Chapter 416: Jin Ruanruan: Come over and have a drink with me, there's plenty of alcohol~ (Seeking subscriptions and monthly tickets)

Time slipped into the dead of night in the blink of an eye.

Seoul outside the window had already quieted down; the lights of the high-rises in the distance shone sparsely, as if half of them had been deliberately turned off.

The flow of traffic on the streets had also become intermittent; only occasionally would a car drive by, and it would be quite a while before the next one appeared.

It wasn't until near midnight that the Time Gate in the Year Apartment was pushed open from the other side.

As soon as The Gate opened, Lin Xiuyuan walked out from inside, stretching his back while letting out a long yawn, his whole person looking somewhat listless.

This was mainly because after he had finalized the plans for the evening with Jin Ruanruan in the afternoon, he had turned around and gone to find Xueli.

Then, the two of them found a quiet coffee shop nearby to sit for a while, each ordered a coffee, and chatted casually about their recent lives.

After coming out of the coffee shop and returning to the apartment, he had casually headed back to the Villa in the year 25, originally intending to play a couple of games to relax, but he ended up playing several rounds in a row without paying attention.

Later, time slipped away silently between one game and the next; when his set alarm finally rang, he looked up at the time and realized it was already nearly midnight.

So he hurriedly turned off the computer, got up, passed through the Time Gate, and returned to this side.

The apartment in the dead of night had no main lights on; only a few motion-sensor nightlights that Xueli had bought a few days ago were glowing.

There was one at the corner of the hallway, one in the corner of the Living Room, and one at the entrance to the Kitchen; the warm yellow light spread softly, and although not bright, it was enough to dispel the darkness.

Only the faint sound of cars from far away outside the window, separated by distance, was muffled by the night.

Xueli hadn't returned tonight; she had gone to squeeze into a bed with Hela, saying she wanted to meet some friends there and catch up, so she simply stayed the night.

As a result, when Lin Xiuyuan entered, the entire apartment was empty, without a single human sound.

After a brief scan, he walked to the coffee table, picked up his phone, swiped the screen with his fingertip, and skillfully dialed Jin Ruanruan.

The call connected quickly, and Jin Ruanruan's voice came through the receiver, carrying a hint of resentment, "Hey~ Xiuyuan, haven't you checked what time it is? I thought you had forgotten about this."

"Hm?"

Lin Xiuyuan was stunned for a moment, "Didn't you say you would be busy until very late? I just came over at the time you said."

"That doesn't mean you should drag it out until nearly twelve," Jin Ruanruan said with a touch of feigned annoyance, though it was just a casual complaint after becoming familiar, and she wasn't truly angry.

At this moment, she was sitting on the carpet in the living room of her apartment on the other side.

She was wearing a set of soft, long-sleeved loungewear; the fabric was skin-friendly and thin, and the loose cut draped over her figure in a relaxed, baggy way.

The hem of the shirt hung down to her thighs, and she had casually rolled the sleeves up to her forearms, revealing a section of fair wrists.

Her hair, having just been washed not long ago, still held a hint of moisture, sticking damply to the side of her neck, with a few stray strands hanging over her forehead, giving her an air of relaxed laziness.

"Sorry, sorry, my bad."

Faced with Jin Ruanruan's resentment, Lin Xiuyuan admitted his mistake quite readily, his tone carrying no burden, "Then should I go over now and call her over?"

As he spoke, he had already turned around, preparing to walk toward the Time Gate.

But Jin Ruanruan immediately called out to stop him on the other end of the line, "Wait a minute, haven't you told her yet?"

At this shout, Lin Xiuyuan's steps halted, "No, I was planning to give her a surprise."

"A surprise?"

Hearing these two words, Jin Ruanruan couldn't help but chuckle, her tone filled with a mix of helplessness and amusement, "What on earth did you do this afternoon?"

"Afternoon?? Just played games, played until just now, my brain is a bit muddled," Lin Xiuyuan confessed truthfully.

"No wonder."

Jin Ruanruan laughed softly, her voice gentle, like cotton warmed by a heater.

After a slight pause, she added unhurriedly, "Xiuyuan, look at what time it is now? When we were talking this afternoon, it seems we both overlooked one thing."

"What time?" Lin Xiuyuan subconsciously looked up at the clock on the living room wall.

The short hand was already approaching the 12, nearing midnight.

He stared at the two hands for two seconds, and his previously sluggish brain felt as if it had been struck hard, instantly snapping awake.

"Wait a second," his voice rose by half a degree, "at this hour..."

"Everyone is asleep," Jin Ruanruan replied naturally on the other end, laughing happily.

Lin Xiuyuan stood in the living room, staring at the clock for a few more seconds, and in the next second, a "Damn" slipped out of his mouth.

Then he raised a hand to pat his own forehead, his tone full of frustration, "This is a bit ridiculous; what's wrong with my brain today? Making this kind of low-level mistake twice in a row."

Jin Ruanruan didn't press him about what the first time was; she just waited quietly for two seconds, letting him collect himself.

Then she asked softly, "So what now?"

"How about we both just shower and go to sleep? It's really not a good time to be making a fuss; it won't be too late to talk tomorrow."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line.

Then, Jin Ruanruan spoke, "You've got a pretty picture in your head. Come over and have a drink with me. It's been a while since we've seen each other, and it's rare to be home, so having a drink will help me sleep."

"You are..."

Lin Xiuyuan was slightly taken aback, subconsciously testing the waters.

"Yeah," Jin Ruanruan didn't beat around the bush, her tone frank and direct, "I just want to chat with you about some things and get an update on the situation. I've been quite confused about some things lately, and I'm also curious about quite a few others."

With things said to this extent, the meaning was already very clear.

So Lin Xiuyuan didn't ask any more questions and responded crisply, "Alright, I'll be there in a bit."

After hanging up, Lin Xiuyuan walked to the Time Gate and reached out to push it open.

From the moment he hung up the phone to the moment he pushed the door open and appeared before her again, the entire process took less than five seconds.

The living room on Jin Ruanruan's side was significantly brighter.

Although the main light was also off, several floor lamps and recessed spotlights illuminated the space softly and clearly.

Light fell from different directions, weaving distinct layers of light and shadow on the walls and floor; two or three different types of light blended naturally in the center of the living room, making the whole space appear both warm and quiet.

On the carpet, Jin Ruanruan leaned her back against the edge of the sofa, her legs stretched out naturally, her toenails painted with a faint pink polish, looking clean and delicate under the light.

When she saw Lin Xiuyuan walk out from the Time Gate, she immediately raised her hand and waved at him, "You're here? I thought I'd have to wait a while longer."

"It's just a matter of opening a door," Lin Xiuyuan walked over and sat down on the small single sofa nearby.

The sofa was not large, just enough to envelop his entire person, so he leaned back, his gaze falling on Jin Ruanruan, "What's wrong? Looking for me to drink and chat late at night, are you feeling emo?"

"That's not it."

Jin Ruanruan shook her head, raised her hand to tuck the stray hair falling by her face behind her ear, her movements casual yet natural, "It's just that there are some things I want to ask you. It wasn't convenient to talk when there were many people during the day, and there wasn't much time in the Dormitory at night. It's rare that you took the initiative to call this afternoon; since the mistake was already made, I just thought I'd chat about it while I was at it."

"Then what do you want to chat about?" Lin Xiuyuan's tone remained casual.

"Don't be in such a hurry." Jin Ruanruan stood up from the carpet, her bare feet stepping on the soft floor, "Since you're already here, let's chat slowly. Want to drink something?"

Lin Xiuyuan looked in the direction she indicated.

That was a built-in wine cabinet, with various wine bottles neatly arranged behind the glass door, reflecting fine, fragmented light under the lamps.

Seeing this, he thought for a moment, "Do you have champagne or Sparkling Wine? I've been quite fond of these lately; they're lighter to drink."

"Yes." Jin Ruanruan replied, pulled open the glass door of the wine cabinet, and picked out a bottle from inside.

She then turned and walked back, also grabbing two slender champagne flutes from the shelf nearby.

She then sat back down on the carpet, placed the wine bottle on the coffee table, and skillfully tore off the foil at the mouth of the bottle, loosening the wire cage.

With a soft "pop," the cork was pushed out, and a wisp of faint white mist immediately escaped from the bottle's mouth.

Jin Ruanruan naturally steadied the bottle, poured a glass for Lin Xiuyuan first, and then poured one for herself.

The golden liquid fell into the glass, and fine bubbles surged up rapidly, rising slowly in strings along the glass wall, appearing delicate and clean under the light.

The two of them each picked up their glasses and clinked them lightly.

"Clink..."

The crisp sound of the glasses clinking seemed exceptionally clear in the quiet Living Room.

Lin Xiuyuan lowered his head and took a sip, letting the bubbles burst on the tip of his tongue, carrying a faint fruity aroma and a hint of gentle sweetness; the taste was light and clean.

Beside him, Jin Ruanruan also took a sip, then placed her glass back on the coffee table, her fingertips sliding lightly along the rim of the glass, as if she were unconsciously killing time.

And in the Living Room, it also became briefly quiet.

The light from the floor lamp fell softly on the coffee table between the two, illuminating the freshly opened champagne and the two half-full glasses; the light and shadow were gentle and steady.

After continuing to drink in small sips for a while, as Lin Xiuyuan couldn't help but ask, "So what exactly is the matter?", Jin Ruanruan finally raised her head, as if she had finished organizing her thoughts, and looked at the other person to answer.

"Actually, it's not a big problem. I just wanted to talk to you about the song copyright issue I mentioned before. I've been thinking recently whether we can start planning it slowly next year."

Lin Xiuyuan nodded directly after hearing this, almost without hesitation, "Next year? I'm fine with that. It's just a registration process anyway, not complicated."

Jin Ruanruan also nodded along, then continued, "And there's also my solo, and the direction of my future albums. I also want to find a time to go over there and talk to people about these things."

The "over there" she spoke of was naturally the year 25, that space-time where both music industry resources and production levels were more mature.

This time, Lin Xiuyuan still appeared unbothered, his tone quite casual, "Then that's even simpler. Whenever you have time, I can take you over there at any moment."

In fact, among so many members, among those who traveled between the two space-times the least, Jin Ruanruan really counted as one of the only two.

The other one was Zheng Xiujing.

And Jin Ruanruan, having received Lin Xiuyuan's reply, gave an "mm," then picked up her wine glass again and took a light sip.

When she placed the glass back on the coffee table again, she said unhurriedly, "After I finish being busy with the year-end matters, I should be able to free up some time to run around. So before that, there are some things I must ask clearly..."

Speaking to this point, Jin Ruanruan paused for a moment.

Lin Xiuyuan also followed up with a counter-"mm," "What is it?"

Hearing this, Jin Ruanruan raised her head, her gaze falling straight onto Lin Xiuyuan's face, not avoiding it, just looking at him calmly and directly.

"It's just, how many women do you actually have over there, Xiuyuan?"

She asked this question very crisply and neatly, with almost no preamble, "And also, do they know about the situation with each other, or is it the kind where they know but all pretend they don't? I get very worried about this every time I go over. If the situation isn't clear, it wouldn't be good if some awkward incident were to be stirred up."

Next to her, Lin Xiuyuan had just taken a sip of champagne, and his movements froze instantly upon hearing this sentence.

The mouthful of champagne still held in his mouth was not swallowed immediately.

Instead, he raised his eyes to look at Jin Ruanruan, stared at her for two seconds, his eyes clearly showing an extra layer of surprise, as if he hadn't expected her to ask so directly, and also as if he were doubting whether he had misheard.

He then slowly put down the wine glass, letting the bottom of the glass knock lightly against the coffee table, emitting a very light, crisp sound.

His expression was almost filled with question marks.

"???"

After a long while, he finally spoke, "No, Taeyeon, you're asking this question as if I'm some kind of super scumbag."

"Aren't you? And this 'Taeyeon' you just said, are you calling me, or are you calling someone else?" Jin Ruanruan laughed.

Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan looked at her deeply once more, then laughed out loud, "Ah, hehe, I understand. I was almost tricked by you, Taeyeon. You aren't trying to ask about my situation with others, but rather about my situation with the Taeyeon over there, right?"

Jin Ruanruan was stunned for a moment, not expecting Lin Xiuyuan to perceive her thoughts so keenly, so her eyes widened a little.

Seeing the other person in this state, Lin Xiuyuan let out another light laugh, "Looks like I guessed right."

"So what is the situation between you two now?" Seeing that she had been seen through, Jin Ruanruan no longer hesitated and stated the question she wanted to understand.

However, Lin Xiuyuan was a bit puzzled, "Taeyeon, are you trying to understand the emotional progress, or other progress?"

"I want to understand a bit of both. Also, you guessed wrong about some things just now. Although I am more concerned about Jin Taeyeon's situation, I am also really curious about some of your affairs over there. Since it's so rare to have such an opportunity to sit down and have a good chat, I want to know a little bit about everything."

Facing this statement from Jin Ruanruan, Lin Xiuyuan leaned over to pick up his wine glass, then leaned straight back, resting against the sofa, and murmured, "Well, that's a long story."

"I'm not afraid. There's still plenty of time tonight; let's chat slowly."

"I reckon I'll be talking until my mouth is dry."

Hearing this, Jin Ruanruan raised her wine glass, clinked it against the air toward Lin Xiuyuan, and laughed.

"It's fine, there's plenty of wine."