Peninsula: My cheat code is unscientific

Chapter 91 Taeyeon is going crazy (3.4k)

Sunny wanted to ask something more, but her attention was quickly drawn to Taeyeon across from her—the leader was quietly eating a fried egg, her eyes darting around.
Unlike last night when she was clinging to Jiang Che, she seemed to be lost in deep thought.

Sunny glanced at Taeyeon, then at Kang Cheol across from her who looked perfectly normal, and hissed in surprise, thinking to herself how fickle Taeyeon was.

After finally finishing their meal, the two big shots said it was time to take their leave.

However, just as Sunny changed her shoes and turned to say goodbye to Kang Cheol, Taeyeon casually bent down, seemingly adjusting her shoes.

His fingers rested naturally on the shoe cabinet door, and he gently opened it a crack, quickly glancing inside.

Then Taeyeon's eyes widened suddenly, but she said nothing. She stood up nonchalantly, a sweet smile on her face.

"Let's go then, Yoona~"

"Take care, unnies~" Jiang Che waved with a smile, letting out a long sigh of relief. Finally, they were gone!
After closing the door, Jiang Che let out a long sigh of relief and immediately took out his phone to call Yoona. The phone was answered after two rings, and Yoona's slightly languid voice came from the other end:
"Hey? They're gone? Nothing else happened, right?"

"You still dare to talk!" Jiang Che was furious upon hearing this.

"Yoona, you bought me a razor. How come you didn't even tell me beforehand about something this big?"

"A razor?" Yoona paused for a moment, then realized what she meant, and her tone suddenly became a little hesitant:

"Ah...that. I...I forgot...I got busy and forgot about it. What, you found out?"

"It's more than just a discovery!" Jiang Che practically wanted to reach through the phone line and smash her head:

"Sunny found it precisely in the sink drawer and caught me red-handed! She held up the box and asked if I was hiding a man! Luckily, I was quick-witted and said it was a gift for my dad, which barely got me out of it... You terrible teammate!"

Yoona muttered to herself on the other end:
"...Who is your father? That's my father."

Jiang Che was so angry he laughed:

"Is that the point, Lim Yoona? The point is that I almost gave myself away! Luckily, I reacted quickly, and they seem to have believed me. You should also be careful later, so you don't slip up."

"Okay, okay," Yoona replied perfunctorily, clearly wanting to end the conversation quickly.
"Oh, our Jiang Che is the best! Lively and smart, mischievous and quick-witted! Shall I come back now?"

Jiang Che felt that Yoona's words of praise were a bit strange, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he didn't think about it any further.

"Okay, you can come back now. Be careful on the road."

"Okay, okay, you nag." Yoona said, and hung up the phone crisply.

Meanwhile, in the car that had already driven away from the residential area.

Sunny was driving and was still wondering what was going on with Yoona, the game master, and that the breakfast she made was actually edible.

Taeyeon, sitting in the passenger seat, watched the street scenes rushing past the window, her fingers unconsciously curling up slightly.

All the scenes of their previous time together began to flash back, and
The bath I mentioned last time...

Razor...

Shoe cabinet...

Alternate Personality...

A hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

Should I stop sinking deeper into despair?
Her slightly pursed lips were reflected in the car window.

Time flies and it's night.

Jiang Che habitually picked up his phone, his fingertips unconsciously swiping across the screen.

Strange, at this time of day, Taeyeon's messages should have been popping up everywhere—either sharing everyday trivia or posting cute emojis—but today it's unusually quiet.

The chat interface is still showing the goodnight message he sent yesterday.

"Hmm?" Jiang Che muttered to himself.
"This isn't like the squad leader at all. We've waited another half hour, and there's still no sign of it."

A strange sense of unease crept into my heart.

'Could it be that she drank too much last night and isn't feeling well? Or... did Sunny say something to her after she got back? Or... did she discover some clues?'

Various speculations began to swirl in his mind.

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He opened his chat with Taeyeon and typed:
【Taeyeon unnie, how are you today? Is everything alright?】

The message was sent out, but it disappeared without a trace.

Ten minutes passed, then twenty minutes passed... and the phone remained completely silent.

Jiang Che's unease grew stronger. He frowned and decided to make a video call.

After ringing seven or eight times, just when Jiang Che thought no one would answer, the video call was suddenly connected.

Taeyeon's face appeared on the screen, with the familiar furnishings of her room in the background.

She looked like she had just taken a shower; her hair was still wet and hanging down. The light was dim, and her face was expressionless, unlike usual when her eyes would crinkle into crescents whenever she saw him.

"Yoona." Her voice sounded somewhat flat, with a hint of weariness.

Jiang Che carefully observed her expression, thinking to himself that something was off. He forced a sweet smile:

"Unnie, why aren't you replying to my messages? I was worried something had happened to you."

Taeyeon's eyes flickered, avoiding Kang Cheol's gaze, her tone flat:
"Ani...it's nothing. It's just that I'm about to start preparing for the new album, and things have suddenly piled up, so I'm a little tired. My mood might...be not too good either." She paused, as if making a decision, and continued:

"So, we should probably get some rest earlier these days, and we... should probably reduce our contact with each other a bit."

Jiang Che was stunned for a moment. This reason... sounded reasonable. Girls' Generation was indeed extremely busy and under great pressure before their comeback, but he always felt that something was wrong.

"Unnie, are you really okay?" Jiang Che asked again, still worried.
"You seem a bit listless, unnie."

Taeyeon paused for a few seconds before speaking softly:
"Ani, it's okay, don't worry."

Seeing that Taeyeon had already said so, Jiang Che really couldn't continue to ask. Since nothing unusual had been discovered, it was probably just work stress, right? He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly felt a little empty inside.

He glanced at the other person's condition again, then quickly suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and put on a well-behaved and considerate smile:

"Ah, I see. It's okay, unnie, work is the most important thing! You must take good care of yourself, don't overwork yourself, and remember to eat on time. If... if you're really unhappy, or need someone to talk to, you can always come to me!"

"Okay, I understand." Taeyeon responded softly, then gave Kang Cheol a deep look.
"Well... let's leave it like this for now? I'm going to blow-dry my hair."

"Yes, goodnight, unnie."

"Goodnight," Taeyeon said, and almost immediately hung up the video call.

Jiang Che stared blankly at his phone, which had just ended the video call, for a while, feeling an even stronger sense of emptiness in his heart.

'That's weird... Kim Tae-yeon, you're ignoring everyone when you're in a bad mood? Is this some kind of passive-aggressive behavior? Anyone who tries to talk to you is a dog... Time to sleep.'

He tossed and turned in bed for ages, unable to fall asleep.

His mind kept replaying Taeyeon's expressionless face from earlier, and then the way she used to cling to him with her smiling eyes. In the end, he even started to worry that this girl might have already slept with Yu Yu.

That night, Jiang Che suffered from insomnia, which was unusual for him.

On the other side, Taeyeon put down her phone, walked to the window, looked up at the sky above Seoul with few stars, her eyes filled with complex emotions, and her fingers unconsciously picked at the window frame.

After a long pause, she sighed softly, turned around, and picked up the hair dryer.

The next morning, Jiang Che, with light dark circles under his eyes, took advantage of Yoona's breakfast time to tell her what happened the night before.

"You mean...Taeyeon unnie suggested reducing contact?"

Yoona bit her spoon, blinked, and her first reaction was:
"That's great! This means Unnie has figured things out! She's finally climbed out of the pit of your alternate personality! She's no longer the cheerleader, that's wonderful!"

Jiang Che was speechless:

"...Thank you, but I'm still a little worried. She didn't seem to be doing well yesterday; she was much quieter and listless. Why don't you go to the company today and observe her closely to see what's going on? Just in case she's under too much pressure and something's wrong."

Upon hearing this, Yoona carefully observed Jiang Che's expression. Seeing that he didn't seem to be joking, she nodded seriously as well.
"Okay, I'll take a look for you, but I think there's a high chance you've been sidelined, Jiang Chexi, please accept reality."

Jiang Che ignored the little deer, finished his breakfast in large bites, and slipped away quickly, leaving behind a remark:
"You do the dishes today, I'm not feeling well."

"ah"

Upon arriving at the company's practice room, Yoona began to secretly observe Taeyeon, mainly curious whether she had truly come to her senses.

It was observed that Taeyeon would sometimes space out, or sit in a corner listening to music and drifting off, unlike her usual self who would joke around with the members or giggle.

But it's not that she was particularly depressed. She was still very serious when she was practicing, and she talked normally with Sunny and Tiffany.

Confused, Yoona leaned closer to Sunny and whispered:
“Sunny unnie, after you left my house yesterday, did Taeyeon unnie say anything in the car? Or did she seem a little off today?

Sunny looked up at Taeyeon and thought for a moment:
"Hmm...it doesn't seem like anything special, just a bit quieter than before we went to your house? She didn't say much on the way, and when I asked her, she just said she was a little tired. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, she just seemed a little down today."

sunny shrugged:

"Maybe she's really tired, or... well, some unspeakable little secret? Anyway, I feel like she's been unusually fickle lately, and I feel like I've lost a lot of hair." He glanced at Yoona as he spoke.

Seeing that look, Yoona gave a dry laugh and quickly slipped away.

After failing to find out through roundabout means, Yoona had no choice but to take matters into her own hands.

She sat down next to Taeyeon and handed her a bottle of water.

"Unnie, you seem a little down. Are you feeling unwell, or is something bothering you?"

Taeyeon took the water and forced a smile:
"It's okay, I'm probably just getting back into a routine. I have a lot on my mind, plus I probably haven't been sleeping well."

She glanced at Yoona, and then asked, as if casually:
"Yoona, do you have someone you like right now?"

"What?!" Yoona's heart skipped a beat at the sudden question. Jiang Che's face flashed through her mind instantly. She quickly waved her hand, instinctively raising her voice in denial:
"Unnie, why are you suddenly asking this? Of course not!"

Taeyeon noticed Yoona's slightly flustered reaction, and the light in her eyes seemed to slowly fade away.

So that's how it really is.

She lowered her eyelashes, concealing the complex emotions in her eyes, and simply responded very softly:
"Oh."

And then, nothing more was said.

Yoona: "???"

That's it? What's with that "oh"?! It killed the conversation instantly! How am I supposed to respond? How am I supposed to assess the situation?!
Yoona, seeing Taeyeon fall silent again, was completely at a loss. She scratched her head, pondering to herself:
Maybe we should just forget about it. If Taeyeon unnie really cuts off contact with Kang Cheol because of this and slowly lets it go, it seems... that would be quite good?
She shook her head, putting those complicated thoughts aside. Maybe the pressure of returning to the past was just too much. She'd observe the situation further.

(End of this chapter)