Hancheng: There is a door between me and the future

Chapter 160 Yoona's Clever Plan Backfires (Please Subscribe and Vote)
Sunlight streamed in through the decorative windows outside the pub, casting a soft golden halo on the wooden floor.

The afternoon was unrealistically still, filled with the fresh scent of wood mixed with a faint hint of lemon liqueur.

Lin Xiuyuan adjusted the last chandelier to the most suitable brightness, glanced back at the sofa area, and saw that Li Juli, who had almost startled him earlier, was now sitting there.

The pink shirt she wore looked exceptionally soft in the interplay of light and shadow, making her seem to blend naturally into the space.

Noticing Lin Xiuyuan's gaze, Li Juli chuckled and patted the sofa beside her, "What are you looking at? Come and sit down."

Soon, Lin Xiuyuan walked over, holding a bottle of chilled sparkling wine, and sat down opposite her very naturally.

First, I poured her half a glass, and then I poured some for myself as well.

However, instead of handing it to her immediately, he turned his gaze to Lee Juri and asked again, "Are you really drinking? In the middle of the day."

Lee Juri ignored his somewhat perfunctory reminder, simply reaching for her wine glass and taking a small sip.

The sweet and sour wine bursts on the lips and teeth, its icy coolness bringing a refreshing and invigorating sensation.

Then she squinted her eyes and unconsciously shrugged her shoulders. "It's delicious~".

Seeing this, Lin Xiuyuan chuckled, raised his wine glass, and gently touched the rim of her glass.

A crisp "ding" echoed in the air.

In that instant, the wind outside the window rustled the branches and leaves, creating dappled light and shadow through the gap in the curtains, like the sound of time quietly brushing past one's ear.

The two sat facing each other quietly, neither of them rushing to speak, as if the few tentative words exchanged when they entered the room had never happened.

After a while, Li Juli slowly put down her wine glass, rested her palm on her knee, tapped the fabric lightly with one finger, and scanned Lin Xiuyuan with her beautiful eyes, a slight smile playing on her lips.

Seeing this, Lin Xiuyuan felt inexplicably flustered. The conversation at the dinner table last night had given him a lot to think about, so he quickly said, "Juli, if you need my help, just say so. This is making me a little nervous."

Lee Juri glanced at him, her eyes showing hesitation, or perhaps she had already thought about what to say.

But she didn't answer immediately. Instead, she raised her hand and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, then slowly uttered a sentence, "It's not that I necessarily need your help, I just want to confirm something."

"What is it?" Lin Xiuyuan frowned slightly, but subconsciously sat up straight.

As he spoke, his heart sank: Oh no, could it be that she really saw through something?
But Li Juli didn't rush to reveal the answer. She just stared down at the half-glass of wine on the table, as if weighing something or brewing something.

Finally, she raised her head, her eyes gleaming, her voice soft yet piercing, "Guess."

"I can't guess." Lin Xiuyuan shook his head, answering decisively.

Li Juli rolled her eyes at the boy, somewhat dissatisfied with his answer. "Can you please stop being so perfunctory? You answered without even thinking."

"You have to give me a hint, right? How am I supposed to guess? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack," Lin Xiuyuan replied, shrugging.

"A hint... never mind, I'll just say it directly."

Li Juli murmured softly, the face of the little dragon boy flashing through her mind, before looking up at Lin Xiuyuan in front of her. "Actually, it's nothing, I just wanted you to help me find a birthday cake."

"Birthday cake? What kind?" Lin Xiuyuan was a little dumbfounded. He had thought of many answers, but this was the only one he hadn't considered.

“Yes, I liked what we ate at Jiyeon’s birthday party.” Lee Qri smiled slightly.

Then Lin Xiuyuan froze on the spot.

The voice in my ear continued, "Although my birthday is still a while away, I really want to try that cake. Could you help me find it?"

She paused, then lowered her head and downed the remaining wine in her glass. "Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to..."

Just as Li Juli was about to finish speaking, the electronic lock on the tavern door beeped, and then someone pushed the door open and entered.

"Dingling~"

The familiar sound of wind chimes rang out, and under the sunlight, Lim Yoona stepped into the bar, carrying a slightly tipsy afternoon air. Her pretty, fair face was full of charm and beauty in the sunlight, not to mention her captivating smile. "Oh, Xiuyuan, unnie, what are you doing here?"

As soon as she finished speaking, another small head peeked out from behind her.

It was Kim Tae-yeon, who had just parted ways with Lin Xiu-yuan. "Huh~ Xiu-yuan, unnie, what brings you two here?"

This sudden interruption extinguished the spark of emotion that had just ignited in Li Juli, and she slowly swallowed the large gulp of wine she had just taken.

After his gaze lingered on Kim Tae-yeon for a moment, he stood up and smiled at Im Yoon-ah, "Long time no see, Yoon-ah. And Tae-yeon, I didn't expect such a coincidence. I was originally going to talk to Xiu-yuan about something, but if I had known you were coming, I would have come together."

Kim Tae-yeon then gave a very reasonable explanation.

"It's quite a coincidence, because I invited Xiuyuan and Yoona to my concert. It's just that Yoona was busy at noon, so she planned to sit here at the bar in the afternoon."

Lin Yoona, who had just arrived beside Lin Xiuyuan, smiled at the somewhat stiff boy and thought of Kim Tae-yeon's hurried phone call earlier, saying that someone was trying to raid her base.

So she secretly turned on the location sharing function on a certain Apple phone. This was done by Lin Yoona when someone was asleep the night she was making bread. It wasn't to monitor Lin Xiuyuan, but just because she was worried that he would sometimes get lost.

After glancing at the direction of the route, he smiled and sent the destination address to Kim Tae-yeon, then drove over himself.

In retrospect, it arrived at just the right time, not too early, not too late.

Lin Xiuyuan got up and left, saying, "Don't stand and chat, sit down first. I'll get you a drink, but we don't drink alcohol."

"No, we're already driving." Kim Tae-yeon nodded, then sat down next to Lee Qri, one on each side, with Im Yoon-ah.

However, Kim Tae-yeon noticed that Lee Qri's gaze wasn't directed at her at all; instead, she was staring intently at Lim Yoon-ah beside her.

The gaze was not hostile, but extremely serious, even revealing a hint of excitement.

Lee Qri wasn't looking at Lim Yoona's clothes or her expression; she was staring at her face.

To be precise, it was her bright and clear face, her delicate and radiant skin, and the vitality and energy she naturally exuded when she walked in.

This familiar yet unfamiliar scene made Lee Juri seem to be frozen in her chair.

Although there was a smile on her lips, her eyes held a complex emotion that was hard to conceal, and even a hint of trembling.

At that moment, she knew all too well what she was seeing.

That's not an effect that skincare products can achieve.

Lee Juri blinked, and even subconsciously looked down at the back of her hand, feeling the slight dryness and a few mottled spots on her knuckles. Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

It's not that she's old, nor that she can't accept defeat.

Rather, she knew that Yoona had also experienced periods when she felt tired and had a dull complexion.

Even if outsiders don't know, idols do share some information, especially when they share makeup artists, so there are just too many gossip topics.

But now, sitting next to me, Yoona, who glows even without makeup, looks like she's just finished soaking in a hot spring and drinking three bowls of ginseng soup—her complexion is so good it's unreal.

So, the feelings that Li Juli had just ignited but had been helplessly suppressed surged up in her heart once again. She then sat up straight, her eyes flashing with an unprecedented determination and expectation.

She slowly turned her head to look at Lin Xiuyuan behind the bar, her gaze carrying a strange request, as well as an increasingly clear determination.

Upon noticing all this, Lim Yoona felt a sudden jolt in her heart.

Oh no, it seems like I've made things worse.

She...she clearly only came to "save people".

(End of this chapter)