The Uncrowned King of the Peninsula

Chapter 298 Liu Zhimin, an excellent rider
Bae Young-joon glanced at Kim Min-jung holding Ning Yi-zhuo's hand outside the window, then at Yoo Jimin beside him who was silent and whose head was glowing green. He suppressed a strange smile and finally broke the silence.

"Jimin, Minjun still cares about you quite a bit... huh?"

Liu Zhimin punched Pei Yongjun in the shoulder with resentment.

"Why did you hit me?" He rubbed his shoulder, looking completely innocent.

"Who told you to be her brother!" Liu Zhimin glared angrily at the two people kissing outside the window, arguing irrationally, "Look at how you raised your good sister?!"

"I'm her cousin, not her father. How can you blame me?" Pei Yongjun couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Then, then, how can that be the same..." Liu Zhimin opened her eyes wide, but couldn't come up with a reason, so she just snorted angrily and turned to stare at the two people outside the car window.

Kim Minjung, standing outside the car window, raised his phone at that moment, and the next second, Bae Youngjoon's phone rang.

“Minjun’s phone call.” Bae Young-joon glanced at his phone and asked Yoo Ji-min.

"Just answer it, it's not like they're looking for me," Liu Zhimin muttered.

"Minjun, what's wrong?" Bae Youngjoon smiled and answered the phone.

"Oppa, are you still at the company?" Kim Minjung's voice was sweet this time.

"um, yes."

"So, are you free later?" Kim Minjung called out to Oppa in a sweet voice. "Oppa, could you give me a ride on your way home later?"

"It's the barbecue restaurant where you, me, Jimin unnie, and Sulli sunbaenim ate last time."

"I made plans to have dinner with a friend there."

"A friend?" Bae Young-joon glanced at Yoo Jimin, who was eavesdropping. "Jimin?"

“No, no, no, it’s not that. Jimin unnie said she had to go home because of something. It’s another friend. Oppa, do you want to come along too?” Kim Minjung shook his head.

"I..." Bae Young-joon covered the microphone, looked at Yoo Ji-min, and said softly, "What should we do?"

"Go eat if you want, why are you asking me?" Liu Zhimin glanced at him, then turned her head to look at the side window of the car. "Don't ask me."

“Minjung, I won’t be going. I might be a little late tonight, so I won’t be able to take you. I’ll send you a red envelope, and you and your friends can take a taxi there.”

"Ah, Oppa? Really? Hehe, that's so embarrassing." Bae Young-joon covered his mouth as he looked at Kim Min-jung outside the car window, his eyes narrowing into slits with laughter.

Is this the real reason the little girl made the call?

They seem quite clever.

Bae Yong-joon shook his head, chuckled, and hung up the phone to Kim Min-jung's sweet "oppa" voice. He then transferred 50 won to her.

Soon, Kim Minjung hailed a car with a grin, pulled Ning Yizhuo into the car, and drove away.

"Still angry?" Bae Young-joon turned his head to look at Yoo Ji-min, who was still facing away from him and looking out the car window. He leaned over and got close to her face.

She pursed her full red lips, lowered her eyes, and remained silent, her short, cute little fingers tapping the car door handle repeatedly.

"No." Liu Zhimin glanced at him and withdrew her hand. "It's nothing."

"If you're unhappy, just say so, so I can comfort you." Bae Young-joon smiled, pulling her closer and swaying her gently. "Hmm?"

"Who needs your comfort..." Liu Zhimin whimpered, but her body obediently leaned into his arms.

"Minjung hanging out with other people is perfectly normal. Everyone has a few friends, right?"

“When you hang out with your other friends, you don’t always bring Minjun along, right?” Bae Youngjoon said, but Yoo Jimin in his arms still looked sullen, as if she hadn’t been comforted at all.

Bae Young-joon blinked, a thought popping into his mind.

It seems that every time I see Yoo Jimin, she's with Kim Minjung. And when Yoo Jimin talks about her friends, it always seems to involve Kim Minjung.

Is it...

"Zhimin, you wouldn't..."

"Just Minjun as a friend?"

Bae Young-joon's expression was strange.

"Who said that? I have plenty of friends!" Liu Zhimin snuggled into his arms indignantly.

Hmm, it seems like Kim Minjung is really his only friend.

Bae Young-joon blinked, noticing a hint of loneliness in her eyes, and a thought struck him.

Bae Young-joon smiled and said, "So, where do you want to go today?"

"Why are you asking this? Aren't you very busy?" Liu Zhimin looked up at him, then looked down again. "Go ahead and get busy."

"Can I still walk?" Bae Yong-joon looked down, but her small hands had somehow wrapped around his waist, and she seemed to have no intention of letting go.

"...Don't go." Liu Zhimin rested her small head on his chest. "Don't go."

"Stay with me for a bit. Is there anything you want to look up? I'll help you find it."

Her voice trembled slightly, like a lonely little bird chirping in the rain.

"Didn't I tell you, we're going on a date today?" Bae Young-joon patted her head.

Liu Zhimin did not speak.

"Are you free, Miss Jimin?" Bae Young-joon asked again.

"What date? I'm just working with you, why would I need to go on a date?" Liu Zhimin looked up at Bae Yongjun.

"Oh my, my dear lady, the tsundere version is outdated now. Your sweetheart will be stolen away." Bae Yong-joon couldn't help but laugh as he watched her squirm and act coy.

"Who is your sweetheart?" Liu Zhimin couldn't help but ask.

"Otherwise, don't miss out." Bae Young-joon nodded.

"Tch, you?" Liu Zhimin smiled demurely. "It depends on your sincerity. As for me..."

Bae Yong-joon pulled her voluptuous body into his arms and kissed her lips.

Her red lips were soft and delicate, and the lipstick exuded a fresh, fruity scent of a young girl. Her two soft mounds rubbed against his chest, and the subtle touch made him unable to resist kissing her even deeper.

"What are you doing?" Liu Zhimin finally managed to push him away, panting.

"I'll kiss you," Bae Young-joon said, then kissed her again, making Yoo Ji-min moan and pant before finally letting her go.

"You scoundrel!" Liu Zhimin wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, indignant. "He just kissed me like that."

"Then what should we do? You can kiss me too," Bae Young-joon suggested fairly.

"Who wants to kiss you?" Liu Zhimin rolled her eyes at him.

"Why don't you have any other friends? Don't you like playing with them?" Bae Young-joon smiled but didn't answer, instead asking about Yoo Ji-min's friends.

"It's boring, all that scheming and plotting every day, it's tedious." Liu Zhimin pouted.

Yoo Jimin's family background gave her a special status within SM Entertainment, and this special status, among a group of female trainees, must have aroused some kind of jealousy.

She was precocious, and she was burdened by the mysterious death of her mother. Compared to these young girls, she might really feel a sense of being out of place.

"What about Minjung?" Bae Youngjoon asked. "Minjung is pretty good, quite fun." She seemed to remember Kim Minjung and chuckled, "It's alright to play with her."

Bae Young-joon originally thought Kim Min-jung was a bit dull, but what he just witnessed made him realize that Kim Min-jung was actually quite smart. However, it seemed that he only became dull when he was with Yoo Jimin.

Is this how two people get along?

"And me?" Bae Young-joon pointed to himself.

"...It's alright, it's passable." Liu Zhimin nodded, then suddenly her cheeks flushed slightly, as if she had recalled some strange image. "He's just a pervert, a scoundrel!"

She rolled her eyes at Bae Young-joon, "You're always taking advantage of me."

"Really? I don't remember. Can you help me remember?" Bae Young-joon leaned closer, raised his hand, and reached straight for her pomelo.

Liu Zhimin slapped his hand away and was about to say something when the car suddenly lurched forward.

"Drive, drive, hold on tight." Pei Yongjun started the car and sped from the roadside onto the main road.

"Oh, where are we going?" Liu Zhimin hurriedly fastened her seatbelt.

"A fun place." Bae Yong-joon stepped on the gas, and the black sedan sped off, heading south.

"Aren't we driving too fast?" Liu Zhimin shouted to Pei Yongjun beside her, looking at the cars rushing past on both sides.

"You don't like it?" Bae Young-joon glanced at her.

Liu Zhimin's big eyes were shining with a hint of excitement, and her previous depression and loneliness had completely disappeared.

Liu Zhimin lowered the car window, and the wind rushed into the car, blowing her long, smooth hair in the wind, and a fresh fragrance filled Pei Yongjun's nose.

"I love it!" she shouted out the window.

“You called the wrong number, this way!” Bae Young-joon said.

"I don't like you at all!" Liu Zhimin turned to look at him, her delicate features adorned with a smile, her large eyes sparkling, she was extremely beautiful.

“You look beautiful now.” Bae Young-joon glanced at her. “I like you very much.”

"Right now?" Liu Zhimin asked rhetorically, her long, beautiful hair swaying in the wind, a few strands brushing against her fair cheeks like a veil.

"Isn't this enough?" Bae Young-joon stared at the road ahead, deftly tapping the accelerator and brake, the black sedan weaving through the traffic.

"Not enough!" Liu Zhimin shouted, as if venting her emotions, "Not enough at all!"

"Then what should we do?" Bae Young-joon asked, but suddenly felt a soft touch on his cheek.

Liu Zhimin leaned in and kissed him.

"Will you always love me?" Her big eyes sparkled.
"Okay." Bae Young-joon nodded.
"I'll remember that! If you dare not like me, I'll kill you!" Liu Zhimin shook her little fist.

"Can we please stop with all the fighting and killing?" Bae Young-joon laughed.

"Are you trying to back out?"

"One more kiss and I won't regret it."

"ah……"

The two people's boisterous laughter carried far on the wind.

------

"You can ride a horse?" Bae Young-joon, who was standing on the ground, looked up at Yoo Ji-min, who was holding the reins and skillfully driving the chestnut horse under his feet, and blinked.

Liu Zhimin wore a black riding hat and a neat black riding outfit.

She held the reins in her right hand and the whip in her left. Her long hair was styled into a ponytail and hung down her back. She looked heroic and dashing, like a valiant female rider.

The place Bae Young-joon brought Yoo Ji-min to was a horse farm in Namsan.

This place was originally military property, but was later transferred to the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office. His senior from university had connections here and gave Bae Young-joon the right to move around freely.

Seeing that Yoo Ji-min liked to go for drives, he thought of horseback riding. This place was located in Namsan, on the outskirts of Seoul, and it only took about half an hour to drive here. He arrived here quickly.

However, to his surprise, Liu Zhimin could ride a horse, and very well at that.

Led by the staff, Liu Zhimin arrived at the stables and immediately took a liking to the red horse. After getting ready, she mounted the horse and nimbly ran a lap around the field.

"Of course, I am the young lady, isn't that what you always say?" Liu Zhimin looked at Pei Yongjun, who hadn't mounted his horse yet, and curled her lips smugly, waving the riding whip in her hand.

"Are you planning to teach me to ride a horse? To take advantage of me?"

"I didn't expect it?"

“My dad used to take me horseback riding a lot when I was little.”

"Although I don't come as often now, I'm still quite skilled. How about it, not bad, right?"

She pulled on the reins, and the horse obediently turned around.

"Tsk, she really is a rich young lady, I'm so envious." Bae Yong-joon stepped into the stirrups, mounted the horse, and his movements were surprisingly smooth.

"How come you can ride?" Liu Zhimin looked at his movements and, thinking that Pei Yongjun couldn't, stuck out her tongue in disappointment.

"Are you waiting to see me make a fool of myself?" Bae Young-joon chuckled, slowly riding his horse to Yoo Ji-min's side. "I've studied it too."

"Why do you need to learn this?" Liu Zhimin asked.

“Well, maybe they had to ride horses when they couldn’t get a taxi while chasing clues,” Bae Young-joon said.

"Nonsense." Liu Zhimin curled her lip. "Let's go for a run."

"Get out?" Bae Young-joon glanced at the staff member beside him, but Yoo Ji-min pointed to the entrance of the racetrack.

"Just ride out there, and then ride back later. There are railings outside, so you can't escape."

She looked at Bae Young-joon, who hadn't spoken for a moment, and said with a playful expression, "Oh, you haven't been out and about before, have you?"

“No, there isn’t.” Bae Young-joon shook his head.

He can ride horses, and he's quite good at it. But that was when he was at KBS, as an employee benefit, they would sometimes give out some miscellaneous gift certificates.

One of those times was for a horse riding lesson.

He figured he might as well go, so he learned how, but he'd never actually tried running around outside before.

"Then you stay here, I'm leaving~" Liu Zhimin looked at the staff member, "Open the door for me, I'm going out for a run and will be back."

“Guest, you…” the staff member next to him asked what he meant.

“I’ll go out too, is that alright?” Bae Young-joon asked.

"You, you should be fine staying close to this young lady," the staff member said with a smile, looking at Liu Zhimin, who was already eager to try.

"Did you hear me? Stay close to me!" Liu Zhimin raised an eyebrow and kicked the horse's rump.

The red horse galloped quickly outside.

Bae Young-joon smiled, kicked the horse's rump, and then rode off.

(End of this chapter)