Chapter 265: “welcome, Jessica”
A few days ago, Jessica, who had a small spat with Lin Xiuyuan and Krystal, turned around and headed to China to carry out activities.
Her schedule these past few days was packed full every day, from walking the red carpet to brand dinners, and dinner parties with friends, with almost no moment to stop.
However, even so, she didn’t get much shot or media attention; instead, the nonstop announcements left her somewhat exhausted.
This left Jessica inevitably a bit disappointed, and then she received a call from a longtime friend and returned to Seoul.
Mainly because it was the birthday of a friend she had known since trainee days; this year was the first birthday since the other had just returned to Seoul from LA, and since the distance wasn’t far, she felt bad about missing the party.
Meanwhile, during these days’ work and rest intervals, Jessica also thought more than once about that “small probe” in front of Lin Xiuyuan and Krystal last time.
At the time, her heart carried a bit of defiance, so her words had a flavor of asking questions she already knew the answers to.
But these days, when it was late at night and all was quiet, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that action was somewhat inappropriate.
After these past several months, Jessica was very clear about Krystal’s personality and could see the different special affection hidden in the gaze when the other looked at Lin Xiuyuan.
So Jessica thought that this time, taking advantage of returning to celebrate her friend’s birthday together, she would go find Lin Xiuyuan to talk and clear up that incident.
Or rather, lower her head, admit fault, and say sorry.
It wasn’t really to salvage anything, just simply wanting to resolve this small conflict.
This sideways showed that Jessica at this time was truly much more mature and grown-up; after all, if it were the young her…
Apologize??
She wouldn’t even think about it; worst case, just abandon this relationship.
As the main member who stubbornly left Girls’ Generation, her temper in her youth was undeniably stubborn, even more so than Krystal’s.
So Jessica, thinking of this, drove over to Lin Xiuyuan’s villa area again after finishing lunch with her friend.
As a result, just as she drove to the intersection, she saw a delivery person riding toward Lin Xiuyuan’s direction.
Intuition made her heart stir, and she quickly opened the door and followed.
Sure enough, that delivery person, while comparing the address, soon stopped at Lin Xiuyuan’s villa entrance.
Jessica hesitated for a few seconds, then lightly pressed down the car window and called out to the other.
“Hello, is this takeout for XX Street XX Number?” she asked in a lowered voice.
The delivery person, hearing the voice, was stunned and recognized Jessica, so the whole person almost petrified, nearly dropping the meal bag in hand.
But at the same time, didn’t forget to nod in confirmation of the question.
Seeing this, Jessica immediately gave a light smile and got out of the car.
Sunlight shone on her long hair, with the slightly curled ends gently swaying in the wind.
And she took the meal bag from the other’s hand while taking out a signing pen and small card from the car, neatly signing her name and handing it to the delivery person who still hadn’t recovered.
Then said, “The person inside is my close friend; I want to give her a surprise. Could I trouble you to make a phone call and have her come out?”
As she said this, she blinked, her tone carrying a hint of acting cute pleading.
The delivery person was stunned for two seconds, then looked down at the autographed item in hand, immediately couldn’t help but grin, nodding repeatedly, “Of course, I’ll call ‘her’ right now.”
Hearing this, Jessica generously gave the other a tip, also not forgetting to lightly say thanks, “Thank you, leaving it to you today.”
Although this behavior somewhat violated platform rules, for a passerby delivery person, this was obviously a rare encounter, with no reason to refuse.
Besides, a famous artist like Jessica wouldn’t openly poison someone, and there was surveillance outside the intersection.
Thus, the previous scene happened.
When Lin Xiuyuan opened the courtyard door for the outside, what he saw wasn’t the delivery person, but Jessica holding the takeout and standing at the doorway.
And when he reached out to take the takeout from her hand, Jessica’s action of pulling back her small hand forced Lin Xiuyuan to look up, his gaze deeply looking at her, his tone carrying a bit of doubt and speculation.
“So, Jessica, what exactly are you trying to do?”
“Can’t I come in for a cup of coffee?”
Seeing Lin Xiuyuan’s gaze still somewhat cold, Jessica pouted, like compromising, shoving the takeout into his hands, her tone rarely serious.
“Forget it, actually I came specifically this time to apologize to you. Regarding that incident from the last meeting with Soo Jung, I was indeed a bit inappropriate; I hope you don’t think it’s Soo Jung’s issue, it was just my personal thought.”
Lin Xiuyuan didn’t expect Jessica to come personally for such a reason, stunned for a moment before lightly laughing out, his gaze scanning up and down this brightly charismatic woman before him.
Somewhat strangely said, “You directly appearing at someone’s doorstep like this, this block the door style of apology, honestly, Jessica, it’s my first time seeing it.”
“Originally I planned to call you after getting here.” Jessica answered.
“What if I wasn’t home?” Lin Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow.
“Then deal with it if not; anyway, it was on the way.” She shrugged, like saying something completely ordinary.
This time Jessica really wasn’t exaggerating; this route was indeed on the way to her friend’s birthday dinner party, so it counted as convenient, which was why she risked being refused at the door to come specifically.
The two just stood at the doorway confronting each other, a light breeze brushing past, the atmosphere starting to become a bit subtle.
But at that moment, upstairs came two sharp screams again, along with playful laughter and frolicking sounds, the crisp echoes resounding in the villa’s yard.
Jessica’s gaze immediately passed over Lin Xiuyuan’s shoulder, landing on the rooftop of the villa inside.
First looking with great interest for two glances, the corner of her eye hooking up a faint smile, then her sight slowly returning to Lin Xiuyuan, or more accurately, falling on the steaming takeout in his hand.
“No wonder you said it’s inconvenient for me to come in; it wouldn’t be that my arrival disturbed your impart, right.”
Then thinking of something else, her eyes flashed, “Or is it that my guess from last time came true~ Xiuyuan… xi~”
Lin Xiuyuan, holding the takeout, gazed at Jessica in silence for a long time; he wasn’t angered by the teasing in her words, but from these two almost unannounced “block the door” behaviors, he felt a trace of uncomfortable sense of crisis.
But Jessica didn’t dodge, still staring straight at him, her gaze frank and determined, like waiting for him to give a clear response.
Facing such a standoff, Lin Xiuyuan lightly exhaled, then asked, “Jessica, how many days of rest do you have next?”
“Hm?”
Although she didn’t know why Lin Xiuyuan suddenly asked this, Jessica still subconsciously replied, “About a week; quite a few activities were canceled, thinking whether to do a live broadcast.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan took out his mobile phone, and under Jessica’s gaze, called Krystal again.
At first Jessica didn’t know Lin Xiuyuan was calling Krystal, until the noisy background sound came from the other end of the phone, along with the familiar voice, “Hello, Xiuyuan~”
Only then did she panic a bit, reaching out to stop him, “Wait, wait, hey, Lin Xiuyuan, I just came to apologize, is there need to tattle to Soo Jung?”
And Krystal also heard Jessica’s voice; this familiar timing and call made her instinctively think of the previous conflict, so she also anxiously shouted, “Jessica? What are you finding Xiuyuan for again, hey, I told you not to make trouble, okay?”
After fussing at Jessica for two sentences, Krystal then called Lin Xiuyuan’s name again, “Xiuyuan, don’t mind her, really, no need to mind her, just leave directly.”
As a result, the next second, she heard Lin Xiuyuan’s reply, “I want to leave, but this one is blocking the spring water, what to do.”
In the past, Krystal might not understand what spring water meant.
But after these days lying in Lin Xiuyuan’s arms watching quite a few matches, sitting on his lap watching him play quite a few games, she had also picked up a lot of game terminology, so she immediately understood what the other meant.
Her whole face at the promotion site turned panicked, “What? What’s your situation now.”
At the same time, Jessica was also completely fixated, staring dead at the mobile phone in Lin Xiuyuan’s hand that was on speaker.
Clearly hearing in her ear that calm-to-excess male voice slowly saying, “Soo Jung ah, do you still remember what process that plan you told me back then was?”
On the other end of the phone, Krystal was first stunned, then startled, her expression somewhat stunned, also somewhat strange and complex.
The male voice on the other side continued, “If convenient, find a quieter place and tell it to Jessica once.”
Jessica, who had always been clueless, also felt an uneasy premonition emerge in her heart, couldn’t help interrupting, “What what process, what what plan? Jung Soo Jung, what riddle are you two playing with me?”
Her tone carried a bit of irritability, even revealing a hint of panic, like foreseeing some not-so-good answer.
Krystal on the other end of the phone bit her lip, her gaze quickly sweeping over the still lively filming staff behind, ultimately dodging to a corner, back against the wall taking several deep breaths, before slowly speaking.
“I told Xiuyuan back then like this…”
She paused for an instant, her voice clearly lowered, “If Jessica you are still so difficult to deal with, then have him tie you up, take you to a place no one knows where you are. Use that horror movie plot… ruthlessly torment you a bit, make you give up all those messy thoughts, so you don’t keep entangling him like this.”
Even if she had toned it down a bit from what she said back then, these words still exploded like a bomb in the yard.
And Jessica, after hearing this, froze completely in place, like struck by lightning.
Her pupils suddenly dilated, eyes dead staring at that mobile phone, even holding her breath.
Somewhat unable to believe, unable to believe that this voice she heard with her own ears was actually words from her own closest sister.
At that moment, Jessica almost suspected if Lin Xiuyuan had someone imitate Krystal’s voice for a malicious joke, but reason told her, impossible…
This timbre, this breathing, these habitual phrases in the words, were all Krystal she was most familiar with.
But at this time, saying demon-like words, this made Jessica, coming back to her senses, suddenly raise her voice sharply, almost breaking as she shouted, “Hey, Jung Soo Jung, do you know what you’re saying?”
Krystal on the other end of the phone seemed also startled, just wanting to explain, “I…”
“Beep beep beep…”
Before she could finish, Lin Xiuyuan had already directly hung up the phone.
Then he slowly stepped aside, with a half-smiling expression gazing at Jessica, his tone drawn out long, serious like formally announcing a ritual-full matter.
“Welcome~ Jessica!!”
Sunlight was slanting in from outside the courtyard wall, plating a layer of gentle gold on Lin Xiuyuan’s profile, but Jessica felt none of that warmth.
Her heart pounded, pupils lightly trembling; even though the smile before her eyes seemed friendly, she sniffed a faint sense of danger from it.
After that call just ended, Jessica instead didn’t dare to act out anymore, her pupils even trembling slightly as she looked at the guy before her.
Similarly, the villa behind him also seemed to distort in her eyes; clearly a warm residence, yet like a beast crouching under the sunlight.
Just waiting for her to step in, it would completely swallow her.
This inexplicable fear made Jessica subconsciously step back half a step, her foot lightly stepping on the ground, making a barely audible sound.
“Tsk tsk.” Lin Xiuyuan laughed out, lowering his head to look at her, tone carrying playfulness, “Jessica, this half-step back action of yours is really hurtful. Do I look like someone who eats people? Why so timid?”
Reverse psychology!!!
Jessica almost immediately realized his intent, but the more so, the more her heart felt uneasy.
That villa quietly standing behind him looked in her eyes like a bottomless abyss, making her involuntarily bite her lips tightly, murmuring lowly, “You two really are a cult ah.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan laughed even more happily, making a “please” gesture, posture lazy yet with a bit of coercive feel, “Welcome to come in and visit ah; whether it’s really a cult, you can see for yourself once inside? Save you coming to block the door every time.”
But Jessica didn’t dare move.
She was really made restless by Krystal’s earlier “horror movie-style threat,” her whole person stiff in place, unwilling to take this step.
But she also couldn’t bear to just leave like this, eyes dead staring at the villa behind Lin Xiuyuan, as if wanting to see through the walls with her gaze, spying what exactly was happening inside.
Unfortunately, her eyes ultimately weren’t Sharingan from Naruto, nor some Evil King True Eye, much less some omniscient divine vision.
So, what she could see was still just a somewhat luxurious yet excessively quiet villa and peaceful small courtyard, even the sound of wind blowing sounding exceptionally clear.
“Since not coming in, then no next time, okay; if there’s a next time, I won’t be polite.”
Seeing Jessica frozen in place not daring to move, Lin Xiuyuan finally warned her; next time, he really would experiment on her properly with his various ideas about whether he could still make someone pregnant.
After saying this, Lin Xiuyuan turned to close the door, but at that moment, Jessica fiercely gritted her teeth, toes pushing off, her whole person stepping forward, almost with a loud shout breaking this suppressed atmosphere.
“You’re scaring me? Don’t think I’ve really been bluffed by you!”
Her eyes flashed with stubborn light, like competing with her own heartbeat, “What’s there to be afraid of!”
Before the words finished, she simply strode past Lin Xiuyuan, almost with a defiant momentum, boldly stepping over the villa’s threshold.
At that moment, Jessica seemed to trample all fear and unease underfoot, leaving only her back boldly entering that unknown domain.
These past few days really been a bit off, with cold, and strained oblique rib.
In the afternoon moving bricks, accidentally strained the muscle, now the oblique rib area hurts whenever breathing deeply, sneezing, or even larger movements pull painfully!!!
So sorry, only this much today; whether I can write tomorrow, we’ll see, I’ll try…
If not better tomorrow, probably really need to go to the hospital again.
PS: Really not an excuse, I really don’t want such shitty things to happen, really water reverse~
