Am I being simulated by their love affair?

On the set of "White Line Flow," a young girl held a slightly worn script in her hand. Her small face was slightly tilted up as she explained the scene to the handsome young man in front of her, her expression extremely serious and focused.

Jun Matsue blinked as he flipped through the photo album.

So it seems they actually have quite a few photos together.

Turning to the last page, the boy finally saw what he had been looking for—

It was on the banks of the Arakawa River, where the sunset painted the sky with vibrant colors. Suddenly, Natsumi Imokawa kissed his cheek—the girl's shyness and his surprise were captured in the photograph, full of youthful naiveté and romance.

Jun Matsue remembers that moment; the sunset was so intense it looked like solidified oil paint, with little heat. A cool breeze from the riverbank blew past them on either side, and he could even feel the shape of his body in the wind as it blew away.

However, when Imokawa's hot, soft lips landed on his face, those feelings seemed to drift away all at once.

All that remained in his mind was the rustling sound of the grass and the warmth of the girl close to him.

"..."

The boy sitting on the bed touched his cheek, as if searching for the jelly-like hickeys left on his face.

Matsueda Jun refocused his gaze on the photo in front of him and flipped through it—

This is the last page.

There were no explicit love letters or words, only these photos of him and Imokawa together—even so, the girl's feelings were not subtle.

The boy quickly flipped through the photo album again from the beginning.

In those photos of him, there was never a character who was obviously the "female lead"—even if Mochizuki and Tomatsu appeared in the photos, they were just part of the background in crowds and group photos.

As for who the female lead is... the album creator's intentions are obvious.

Jun Matsueda's gaze returned to the last photo of the two of them together.

He originally thought that this photo album was a gift from Imokawa to himself, a record of three years of his life.

However, in the girl's eyes, this should be the story of Songzhi in her eyes, and the beginning of her story with Songzhi.

To be precise, it should be the end of the "friends" story and the beginning of the "lovers" story.

"As expected of a great director..." The boy shook his head with a helpless yet satisfied expression.

He picked up his phone from beside the bed—it was almost 10:50—turned off the light, and crawled into bed with his phone.

It took Jun Matsue two seconds to compose himself before clicking on the penguin icon in his chat list.

"Is Imokawa asleep?"

"No~" the girl replied quickly.

"I just finished washing up and went to bed. Is there something you need from Songzhi?"

The boy continued typing, enduring the cold light from the screen.

I want to give you a call.

In the blink of an eye, the chat interface was covered by a pop-up voice invitation.

Why did Imokawa call first...? Matsueda Jun quickly answered the call before the notification sound came on.

Holding the phone to my ear, I heard Natsumi Imokawa's sweet, red bean-like voice through the receiver.

"Hello? Can you hear me, Pine Branch?"

"I can hear you..."

The boy paused, then fell into a brief silence.

Actually, he hadn't decided what to say to Imokawa on the phone.

After looking through the photo album and seeing the photos of himself and the girl getting closer step by step, Jun Matsue really wished that Imokawa could appear in front of him or hear her voice.

"What's wrong?" Natsumi Imokawa asked, puzzled, on the other end. "Didn't Matsueda have something to tell me?"

Jun Matsue, holding his phone, turned his head to look at the sliver of moonlight peeking through the gap in the curtains.

"...Yes, I just finished looking at the photo album that Imokawa gave me."

"Finished looking at the pine branches? What did you think?"

The girl had been saying all day that there was no rush, but her voice was noticeably louder now, and the boy chuckled in bed.

"How should I put it... I was very touched."

"When I first saw those photos of me, I was already very touched. But when I saw the photos of us together that you put at the back, and looked back at them, those feelings of being touched turned into feelings of being moved."

"Wow..." Natsumi Imokawa exclaimed softly.

"Does that mean Songzhi's feelings for me have increased?"

"Yes," the boy answered honestly.

"Now that things have come to this, I have to admit that my friendly affection for Imokawa has fundamentally changed—"

"Wait a minute!" the girl interrupted him in a panic.

"Is Songzhi going to confess? Now? On the phone?"

“Uh…not really,” Jun Matsue replied, gazing at the sliver of moonlight on the ceiling.

"Imokawa likes to express his feelings sincerely and promptly, doesn't he? I think I should honestly tell you about the emotions and feelings I just had. It's that simple."

"That's good..." Natsumi Imokawa breathed a sigh of relief on the other end.

"I've imagined many scenarios of being with Songzhi, but I never thought of it being on the phone!"

Matsueda Jun laughed—Imokawa must have read a lot of love stories, but deep down she's still an old-fashioned person.

Of course, he was the same.

"Why would I confess to you tonight?" Jun Matsue said, sorting out his thoughts.

"Before we can really be together, I think we need to have a good talk about each other's situations before making a decision."

"Sure," the girl replied without hesitation.

"Then it'll be the same as always, after Songzhi finishes his exams—it'll only be less than a week anyway."

"Okay," the boy said in a warm voice.

"What you're saying is only making me more and more anxious."

“You guys?” Natsumi Imokawa keenly caught his words.

"...I'll tell you about that later."

"Oh~" the girl nodded on the other end, "So, is Songzhi going to hang up now?"

"No, if Imokawa isn't in a hurry to sleep, I'd love to chat with you a little longer."

"Of course I want to!" she said, turning over in bed, her voice sweet.

"Is this the first time I've ever had a voice chat with Songzhi?"

“A voice call? How could that be—” Jun Matsue recalled.

"It must have been the summer before last, when you called me from Mr. Imokawa's film set because he wasn't satisfied with the school scenes..."

“That’s not what I meant,” the girl retorted.

"It's like this, a bit ambiguous, like a guy and a girl talking on the phone!"

"That wasn't the first time—when I first went to the studio to record, Imokawa overslept, so I called you."

"And when I was in Kamakura preparing for the New Year, didn't I call you? We even had a video call."

“I remember now~” Natsumi Imokawa replied cheerfully.

"Songzhi's memory is really good! He even remembers things from so long ago!"

The boy sighed on the phone, "That's just how I am."

"Perhaps one day I'll forget all the knowledge about common exams and internal school exams..."

"But I will always remember things about girls, especially the girls I care about."

Chapter 873 Starting with Getting to Know Each Other (End of Volume 6)

The final semester for three-year students ends on February 1st, followed by entrance exams for various national and public universities.

February 8th, Sunday, the first day after the University of Tokyo entrance exams ended.

Natsumi Imokawa's vacation started after the final exams at Haneoka High School, but the girl didn't sleep in today.

At eight o'clock in the morning, all dressed and ready to go, she walked out of the bathroom and found her parents eating breakfast in the living room.

"...Is this okay?" she asked shyly, looking down at her dress.

"Wow—" The woman at the table put down her fork, turned around, and looked at her daughter with surprise.

"It's even prettier than I expected! I knew this dress would suit Natsumi perfectly!"

"Hmm..." Natsumi Imokawa glanced at the checkered pattern on her chest that was stretched out of shape.

With her chest covered up so completely, would Songzhi really like that?

"Not bad, not bad..." Imokawa Akira put down the newspaper and looked at his daughter with satisfaction.

"You're going on a date with Songzhi today, right? Do you have enough money?"

"Hmm." The girl picked up the small canvas bag on the chair, took out her wallet, and checked it.

"That's enough!" She looked up at her phone again.

"I still have a lot of the money I received for filming Yang Shisang's music video."

"I almost forgot." The man took a sip of coffee with a sigh. "Xia can earn money on her own now."

"Ah!" Natsumi Imokawa's phone beeped. "Matsueda sent me a message."

"I'm getting ready to go!" she said, picking up her bag. "Where's the lip balm Mom mentioned?"

“On my dressing table—” Remi Imokawa got up and left the living room, returning with a pretty lip balm in her hand.

"Thank you, Mom~" The girl stuffed the lipstick into her bag.

Akira Imokawa watched her walk past the dining table towards the entryway. "Oh, right—"

"If Xia Shi isn't coming back tonight, remember to let us know in advance."

"Remember to take safety precautions too," his wife reminded him from the side.

"While children are interesting, it's too early for Natsumi, isn't it?"

"..." Imokawa Natsumi rolled her eyes at the two of them. Her expression wasn't shy, but rather serious.

"These kinds of things should definitely be done after we've started dating!"

The girl pushed open the door and waved to the two of them.

"I'm heading out now~"

“Be careful on the road.”

The couple watched their daughter close the front door—the last sliver of sunlight in the entryway suddenly seemed to widen again.

"I almost forgot—"

Natsumi Imokawa came in again, hurriedly bent down to change her shoes, and ran upstairs with heavy footsteps.

A minute later, the girl returned to the first floor with her bag and waved to her parents who were looking her over.

The mini camera hanging on her wrist swayed with her movements.

"We absolutely have to bring this!"

At 8:30 a.m., Jun Matsueda walked out of the bustling Shinjuku Station.

With the school holidays underway and the weekend adding to the bustle, central Tokyo seemed even busier than usual. He craned his neck to peer through the crowd and quickly spotted a girl waving at him from the roadside.

"Pine branch——"

The boy jogged a few steps to her and gave her a hearty smile.

"Good morning..." His gaze flickered. "Imokawa looks very beautiful today."

"Is that so?" Natsumi Imokawa loosened her grip on her sleeve.