Chapter 384: Well, that depends on who you're comparing me to!!!

Descending from the escalator and crossing the open space paved with light gray marble in the atrium, Lin Xiuyuan and Liu Zhimin walked in front, their pace unhurried, as if they were chatting about something while walking.

Looking from behind, Liu Zhimin would occasionally turn her head to glance at Lin Xiuyuan, saying something with a smile on her lips; her behavior was very proactive and affectionate.

Therefore, Shin Yuna and Hwang Yeji, who were maintaining a perfectly appropriate distance a few steps behind the two, kept their gazes fixed on them, feeling both curious and excited.

Eventually, the younger Shin Yuna couldn't hold back first; she tilted her head slightly and leaned toward Hwang Yeji, "Unnie, what do you think?"

Hwang Yeji was staring blankly at the backs in front of her, and when she heard this, she also turned her face to look at their group's maknae.

She blinked, then blinked again, and answered very seriously, "I'm looking with my eyes."

As she spoke, she even deliberately widened her slender eyes, as if demonstrating.

Shin Yuna, who was stunned by this answer, immediately rolled her eyes and pursed her lips in frustration, "Aigoo, Unnie, you know that's not what I meant."

Her voice carried a hint of grievance, along with a little dissatisfaction that her Unnie was still teasing her at such a critical moment.

They had clearly just experienced such a shocking scene, and now she had a pile of question marks in her heart waiting to be unlocked, yet this person was still cracking jokes here.

Seeing her expression, Hwang Yeji finally couldn't help but laugh, her shoulders shaking slightly.

"Alright, alright."

After putting away her joking expression, Hwang Yeji's gaze fell back onto the slender back in front, and her tone became a bit more serious, "What can I think? Just look at it normally."

Then, gathering her thoughts, she added, "They should just be friends, right?"

When she said this, even she felt a bit uncertain, the end of her sentence drifting upward.

Hearing this, Shin Yuna followed her gaze; Liu Zhimin was chatting enthusiastically with Lin Xiuyuan, "Unnie, the 'friend relationship' you're talking about surely can't be these two."

"What do you think?"

Hwang Yeji glanced sideways at Shin Yuna, then thought of the three from Tara just now and continued, "If it really is the situation we want to see, then the guy in front is just too crazy."

"Exactly, exactly." Shin Yuna was silent for a few seconds, then nodded vigorously.

Crazy.

That word was too accurate.

The two girls stood on the edge of this circle, peering inward; although they had seen many seniors and heard many things,

the scene they had just witnessed still exceeded their range of cognition.

At this moment, Shin Yuna only felt that a bunch of tangled threads were knotted in her brain, impossible to sort out.

Just then, Liu Zhimin, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and turned her head back.

The movement was very sudden, without any warning, and her gaze landed straight on the two behind her.

This caused Shin Yuna, who had just been gossiping about her, and Hwang Yeji to freeze in place almost simultaneously, their feet feeling as if they were nailed to the floor, unable to move.

In that instant, a thought even crossed Shin Yuna's mind: It's over, was what we just said heard?

Her heart skipped a beat, and she barely managed to keep the expression on her face from crumbling.

But Liu Zhimin just looked at them, the corners of her mouth curving, "Yeji, when are you all heading back?"

Hwang Yeji was stunned for a second, then quickly adjusted her state, "If nothing unexpected happens, it should be as we agreed before; we have to rush back tomorrow night. It's almost the end of the year, so there are quite a few schedules."

Liu Zhimin nodded after hearing this, as if she had expected this answer all along.

"Then it looks like we'll run into each other, since Xiuyuan and I are also leaving tomorrow night. By the way, those Tara seniors from earlier are too."

After saying this, she didn't linger any longer, turned around to continue walking, and naturally linked her arm with Lin Xiuyuan's.

Shin Yuna stood where she was, watching the backs of those two walk further and further away, suddenly feeling a bit dazed.

That sentence just now—

Was it said casually, or was it intentional?

She turned her head to look at Hwang Yeji and found that the other was also looking at her, her eyes filled with the same confusion.

Neither of them spoke, and they followed silently.

The café was on the edge of the first floor; the side door of the mall led directly to the outdoor pedestrian street, but they didn't walk outside and went straight into the shop.

The light inside the shop was slightly dimmer than in the mall; warm yellow light spilled down from the spotlights on the ceiling, landing on the dark wooden tabletop and reflecting a soft halo.

The air held the aroma of roasted coffee beans mixed with the sweetness of milk foam, which made one feel unconsciously relaxed.

However, because the seats inside the shop were already full, the waiter could only lead them back into the mall, to the seats outside the café door, where they found a four-person spot at a long table.

Upon reaching this spot, Liu Zhimin sat down next to Lin Xiuyuan very naturally.

Hwang Yeji and Shin Yuna sat opposite them.

The moment she sat down, Hwang Yeji was actually still turning that question over in her mind.

Was the question Liu Zhimin had just asked and the answer she gave a coincidence, or was it intentional?

Thinking about this, she quietly raised her eyes to look across the table; Liu Zhimin was looking down at her phone, her profile appearing very soft in the warm light.

"What would you like to drink?"

A voice pulled her back from her thoughts.

Coming to her senses, Hwang Yeji discovered that Lin Xiuyuan was picking up the menu from the table and handing it toward her.

Seeing this, she hurriedly took it with both hands, bowed slightly to say thank you, and then opened the menu with Shin Yuna.

The menu wasn't thick, but the variety was quite complete.

Coffee, tea drinks, desserts, and light meals all had pictures, looking quite appetizing.

The two studied it for a while, finally ordering an iced Americano each, and also asked for a tiramisu and a cheesecake, intending to make that their lunch for the day.

Anyway, they had eaten late in the morning, so they weren't very hungry right now.

After ordering, the waiter took the menu and left.

The table was quiet for a few seconds.

Liu Zhimin put her phone aside, looked up at the two opposite, and suddenly smiled, "Sorry about earlier upstairs, dragging you two over on such short notice."

Hwang Yeji, who hadn't expected the other to point out the situation so directly, was stunned for a moment, then reacted and hurriedly waved her hands, "No, no, we didn't do anything that helpful, and besides, we even got to mooch a coffee out of it."

Shin Yuna also nodded along, "That's right, getting free afternoon tea, I couldn't be happier."

These words were purely polite, so everyone understood what was meant; if someone truly believed it, then their life would indeed be very joyful.

Therefore, as Liu Zhimin watched the two of them, her smile couldn't help but deepen.

However, she had indeed used them a bit just now, so now that they were sitting down, she had to make it up to them.

Thus, she began to chat with the two of them in a casual manner, with most of the topics related to travel and work, without any personal life involved at all.

They talked about recent schedules, the year-end awards ceremonies, and how the preparations for the new song were going.

Occasionally, she would even crack a joke or two, making everyone laugh out loud, and the atmosphere was very cheerful.

Lin Xiuyuan sat to the side without interjecting, just quietly watching this scene.

His gaze shifted from Liu Zhimin's face to the two young girls opposite, then back from them to the window, and finally landed on them again.

To be honest, he was quite curious about these two young girls.

It wasn't that he had any other thoughts, he just simply found it fresh.

After all, the people he usually interacted with were mostly mature older sisters like Jessica, Lin Yun'er, and Li Juli, or married wealthy women like Park Hyomin, or at the very least, people like Liu Zhimin who had debuted for several years.

He indeed rarely encountered someone like Shin Yuna, who had just reached adulthood not long ago and hadn't debuted for many years.

Uh, of course, this refers to this side in 2025.

After all, on the side of 2013, Sulli and Zheng Xiujing were even younger than Shin Yuna.

Therefore, when Shin Yuna was listening to Liu Zhimin speak, she suddenly felt a gaze land on her; this familiar feeling of being watched made her subconsciously turn her head, and she happened to meet Lin Xiuyuan's gaze.

This made her freeze for a moment, and then she sat up straight like a reflex.

Lin Xiuyuan couldn't help but smile when he saw her nervous appearance.

"Hi." Noticing this situation, he leaned forward slightly, his tone very casual, "Hello."

"Hi... hello." Shin Yuna subconsciously used honorifics, her voice a bit tight.

Hearing that "you" (honorific), Lin Xiuyuan's smile deepened.

"Relax," he waved his hand, "No need to be so nervous, I should be about the same age as you, just call me by my name, you should still remember my name, right?"

Hearing this, Shin Yuna blinked, a look of obvious surprise appearing on her face.

About the same age?

She couldn't help but look carefully at the person in front of her.

His features were distinct, his face well-proportioned, his temperament steady, and his speech and actions all exuded a sense of composure.

Especially when he was standing with those seniors from Tara just now, there wasn't the slightest feeling of awkwardness or restraint; he was completely chatting with peers, or even in a state of holding the initiative.

So Shin Yuna had originally thought this man was at least in his early thirties, and that he just looked young because he took good care of himself.

Yet now the other party said he was about the same age as her?

"Ah?" So, unable to hold it in, she let out a small sound of inquiry.

Opposite her, Lin Xiuyuan saw her expression, smiled and nodded, without further explanation, just asking in passing,

"How did you get to know Zhimin?"

Having regained her senses, Shin Yuna quickly sat up straight and began to answer the teacher's question.

"We met the unnie in the backstage of the television station."

She didn't speak quickly, pausing after every few words as if drafting, afraid of saying something wrong.

"That day we happened to be waiting in the same hallway, and when we ran into each other, we said hello. Later, it was a coincidence several times that we always met in the same backstage, so we slowly got familiar. Then we added contact information, chatted online, and gradually became familiar."

This answer was very official and very standard.

It contained all the necessary information points, but there was no extra content to explore.

So much so that after Lin Xiuyuan finished listening, he just nodded slightly, and the expression on his face couldn't tell whether he was satisfied or not.

He just shifted his gaze to the side, meeting Liu Zhimin's eyes.

The two over there obviously noticed the movement here and were looking at them.

Liu Zhimin, who met Lin Xiuyuan's gaze, raised an eyebrow, the corners of her mouth curling into an arc, "Xiuyuan~"

Her voice carried obvious teasing, "Your ability to pick up girls is really amazing, who did you learn it from?"

As soon as these words were out, Hwang Yeji and Shin Yuna opposite were almost simultaneously energized, their gazes turning to Lin Xiuyuan in unison, with expressions of watching a good show.

Lin Xiuyuan didn't change his expression, just smiled lightly, and replied in a very flat tone, "As for that, it depends on who you compare me to."

He paused, then added, "If compared to an average person, it should count as amazing. But if it's compared to the person you're thinking of, it's probably not enough."

Hwang Yeji, sitting diagonally opposite, gasped when she heard this.

Then she widened her eyes and stared at Lin Xiuyuan's face for several seconds, then quickly turned to Liu Zhimin, her eyes filled with excitement, looking forward to a good show.

At the same time, Liu Zhimin obviously didn't expect Lin Xiuyuan to reply like this.

So she was stunned for a moment, blinked, as if she hadn't reacted yet.

Then, looking at Lin Xiuyuan's half-smiling face, she was both annoyed and amused, and couldn't help but glare at him.

This glare carried a bit of reproach, a bit of helplessness, and a bit of an unclear meaning.

After glaring, she followed with a soft "humph," turned her head away proudly, and stopped responding.

She couldn't expose herself in such a public place, in front of Hwang Yeji and the other.

Hwang Yeji, who was watching with great interest, was a bit disappointed to see Liu Zhimin stop there.

She pursed her lips, moved her gaze away from Liu Zhimin, and prepared to turn to Shin Yuna to exchange glances—

And then her gaze inexplicably froze.

Because Shin Yuna next to her was looking down, holding her phone, and there was a QR code on the screen.

And Lin Xiuyuan, who had started the fire opposite, also took out his phone and was scanning the QR code.

The two people's phones were moving toward each other.

Hwang Yeji: "..."

——..."

What is going on?

She stared wide-eyed at this scene, her brain unable to process it.

Over there, Liu Zhimin was still haughtily turning her face away, yet here Lin Xiuyuan had already added her younger sister as a friend?

And Lin Xiuyuan's reason for exchanging contact information with Shin Yuna was also very simple: he was just a bit curious about what the social circles of young idols like them were like.

Hearing this reason made Shin Yuna's face burn slightly, and since she felt too embarrassed to refuse, she had made the move just now.

It was just that under the gazes of Liu Zhimin and Hwang Yeji, the phone in her hand felt like a hot potato, so she quickly put it away after adding him.

In fact, Shin Yuna didn't even know how she had muddled through and agreed to the other party; when he asked, she hadn't even thought of how to refuse before her hand had already moved on its own.

Thinking of this, she placed her phone back on the table and lifted her eyes to sneak a look at Liu Zhimin opposite her, discovering that the other party had already turned her face back to look at Lin Xiuyuan, seemingly not paying attention to her.

Thank goodness, thank goodness.

Seeing this, Shin Yuna finally breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Next, the waiter brought over the coffee and cakes, placing them one by one on the table.

A layer of fine water droplets condensed on the walls of the iced Americano cup, cocoa powder was sprinkled over the tiramisu, and a small spoonful of blueberry jam accompanied the cheesecake.

The four of them each picked up their cups, and the atmosphere was much more relaxed than before.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling window not far away, the afternoon sun remained bright.

At the same time.

On the third floor, near the railing not far from the entrance of that Pop Mart specialty store, a person was standing quietly.

The person had one hand resting on the railing, the other hanging by their side, their gaze passing through the empty space of the atrium and landing on a certain spot downstairs.

That spot was exactly the seating area at the entrance of the café.

Lin Xiuyuan and the others were sitting right there.

Looking down from this angle, one could only see the tops of their heads and their shoulders; their expressions were unclear, and it was impossible to hear what they were saying.

But she still watched.

Her gaze was very focused.

And also very complex.

At this moment, a series of footsteps came from behind, moving from far to near, finally stopping not far behind her.

"Xiaomin?"

Li Juli's voice rang out, "Aren't you going in to look around? What are you standing here looking at?"

>