Peninsula: My cheat code is unscientific

Chapter 106: A Song as a Gift

Taeyeon's ears turned red instantly. She glanced quickly at Kang Cheol, then lowered her head and nodded almost imperceptibly. The meaning was clear: at least on her side, she was somewhat serious.

Yoona paused, her chopsticks clapping, her gaze unfocused, as if unsure how to answer. After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly picked up some food and placed it in Sunny's bowl.
"Sunny unnie, just eat your food! With so much delicious food, can't you shut up? You keep asking such strange questions!"

"Hey! Yoona! How can you talk to your unnie like that!" Sunny could tell that Yoona didn't want to respond, so she took the opportunity to back down, pretending to be angry and glaring at her.

Taeyeon raised her head, looked at the silent Kang Cheol, then at Yoona who was turned to the side, and her eyes dimmed slightly.

Jiang Che felt a mix of emotions seeing Yoona's obvious evasive attitude. The good news was that she didn't deny it. The bad news was that she didn't admit it either.

The road ahead is long and arduous. Jiang Che sighed silently to himself.

Then, he picked up the serving chopsticks and put food in everyone's bowls, his voice returning to its usual lazy tone:

"Eat quickly, eat quickly, and then everyone go home and find their own mothers."

Sunny immediately protested: "Hey, you actually want to kick us out!"

The dining table became lively again, as if the brief, delicate atmosphere from before had never existed.

After most of the dishes on the table were eaten, Sunny patted her stomach contentedly, while Taeyeon sipped water, her eyes occasionally glancing at Kang Cheol and Yoona who were clearing away the dishes.

"Ah~ I'm full, I'm full!" Sunny stretched and then stood up.
"Alright, it's getting late, Taeyeon, we should head back."

Taeyeon nodded upon hearing this and stood up as well.

Jiang Che escorted them to the entrance. Sunny muttered to herself as she put on her shoes:
"Jiang Che, remember this: you owe me one time covering for you!"

"Okay, okay, be careful on the road." Jiang Che nodded perfunctorily.

Taeyeon was putting on her shoes with her head down, her movements a little slow. Kang Che noticed that she seemed to be in a low mood, so he quickly took a folded piece of paper from his pocket and stuffed it into her coat pocket.

Taeyeon was startled and looked up at him in surprise.

Jiang Che leaned close to her ear and whispered quickly in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"The song I promised you is finished. Keep it safe." After saying that, he playfully nibbled her earlobe.

Taeyeon shuddered violently, her ears turning bright red, but then a huge surprise exploded in her mind like fireworks, instantly extinguishing her earlier slight gloom.

Then he suddenly opened his arms and gave Jiang Che a big, firm hug, his voice filled with joy:
"Really? Jiang Che, you're so kind!"

The sudden hug stunned Sunny and Yoona, who were standing nearby.

Sunny immediately shouted:

"Hey! Hey! Jiang Che, what were you whispering about behind our backs? You're hugging us like that!"

Yoona looked at the two embracing with a thoughtful expression.

Jiang Che was also a little confused by Taeyeon's sudden hug. Facing the gazes of the two of them, he coughed awkwardly twice and gently patted Taeyeon's back to signal her to let go.

"It's nothing, nothing, just a small matter." Then he opened the door and pushed the still excited Taeyeon and the disbelieving Sunny out the door:
"Alright, alright, have a safe trip, drive carefully, and let us know in the group chat when you get home."

As Sunny was being pushed along, she turned back and shouted unwillingly:

"Hey! Kang Cheol! You're ostracizing me! What secrets can't you tell me?! Taeyeon! Whose side are you on anyway?"

Taeyeon was completely immersed in the immense joy of receiving the song, ignoring Sunny's protests. She simply touched the sheet music in her pocket, her lips uncontrollably curving upwards.

After closing the door, Jiang Che turned around and saw Yoona looking at him with a questioning gaze. She casually asked:
"What...what happened just now? What did you give Taeyeon unnie? What made her so happy?" She paused, as if remembering something, and added:
"Is it that song... called 'I'?"

Jiang Che was somewhat surprised: "Huh? How did you know?"

"Your notebook full of scribbles wasn't hidden very well again; I flipped through it once. The style is definitely Taeyeon unnie's song; I certainly can't sing any of it."

Then, out of curiosity, she asked, "But when did you start writing songs?"

Jiang Che said with a serious expression:
"Ahem, if Jiang Che had not been born, the world would have remained in perpetual darkness."

Yoona had a "speaking like a human" expression on her face.

"It means—I'm a genius, a treasure boy." He raised an eyebrow smugly.
"After all, didn't I sing 'To You' before?"

Yoona also thought of the song from her birthday celebration. Looking at Jiang Che, her eyes held a complex mix of emotions. After hesitating for a few seconds, she said:

"Oh... since our great composer Jiang is so capable, writing songs so quickly..."

She paused for a moment, her gaze drifting elsewhere:

"Then...would you write my song at the same time?"

"Uh..." Jiang Che was stunned. He had been thinking that he would finally be free after finishing "I", but how did this other job suddenly appear?

He carefully observed Yoona's expression. So, this girl saw that Taeyeon had a gift and wanted one too? This kind of subtle competition, yet too shy to say it outright, is actually... kind of cute.

He couldn't help but smile, and naturally reached out to ruffle her hair, his tone full of affection: "Okay, okay, keep writing, and I'll give it to you later."

Yoona felt the warm touch and gentle movement on her head, and her body stiffened for a moment.

Sunny's words at the dinner table echoed in her mind—"The three of you...are you planning to live happily together like this from now on?"

She reacted as if burned, abruptly slapping Jiang Che's hand away, her voice trembling with panic:

"Hey! Who gave you permission to rub my head like that! ...I'm going to bed!"

After saying that, she almost ran back to her room and slammed the door shut.

Leaning against the door, Yoona let out a long sigh, scratching her hair which Kang Che had just ruffled in frustration, her mind a jumble of thoughts.

"...It's not ancient times, is it really...two women sharing one husband?" The thought immediately made her shake her head vigorously.

"Pah! Pah! Pah! What nonsense are you thinking, Yoona!"

But... thinking about the closeness between Kang Cheol and Taeyeon unnie, and then thinking about the increasingly ambiguous and unclear daily life of living together with Kang Cheol...

And then there was the smile in his eyes and the way he ruffled his hair when he agreed to write the song... and finally, Jiang Che's transformation skill...

She felt completely overwhelmed.

"Sigh..." She sighed, threw herself onto the soft bed, pulled the covers over her head, and continued to bury her head in the sand like an ostrich.
"I don't want to think about it anymore! Time to sleep! Things will work themselves out... right?"

On the other side, in the departing car.

Taeyeon gripped the steering wheel, a smile that hadn't faded since she left the house. She was in such a good mood she was practically flying, occasionally letting out a silly laugh.

"Oh, Kim Tae-yeon!" Sunny finally couldn't help but exclaim.

"Tell me the truth! What did Jiang Che just say to you? Did you two make some kind of shady deal behind my back?"

Taeyeon tried hard to suppress her smile, but failed, so she decided to start showing off.

"Hmm..." She paused mysteriously for a moment, then cleared her throat and softly hummed a short melody—a fragment of "I" that Jiang Che had hummed to her before.

Even though it was just a cappella, it instantly grabbed Sunny's attention, and she raised an eyebrow in surprise:
"Huh? This melody...it's quite nice! Who sings it? Is it a new song?"

"How is it? Pretty good, right? This is the song Jiang Che wrote for me, it's called 'I'! He just gave it to me!" Taeyeon's pride was practically overflowing.

"What? Jiang Che wrote it? He can write songs? Really?"

Sunny never expected that Jiang Che was not only good at cooking, fighting, filling in for others, and trending on social media, but also had the skill of composing music.
"Hey! Quick! Where's the sheet music? Let me see it!" She perked up instantly, eager to see the sheet music.

Taeyeon drove carefully, gesturing to her coat pocket:

"Be careful with the left pocket, don't wrinkle it!"

Sunny took out the sheet music and unfolded it in the dim light inside the car. Although the details were not very clear, the basic melody framework and some lyrics could still be discerned.

As she looked at the sheet music, she couldn't help but hum along softly, her eyes widening as she hummed.

This melody and these lyrics seem tailor-made for Taeyeon!
As Taeyeon drove, she listened to Sunny humming, her smile growing brighter and brighter, and she couldn't help but hum along softly.

After humming a section, Sunny put down the sheet music and looked at Taeyeon next to her, who was smiling so broadly that her eyes were practically closed with her teeth showing. She felt like a lemon had been planted in her heart.

Why?

Yoona gets to eat the food cooked by Kang Cheol, Yoona and Taeyeon get to enjoy the services Kang Cheol provides, and now he even wrote a song tailor-made for Taeyeon!
And what about me? Besides a few free meals and a worthless substitute work check, I got nothing!

The huge psychological gap turned Sunny's lemon tree into a lemon spirit in an instant.

"Hey! Kim Tae-yeon! Stop with that smirk, your mouth is practically stretched to your ears!"

Taeyeon chuckled twice, completely ignoring Sunny's sarcastic remarks, and instead became even more smug.

Sunny looked at Taeyeon's blissful profile, then glanced down at the excellent sheet music in her hand, and an absurd thought popped into her head uncontrollably—

'Should I...really consider...joining that strange big family?'

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!" Sunny was startled by her own terrible thought and quickly shook her head. 'Lee Soon-kyu! Wake up! What nonsense are you thinking?!'

But the next second, she clenched her fists, looked at the sheet music, and her eyes burned with fierce fighting spirit.

No! We absolutely can't let this go! We must find a way to develop 108 different uses for Jiang Che! We must leave my mark, Li Shun Gui's mark, on him! Just you wait!

Taeyeon, completely oblivious to Sunny's inner thoughts, continued driving happily, her mind already conjuring up images of singing "I" on stage.

Meanwhile, the culprit that the two short-statured big shots were worried about had long since collapsed, carefree and oblivious.

(End of this chapter)