Chapter 368: 【Endured for so long, tonight it should finally be my turn, right?】 (Seeking subscriptions and monthly votes)

On the sofa, when Park Hyomin heard herself being ruthlessly stabbed by those few words from Lin Xiuyuan, she was slightly stunned for a moment before her eyes immediately widened, her gaze cast straight at the man sitting opposite her.

Originally, she had expected to meet a similarly smiling gaze from him, or for him to offer some explanation, but she hadn't expected Lin Xiuyuan to be looking away with his face turned to the side, his eyes drifting elsewhere, not daring to meet her gaze at all.

That guilty appearance could not have been more obvious.

Consequently, a wave of frustration surged in Park Hyomin's heart; her chest felt as if it were blocked by something, and she was incredibly angry.

Her lips moved slightly, and just as she was about to disregard everything and scold him, the words stopped abruptly the moment they reached her lips.

As an idol girl group beauty who had been praised for her appearance since childhood and always shone brightly in front of the camera, she, like other beauties, harbored a sense of pride and self-esteem in her marrow that could not be trampled upon.

Therefore, she subconsciously felt that if she were to start shouting now, it would only make her seem too serious and unable to take a joke.

Thinking of this, Park Hyomin just gave Lin Xiuyuan a deep, sideways glare, her eyes interwoven with annoyance and dissatisfaction, which made him offer a sheepish smile.

Immediately after, she gently placed the half-finished glass of champagne in her hand onto the coffee table; the bottom of the Glass Cup made a soft "tap" sound as it touched the wooden surface.

Finally, she stood up and said in a calm tone toward Li Juli and Dalongzai, "It's getting late, Unnie, Zhiyan, I'm going to go rest now. You two should sleep early too; we have to get up early tomorrow."

As her voice fell, she didn't leave Lin Xiuyuan any gap to apologize or explain, immediately turning around and walking out of the guest room with brisk steps, heading straight back to the room next door that belonged to her.

The door was also pulled shut by her on her way out; although she didn't slam it hard, the "click" of the door closing still left a subtle lingering resonance in the room.

This also caused Dalongzai, who had been lounging on the sofa watching the show, to roll her eyes nimbly, a smile of someone who loves to watch the chaos unfold blooming on her face as she turned her body, her gaze slanting toward Lin Xiuyuan.

"Oh my~ Xiuyuan, you're done for. Unnie is angry, you've provoked her."

Lin Xiuyuan, the culprit, raised his hand with some helplessness upon hearing this, gently scratching the corner of his eye with his knuckles, his tone carrying a hint of innocence, "How was I supposed to know she'd react so strongly? I really didn't mean it."

At this moment, Li Juli, sitting beside him, let out a low laugh, then elegantly finished the remaining champagne in her glass in one gulp.

She stood up calmly to smooth things over, "Alright, it's fine. Hyomin isn't that easy to truly anger; it's probably just that the little actions you two were doing earlier were too annoying, and she found it bothersome to watch, so she just borrowed an excuse to leave first. I'll go check on her."

As she spoke, her gaze swept over the bottle of champagne on the table that still had quite a bit left, and she added with a touch of regret, "Though, this means this bottle of wine tonight will have to wait until tomorrow to be finished."

"The wine isn't going to run away," Lin Xiuyuan replied, his tone relaxed.

Li Juli nodded, said no more, and after briefly bidding the two farewell, she left the room to go next door and soothe Park Hyomin.

Thus, in the blink of an eye, the guest room, which had been slightly lively, was left with only Dalongzai and Lin Xiuyuan.

The air seemed to suddenly become much quieter, and the sound of rain outside the window could be heard even more clearly as it pattered down.

Dalongzai, at this time, also imitated Li Juli's earlier actions, standing up to drain the remaining wine in her glass, but when she put the glass down, she didn't sit back in her original spot; instead, she walked slowly to the edge of the bed, stepping with that signature idol cat-walk.

Leaning over slightly, her gaze landed on the face of Lin Xiuyuan, who was leaning against the headboard, a playful smile curling the corners of her lips, "Xiuyuan, was the scene just now fun to watch?"

Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan raised his eyes, met her gaze, and answered candidly, "Didn't I already describe it just now? I even offended Hyomin for it."

But Dalongzai refused to let the topic go easily.

She leaned forward again sexily, bending her soft body into an alluring arched curve, her waist dipping as she brought her face extremely close to Lin Xiuyuan—close enough that they could almost feel each other's breath.

Looking straight into his eyes, she said, "How strange, isn't your preference always for the married-woman type, Xiuyuan? How come it doesn't seem to work on Hyomin Unnie this time?"

"Don't you slander me," Lin Xiuyuan laughed, reaching out a finger to gently tap her forehead, "I just like beauties, I like them sexy, I like them mature, and preferably with that silk-stocking 'cool older sister' vibe; that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with being a married woman."

"Tch~" Dalongzai let out a cold snort with a drawn-out tail, the smile on her face deepening.

And in the next second, she sprawled directly onto Lin Xiuyuan, supporting herself with her arms on either side of his shoulders, pressing her body even closer to his.

"No wonder. When I went back to wash up and rummaged through the closet for pajamas earlier, I found that more than half of the silk stockings I had stocked up were gone. Thinking about it carefully, it seems they were all torn up by you before, right?"

Lin Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow and immediately retorted, "That was all because you said it was fine to just tear them open; I was just following instructions."

Dalongzai let out a "pfft" of laughter, her warm breath brushing gently against Lin Xiuyuan's cheek, her nose now touching his.

Between the light rubbing, her red lips parted slightly, and she breathed out like an orchid, "Then what are you going to choose for tonight?"

Lowering his gaze, Lin Xiuyuan swept his eyes over her bare calves, then raised them to meet that expectant look, slowly spitting out a few words, "I've torn too many stockings; how about going bare-legged tonight?"

"Pervert," Dalongzai scolded with a smile, but there wasn't a hint of annoyance in her tone; instead, it sounded like it was mixed with honey.

Then she leaned down.

Just as Lin Xiuyuan and Dalongzai were whispering and flirting there, and the atmosphere was growing thick.

The room next door was a different scene.

Li Juli, who had pushed the door open and walked in earlier, saw Park Hyomin standing by the window with her arms crossed, staring blankly at the night scene blurred by the rain outside.

——

Hearing the movement, she turned her head back; the expression on her face was much calmer than when she had left the other room, though her brows were still slightly furrowed.

"What's wrong, Hyomin? You aren't actually angry, are you?" After entering, Li Juli walked to her side and asked in a gentle tone.

To this, Park Hyomin shook her head and turned to sit on the edge of the bed, "No, I'm not that petty."

"

Pausing for a moment, she continued in a low voice, "I just didn't want to sit there watching them show off their affection; it felt a bit of an eyesore."

Li Juli had anticipated this, so she came to sit beside her, "Looks like I guessed right."

After a moment of silence, Park Hyomin suddenly turned her head to look at Li Juli, her eyes filled with a bit of confusion and seriousness, "Unnie, what do you think Zhiyan is actually thinking? Does she really just want to play around with Lin Xiuyuan, or is she serious?"

Not expecting this, Li Juli was slightly stunned by the question, but soon revealed a somewhat complex smile.

Recalling that huge secret known only to a very few of them, she had long understood in her heart that the trajectory of many things was already destined.

After all, that secret was too sci-fi, and even somewhat fantasy-like.

The future landscape it could pull into existence almost guaranteed that there would be no second ending for people like them.

But at this moment, these things and the code could not be spoken clearly to Park Hyomin.

Thinking of this, Li Juli just used the words Park Jiyeon herself had said before, answering her softly.

"If you ask me this question, I don't know how to answer it exactly either. But didn't Zhiyan say before? Just let things take their natural course. Sometimes, if you think about matters of the heart too clearly, it becomes meaningless."

Facing this almost perfunctory answer from Li Juli, Park Hyomin lowered her eyes, staring at the patterns on the carpet, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

After a long while, as if she had figured something out, or perhaps as if she had given up on thinking, she was just about to open her mouth to say something else to change the subject————

Yet at this very moment, an extremely faint but impossible-to-ignore sound drifted over from the other side of the wall.

The sound was ambiguous and unclear, intermittent, yet carried a kind of unmistakable intimacy and lingering affection.

This incomparably familiar sound made Park Hyomin's cheeks tighten in a "swish," her gaze suddenly snapping toward the wall from which the sound came.

Li Juli naturally heard the same sound as well.

However, she was only slightly stunned, then as if she had guessed something, the corners of her lips could not help but curve upward, revealing a hint of a playful smile.

Instead of looking at the wall, she cast a gaze full of interest toward Park Hyomin, who was already at a loss beside her.

Being stared at like this by Li Juli, Park Hyomin felt her cheeks burning even more intensely.

So, feeling somewhat embarrassed, she lifted the quilt, quickly lay inside, then pulled the quilt up to cover half her face, and said in a muffled voice, "It's late, let's sleep, Unnie, I'm really a bit tired today."

Watching her appearance, Li Juli finally could not help but chuckle out loud.

However, she did not expose anything, just followed up by saying, "Mm, sleep, if you don't sleep now, it might be even harder to sleep later."

After saying this meaningfully, Li Juli also got up and walked toward her own bed.

A few seconds later, the lights in the room were extinguished, leaving only a dim night light.

The sound of rain outside the window continued, and the faint movement on the other side of the wall persisted.

The two people lying in their respective beds both kept their eyes open, listening to the sound of the rain in the darkness, and after a long time, they each drifted off to sleep in a daze.

The next morning.

The sky over Siena remained overcast, and the rain had not lessened; instead, it was heavier than the day before.

Pouring rain cascaded down from the gray sky, beating against the ancient roofs and stone streets, splashing up a layer of white mist.

The scenery of the entire city seemed to be soaked in this boundless curtain of rain, its outlines becoming blurred and hazy, exuding a wet, cold, and tranquil beauty.

After getting up and finishing breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Lin Xiuyuan and the others did not cancel their itinerary because of the bad weather.

Instead, following the original plan, Lin Xiuyuan drove the car slowly out of the hotel, heading toward the route that Park Hyomin and the three—

—people had already planned.

The world outside the car window was washed incomparably clean by the rain; although visibility was not high, it had a unique charm.

The windshield wipers swayed rhythmically on the glass, and soft Italian songs played inside the car, so the atmosphere was not dull at all.

Compared to the torrential rain in Siena, Nice, far away in the south of France, presented a completely different scene.

Having rested well all night, the sisters Jessica and Krystal were currently enjoying the brilliant sunshine by the Mediterranean coast.

The azure sky was clear as if washed, a few white clouds floated leisurely, and the sunlight spilled onto the blue sea without reservation, creating shimmering ripples.

The two sisters strolled through the city with relaxed moods, admiring the charming scenery of this vacation paradise.

At the same time, accompanied by an agent, they briefly looked at two properties.

One was a bit far from the beach, but the neighborhood was quiet;

The other had an excellent view, with the balcony facing the Bay of Angels, but the interior decoration was a bit old.

The final result was that neither of them was very satisfied.

By this time, both Jessica and Krystal understood in their hearts that the possibility of finding a base that completely met their wishes in a short time in an unfamiliar place was already slim.

So, the initial mindset of searching with a sense of mission was gradually replaced by a more pure interest in sightseeing.

The two began to focus more on tasting local delicacies, lingering in small street shops, and taking many photos together under the sun.

Enjoying this rare sisterly travel time without the pressure of a schedule.

In such sightseeing, time flew by, and two days passed.

After spending two days of leisurely rainy time in Siena, Lin Xiuyuan finally opened the Anywhere Door again to return to Nice.

However, by the time he had finished attending to Li Juli and gotten up to come over, it was already late at night.

Only a floor lamp was on in the suite's Living Room, the light warm and dim.

Lin Xiuyuan, who had just walked in from the Apartment side, looked up and saw Jessica holding a bottle of mineral water, walking toward her room, seemingly having come out to find water to drink.

The two, who had run into each other, were both stunned.

But Lin Xiuyuan reacted first, a smile appearing on his face, and he raised his hand to greet her very naturally, "Hi~ where is Krystal, sleeping so early tonight?"

As for Jessica, after the initial two seconds of being stunned, various images of waiting alone over the past few days flashed rapidly through her mind, along with those subtle movements that had left her feeling agitated.

Thus, a strong emotion instantly surged into her heart.

Afterward, she didn't say a word, and even the expression on her face didn't change much.

She just placed the bottle of mineral water in her hand onto the sofa beside her with a "bang" without hesitation.

Immediately following that, she stepped forward and grabbed Lin Xiuyuan's arm.

The force was not small at all, carrying an unquestionable determination, and in Lin Xiuyuan's slightly startled gaze, she pulled him to turn around abruptly and walked straight toward her bedroom.

The door was shut firmly behind her, emitting a dull, soft sound.

Having endured for so long, tonight it should finally be her turn.