Am I being simulated by their love affair.

Chapter 642 Ultimatum
"The pine branch is mine."

Jun Matsue turned around and saw Yosuke Kurusu standing by the dining table behind the sofa, staring at the girl with a cold expression.

"Just because you say it's yours doesn't mean it is!" Miss Idol retorted without backing down. "Then why aren't you Matsue's girlfriend?"

Mochizuki Haruka glared at her fiercely, "I am his de facto girlfriend. What does Tomatsu Yuka have besides the title?"

"If I wanted, this title could be mine too!"

Yosuke Kurusu gripped the kitchen knife tightly and snorted disdainfully.

"You just took advantage of your proximity to Songzhi and used your cleverness to lure him away!"

"Matsue is overthinking things. She thinks that just because she's been with you, she has to be with you forever." She looked at the boy who was looking at her. "I'll show him the truth—being with me is definitely much happier than being with Mochizuki Haruka!"

"..." Hearing these words, Mochizuki Haruka calmed down instead. She smiled sarcastically, "Then you can keep trying."

"While you were trying so hard to make Songzhi like you, I was already in bed with him, making love until we were completely exhausted."

The girl's attack was completely unskilled, but its destructive power was very obvious. Matsueda Jun saw that Kurusu Yosei's face darkened, so he quickly stood up and walked between the two of them.

"enough."

The boy gently took the kitchen knife from Kurusu Yosei's hand.

Any potential danger needs to be avoided. He placed the knife on the table and turned to look at Mochizuki Haruka.

"We've been taking exams all day, and Kurusu just decided to suspend activities. Everyone's busy, so can we please stop talking about relationship topics?"

Mochizuki Haruka looked defiant, "Wasn't it her who said she was going to turn you back first!"

"I'm just reminding you." As if standing on a stage deciding the outcome, Yosei Kurusu's expression was exceptionally serious.

"After all, it was thanks to you that the previous recording was resolved, so I don't want to resort to any underhanded tactics. I'll tell you my thoughts openly and honestly—"

"I will wholeheartedly become the sun in Matsueda's heart and make him the one who loves me the most."

The girl's tone wasn't harsh; it was as firm and assertive as stating a fact. This only fueled the growing unease in Mochizuki Haruka's heart, as if a flame were slowly burning within her.

"What are you so confident about?" She bypassed the boy, almost pressing against Kurusu Yosei's body. "You want to be an idol and also want to be in a relationship. You deserve to be dumped!"

"You were just lucky to be roommates with Songzhi back then. If this hadn't happened, do you think he would have even given you a second glance?"

"So I'm suspending my activities now," Yosuke Kurusu said nonchalantly.

"Isn't luck proof of fate? Unlike you, who had to buy the apartment next door just to be closer to him. Besides, Songzhi and I get along so well as roommates, which means we're well-suited to live together!"

"Do you know the joys of life? Would you pick out ingredients with Songzhi? Would you be happy with Songzhi when you get a half-price bento or discounted milk?"

"You, a young lady, never belonged here. Didn't you force your way to Songzhi's side?"

"Kurasu!" The boy stepped between the two again, and this time it was Mochizuki Haruka's turn to have a gloomy expression.

"You think you're so great being a roommate?" Her voice was even colder than the ice water that Jun Matsueda had just drunk.

"Anyway, you have money, a job, and company housing now, so it's okay if I kick you out, right?"

Seeing the boy's eyelashes flutter, Kurusu Yosei felt even more confident. "I'm a legal tenant. The landlord would have to pay a penalty to kick me out!"

“Then I’ll buy this apartment too.” Mochizuki Haruka took out her phone. “If the landlord doesn’t want to sell, I’ll just raise the price. She’ll eventually agree.”

"You can start packing your bags and leaving tonight."

The idol, who wasn't actually that wealthy, widened her eyes. Just as she was about to speak again, Jun Matsue turned around.

"That's it."

The boy grasped Mochizuki Haruka's wrist, and she obediently shut her mouth, but her face remained as cold as an iceberg.

"My heart is with me, and it won't diminish or increase in my affection just because you guys are arguing."

He gently rubbed the girl's hand. "Your task now is to prepare well for the final exams. I'll study with you after dinner."

Mochizuki held his index finger tightly, while Matsueda Jun turned around to look in the other direction.

"Kurasu, you should also get some rest. I'll cook dinner tonight."

"I don't want to eat with her!" The girl behind him said angrily and walked straight towards the entrance.

After Mochizuki Haruka's figure disappeared with the heavy sound of the door closing, the living room fell silent. Matsueda Jun and the girl in front of him looked at each other in bewilderment.

"She's angry~" Kurusu Yosei blinked. "Aren't you going to check on her?"

The boy first put the knife back in the kitchen, then picked up a water glass from the table and drank two mouthfuls of ice water.

"Go ahead." The girl patted his shoulder. "If she hadn't reacted so strongly after I said just a few words, I wouldn't have bothered arguing with Mochizuki Haruka!"

Yosei Kurusu is very clear about her strategic policy; what she wants is Matsue's heart, and arguing with Haruka Mochizuki won't help her achieve that.

"Songzhi will prepare dinner. I'll chop the vegetables for you."

Jun Matsue was silent for a few seconds, then glanced at the time on his phone.

"Dinner will be served on time soon. Don't eat snacks, save room for dinner."

The girl made an OK sign and watched the boy walk towards the apartment next door. He closed the door very gently.

The security door to 506 was not closed, but left slightly ajar. It was unclear whether this was due to Wangyue's oversight or intentional.

Stepping inside, unlike the bright and airy living room next door, the floor-to-ceiling curtains on the girl's balcony were tightly closed, making the room dark and stuffy.

Following the uneven breathing sounds, Jun Matsue found Haruka Mochizuki lying motionless on the sofa, her head buried in a cat paw pillow.

"What are you doing?"

The boy gently patted her soft, bouncy buttocks, and the girl raised her legs and slapped his arm a few times.

"I thought you weren't coming." Mochizuki Haruka's muffled voice came through the cushion.

“How could that be?” Jun Matsueda sighed. “My girlfriend is upset, of course I have to come and comfort her.”

The girl sat up abruptly. "Then why haven't you broken up with Tomatsu Yuka yet?!"

"Why did you come back to Kisaki Yosei before you had even severed ties with Tomatsu Tomoka?!"

"Didn't I give you time to solve the problem?"

Her shouts weren't fierce at all; instead, they sounded somewhat helpless. Unable to speak, the boy chose to pull her into his arms.

Mochizuki Haruka didn't cry; she just hugged him exceptionally tightly, as if trying to meld herself into her beloved's body.

"Songzhi, haven't I always been obedient to you?"

“No one has been kinder to me than Mochizuki,” Matsueda Jun said softly.

But there are also people who treat him as well as Mochizuki.

"Then why do I still feel uneasy even though we're holding each other so tightly right now?"

The girl's trembling voice was like a sharp thorn, fiercely piercing his heart and bringing waves of intense guilt.

Wang Yueyao is a princess living a life of luxury in a city of steel and iron, pampered by her family. Apart from the birth, aging, sickness and death of her relatives, most of the grievances she suffers come from the person who keeps saying that he can't live without her.

Jun Matsue felt he shouldn't hide anything from this girl, even the fact that he couldn't let go of Tomatsu Yuka.

But just as the boy was about to open his lips, Mochizuki Haruka, as if sensing something, immediately raised her hand. "Stop talking!" she covered the boy's mouth. "I just want to see Matsueda solve the problem, I don't want to hear your explanation!"

"...Didn't I tell you my patience is limited?"

The girl unconsciously tightened her grip on his cheek, and Matsueda Jun felt a little pain.

"summer vacation."

"This summer vacation is the deadline—Matsue must give me an explanation."

"..."

The cicadas chirping in the sunlight seemed afraid to step into the dimly lit room. Mochizuki waited for a while, but there was no response. She looked up and realized that the boy's mouth was still being tightly covered by her.

"Is Songzhi alright?!" She hurriedly let go of his hand.

"...Luckily, you didn't cover my nose." Jun Matsueda's smile was somewhat weak.

"I've remembered Mochizuki's reminder and will take care of everything before the summer vacation ends."

"Really?" the girl asked, still somewhat doubtful.

"I don't want to see you like this again." The boy reached out and stroked her cheek, the pain in his heart still lingering.

"So I try my best."

"I don't want someone to take the place next to you." Mochizuki Haruka bit his two fingers, leaving her teeth marks.

"Pine branch, don't let me down."

Kneeling on the sofa and hugging her cushion, the girl watched as Jun Matsue walked out of the living room.

"I'd rather not have dinner with Yosuke Kurusu," she said finally.

The boy turned around, his gaze questioning.

"She said she didn't want to show me any mercy, but I'm the one who doesn't want to put up with her anymore." A hint of arrogance returned to Mochizuki Haruka's eyes.

"Don't ask me to eat when she cooks for you in Qiyang in the future—it's like I'm being taken care of by her."

Jun Matsue nodded. "Then I'll bring your portion over later."

"And one more thing," the girl added, "I won't be hanging around your place for no reason until summer vacation is over."

"I don't want you to see Ryūki Yōse when you see me."

“…Okay.” Jun Matsue smiled. “It’s the same if I come to see you.”

After the boy closed the door, Jinzhi, who had been hiding under the sofa, immediately darted out and meowed twice as if she had survived a close call.

The atmosphere in the room was too oppressive, and its keen intuition led it to choose to lie low.

"..." Mochizuki Haruka bent down, brushed the dust off the cat, and picked it up.

"My request isn't unreasonable, is it?"

The girl met the gaze of the magnificent golden eyes before her, and the only response she received was a bewildered meow.

Back in the corridor, Jun Matsue leaned against the stone railing for two minutes in a daze before finally pushing open the door to room 507.

The sound of chopping meat coming from the kitchen stopped, and Yosuke Kurusu poked her head out to look into the entrance hall. The thin kitchen knife in her hand had been replaced by a wide cleaver.

"Has Songzhi finished comforting Mochizuki?"

“…Hmm.” Jun Matsue picked up the remaining ice water on the table and drank it all in one gulp; the ice had already melted.

"I'll take care of the rest." He walked into the kitchen, took the kitchen knife from the girl's hand, and Kurusu Yosei obediently took off her apron and handed it to him.

"I plan to cook Mapo Tofu and okra salad for dinner tonight, and then make an egg custard."

"Okay." The boy nodded and looked at the half-chopped minced meat on the cutting board.

Why didn't you buy ready-made minced meat from the supermarket?

The girl waved her hand dismissively, "The minced meat from the machine looks like earthworms, it's pretty disgusting~"

"Besides, those minced meat pieces are all leftover scraps, so the quality isn't very good. It's safer to buy a good piece of meat and chop it yourself."

She gave a playful wink, "Now that I have money, I should improve my quality of life a bit!"

Looking at the smiling face in front of him, Jun Matsuoka was slightly lost in thought when the girl waved her right hand.

What is Songzhi thinking?

"I'm wondering why you're so strong... It's like no matter what happens, you can always come back to me with that smile."

"No way!" Kurusu Yosei raised his eyebrows and glared at him. "I was quite embarrassed in front of you the other day."

The girl refers to the afternoon the two spent at the karaoke bar.

“I will feel sad when I need to—I’m not without bad emotions right now.” She touched her fingertip, which she had accidentally scraped.

"But being sad all the time is useless. If you want to hold onto what you love, you have to keep working hard."

"No matter what kind of effort it takes—money, time, or sweat."

Of all the things my mom said, only these few make sense.

"..." Matsueda Jun was silent for a while, "I'm a little unsure how to get along with you now."

The relationship between the two is a bit complicated now. He is like a married man being pursued, but they were originally roommates who got along well, and he is also the number one fan of the girl's career.

Yosei Kurusu tilted his head. "Why does Matsugi have to think so clearly?"

"Do you really have to categorize our relationship into some kind of identity?"

"Just do whatever makes you feel most comfortable and at ease, isn't that the best approach?"

Then his own romantic relationships would be in complete disarray... Jun Matsue laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Let's make dinner first."

"Good luck~" Yosei Kurusu walked out of the kitchen.

"I'm just waiting to eat. I'll see how badly Sakurai Masahiko is being scolded right now~"

Jun Matsue closed the kitchen door, picked up two cleavers, and chopped them alternately on the cutting board, his movements resembling those of a drummer.

He laid all his emotions on the cutting board: self-blame, confusion, anxiety, greed...

Examining them, the boy raised the knife in his hand and quickly chopped them into tiny, indistinguishable pieces, mixing them together without any distinction.

He heated the stove, turned on the range hood, and, holding the trembling machine, surrounded by its old and loud hum, Jun Matsuoka stared blankly for a while.

Two more days of exams, and this semester will be over.

He suddenly felt a pang of resentment towards the arrival of summer vacation.

　I should take the day off tomorrow to sort out the events of summer vacation.

　　This is the most crucial part of the plot. I already know how it's going to go, but I still need to consider how to present it better.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)