Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 450 Reaping the Bitter Fruit
How can we attract more people to this year's cultural festival?

Yamami Maki sat in the student council office, absentmindedly watching her junior's lips move. She couldn't hear the girl's voice clearly, and her gaze wandered over the whiteboard against the wall, seemingly searching for something.

"Senior?" The girl waved her hand in front of Yamami Maki, bringing her back to her senses.

"Oh, sorry."

"What are you looking at, senior?" The girl turned around and glanced at the whiteboard behind her, which was completely blank. "Are you too tired from studying lately and have no energy?"

"Perhaps." Yami Maki smiled apologetically. "Where were we, Mitani-kun?"

"We were talking about the arrangements for this year's school festival." As a junior, she was very patient. "I was wondering if we should arrange some special performances, like Yuka from the brass band. I think she's really good at the saxophone, right?"

“Yes.” The girl nodded.

Recently, Yuka has been greeting me when we meet in the hallway. Her attitude has become a little warmer, but Yamami Maki feels that there is something between us, making the girl's smile seem so blurry.

Come to think of it, she's seen Yuka more often than Matsueda lately. Has he stopped leaving the classroom so often these days?
The mere thought of that name caused a sharp pain in the girl's heart, making even her breathing slow down.

"What do you think, senior? How about inviting Yuka to perform a solo? And the Light Music Club, Matsueda's band is really popular lately, right? I've seen clips of their performances!"

Yamami Maki looked up. At first, she thought she was hallucinating, but then she realized that the girl in front of her had said his name.

"Senior, you think it's feasible too, right?" Mitani assumed that her senior's actions were in support of her idea.

"Didn't Matsueda say he had already left the band?"

"Huh? Really?" The girl was somewhat surprised.

“Yes, many classmates have asked him recently, and he said he will not be performing anymore.” Yami Maki said this very slowly.

Even though they've already broken up, Matsueda still refuses to return to the stage.

"That's a bit bad," the junior in front of me said regretfully. "I was planning to invite him myself."

"Let's find someone else." The girl's smile was somewhat forced.

"That's true—why don't we let the senior ask her?"

"Huh?" Yamami Maki was stunned.

"Your relationship with Yuka isn't very good right now, right? I'll go ask her. And as for Matsueda, could you please help me?" The girl winked playfully.

"You two seem to have a pretty good relationship, right? Help me sound out whether there's a chance for me to perform on stage?"

Yamami Maki didn't know why she didn't refuse.

Leaving the student council office, she returned to the teaching building alone. The sunlight was slightly chilly today, and the girl silently walked through the crowd in the corridor.

Even after the breakup, she might not want to say it out loud that their relationship wasn't good.

The first-year students, laughing and joking, ran past Yamami Maki, leaving behind a few wisps of wind carrying the scent of perfume.

So should I talk to him? The girl stepped onto the third-floor corridor. Although it was unlikely that Matsueda would appear at the school festival, she really wanted to persuade him to return to the band and pick up the drumsticks again.

The noise in the corridor suddenly grew louder. Yamami Maki looked up. The boys from Class 2-6 had just finished their home economics class and appeared across the hall, a group of them. The crowd surged forward like a tide, and she immediately noticed that familiar, tall figure. Matsueda Jun was at the very end of the line, the figures in front of him like exhausted waves, unable to obscure his features. The boy was speaking to Sakamuro Ken, his face turned to the side. His smile reminded passersby of the sunlight outside the window earlier that day—even with a hint of coolness, it still made one want to get closer.

Maki Yamami stopped by the wall, waiting for the crowd to pass by. She and Jun Matsueda were on the same side of the corridor, and the girl would happen to pass by him.

She watched as the boy finished speaking and turned around. His features were fully revealed to the girl, as captivating as ever.

Yamami Maki took a step forward, intending to greet the boy as usual and take the opportunity to mention the request given to her by her juniors in the student council.

But the girl stopped moving.

Matsueda Jun turned around and clearly saw her, but he didn't react at all; even the smile in his eyes vanished. As if he'd seen someone he didn't want to see, the boy's gaze paused for a moment, then moved past the girl and continued forward.

Although she had warned herself beforehand, Yami Maki still felt her heart skip a beat when Matsueda Junma showed a distant attitude towards her.

Even the air felt suffocating. The girl stood rooted to the spot, unable to move, only feeling the overwhelming, surging sorrow engulfing her.

Following the noisy crowd through the corridor, Jun Matsue stood in front of his classroom door, glancing at the corridor out of the corner of his eye before finally stepping inside.

Yamami Maki turned around on the spot, and the suddenly deserted corridor was now only filled with the girl's shadow. Her gaze was like that of a pet dog that had done something wrong, cautiously following behind the boy.

The door slammed shut without hesitation, separating the two of them from their own world.

The afternoon classes left no trace in the girl's mind. After school, Yamami Maki went straight to her bedroom, sat by the window, and looked down at the increasingly withered lawn.

The cheerful chirping of a cockatiel came from the birdcage next to her, but she seemed not to hear it at all. She just sat blankly by the window, replaying the scene of the boy brushing past her in her mind over and over again.

"You chose this yourself, Yamami Maki." The girl's voice was tinged with a faint sob.

She lowered her head and buried her face in the table, not to cry, but because she didn't want to see anything and could only bury herself in the darkness.

It wasn't until dinner time that Yamami Maki appeared at the table, and as expected, she was scolded by her father.

"I met Wangyue's daughter today. She's much more mature than before. How come you're becoming more and more immature? You don't even come out to greet your parents when they come home?"

Her father criticized her in this way, and Yamami Maki did not refute it, but simply bowed her head and apologized, then ate her meal in silence.

The man put down his chopsticks. "I will attend this parent-teacher conference."

The girl looked up. "Didn't Mom always participate before?"

The woman sitting opposite smiled but didn't say anything.

“You’re about to take the common exam, but you still haven’t decided on your preferred school and major, so I have to attend the parent-teacher meeting in person.”

"I'll also meet with Matsue-kun to find out what's going on."

Yamami Maki lowered her head.

She hasn't told her father about the breakup yet.

(End of this chapter)