Chapter 202: Fixing The Water Pipe For Jessica
In the evening, inside the villa in 2025.
After dinner, Jung Soo Yeon pulled Sweet Eun-jung and Im Yoon Ah back to the sofa to continue chatting. Kim Tae Yeon saw this and just smiled, then happily chatted with Sulli while cleaning up the dining table.
After all, it was already 2025—who would still wash dishes by hand? Just tidy up simply; there’s a dishwasher for washing dishes.
As for Lin Xiuyuan, he also prepared two fruit platters. After the two finished, he called them over to sit together on the sofa and rest.
Then Kim Tae Yeon, who had bitten into an apple, looked at Jung Soo Yeon. “Soo Yeon, can you really ignore communications for that long during that time slot? I’m worried the company won’t be able to find you and there’ll be trouble later.”
Jung Soo Yeon, who was focused on chatting about work, glanced at the time—it was already past 10 p.m.—but still shook her head. “It’s fine. We agreed there are no schedules anyway. If there’s something temporary and they can’t find me, they’ll naturally find someone else.”
After saying that, she looked at Sweet Eun-jung and Im Yoon Ah. “What about you two? I won’t be disturbing you, right?”
“Oppa, if you have time, how could I possibly be busy? Right now, aside from some necessary activities, album filming, and promotion, I’m basically on vacation.”
Im Yoon Ah smiled slightly. It had been so many years; if schedules still required non-stop work, then these years would have been lived too unsuccessfully.
Sweet Eun-jung beside her also smiled and gave the same answer. “I’m about the same as Yoona, but compared to Ji-yeon and Goo Ri, I’m way behind. They’re truly semi-retired.”
“And me, and me.” Kim Tae Yeon raised her hand to join the conversation.
The group exchanged smiles, the atmosphere relaxed and pleasant.
Lin Xiuyuan then pulled Sulli over, picked up the remote control to change the channel, selected a variety show hosted by Kim Jong Kook, and sat down quietly to watch.
As the variety show played, the topic over there also shifted back to their trainee days. Then Lin Xiuyuan ended up trapping himself; even Sulli, who was originally watching with him, moved her butt and trotted over to join them.
Leaving him alone, staring blankly at the show, occasionally scrolling through videos on his mobile phone.
Even Yoo Jimin in the chat window had no time for him now; she seemed to be rehearsing the dance for a new album.
Just like that, a little more time passed. When Lin Xiuyuan forked a piece of watermelon into his mouth again, his phone ringtone suddenly rang.
He looked down and saw who it was, his gaze a bit surprised, then answered, “Hello, Krystal.”
As he spoke, the originally lively sofa instantly went quiet, and everyone’s gazes turned to him in unison.
“Xiuyuan, do you have time right now?” Krystal’s speech was a bit fast, as if she was in a hurry.
Lin Xiuyuan sat up straight and immediately asked with concern, “I have time. What’s wrong?”
“I have a contract in the bedroom of my apartment. I forgot to bring it. Can you go over and take a photo or scan it for me?”
“The apartment? Sure.”
Hearing it was the apartment, Lin Xiuyuan quickly stood up, waved at the few figures with curious gazes, then casually walked toward the time-space door.
The people behind watched Lin Xiuyuan walk over there, reach out and pull, then step inside as the room door closed behind him.
The whole set of actions would take several seconds to type out, but the person instantly vanished from Kim Tae Yeon and the others’ sight.
“Every time I see this, it feels magical, and it reminds me of a certain phrase.”
Gazing at the empty doorway, Im Yoon Ah suddenly muttered.
Jung Soo Yeon beside her turned her head. “What phrase?”
Im Yoon Ah, who was asked, smiled, glanced sideways at her young older sister, and blurted out, “Global delivery and airdrop available, price negotiable.”
As soon as she said this, Sweet Eun-jung and Kim Tae Yeon burst out laughing. Only Jung Soo Yeon and Sulli still looked confused.
Until Kim Tae Yeon leaned in smiling to explain to Sulli, whose little face turned bright red with embarrassment as she gazed at Im Yoon Ah and acted cute. “Ah, older sister~”
Jung Soo Yeon alone blinked her eyes.
What the heck?
What does that mean?
……
……
Lin Xiuyuan didn’t hear the “slang” Im Yoon Ah said at the villa; otherwise, he might have felt a bit depressed.
After all, he charged much more than those little delivery boys on Little Blue Bird—oh, no, on X.
At this moment, Lin Xiuyuan was walking inside Krystal’s apartment, holding his mobile phone and asking, “Is it inside the master bedroom?”
From the other end of the phone, Krystal’s voice came softly. “Yeah, it’s on the table in the master bedroom. You can see it when you go over.”
“Go over?” Lin Xiuyuan chuckled lightly. “I’m already here.”
On the other end, Krystal was sitting in a modified business RV. Hearing this, her eyes paused slightly, and after a moment, she said, “You’re here?”
Lin Xiuyuan had already entered the master bedroom by then, turned on the light, saw the contract on the table, and calmly replied, “Yeah, I see it.”
Then he continued, “I’ll hang up first then. After I scan it, I’ll send it to you.”
“Oh, okay… Wait, Xiuyuan, what’s going on with you…” Krystal’s voice was puzzled, unable to figure it out.
“I’ll explain when you get back. Hanging up.” Lin Xiuyuan interrupted her, his tone relaxed with a hint of amusement.
Krystal, interrupted mid-speech, realized it wasn’t good to say more right now, so she nodded lightly. “Okay, then send it to me. I’ll come find you tomorrow.”
“Good, see you tomorrow.” He answered and hung up.
Then, Lin Xiuyuan opened the scanning function on his Apple phone, scanned the contract into a document, and sent it to Krystal.
Next, he thought about it and took a few photos too, sending them over, figuring she could use whichever format she needed without him deciding.
Just as Lin Xiuyuan sent the photos and glanced around the master bedroom before preparing to leave, he suddenly heard the sound of someone opening the door and coming in from outside.
This made him frown directly, because ever since learning about the time-space door situation, Krystal had changed her apartment password, so no one should be able to come in like this, right?
A thief? Or what?
Just as Lin Xiuyuan thought of this, the lights outside all turned on, which instantly relaxed his tense mood.
Such a bold action probably wasn’t a thief.
So he gave up the idea of quietly slipping back to the villa, walked straight to the door, opened it, stepped out of the bedroom, and looked toward the guest in the living room.
Then, seeing that familiar figure, Lin Xiuyuan couldn’t help but be stunned. “Jessica?”
The other party also widened her eyes, looking at him with a tone of slight surprise. “Lin Xiuyuan?”
A few minutes later, on the sofa in Krystal’s apartment, Jessica leaned back, her gaze unintentionally sweeping toward the bedroom direction as she recalled Lin Xiuyuan’s earlier response in her mind.
“Oh, so Soo Jung asked you to come help take a photo of the contract. I thought it was a thief or some criminal gang. You scared me.”
“You scared me too. I remember Krystal saying only she knows the password here. How could someone else come in?”
On the single sofa nearby, Lin Xiuyuan responded casually, his eyes glancing at Jessica’s face, then unconsciously shifting to the small handbag beside her.
A set of pajamas had fallen out of the little bag, the fabric slightly exposing one corner, gently covering half of another piece of fabric.
Even just half was enough for Lin Xiuyuan to immediately recognize it—it looked just like the Bewitching Butterfly style he’d recently seen on Lee Ji-eun.
It was a lace low-waist hollow breathable thong.
Yeah, the very sexy kind.
Hearing his response, Jessica glared back in annoyance. “Hey, Lin Xiuyuan, what do you mean? Am I ‘someone else’? I’m her sister.”
But then she noticed Lin Xiuyuan’s gaze fixed on the little string bag beside her, so she instinctively looked down, saw the clothes had fallen out because the bag tipped over, and quickly gathered them to hide behind her.
At the same time, she didn’t shout like a young kid but softly asked, “Seen enough?”
Lin Xiuyuan smiled slightly and said nonchalantly, “Oh, not bad. Looks pretty good.”
After this small evaluation, he asked curiously, “But why did you bring clothes down to Krystal’s place?”
Jessica rolled her eyes at him irritably. “None of your business. I’m her sister—it’s not surprising for me to be here. You’re the weird one.”
Lin Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Then why didn’t she ask you to come down and help, and asked me instead?”
“…”
This question left Jessica speechless.
She couldn’t help but recall the scene at the airport pickup that morning— so similar to now. And now in the evening, Lin Xiuyuan had to poke at her like this, really making her want to go crazy.
At the same time, she couldn’t help but want to teach Krystal a lesson in her mind. She was right upstairs—why not ask her, and instead call this guy… Hmph!!!
Seeing Jessica had nothing to say, Lin Xiuyuan smiled. “Alright, I won’t argue with you. Are you going back, or what?”
“I’m not going back—you should leave quickly.” Jessica rolled her eyes, her tone impatient.
Lin Xiuyuan narrowed his eyes and smiled. “So you’re here to take a shower?”
Thinking of the pajamas and underwear he’d just seen, Lin Xiuyuan suddenly understood something. “What’s wrong? Problem with the upstairs pipes?”
Jessica originally wanted to say “none of your business,” but at the tip of her tongue, she helplessly averted her gaze and said softly, “Yeah, I don’t know what’s wrong—no hot water.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan looked at Jessica, then recalled what Jung Soo Yeon said that afternoon, sighed lightly, stood up. “Let’s go. I’ll go up with you to check and fix it for you. I hear Seoul’s plumbers these days like installing cameras in ordinary people’s homes.”
And the situation Lin Xiuyuan mentioned was one of the main reasons Jessica had just explained her situation—and before, whenever her place had issues, she needed to call friends to handle calling the plumber.
Otherwise, as a well-known artist and former popular idol, the address of her residence would have long been sold by some scheming people.
So when Lin Xiuyuan proactively offered to help, Jessica felt a little grateful. She really feared he’d keep up pretenses and make her lower her head first.
If it were like that, she’d rather wait until tomorrow or whenever a friend was free to fix it. Hmph~
So Jessica stood up, glanced at Lin Xiuyuan in front of her, averted her gaze slightly, pursed her lips, and said softly, “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me too soon—I might not be able to fix it. Let’s go up and see first.” Lin Xiuyuan smiled.
Then he turned toward the entryway. “Let’s go—you lead the way.”
Jessica didn’t hesitate, walked past Lin Xiuyuan to the front, opened the door and went out, heading toward the elevator.
Lin Xiuyuan following behind had the image of that little fabric he’d just seen flash in his mind, and his gaze unconsciously shifted down to the perky butt in front of him.
No one can refuse this first-glance instinct.
Even women can’t avoid that momentary heartbeat.
But some say a man’s first glance is instinct, the second is propriety.
But Lin Xiuyuan thought, if he didn’t shift his gaze, wouldn’t it always count as the first glance?
As the elevator arrived, Jessica stepped in and turned to look at Lin Xiuyuan, their gazes aligning. The weird feeling on her back she’d sensed while walking in front was finally noticed.
But she wasn’t too annoyed; instead, there was a pleasant feeling of catching someone red-handed, so with a teasing smile, she said coldly, “If you don’t want those eyes anymore, you can donate them to someone in need, or I can take them for you.”
Lin Xiuyuan smiled, unconcerned. “Can’t do that—I still need to fix the water pipe later.”
Regarding this, Lin Xiuyuan calmly withdrew his gaze. Seeing Jessica press the floor button, he asked, “How did you two sisters end up buying in the same residential area and same building? Planned it?”
“What else?” Jessica shot back irritably. “Even like this, Soo Jung still called you for help. Is that what you want to say?”
“That’s a bit unreasonable of you. I didn’t think that at all.”
The three-floor elevator arrived in an instant, and since it was one elevator per household, they reached Jessica’s home without encountering anyone else.
As soon as they entered, they changed shoes at the entryway.
“Where are mine?” Lin Xiuyuan asked.
Jessica glanced at him and walked straight inside. “No men’s shoes here—just come in. I’ll have someone come clean tomorrow.”
This answer made Lin Xiuyuan raise an eyebrow slightly, but he didn’t ask more and followed into the living room.
Then his gaze quickly swept the surroundings and spotted the pizza on the coffee table at a glance—that large pizza had less than two slices eaten.
Looking around, the living room lights were dim, and the air was filled with an unspoken sense of loneliness.
Seeing all this, Lin Xiuyuan couldn’t help but click his tongue, a complex thought emerging involuntarily in his eyes, his brows furrowing slightly.
Immediately, without asking Jessica’s permission, he walked straight to the wall switch and pressed the full-house lighting switch.
As the lights instantly brightened, the entire apartment seemed to awaken.
The originally dark corners and walls gradually dissipated under the bright glow, and the air became clear, as if everything was renewed in that moment.
This sudden change made Jessica pause slightly, then she turned back to look at Lin Xiuyuan, their gazes meeting unintentionally.
In that instant, some emotion in her heart was touched, as if pulled by an unknown force.
A complex emotion flashed in her eyes, then she subconsciously avoided his gaze, lowered her head, her voice a bit low. “Let’s go—check the bathroom pipes. I don’t know why there’s suddenly no hot water.”
Lin Xiuyuan nodded and followed her to the bathroom.
After entering the bathroom, Lin Xiuyuan first surveyed the environment. No small toys suctioned to the wall as he’d imagined; the vanity just had normal skincare products and toiletries.
Then, at Jessica’s indication, he turned on the hot water tap of the sink—no hot water indeed.
He then looked at the shower nearby—same thing.
But the cold water flowed out perfectly normally, without any interruption, so Lin Xiuyuan turned back to Jessica. “Where’s the water heater?”
Hearing this, Jessica led him to a corner of the kitchen and pointed at the gas water heater.
Lin Xiuyuan glanced at the gas water heater, first stepped up to check the casing, then turned on the kitchen’s hot water tap.
Watching the electronic screen on the water heater flash but no hot water coming out, he then said, “Get me a screwdriver.”
After a while, with the screwdriver in hand, Lin Xiuyuan opened the battery compartment of the water heater, checked the batteries, and asked, “Got any new batteries?”
“I’ll go look.”
Jessica didn’t say much, went back to the living room counter to rummage, and soon brought a spare pair of batteries.
After replacing them, still no response.
This made Lin Xiuyuan’s brows furrow slightly as his gaze turned to the gas switch.
When Lin Xiuyuan saw the gas switch was fine too, he leaned in to check the meter’s numbers, then sighed lightly. “So that’s it.”
His voice carried a bit of relief, yet still a faint helplessness, then he looked at Jessica. “You have no gas money left—where’s the hot water supposed to come from? Expect the water heater to ignite itself?”
“How would I know? It was working fine before.”
Hearing Lin Xiuyuan say this, Jessica immediately frowned, not knowing how to retort.
Lin Xiuyuan then glanced back at the spotless kitchen counter with only a layer of dust and continued asking, “How long since you last used the stove here?”
“Rarely use it—basically never.” Jessica recalled and answered.
“Top up the gas, and it’ll work after.”
As he spoke, Lin Xiuyuan reinstalled the battery compartment, washed his hands, and prepared to leave the area.
But just as he was about to leave, the image of that pizza box on the coffee table flashed in his mind, and he couldn’t help but click his tongue again.
While Jessica was operating the top-up process on her phone, he went to the refrigerator nearby, opened it, and looked inside at the things.
Jessica thought he wanted water, so she said, “I bought some drinks and food from the supermarket this afternoon—help yourself.”
However, Lin Xiuyuan’s gaze stopped on those eggs and tomatoes, then he opened the freezer layer to check the two packs of beef, finally stood up and turned back to Jessica. “You had just some pizza for dinner?”
Jessica, who was following the steps to recharge the gas, looked up at Lin Xiuyuan, then toward the coffee table. “Oh, not that hungry—just eat something casual.”
“Tsk, female stars are different. If you starved to death in the apartment like this, would anyone notice?” Lin Xiuyuan teased.
This also made Jessica look up irritably and glare at him, only to see Lin Xiuyuan taking out eggs, tomatoes, and two packs of beef from the refrigerator, saying at the same time.
“Finish this and go shower. For Krystal’s sister’s sake, I’ll make you something edible.”
This simple sentence made Jessica’s mind buzz, as if struck by some invisible force, and she lowered her head somewhat at a loss.
There will be another chapter later, just delayed a bit, not missing.
