Peninsula: These female celebrities are all so neurotic.

Chapter 89 The smoke died down, and tears came.

That evening, when Liu Zimu saw off the last guest, it was almost 10:30 p.m.

Li Zhenxi and Liu Zhenghua left ten minutes ago. Jin Qiutian had practice tonight, so she didn't come either.

He was the only one left in the shop.

He turned off the stereo, and the store suddenly became quiet.

He bent down, took the key out of the cabinet, and prepared to close the door.

The wind chimes rang.

Liu Zimu looked up and saw a figure swaying in through the door.

The black baseball cap was pulled low, revealing a few strands of golden hair beneath the brim.

Wearing a grey hoodie, a long down jacket, black skinny jeans, and white canvas shoes, she was completely covered up, and she had taken off her mask.

Park Chae Young.

She came in without saying a word, then closed the door behind her and turned the lock on the same time.

Liu Zimu paused for a moment: "Why are you locking the door?"

Park Chae-young did not answer.

She leaned against the door, tilted her head back, and stared straight at him through the brim of her hat. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her lips were pressed into a thin line.

Liu Zimu looked at her and sighed; she had become even thinner.

Her voice was hoarse, like someone who hadn't drunk water in a long time: "Oppa, I ran away from the dorm, my manager doesn't know."

"You should still tell them, otherwise they'll worry," Liu Zimu said, looking at her.

Park Chae-young didn't reply and took off her hat.

She walked to the bar, took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her pocket, lit them with a snap, and the flame leaped up; her hand was trembling.

Liu Zimu reached out and took the cigarette from her mouth, stubbed it out, and threw it into the trash can: "Smoking is not allowed in my shop."

Park Chae-young stared at the extinguished cigarette for two seconds, then pulled out another one.

Liu Zimu didn't stop her, but just looked at her and asked, "You've had a tough time lately, haven't you?"

Park Chaeyoung's breathing suddenly became heavy: "Yeah, I'm not your source of joy anymore."

She was still clutching the unlit cigarette in her hand when she suddenly bent over, bracing herself on the bar counter with her hands, her head bowed, her golden hair falling down on both sides, obscuring her face.

Her shoulders began to tremble.

It started gently, then got worse and worse, and my whole body was trembling.

Liu Zimu stood behind the bar, watching her.

He didn't move.

It wasn't because he didn't want to move, but because he had seen Park Chae-young cry, and he wanted to let her vent.

That night, she squatted on the ground in front of the coffee shop and cried like an abandoned cat.

But today is different.

I was drunk that day; the alcohol had unleashed my emotions, and I couldn't control them.

But today I am sober.

Crying when you're sober is more unbearable than crying when you're drunk.

"Chaeyoung," he called out.

Park Chaeyoung didn't look up, her voice muffled in her arms, broken and intermittent: "Oppa, I'm so tired, and so scared. That USB drive was given to you by me, and now that the group has turned out like this, I feel like it's my fault."

Liu Zimu put the keys in his pocket and stood next to her.

Park Chae-young straightened up and looked up at him.

Her nose was red, and her eyes were red too.

She wasn't wearing makeup, revealing her pitiful little face, which was so pale it looked almost sickly.

Her lips were trembling, her chin was trembling, and she was like a leaf about to be blown away by the wind, with no home to return to.

"This isn't your fault. I had someone send it to you first, and then you gave it to me. Besides, those who make mistakes should be punished."

"When can we resume our activities?" Her voice trembled slightly. "Oppa, do you know, the company is in complete chaos. Jennie unnie locks herself in her room every day and won't come out. Jisoo unnie tries to comfort us, but she's actually more upset than anyone else. Lisa has also lost a lot of weight. She spends all her time dancing alone and just stares blankly at the mirror."

She sniffed, tears streaming down her face as if they were free.

"I stay in the dorm every day, not knowing what to do. The company won't let us go out, and I don't dare go online because everyone online is saying we're from Lee Seung-ri's company." Her voice suddenly rose as she said this, then fell back down, as if afraid of disturbing something. "Those three didn't do anything wrong, so why do they have to endure this?"

Liu Zimu remained silent.

Park Chae-young looked at him and cried like a child.

She took half a step forward, pressed her forehead against Liu Zimu's chest, and gripped the sides of his coat tightly with both hands.

Liu Zimu looked down and saw her golden hair brushing against his black coat, shining brightly.

He hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and placed it on the back of her head.

It wasn't moved; it was just left there.

"It will all pass." He said softly, "Your group won't be over. This has nothing to do with you. Once this period is over, you can make your comeback and go on tour."

Park Chaeyoung's grip on his collar loosened slightly, then tightened again: "Oppa, how did you know?"

"I guessed," Liu Zimu said gently, "but I'm usually very accurate."

Park Chae-young did not respond.

She leaned against his chest and cried for a while, her voice gradually fading into sobs.

Her hand was still clutching his collar, but the grip loosened: "Oppa, your coat is wrinkled."

Liu Zimu glanced down at her coat, which she had clenched into several wrinkles: "So what if it's wrinkled?"

Park Chaeyoung raised her head, moved away from his chest, and looked up at him.

"Oppa, you're so mean." She sniffled, her voice still trembling with tears. "When I said your coat was wrinkled, you should have said, 'Then you have to pay me back,' but instead, you just said, 'It's wrinkled, so what?'"

Liu Zimu felt a headache coming on as he looked at her, who seemed to be both making a fuss and acting coquettishly.

Park Chaeyoung leaned back against his chest, burying her face in his shoulder, her voice muffled: "Oppa, I don't want to go back tonight. It's too stuffy in the dorm, I can't breathe."

"But you can't stay here with me," Liu Zimu said, somewhat exasperated. "Your manager and teammates can't contact you; they'll be frantic with worry."

"Let them worry," Park Chae-young muttered. "Anyway, they can't do anything to me anymore."

Liu Zimu reached out and pulled her off him: "Stop messing around."

Park Chae-young wasn't annoyed by being pushed away. She leaned against the bar counter and pulled out a tissue from the bar box to blow her nose.

"Oppa, whose car is that outside? The white one, I thought it belonged to Sulli unnie. I've been looking it up online these past few days, but I'm not sure."

Liu Zimu turned to look out the floor-to-ceiling window.

There was indeed a white sedan parked under the streetlight, the engine was off, and the lights inside were off.

It's hard to tell if anyone's inside, but it does look a lot like Sulli's car.

"Somewhat similar," he smiled. "Not sure."

Park Chae-young didn't ask any further questions, crumpled the tissue into a ball, and threw it into the trash can.

"Oppa, can I stay upstairs with you tonight? Hmm, something's different."

Liu Zimu was speechless: "You just realized? I don't live here anymore, I moved."

Park Chae-young was stunned, and then she cried again.

She grabbed the pack of cigarettes and lighter from the bar and stuffed them back into her pocket, trembling all over: "Oppa, are you going to avoid me too?"

"No, it's just because we bought a new house and the upstairs has been converted into a commercial area."

19

"Is that so? But... but it smells familiar there. And thank you for not kicking me out today. I'll be going now!"

She opened the door directly, and a cold wind rushed in. She shrank her neck and didn't turn around.

Liu Zimu stopped her from leaving the store because she seemed off: "Where are you going?"

Park Chae-young abruptly shook off his hand: "You're nobody to me, are you? You're not going to care about me anymore, are you? Then why am I still hanging around here?"

"We're friends, aren't we?" Liu Zimu managed to squeeze out.

"So, we were just friends?" she muttered softly, then squatted down and burst into tears.

The white sedan was still parked there, quietly, like someone crouching in the shadows watching a play.