Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 428 Pink Sunrise

Jun Matsue usually sleeps well, but he still woke up several times on his first night at the camp.

The first time I woke up was when Ken Sakamuro crawled into his tent. Men tend to be very energetic when they are in the wild. I don't know what they did in the camp, but Ken Sakamuro didn't come back until after midnight.

The second time was when he heard whispers outside his tent—Matsueda Jun initially thought there were thieves in the camp, but after crawling out of his sleeping bag, he discovered that it was a group of girls who couldn't sleep gathered together telling ghost stories.

Before crawling back into his sleeping bag, he glanced at his phone lying beside him; his senior still hadn't seen his messages.

He thought he saw it in the message notification, but didn't want to open the chat window. With that thought in mind, the boy closed his eyes again.

When he opened his eyes for the third time, the surroundings were unexpectedly quiet. Jun Matsue blinked, but he didn't move. He just stared blankly at the tent fabric above his head.

He seemed to wake up naturally. He asked his body if it didn't want to sleep anymore, so he unzipped his sleeping bag.

Emerging from the tent, just past five in the morning, it was still pitch black. The cold air pressed against Matsueda Jun's face. He pulled his coat collar tighter and headed towards the sink for washing.

Ten minutes later, he met Imokawa Natsumi with a camera at the camp entrance. She had changed into long pants, and her thin sports jacket couldn't hide her bulging chest. When the girl saw him, she was excited and wanted to shout, but then she remembered the time and covered her mouth, waving vigorously at him.

As the boy approached, she eagerly moved closer and bounced around a couple of times.

"Pine Branch, let's go!"

A little after 5:30, the two arrived at the shore of Hirano where they had stayed the night before. The layers of blackness that filled the sky were gradually peeled away, and golden light could be seen at the end of the distant mountains.

This place is considered a scenic spot, but October is the off-season for Mount Fuji, and the transportation and accommodation conditions at Lake Yamanaka are not the best among the Fuji Five Lakes, so there were only a few scattered people nearby.

"Get ready to shoot the sunrise!" Natsumi Imokawa whispered, as if encouraging herself. She walked down the trail and headed towards the sandbar she had scouted out the night before.

"Did you sleep well last night, Imokawa?" Jun Matsue asked, standing beside her and gazing at the light mist resting on the lake's surface.

"Is it alright? I only woke up once in the middle of the night, but the sleeping bag felt too thick and a little uncomfortable."

He glanced at the curve of the girl's chest; perhaps it wasn't the sleeping bag that was the cause.

"How's Songzhi? Is he sleeping well?"

Natsumi Imokawa stood on the sandbar, her back to the boy, arms outstretched. She shook the backpack behind her, and Jun Matsueda understood what the girl meant and took the backpack off her.

"I'd say it's just so-so." He watched as the girl took out a tripod and another camera from her bag and began assembling them.

"They had quite a few activities last night. Not to mention the bonfire party, the boys were still wandering outside the tents past midnight, and the girls were even gathering together to tell ghost stories by lighting matches in the middle of the night."

While listening attentively, Natsumi Imokawa assembled the tripod, fixed the camera, and adjusted the lens. "This camera will be placed here to record the entire sunrise process. I will then take another camera to take photos freely."

She suddenly remembered something, "Um, did your senior reply to your message?"

“Read but not replied.” Jun Matsue shrugged. He only found out on the way here and didn’t know what time his senior had gone to bed last night.

"Hmm," Natsumi Imokawa didn't know what to say, so she turned her head away.

"Let's look at Mount Fuji instead!"

The two walked back and forth on the shore, the girl's camera shutter clicking incessantly. The golden light on the horizon gradually drew closer, the snow-capped peak of Mount Fuji lit up, and a soft pink hue spread all the way down to the foot of the mountain.

"Today is pink Fuji!" Natsumi Imokawa exclaimed with delight. The sunrise process was short, lasting only two or three minutes, during which the originally hazy sky turned into a clear blue, which was very pleasant.

"This is a beautiful view that you could enjoy with your lover," Jun Matsue thought, gazing at the distant mountaintop.

The young woman had originally planned to leave after photographing the sunrise, but a flock of swans leisurely swimming by caught her attention. The female photographer, dressed like a hunter, also appeared precisely at the appointed time, a cigarette dangling from her mouth, waving to the two from the roadside.

So the two stayed a little longer. Natsumi Imokawa chatted with the swan for a while and then exchanged shooting experiences with a woman not far away, until it was broad daylight and Jun Matsueda's phone popped up with a message.

The message didn't come from the senior student, but from two girls in his group.

"Matsueda-kun, breakfast is ready~" Tomatsu Yuka's tone was rather gentle.

"Where did you go?" Mochizuki Haruka asked bluntly. "Sakamuro Ken said you disappeared as soon as you woke up."

"We'll be right back," the boy replied to both of them, then looked at the girl beside him.

"Imokawa, it's time to go back."

The woman bent down, adjusted her hat, and said goodbye to them.

Back at the campsite, the entrance was the campsite of Class 5. Imokawa Natsumi turned around and looked at the boy behind her.

"Pine branch, remember, you can talk to me if you have any worries."

The girl waved and disappeared behind the tent. Jun Matsue continued forward and soon saw the familiar campsite.

Sakamuro Ken was gesturing with a wooden stick to the boys in the open space behind, Tomatsu Yuka was sitting in front of a frying pan, intently watching the sizzling fried eggs, bacon and bread, and Mochizuki Haruka was sitting not far away from her, looking bored.

"You actually know how to come back?" Seeing the boy appear, Mochizuki Haruka stood up from her chair. "What were you doing so early in the morning?"

“We’re watching the sunrise.” Jun Matsueda pointed to the gleaming Mount Fuji in the distance. “We also saw swans. If we meet them, I can tell you about their names, personalities, and family relationships.”

This is what he just heard from the photographer lady.

The girl puffed out her cheeks, letting him off the hook for the time being, while Tomatsu Yuka, who was sitting down, gently tapped the edge of the pot with a spatula.

"Breakfast will be ready soon. Could you please get some hot water, Pine Branch? We can make coffee later."

“I’ll go with you.” Mochizuki Haruka immediately walked to the boy’s side.

The camp cabins didn't have much hot water, but Class 5 and Class 6 had already started the supply trading system, with someone specifically in charge of boiling water. The girl led Matsueda Jun toward the open space where the bonfire party had been held the night before.

On the way, Wang Yueyao started talking about last night's activities. When she mentioned roasting marshmallows, a few girls popped out from behind a nearby tent.

"Isn't that Matsueda-kun?" the girls in Class 5 exclaimed excitedly. "We didn't see you last night!"

Just as Jun Matsuoka put on a business-like smile, before he could even speak, a girl continued.

"I heard from Sakamuro-san that you have someone you like?"

"real or fake?"

(End of this chapter)