Chapter 168

Returning to the 2013 apartment, Lin Xiuyuan, who was the first to finish showering, simply put on a set of pajamas and sat down beside Sulli on the sofa.

And Sulli, seeing him walk out, leaned over: "Oppa, are you really going to take Taeyeon Unnie to see... her father?"

"Otherwise? When I went to her house today, I saw the photo of her and her dad, the frame was polished until it shone. Sigh, since we're already here, let's go take a look, it saves her from worrying every day. Thinking about it day and night, just like Krystal used to."

Speaking of this, Lin Xiuyuan looked at Sulli and smiled: "Actually, the first night I returned here, I asked Krystal if she wanted to see you, she was nervous and panicked, and later avoided it for more than half a month."

Sulli listened to these past events she didn't know about, and couldn't help but lower her head and sigh.

Then thinking of the appearance of seeing Krystal for the first time at the funeral, she said slowly: "Mm, the first time I went to see Xiujing, I could feel her guilt, later I said it many times, and she slowly let it go."

"The one inside is the same, right," Lin Xiuyuan added softly, "After all, death is never a small matter."

Sulli pursed her lips, but didn't know how to respond; she actually didn't know what the future 'her' was thinking, and couldn't find anyone to ask.

After all, those who knew her answer in 2025 were all gone.

After a brief silence, Lin Xiuyuan looked at her again: "Is it okay for you to sleep by yourself in a while?"

"Oppa~ I'm not a child anymore, don't worry."

Sulli replied with a smile, but her tone hid worry: "Be careful driving all night, although you didn't drink, don't drive while tired. Everyone is waiting for you."

She paused, then added: "If it really doesn't work, just rest a few more times. Anyway, you can't see him if you go at night, you still have to wait for the glasses shop to open during the day, right."

"Mm, I know." Lin Xiuyuan nodded gently.

Just as the two were chatting, Kim Taeyeon, who had finished showering in a hurry, had already walked out of the room, wearing Sulli's clothes.

It was a light gray sweatshirt; the originally loose cut fit just right on Sulli's 170cm height, but on the 158cm Kim Taeyeon, it directly became "oversize."

The cuffs covered her palms, the hem hung loosely to her thighs, and as she swayed slightly, it actually created a visual effect of "bottoms missing."

The dark shorts hidden under the hem were faintly visible, paired with her naturally draped, slightly curly hair after showering, making her look both lazy and carrying a bit of unexpected little sexiness.

However, at this moment, Kim Taeyeon obviously had no time to care about these. Her gaze went straight to Lin Xiuyuan, and her eyes hid excitement and nervousness that could not be concealed.

And Lin Xiuyuan, seeing this, didn't nag anymore, got up and said: "Let's go."

Then he turned to look at Sulli: "Sulli, you rest early too, remember to lock the doors and windows."

"Mm? Oppa, aren't you going to change clothes?" Sulli asked in surprise.

Kim Taeyeon also hurriedly said: "I'm not in a hurry, Xiuyuan, you go change clothes first."

"Nothing to change, pajamas are more comfortable for driving."

Lin Xiuyuan, who had already walked over to pick up the car keys, waved at Kim Taeyeon, and the latter instinctively stepped forward.

Then, with Lin Xiuyuan's help, she put on a mask and a baseball cap, and pushed up a pair of wide-rimmed glasses to cover her face, making full preparations for low-key disguise.

After making all preparations, Lin Xiuyuan emphasized again: "Prior statement, you are not allowed to get out of the car."

"Mm." Kim Taeyeon nodded heavily, her eyes firm.

Just like that, after the two said goodbye to Sulli, they walked side by side into the elevator and went downstairs.

Downstairs of the apartment building, the late-night wind was cool but not cold, the streetlights cast soft halos, reflecting the silhouettes of the two walking side by side.

Lin Xiuyuan, who brought Kim Taeyeon to the side of the Land Rover, opened the passenger door, signaled her to get in first, and then he walked around to the driver's seat and sat down.

"This car is a new car."

Kim Taeyeon, after getting in the car, said while fastening her seatbelt, her fingers rubbing gently on the leather of the seat.

"Mm." Lin Xiuyuan said softly while starting the vehicle: "Krystal made Zheng Xiuyan grab her childhood lucky money to give to me."

This made Kim Taeyeon stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud: "What is this, I remember this thing you said, at that time Xiujing even came to our practice room to complain."

"Can only say, she has been thinking about it for a long time."

Lin Xiuyuan, while speaking, drove the car out of the courtyard, slowly drove onto the familiar street, and drove south.

The city lights faded bit by bit from the rearview mirror, and the surroundings gradually returned to silence.

Kim Taeyeon sat in the passenger seat, tucking her hands into the sleeves of the sweatshirt, looking at the light shadows flying past outside the car window, her thoughts fluctuating.

She didn't speak, and Lin Xiuyuan, who was driving, didn't open his mouth either; only the English song singing in a low voice in the car's music player and the steady roar of the engine remained.

Until they were almost out of the city, Kim Taeyeon said softly: "Xiuyuan, I'm a bit scared."

Lin Xiuyuan held the steering wheel and turned his head to look at her: "This is not fear, this is caring."

Kim Taeyeon didn't respond, just leaned gently on the seat, burying her face in the wide collar, as if using someone else's clothes to hide herself.

She suddenly realized.

Those memories that couldn't be let go, couldn't be spoken, and were tightly entangled, might be just like this night journey.

Everyone doesn't know if the destination will be painful, but one must always walk through it bravely.

And at this moment, she was sitting in such a car, driven by a boy who was magical in some unclear way, driving toward that place she had always been afraid to face.

Driving toward that part of her life that was the most gentle, and also the heaviest.

Don't know how long it had been, a voice sounded, interrupting Kim Taeyeon's thoughts: "Why don't you lower the chair and nap for a while, I'll call you when we get there."

"No need, it's only three hours, I can endure it."

The distance from Seoul to the center of Jeonju is about 232 kilometers, and it takes about 3 hours under normal driving conditions; this standard time was Kim Taeyeon's experience from driving for many years, so she was familiar with it to the point of no longer being able to be more familiar.

What's more, the destination of this trip was the man who once gave her life thickness and meaning.

How could she really be able to sleep.

But following Lin Xiuyuan's words, she closed her eyes very obediently.

"You are planning to get enough energy to take a good look at the other person. Or are you going to endure the uncomfortable eyes and take a hurried look under the influence of other factors."

Lin Xiuyuan's soft answer didn't have extra tone, but it was as if he had glimpsed the tugging in Kim Taeyeon's heart.

The topic stopped here, and it was another quiet journey.

The night color outside the car window was still thick, and the entire city seemed to have sunk into a quiet dream.

The car drove steadily on the highway, passing one streetlight after another, the light images like time flowing backward, retreating one by one.

And after Kim Taeyeon closed her eyes, what she welcomed was not peace, but more images rushing out from her mind like a tide.

It was the scene of her sitting on her father's single sofa.

It was the reprimand of her father holding a kimchi pot and saying to her "You can't not eat no matter how busy you are at work."

It was that morning, the "you've grown up" sigh her father gave when he twisted a towel to help her wipe her hair...

The corners of her eyes were still hot.

But Kim Taeyeon still didn't cry, just adjusted her breathing silently, as if forcing herself to block the memories back into her heart from the exit of tears.

After a burst of silence, Kim Taeyeon opened her eyes after all.

Moonlight passed through the passenger window and fell on her eyelashes, as if the rain had not yet dried.

"Xiuyuan." Suddenly, Kim Taeyeon spoke softly.

"Mm?"

"How should I thank you?"

Lin Xiuyuan's hand holding the steering wheel paused slightly, but his tone was still calm: "Thank for what, no need to thank."

"No, I'm serious."

Kim Taeyeon turned her head to look at him, there was no joke in her eyes, and no meaning of pain, just strangely quiet: "Actually, you didn't have to bring me here at all, you could have continued to pretend you didn't know anything, and then..."

Facing this answer, Lin Xiuyuan was silent for a few seconds, then spoke slowly.

"When I went to your apartment in the afternoon, I saw the photo frame on your counter."

Kim Taeyeon was stunned, then lowered her head: "Got it, was it that frame that made you sympathize with me?"

"If you say so, that's not wrong." Lin Xiuyuan said "Mm" gently: "Because Sulli and Krystal are the same."

Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered something else, and smiled casually: "And do you remember my tavern member criteria?"

"Probably."

Kim Taeyeon also curled the corners of her mouth: "Something about being down-and-out but rich, beautiful and sexy, and also the kind of little rich woman who has regrets in her heart but still doesn't change her original intention and is willing to continue tossing about life. You said it very mysteriously at that time, and I was also very curious about what kind of person it was, looking back now, were you fooling us?"

It's just that as soon as Kim Taeyeon finished speaking, Lin Xiuyuan explained.

"Actually, it's not really fooling, the complete version of that criteria should be—'Down-and-out but rich, beautiful and sexy, and also the kind of little rich woman who has regrets in her heart but still doesn't change her original intention and is willing to continue tossing about life'."

After he finished speaking, he laughed gently: "Of course, to put it bluntly, the premise is still that I'm willing."

Kim Taeyeon, who finished listening to these words, was silent.

A moment later, she repeated in a low voice: "Regretful and not changing original intention, it's a bit difficult, many people have given up on themselves. In comparison, letting you be willing might be simpler."

"Maybe."

The car compartment fell into silence again, only the subtle sound of tires grinding over the ground, like a whisper, and like a heartbeat.

Kim Taeyeon leaned on the passenger seat and suddenly smiled gently.

Then she slowly closed her eyes and murmured in a low voice: "It sounds really idealistic, Xiuyuan."

This time, she really closed her eyes steadily.

No flashbacks, no tears.

Only a knot in her heart that was gradually loosening.

She let herself lean on the back of the chair in a relaxed way, as if outside of time, she finally had a chance to let herself go.

As the late night passed, the early morning arrived.

Soon the car drove off the highway, and along the streets and alleys that were familiar to Kim Taeyeon but strange to Lin Xiuyuan, slowly drove into the old city area of Jeonju.

This neighborhood didn't have the noisy neon of Seoul, nor did it have the all-night nightlife, only lonely streetlights, pulling the shadows on the ground long and slanted.

The leaves swayed gently in the breeze, and light spots floated on the street surface, looking exactly like fragments of memory, falling into people's hearts silently.

The car soon turned into a small alley and stopped at a position that was neither far nor near.

Lin Xiuyuan turned off the car lights and turned his head to look at Kim Taeyeon in the passenger seat: "We're here."

Kim Taeyeon, who had already woken up, didn't move for a long time.

She sat there, looking at that familiar old place in front with a complex expression, as if she had seen through the time she hadn't dared to approach for those years at a glance.

Although in that world of 2025, she had just returned to Seoul from Jeonju not long ago.

But Jeonju here... her father was still there.

The next second, her fingertips pinched the cuffs, enduring the sourness surging in her eye sockets.

"It's 4:30 in the morning now, do you remember when your dad gets up and goes out to open the shop?" Lin Xiuyuan asked.

Kim Taeyeon nodded, but her eye sockets were already slightly red: "Remember, he always goes out to buy groceries at 7 o'clock, then chats with neighbors for a while, then after taking the groceries home, he goes out again to go to the glasses shop to open it."

Lin Xiuyuan nodded and stretched: "Then let's wait for him here, do you want to nap for a while, there's still more than 2 hours."

"Can't sleep."

Kim Taeyeon, who bit her lower lip tightly, was desperately forcing herself to be calm.

"If at that time... I could have come back earlier."

Her voice was very light, basically inaudible, but Lin Xiuyuan heard it.

However, he didn't respond, just lowered the car window slightly, letting the night wind pour in, carrying the smell of earth walls and green grass, and also bringing that summer afternoon in the depths of Kim Taeyeon's memory, that world that could never be returned to.

At this moment, Kim Taeyeon's emotions had been pushed to the critical point.

So she turned her head abruptly, her gaze as if she had broken free from long contemplation and suppression, staring fixedly at Lin Xiuyuan.

The next second she lifted her chin, revealing that slender and long neck, carrying a bit of stubbornness, and also a hint of determination that was almost self-deprecating: "Xiuyuan, why don't... I give myself to you?"

Kim Taeyeon's voice was not high, the tone even had a bit of frivolous joking meaning, but those red eyes betrayed her.

"You brought me here, but I can't do anything... just take it as a reward,"

She continued, the corners of her mouth curling with a hint of vague expectation and yearning: "Then let me go in, even if it's just one glance, as long as I can hug... my dad, I..."

Before she could finish speaking, Lin Xiuyuan reached out and gently pushed her head back, pressing her back to the passenger seat like coaxing a noisy child.

"Don't talk nonsense."

There was no reprimand in Lin Xiuyuan's voice, but there was a firm determination.

"Here, there is still a 2013 Kim Taeyeon, her life, her father, are all still continuing. Your momentary impulse might be a disaster for others."

Finally, he looked at Kim Taeyeon's fragile but pretending-to-be-tough face and added softly: "What you want, wait until later... if there really is a way, I will definitely help you. But now, it's really not possible."

This "really not possible" was like the last string, completely collapsing the dam that Kim Taeyeon had been supporting with difficulty in her heart.

She lowered her head, her hair scattered on both sides of her cheeks, covering the tears that were about to fall.

Immediately after, the emotions that had been suppressed all night finally erupted.

"Woo... wuwuwu..."

Kim Taeyeon's shoulders began to tremble slightly, like a fallen leaf in the wind, more and more violently, and finally she threw herself into Lin Xiuyuan's arms, grabbed his lapels, and cried out loud.

That was not a low sob, but a hysteria as if she had lost the whole world.

Just like a soul that had been trapped between dream and reality for too long, finally finding an exit in the person in front of her, pouring out all the regret, self-blame, heartbreak, and longing without reservation.

"I really miss him so much... really miss him..."

"I didn't even have time to say a word... it was too busy that day, I didn't even make a phone call..."

Kim Taeyeon, who was trembling all over from crying, grabbed Lin Xiuyuan's hem tightly with both hands, as if afraid that he would suddenly leave, and as if grabbing a last straw.

Lin Xiuyuan didn't say anything, just hugged her, letting her tears soak his chest, letting her cry out this heavy emotion bit by bit.

He knew she needed this release without reservation.

The wind outside the window was still blowing, and the sky had already quietly turned a slight fish-belly white.

This night was about to end, but Kim Taeyeon's tears seemed to have just begun.

She, who had endured all night, finally cried.

Finally dared to cry thoroughly, recklessly, and without defense in front of Lin Xiuyuan.

(End of chapter)