Chapter 403: 【A Bowl of Sweet Glutinous Rice Balls】or【I'm Back】(Seeking subscriptions and monthly tickets)

I don't know how much time had passed, but the scorching midday sun shone through the window, filling the entire Apartment with a warm, cozy atmosphere.

And the room that had been incredibly rowdy just before had finally quieted down at this moment.

It was just that after that bout of tossing and turning, the air still carried a slight warmth, the quilt was piled messily at the foot of the bed, and only two ragged breaths were spreading through the air.

After a while, Park Hyomin, who was lying on Lin Xiuyuan, suddenly let out a low laugh.

The laughter wasn't loud, but it carried a touch of lightheartedness after getting her way.

So much so that Lin Xiuyuan lowered his head to look at her, smiling with a hint of helplessness in his tone, "So, Xiaomin, you called me over early in the morning just for this?"

Hearing his voice, Park Hyomin raised her head, looked at him, and said with a righteous expression, "What do you mean 'just for this'?"

Then she reached out and poked his shoulder lightly, as if protesting, "This is a very important matter, okay?" (This book is first published on Tiantiankan Novels, ttkt. tw; it is very convenient and provides you with an error-free and non-disordered reading experience.)

Lin Xiuyuan looked at her righteous face and couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, this kind of thing for the sake of human reproduction is indeed quite important."

Park Hyomin then let out a satisfied "humph" and leaned back against his shoulder.

Her long hair had been made a bit messy by Lin Xiuyuan, with the ends resting near his collarbone, carrying the faint scent of shampoo.

The two of them just lay there quietly for a while.

After a moment, Park Hyomin suddenly spoke again, "Actually, it wasn't entirely for this."

"Hmm?" Lin Xiuyuan lowered his head slightly to look at her.

However, Park Hyomin didn't continue immediately, but stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, as if organizing her thoughts.

The light, joking atmosphere from just now slowly faded, and her tone became a bit more serious, "I do have something I want to talk to you about."

"What could be so serious?"

"It's about us."

Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan propped himself up and leaned against the headboard to look at her.

She seemed to deliberate in her heart for a while, her fingers unconsciously tracing two lines on the quilt. After a long while, she slowly spoke.

"I've been thinking about a question these past few days, and that is, what exactly are we right now?"

This question was asked very directly, without any beating around the bush.

It also made Lin Xiuyuan's brows twitch slightly after hearing it, and then he asked back.

"Xiaomin, what do you think we are?"

Park Hyomin looked up at him, her eyes a bit serious, "I think you should know what Zhiyan thinks of you, right?"

"Ah, I can tell, but—"

Regarding Park Jiyeon, Lin Xiuyuan didn't have many thoughts for the time being, and he didn't know if it was because he had gotten too used to rolling around with Dalongzai in the year '25, or if the mature charm of a married woman made him not want to taste the greenness here for now.

Seeing Lin Xiuyuan's reaction, Park Hyomin teased him, "Why, do you look down on Zhiyan?"

"No, how could I dare, but the reason is hard to explain."

"Then I won't give you a headache, but regarding the situation of our relationship, I hope you won't tell Zhiyan."

Lin Xiuyuan, who was originally thinking about how to explain and what kind of relationship he should claim, was stunned after hearing Park Hyomin's words.

After being dazed for a while, he looked at her, "What do you mean by that? If we don't tell her and keep it hidden, does that mean we're having an affair?"

As a result, Park Hyomin threw out another line, "I don't want to date for now."

"Hmm?"

This time, Lin Xiuyuan was truly crashed.

The room was quiet for an instant.

Then Park Hyomin burrowed into his arms again, changed to a more comfortable position to lean on him, and continued in her voice, "Actually, I quite like it the way it is now. Let's not care about any labels or relationships; as long as we can be happy when we're together and have no pressure, that's fine."

Lin Xiuyuan, who had been pondering for a long time, suddenly said with a smile, "So can I interpret this as you wanting to 'free-ride' me?"

"What do you mean by 'free-ride'? That sounds so ugly. Clearly, I am offering myself to you." Park Hyomin sat up straight and gave Lin Xiuyuan a reproachful look.

But she discovered that this guy was smilingly looking at her stark-naked body, so she immediately let out a soft moan and collapsed back onto him.

It was fine to cuddle, but being stared at so intently was still a bit embarrassing.

After lying back on Lin Xiuyuan, Park Hyomin thought for a moment and continued, "If you really have to say it, 'confidante lover' sounds better than 'free-ride'. I am your confidante, and you are my little lover; doesn't that sound much better?"

"Hmm, it does sound better, but why do I have to have the word 'little' added to my side? Is it because you look down on me? Do you feel dissatisfied?"

Upon hearing this answer, Park Hyomin was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly denied it, "I didn't—"

Unfortunately, it was too late; Lin Xiuyuan had already flipped her over and pinned her down, leaning over once again.

Immediately after, the room became noisy again.

The sunlight outside the window also began to move bit by bit, slowly sliding from one side of the floor to the other, drawing a long, thin shadow in the room.

It wasn't until after two days of being lovey-dovey with Park Hyomin that Lin Xiuyuan returned to his own Apartment because she had to be busy with work.

And these two days were actually a bit tiring, come to think of it.

It wasn't physical exhaustion, but a kind of indescribable mental strain and heart-weariness.

The reason was also very simple: once Park Hyomin got carried away, she was especially clingy.

Especially that intimate state where she wished she could be stuck to him entirely, always wanting to have contact with him without any barriers, yet Lin Xiuyuan knew very well in his heart that some things couldn't really be done according to her wishes right now.

So he could only find excuses to refuse while coaxing her emotions.

In these short two days, he had made up who knows how many excuses.

It can only be said that it was truly sweet.

But it was also truly tiring.

Heart-weary.

So when he returned to the Apartment, he immediately shut The Gate, took off his clothes, and too lazy to even turn on the lights, he walked straight into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.

The next second, his whole body sank into the soft mattress.

This sleep was exceptionally deep; he slept soundly the whole way through, and when he opened his eyes again, he still felt a bit dazed.

Then he fished out his phone to check the time.

Three in the morning.

Staring at this time on the screen for a few seconds, Lin Xiuyuan couldn't help but sigh.

He had slept from past two in the afternoon until now, a full ten hours or so; no wonder he felt so refreshed upon waking, with not a trace of sleepiness the moment he opened his eyes.

But why couldn't he have slept for a few more hours? This time was just too awkward.

After tossing and turning and grumbling to himself, Lin Xiuyuan lay back on the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling for a long time.

The bedroom was pitch black, the curtains not pulled completely shut, allowing a bit of light from the streetlamp outside to filter in, casting a faint orange glow on the wall.

Lin Xiuyuan had originally intended to doze off for a while longer, but after tossing and turning for over ten minutes, he only felt more and more awake, his mind slowly becoming active, until he finally had no choice but to sit up helplessly.

"Forget it, I'll take a shower—"

Since he couldn't sleep, he might as well get up.

Muttering to himself, Lin Xiuyuan scratched his slightly messy hair, got out of bed, and walked to the bathroom to prepare for a shower.

As the hot water rushed down from the showerhead, landing on his shoulders and back, it washed away the last remnants of sleepiness, and his mind, enveloped in the steam, began to race even faster.

While washing, he couldn't help but think about what had happened over the past two days.

Every time he thought of Park Hyomin's clingy behavior, the corners of his mouth lifted involuntarily.

This woman usually appeared shrewd and mature, but once she started acting spoiled, she was truly difficult to handle.

Especially that tone of hers, half-spoiled and half-threatening, yet tinged with a hint of grievance, making one have to be extremely cautious even when refusing her.

Fortunately, she had work to do; otherwise, if they had continued to be lovey-dovey for a few more days, he really wouldn't have known what new excuses he could invent.

Thinking of this, Lin Xiuyuan turned off the faucet, reached out to wipe his face, and walked out of the bathroom.

After coming out and putting on clothes, he pushed open the bedroom door while drying his hair with a towel, intending to go to the Kitchen to find something to eat.

As soon as he stepped out of the room, a faint scent of sesame suddenly drifted over.

The fragrance wasn't particularly strong, but it was very distinct, appearing especially noticeable in the middle of the night.

At this hour—

Who is in the Kitchen?

A bit surprised, Lin Xiuyuan subconsciously frowned and quickened his pace toward the Kitchen.

Just as he turned the corner, he saw a back wearing cute pajamas with long hair draped down, standing in front of the stove.

The person was slightly hunched over, one hand resting on the edge of the pot while the other held a spoon, slowly stirring something in the small pot.

The movements were unhurried.

And the sesame fragrance in the air was coming from there.

"Zhenli." Seeing that figure, Lin Xiuyuan called out.

Hearing the voice, Xueli turned her head back, her face still carrying a bit of the confusion of just waking up, her eyes slightly puffy, and her long hair a bit messy, with a few strands hanging by her cheeks.

But the moment she saw Lin Xiuyuan, she immediately broke into a very happy smile, as if she had instantly become much more awake.

"Oppa."

""

"You sit down for a moment, I cooked some sweet glutinous rice balls for you."

"It'll be ready to eat in a moment."

With a soft voice, she pointed at the pot, her tone carrying a hint of small pride.

"What is going on with you?"

Lin Xiuyuan looked at her standing in front of the stove, a wave of warmth suddenly surging in his heart, but more than that, curiosity and concern.

"Couldn't you sleep? Why did you get up?"

"And I don't think I made much noise when I was showering just now, how could you hear that?"

Listening to his words, Xueli explained while gently stirring the sweet glutinous rice balls in the pot, "I just came out to drink some water and happened to hear the sound of the water heater starting up, so I figured it must be you, Oppa, getting up to shower."

Having said that, she looked down at the pot again.

Several white sweet glutinous rice balls had already floated to the surface, rolling gently in the water.

"Then I thought, you've slept for most of the day, you must be a little hungry, so I just cooked something for you to eat."

After listening, Lin Xiuyuan walked to her side and looked down into the pot; the round, plump sweet glutinous rice balls were floating in the water, looking quite tempting.

Looking up and seeing Xueli nod, his tone became somewhat helpless, "Really, you should just sleep; I'm not that hungry, and even if I were, I could find something to eat myself, you didn't need to get up specifically for this."

Turning the heat down a little, Xueli indicated, "It's nothing, I just happened to wake up for water too, so it wasn't any trouble."

At this moment, Lin Xiuyuan leaned a little closer to her.

Because he had just caught a faint scent of alcohol, he frowned slightly and looked down to examine Xueli's face carefully.

Sure enough.

That face, which was a bit rounder than it had been at the beginning of the year, was redder than usual, and her eyes held a hint of the languor that comes after being slightly tipsy.

"You drank?" Lin Xiuyuan raised an eyebrow.

Xueli nodded and took the opportunity to let out a small yawn.

"Yeah, I had a little drink with Zheng Xiujing tonight, that's why I got thirsty in the middle of the night and got up for water."

"Zheng Xiujing?" Lin Xiuyuan couldn't help but laugh, "What kind of nonsense are you two chatting about again?"

He knew all too well what the dynamic was like when those two got together.

If they weren't plotting against Krystal, they were complaining about him.

Or else they were seriously analyzing who was more outrageous between Zheng Xiuyan and Jessica.

Every time Xueli recounted these conversations to him with great enthusiasm, he could laugh for a long time.

After turning her head to glance at him, Xueli saw that the sweet glutinous rice balls in the pot were just about ready, so she quickly turned off the heat and picked up a spoon to scoop them into a bowl.

The white, soft sweet glutinous rice balls fell into the bowl one by one, and steam with a faint sesame fragrance slowly rose up.

As she scooped, she couldn't help but laugh, "This time is different; this time it's because of you, oppa. Xiujing is very annoyed, which is why she dragged me to drink with her."

"Me?"

Lin Xiuyuan subconsciously pointed at himself, looking completely bewildered.

"What did I do to her again? I feel like I haven't seen her for a long time."

Frowning as he thought for a long time, he really couldn't think of any unpleasant incidents that had occurred between him and Zheng Xiujing.

Xueli just smiled and shook her head, preparing to carry the bowl out, but when Lin Xiuyuan saw this, he quickly reached out to take the bowl from her.

"It's hot, let me."

Xueli followed behind him, walked all the way to the dining table, and sat down, resting her chin in her hands as she watched Lin Xiuyuan, a mischievous smile in her eyes.

"Hee hee."

"It's just because you've been too focused on Krystal, oppa."

"That's why Xiujing is feeling a bit uncomfortable."

Lin Xiuyuan, who had just sat down, was shocked when he heard Xueli's words, "Huh?"

He looked up at her, looking completely bewildered, "Is there really such a thing?"

"Don't try to guess a woman's mind; don't you know that saying, oppa?" Xueli replied slowly.

Lin Xiuyuan was also amused by her serious demeanor and laughed.

He lowered his head to blow on the sweet glutinous rice balls in his spoon and carefully took a bite.

The soft outer skin broke, and the sesame filling inside flowed out immediately; the fragrance mixed with the heat, sweet and rich.

Then, while chewing the sweet glutinous rice balls, he said vaguely, "I've seen it now, but there has to be a reason, right?"

Xueli watched him eating with such relish, and the smile on her face deepened. Then, slowly swinging her legs, she tossed out a bombshell in a lazy tone.

"The reason? That's because Xiujing is thinking about whether or not to achieve the goal of having you take both sisters, oppa."

"Pfft—"

This answer made Lin Xiuyuan almost choke on the sweet glutinous rice balls.

He suddenly looked up, his eyes wide, and grabbed the water glass beside him to take a sip.

Seeing his reaction, Xueli couldn't help but burst into a laugh.

"Hahahaha—"

"Why, oppa, don't you like it?"

Lin Xiuyuan put down the water glass and looked at her, speechless, "What on earth are you two usually talking about?"

At this moment, Xueli was laughing so hard her eyes were curved, but she soon shook her head.

"But you're probably a bit troubled, oppa, because Xiujing seems to be resisting this situation, so she's been avoiding seeing you lately."

"Avoiding me?"

Xueli nodded, her tone quite fast.

"Oppa, haven't you noticed? She hasn't been coming here to find me much lately. She used to run over here to hang out all the time, but now I'm the one who goes directly to her Apartment."

Lin Xiuyuan, who had lowered his head to scoop another sweet glutinous rice ball, took a bite and chewed slowly.

After a while, he looked up at Xueli, "So she's conflicted right now?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Xueli nodded, "You know what she's like. She looks cold on the surface, as if she doesn't care about anything, but she actually thinks about a lot of things inside."

When she finished, she pursed her lips, "Sometimes I even feel like she's holding a seminar in her head; she has so many thoughts."

Lin Xiuyuan was amused by her description, and after thinking about how Xiujing had the kind of personality where the more you tried to manage her, the more complicated things became, he came up with his own plan.

"Forget it, let's skip this topic. Zhenli, you shouldn't talk to her too much about these things either."

After finishing, he lowered his head to eat another sweet glutinous rice ball, and when he looked up at Xueli again, he asked, "Do you want to go back and rest? Your eyes are red."

Xueli was indeed a bit sleepy at this moment; she had already been slightly tipsy from having a few drinks with Xiujing earlier, and on top of getting up in the middle of the night to fuss about, her head was already starting to feel dizzy.

However, she asked out of habit, "What about you, oppa?"

"I was originally planning to order takeout from Shanghai in the year 25." Lin Xiuyuan said while eating the sweet glutinous rice balls.

But as he spoke, he pointed to the sweet glutinous rice balls in the bowl, "But now that you've cooked this for me, there's no need to order. Let's go to the Villa to play games later; I've slept enough anyway, and I'm not sleepy at all right now."

Xueli nodded after listening and slowly stood up, "Alright then."

But just as she was about to turn and head back to her room, she turned her head back to look at Lin Xiuyuan, "Oh, right, are you coming back tonight, oppa?"

Lin Xiuyuan looked up at her.

Xueli stood by the dining table, her hair a bit messy, her pajamas loose, that lovely face of hers carrying a bit of expectation, her eyes very bright.

Lin Xiuyuan looked at her and couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, I'll be back tonight."

While nodding, he added, "I'll have dinner with you; it's been a long time since I've eaten with you."

"Really?" When Xueli heard this, the expression on her face lit up instantly.

"Then I'll call Hela unnie tonight."

"And see if Xiujing wants to come over."

"Whatever makes you happy." Lin Xiuyuan waved his hand with a smile and then pointed to her eyes, "Go back and rest, your eyes are red."

Halfway through, he remembered something, "Right, don't waste your energy cooking; we'll go out to eat tonight."

"Mm, got it." Xueli nodded, "Then I'm going to rest, oppa. Good night."

"It's good morning," Lin Xiuyuan laughed.

"Alright, good morning." Xueli stuck out her tongue and smiled.

After saying this, he turned and walked toward the room, his footsteps quite fast.

Before long, the sound of the door closing came from over there.

The Apartment became quiet again.

Lin Xiuyuan sat by the dining table, slowly eating the rice balls in his bowl.

The fragrance of the sesame filling spread in his mouth, and his whole body relaxed quite a bit.

While eating, he thought about the words Xueli had just said, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly without him realizing it.

There was a hint of cautious anticipation in that girl's tone; anyone could hear it.

You asked so openly.

You couldn't possibly expect me to answer "I'm busy," could you?

After eating the last rice ball, the soup in the bowl was also nearly finished.

Lin Xiuyuan put down his spoon, washed the bowl in the Kitchen sink, dried his hands with a towel, and then walked back to the Living Room.

Only a small lamp was on in the Living Room, casting a soft light.

Having finished his food, Lin Xiuyuan didn't waste any more time; he turned and walked to the Time Gate in the corner, opened The Gate, and stepped into the Villa opposite.

At this moment, the lights in the Villa were all off, and the entire space was pitch black; only the moonlight from outside the window shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows, spreading a layer of faint, pale white light and shadow on the floor.

It wasn't until Lin Xiuyuan stepped inside that the motion-sensor light set in the Living Room instantly lit up.

"Snap."

The warm light instantly filled the entire space.

However, Lin Xiuyuan paid no mind to this; he picked up his phone and walked through the Living Room toward the computer room upstairs.

While the computer was booting up, he got up to pour a glass of water at the small bar counter nearby; by the time he returned with the water, the computer had already reached the desktop.

So, he casually placed the cup on the edge of the table and leaned back into the gaming chair, his whole body sinking into it comfortably.

Then, he logged in and matched.

Soon, the desert map finished loading.

"6"

"gogogo————"

The familiar Chinese in the voice channel made Lin Xiuyuan feel quite nostalgic, and he casually pressed the push-to-talk key.

"Rush, rush, rush."

What followed was a burst of gunfire, footsteps, and all sorts of howling from his teammates.

In the middle, taking advantage of the gap after dying, Lin Xiuyuan reached out to pick up the phone beside him for a look, intending to browse the messages that had accumulated over the past few days.

However, because he had informed everyone of his situation in advance, and everyone was busy at the end of the year anyway, no one was calling him frantically or bombarding him with messages like before.

They were basically just simple, one-line messages————

"Remember to reply to me when you get back."

"Let me know when the skiing trip is over."

"Don't play dead."

The last one was sent by Park Hyomin; Lin Xiuyuan looked at these messages while slowly scrolling down the screen with his finger.

Then, after thinking about it, he first sent a separate message to Krystal.

"I'm back."

After sending it, he felt that replying one by one was a bit troublesome, so he decided to just send a mass message.

So he opened his chat list, slid his finger down, and randomly selected a bunch of contacts.

Because the list was too long, he didn't look closely at who he had selected; he just picked a row and hit send.

The content of the message was also very simple, just those four words.

"I'm back."

After sending it, he tossed the phone onto the table, put his headphones back on, and his attention quickly returned to the game.

He controlled his character to charge forward again, acting like a bandit in the desert map.

The phone screen lit up for a while.

Then it automatically went dark.

At the same time, on the other side of Seoul.

Pei Zhuxuan, who had just flown back from overseas, hadn't managed to get to sleep yet.

Having just showered, she had changed into soft loungewear and was leaning against the sofa in her Living Room, with her just-unpacked luggage on the floor nearby.

The lights in the room were soft, and outside the window was the quiet Seoul of the early morning.

Pei Zhuxuan, who was looking down at her phone, noticed a new message pop up on the screen at that moment.

Sender: Lin Xiuyuan.

This name left Pei Zhuxuan stunned for a moment; she couldn't recall who it was for a while.

Only after a moment did she associate the boy Lin Xiuyuan with the figures of seniors like Kim Taeyeon.

Thinking of this, she opened the message.

The content was only four short words.

Staring at the screen for a few seconds, Pei Zhuxuan slowly frowned, not quite understanding the situation.

What does this mean?

You're back, why tell me?

Afterwards, a thought suddenly popped into her head.

Could it be that the other party saw the news about her returning to the country in the early morning? So is this an attempt to ask me out?

Thinking of this, Pei Zhufayi consciously glanced at the time on her phone.

4:00 AM.

Her eyebrows arched slightly.

Sending a message at this hour is a bit ambiguous!!!

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