Peninsula diplomat: My second life with a top celebrity

When Ya-Hsien received Zheng Dao-Xun's message, she was leaning back on the sofa, casually pressing the remote control.

Huang Lizhi sat next to her, opened the bag of snacks he had brought, and fed them to the absent-minded girl.

There were also many snacks on the coffee table—honey butter almonds that Ya-Hsien loves, and a few packets of gummy candies that I bought on a whim from the convenience store.

Jung Do-hoon said that she was bringing her colleagues and her sister to her home for dinner tonight.

What kind of relationship do these female colleagues have that allows them to bring the other woman and her sister home together?

Ya Xian stared at the screen and replied with a question mark.

Then she threw her phone in the corner of the sofa and flopped onto the cushions.

Huang Lizhi wiped the crumbs off his hands and, seeing Ya Xian's conflicted and distressed expression, couldn't help but laugh.

"What's wrong? Did your oppa upset you again?"

"He's bringing someone home for dinner," Ya-xian's muffled voice came from behind the cushion, "a female colleague and her sister."

"It's not like you brought your girlfriend home," Huang Lizhi said, handing her a bag of gummies.

However, such comforting words seemed to have the opposite effect.

Ya-xian hugged the cushion, took the gummy candy, but still pouted.

She didn't want outsiders to disturb her and her oppa's peaceful life—Hwang Yeji was also included in the definition of "outsider".

But compared to the Fang sisters who suddenly said they wanted to visit, Huang Lizhi, who brought snacks, offered to help her wash up, and watched TV with her, seemed much more agreeable.

Ya Xian chewed on a gummy candy, then suddenly sat up straight and stared at Huang Lizhi for a few seconds.

"Then I'd better leave early," Huang Lizhi said, feeling a little uneasy under her gaze. He glanced at the snacks he had brought on the coffee table, got up, and prepared to leave. "It's not appropriate for an outsider like me to stay when you have guests."

"No." Ya Xian grabbed her wrist.

Huang Lizhi was stunned for a moment.

"Unnie, please stay."

Ya Xian's tone left no room for negotiation. She was quickly calculating her own options.

If Huang Lizhi stays, she and the two Fang sisters can at least form a two-on-two situation;

After Huang Lizhi left, she was left alone, leaning on her cane, facing two strangers.

Moreover, Huang Lizhi came specifically to help her wash up and watch TV with her; he genuinely cared about her, which is completely different from the ambiguous relationships with female colleagues.

Huang Lizhi stood next to the sofa, looking at Ya Xian and then at the pile of unfinished snacks on the coffee table, feeling conflicted.

She didn't mind staying, but since guests were coming to Zheng Daoxun's house, she felt it wasn't appropriate for an outsider like herself to stay there.

Ke Yaxian held her hand quite tightly.

"Let me send you a message first." Hwang Ye-ji finally gave in, sat down again, took out his phone and sent a message to Jung Do-hoon, explaining that he was originally at his house with Ya-hsien, but Ya-hsien insisted that he stay.

Zheng Daoxun's reply came surprisingly quickly: "Perfect timing! I'm in a rush to buy groceries. Could you run to the supermarket for me first? I'll transfer the money to you when I get home, thank you."

Huang Lizhi showed the message to Ya Xian, who simply raised her eyebrows slightly and said, "See, unnie, my oppa doesn't treat you like an outsider."

Huang Lizhi paused for a moment. If it wasn't an outsider... then what was it?

"Let's go, come with me to the supermarket." Huang Lizhi picked up his bag, glanced at Ya Xian's ankle, and said, "I'll go get your wheelchair."

"Can Busan people handle spicy food?" Ya-Hsien pulled out her phone and started typing seriously into her notes, muttering to herself, "If they can't handle spicy food, let's have hot pot tonight."

After concluding his morning meeting with Fang Zhixiu, Zheng Daoxun returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and discussed the morning's findings and the publicity plan for tomorrow's World Expo with his direct superior, Jin Zhenwo.

With the report finished, his to-do list for the day was cleared up. He unusually managed to pack his briefcase before 6 PM.

My phone vibrated.

It was a photo sent by Bae Suzy. There were two desserts on the table: a tiramisu and a strawberry cake.

Zheng Daoxun looked at the photo and raised an eyebrow slightly. What did this mean? Sending a photo without saying anything, leaving him to guess who was sitting opposite him?

Or is she using this method to convey some kind of message—that she has an appointment today?

He replied with: 【TD.】

The other end replied almost instantly: 【? What do you mean?】

[This means unsubscribing from mass messaging.]

He waited two minutes. The message showed as read, but no new messages popped up on the other end.

Jung Do-hoon put his phone in his pocket, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. It was just a joke; someone of Bae Soo-ji's caliber certainly wouldn't take it to heart.

Bae Suzy didn't seem to care much. She simply turned off the screen, flipped her phone face down on the table, picked up a fork, and took a small piece of tiramisu.

Kim Min-young, who was sitting opposite her, had witnessed the whole scene and couldn't help but speak up:

"Suzy, why aren't you replying to my messages? I was just joking with you."

Bae Suzy shook her head, her tone carrying the certainty of someone who had been through it all:

"I know what I'm doing. You've been single for so many years, so don't give me advice—"

"Huh? Bae Suzy! Count how many years you've been single!" Kim Min-young crossed her arms and retorted without hesitation, "I'm doing this for your own good. Since you've met someone you like, why not seize the opportunity?"

Bae Suzy lowered her eyes and poked at the cake crumbs with her fork.

She admitted that she had acted impulsively while driving Jung Do-hoon to work today.

This is what happens when you're single for a long time—after years of struggling in this industry, especially after the Yang Ye-won incident, Bae Suzy has long since learned to be alone with herself and rarely expresses her emotions to others anymore.

"It was just a moment of passion," Bae Suzy put down her fork. "You've never experienced heartbreak, so you're thinking of grabbing a good one as soon as you meet someone nice."

"Bae Suzy, can you please stop dragging me into this?" Kim Min-young feigned anger. "If you don't want him, give me his contact information. I've always wanted to date a younger man, a promising young diplomat, right? That's great."

Bae Suzy knew, of course, that Kim Min-young was just joking, but she herself was speaking from the heart.

If it were just a flirtatious game with Jung Do-hoon, like before, she would naturally be able to handle it with ease.

But Bae Suzy is already twenty-nine years old, and she can't afford to be delayed in her relationships; she has no room for trial and error.

When she drove him to work in the morning, that long-lost physical urge made Bae Soo-ji realize that if it was just a flirtatious relationship, there was no point in having it.

However, if she wants to go further, her current understanding of Zheng Daoxun is still too one-sided, and she needs to observe him more.

So there's no need to rush to reply to Jung Do-hoon's message. She doesn't want to be passive in relationships; it's too tiring and she's easily hurt.

The best outcome would be to lure Jung Do-hoon in and lead him step by step into the trap she had set.

"This is my strategy, you don't understand," Bae Suzy explained.

Her best friend responded by mimicking her words in a sarcastic tone.

Kim Min-young, there's a reason you've never been in a relationship. You need to not only actively pursue love, but also make the other person take the initiative.

But Bae Suzy didn't explain further. Sometimes not replying to messages is also a form of response.

Let him guess for himself whether she's angry or not.

Even if Jung Do-hoon guessed that she was just pretending to be angry, given his personality, he would definitely send a message to explain after a while.

She'll see if she wants to reply then.

The only flaw in this strategy was that she didn't anticipate that Jung Do-hoon was currently very busy.

At this moment, four women are about to sit down in his apartment.

That's enough to make a whole mahjong table.