Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 518 Change and Unchanging
In the third week after the start of the school year, Jun Matsue stood in front of the ice cream vending machine at the top of the stairs on the third floor, looking at the line in front of him.

Today marks the day the two ice cream vending machines in the teaching building are turned on again. After the continuous spring rain, the Tokyo sun is starting to warm up.

"Twenty-six degrees..."

The boy glanced at the weather forecast on his phone, tugged at his shirt collar, and realized it was time to throw his school uniform jacket back into the closet.

After queuing for two minutes, Jun Matsue bought three ice creams. Since there were no plastic bags, he had to carry them in his hands as he walked up the stairs.

Life as a third-year student wasn't as boring as he had imagined—there were indeed more exams, but physical education classes were still in session; after school, he either worked with Tomatsu Yuka or played the role of Kashiwabara Hikaru in front of Imokawa Natsumi's camera, a role that was both unfamiliar and familiar.

I also have to find time in the evenings to tutor Mochizuki Haruka in Tokyo University classes. These days feel even busier than when I was in my first and second years of high school...

Back on the fourth floor, as they entered the classroom, Tomatsu Tomoka was not at her seat. Matsueda Jun placed the cantaloupe-flavored ice cream cone he was holding on her desk, then walked over to the girl who was studying at her desk.

As Mochizuki Haruka was frowning and pondering the math problem in front of her, a cold sensation touched her cheek, causing her to immediately look up.

Only after she saw the boy holding the ice cream in front of her did the dissatisfaction between her brows disappear.

"What's wrong..." The girl rolled her eyes at him.

"Have some sweets to relax and give your brain some energy." Jun Matsueda shook the brown ice cream cone in his hand.

"Here you go, your favorite hazelnut chocolate flavor."

Mochizuki Haruka obediently put down her pen and took the ice cream. She carefully tore open the wrapper with her index finger and thumb, without getting a sticky residue on her hands.

The girl has been leaving the classroom less and less lately, preferring to stay quietly in her seat reading and doing exercises. On days when she's not filming, she'll even stay after school to attend the two elective self-study sessions for third-year students, surprising many in the class.

Although he had promised the gal Rion that he would persuade Mochizuki Haruka, Matsueda Jun did not have that plan at the moment. He was just going through the motions to help the girl fill in the gaps in her knowledge and watching her quiz scores gradually improve.

In any case, it's always good to learn more.

"Where are you stuck?" The boy opened his ice cream cone, eating it as he looked at the workbook in front of the girl.

“I don’t need you to teach me.” Mochizuki Haruka stretched out her left hand and placed it on the blank question. “I’ll think about it myself for a while.”

“Alright.” Jun Matsue nodded. He could understand the girl’s stubborn nature.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Remember to rest and balance work and leisure."

"Okay." Mochizuki Haruka licked the ice cream from her lips. "I also attend PE class."

"Just rely on PE class for rest?" The boy glanced at her a couple more times, but didn't say anything.

Two or three minutes before the school bell rang, Tomatsu Tomoka and Mizushima Miya walked into the classroom together. She immediately noticed the melon ice cream cone lying on her desk, and then looked at Matsueda Jun sitting next to her.

"Did Jun-kun bring this for me?"

The boy nodded, and the girl smiled, unwrapped the ice cream cone, took a small lick, and then handed it to him.

"I think ice cream tastes best when it's about to melt, Tsunkun. Would you like to try some?"

Jun Matsue glanced at her, then lowered his head and took a small bite. The delicate, cool texture melted on his tongue, and the fresh sweetness of the cantaloupe filled his mouth.

"The taste is indeed quite good."

He heard an impatient click of his tongue behind him. He turned around and saw Mochizuki Haruka switch the ice cream cone to her left hand and pick up her pen to stare at the question in front of her.

The girl already had an idea for the difficult question, but her lips tightened even more. At lunchtime, Jun Matsueda ran into Natsumi Imokawa in the cafeteria. She was sitting alone at a bar-style seat by the window, a half-eaten noodle dregs dangling from her mouth, staring blankly out the window.

"What are you thinking about instead of eating properly?"

The sound of the boy sitting down brought the girl back to her senses. She hurriedly bit off the noodles in her mouth, and the broken half fell into the soup, splashing a few oil stains on the edge of the bowl.

"Um, I was thinking about making a film." Natsumi Imokawa looked back but didn't see any other girls around the boy.

"Is Songzhi eating lunch alone today?"

The boy nodded. "Same as you."

"Where are they?" the girl asked curiously.

“Mochizuki is studying in the classroom, and I’m the one who brings her lunch now.” Jun Matsue stirred the pork stew rice in front of him with a spoon, making sure every grain of rice was coated with sauce.

“As for Tomatsu,” he paused, “I haven’t been having lunch with her lately.”

"Eh—" Natsumi Imokawa's eyes widened, and she suddenly felt a strange excitement. "You guys aren't planning to continue acting?"

"I guess so." The boy scooped up a spoonful of rice covered with slices of meat, put it in his mouth, chewed and swallowed before continuing.

"The current plan is to let the relationship that's been publicized cool down gradually, and then naturally propose a breakup."

In fact, he didn't discuss the specifics of how to do it with Tomatsu much—the two even shared the same understanding in this regard.

Natsumi Imokawa picked up a mouthful of noodles with her chopsticks, dipped it in the broth, and asked, "Won't this interfere with your filming?"

The girl's cautious tone made Jun Matsueda smile. "I'm not sure, will you be filming for a long time?"

"Filming will be intermittent, probably until August or September," she mumbled, chewing her noodles.

"It shouldn't have too much of an impact, right?" the boy could only guess. "Besides, don't you often do one-on-one shoots these days?"

Natsumi Imokawa will now combine everyone's individual scenes for filming, so as not to take up too much of everyone's time.

"That's good." The girl breathed a sigh of relief. They had already filmed so many scenes, and it would be troublesome if they had to change actors at the last minute.

"Speaking of the actress for the fiancée, has anyone decided on Imokawa yet?"

Jun Matsueda didn't want to continue talking about himself and Tomatsu, so he took the lead in the conversation before the girl could ask any more questions.

"Not yet." Natsumi Imokawa shook her head. "But Mochizuki told me I could ask her aunt."

"Aunt?" The boy raised an eyebrow, the image of a woman in a suit flashing through his mind. "Perhaps it would actually suit her quite well."

"Does Songzhi also think it's suitable?" The girl blinked. "Then I'll ask Mochizuki's aunt when she'll be free."

They started talking about filming again, and Natsumi Imokawa took out her phone and placed it between them, playing a rough cut of the current footage.

Looking at the scene of cherry blossoms fluttering on the screen, Jun Matsueda's gaze shifted to the pure and innocent eyes of the girl beside him.

No matter how the relationships around him change, Imokawa remains the same and has never been affected.

It's probably his good fortune to be able to become friends with a girl like that.

(End of this chapter)