Hancheng: There is a door between me and the future

Chapter 171 "Eun-jung, you should thank Ham Eun-jung" (Please subscribe and vote)

One evening in June 2013, in Tara's dormitory.

The living room was dimly lit. Park Hyomin, wearing a face mask, was sitting on the sofa, holding a cushion in her hand, and lazily watching a variety show on the TV screen.

However, Park Hyo-min's attention was clearly not entirely focused on the show. Every now and then, her gaze would unconsciously drift to the figure sitting at the dining table not far away, intently staring at the laptop and typing on the keyboard.

"I never expected this..."

A moment later, Park Hyomin suddenly spoke, her voice soft and weak from the mask, "Jiyeon, you actually work this seriously. I thought you were just joking at first."

Her tone carried a hint of teasing, yet also a rare expression of appreciation and surprise.

That little sister who always acted impulsively and rushed through things has now become so focused and composed.

"Yeah, she's practically turning our living room into a film crew meeting room."

The bathroom door creaked open, and Ham Eun-jung stepped out, drying her still-dripping hair with a towel.

She was wearing a loose-fitting light purple nightgown, exuding a languid yet gentle aura.

After walking to the sofa, Ham Eun-jung sat down and said, "Hyomin, it's not right to say she's just playing around. She's staked everything on this. How can you call it playing around? She's risking her life."

After saying that, Ham Eun-jung glanced at Park Ji-yeon with some concern, then sat down on the sofa and picked up a bottle of hand cream to apply.

At the same time, she worriedly reminded the other party like an old mother, "Although I really don't understand what Jessica and Yoona are thinking, one of them took the lead in overturning the table, and the other jumped in with her chest pounded, and you couldn't even tell us beforehand. But that doesn't matter, Jiyeon, you really need to be extra careful when it comes to investments."

As the two unnies took turns "scrutinizing" her, Park Jiyeon, sitting in front of her laptop, paused slightly, her fingers slowing their typing.

Then she looked up at the two people on the sofa, a fleeting hint of disappointment flashing in her eyes, as if something had touched her heart.

But soon, Park Jiyeon smiled defiantly and replied in a light voice, "I know, unnie. Don't worry, they can't all gang up on me and lose their own money too, can they?"

“What if they have a way to get their money back and then only scam you out of your money?” Park Hyomin removed her face mask and answered seriously.

After saying that, he crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the trash can. "Although this makes me seem petty, it's never wrong to be serious."

"Okay, unnie." Park Jiyeon felt a warmth in her heart.

Then she closed the notebook, let out a soft sigh, and said, "Um, I have to go out for a bit. You guys rest first, don't wait for me to come back."

"Where are you going again?" Ham Eun-jung asked, looking up.

Park Jiyeon, who was already packing her things, replied, "I'm going to Sulli's place. Krystal and she are waiting for me. We're planning to talk about the investment in that script and some other issues. I'll probably sleep with them tonight."

"Go ahead, drive carefully." Ham Eun-jung nodded gently after hearing the reply, adding a concerned note.

Park Jiyeon nodded, then picked up a coat and bag, slung her laptop over her shoulder, and left the dormitory.

As the door slowly closed, Park Hyomin turned her head slightly to look at Ham Eun-jung, her tone revealing a hint of emotion.

"Eunjung, don't you feel that Jiyeon seems to have grown up a lot all of a sudden? She has secrets now, she's more sensible, and she even knows how to invest."

"Hmm, how could I not feel anything?"

As Ham Eun-jung spoke, she evenly applied lotion to the back of her hand, a satisfied smile on her lips.

"You didn't see how she responded to those fans who were cursing her and leaving negative comments. She was completely emotionless. Yesterday, she was even trying to persuade me, saying that no matter how much they cursed her, they wouldn't earn as much as we did in one of our commercial performances... I burst out laughing when I heard that."

As she spoke, a smile involuntarily spread across her face, a sense of satisfaction, like witnessing her younger sister grow up, quietly flowing between her brows and eyes.

Park Hyo-min smiled softly upon hearing this.

Just then, a phone call interrupted their conversation. The familiar ringtone made Park Hyomin reach for her phone and hand it to Ham Eunjung, saying, "Here, your phone."

As Park Hyomin handed it to Ham Eun-jung, she glanced at it subconsciously, then withdrew her right hand, leaving Ham Eun-jung with nothing.

"Huh, it's this guy."

"Who is it?" Ham Eun-jung glanced over, "Huh, Xiu Yuan?"

Despite her curiosity, Park Hyomin handed it to Ham Eunjung again, and Ham Eunjung quickly answered the phone after taking it, saying, "Hello, Xiuyuan."

"Have you eaten, Eun-jung?"

Lin Xiuyuan sounded relaxed and cheerful on the other end of the phone, as if he had no idea that it was already 11 p.m.

So Ham Eun-jung replied with a bit of a laugh, "Oh, it's already 11 o'clock, who hasn't eaten yet? Just say what you want, no need to beat around the bush."

Lin Xiuyuan's laughter rose again, and he said, "What I mean is, if you haven't eaten, how about we go out for a late-night snack?"

Ham Eun-jung was a little confused when she heard this, and even Park Hyo-min next to her widened her eyes and quickly started gesturing with her hands.

Sign language interpretation: Eating late-night snacks? You mean eating Eun-jung? No, wait, this Lin Xiuyuan seems a bit off his head.
But it was obvious that Ham Eun-jung couldn't understand the sign language. She first thought of Park Ji-yeon, and then of that night when she was hungover.

Faced with Park Hyomin's meaningful gaze, Ham Eunjung hesitated for a second before finally nodding gently, "Okay, where should we eat?"

"I'll wait for you at the tavern. Come over and we'll talk," Lin Xiuyuan said with a smile.

"Ok."

The call has ended.

Park Hyomin suddenly jumped up, "No way, Eunjung, how could you agree to go out with him? What time is it? Didn't you say before that you shouldn't go out too late?"

Ham Eun-jung, on the other hand, seemed relaxed, casually putting her phone back on the table. "It's not like we're going anywhere, it's just a small bar, don't be so nervous. Besides, you and Xiu Yuan were pretty close before, why are you suddenly so hostile towards him lately?"

She looked over in a light tone, but with a hint of teasing.

When asked, Park Hyomin frowned deeply and sighed after a long while, "Oh, it's just that I feel like Jiyeon was taken away by him. But it seems like he's not just with Jiyeon. I get the feeling that he's a playboy, and my impression of him is suddenly not good."

Faced with Park Hyomin's explanation, Ham Eunjung thought about their pleasant conversation that night, then shook her head and smiled, "It's not that bad."

"Didn't you say that before, Eun-jung?"

"That was just a concern about Zhiyan's investment, not about Xiuyuan as a person."

Seeing Ham Eun-jung's expression, Park Hyo-min immediately buried her face in her hands and wailed, "It's over! I was planning to get you involved in isolating him, but now I'm the one being isolated by you all..."

"What are you talking about? Don't talk nonsense. I'm going out for a bit. You should get some rest."

After patting Park Hyomin's arm, Ham Eunjung walked towards the bedroom to change her clothes and go out. Behind her, Park Hyomin lay down on the sofa, sighing deeply, "Eunjung, are you really going?"

"I promised them, how could I break my promise?"

……

After 11 p.m., the streets of Seoul seemed to suddenly quiet down, and the whole city was immersed in the atmosphere of dim lights and cool night.

Traffic was sparse, neon lights reflected on the shop windows along the roadside, and occasionally a passerby would hurry by with their head down, making the scene seem particularly desolate.

A low-profile dark gray sedan slowly drove out of the residential area, turned at the end of the alley, and entered the main road.

In the driver's seat was Ham Eun-jung, who had just come out of the dormitory. She was wearing a simple sweatshirt set, her hair was loosely tied into a low ponytail, and her face was without makeup, but she exuded the relaxation and ease unique to the night.

She gripped the steering wheel, glanced intently at the navigation, then looked out the window at the somewhat empty street scene, muttering to herself, "Why are they eating late-night snacks instead of sleeping?"

But a slight smile unconsciously crept onto his lips, as if he felt a mix of helplessness and anticipation towards this late-night snack.

Soon, the car stopped in front of the familiar little tavern.

Ham Eun-jung opened the car door and walked towards the store entrance while taking out her phone to send Lin Xiuyuan a message saying "I'm at the door."

A few seconds later, with a "click," the door opened from the inside.

The door was pulled open from the inside, and Lin Xiuyuan poked his head out, a smile still on his face brought on by the night breeze. "You came pretty quickly, Eun-jung."

Ham Eun-jung raised an eyebrow, and as she walked in, she casually closed the door behind her. The soft lighting inside enveloped her in an indescribable sense of tranquility.

"Didn't you say you'd take me out for a late-night snack?" Ham Eun-jung asked, casually hanging her bag on the back of her chair and looking around in confusion. "Why did we end up back at the bar?"

"Of course we should go somewhere else for late-night snacks," Lin Xiuyuan replied with a smile as he walked toward the bar. "But before that, let me show you the new features of this bar."

"A new feature?" Ham Eun-jung blinked, her expression full of doubt.

Lin Xiuyuan walked around from behind the bar and stood in front of a wine cabinet against the wall.

It was a decorative wine cabinet covering an entire wall, displaying various kinds of wines and spirits, and at first glance, it looked perfectly normal.

Until Lin Xiuyuan stood in front of the cabinet and pressed a few buttons on the bottom of a wine bottle, the next second, the entire row of wine cabinets made a slight "click" sound, and then silently cracked open from the middle.

"Wait a minute?" Ham Eun-jung immediately stood up, her face filled with shock. "You have a secret passage in your tavern?"

"Come here." Lin Xiuyuan beckoned, a mischievous smile on his face. "This is just a small feature, it's not officially open yet, you're the first to see it."

The wine cabinet slowly opened, revealing a secret passageway behind it. It was only wide enough for one person to walk through, and the height was just right, like an underground escape tunnel in a movie, long and deep.

"You wouldn't... this leads to the solitary confinement cell, would you?" Ham Eun-jung said half-jokingly, but her eyes were full of vigilance and curiosity.

"There's no solitary confinement room, but you'll find it when you get to the end." Lin Xiuyuan turned back and smiled at her, then stepped into the dark passage first.

Ham Eun-jung hesitated for a second, but ultimately gritted her teeth and followed.

She walked step by step behind Lin Xiuyuan, the dim motion-sensor lights above her head lighting up one by one along the edge of the passage, her footsteps making soft sounds on the cement floor, as if time had slowed down.

Soon, a metal door with an electronic panel appeared in front of them.

Lin Xiuyuan stopped and skillfully pressed several sets of numbers on the cipher board.

"drop--"

The electronic lock was unlocked, and the door slid open slowly.

The light behind the door suddenly brightened, making it difficult for Ham Eun-jung to open her eyes for a moment.

Once she had adjusted, when she looked ahead again, she was completely stunned.

"This...this isn't the place..."

She stared in surprise at the familiar scene before her.

Tall fences, neat flower beds, and a quiet apartment building standing not far away.

Isn't this the apartment building behind the bar? Ham Eun-jung has parked here a few times before and even helped out.

So he couldn't help but be a little surprised, "So Xiuyuan, you dug a secret passage from the bar to the apartment? Isn't that a bit redundant? It's not that many meters in a circle."

"To be precise, the apartment building opened up the road to the tavern." Lin Xiuyuan smiled calmly. "This way, whether you're taking a break, in an emergency, or temporarily entertaining guests, it's safe and convenient."

"This is outrageous..." Ham Eun-jung stood there dumbfounded, completely stunned.

What kind of emergency is this? What's there to be an emergency about?

"Don't worry, no one knows about this passage yet." Lin Xiuyuan patted her shoulder. "If you don't want to use the main entrance someday, you can come this way."

Ham Eun-jung hadn't recovered from the shock yet, and it took her a while to manage to stammer out, "You're acting like a spy...you're crazy."

Lin Xiuyuan, after being teased, didn't say anything, but stretched and said, "Alright, let's go, I'll take you to get some late-night snacks."

"Where are we going to eat?" Ham Eun-jung asked, looking back at the door with a puzzled expression.

"We're going to a really magical place." Lin Xiuyuan smiled mysteriously. "Speaking of which, Eun-jung, you have to thank someone."

"who?"

"Ham Eun-jung."

"???"

Ham Eun-jung was stunned on the spot, unable to even utter a word of complaint, and could only look at him with a face that said, "Are you sick?"

Lin Xiuyuan simply waved his hand lightly, "Let's go, you'll see when we get there."

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(End of this chapter)