Chapter 201

Just as Lin Xiuyuan was in the 2025 villa, playing the "you cook for her, I do XXOO with you" game with Krystal.

In the small tavern on that summer noon in 2013, the indoor lighting was soft. Sulli, who had arrived early, was curled up by the sofa, swinging her legs leisurely, waiting for that familiar figure.

As the doorbell rang softly, Sulli immediately stood up with a smile to welcome them. Pushing the door open to look, it was indeed her.

"You're here, Xiujing~"

"Yeah, there was a bit of traffic on the way." Zheng Xiujing shook the bag in her hand while closing the door, "And I bought some snacks on the way."

After stepping into the tavern, her gaze instinctively swept around the shop. Those eyes, which usually carried a hint of distance, now revealed a subtle nervousness.

Only after confirming that the room was empty did she quietly let out a sigh of relief, and her shoulders relaxed slightly.

Sulli, standing to the side, noticed her fleeting reaction and couldn't help but tease, "What's wrong? Don't you like seeing oppa?"

Zheng Xiujing paused slightly and replied, "It's not that I don't want to see him, it's just a bit strange."

Then, after walking to the sofa area to place the bag on the coffee table, she headed straight for the bar, "Sulli, make me a drink."

"Sure. If you're driving, I'll mix you a honey black tea. It's simple, but it tastes great."

Sulli nodded and walked behind the bar.

While preparing the drink, she asked Zheng Xiujing why she had that thought just now.

Zheng Xiujing didn't answer immediately. Instead, she sat on a bar stool, propped her chin with both hands, and frowned slightly, wearing an indescribable expression.

"……I can't really say."

A moment later, she spoke slowly, her voice a little lower, "I just feel that the way Lin Xiuyuan looks at me…… is a bit strange."

"Strange?" Sulli's movements paused, and she raised an eyebrow quietly.

"Yeah, not the lecherous kind, or offensive and impolite."

Zheng Xiujing, leaning on the bar, shook her head. While frowning, she struggled to organize her words, "When he looks at me…… it's like he's looking at someone he knows very well."

Behind the bar, Sulli continued stirring the drink, but her eyes flashed, and she didn't respond.

"I don't know what he finds familiar about me. Anyway, I didn't have much of an impression of him before."

Zheng Xiujing continued to explain, "But that look of his seems to be able to pierce right through me, seeing clearly all my thoughts, my personality, my subconscious little habits, and even certain details I haven't realized myself—he seems to have known them all along."

"It's a bit……" This time, she paused her tone as well and pursed her lips.

"It's a bit like the feeling of standing naked in front of someone. I know he's not that kind of person, and even his gaze doesn't look like that kind of staring. But even just that occasional glance makes my back crawl."

Hearing this, Sulli finally couldn't help but chuckle. Her expression seemed to understand something, and she wore a "just as I thought" look.

"What are you laughing at?" Zheng Xiujing looked at her with some frustration.

"Nothing, nothing……" Sulli waved her hands repeatedly, but the smile at the corners of her mouth was clearly uncontrollable.

By now, she had roughly guessed where that feeling of "being seen through" that Xiujing mentioned came from.

Zheng Xiujing clearly sensed something too, staring at her and asking, "You know, don't you? Don't try to brush me off."

"Ah, I don't know."

Zheng Xiujing stared at her, half-believing, "Don't keep me in suspense. You definitely know something."

Sulli didn't respond. Instead, she wiped the glass clean, handed over the honey black tea with delicate foam, and said with a smile.

"Why don't you try looking at it from another angle, Xiujing? Could it be that you're too sensitive? I feel like oppa's gaze is about the same no matter who he looks at."

"I'm not sure about that."

Zheng Xiujing took the drink and muttered in a low voice, "But I really feel something is wrong. It feels so strange…… I can't put my finger on it."

Then she took a light sip of the black tea, the steam brushing past her nose, and said with a slightly annoyed tone, "That's why I was always a bit hesitant when you asked me to come here to hang out before. I didn't really want to come because of this."

Sulli nodded after hearing this, not refuting, but giving her a meaningful look. She had already sorted all of this out clearly in her mind.

Ultimately, it was because Lin Xiuyuan was overly intimate with Krystal over in 2025.

With so much back-and-forth intimacy, he naturally brought that "old married couple" sense of familiarity back to 2013.

Plus, Krystal herself liked to chatter in front of Lin Xiuyuan, talking about little things from the past. Over time, even the sharp and stubborn Zheng Xiujing of 2013 seemed like someone "familiar to the point of no return" in Lin Xiuyuan's eyes.

Finally, in the eyes of Lin Xiuyuan, Krystal's bedfellow, all of Zheng Xiujing's little habits and thoughts were things Krystal had already played out, so it definitely carried a sense of "seeing through."

In short: Zheng Xiujing basically had no secrets in front of Lin Xiuyuan.

But this wasn't intentional on Lin Xiuyuan's part; on the contrary, it was mainly too natural, and he didn't even realize he was "seeing through" Zheng Xiujing.

"But don't overthink it," Sulli laughed softly, her tone softening, "oppa really isn't the type of person who would stare at others to analyze them."

"I know that." Zheng Xiujing raised her eyes slightly and sighed softly, "That's why I find it even stranger. You say he clearly didn't do anything, but I just feel…… something is wrong."

After speaking, she lowered her head and took another sip of black tea. The warmth on her lips didn't dispel the slight chill in her heart.

"Alright, let's not think about this. Let's go eat something first."

Seeing that Zheng Xiujing was a bit restless, Sulli smiled and pulled her back to sit on the sofa, changing the subject, "By the way, when you called me earlier, didn't you say you wanted to ask me about the script? What did you want to ask?"

Afterwards, the two sat on the sofa, eating snacks while quietly discussing some character settings for the female lead of "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo."

Zheng Xiujing even took out a character biography she had written from her handbag and pulled Sulli to look at it together.

Flipping through it while asking, her tone was full of seriousness and confusion.

Sulli had long since read the original work and had even spent time breaking down the script, so she naturally answered fluently, solving almost all her doubts in one go.

By the time Zheng Xiujing finally satisfiedly put the character biography back into her bag, she was silent for a moment, then raised her eyes and looked at Sulli with some hesitation.

"Sulli, I'm actually a bit worried that I won't be able to play this character well. It doesn't feel like my style."

"This… the arrow is on the string and must be fired. You have to overcome this yourself, Xiujing. And I think personal style or whatever is just a label stuck on by outsiders. If you can play every character well, then there's no such thing as style; that's being a thousand-faced movie queen. Isn't that what you've always liked?"

"Thousand-faced movie queen……" Facing Sulli's words, Zheng Xiujing repeated them softly, then gave a bitter smile, "But I don't have that confidence."

Then, not knowing what she remembered, she muttered, "I don't know how YoonA unnie did it. Recently, it's like she suddenly had a breakthrough, and her acting skills just exploded. Many people in the company are discussing it, saying she has accumulated enough, but when I compare myself, I just feel……"

"About YoonA unnie's situation, I know, Xiujing." Sulli interrupted her.

Zheng Xiujing was startled and immediately looked at her, "You know?"

"Yeah."

Sulli nodded, her tone a bit vague, "It's just…… the method she used has some side effects. I'm not sure if you can accept it."

"Sulli, don't keep me in suspense again." Seeing Sulli saying half and hiding half again, Zheng Xiujing became a bit anxious, "Just tell me straight. Whether I can do it or not, at least I'll have a judgment in my heart."

After Sulli looked deeply at Zheng Xiujing, she said in a low voice, "YoonA unnie's situation is because she took the 'experience school' path, which is why her acting skills improved so much."

"Experience school?"

Zheng Xiujing frowned slightly. She knew this acting method, but still asked, "Does that mean YoonA unnie has now entered the female lead of that script and fallen in love with a 'male lead'?"

"That's about it." Sulli nodded, her tone vague, but she didn't deny it.

"……Then how am I supposed to experience this character? Go practice weightlifting?" Zheng Xiujing didn't understand for a moment and blurted it out.

This made Sulli laugh out loud, "Are you silly, Xiujing? Although this drama looks like a sports theme, the core is actually a youth romance idol drama, okay? You need to find a 'male lead' to experience that kind of bickering romance."

"Romance?"

As soon as Zheng Xiujing heard this word, she shook her head immediately, looking resistant, "I don't have any thoughts of romance right now. I just want to work hard. The stage is so good, why would I want to be in a romance?"

The moment the words left her mouth, she didn't notice that Sulli's expression paused slightly.

Because Sulli thought of the future she saw in 2025, where because of her own 'rebellion' and Jessica's 'leaving the group', the group and Zheng Xiujing started to have no work or stage, which led to that 'romance announcement' later on.

Thinking of this, a hint of indescribable heartache welled up in Sulli's heart. Looking at the maknae in front of her who was still passionate and stubborn, she said softly.

"It's not asking you to really fall in love, but to find someone to experience that kind of romantic atmosphere and emotion together, like rehearsing, to mobilize that emotional state. This is a method many 'experience school' actors use when they lack talent. Those with talent can just act it out directly without being so roundabout."

Zheng Xiujing caught on and stared at her, "Then who did YoonA unnie 'experience' with back then?"

"I don't know." Sulli smiled, "It's up to you. Who do you want to act opposite? But I'll give you a heads-up: the risk of the experience school is that once you invest too deeply, it's very easy to get stuck in the mud and not be able to get out."

Sulli suddenly felt that with YoonA unnie's example, it was really much easier to guide Zheng Xiujing's acting problems by crossing the river while feeling the stones.

However, if this set of "copying experience" methods were known by Lin Xiuyuan, Lin Yun'er, and others, they would probably laugh until their heads hurt.

(End of chapter)