Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 300 The Absent Third Party

"What are you doing here, senior?"

The girl caught a fleeting look of surprise on Matsueda Jun's face, and her smile became a little more unrestrained.

"Can't I be here?" Yami Maki looked at him reproachfully. "This is my family's studio, you know."

“That’s not what I meant.” Jun Matsue suddenly felt that the familiar senior had become a little unfamiliar. “Tomatsu said you were busy today.”

"So I disturbed your time alone with Yuka?" The girl pretended to be angry again.

"Was the senior doing this on purpose?" Jun Matsueda realized that he had been teased.

Yamami Maki chuckled, but her smile vanished immediately as the sound of a door opening came from the corner of the elevator entrance—it was the practice room that Matsueda Jun had just left.

"Matsueda-kun?" Tomatsu Tomoka's call came along with her footsteps, and the girl seemed to hear Matsueda Jun's voice outside the door.

She walked into the elevator but didn't see the boy. The girl wandered around the corridor in confusion before returning to her room to wait for Matsueda Jun to come back.

"Thank goodness the elevator is here." Yamami Maki, who had pushed Matsueda Jun into the elevator, breathed a sigh of relief.

The girl, now relaxed, immediately realized that her hands were pressed against the boy's chest. Her face flushed red, and she put her hands behind her back.

"It's obvious that you didn't want to disturb my time alone with Tomatsu, right?" Jun Matsueda looked into his senior's eyes, but the blushing girl turned her head away, unwilling to meet his gaze.

When the elevator reached the first floor, Yamami Maki finally returned to normal and walked towards the room at the other end of the corridor on her own.

"Matsueda-kun, you're out looking for a cymbal, right? I saw that the cymbal was a bit dirty, so I took it to the first floor for maintenance."

"Senior hasn't answered my question yet," Matsueda Jun said, following behind the girl. "Are you deliberately avoiding Tomatsu?"

"It's not that I'm deliberately avoiding her." The girl turned around and glanced at the boy behind her, her face still slightly flushed.

"I was just passing by on my way to class. It wasn't time for class yet, so I was just resting in the studio for a bit."

"Yuka probably prefers to be alone with Matsueda, so I thought I'd better not show up in front of her."

As for the missing cymbals and the chance encounter between the two at the elevator entrance, she would never admit that it was intentional.

Jun Matsue took two steps forward and observed his senior's profile. The girl's expression was serious and without the slightest flaw.

"I've never seen my senior lie before, so it seems I have no choice but to believe her."

“That’s just how it is.” Yamami Maki walked into the room where the musical instruments were kept, and a shiny cymbal was placed on the workbench. “Hey, here’s the cleaned cymbal.”

Jun Matsue picked up the soft cloth that was placed to the side, carefully grasped both sides of the cymbal, and lifted it up. "So, senior, you're going to class?"

"Mmm." The girl nodded and shook her schoolbag. "It's almost time."

The two walked out of the room and stopped at the fork in the corridor. Yamami Maki walked towards the lobby, and before leaving, she turned around and gave Matsueda Jun some instructions.

"Please don't tell Yuuka that I was here, okay, Matsueda-san?"

She only felt relieved and left after the boy nodded repeatedly.

Jun Matsue lingered in the corridor for a while, watching the girl's figure completely disappear outside the door before heading towards the elevator. He looked at the cymbals in his hand, gleaming like a mirror. So, had their practice room gained a little fairy godmother, the kind who does good deeds anonymously?
Tomatsu Yuka sat upright in the room. The time when Matsue-kun was not there seemed to last forever. She waited and waited before she finally heard the sound of the door opening in the silent space.

The boy walked in carrying cymbals, and the girl made way for Matsueda Jun, watching him install the cymbals onto the stand.

"Matsueda-kun, it took you quite a while. Did you encounter any problems?"

"I chatted briefly with the staff member in charge of cymbal maintenance," Jun Matsueda said without changing his expression.

The cymbals were sent for maintenance by Senior Yamami, so Senior Yamami could be considered a staff member, right? He thought there was nothing wrong with what he said.

The drum kit was finally complete. Jun Matsue tapped the cymbals; there were no problems. He waved the two drumsticks in the air, and the solo practice time began.

From the moment the first beat sounded, Tomatsu Yuka stared intently at the boy beside her. The air conditioning in the room hadn't been turned on yet, and Matsueda Jun was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt. The muscles in his upper and lower arms contracted and bulged with each movement, displaying pure physical beauty.

Jun Matsueda's movements were sometimes slow and sometimes fast. When they were slow, the girl could clearly see every bent finger joint. When they were fast, the drumsticks in his hands were just afterimages, reminding her of a train passing by the station, rushing past her with great momentum, dazzling her eyes and stirring up gusts of wind.

Perhaps the drum kit is the most suitable instrument for men, perfectly combining surging power with exquisite skills. Every strike is enough to pierce the eardrum and control the heart of the onlooker.

After Jun Matsueda finished performing, the girl, who was completely absorbed in the performance, realized that she had forgotten to record it. Fortunately, this was a practice room and not a stage, so she could watch it many times.

"Was Matsueda this impressed when she saw me play the saxophone?" Tomatsu Yuka murmured to herself, looking lost in thought.

“I think your saxophone is a bit better,” Jun Matsue smiled. “After all, the drums have a sound advantage.”

The drum kit is the instrument that sets the tone for the band's performance and controls the rhythm for everyone. This is why the girls in the light music club were so determined to find a high-quality drummer.

"Pine Branch, do it a few more times!" The girl picked up her phone to record a video. She wanted to get her revenge and show it to the guy who hadn't come to class today.

Then the sound of percussion filled the room once again.

"Thank you for your hard work, teacher." Yamami Maki bowed slightly as she saw the elegant woman off.

Watching the woman close the heavy door to the room, the girl breathed a sigh of relief, her straight back slumped, and she rested on the table.

The flower arrangement class had just ended, and the next class was calligraphy. There was a twenty-minute break in between. Yamami Maki had her left cheek pressed against the table, staring blankly at the sunlight outside the window.

"Is Matsueda still practicing?" She took out her phone. Yuka hadn't messaged her, so it seemed she was having a good time in the room where the two of them were alone.

She scrolled through her chat list again, but there were still no messages from Songzhi. The girl pouted, exited the chat app, and tapped the camera icon on her phone.

"I'd like to see what you're doing."

This is an application that connects to the studio's backend monitoring system. Yamami Maki tapped the screen again and quickly saw the interior of a room on the fourth floor.

In the video, Jun Matsueda is still focused on playing the drums, while Yuka Tomatsu leaves her seat with her phone and starts taking pictures of him.

"It's a pity we can't hear anything. Looks like he didn't do anything bad." Yami Maki nodded in satisfaction and zoomed in on the image.

The girl's figure disappeared off-screen, leaving only the boy playing the drums, filling the entire screen.

(End of this chapter)