to see a swarm of reporters rushing over."

“That’s true.” Jun Matsueda held out his hand. “Then give me a mask too.” Yosuke Kurusu paused for a moment, then gave a smug smile.
"What, you're thinking of becoming a weirdo with me?"

"Otherwise what?" the boy replied, mimicking her tone.

The girl's eyes sparkled with laughter. "Then I'll give you a pink one, you'll regret it~"

As the two walked out of the orphanage, the sunlight, shielded by a layer of clouds, became much gentler. However, they could still feel waves of heat rising from under their feet.

Yosei Kurusu looked at the boy next to her wearing a pink mask and asked, "Isn't it hot in the pine branches?"

"A little." Jun Matsueda pulled his mask down a bit. "It's too stuffy to wear this in the summer."

"Being an idol is really a troublesome profession."

"Right, right~" The girl nodded, looking at the convenience store that was undulating in the air in the distance.

"Actually, when I'm resting, I'm always thinking about myself."

"The profession of idol might be considered a curse."

"Why do you say that?" The boy turned his face towards him.

"Because of the current situation." Kurusu Yosei lowered his head and kicked at the pebbles on the roadside.

"After becoming an idol, it seems like the original Yosei Kurusu, who was originally me, is no longer visible to the public, and I have to hide it wherever I go."

"And even if you quit being an idol, you will still be noticed by everyone—only when they have all forgotten you can you truly return to a normal life."

"Even if everyone forgets about you, you might reappear on a passerby's phone or in a random TV interview one day, trending again because of things like your figure has changed or your life is not going well."

"In short, once you choose an idol, it seems like a normal life is basically out of your reach!"

The girl kicked out, and the pebble stumbled and ran far away.

Matsueda Jun looked at her face. "I thought you had already accepted these things."

"I was fine at first," she said, her voice sounding a little muffled through her mask, "but now that I'm dating Songzhi, things are different."

The girl's fluttering eyelashes resembled the wet wings of a butterfly, carrying a heavy melancholy.

"..." The boy looked at the convenience store right in front of him. "That's what your company says now?"

"The president said I could terminate my contract."

He blinked in surprise, and Yosuke Kuraki continued.

"Don't misunderstand, this is not a bad thing. My contract was originally for three years or more. If I continue to be targeted by SG and the company holds onto my contract, I won't be able to do anything for the next year or so."

"So if we can terminate the contract proactively, we might be able to find another big company to take over, and then we won't have to worry about SG blacklisting us."

Are there any companies interested in taking over now?

"We haven't even started talking yet." The girl shook her head. "I haven't decided whether I want to terminate the contract now."

"Let's not talk about that anymore!" she smiled again. "Let's get the ice cream first!"

"What did Songzhi usually buy when he came here? I want to try some."

"..." Jun Matsueda pushed open the glass door of the convenience store, and a refreshing blast of air hit him, invigorating him.

"I'll buy it for you to eat right away."

As the girl looked around the shop selecting items, Jun Matsueda took out his phone and swiped to the bottom of the chat window.

The parrot avatar was still lit up, but it seemed like a very, very long time had passed since their last chat.

I never expected that this would be the reason I contacted my senior again.

(End of this chapter)