Chapter 370: 【Park Hyomin Risking It All】 (Seeking subscriptions and monthly tickets)

When Lin Xiuyuan returned to that Jiudian in Siena, the time had already reached past eight o'clock in the evening.

Having flashed over from the Apartment, he smelled that familiar, faint scent of aromatherapy the moment he entered, and at the same time, a wave of warmth rushed toward his face.

The room was brightly lit, with almost all the lights turned on, making it appear empty and spacious.

There was no sign of the Dalongzai who he had expected might pounce on him, and it was only then that Lin Xiuyuan suddenly remembered.

When he was still in Nice during the day, he had received a message from her on KrystaI's phone, saying that she and Li Juli had run off to Rome.

The ins and outs of the matter were not too complicated.

It was mainly because an old friend of theirs in Rome had left the entertainment industry years ago and was running a rather stylish boutique shop locally.

Upon learning from social media that Dalongzai and Li Juli were traveling in Italy, the other party had enthusiastically sent an invitation, hoping they could come over to sit for a while and catch up on old times.

At the same time, she also hoped the two could help promote her shop on the internet while they were at it.

Regarding such an invitation, both Dalongzai and Li Juli felt there was nothing inappropriate about it, so they readily agreed.

However, that was their personal friendship, and their relationship with Park Hyomin was not particularly close, so naturally, they could not make the decision for Park Hyomin to go along.

Therefore, the three of them discussed it, and considering that Lin Xiuyuan was still here, they made a compromise arrangement.

That was to have Park Hyomin stay in Siena, and after Lin Xiuyuan returned, the two would head to the airport together to begin their return journey.

Of course, as public figures and married players, the scandals that might be triggered by the two traveling together still needed to be carefully avoided.

Therefore, after carefully checking the flight routes, the group unanimously decided that for the first half of the return journey, Lin Xiuyuan and Park Hyomin would fly together from Florence to the transit hub of Dubai.

As for the second half of the journey, from Dubai back to Seoul, the four would meet up and act together.

In this way, it not only avoided the sensitive scene of Lin Xiuyuan and Park Hyomin being alone on a plane for a long time, but they could also return together in the end, saving them from causing unnecessary speculation and trouble.

After clarifying the situation, Lin Xiuyuan also gave a long stretch.

The continuous days of rushing about, added to the long-awaited reunion with Jessica last night, and the fact that he had been out all day today, his body had indeed accumulated a bit of fatigue.

So, after stretching, he picked up his phone and turned to walk into the spacious bathroom once again.

This time it was no longer a flash-strike to some location; right now, Lin Xiuyuan just wanted to have a good soak and relax.

So, after a simple rinse, he stepped into the massage bathtub next to him that looked quite comfortable.

Letting the water flow gently massage his muscles, Lin Xiuyuan closed his eyes and let out a satisfied sigh, preparing to fully enjoy this moment of peace.

However, this peace did not last long.

Just as he had sat in the bathtub for a short while, a few clear knocks—"knock, knock, knock"—suddenly came from the guest room door outside.

At this time of night—

Just like the situation on the previous few nights, besides Park Hyomin who was staying next door, there probably wouldn't be anyone else who could come to knock on the door at this hour.

Because the other two were already over in Rome.

Guessing the situation, Lin Xiuyuan looked down at his state soaking in the water, which was clearly not suitable for getting up to open the door immediately, so he raised his voice and shouted toward the main door, "I'm taking a bath, wait a moment."

Sure enough, following his shout, the knocking stopped.

However, after a moment of silence, the screen of the phone he had placed on the edge of the bathtub lit up, and the ringtone followed.

Lin Xiuyuan reached out to take it, glanced at the caller ID, then swiped to answer and held the phone to his ear.

"Hello, Xiaomin, I'm taking a bath, what's up?"

Park Hyomin's voice came from the other end of the phone, her tone sounding somewhat subtle, "I thought you had died somewhere; I haven't seen you all day."

If an outsider who didn't know the situation heard her say this, they might mistake it for her acting spoiled or complaining.

It was just that this complaint, carrying a hint of intimacy, seemed somewhat abrupt and strange given their current context and identities.

However, Lin Xiuyuan didn't care about that and replied casually, "I went to take care of some things, just got back."

After hearing this, Park Hyomin on the other end of the phone was silent for a second or two; she didn't ask further, but simply changed the subject and offered a suggestion.

"Um, I rested a bit too much today, and I feel like I might not be able to sleep tonight. How about we go get a drink in a bit? Consider it a sleep aid."

After finishing, she seemed worried that Lin Xiuyuan might misunderstand something, so she quickly added a sentence, deliberately emphasizing the location.

"It's at the Jiudian lounge; I'm a little hungry anyway, so I can eat something."

Lin Xiuyuan in the bathtub raised his eyebrows slightly.

This suggestion itself was nothing, but coming from Park Hyomin at this time of night, it always made one feel it was somewhat intriguing.

However, he had no reason to refuse, so he readily agreed, "Sure, you go ahead first, I'll tidy up and come over."

"Okay, then I'll wait for you at the lounge," Park Hyomin said, then hung up the phone.

A while later.

Having finished cleaning up quickly, Lin Xiuyuan put on clean clothes, and after just blowing his hair a few times with a hairdryer, he hurried out the door.

As a good child raised in domestic society, he subconsciously always felt that making a woman wait too long was not very good.

The executive lounge of this Jiudian was not located on a high floor like in big cities, but was in the backyard, with an elegant and quiet environment.

At this hour, there were not many guests left, only a few scattered tables.

Soft piano music flowed through the air as if it were there or not, and the warm-toned lighting created a comfortable and lazy atmosphere.

Lin Xiuyuan, who had just come out of the guest room, saw Park Hyomin by the window the moment he walked in.

She was sitting on a two-seater sofa, and on the small oval table in front of her were a bottle of red wine that had already been opened and was breathing, two crystal-clear wine glasses, and a few plates of exquisite snacks to accompany the wine.

Seeing Lin Xiuyuan walk over, Park Hyomin also raised her hand and waved at him with a small gesture, a faint smile on her face, "Over here."

Lin Xiuyuan walked over and sat down on the single sofa opposite her.

As he sat down, Park Hyomin's gaze lingered for a moment on his hair, which still carried obvious dampness, and the smile at the corners of her mouth seemed to deepen slightly, "Why didn't you blow your hair completely dry before coming out? It's cold out now, it's easy to catch a cold."

"I'm not going outside anyway, and the heating in the Jiudian is so strong, it doesn't matter," Lin Xiuyuan replied nonchalantly, relaxing his whole body against the back of the chair.

The next second, his gaze was attracted by the food on the table, and then, without standing on ceremony, he used a fork to spear a few golden french fries and popped them into his mouth.

The fries were fried crispy, and the taste was not bad.

Watching him start eating so naturally, Park Hyomin was also a little curious, "You didn't eat anything tonight either?"

"I've already eaten," Lin Xiuyuan replied to her somewhat vaguely because he was chewing.

Then he asked back, "How about you? Didn't you eat?"

Hearing this, Park Hyomin pursed her lips, revealing a look of disdain, "I was too lazy to go out and find a restaurant alone tonight, so I ordered room service. It turned out not to be tasty at all, so I didn't eat much."

As she spoke, she also leaned forward, picked up a piece of toasted golden-brown rusk with her fingertips, and bit down with a crisp *crack! * sound.

Then, she even pushed the small plate containing the rusks toward Lin Xiuyuan, "Xiuyuan, you should try this rusk. It's toasted very fragrantly and is quite crispy; I think it's actually pretty good."

Lin Xiuyuan nodded and also picked up a piece to taste.

It was indeed toasted to perfection, rich in wheat flavor, with a faint saltiness and the aroma of basil.

Just like that, without exchanging many pleasantries after meeting, the two of them tacitly began to "crunch, crunch, crunch" away at the snacks on the table.

The atmosphere became much more relaxed and natural because of this simple sharing of food.

It wasn't until the waiter brought over the main course Park Hyomin had ordered earlier—a perfectly pan-seared steak—that this scene of burying their heads in eating came to an end.

As a man, Lin Xiuyuan took the initiative to pick up the knife and fork and began to cut the steak.

At the same time, his gaze inadvertently fell repeatedly on Park Hyomin opposite him.

Whether it was to maintain decorum in a relatively formal setting like a lounge, or to make her photos look more atmospheric, Park Hyomin's attire tonight was completely different from her casual, homey look of the past few days.

Underneath, she wore a light camel-colored slim-fit thin knit sweater, which perfectly outlined the curves of her figure.

On the outside, she loosely draped an oversized suit jacket in the same color scheme.

But if it were only that, Lin Xiuyuan might only think she had dressed with some effort tonight and wouldn't admire her repeatedly.

What truly made his gaze linger occasionally was the pair of slender, straight, beautiful legs revealed beneath the suit jacket, following the "bottoms-missing" fashion trend.

A pair of black silk stockings with excellent texture extended from the hem of the suit jacket, wrapping around her calves and disappearing into the pair of black high heels on her feet.

She wasn't deliberately exposing anything, but this subtle, peek-a-boo sense of high-class style instead exuded a more implicit and lethal sexiness—casual yet fashionable.

At this moment, Park Hyomin opposite also noticed the gaze that Lin Xiuyuan swept over from time to time.

Consequently, the corners of her mouth lifted imperceptibly; it seemed this was the exact reaction she had been expecting, and to add fuel to this subtle atmosphere, she made an even bolder move.

She put down the fork in her hand, leaned her body slightly forward, and bent over toward the tabletop.

Lin Xiuyuan, opposite her, was currently leaning forward, focused on cutting the steak.

Thus, the distance between their faces above the small square table covered with a white tablecloth suddenly closed.

It was so close that he could clearly see the reflections in her eyes, so close that their warm breaths seemed to intertwine, carrying the faint scent of red wine and the warm, woody base notes of her perfume.

At this extremely close distance, Park Hyomin slowly raised her eyes, looking straight into Lin Xiuyuan's, and parted her red lips slightly.

With a seductive gentleness, she asked the question that had been circling in her heart for a long time, "Xiuyuan, if you compare me with Zhiyan, who is better?"

This question came very abruptly and went straight to the core.

The soft lighting of the lounge spilled onto her exquisite makeup, her long eyelashes casting a small shadow under her eyes, and a complex light flickered in her gaze.

There was probing, there was curiosity, but more than that, there was an inscrutable complexity.

Looking at this face so close at hand, meticulously made up and carrying a clear sense of temptation, the movement of Lin Xiuyuan's hands paused.

He did not answer immediately, but instead unhurriedly cut the last large piece of steak on his plate, then placed the knife and fork side by side on the edge of the plate, emitting a slight "ding" sound.

He then sat up straight, slightly widening the overly close distance between them, and looked back at Park Hyomin with a calm gaze.

With a smile on the corners of his mouth, he spoke slowly, "Xiaomin, isn't this tactic of yours a bit too childish?"

His tone was very calm, with a hint of teasing for seeing through the trick, "Do you really have to use such a risky method to personally test the situation between Zhiyan and me? To see if I would speak ill of her in front of you, or if I would have some other reaction toward you?"

Having his intentions so bluntly exposed by Lin Xiuyuan, Park Hyomin's face did not show the embarrassment or blushing he had expected.

Instead, she leaned back against the sofa, her expression becoming much more composed, and she even shrugged her shoulders.

"Can't help it,"

Picking up her red wine glass, Park Hyomin gently swirled the dark red liquid inside, her gaze resting on the side of the glass, "You guys are playing too wildly. As a friend, as a sister, I'm really a bit worried about them."

Park Hyomin's stance and reasoning sounded reasonable and justified, carrying a kind of helplessness born from caring too much.

So much so that after hearing it, Lin Xiuyuan also nodded, expressing his understanding, "Mm, I can understand."

However, the next sentence made the atmosphere that had just eased become subtle once again.

Lin Xiuyuan leaned his body slightly forward again, his gaze becoming somewhat scorching, tightly locking onto Park Hyomin's eyes.

"But, Xiaomin, aren't you worried that I might just go along with your thoughts and expectations? For example, saying things you want to hear, or making a response you didn't anticipate. As for lying, although I'm not an expert, I still have some experience, you know."

Hearing this, Park Hyomin revealed a small, confident, and smug expression on her face, "I'm not some fool; I can still distinguish between truth and lies, fake feelings and sincerity."

However, Lin Xiuyuan, looking at that little expression of hers, thought of a very fun idea and intended to teach her a good lesson right then and there.

To let Park Hyomin know what "System Daddy" is, what "Deep Blue stat-boosting" is, and what a "Child of Destiny" is!!!

So his next words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up monstrous waves in Park Hyomin's heart.

"Really? Then may I ask, back when you were scammed into a bar and then cornered by those so-called friends who insisted on introducing you to a boyfriend—how did you manage to escape in the end?"

"Boom—"

This sentence seemed to carry magic, or like a key, instantly opening a memory box that had been sealed for a long time, one that even Park Hyomin herself had almost forgotten.

Her entire complexion changed in an instant; the composure and probing from just a moment ago vanished without a trace.

Those beautiful eyes widened instantly, her pupils contracted slightly, and they were filled with unbelievable shock.

Her fingers holding the wine glass tightened abruptly, her knuckles even turning white from the force, and her gaze stared straight, fixedly, at the guy opposite her who was wearing a smile.

The soft background music in the lounge and the low chatter of the surrounding guests seemed to retreat into the distance, becoming blurred and indistinct.

The whole world seemed to be left with only the two of them.