Hancheng: There is a door between me and the future

Chapter 255 Ham Eun-jung: "Soo Won is different~" (Please subscribe and vote)

After hearing Lin Xiuyuan's words, Jessica's emotions clearly rose.

His slender fingers tapped unconsciously on the coffee table, the rhythm rapid and chaotic, as if reminding someone not to try to fool him, his gaze fixed on Lin Xiuyuan.

"So Lin Xiuyuan, is your so-called 'membership' status just a facade? How many messy relationships are you hiding behind this? Xiujing, Jiyeon, Taeyeon, and even Yoona—you can even drag them into this. How do you all trust this guy?"

Jessica clearly looked at Krystal when she said the last sentence, her eyes revealing a hint of dissatisfaction.

This reaction surprised Krystal somewhat.

She tilted her head, wondering to herself: Jessica's attitude towards Xiu Yuan was complicated before, but it didn't seem to have reached this point, did it?
The current situation feels like that stiff resistance they had when they first met, even more intense now.

Thinking of this, Krystal subconsciously turned to look at Lin Xiuyuan, her eyes questioning him. She wondered if Xiuyuan had done something to Jessica behind her back again.

Lin Xiuyuan was even more bewildered by Krystal's gaze, a look of "innocence" on his face.

He also caught a misunderstanding in the other person's eyes, and quickly shook his head slightly, indicating with his eyes: How would I know? I'm completely confused myself.

He secretly wondered to himself: What's wrong with this lady? Is she going through early menopause?
However, Lin Xiuyuan was unaware that the origin of all these emotions was actually quite small.

It all stemmed from the last time he listened to Jessica Jung's advice, gave her some dessert, and cooked two dishes for her that night, giving her a warm meal.

That night, she was somewhat touched.

But in the days that followed, he acted as if nothing had happened, simply ignoring her and ignoring her completely.

A few nights ago, when she was ordering pizza, she vaguely hoped for a similar warm feeling to reappear.

But nothing happened.

The next day, he was even provoked by Lin Xiuyuan a few times.

So, with all these contrasting experiences, how could this ice princess not be filled with resentment? Therefore, she decided to take advantage of the opportunity before leaving to give this guy a good "poisoning."

Seeing Lin Xiuyuan and Krystal exchange glances but remain silent for a long time, Jessica spoke up coldly again, "What are you two looking at? Are you both speechless? Or did I hit the nail on the head?"

Feeling helpless under the gaze, Lin Xiuyuan coughed lightly and said in a seemingly calm tone, "This so-called membership system is just a normal private club, not as exaggerated as you think. It's just like how you wouldn't easily talk about your story with Quan Ningyi in front of others."

He paused here, then used a subtle analogy.

Krystal nodded in agreement, as if afraid Jessica would continue to escalate the situation, trying to add some weight to the statement, "Yeah, that's pretty much it. I swear it's not some cult. We can't all be brainless, right?"

After being stunned for half a second by Lin Xiuyuan's words, Jessica narrowed her eyes and slowly curled up the corners of her mouth.

"Oh, so Lin Xiuyuan, you mean if I offer my story in exchange, you'll tell me?"

Lin Xiuyuan and Krystal were both stunned, their expressions somewhat frozen.

Who would have thought she would suddenly come up with this idea of ​​exploiting loopholes?
Lin Xiuyuan frowned, ultimately too lazy to waste any more words, and simply said coldly, "No, you're overthinking it. I was just saying it was a metaphor, I didn't say anything about exchanging. Fine, think whatever you want."

"Heh." Jessica scoffed, clearly dissatisfied.

The next second, she glanced sharply around and suddenly pointed to the seat next to her, "Could you please move aside for a moment? Krystal and I need to have a private conversation."

Lin Xiuyuan was stunned: "Huh?"

"Please give me your seat," Jessica said, her tone leaving no room for refusal.

Krystal looked at him with a mix of amusement and exasperation, as if to say: Xiuyuan, please bear with it for my sake. Jessica is probably going into her crazy mode again right now.

Lin Xiuyuan could only shake his head helplessly, get up and give up his seat, and move to the opposite side.

At the same time, he didn't forget to move the tea he ordered over, and then as soon as he sat down, he picked up the teacup and slowly took a sip, quietly scrolling through short videos, not caring at all about what kind of trouble Jessica was causing over there.

I can't understand what's going on with this person.

Everything was fine before, how did it suddenly turn out like this?
If it's not menopause, then it's the luteal phase.

There's something wrong with it.

Across from her, Jessica immediately leaned closer to Krystal and whispered, "Jung Soo-jung, don't actually use this as a backup plan."

Krystal didn't say anything after hearing this, but instead kept thinking about how to reply to the other person, or rather, how to put bait in their mouth.

After all, the fish had already swum to the shore. If Lin Xiuyuan hadn't forbade her, she would have picked up a big rock, knocked it unconscious, and taken it home.

After a moment of silence, Krystal seemed to have finally figured it out, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

His fingertips casually caressed the water glass, a smile playing at the corners of his eyes—a smile that held both a mischievous glint and an air of complete control.

“Jessica, the way you look now is somewhat similar to when I was trying to persuade you.”

Krystal spoke softly, yet her words sent a chill down one's spine: "But don't worry, Xiu Yuan isn't your man. If you knew about him, I think you'd be hooked even faster than I am."

At this point, she suddenly seemed to remember something and casually added, "Or rather... going back to the old ways."

Jessica was stunned, momentarily speechless. Her expression was so complicated that it looked as if her thoughts had been exposed. Her brows furrowed, yet she had no strength to refute.

A look of "Are you out of your mind?" appeared on his face, but his eyes still couldn't help glancing at Lin Xiuyuan not far away.

My thoughts became increasingly chaotic.

She really couldn't understand what it was about this man that made so many people willingly revolve around him.

She completely forgot about her previous emotional turmoil.

At this point in the conversation, Krystal stopped making any more advances, as doing so would only make Jessica overthink things.

So she changed the subject and asked, "But Jessica, did you ask me to bring Xiuyuan here just to monitor my life with him? That's really boring."

Jessica's lips moved, but in the end she just said in a muffled voice, "I'm just worried. My mother told me to keep an eye on you."

"Worried?" Krystal raised an eyebrow, her voice tinged with a hint of teasing. "But Mom privately told me to be more lenient with you. So tell me, is Mom more concerned about me, or more afraid that you'll cause trouble?"

Jessica was completely speechless. She opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a single word, and could only fall into a stiff silence.

Seeing this, Krystal's eyes flashed with a hint of "disappointment and frustration".

She shook her head and sighed with a hint of advice, "You, Jessica, now that you already know where Xiuyuan lives, how could you waste the opportunity so easily? If you had just changed the time, you might have been able to return to your hometown long ago."

Jessica looked up abruptly, her eyes showing some surprise.

She didn't understand the deeper meaning of those words at all; it was just her intuition that it seemed to be something very important.

But Krystal knew she couldn't say anything more at this point, so she turned and packed her bag. "Alright, let's leave it at that. Xiuyuan and I are going back now, so you don't have to argue with him here. Be careful when you go to China."

"Wait a minute, Krystal, you and Jiyeon... is it really...?" Even Jessica couldn't bring herself to say the unspoken meaning.

The main reason is that her own sister Krystal is involved; if it weren't for that, she would definitely be very outspoken.

As a 'fishing enthusiast,' how could Krystal explain herself clearly? So she simply stood up, picked up her bag, bent down, looked at Jessica, and smiled, "Well, all I can say is that from last night until now, when we went out again, we did come out from the direction of Jiyeon's house. I won't say anything else."

As soon as she finished speaking, she looked up, her eyes crinkling with a smile, and said, "Bye-bye~"

After saying that, Krystal waved to Jessica, turned around and walked towards Lin Xiuyuan. The next second, she naturally took his arm and they left the restaurant together with a light and cheerful demeanor.

Jessica, who remained seated, sat there blankly, her eyes unreadable, her mind in turmoil.

What do you mean by "I won't say anything else"? Haven't we already said everything?!

Jung! Soo! Krystal!!!

Outside the restaurant.

Lin Xiuyuan glanced at Krystal beside him, then looked back at the restaurant entrance, raising an eyebrow slightly. "What's the situation with that person?"

"I don't know, I guess it's early menopause."

Perhaps it was because they had been together for a long time, but Krystal's thoughts were briefly in sync with Lin Xiuyuan's, leaving Lin Xiuyuan momentarily stunned upon hearing the reply.

Then she took Lin Xiuyuan's arm and walked towards the car. "Okay, never mind her. If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have bothered coming. Let's go back to the villa. I still have to go to class. Now I finally understand Yoona unnie's helplessness back then. Who knew we were so silly?"

Lin Xiuyuan couldn't help but chuckle, "You'd better say that to the other person's face."

Krystal lifted her chin, "Well, you have to give me the chance first, right, Xiuyuan~xi~"

"Um, let's go back."

"Hum hum……"

She was in a great mood, like a cat that had stolen a fish.

……

……

at the same time.

Inside the Tara dormitory in 2013.

When Park Hyomin returned to her dormitory after finishing her trip, the first thing she saw when she opened the door was the familiar empty room.

The living room was unusually quiet, and even the cushions on the sofa were neatly arranged. This made her raise her hand to her forehead, and after raising her eyebrows, she looked back, her whole demeanor full of helplessness.

"No, Eunjung, Jiyeon has been busy for so many days. She didn't spend her rare day off at Lin Xiuyuan's place again, did she?"

Ham Eun-jung was changing her shoes when she heard this. She smiled slightly, pretending to be innocent, and said, "Don't ask me. How would I know? I was with you today."

But this excuse clearly didn't fool them. Park Hyomin's eyes darted around, sharp as ever, and she immediately saw through it, "Something's not right, Eunjung. You guys are acting a bit strange lately. Ever since I mentioned you two a few times before, you've started choosing between me and someone else, right? You always have one of you by my side, don't you?"

"You're overthinking it, Hyomin."

Ham Eun-jung, caught out, couldn't help but laugh out loud, a hint of guilt in her smile.

In fact, Park Hyo-min is absolutely right.

She and Park Jiyeon had discussed it before and felt that it wouldn't be good to keep Hyomin isolated like this, so they came up with a "work game".

The rules are as follows:

One of the two must "go to work" with Hyomin before the other can "go off work" and freely go to the place 25 years ago or find Lin Xiuyuan and the others.

This way, Park Hyo-min won't feel isolated.

This little design is really good; it has transformed Park Hyo-min, who was originally neglected, from a marginal character into a key NPC in "Earth Online".

Park Hyomin, however, had no time to analyze the situation. She stared at Ham Eunjung for a long time, then suddenly lowered her voice and asked with an expression that was almost bursting with gossip, "Hey, Eunjung, tell me honestly, did Jiyeon and Lim Soo-won leave?"

This question caught Ham Eun-jung off guard, and she burst out laughing, almost spitting out the water in her hand.

"Why are you so direct right away?" Ham Eun-jung patted her arm and shook her head, "Don't overthink it."

But the next second, the suggestion Jin Ruanruan had given her suddenly flashed through her mind, and then a small thought emerged in her mind.

Or... how about we try a different approach and have Park Hyo-min contact Lin Xiu-yuan?
This would solve the problems mentioned by Kim Yeon-yeon and others, allow Park Hyo-min to integrate, and free up her and Park Ji-yeon. It's a win-win-win solution.

As soon as the idea took shape, Ham Eun-jung's eyes immediately shifted, a hint of excitement flashing in them.

So she smiled and asked in return, "Hyomin, what about yourself? What do you think of Xiuyuan?"

"what?"

Park Hyomin was stunned for a long time before blinking and thoughtfully saying, "Me? What else can I say? Just a friend. He's quite handsome, has a good height, and although he's mostly quiet, he can be quite humorous when he does speak. So... he's alright."

She paused for a moment, then frowned.

"But I'm really curious, how can he get along with you guys so well? How can he get you guys to come to his place so often, and what's with this membership system? It's really weird."

Ham Eun-jung looked at her "disdainful but bright-eyed" expression and secretly chuckled to herself: the opportunity had come.

So he deliberately leaned closer and lowered his voice mysteriously, "Hyomin, if you really want to know something, it's not impossible."

"Really?"

Park Hyo-min instantly perked up, leaning forward with bright, sparkling eyes, her gossip spirit burning fiercely.

As the second-in-command of the Bagua Sect, her curiosity is second only to the "Sect Leader" Sunny Lee Soon-kyu.

Ham Eun-jung paused dramatically, whetting her appetite, before slowly saying, "Yeah, it's actually very simple. You just need to win over Xiu Yuan. Once you get him, you'll know everything."

"what?!"

This answer almost made Park Hyomin jump up on the spot. Her eyes widened, and she was completely dumbfounded. "Eunjung, are you kidding me? I was just asking casually. Is it really necessary to make me jump into a fire pit and get myself into trouble!"

Ham Eun-jung laughed heartily, spreading her hands with a smile, "I didn't say I had to do anything for you. I'm just telling you a shortcut. Besides that, I don't know what else to say to you, but if you become one of us, then everything will be easier to talk about."

Park Hyomin was speechless for a moment. Looking at Ham Eunjung's "it's all a setup" expression, she couldn't help but mutter, "So you went and got together with Soo Won?"

"Me~"

When asked, Ham Eun-jung hummed in agreement, thinking of certain qualities that people valued 25 years ago, and then smiled, "If necessary, it's not a bad thing to dedicate oneself a few times. After all, it's common for church members to dedicate themselves to the Pope."

"ah……"

Park Hyomin's eyes widened in shock, and her voice rose, "You still say this isn't a cult? What is it if not a cult?!"

“You don’t understand, Hyomin.”

Ham Eun-jung's smile faded slightly, but her expression became serious, and her tone revealed an indescribable certainty.

“Xiuyuan is different.”

Her eyes suddenly became very deep, as if they held a whole secret world.

He's truly different!
　Working overtime due to the typhoon and rain, no time for 10,000 words a day, that's all for now~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)