Chapter 242: Sulli: Secretary Gone? Store Manager Position Next??
In Seoul during the summer of 2013, the afternoon sunlight was bright and lazy, adding a bit more life aura and slight bustle to the streets.
As soon as Lin Xiuyuan returned, he casually found a small restaurant and had lunch.
The food wasn’t exquisite, but he ate it quite enjoyably.
The “overexertion” from last night to this morning made him need some hot, steaming things to fill up his body.
After settling the bill and leaving the small restaurant, Lin Xiuyuan looked up at the sky, the sunlight stinging his eyes slightly.
While rubbing his eyes, a familiar figure suddenly flashed in his mind—it was Han So Hee, whom he had run into while playing baseball with Bae Suzy some time ago.
At that time, during their casual chat, she had “played pitiful” and mentioned her first workplace, the coffee shop where she started working right after high school graduation to earn money and subsidize family expenses.
According to the time she mentioned then, it was about this month.
“Shall I go take a look?”
Bored Lin Xiuyuan felt a spark of interest and drove to that quiet coffee shop following the address in his memory.
Pushing open the glass door, the wind chime rang crisply.
The air was filled with the aroma of roasted coffee beans, and behind the bar counter, a figure was clumsily wiping the coffee machine with her head down.
Wearing a neat black-and-white uniform, her hair casually tied up, with a few strands of bangs hanging over her forehead, covering her eyebrows and eyes.
When she turned around, her face came into the light.
Her skin was fair and clean, her eyebrows and eyes still carrying a youthful tenderness, but the lines of her features already showed initial sharpness.
Her nose bridge was straight, the corners of her eyes had a natural coolness, and her lips were rosy and lively.
She was a typical “beauty in the making.”
Though not yet mature, the occasional nervousness in her gaze revealed her inexperience in society, but Lin Xiuyuan could tell at a glance that her looks basically didn’t need years of polishing—she would surely shine brightly sooner or later.
Because in that time-space of 2025, she became a model not long after starting work due to a chance opportunity, and her life afterward wasn’t so strapped.
Although things got really messy later because of family situations, that was a later matter.
“Welcome…”
Han So Hee looked up at the visitor, her voice not loud, carrying some stiffness from just starting the job.
No, at this time, she should still be called Lee So-hee.
Under her gaze, Lin Xiuyuan walked to a seat by the window and sat down.
Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling window, carrying the warmth of summer, falling on the tabletop and casting a golden halo.
By now, Lee So-hee, acting as the server, had handed over the menu, her voice still a bit nervous, “Hello, what would you like to drink?”
Her fingertips were slightly pale from gripping the menu too tightly.
“A latte, not too sweet.”
Lin Xiuyuan said casually.
“Okay, please wait a moment.”
Lee So-hee responded softly, turned, and walked toward the bar counter.
Her movements were still a bit clumsy; she nearly knocked over the glass pot next to her when grabbing the coffee cup, startling her colleague into dodging quickly.
After a little scolding, she continued operating the coffee machine, her expression focused and cautious.
After quite a while, the coffee Lin Xiuyuan ordered was finally served.
She carefully placed it on the table, her smile a bit stiff but trying to seem natural, then proactively said, “Hello, sir, this is my first time making this coffee, the taste might be a bit off. Please try it? If it’s not good, I’ll make you another one.”
Lin Xiuyuan took a sip, smiled, “It’s good, just right.”
That short sentence made Lee So-hee’s tense shoulders relax slightly.
“That’s good…” she murmured softly, like a sigh of relief.
“First job?” Lin Xiuyuan smiled.
“Mm, thank you~” Lee So-hee didn’t dare linger, nodded in response, and left this side.
Lin Xiuyuan just smiled at this, saying nothing more.
He knew very well that the girl in front of him would walk a thorny path in the future, but ultimately bloom.
But at this point in time, she was just an uneasy yet hardworking high school graduate who had just turned adult.
Soon, a few more customers entered the shop, and Lee So-hee got busy again.
Lin Xiuyuan leaned back in his chair, leisurely basking in the sunlight, twirling his coffee cup with his fingertips, his mood rarely so peaceful.
Just then, the phone screen suddenly lit up.
It was Sulli’s call.
“Hello?” Lin Xiuyuan answered.
A young girl’s voice came from the other end, lighthearted with a hint of complaint, “Hello hello~ oppa~, are you back?”
“Yeah, I’m back.”
Lin Xiuyuan smiled, tapping the table with his finger, “How did you know?”
“I saw your car wasn’t there.” Sulli answered matter-of-factly, then changed tone, “Why didn’t you come to the tavern? We just finished chatting.”
“Tavern? You were just there?”
This surprised Lin Xiuyuan a bit, because he didn’t seem to notice that side when driving out and had gone straight away from the apartment.
“Chatting about the spicy hot pot endorsement, unnies’ clothes, and Ji-yeon’s thing from the evening before last… hahaha…”
Sulli laughed hysterically on the phone.
Then Park Ji-yeon’s shout came from the other end, “Jinjin, don’t mention it again, or I’ll get mad.”
Accompanied by Sulli’s bursts of laughter, Lin Xiuyuan couldn’t help but chuckle.
Then Sulli asked what Lin Xiuyuan was doing now.
“I’m drinking coffee, basking in the sun. Want to come over? Bask in the sun together, get some vitamin D.”
“Okay, oppa~ We’ll come right now, hehe~” Sulli’s voice on the phone drew out playfully.
Lin Xiuyuan readily gave the coffee shop name and address.
More than ten minutes later, the glass door of the coffee shop was pushed open.
Two figures entered one after the other, instantly adding some restlessness to the originally quiet environment.
Sulli wore a light-colored baseball cap, her smile bright, steps light;
Park Ji-yeon wore a mask and sunglasses, but their tall figures and auras were hard to ignore even if low-key.
So as soon as they appeared, it immediately drew soft exclamations from a few young servers in the shop, “Is that them? Sulli and them, right? No way we mistook them?”
Their gazes were full of shock and disbelief.
Meanwhile, Lee So-hee, busy at the bar counter holding a meal tray, suddenly looked up and froze.
Although Park Ji-yeon’s mask and sunglasses covered most of her face, the unmasked Sulli gave her away completely; the familiar figure let everyone recognize them instantly.
Sulli spotted Lin Xiuyuan by the window at once and waved with a smile, “Oppa~!”
She went straight over and pulled out a chair to sit.
Park Ji-yeon followed, took off her sunglasses, and muttered softly, “Jinjin, disguise better next time. This made my mask useless.”
Lin Xiuyuan was amused, “No one’s paying attention to you, Ji-yeon, don’t overthink it.”
“Ah, oppa~”
Park Ji-yeon, stabbed by Lin Xiuyuan’s remark, got annoyed, glared at him, then heard Sulli burst out laughing.
Once they were seated, Sulli narrowed her eyes, leaned in with a grin, glanced toward the bar counter, then turned to stare at Lin Xiuyuan, asking in a low voice, “Oppa, you didn’t come specifically for her, did you?”
Park Ji-yeon followed her gaze and briefly made eye contact with Lee So-hee.
The girl clearly froze, instinctively looked down, and hurriedly put the cup back on the tray.
“Oh, it’s her. Oppa, do you want to help her?” Park Ji-yeon raised an eyebrow, her tone playful.
“Help her?”
Lin Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow, chuckled and shook his head, “I just suddenly remembered after lunch and came to check it out. Don’t get the wrong idea.”
“Oh~”
Sulli drew out the sound meaningfully, exchanging a glance with Park Ji-yeon.
Then the two whispered to each other.
“She’s so young.”
“Yeah, just turned adult, looks like a student.”
“I remember she came to Seoul right after high school graduation. She’s really pretty, no wonder she made it big later.”
“She is really pretty, but no worries, oppa’s type is married women. He definitely has no interest in a little kid like this.”
They spoke softly but deliberately loud enough for Lin Xiuyuan to hear.
Lin Xiuyuan helplessly pinched his brow, “That’s too much, I can hear you. At least talk behind my back when saying bad things about someone.”
But while the three chatted, their eyes would occasionally glance at Lee So-hee.
This made Lee So-hee at the bar counter increasingly flustered.
She couldn’t understand why she had suddenly become the focus of these three’s “gazes.”
I… I don’t know them…
While her heart raced, she thought to muster courage to serve them, but just as she lifted her foot, a senior from the shop beat her to it, smiling broadly as she carried the menu to that table of important guests.
“I’ll handle these three guests.”
Lee So-hee could only freeze in place, still tightly gripping the freshly wiped glass cup.
She suddenly felt even standing was awkward.
Over there, under the excited service of that server, Sulli ordered a mocha, and Park Ji-yeon got a cappuccino.
The three chatted while drinking, the topic slowly circling back to Lee So-hee at the bar counter.
Sulli propped her chin, grinning at Lin Xiuyuan, asking softly, “Oppa, does she seem very different from her future self?”
“Nonsense, that one is seductive to the bone. She’s a little Song Hye Kyo, but the aura is totally different. Right now, she shows no sign of it. Your circle really shapes people.” Lin Xiuyuan replied.
Park Ji-yeon huffed lightly, took a sip of coffee, then said softly, “If oppa likes her… keeping her as a mistress is fine, right? That stuff happens a lot in the industry anyway, nothing to make a fuss about, and it could help her out.”
As soon as she spoke, Sulli snorted with laughter, nearly choking.
Lin Xiuyuan was even more amused, reached out and lightly knocked Ji-yeon’s forehead, “Hey, what nonsense? Have you been watching too many Korean dramas lately? Who said I’d do something like that?”
Park Ji-yeon, covering her forehead, laughed with crinkled eyes, retorting, “I was just saying it casually, why react so big… Oh right, oppa’s type is married women, that old woman over there.”
Seeing Park Ji-yeon mention Big Dragon Cub again, Lin Xiuyuan thought of their situation and shook his head.
Then, half helplessly half jokingly, he said, “Keeping a mistress is out. I just think… our small tavern is usually so empty, it’s such a waste.”
He paused, twirled his coffee cup, then continued, “And if you really want to party or hang out, you can’t always make me bartend alone, right? That’s too tiring. If we find a helper who knows some bartending and can manage the place, wouldn’t it be easier?”
Sulli blinked, looking a bit confused, “Ah, oppa, I help out usually.”
No, the secretary job over there was taken by Big Dragon Cub, fine, since she couldn’t show up in 2025.
But for 2013 work, oppa, you’re finding someone to replace me too?
“This is so you don’t get tired, and you have work anyway, so I thought of this.” Hearing the off tone in Sulli’s voice, Lin Xiuyuan quickly clarified.
This made Sulli relax, then mutter, “If that’s the case, she’d have to join the cult. Otherwise, having an outsider as manager would feel off.”
“So it’s just a thought, nothing done.”
At this point, the overly empathetic Sulli, thinking of Lee So-hee’s future experiences seeming similar to her future self’s, suddenly empathized, her earlier sulkiness turning to sympathy.
“But if it’s her, I think it’s okay. Her future seems similar to mine, except she made it through.”
“Don’t overthink it, we don’t know the situation over there, maybe it’s not.”
Lin Xiuyuan waved it off, “And I really just came for coffee today. Those ideas were just from you guys, joking around.”
……
……
While Lin Xiuyuan, Sulli, and Park Ji-yeon were casually chatting in the coffee shop, over in 2025, Big Dragon Cub was found by Lee Ji-eun, or rather, she came to settle accounts.
In Seoul of 2025, afternoon sunlight streamed through the window into Big Dragon Cub’s apartment.
The sound of password input came from the doorway; Big Dragon Cub ignored it, just sitting on the sofa flipping her phone, quietly hearing the door gently pushed open.
The next second.
“Hi… Ji-yeon ah…”
As soon as Lee Ji-eun stepped in, she pounced toward Big Dragon Cub on the sofa like a cheetah, smiling brightly, eyes flashing with provocation and mischief, “What did you mean yesterday by ‘Don’t call Xiuyuan, I’ll misunderstand’? Explain clearly!”
Big Dragon Cub staggered from the sudden attack, instinctively reaching to protect herself, but Lee Ji-eun dodged.
“Ah, unnie~ What are you doing…”
Before she finished, Lee Ji-eun had pinned her against the sofa back.
“Hmph hmph, be honest…” Lee Ji-eun grinned slyly, pointing at her with a finger, eyes full of mischief, “No dodging. What do you mean ‘I’ll misunderstand’? Xiuyuan isn’t yours alone.”
Big Dragon Cub shook her head laughing, counterattacked by gently pinning her hand, and the two playfully pushed and shoved on the sofa, having a great time.
As they tussled, Park Hyomin, who followed in, watched with a headache, hands on hips sighing, “What are you doing? Adults now, can you act a bit normal?!”
Big Dragon Cub and Lee Ji-eun exchanged glances and burst out laughing.
“Married woman, go away.”
“Unnie, mind your own business, you’re not single.”
Park Hyomin: ???
……
……
2013.
Inside Tara’s dormitory.
Looking again at the dorm apartment now left with just herself, Park Hyomin narrowed her eyes.
Then she opened a certain app on her phone, where a small location marker was blinking—that was the backup phone she had tossed into Park Ji-yeon’s bag sending her location info.
“Hmph hmph hmph, you all hiding from me, huh? Can’t blame me for finding you myself then, Ji-yeon~ Eun-jung~”
Back home for family matters these few days, resting and no Ten Thousand Daily for now, will continue after returning.
Begging for subscriptions!!! Begging for monthly tickets!!! Begging for everything!!!
