Chapter 306: Anticipating “alone Beautiful” Brother Jing
More than ten minutes later, inside Sweet Eun-jung’s apartment on the 25-year side.
When Sweet Eun-jung, sitting on the sofa, saw Park Ji-yeon and Sulli walking out of the time-space door, a perfectly timed flash of surprise passed through her eyes.
Then her gaze carried a bit of understanding and teasing, looking past the shoulders of these two younger sisters and landing on the figure behind them who was trying to lower their presence.
Then the corners of her lips curved into a gentle arc, and with a tone carrying some teasing, she softly asked in that direction, “Xiuyuan~ Why are you hiding in the back? I got your phone call late at night and thought there might be some special ‘surprise,’ but that’s it?”
“Ah~ Unnie!! Aren’t we a surprise? Does it have to be oppa?”
Park Ji-yeon up front spoke first to answer her, and her beautiful eyes stared intensely at Sweet Eun-jung, who was dressed in home clothes but couldn’t hide her good complexion.
Tender, white skin that glowed translucently, as if coated with a reflective buff.
Her tone carried a bit of depression from being ignored, along with a small envy.
It formed a stark contrast with Sulli standing beside her, who was just smiling faintly and quietly observing.
Sweet Eun-jung’s smile didn’t change upon hearing this, but her gaze subtly swept over her own left leg, then she said frankly, “Of course it’s a surprise that you could come over, but… in terms of my personal needs right now, the biggest Easter egg is indeed more Xiuyuan.”
These words were very meaningful, carrying a hint that only they few would understand.
So upon hearing this, Sulli also turned her gaze to Ham Eun-jung’s injured left leg and asked with concern, “Unnie, how does your leg feel now? Does it still hurt a lot?”
Park Ji-yeon on the side immediately followed up, her expression turning serious, “Yeah, unnie, what did the doctor say? How long is the recovery period?”
“Pretty good.” Sweet Eun-jung’s tone was very relaxed, even carrying a bit of pleasure, “After taking two doses of ‘medicine’ earlier, the pain has eased a lot. Look…”
As she spoke, she actually supported herself with one hand on the sofa, without using any support or wearing any support frame, and stood up just like that.
But this action of Sweet Eun-jung really startled Park Ji-yeon and Sulli, who instinctively rushed over to help her up.
However, the next second they watched in astonishment as Sweet Eun-jung, after standing up, although her movements were still a bit unnatural, was indeed relying on her own strength, limping slowly yet steadily for a few steps in the living room, not just barely shuffling.
“Wow, unnie, have you transformed and evolved??”
Seeing this, Park Ji-yeon couldn’t help but exclaim, her eyes wide round, “A ligament tear injury… can it recover this fast??”
As one of the main dancers in the T-ara team and a teammate of Ham Eun-jung for many years, Park Ji-yeon knew all too well how long and painful the recovery process for such an injury usually was.
But this scene before her eyes, nearly miraculous, made it hard for her to accept for a moment, feeling it was incredibly amazing.
Sulli, also watching all this, had a certain possibility flash through her mind instantly after the initial surprise.
So she lifted her eyes and deeply looked at Sweet Eun-jung’s face, which was glowing with a healthy flush and bright gaze, then thoughtfully turned back to look toward Lin Xiuyuan’s side.
Finally, her gaze returned to Sweet Eun-jung’s left leg, which was still somewhat inconvenient to move.
At this point, Park Ji-yeon clearly also noticed Sulli’s meaningful shifting gaze, and the straightforward her almost immediately shouted toward the kitchen direction, her voice filled with shock and disbelief.
“Wait~ Oppa, you actually have this kind of function? Can you heal???”
Her sharp question stood out especially clear in this quiet night.
Lin Xiuyuan, who was at the refrigerator in the kitchen looking for water to drink, turned his head after hearing the shout.
He glanced at the three people by the sofa with varied expressions and helplessly made a “little bear shrugging” gesture, his tone carrying some vagueness he couldn’t quite explain himself.
“I don’t know the specific situation either. If I have to find a reason, it’s probably related to time reversal? Returning the body state to before the injury? Who could know this? I’m not a scientist, and I don’t have a time-space door user manual.”
“The Reverse Devil Fruit, right.”
As soon as Lin Xiuyuan finished speaking, Ham Eun-jung, who had been staying home lately and watched quite a few films and shows, suddenly chimed in, her tone carrying novelty and amusement.
Hearing the response, Lin Xiuyuan couldn’t help but chuckle, holding the water bottle as he walked out of the kitchen, “Yo, Eun-jung, you’ve even watched One Piece? Rare.”
Sweet Eun-jung tilted her head slightly and smiled, “Lately, besides recuperating, I’ve been bored, so I specifically looked for some movies and anime with superpowers and abilities, watching both animated and live-action versions. But honestly, Xiuyuan, your ‘ability’ is really exaggerated. Others destroy, but you’re repairing.”
In response, Lin Xiuyuan, who had just unscrewed the cap and taken a sip of water, was about to say something.
But suddenly he seemed to remember something, frowning slightly, “Oh no, Jinjin, when we left, the base liquor and juice for bartending in the tavern, weren’t they not put back in the refrigerator? Some need refrigeration.”
Sulli thought carefully and nodded, “Seems like it, oppa. Should I go back and tidy up?”
“No need, you all chat.” Lin Xiuyuan shook his head, shaking the water bottle in his hand, “I’ll go handle it, it’ll be quick. You stay with Eun-jung for a bit.”
After saying that, he didn’t linger and, holding the mineral water bottle, turned to open the time-space door and left Sweet Eun-jung’s apartment, returning to the small tavern side to deal with the alcoholic beverages that needed to be put away.
Though not very urgent, since he remembered, it was better to organize them, especially the ingredients needing low-temperature storage.
And as Lin Xiuyuan left and the time-space door just closed, Park Ji-yeon immediately couldn’t hold back her burning jealousy.
She took a quick step to Sweet Eun-jung’s side, lowered her voice, eyes full of envy, and asked, “Unnie, you and oppa… have you… done that…”
“Which one? Slept together?” Sweet Eun-jung very naturally picked up on Park Ji-yeon’s hard-to-say words, her face still wearing that gentle smile with a bit of teasing the little sister.
Especially after seeing Park Ji-yeon and Sulli beside her cheeks instantly flush red, she slowly shook her head, “Not that, haven’t reached that step yet.”
Then she lightly sighed, as if savoring something, her tone carrying a bit of regret and pragmatism, “Just drank some ‘special effect milk tea’ with Xiuyuan. After all, my leg isn’t very convenient right now. If we really did something, maybe no one would be comfortable or let loose, so let’s wait a bit more.”
???
Seeing Park Ji-yeon and Sulli still looking at her, Sweet Eun-jung added, “Unsatisfying sex life is more unbearable than not having enough to eat.”
This straightforward explanation, even carrying some bold words, made Park Ji-yeon and Sulli, these young girls who had just become adults not long ago, have their cheeks burn hot, even their ear tips slightly red.
Actually, as idols, it wasn’t the first time they heard such talk in the industry.
Those veteran makeup artists and stylists chatting had much larger scales at times.
But those were ultimately others’ stories, heard and forgotten, not taken to heart or empathized with.
But once the topic involved Lin Xiuyuan, involved people close and familiar like Sweet Eun-jung.
That strong sense of immersion and shame instantly surged up, making both a bit at a loss, heartbeats involuntarily speeding up a bit.
Especially after Park Ji-yeon heard Ham Eun-jung’s frank explanation about the “special effect milk tea,” before the blush on her cheeks fully faded, she pursed her lips, made some determination, and seriously pressed for an answer.
“Unnie, then… can I ask you one more question seriously?”
Sulli beside her had her gaze shift slightly, looking at Park Ji-yeon with a somewhat odd gaze, as if already guessing what she wanted to ask.
And Sweet Eun-jung, like a shrewd person, upon seeing Park Ji-yeon’s hesitant and complex little expression, directly smiled and answered first, “What do you want to ask? Whether I really like Xiuyuan? What I exactly mean by him, right?”
“Ah~”
Park Ji-yeon didn’t expect her thoughts to be guessed so accurately, subconsciously opening her mouth a bit, feeling a bit caught off guard.
But this reaction amused Sweet Eun-jung even more, even dispelling much of the gloom from not being able to perform on stage these past few days due to injury.
But she soon restrained her smile a bit, her tone becoming slightly more serious as she answered, “How to put it, there’s definitely liking.”
Then her gaze swept over the focused expressions of the two younger sisters in front of her and continued, “Not to mention what kind of person Xiuyuan is himself, just his ‘ability’ alone, no woman could refuse him. Maybe a bit absolute, but at least for me, it’s an unignorable huge attraction.”
“But…” At this point, she changed tone, her eyes showing some clarity and detachment, “If you ask if this is that irreplaceable, etched-in-the-heart ‘true love’? That’s another story.”
At this, Sweet Eun-jung, seeing Park Ji-yeon and Sulli both show some touching on their faces, as if wanting to speak, raised her hand gently to stop them and continued to elaborate her thoughts.
“Don’t rush to refute me. What I mean by ‘another story,’ and the earlier ‘settling’ and ‘making do,’ isn’t that Xiuyuan isn’t worth it, but refers to my view on my own emotions and future life state before knowing him.”
“For a female artist my age, who’s been through many ups and downs and seen much reality, true love sometimes really seems a bit ethereal, more like a luxury. So often, everyone’s final choice carries more or less practical considerations, or a compromise with reality.”
“But…”
After that, Sweet Eun-jung’s voice became soft and carrying a bit of glow, “After knowing Xiuyuan and contacting this completely different world, my thoughts have changed a lot. I suddenly feel that like Goo Ri unnie, being economically independent, mentally independent, living wonderfully by one’s own will, beautifully alone, is actually pretty good.”
“Actually, you probably don’t feel it as much as we do. Now with Xiuyuan’s situation, many things we couldn’t imagine before or thought unreachable seem possible to touch or even have. So the remaining emotional part, everyone sees more casually and relaxed.”
“Anyway, this kind of life now, always having expectation for tomorrow, not knowing what new things will appear, feels much more vivid and interesting than the previous life where you could see the end at a glance.”
After hearing Sweet Eun-jung’s heartfelt long sharing, the questioning Park Ji-yeon directly fell into silence, some place in her heart as if gently touched.
A small fist unconsciously clenched at her side, her eyes flickering with complex glow.
On the contrary, Sulli remained her tranquil appearance, corners of her mouth holding a faint smile that seemed to have seen through everything long ago.
When Sweet Eun-jung took in both their reactions, she smiled at the clearly impacted Park Ji-yeon, her tone carrying the consolation and encouragement of someone who’s been there.
“But Ji-yeon, you’re still young now. At your age, you should have expectations and longing for ‘true love.’ And Xiuyuan is indeed a very good, very special person. If you can let go of concerns and truly invest in it, for your future life and mentality, you’ll definitely gain more pure happiness than us here.”
Finally, Sweet Eun-jung even with a bit of mischief, half-jokingly half-seriously pushed Park Ji-yeon.
“So I suggest, if you really have any thoughts, better be more proactive. Really don’t be like Sulli, up early but arrived late. That scene is still funny thinking about it now. Jessica came later but overtook, even more than you all…”
At this point, her meaningfully drawn-out tone, though not finished, made the meaning self-evident.
So the originally somewhat silent and touched Park Ji-yeon and Sulli instantly recalled Jung Soo Yeon’s repeated instances of being cut in line, and couldn’t help but “pfft,” bursting into hearty laughter.
The subtle heavy atmosphere from earlier was instantly swept away.
At this moment, the apartment door was pushed open, and Lin Xiuyuan returned after tidying the tavern.
As soon as he entered, he heard the cheerful laughter inside and curiously asked, “What’s up? What are you laughing about? So happy.”
Sweet Eun-jung looked toward him, eyes curved, “All sorted?”
“Yeah, all tidied up.” Lin Xiuyuan nodded.
“Then come sit for a bit,” Sweet Eun-jung beckoned him, patted the empty spot on the sofa beside her, face with a smile, “Let’s chat about something interesting.”
Lin Xiuyuan didn’t suspect anything, walked over to sit, looked at Park Ji-yeon and them, “Chat about what? You all so mysterious.”
Then he heard Sweet Eun-jung tilt her head, in a seemingly casual but actually full of “death question” aura tone, slowly speak.
“Chat about… who do you think looks better, me or the previous Ham Eun-jung? Or say Ji-yeon or our dragon cub here? Or chat about whether Sulli is sexier or Jessica more proactive? And Yoona, Taeyeon, Soo Jung them.”
This series of questions thrown out directly stumped Lin Xiuyuan; these were death questions one more fatal than the last.
The only somewhat good news was that only two of these people were here.
However, before Lin Xiuyuan could figure out how to dodge, Sulli, who hadn’t joined the core topic much, suddenly blinked her clear beautiful eyes, and in an innocent tone, gently asked.
“Unnie, what about me?”
One sentence killed the match.
……
……
Meanwhile, in the Magic City apartment.
Jessica, who had just ended a personal live broadcast, still with exquisite makeup on her face, looked at the empty, cold and quiet house.
Thinking of that guy who said he’d be back soon but still nowhere to be seen, and associating with someone possibly enjoying themselves freely in Seoul…
Finally couldn’t help but grit her teeth, stomped her foot at the air angrily, and muttered in annoyance.
“Lin Xiuyuan! You jerk!!! Where the hell did you go messing around tonight!!!”
Monthly Ticket!!!
