Am I being simulated by their love affair?

Page 175

Fuji Television!

Sitting in a restaurant in Odaiba, Minato Ward, Jun Matsueda gazed at the spherical observation deck atop a 27-story building not far away.

"These TV station buildings are all so magnificent..."

"After all, our entertainment industry is the most glamorous place in Japan~"

The girl scooped up the seafood tomato omelet rice in front of her with a spoon and happily put it into her mouth. Matsueda Jun was eating a tonkatsu seafood sauce omelet rice; he needed large pieces of meat to replenish his energy.

"Are you ready to go on stage?" Although the two of them would be at the filming location, they would definitely not be using the same entrance, so Jun Matsueda decided to remind her one last time.

"If asked about your daily life, absolutely do not mention anything about sharing an apartment, okay?"

"Exposing Their Masks!" is a quiz show where each episode invites several guests from the same field to answer questions live. The guests are not limited to the entertainment industry; some are well-known university professors or bestselling authors.

The episode that Yosuke Kurusu is recording tonight is themed "Exposing the Masks of Beautiful Girl Singers!", which will most likely involve privacy issues, which is why her agency is hesitant.

"Don't worry, we've rehearsed it several times before."

Yosuke Kurusu wiped the tomato juice from his lips. It was the girl who dragged Jun Matsueda to practice every night, but now she was comforting him instead.

"I remember you won't disclose your address, your daily activities, your family background, or your relationship status!"

When Jun Matsueda sat down at the recording studio for "Masquerade," there were more people in the audience than he had imagined. Matsueda's seat was in a blind spot of the camera, with no chance of being on camera.

The recording of the program had been going on for more than ten minutes. He looked at the guest seats on the stage and saw that Yosuke Kuraki was sitting at the very edge, which was quite close to him.

The girls in the guest seats truly lived up to today's theme of "beautiful girl singers." Regardless of their natural talents or skills, his roommate sitting there could only be considered relatively outstanding, not quite standing out from the crowd.

"All of today's guests have been introduced. Which female singer's mask are you most looking forward to seeing exposed?"

The middle-aged man sitting in the middle of the host's seat looked down at the audience, who, at his signal, shouted out the names of the various guests.

"So, the first question for today is—when you do your own searches, what topics do you pay the most attention to..."

"Next question: As an idol singer, do you usually encounter any challenges when creating songs?"

Laughter erupted from the audience. The question almost implied the reality that most idol singers were not very talented, and the girls on stage also looked troubled.

"Actually, I think as long as you're good-looking, the audience won't care that much, right?" The sweet girl in the center of the guest seats spoke first, blinking as she looked at the camera lens.

“Writing lyrics can be a real challenge. For example, if I use ‘smiling face’ instead of ‘smile,’ people might think I’m too knowledgeable and they’re not used to it.”

The laughter from the audience grew louder. Jun Matsueda yawned. This show was essentially something designed to make people laugh; ordinary and serious answers wouldn't be well-received.

In this light, it seems quite suitable for Kurusu, whose thought process is quite peculiar. The girl's previous eccentric remarks attracted a lot of attention and goodwill from passersby.

He thought, "Let's just stay here peacefully until the show ends..." He looked at the girl who had picked up the microphone at the edge of the guest seats.

"Shouldn't we just leave this kind of thing to the producer to worry about?" Yosei Kurusu said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Are people actually creating songs?"

"Huh???"

Upon hearing the girl's outrageous remarks, the hosts sitting opposite and the audience below gasped in surprise. The talkative host looked at the audience, then at the camera, his face blank, revealing his comedic style.

Jun Matsue sat up straight, looked at Yosei Kurusu on the stage, and sighed helplessly.

Sure enough, expecting her to stay calmly until the end of the show, given that she said "there are so many people it's like garbage," was simply impossible.

Chapter 305 People without dreams are most easily attracted by dreams.

"Huh? What did Kurusu-san mean by that?"

The host seemed not to have heard clearly and hoped the girl could repeat herself.

"So, even though we're called idol singers, not many of us actually write songs, right?"

Yosei Kurusu spoke very patiently, as if he were teaching a kindergarten child to speak.

Jun Matsueda's phone vibrated quickly. His manager, who was backstage at the event, sent him a message: "There's a high chance this kind of talk will cause a stir!"

The term "炎上" (yan shang) means to incite public outrage, resulting in a large amount of negative sentiment on social media and likely damaging the image of the person involved.

However, considering the show's positioning, Jun Matsueda felt he could still choose to believe the girl for the time being. He sent his manager a "Don't worry~" emoji, which he had stolen from Yosei Kurusu.

"Maybe I'm the only one like this?" the girl on stage continued, "because I recently released my first solo album, and I felt that the process of creating the songs was very difficult."

The middle-aged man on the host's seat stood up, raised his hand and made a "shh" gesture to the audience, seemingly wanting to continue listening to the beautiful female singer's outrageous remarks.

"From the initial demo to the arrangement and lyrics, I only used a little bit of my brain."

Lai Qiyang leaned against the VIP table, her right thumb and forefinger pinched together—that was the little bit of thought she had put into it.

"I only say what kind of feeling and atmosphere I want; most of the work is actually done by our production team."

"So, compared to creating songs, my job is just to sing them and make everyone think they sound good." The girl stuck out her tongue at the camera.

"If someone asks me how it feels to write songs, I really feel guilty~"

Laughter erupted spontaneously from the audience without any prompting from the director. The sweet girl sitting in the center of the guest seats looked helplessly at Yosuke Kurusu, who was sitting on the edge.

"Kurasu-san! With you saying that, we have no way to answer this question!"

"We agreed it was just to expose the mask, how did you tear our faces off like that? We're idol singers, you know? We make a living with our looks!"

The middle-aged man in the host's seat burst into loud laughter; the host's unrestrained laughter was a staple of the show. He looked up at the ceiling of the stage; it seemed the show's ratings were already guaranteed.

Jun Matsueda glanced at his phone. His manager remained silent. He put his phone away, shrunk back in his chair, and the fire alarm was temporarily lifted.

Starting with this question, the focus of the discussion on stage gradually shifted towards Yosei Kurusu. After asking their questions, the hosts would look at the girl sitting on the edge with expectant eyes, hoping she would say something surprising again.

"If you hadn't debuted, what would you be doing now?"

The girls on stage buzzed like bees, clearly very interested in the question.

"She'll probably become a model or something, maybe shoot covers for fashion magazines?"

"She's probably already a housewife..."

"Hey, why isn't Kurusu-san saying anything?" The host peered out from his seat.

The girl, who had been slumped over her seat, sat up straight. She had just been watching to see if Matsueda Jun had sneaked away from the audience.

"If you didn't debut?" Kurusu Yosei repeated the question. "If you didn't debut, you'd definitely still be working hard to debut right now~"

"Eh—" The host made a silly face at the camera again, "Kurusu-san's way of thinking is really different from everyone else's!"

"Is it strange?" The girl looked around. "Not debuting doesn't mean you can't debut in your entire life."

"I only have one goal: to become an idol. I won't consider any other possibility except to achieve it!"

As Kurusu Yosei spoke, she secretly glanced at the audience. Actually, the girl had a second target, but someone had told her that she was forbidden from revealing her relationship status.

"Kurasu-san, you're surprisingly full of dreams~" the host exclaimed, and the laughter from the audience was perfectly timed.

The girl didn't speak; she blinked curiously, as if observing the reactions of those around her. After a while, she spoke in a pitying tone.

"It feels like this generation doesn't have any dreams."

"Um, um..." the middle-aged man stammered, "Is that so?"

Yosei Kurusu nodded. "Everyone talks about dreams in such a flippant tone—"

"Surprisingly, you have a lot of dreams~" she said in a gruff voice, mimicking the host's words, "Isn't saying that just admitting you don't have any dreams?"

"But it's not entirely incomprehensible," the girl said with a reminiscing expression. "Before my official debut, I was also an underground idol. Back then, most people became idols because they wanted to make a lot of money~"

"Isn't it a dream to make a lot of money as an idol?" The girl sitting in the center spoke to Yosuke Kurusu again, but the joking tone seemed to have lessened a bit.

"Does that count?" Yosei Kurusu asked, tilting his head. "Making a lot of money is just to make your life more comfortable, right?"

"Making a lot of money and living more comfortably, I think, are just basic goals. Everyone has such goals."

"Even if you have no money, even if you live a hard life, there are things you want to do and goals that only you can achieve. Dreams should be something meaningful."

Jun Matsue recalled the first time he saw Yosei Kurusu perform, the dazzling light that illuminated the dark space, and the unbridled warmth and light emanating from the girl.

"Of course." The girl blinked and winked at the camera.

"If I can make money and live more comfortably, I'll be even happier!"

Jun Matsue stood outside the departing crowd, recalling the girl's speech on stage, waiting for her to appear.

In a sense, Yosei Kurusu is indeed someone who has the confidence to say such things—she used to work part-time to subsidize the expenses of underground idols, and the reason she chose to share an apartment with Jun Matsueda was because the rent was cheap enough.

Once the crowd dispersed, the girl wearing a hat and mask rolled down her car window and waved to her from across the street.

Matsueda Jun walked towards the car. Thinking about it, could this guy be quite inspiring?

The girl patted Matsueda Jun's shoulder forcefully. "How was it? I did a great job, didn't I?"

“You almost scared the manager to death…” Jun Matsue glanced at the driver’s seat, and the woman driving shook her head helplessly.

"I need to contact the program's producers and ask them to be careful when editing. Some of your words were too dangerous, and if they were released directly, they could easily be targeted."

"I'm telling the truth, aren't I?" the girl pouted, dissatisfied.

“Telling the truth in the entertainment industry is inherently a risky thing.” The woman sighed, and the car engine started up.

Yosei Kurusu didn't intend to refute. She simply turned to look at the boy sitting next to her. Jun Matsueda glanced at the woman in the front row and whispered to the girl.

"I support you."

After all, he was a man without dreams.

Those who have no dreams are most easily attracted by dreams.

Chapter 306 Living Freely Under the Spotlight

The agent drove the two back to Mitaka, but the car didn't go directly to the apartment building; instead, it stopped on the side of the road.

Yosei Kurusu has sharp eyes; she spotted the ramen stall from afar and called to Jun Matsueda to come down and eat ramen together.

After each performance, she had to eat something; this seemed to have become a habit for Yosuke Kurusu. The girl stood in front of the simple ramen cart, watching Jun Matsueda talking to the woman in the cart by the roadside.

The car started again, and the girl put her hands to her lips, making a megaphone shape, "Sister, won't you eat a bowl of ramen with me before you go?"

"What time is it?" The woman glared at her irritably. "I have my own things to do too!"

The busy cars sped away, taking some of the summer night's heat with them. It wasn't the hottest time yet, and feeling the night breeze by the roadside made one crave a bowl of noodle soup to warm up.

The ramen stall only offered two choices: chashu ramen and regular ramen. Looking at the tempting chashu on the counter, the girl didn't hesitate to ask for it.

"Char siu ramen! Double char siu, thank you, grandma~".

The elderly woman with the headscarf nodded; many of the street stalls in Japan were run by elderly people. Lai Qiyang turned around, "What would you like to eat, Songzhi?"

Jun Matsueda glanced at the small whiteboard standing up in the car. "Regular ramen, please, with an egg."

"Ramen with an egg~" The girl turned around and repeated the boy's words, it seemed that the evening's program hadn't drained her energy much.

The ramen was served quickly, and the two sat on the wooden table behind the cart to eat. Jun Matsue watched the cut hard-boiled egg float in the broth, then picked up some seaweed and bamboo shoots and put them in his mouth along with the ramen.

"Hmm...not bad."

The girl happily chewed on the tender char siu, then picked up the red noodle bowl and took a sip of the soup. "Delicious!"

"I used to never add chashu to my ramen at the stall," Yosei Kurusu sighed, gazing at the night sky. "Now I'm living the good life of double chashu!"

At that time, she was working part-time at a convenience store to pay for her makeup and costumes for the performance, and she and Songzhi bought vegetables nearing their expiration date from the supermarket.

"Once what you said on the show today gets out, you might not be able to get char siu again?"

"There's nothing we can do about it." The girl picked up a piece of char siu and put it in the boy's bowl. "Let Songzhi try some too~"

"I went through so much to debut as an idol, not to tell a lie on stage."

Jun Matsue paused for a moment. He was just sitting at a roadside stall eating noodles, so why could this guy act so cool?

"What I want people to like is not the persona I wear, the one with superb acting skills, but the most authentic Yosei Kurusu."

"Although what I said was partly to cater to the atmosphere of the show, at least those words were my true feelings."

Yosei Kurusu never imagined what she would be like before her debut. Just like what she said to the girls at Shinjuku Gyoen before, would Yosei Kurusu still be Yosei Kurusu if she didn't become an idol?

The girl laughed, her full lips glistening with the oil from the noodle soup under the streetlights.

"If you become an idol wearing a mask, you can't enjoy this delicious char siu with a clear conscience~"

Matsueda Jun sighed. This guy could be so willful sometimes. He took a bite of the char siu the girl had given him, and it did taste pretty good.

"It's very dangerous for you to live like this in the entertainment industry."