Chapter 24: “you’re Doing It Again, You Always Do This”
In the afternoon, the sunlight was just right, filtering through the floor-to-ceiling glass into this elegant French afternoon tea restaurant. Warm yellow halos fell on the white tablecloths and exquisite porcelain, and the air was filled with the faint scent of black tea and the sweetness of strawberry mille-feuille cake.
In a corner of the restaurant, a woman wearing sunglasses and with exquisite makeup was already seated. She wore a champagne-colored windbreaker, her hair neatly draped over her shoulders, exuding a cool aura.
Just then, the wind chime at the doorway tinkled, and Krystal pushed the door open and entered.
Today, she was dressed casually, in a loose knitwear with jeans, her hair tied in a low ponytail, looking fresh and natural.
After entering, she quickly spotted Jessica’s seat. As her lips curved up, she didn’t forget to turn back and call out to Lin Xiuyuan behind her, “Hurry up, no cold faces allowed.”
Lin Xiuyuan followed, and softly replied, “Do I need to smile and counter-attack?”
“Don’t counter-attack, just coax her a bit, otherwise I’ll be nagged by her every day later.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan couldn’t help but glance at her, and chuckled, “You didn’t say that before you came.”
To this, Krystal replied without any psychological burden, “I lied to you.”
Hiss~
Lin Xiuyuan let out a soft gasp, and only then realized that this Krystal in front of him was several levels higher than Jung Soo Yeon in 2013.
Time is a powerful thing.
Just as the two were about to reach Jessica, Krystal said finally, “I’ll give you a gift when we go back, consider it compensation. It’s no problem for you to help me, right? An equal exchange.”
Lin Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow, “Deal.”
As soon as the words fell, the two arrived in front of Jessica.
Krystal, as usual, naturally greeted her, “Older sister~”
Jessica slowly took off her glasses, her gaze swept over Lin Xiuyuan in front of her, then looked at Krystal beside her, and said unhurriedly, “Sit down, why are you standing?”
Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan glanced at Krystal, then took his seat first, and Krystal followed and sat down.
It was a small round table with four stools.
Lin Xiuyuan chose to sit opposite Jessica, while Krystal sat between them. However, the moment she sat down, she subconsciously moved her chair closer to Lin Xiuyuan.
This subtle action was immediately noticed by Jessica, who widened her eyes in disbelief and stared at her own sister.
What, we sisters haven’t seen each other for how long, and you’re planning to fall in love at first sight with me?
Noticing the wrong gaze, Krystal realized she was a bit too hasty, so she quickly moved the stool away and sat at a distance between them, exactly in the middle.
However, this futile attempt to deceive oneself made Jessica speechless. She then turned her gaze to Lin Xiuyuan and began to re-examine him.
This young man in front of her was completely different from when she first met him.
On the day of their first meeting, he wore a loose, old-fashioned suit, and his messy medium-long hair almost covered his entire face, with dry, frizzy ends. He looked like a decadent literary youth who had just emerged from ruins.
Now, in less than ten days, that messy long hair had been replaced by a clean and neat short haircut, his forehead and eyes fully revealed, with the ends of his hair slightly curled, exuding a hint of rebelliousness and ease.
What surprised Jessica the most was Lin Xiuyuan’s phoenix eyes.
If these eyes were previously hidden by thick hair, they were now like the morning mist clearing, sharp and deep, with the outer corners slightly upturned. Just looking at someone calmly was enough to bring a strange attraction.
Compared to his eyes, his delicate appearance seemed rather ordinary.
Especially at this moment, he was smiling, his eyes filled with natural charm, and his gaze flowed like spring sunlight, causing a slight ripple in Jessica’s heart.
She hadn’t seen handsome men before, but this kind of “contrasting type” of young boy was too much of a cheat, completely overturning her first impression.
Looking at his attire, it had also changed from the previous tacky suit to a simple and clean hoodie and casual pants.
Clean, youthful, sunny, exuding a relaxed boyishness, yet not lacking in confidence and dynamism.
After being stunned by this Lin Xiuyuan, who had changed his “skin,” Jessica didn’t hesitate. She turned to Krystal and asked in front of him, “Soo Jung, have your tastes changed?”
She remembered very clearly that her sister liked men who were lean and had a bit of a wild, sexy vibe.
And this young boy type, while pleasing, didn’t seem like her type.
To this, Krystal quickly explained, “Older sister, we don’t have that kind of relationship, we’re just ordinary friends.”
“Friends?” Jessica smiled, her tone meaningful.
“Mm.”
Seeing Krystal dare to nod, she said again, “Even you don’t believe that when you say it.”
Lin Xiuyuan, sitting opposite, stayed quietly, staring blankly at the two sisters who had called him over, only to start bickering with each other. All the words he had prepared in his mouth suddenly had no place to be used.
Fortunately, after Krystal had bickered a bit, Jessica quickly turned her attention to him and opened with, “Mr. Lin, that IOU you gave me before, you weren’t lying to me and trying to get close to Krystal, were you?”
It was direct and sharp.
However, Lin Xiuyuan calmly stated, “Whether it was written in your handwriting, you should know better than I do. If you feel it’s not right, I can return the money to you immediately. After all, I was young at the time, and whether it was true or not, you would have to ask my uncle.”
Ask your uncle? Isn’t your uncle dead?
Her mind raced, and Jessica immediately wanted to curse. This kid was wishing her dead.
Krystal, standing beside them, also understood this veiled retort. And she knew the origin of this IOU better than Jessica, so a hint of amusement and an eye-roll appeared in her gaze towards Lin Xiuyuan.
“That’s not what I meant, I just heard some news recently and wanted to inquire.”
Facing Jessica’s statement, Lin Xiuyuan unhesitatingly tilted his head slightly towards Krystal, signaling, “I’m just a delivery person. She pays my salary, so I think it would be more convenient for you to ask her than me.”
Krystal, who had just secretly chuckled, hadn’t expected Lin Xiuyuan to play this card and sell her out in an instant.
Jessica heard this and raised an eyebrow, looking at her sister, “But Soo Jung rarely acts like this.”
Then Lin Xiuyuan’s reply was even more interesting, “I also find it a bit strange. Perhaps she wanted to play around with me. So, for safety’s sake, I’ve already resigned from her. You can rest assured.”
“Hey, Lin Xiuyuan~”
Hearing Lin Xiuyuan’s nonsensical reply in her ear, Krystal finally couldn’t sit still. She turned and shouted at him, “Can you speak properly? You’re like this again, you’re always like this.”
You’re like this again~
You’re always like this~
These two sentences, spoken with dissatisfaction and complaint in a childish tone, sounded like Krystal’s rare act of acting cute to Jessica’s ears.
So she looked at the other person with shocked eyes.
She originally just wanted to chat casually with them, but why did these two suddenly start showing off their affection in front of her and go public?
Something’s not right, very not right.
My godfathers, only a few hundred votes away from two thousand, I wonder if there’s a chance~
