Chapter 292

In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.

Last night, Lin Xiuyuan and Sulli did not choose to return to the apartment in the 25-year timeline to rest, but instead chose to stay in this hotel suite in Tokyo to avoid any unexpected incidents.

Therefore, early this morning, Lin Xiuyuan's door was knocked on by Sulli.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

"Oppa, wake up~!!"

As the knocking sounded, Sulli's clear, slightly urgent girl's voice also came through, waking Lin Xiuyuan from his sleep on the large bed inside.

However, having been woken up, he only vaguely turned over, buried his face into the soft pillow, and mumbled a response, "Mm~ I know— I'm getting up—"

Then he drifted back off to sleep.

However, Sulli, who had been living under the same roof as Lin Xiuyuan for over half a year, was already well aware of his habit of lingering in bed.

She knew full well that the "getting up" he promised was as watery as a three- or four-story building.

So, without losing heart, she continued to knock on the door, not giving him a chance to fall back asleep. "Ah~ Oppa, stop sleeping, we're really going to be late, it's already 11 o'clock. If you don't get up, we're going to be late for the lunch we promised Hela unnie."

Upon hearing about the time and that they were about to be late, Lin Xiuyuan inside the room finally managed to turn over again.

He struggled to open his hazy, sleepy eyes, which felt as if they were glued shut.

His gaze drifted blurrily toward the gap in the heavy curtains not far away; the blinding sunlight was stubbornly drilling through, casting a bright golden strip of light onto the wooden floor, with dust in the air dancing slowly within the beam.

After squinting from the glare of the sunlight, he finally woke up completely. Then, he let out a long yawn, stretched his limbs, and raised his voice toward the door to reply, "I know, I'm really getting up this time."

Outside the door, Sulli heard this response, which carried the breathy tone of someone now awake, and was finally satisfied enough to stop the harassment.

A few minutes later, Lin Xiuyuan, wearing dark silk pajamas with his hair still somewhat messy, opened the door.

He glanced at Sulli, who was already dressed neatly in the living room looking at her phone, but didn't say much, merely turning around to open and close his own bedroom door again.

With this action completed, the scene behind the door changed instantly, from the hotel bedroom to the familiar environment of the 25-year Seoul villa.

"Zhenli, you go over and change your clothes first; I'll wash up, it won't take long."

As he spoke, Lin Xiuyuan stepped aside to make room.

Sulli nodded, put away her phone, and nimbly slipped through the door.

More than half an hour later, Lin Xiuyuan and Sulli, now completely refreshed and looking brand new, finally walked out of the hotel entrance and stood under the bright morning sun of Tokyo.

"The weather is really nice,"

Lin Xiuyuan, having stepped out of the shadows, raised a hand to shade his forehead. He squinted at the cloudless, azure sky above, a meaningful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "The sun is shining, the breeze is gentle; this situation is truly suitable for the unfolding of some stories."

Sulli, standing beside him, immediately caught the implication in his words and asked in a low voice, "Oppa, are you planning—is it for today?"

But she saw Lin Xiuyuan shake his head and take out his phone, shaking it to show the weather forecast interface on the screen.

"I just checked; there will be a typhoon brushing past Tokyo tomorrow. The current clear sky is just the calm before the storm. Let's wait until I take the time this afternoon to confirm and handle the venue on the 25-year side, then we'll act tomorrow. Today, let's just meet up, chat, have a meal, and cast the bait."

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Hearing this, Sulli nodded in understanding and said nothing more.

Because she also knew that the "welcome ceremony" prepared for Hela unnie required the situation on the 25-year side to cooperate.

Making thorough preparations was indeed safer.

Afterward, the two hailed a taxi on the side of the road and set off toward the restaurant they had already agreed upon with Goo Hara last night.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Goo Hara had just finished her morning recording session.

She got into her own car and headed toward the same destination.

Thus, when Lin Xiuyuan and Sulli paid the fare and just happened to get off at the restaurant entrance, they bumped right into Goo Hara, who was parking her car and stepping out of the driver's seat.

The three of them stood a few meters apart, looking at each other, and there was a subtle, momentary pause in the atmosphere.

In the end, it was Goo Hara who reacted first, a look of obvious surprise on her face as she scanned back and forth between Lin Xiuyuan and Sulli with a shocked gaze.

Finally, her eyes landed on Sulli, and she asked, "Wait, Zhenli, did you come here with Xiuyuan?"

She really didn't know this; when she received Sulli's call last night, she thought the other person was alone.

So, she quickly looked at Sulli with a hint of small dissatisfaction at being kept in the dark. "Zhenli~ you deceived me so badly~"

While Goo Hara was speaking, Lin Xiuyuan had already quickly sized up her outfit for the day.

A flash of amusement crossed his eyes, and he immediately seized the opportunity to tease her. "Yo~ where did this little newspaper-selling expert come from? Little beauty, can you get me today's morning paper?"

Upon hearing this description and looking at Goo Hara's outfit, Sulli couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Goo Hara was also taken aback by this sudden teasing, then gave Lin Xiuyuan a sideways glance with a huff. "Yah, do you know how to talk? This is called retro~"

However, after saying that, she also looked down at her own attire and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

There was no helping it; today's outfit did indeed have a bit of a retro newsboy style.

A retro orange plaid long dress, the color of which was very flattering to her skin tone, complemented her light brown hair perfectly.

She was also wearing a beret with a brim, which was essentially a common style of newsboy cap, making her look both artistic and playfully youthful.

Then, glaring at Lin Xiuyuan, who was still laughing, Goo Hara adjusted her expression, stepped forward, and very naturally linked her arm with Sulli's.

After finding an ally, she said, "Alright, let's go, let's go. Don't stand outside chatting, let's go in first. This is an Italian restaurant in Tokyo that I think is quite good; let's go in and talk while we eat."

Afterward, the three walked into the elegantly decorated restaurant, one after another, and under the guidance of a waiter, arrived at a relatively quiet booth to sit down.

As for ordering, Lin Xiuyuan and Sulli both tacitly left the decision-making power to Goo Hara.

Lin Xiuyuan stated, "As long as there's meat, you decide."

Sulli smiled and looked at Goo Hara, "Unnie, you know what flavors I like, just order for me."

Under Goo Hara's slightly frustrated gaze—as if to say "you two are such hands-off managers"—Lin Xiuyuan and Sulli "shamelessly" enjoyed her service, watching her skillfully communicate with the waiter to order appetizers, main courses, and drinks.

Finally, closing the menu and handing it to the waiter, Goo Hara folded her hands on the table and leaned forward slightly.

Her gaze scanned back and forth between Lin Xiuyuan and Sulli's faces, filled with scrutiny and deep curiosity. "Alright, stop laughing, can you honestly tell me now? How did you two suddenly end up in Tokyo together?

You aren't here for sightseeing, are you?"

Staring intently at the two, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind regarding the previous situation of Sulli and Lin Xiuyuan living together, and a guess slipped out.

"Wait a minute, you two aren't here secretly on a date, are you?!"

As soon as she said it, she immediately felt she had guessed correctly.

After all, there were too many fans in Seoul who knew Sulli; here in Tokyo, Nihon, there were far fewer, so they could definitely enjoy a proper date.

"Ah? No—"

Just as Sulli subconsciously wanted to deny it.

Before she could even finish her sentence, Lin Xiuyuan beside her took the lead, replying in a very affirmative tone, "Mm~ Hela, your guess is spot on."

"Ah?!!"

The next second, Sulli jerked her head to look at him, her eyes wide and round.

Goo Hara opposite them opened her small mouth wide in an instant, looking at Lin Xiuyuan, then at the shocked Sulli.

She instinctively filled in the blanks, thinking Sulli didn't want to go public yet, but Lin Xiuyuan had spoken up first.

And thinking of his unclear relationship with Lin Yun'er and others, her eyes were immediately filled with accusations toward Lin Xiuyuan as a "scumbag."

He actually wanted to keep multiple boats afloat, which is why he brought Sulli overseas for a date, to avoid running into other beauties, right?

Just as Goo Hara was preparing to continue letting her imagination run wild—

Fortunately, Lin Xiuyuan, having had his bit of fun, immediately dropped the joking expression, his tone becoming slightly more serious as he added an explanation.

"However, for the sake of Zhenli's reputation, you'd better join our team. Because the main reason for coming here this time is to accompany Zhenli to properly look around, play, and relax in Nihon, and to help her solve some—well, minor psychological and emotional issues."

The subject of someone's words shifted rapidly; the first half had made Goo Hara want to curse, but the second half instantly stirred her concern and worry.

Her attention immediately shifted entirely to Sulli, her eyes filled with concern, and her body leaned forward again unconsciously. "Emotional issues? Zhenli, what's wrong? Did you encounter something unhappy? Why didn't you tell unnie?"

"

"1

Sulli, being asked, was currently a face full of confusion and question marks, her wide, beautiful eyes filled with bewilderment and innocence.

Ah? That's right—what's wrong with me?

What psychological problems and emotions do I have that need solving?

How come I don't even know about this myself??

Sulli just stared blankly at Lin Xiuyuan beside her, who looked sincere, as if it were all true.

Her brain was spinning wildly, trying to keep up with his improvised script.

Ah~ Oppa!!!

Before you start acting, can you at least check the lines with your leading lady and give me a heads-up!!!

After complaining about Lin Xiuyuan in her heart, the witty Sulli immediately switched on her acting mode.

She slightly furrowed her delicate brows, and a look of just the right amount of trouble and exhaustion appeared on her face at the right time, following Lin Xiuyuan's lead as she began her own serious nonsense.

"Sigh, it's all because of the script—"

Sulli sighed softly, her tone carrying a hint of coquettishness and helplessness. "Unnie, you know, the response to that drama of mine has been quite good recently, and the production team and the audience all hope to add more scenes. But my inspiration has run a bit dry, and no matter how I write, I feel dissatisfied. I've almost thought my head off, so—"

She looked at Lin Xiuyuan, "—I thought about coming out for a walk with Oppa, changing the environment to relax, and seeing if I could find some new inspiration."

Sulli's explanation was reasonable and perfectly grafted the emotional issues Lin Xiuyuan had made up on the spot onto a real creative dilemma.

Beside her, Lin Xiuyuan, who was lifting his water glass to drink, listened to Sulli's smooth, natural, and heartfelt deception.

He couldn't help but look at this girl with new eyes.

While secretly praising her for her quick reaction, he took advantage of Goo Hara's attention being entirely on her and quietly gave a thumbs-up under the table in Sulli's direction.

And this sudden thumbs-up action almost made Sulli, who was concentrating on acting, break character, her mouth twitching slightly.

Then, suppressing her laughter, she could only give the culprit a quiet, slightly annoyed glare from the corner of her eye.

Only Goo Hara, who was fully immersed in the story, breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Sulli's plausible explanation, a look of understanding and heartache appearing on her face.

"Ah—so that's what it is. Indeed, hitting a bottleneck in creation is very torturous, but don't push yourself too hard."

Then, she put aside her previous gossiping heart and transformed into a thoughtful, intimate unnie, starting to seriously offer advice to Sulli.

She shared some of her own stress-relief methods when encountering pressure and even offered a few brain-storming suggestions regarding the plot's direction.

To this, Sulli naturally couldn't escape immediately and could only bite the bullet, while continuing to "complain about Oppa" in her heart.

ppa".

While responding to Goo Hara's enthusiastic concern with "Ah ah," "Oh oh," "Is that so," and "Thank you, unnie."

And so, an interesting scene appeared at the dining table:

On one side, Goo Hara and Sulli were engaged in an in-depth exchange about "a screenwriter's self-cultivation and stress management."

While the culprit on the other side, Lin Xiuyuan, sat there leisurely by himself, happily drinking lemon water and tasting the freshly served bread and appetizers, feeling very comfortable and cozy, as if everything had nothing to do with him.

Later, when the main courses they ordered—pan-seared salmon, risotto, charcoal-grilled steak, etc. —were served one after another by the waiter.

Goo Hara finally let Sulli off the hook for the moment and turned her gaze back to the idle person beside her who had been staying out of it.

While cutting her steak, she asked seemingly casually, "Since you're here to accompany Zhenli to relax and find inspiration, do you have any specific plans for coming to Tokyo? Where do you plan to go?"

Lin Xiuyuan, hearing this, swallowed the food in his mouth, wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin, and didn't answer directly, instead asking the other person in return.

"What about you? Hela, are you free tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?"

Goo Hara rested her chin on her fork, recalled her schedule, and then furrowed her delicate brows. "I really don't have any schedule tomorrow; I'm resting in the dormitory—"

Just as she finished saying this, she seemed to think of something, flipped open the phone she had been keeping beside her, tapped the screen to check the weather forecast.

She raised her eyes to look at the boy opposite her and called out, "That's not right, Xiuyuan. Didn't you check the weather forecast? There's a typhoon warning for tomorrow; it's estimated there will be heavy rain, maybe even a downpour. Are we still going out to play in such weather?"

Lin Xiuyuan just wanted to nod and say something like "wind or rain, it has its own charm" to smooth things over.

However, his gaze inadvertently swept across the restaurant entrance, and two familiar figures suddenly flashed into his view.

One was petite and exquisite like a doll, the other had a lazy and elegant temperament like a Persian cat.

So the words on the tip of his tongue stopped instantly, and a flash of genuine surprise crossed his eyes.

Goo Hara and Sulli, noticing the change in Lin Xiuyuan's gaze and expression, also sensed something unusual.

The two of them turned their heads to look in the direction of his gaze almost at the same time.

They saw two members of Tara standing at the elegantly decorated restaurant entrance: one was the petite and cute Jeon Boram, and the other was the alluring Lee Qri.

It looked like they had just arrived and were walking toward the interior of the restaurant under the smiling guidance of a waiter.

What was even more coincidental was the direction the waiter was leading them—

It seemed to be exactly the relatively quiet booth area where Lin Xiuyuan and the others were located.

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