Chapter 414: 438 Li Juli's Intelligence and Choice (Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets)

While Lin Xiuyuan and Park Jiyeon were talking in low voices at the dining table outside, here in the restroom, Li Juli was standing in front of the sink, washing her hands in a leisurely manner.

While washing her hands, she did not forget to tilt her head and glance behind her.

Seeing that the doors to the stalls were all wide open and empty inside, she only withdrew her gaze after confirming that there were only the two of them here, then moved gently to the side of Park Hyomin, who was washing her hands.

Her gaze fell upon the other's face through the mirror, her eyes carrying a trace of undisguised curiosity, mixed with a bit of probing.

"Hyomin, when did you and Xiuyuan start?"

Park Hyomin, next to her, clearly paused in her movements; her small hands stopped under the sensor faucet, letting the water flow through her fingers without continuing to scrub.

After remaining stiff for two seconds, she slowly raised her head to meet Li Juli's gaze in the mirror, her brows slightly furrowed, and the corners of her mouth lifted into a smile so helpless it was almost a surrender.

"Unnie, what if I said there really is nothing going on?"

To this, Li Juli turned off the faucet and pulled two tissues from the tissue box. This book is first published on Tian Tian Kan Xiao Shuo -> ttk. tw, providing you with an error-free and non-shuffled reading experience.

While wiping her hands, she looked at her, "But Xiuyuan's reaction just now didn't look like there was nothing going on at all."

Her tone was calm, without aggression, and there was even a smile on the corners of her mouth.

And this sentence hit exactly the point that was most annoying in Park Hyomin's heart.

She abruptly pulled her hands back from the water flow and shook the droplets from her fingertips, the whole person like a kitten backed into a corner, feeling incredibly irritable.

Furrowing her delicate brows again, she complained at a rapid speed, "Aigoo, Unnie, I don't know what kind of madness that guy is having today either, I just feel like he's playing with me..."

When she said the words "playing with me," her face even carried an annoyance that was both angry and shy, as if she were truly driven to distraction by Lin Xiuyuan's actions just now.

Having obtained the answer, Li Juli took the opportunity to crumple the tissue she had used to wipe her hands into a ball, tossed it neatly into the trash can, and then looked at Park Hyomin in the mirror.

Their gazes overlapped in the mirror's surface.

Only then did she sigh and say, "Hyomin-ah, the fact that you would use the word 'play' is already very wrong."

Because if there were truly no feelings, one would only think the other person was boring or annoying, not "playing."

The annoyance of "being played with" has caring as its prerequisite.

And the identity of the person being cared about is a bit troublesome.

Park Hyomin, who had not thought of this angle, was slightly stunned; after her lips moved a few times, she fell silent for a few seconds.

It was as if she were weighing things, or perhaps organizing her thoughts.

Only then did she take a deep breath, turn her head to look at Li Juli, her expression gradually becoming restrained, serious, and controlled.

"First of all, I admit that I do have some feelings for that guy. But it hasn't reached the point where anything has happened, at least not yet."

Speaking to this point, Park Hyomin gently pursed her lips, and her speaking speed also slowed down significantly, every word carrying traces of deliberation.

"At most, it counts as a leaning toward a good impression, or perhaps even that isn't very clear. That guy is too fickle; for example, I still haven't figured out what is going on with you all. So there won't be the kind of thing you're thinking of, Unnie; you know me, I've always said whatever is on my mind."

So if I say there isn't now, then there isn't.

As her voice fell, the restroom fell into a brief silence.

The sensor faucet had long since stopped running, and only the faint humming of the fluorescent lights and the low whirring of the exhaust fan in the corner remained in the air.

In the mirror, two faces were reflected side by side.

One was serious and frank, the other gradually sinking into thought.

And Li Juli, looking at that rare serious expression on Park Hyomin, felt her mood was even more complicated than when she had first walked in, despite having obtained the answer she wanted.

Her thoughts were spinning rapidly in her mind.

If the two had already reached some established relationship, that would be simpler; after all, the matter would be set, and thinking more would just be accepting reality.

But the problem now is that nothing has truly happened, yet Park Hyomin's state has already quietly deviated from the category of "it doesn't matter."

The way the other person's eyes didn't dodge when answering the question just now, and the steady tone, clearly showed this wasn't a perfunctory response under pressure, but an answer thought through seriously.

Precisely because of this, it was even trickier.

Because if all situations were still limited to superficial interactions, everything would still have boundaries, and it would be easier to pull away.

But once something like "having feelings" starts to ferment, this ethereal sensation will not stop in place; it will only slowly spread and deepen.

By the time one realizes it, it is often already difficult to take back.

Thinking of this, Li Juli felt a tightness in her heart; for a moment, she didn't even know if this was good or bad.

If one says it's good, curiosity and various emotions have already appeared and cannot be suppressed.

If one says it's bad, the two indeed haven't slept together yet, and intervening now seems to still be in time.

Standing in front of the sink, Li Juli looked at herself in the mirror, her gaze gradually sinking; various thoughts churned and crossed in her mind, and for a moment, she couldn't sort out a clear direction.

Even she, who had always considered herself calm and clear-headed, felt a faint headache at this moment.

If she had known, she wouldn't have followed her in.

If she didn't ask, she wouldn't know.

If she didn't know, she wouldn't have to think so much.

This was probably the rare Waterloo she had encountered in handling problems over these years.

If one thing is handled poorly, the subsequent matters will become very complicated.

The two stood in front of the sink like this, silent for quite a while.

In the end, it was Li Juli who spoke first, her expression looking at Park Hyomin more relaxed than before, "Alright, since there's nothing, let's not talk about this for now. Let's go out and eat first, the food will get cold."

"Mm." Park Hyomin nodded, as if she too had let out a sigh of relief, then followed Li Juli's steps in front and walked out together.

/p

It was just that when she reached the door, she still couldn't help it; she lowered her voice and muttered in a small voice, "I always feel like that guy is teasing me."

The voice was very light, as if she were saying it to herself, with a bit of indescribable depression and frustration in the tail of the sound.

Li Juli, walking in front, heard it but did not turn her head, only replying calmly, "Doesn't seem like it."

Three words, spoken very lightly, yet carrying a kind of almost unquestionable certainty.

Then she pushed the door open and walked out first.

At this moment, her mind had already begun to run again, like a precision machine, digging out every detail from just now, one by one, and breaking down those small actions of Lin Xiuyuan's.

The matter-of-fact way he asked Park Hyomin for a wet wipe, the natural and practiced way he scooped fried rice for her, and that sense of certainty that required almost no confirmation.

If these were, as Park Hyomin said, just him teasing her, then it could only mean that Lin Xiuyuan's acting skills had reached a level bordering on instinct; this would be impossible without some time to settle.

After all, this kind of familiarity and closeness that seeped from the bones could not be achieved on a whim; it was more like the naturalness and intimacy of someone who had already obtained what they wanted.

It was a type of natural behavior that, after having experienced negative-distance contact, one would subconsciously perform, driven by an intimacy etched into the body, without needing to think.

But the problem was, such a situation shouldn't exist between Lin Xiuyuan and Park Hyomin.

Time??

Time!!!

As this thought suddenly surfaced, Li Juli's train of thought was as if split open by a bolt of light; her footsteps suddenly stopped, and she stood frozen in place as if she had grasped some key keyword.

Park Hyomin, who was to the side, hadn't expected her to stop suddenly and walked two steps further before realizing something was wrong.

Turning her head back to see Li Juli standing in the middle of the hallway with a distracted expression, she couldn't help but frown and asked with a concerned tone, "Unnie, what's wrong?"

Looking at the Park Hyomin before her, what surfaced in Li Juli's mind was another face from her memories—that was the Park Hyomin of 2013.

That younger, more callow face.

The two faces briefly overlapped in her consciousness, then quickly separated.

A certain thought was linked together in this instant; if it were the Xiaomin from next door, then all the behaviors that had just occurred with Lin Xiuyuan could be explained.

It was not impossible that Lin Xiuyuan, having just woken up and still feeling a bit muddled, had momentarily confused the person he had just obtained with the one in front of him.

The moment her thoughts were straightened out, Li Juli suddenly gave a light laugh.

Shaking her head, her previously tense expression relaxed, "It's nothing, I was just thinking that Xiuyuan probably hasn't fully woken up yet, which is why he was like that just now; don't overthink it, Xiaomin."

"I'm fine." Park Hyomin nodded.

Afterward, the two continued walking side by side toward the dining table.

Then, when the two returned to the dining table, Park Hyomin, who had just said she was fine, saw that Lin Xiuyuan had truly returned to normal, and even went as far as to avoid eye contact with her afterward to keep things proper.

The mood she had felt earlier, thinking everything was fine, instantly plummeted to the bottom.

An indescribable emotion began to surge.

Speechless, depressed, and a little bit angry.

In the end, she couldn't help but turn her head to the side and glare at Lin Xiuyuan, that look filled with questioning.

You dog, I just made my feelings public to Unnie and admitted I had a bit of a crush, and you turn around and mess with my head like this?

So enthusiastic just a moment ago, and now so cold—what exactly is the meaning of this?

And the rest of the meal continued in this lukewarm fashion.

Dalongzai spoke up from time to time, attempting to steer the atmosphere in a lighter direction.

Li Juli cooperated by picking up the conversation, her rhythm perfectly judged.

Lin Xiuyuan also acted much more normally, answering when asked, neither too much nor too little.

Only Park Hyomin seemed somewhat out of place.

With her head down, she poked at the food on her plate with her chopsticks unconsciously, occasionally picking up a bite, but barely eating anything.

She was quiet, yet clearly carrying emotions, as if stuck on something.

Lunch was finished quickly.

After paying the bill, the group went downstairs together, heading toward the underground parking lot.

The parking lot lights were dim, the cold white light falling on the concrete floor, making it seem somewhat empty.

Traces of rainwater brought in from outside still remained on the ground, damp and reflecting a thin sheen under the lights.

Dalongzai and Park Hyomin walked in front, side by side, saying something in lowered voices.

Li Juli quietly slowed her pace, taking Lin Xiuyuan with her to naturally increase the distance from the two in front, and only after there was a gap where their conversation couldn't be heard did she turn her head to look at him.

Sensing this gaze, Lin Xiuyuan glanced at her and smiled lightly, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm thinking about something." Li Juli's gaze locked onto his face, "How did you manage to get the 2013 Xiaomin?"

She spoke very directly, yet without sharpness.

Then she naturally added another sentence, "And you haven't told us until now, so that must mean the Xiaomin over there hasn't joined the group yet. Xiuyuan, your charm is really not small."

That last sentence sounded like a tease, yet also like a sincere exclamation.

Seeing that Li Juli had guessed the answer to be mostly correct, Lin Xiuyuan was not surprised.

She had always been clever and meticulous, so piecing together the truth from these trivial details was perfectly normal for her.

So, after hearing her words, he only raised an eyebrow slightly, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile, and he answered her with a hint of intentional ambiguity.

"As for that, I won't say for now. Let's see if there's a chance in the future for you to ask the Xiaomin over there directly, how about that?"

"Playing coy?"

Li Juli was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting him to answer like that.

But that bit of surprise was quickly retracted, replaced by a lightly furrowed brow.

She stared at Lin Xiuyuan for a few seconds, as if re-evaluating something, then shook her head slightly, "I just feel like something not very good happened in the middle of all this, otherwise you wouldn't be afraid to tell me directly."

Lin Xiuyuan, not expecting Li Juli to be able to guess this point, felt cold sweat about to break out on his back.

And after she finished speaking, her gaze began to scan his body back and forth a few times.

From head to toe, and from toe to head, as if performing some kind of quick inspection.

No missing limbs, no obvious bumps or bruises, his face was clean, with no bruises or scratch marks.

Only after confirming the situation did Li Juli breathe a slight sigh of relief, her lips pursing, "Fine, forget it if you won't say, but there is one thing..."

Pausing her tone, her expression became serious, "About the Xiaomin in front..."

"I know." Lin Xiuyuan replied quickly, "I have already tried my best to avoid her."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Juli raised her hand and patted his arm; the force was not heavy, but it carried a clear sense of warning.

Then she looked at him with a smile, "Lin Xiuyuan, you really need to take it easy. I don't want to see Tara ruined because of a man."

"Am I really that bad?" Lin Xiuyuan laughed in spite of himself, his expression appearing somewhat innocent.

"Hard to say." Li Juli pursed her lips lightly, her expression a mix of discouragement and helplessness, "The main thing is that your situation, you guy, is just too much of a cheat."

The word "cheat" was actually quite accurate when applied to Lin Xiuyuan.

Because this was fundamentally not a fair situation.

In her mind, the comparison that was almost directly equivalent surfaced involuntarily.

Rejuvenation vs. best friend.

One is something that can make people younger, more beautiful, and improve their overall state.

The other is an emotional relationship built up over many years of getting along.

But if the two were truly placed on the same scale, the result would be almost self-evident.

As a woman, especially as a beneficiary who has tasted the sweetness, she knew all too well the tendency of women's choices in this matter.

In the face of "youth," many things that were originally firm would be quietly pushed back a spot.

After all, she was no exception!!!