Chapter 146: Making bread with YoonA in the middle of the night (Please subscribe, please vote for monthly tickets)

Incheon Airport at three in the morning, less noisy than the day, with a bit more coldness and quiet.

The lights shone on the empty tarmac, reflecting a faint orange halo. Lin Xiuyuan had always said he wanted to see the airport at this time, and now he finally got his wish.

After parking the car in the parking space, Lin Xiuyuan leaned against the seat, his eyes starting to feel sleepy, so after sending the parking space number to YoonA, he directly closed his eyes and took a nap.

Until he was woken up by a knocking sound on the window, he frowned slightly, turned his head to look, and saw YoonA standing there outside the passenger door.

A white T-shirt with a red plaid shirt, the duck-billed cap and mask under the brim covered most of her face, but couldn't cover those exquisite and clear eyes.

Seeing Lin Xiuyuan wake up and press unlock, YoonA opened the car door and teased, "What's going on? So sleepy?"

"A bit." Lin Xiuyuan rubbed his eyes and responded briefly.

"Did you sleep?"

YoonA, who got into the car, put her bag aside and immediately leaned over to look at Lin Xiuyuan's mental state, "You have so many bloodshot eyes; if I had known, I wouldn't have asked you to come pick me up. Should I drive?"

"Alright, you do it." Lin Xiuyuan didn't hesitate, directly unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.

As for YoonA saying she wouldn't have called him to pick her up, he felt there was no problem with this; on the contrary, he felt it was like the sound of nature, letting him escape from the "stir-frying."

YoonA in the passenger seat saw him change as soon as he said so, couldn't help but laugh, didn't talk nonsense, rolled her eyes, and simply crossed directly from the passenger seat to the driver's seat, too lazy to even open the car door.

So much so that when Lin Xiuyuan opened the passenger door, he was full of shock, "Holy crap, YoonA, your movements—are quite dashing."

"Nonsense, hurry up and get in the car." She didn't look back, "Clearly you were picking me up, how did I become the driver in the end?"

Lin Xiuyuan smiled and said while fastening his seatbelt, "Didn't I drive the car to you? The result is the same, don't dwell on it too much."

YoonA hummed softly, shifted gears, stepped on the accelerator, and the car drove lightly out of the parking lot toward the highway entrance.

After passing through a section of busy traffic, the speed could finally stabilize. YoonA then took the time to glance at the side, only to see Lin Xiuyuan leaning against the back of the chair, his eyelids heavy and about to close.

"Xiuyuan, you hold on for me, don't fall asleep."

"Ah, not asleep, just a bit tired."

Lin Xiuyuan, who had regained his senses, looked at YoonA, took a deep breath, and cheered himself up to answer.

Looking at the stubborn boy, YoonA also smiled, "Not asleep yet? Just now if I hadn't called you, you would have almost hung on the seatbelt as a pendant, right."

Saying this, she paused, her eyes scanning him suspiciously, "That's not right. Your state doesn't look like you just woke up. If you didn't sleep all night, then what on earth were you doing?"

"Watching... Animal World and watching others make fried chicken to eat."

Lin Xiuyuan, who was asked, thought about the continuous rotation just now, picked a segment, and gave the answer to the other party.

Just as he finished speaking, he heard a cold hum, "Yo, how come I didn't know that the Animal World on TV could bite a person's neck red? Xiuyuan, next time you lie or deceive people, you have to tidy yourself up."

Saying this, YoonA, while focusing on driving, reached out and tapped Lin Xiuyuan's neck lightly.

Then the fingertip slid down irregularly, sweeping across the skin slightly exposed at his collarbone, "You're covered in hickeys here. Pfft, it seems my phone call just now disturbed your good deed."

Her words carried a smile, but her fingertips carried a chill, making Lin Xiuyuan shudder all over, goosebumps rising.

He instinctively lowered his head to look, but the angle was wrong; he couldn't see it at all.

In the next second, a fair hand opened the makeup mirror on the sun visor in front, "Look for yourself. Next time look in the mirror before going out. It's just me; if it were someone else, you would have been treated as a hooligan long ago."

Listening to YoonA's laughter, Lin Xiuyuan hurriedly looked through the mirror at the skin on his neck.

Sure enough, as the other party said, the color wasn't deep but it was dense enough, full of traces of last night's "battle results."

But fortunately, the traces weren't heavy; they should disappear soon.

Thinking of this, Lin Xiuyuan breathed a sigh of relief, then closed the mirror, leaned back against the chair tiredly, and lay completely paralyzed.

Just at this moment, YoonA suddenly spoke, full of curiosity, "Who is it, Xiuyuan? It wouldn't be Lin Xiaolu, right?"

Lin Xiuyuan, hearing this, turned to look at her familiar face. At this moment, she and the face a few years younger in that presidential suite in Roppongi a few days ago were almost exactly the same.

These past two days, he had been—kissing those lips until they were red.

Now that he met her gaze, his body reacted instinctively, his gaze falling on YoonA's slightly red cherry lips.

At this time, because of passing the toll station, the car just happened to stop for a moment.

YoonA, who noticed the gaze, looked to the side, and after touching Lin Xiuyuan's gaze, she immediately understood something, "Yah, Xiuyuan, don't treat me as her, don't think about anything messy."

Lin Xiuyuan, having been called out, gave two dry laughs, withdrew his gaze, and looked at the highway ahead decorated like shooting stars by taillights, "Don't worry, not that perverted, and I didn't touch her either, you're overthinking."

"?"

That sentence Lin Xiuyuan just said made YoonA's previously full-of-certainty guess suddenly lose its accuracy.

She even thought she had guessed right, and even planned to go find Lin Xiaolu tomorrow to "verify" and "consult."

But upon hearing Lin Xiuyuan say the three words "didn't touch her," her emotions suddenly twisted.

What does that mean? Didn't touch her?

Is it that he doesn't look down on her, or that he doesn't have this intention at all?

Then what's the difference between not looking down on Lin Xiaolu and not looking down on her, YoonA?

Thinking of this, while emotions surged, YoonA's feet on the accelerator couldn't help but press down a few more points.

The car body lunged forward suddenly, the sudden acceleration making Lin Xiuyuan stick to the back of the chair, his sleepiness instantly cleared, startling him into shouting repeatedly.

"That—YoonA, do you have any urgent matters? This speed seems a bit—fast."

Hearing the slightly nervous voice of the boy in the passenger seat, YoonA slowly released the accelerator, slowed the car down, and hummed softly, "Coward."

As soon as this word came out, carrying an ambiguous double meaning, Lin Xiuyuan also understood, but he didn't dare to refute.

After all, the steering wheel of the car was in the other party's hands, which was equivalent to his own life being controlled by her, YoonA. He didn't dare to move, didn't dare to move at all.

On the rest of the road, he was exceptionally well-behaved, not daring to say anything messy again.

Fortunately, YoonA didn't continue to pursue the questioning, but changed to a relaxed topic, and the two chatted about his eating and shopping in Tokyo, and the atmosphere slowly eased.

The car soon drove into downtown Seoul and turned into the underground parking lot of YoonA's apartment.

When they arrived here, Lin Xiuyuan just wanted to say some goodbye words, but found that YoonA was reversing into the parking space.

So he hurriedly opened his mouth, "No need to enter the parking space, you get out and I'll sit in and leave."

"Who said you could leave?"

Just as the car was parked steadily, YoonA turned to look at the boy who was speaking, a bright smile hanging on the corners of her mouth.

Hmm?

Lin Xiuyuan just reached out to open the door, and upon hearing this, he was stunned for a moment, his hand hanging in mid-air, subconsciously tightening the car door.

This reaction was an instinct of the body.

No way, the big sisters in 2025 were all too enthusiastic, making him a bit unable to handle it.

Beside him, YoonA, who had turned off the car, saw his guarded expression and laughed even more happily, "What are you dazed about?

Get out of the car, come on, I have something I need your help with."

"It's three in the morning, how about—tomorrow."

Lin Xiuyuan was as vigilant as a small animal, his tone softening a bit; he was truly afraid.

"No, you're a big man, are you afraid I'll eat you? You don't know how to run then?" YoonA smiled slightly.

Is this a question of whether to run or not? This is a question of whether he can hold back himself.

The young, naive version of him in 2013 didn't know any better and played around with "edging" challenges; he could still endure that.

But the big sister in 2025 is different. They play when they play, but the things that should be done, they didn't leave any of them out.

If she's this proactive, how can he hold back?

But after YoonA stared at him straight for a few times, Lin Xiuyuan sighed lightly, "No, is there anything that can't be done tomorrow?"

Just as he was struggling, YoonA looked at him meaningfully, then smiled lightly, "You'll know when you go up." A few minutes later.

Taking the elevator upstairs, Lin Xiuyuan followed YoonA's footsteps and entered YoonA's apartment, which countless fans dreamed of, again.

And just as he stepped into the entrance of this apartment, a "click" sound of the door lock being locked came from behind.

Lin Xiuyuan turned his head reflexively, looking at the beauty behind him in surprise.

"Safety first." YoonA said as a matter of course, then walked around him generously and walked into the house.

Lin Xiuyuan, left behind, glanced at the door lock, raised his eyebrows slightly, then looked at her back, and his mouth twitched.

Pfft, anyway, he wouldn't lose out.

A few minutes later, an unbelievable voice came from Lin Xiuyuan's mouth, "Ah, YoonA, you called me up in the middle of the night just for this?"

Immediately after, he asked in a shocked tone, "No, I should say you flew back to Seoul in the middle of the night just for this?"

"What do you mean just for this?"

By the kitchen island, YoonA looked at Lin Xiuyuan inside with a playful look, "Do you remember the situation when you came to my place to get bread last time?"

"Mm, what about it?" Lin Xiuyuan nodded.

"Let me tell you, it's been so many years, regardless of gender, regardless of age, you are the first guy who ran away less than ten minutes after stepping into my apartment."

Speaking of this, YoonA narrowed her eyes, "Do you know how hurtful your actions were that afternoon?"

Facing this statement, Lin Xiuyuan opposite looked innocent, "Ah, it shouldn't be that bad, this—"

"It is, very much so. You don't understand our women's pride and dignity."

YoonA, who was shouting, paused in her tone, then added, "Anyway, I don't care. Tonight you must make me a batch of bread before you can leave. Don't think you can just take my bread, make me angry, and then pat your butt and be fine."

"If you dare to run—"

YoonA slowly stood up straight, wearing a sweet smile on her face, but said a sentence with lethal damage, "I dare to call Xiujing and ask how the marks on your neck came to be."

"Hiss~"

Lin Xiuyuan, who originally had some ideas, sucked in a big breath of cold air upon hearing this, "What a ruthless method. YoonA, did you learn these vicious little tricks over these years?"

YoonA, who was originally just joking, didn't expect to be stabbed in the heart in the blink of an eye.

So she didn't have a good temper and directly turned around to get a bag of flour and sent it to Lin Xiuyuan, "Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and do it."

"I don't know how." Looking at the flour, Lin Xiuyuan looked at her helplessly, "Then beg me. If you beg, I'll teach you. Otherwise, search for a strategy yourself. Anyway, I want to eat hot bread early tomorrow morning."

YoonA stood with her arms crossed, looking at him with a smile that wasn't a smile.

As a result, in the next second, Lin Xiuyuan immediately lowered his head without any backbone, "I beg you, YoonA-i, help me. I really don't know how. Do you want a request like hugging your thighs—"

YoonA, who thought this young man might not be able to let go of his face and would struggle a bit, didn't expect the other party's kneeling to come so suddenly and so unexpectedly. This, on the contrary, made her a bit dumbfounded.

"Ah, what about self-esteem, Xiuyuan~"

"A real man can bend and stretch; what does this count as." Lin Xiuyuan said with justification.

"? Are you teasing me?"

"Ah? I didn't?"

"Then what are you bending and stretching for?"

More than ten minutes later.

Lin Xiuyuan watched YoonA walk out of the bedroom, wearing a simple yet stylish pajama. Her originally draped long hair was also tied into a high ponytail, revealing a fresh neck line. The entire temperament exuded a gentle and seductive atmosphere under the hazy lights.

The pajama was made of light white cotton material, the simple design revealing a bit of laziness, the collar slightly loose, and her shoulder lines could be vaguely seen.

And she wasn't wearing slippers, just walking over lightly barefoot, stepping on the carpet, making a slight stepping sound, and a faint fragrance of her body permeated the air.

"Come on, Xiuyuan," YoonA walked to the island and hung a playful smile on her face, "I can teach you how to make bread, but I won't do it myself. You do it yourself. If you can't make it, don't blame me."

Her eyes fell on Lin Xiuyuan's face, and then inadvertently lingered on the hickey on his neck for a moment, that gaze carrying a bit of an unspoken tone.

Lin Xiuyuan was stared at by her gaze until he felt a bit empty, "I'm doing it for the first time; I'll do whatever you say. If I can't make it, can I go out and buy it back to make amends?"

At the same time, he still felt uncomfortable in his heart, mainly because being alone with YoonA in the middle of the night like this made him, who had just rushed through two scenes, feel that the ambiguous atmosphere was everywhere.

"What do you think? That—of course not."

And Lin Xiuyuan's words made YoonA smile even sweeter, "But I believe you will be great, just like your—muscles."

Saying this, she walked to the side and skillfully took out various ingredients and tools from the cabinet.

Her movements were orderly, but after a while, she turned her head to look at Lin Xiuyuan, her eyes carrying a bit of doubt, "You're standing quite far away, Xiuyuan. Come over, you're the one making bread, not me."

Lin Xiuyuan smiled awkwardly, then walked over and helped take out all the tools and materials for making bread.

Soon, under her guidance, he very smoothly reached the process of kneading the dough.

Just as his hand movements slowly gained rhythm, YoonA suddenly leaned close, reached out from the side and back, and gently held his wrist, "Not like this, press down here, and twist inward a bit more."

Her hands followed his arms all the way down, from wrist to palm, and then to the action of kneading the dough together. Although the touch was light, it almost made his heart skip a beat.

From an outsider's perspective, all this was just normal contact during teaching.

But for Lin Xiuyuan, YoonA's occasionally close breathing, and the intentional or unintentional touch between her fingers, was simply some kind of teasing hint.

It aroused his endless reverie.

"Relax."

Suddenly, a laugh came. YoonA said, looking at the dazed Lin Xiuyuan, a faint smile on the corners of her mouth, but her eyes carried a bit of teasing.

Then she smiled and said in a low voice, "Don't be so nervous, Xiuyuan, it's nothing, at worst we'll just do it again."

Lin Xiuyuan wanted to follow her words and make a joke, but she suddenly smiled and withdrew her body, her eyes adding a bit of cunning and playfulness, "Alright, I won't tease you anymore."

After speaking, she turned and left the kitchen, walking as lightly as if she had danced a slow dance in the living room.

When she reached the door of the master bedroom, she even turned her head and shook her finger at him, "Xiuyuan, you continue yourself. The process has been taught to you. I'm going to take a shower; don't do it wrong."

Lin Xiuyuan stayed in place, watching her figure disappear into the bedroom door. It wasn't until the door closed with a "click" that he came back to his senses.

No way? Just like that??

For a moment, he actually felt a sense of emptiness that couldn't be described, as if he had been hung halfway, but had nowhere to go down.

Just like a few days ago in the Roppongi hotel suite, he was hanging Lin Xiaolu.

Only this time, it was his turn to be the one left hanging.

The air in the kitchen was still filled with the fermentation fragrance of the dough, the lights were soft and warm, and the water in the kettle was still bubbling and boiling.

Lin Xiuyuan stood in place, and it took a good while before he lightly "pfft" a sound, a helpless smile unconsciously pulling at the corners of his mouth, then he lowered his head and continued to operate the dough.

Kneading, waking, whipping cream, preheating the oven.

He originally thought this night might be like some "ambiguous nights" in the past, sparking a bit of fire, and no matter what, he would have to test something out, but he didn't expect YoonA to just turn around and leave, and even take a shower.

Hmm? Wait, shower?

Lin Xiuyuan, thinking of something, couldn't help but glance at the direction of her bedroom.

However, not long after, YoonA, who had finished her shower, walked out with her hair half-dry, wearing a loose long-sleeved pajama, but didn't approach the kitchen again.

She just leaned against the hallway, yawning lazily, glanced at him, and finally said, "You go for it, Xiuyuan, I'm going to sleep first, goodnight."

After speaking, she really turned and returned to the room, closing the bedroom door by the way.

The moment the door closed, Lin Xiuyuan was like a scarecrow left in place, staring at that door for a few seconds before coming back to his senses.

Then he smiled helplessly and muttered softly, "What's the situation—am I being too sentimental?"

But complaining was complaining, his hand movements didn't slow down at all.

As the night grew deeper, he focused on the bread body gradually expanding in the oven, the temperature in the kitchen gradually rose, and even he himself started to feel sleepy.

An hour later, the bread was finally out of the oven.

Pale yellow and crispy skin, the burnt fragrance permeated the kitchen.

Lin Xiuyuan looked at the finished product that had just been baked, said "Hmm" with some sense of accomplishment, and muttered to himself, "Although it's the first time, the appearance of the finished product feels quite good."

He picked up his phone, took a few pictures, and glanced at the time—five-thirty in the morning.

The sky began to turn pale blue, the streets outside the window hadn't yet recovered their noise, and the whole world was quiet, leaving only the slight residual heat sound in the kitchen.

Lin Xiuyuan, who had finally finished everything, dragged his feet to the living room, collapsed on the sofa like a kite that had lost its breath, pulled a blanket over, covered himself casually, and buried his head in the sofa cushion.

There were too many things tonight, rushing through scenes and staying up late to knead flour and make bread; he was truly tired.

But just as he closed his eyes, the scenes of the two scenes he had rushed through earlier were still in his mind: stimulating, burning.

Thinking that he was still in YoonA's apartment at this very moment, his body's instinct manifested more directly than his tired spirit.

So when Lin Xiuyuan looked at the somewhat disharmonious "bulge" under the blanket, he was speechless for a moment and muttered to himself, "Brother, you're already this sleepy, and you're still this spirited?"

Perhaps it was YoonA's unexpected "goodnight" at the end, which was like a key, opening some uncertain emotion in him.

It also made Lin Xiuyuan rarely feel a trace of strange, slightly subtle disappointment.

But he was already too sleepy, and didn't even have time to delve into this question before he sank into a dream with the first ray of dawn.

And in the kitchen, those few pieces of bread that were still warm quietly emitted fragrance, just like some thoughts that hadn't yet been spoken,

quietly baked until cooked.

At the same time, what Lin Xiuyuan didn't know was that the door lock of that master bedroom in the apartment actually wasn't locked.

You know, even if YoonA lived alone usually, that door was always locked.

But tonight, it wasn't.

The next morning, nine o'clock sharp.

Seoul in 2013, the sun was bright.

Lin Xiaolu, who was preparing to go out to the company, had just put on her shoes in the entrance when she received a call from her manager.

"Hello, YoonA, where are you now?"

"Dormitory, just preparing to go to the company for rehearsal, what's wrong, Oppa?"

She answered lightly while jumping on one foot to put on the other shoe.

The tone on the other end of the phone turned serious: "Then don't go out yet, wait for me to come pick you up. The company just received a call from writer Kim Eun-sook, saying she wants you to go to her studio."

Lin Xiaolu was stunned and stood up straight, "Writer Kim Eun-sook? Why is she suddenly looking for me?"

"It's because of that script; there seems to be a variable in the female lead's role."

"Variable?" Her expression became nervous, "What variable? Oppa, say it clearly."

"It's competition," the other party was also very straightforward, "And SBS is urging quite tightly; they are already communicating with writer Kim Eun-sook, hoping to confirm the female lead candidate as soon as possible to arrange follow-up promotion and production."

Lin Xiaolu understood instantly, her eyebrows furrowing, "So—"

"So you have to take the test in advance," the manager's tone wasn't heavy, but meaningful, "This trip today is probably the key battle for whether you can win this role."

She was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath and nodded.

"Understood, Oppa, I'm already prepared to answer the questions."