Chapter 439: 461

461 "So what is my name?" (Seeking subscriptions and monthly votes)

Han So-hee felt like she was truly going crazy lately; she was unlucky as hell.

It wasn't the kind of minor bad luck that lasts a day or two, but the kind that was continuous, a feeling of one thing after another slamming into her.

Every time she thought she could finally catch a break today, life would punctually deliver a new blow, as if to remind her: don't get happy too soon, it's not over yet.

First, the spotlight for a few events was stolen by others; having a big butt is such a big deal, right? Such a big deal.

Then the company started acting up again; her manager brought over a stack of messy scripts, saying this was all there was for now and telling her to just make do and pick one.

Han So-hee wanted to ask right then and there, what did "make do and pick one" mean?

She had worked hard to get where she was today, not to pick the least rotten one from a pile of rotten scripts just to make do.

But she didn't say that in the end; she just pushed the scripts back, said "Let me think about it," and then closed the door to stay by herself for the afternoon.

However, work matters were already annoying enough, and life still had to come and join in the chaos.

Today she drove out, originally wanting to go to the suburbs to get some fresh air and change her mood.

As a result, she hadn't enjoyed the beautiful mood for long before the car, on the highway back, became like a deflated ball, completely losing power.

Fortunately, her reaction was quick; taking advantage of the car's last bit of gliding momentum, she hurriedly turned the steering wheel to pull over into the emergency lane.

But after the car came to a stop, Han So-hee, sitting in the driver's seat, stared at the empty windshield in front of her, and the frustration in her heart finally erupted completely.

She slapped the steering wheel twice with great force, then tilted her head back and shouted twice toward the front.

"Ahhhhh..."

"What exactly do you want..."

The sound echoed in the enclosed car cabin, carrying a sense of hysteria that had been suppressed for a long time and was finally being vented.

At the same time, after shouting, her whole body felt as if some of her strength had been drained; she leaned against the seat back, gasped for breath a few times, and only then slowly calmed down.

However, shouting is one thing, but the problem still had to be solved in the end.

Understanding this, Han So-hee took a deep breath, unbuckled her seatbelt, pushed open the car door, and got out.

The air outside was much cooler than inside the car, and vehicles on the highway kept whizzing past, bringing gusts of wind that blew her hair into a mess.

Standing next to the car, she first glanced at the front, then walked around to the back to take a look, and finally circled the entire car twice.

But after finishing the two laps, she still stood in place, hands on her hips, looking at her car with a blank mind.

As a normal woman, her knowledge of cars was very limited, and the content was extremely concentrated.

She knew how to drive and knew which were the brake and the accelerator.

She also knew where to go to refuel and understood that the fuel tank cap release was under the driver's seat; that was all.

Aside from these two points of knowledge, the rest of the content in her memory bank was basically a blank slate, let alone what to do after a breakdown.

Or rather, she didn't even know how to open the hood.

And so, a woman dressed very meticulously was circling a car that wouldn't move, her expression filled with helplessness.

Just then, she noticed a Mercedes-Benz slowly decelerating from the driving lane, signaling a right turn, and slowly stopping not far in front of her car.

Then the door opened, and a man stepped out from the driver's seat.

Han So-hee's first reaction was to take a look at the other person.

His height was eye-catching, and he was wearing a simple dark coat, looking clean and sharp.

His appearance was also the kind of handsome that was hard to ignore; it wasn't the delicate beauty of a pretty boy, but rather a good-looking face with clear facial features that was very pleasant to look at.

The man closed the door and walked toward her with a slightly surprised and amused expression, opening with a single sentence.

"Long time no see, what happened here?"

However, after hearing this, Han So-hee was stunned for a moment.

Her brain began to spin rapidly: Who is this person? Have I met them somewhere? What is his name? When did we meet?

Her mind was a blur; she couldn't place him at all.

But the person had already taken the initiative to greet her, and the tone was so natural; clearly, he really knew her.

If she asked "Who are you?" directly at this moment, the scene would be too awkward, and it wouldn't be very respectful to the other person.

So, the quick-reacting Han So-hee could only manage to squeeze out a smile and let out two "Oh, oh" sounds with a fake laugh, which counted as responding to the greeting.

After the greeting, she hurriedly moved her gaze away from his face, turned to look at her car, and said, "I don't know what's wrong with the car; it suddenly stalled while I was driving."

Lin Xiuyuan looked at the car in the direction of her finger, then looked at the endless stream of vehicles in the adjacent lane, and smiled, "Then you're quite lucky; you didn't stop directly in the lane but pulled over."

"Yeah, yeah, it just happened to have a little momentum left," Han So-hee hurriedly nodded and replied, her voice carrying a bit of lingering fear from the narrow escape.

Lin Xiuyuan raised his hand and pointed at her car, "Let me take a look for you."

Seeing him already walking toward the car, Han So-hee hurriedly waved her hands, her speaking speed increasing a bit, "Ah, no need, I'll just call for rescue, no need to trouble you."

However, what she was thinking in her heart was that she hadn't even remembered who he was, so how could she be embarrassed to let him help.

But Lin Xiuyuan had already reached the side of the car, and his hand was already on the driver's side door handle.

And after hearing Han So-hee's words, he didn't look back at her, but with his back to her, he dropped a sentence in a tone with obvious amusement.

"Did you forget who I am?"

This sentence was said lightly and accurately, like a needle pricking directly into the point where Han So-hee felt most guilty.

It also caused Han So-hee to freeze in place, her mouth slightly open, and the fake smile she was maintaining on her face instantly stiffened.

The feeling of embarrassment rushed from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, and her whole face began to burn.

She wanted to say something to defend herself, but opened her mouth and didn't know what to say, because what he said was a fact; she really hadn't remembered.

Lin Xiuyuan, who had already opened the door, saw that she didn't respond, turned his head to look at her, and seeing her flustered appearance, knew he had guessed right.

So he couldn't help but chuckle, then, while bending over to sit in the driver's seat to check the dashboard, he spoke up to remind her.

"Keywords: Song Hye-kyo, baseball, Pei Xiuzhi. How about it, can you remember now?"

After hearing these keywords, Han So-hee's memory was like someone pressing the play button, and it all came flooding back at once.

She remembered.

That night, through the introduction of a middleman, she had finally met senior Song Hye-kyo, whom she had always wanted to know.

The place they met was a baseball practice field; the "Nation's First Love" Pei Xiuzhi was also there at the time, and this man was standing right next to Pei Xiuzhi, the two of them looking quite close.

It was just that at the time, her attention was entirely on Song Hye-kyo, her mind filled with how to strike up a conversation with the senior and how to leave a good impression, so she hadn't bothered to notice anyone else nearby.

Therefore, although she had indeed met the other party and they had nodded or exchanged a simple greeting, in her memory, his presence was almost zero.

Thinking of this, Han So-hee stood outside the car, looking at Lin Xiuyuan who had already sat in the driver's seat; the heat on her face not only didn't fade, but rose another level.

Because after remembering, she discovered she still didn't know what his name was.

There was no help for it; she hadn't remembered it at all back then.

Lin Xiuyuan looked at the situation on the dashboard in the driver's seat; several warning lights were on, with the engine malfunction light being particularly conspicuous.

He tried turning the key; there was the sound of the starter motor turning, but the engine just wouldn't ignite.

Seeing this, he bent over to find the hood release, pulled it, then got out of the car, walked to the front, propped up the hood, and leaned in to look at the situation inside.

The engine compartment looked like there were no obvious abnormalities; there was no smoke, nor were there any traces of fluid leaks.

But as for exactly where the problem was, it was certainly impossible to tell just by looking from the outside with the naked eye, and he wasn't some professional mechanic, so he definitely had no way to fix it.

So he turned his head and shouted to Han So-hee, who was still standing blankly in place.

"Alright, stop standing there blankly. The car trunk should have that warning triangle, right? Take it and set it up further away."

Han So-hee, who had been lost in thought, heard Lin Xiuyuan calling her and finally snapped out of that state of being so embarrassed she wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground, but was immediately stumped by a new problem.

"What warning triangle?"

Lin Xiuyuan looked at her, was silent for two seconds, then asked a soul-searching question, "How did you pass your driver's license test?"

"Bought it." Han So-hee answered quickly and crisply, her tone even carrying a hint of it being a matter of course.

She didn't feel there was any problem with this; anyway, in her view, as long as one knew how to drive and understood how to look at traffic lights, that was enough, and she hadn't had any car accident problems either.

As for that theoretical knowledge, who could remember that?

Hearing this answer, Lin Xiuyuan didn't know what else to say; he turned and walked to the trunk of his own car, got his reflective warning triangle ready, and handed it to Han So-hee.

Then he pointed to the emergency lane of the highway and told her in the simplest and most straightforward language possible, "Take this and walk back along the side of the road, go a bit further, about ten or twenty meters, then place it on the ground and stand it up firmly, then walk back. Understand?"

Han So-hee, having taken the warning triangle, looked down at the object in her hand and nodded.

When she returned to the side of the car again, Lin Xiuyuan was still looking at the situation in the engine compartment; seeing that Han So-hee had returned, he gave his judgment.

"The dashboard shows it's your engine that has a problem, but as for what the specific problem is, I can't tell just by looking, it's hard to say."

"Then what should we do now?" Han So-hee's voice carried a hint of bewilderment; having never experienced this kind of situation, she had no idea what the procedure was.

If she were the only one here today, she would probably just have to squat by the car and wait for rescue, then be photographed by passing vehicles and posted on the internet.

Or take a set of photos herself and post them to her social media account.

"Call for rescue and have it towed to a repair shop." Lin Xiuyuan answered very crisply.

The subsequent process became much simpler under Lin Xiuyuan's direction.

Calling the insurance company to report the incident, then explaining the car's situation and her own thoughts clearly, and finally arranging to go handle it tomorrow.

Another twenty minutes or so passed.

Watching the taillights of the rescue vehicle get further and further away on the highway, Han So-hee finally let out a long breath, feeling that she had finally temporarily escaped from this unlucky encounter.

Then she turned to face Lin Xiuyuan and thanked him very earnestly and gratefully.

"Thank you, I'm really grateful for your help."

Nearby, Lin Xiuyuan was wiping his hands with a wet wipe; hearing Han So-hee's thanks, he raised his head, revealed a half-smiling expression, and then asked a question.

"So, what is my name, Miss Han So-hee?"

This sentence made Han So-hee freeze on the spot.

Looking at Lin Xiuyuan, her mouth moved, but she couldn't say a single word.

The man not only stopped his car to help her look at the car's problem but also stayed to wait for the rescue, helping with such a big favor from beginning to end, yet she couldn't even call out what his name was.

So Han So-hee's feeling now was that if a hole suddenly appeared under her feet, she would absolutely crawl into it without hesitation and stay inside for at least three days and three nights without coming out.

She had no face left to be a person.

Lin Xiuyuan looked at her blushing, flustered appearance and couldn't help but laugh out loud; it was obvious he was amused by her look.

"Hahaha, forget it, get in the car, I'll take you back."

After he finished speaking, he balled up the used wet wipe, threw it into the trash bag in the car, and then turned directly to walk toward his own car.

Only after walking two steps did he look back and discover that Han So-hee was still standing in place, not moving, as if she had been nailed there.

So he shouted again, his tone carrying a bit of amusement and a bit of urging, "Beauty, you aren't planning on spacing out on this highway all by yourself, are you? Get in the car first, I'll take you down, it won't be too late to think about my name slowly after you get home."

Hearing this, Han So-hee finally seemed to have the immobilization spell lifted; she took a step, walked to the passenger side of Lin Xiuyuan's car with a red face and lowered head, pulled open the door, and sat in.

After sitting in the car, as the door closed, the cabin suddenly became quiet.

The sound of the wind and traffic outside was mostly blocked out, leaving only the slight sound of air from the air conditioning vents and the sound of Lin Xiuyuan starting the engine.

In the passenger seat, Han So-hee placed her hands on her knees, twisted her fingers together, and then said that sentence very embarrassingly, "Um, I'm sorry, I might have had a lot of things going on recently, and I couldn't remember your name all of a sudden."

And Lin Xiuyuan beside her, after hearing her words, hooked the corner of his mouth into an interesting arc and then answered the other party in a tone of self-deprecation.

"It's fine, I'm just a stinky man, there's really nothing worth a great beauty like you keeping in mind."

After saying that, he turned on the left turn signal, lightly stepped on the accelerator, and the car smoothly merged into the main lane, driving in the direction of Seoul.

And Han So-hee sat in the passenger seat, her face now red and hot, her mind turning over and over about one thing.

That was, in the situation just now, it would have been better if Lin Xiuyuan hadn't gotten out of the car to help her.

Although having the car break down was indeed unlucky, at least that was just bad luck, not embarrassing.

The current matter was a hundred times more embarrassing and a hundred times more unlucky than the car breaking down on the highway.

When had she, Han So-hee, ever made such a fool of herself?

However, after the car had been driving steadily forward for a few hundred meters, the young man holding the steering wheel suddenly spoke up.

"Lin Xiuyuan."

Han So-hee thought she had misheard, or perhaps was experiencing auditory hallucinations, and she turned her head sharply to look at the young man beside her, "What?"

The young man, his gaze fixed on the road ahead, repeated it again with a smile on his lips.

"I said, my name is Lin Xiuyuan; don't forget it again this time."

His tone was very gentle, carrying a hint of a reminder, but without any sense of reproach.

Hearing this, Han So-hee hurriedly shook her head, "I won't, I won't forget, thank you, Lin Xiuyuan-xi."

Lin Xiuyuan smiled and said nothing more, and the car continued to drive forward along the highway.

For the rest of the journey, because Han So-hee was sitting in the passenger seat, it was much less dull than when Lin Xiuyuan had been driving alone just a moment ago.

Although the atmosphere could not be considered particularly lively, at least it was no longer lonely.

Even if the topics went back and forth between the routine questions people ask when they first meet, such as what you do for a living, where your home is, and what you like to do in your spare time.

And neither the person asking these questions nor the person answering them was being particularly sincere; it was more like a polite greeting intended to keep the air inside the car from falling silent.

If this kind of conversation were to happen in normal circumstances, it would probably make people feel a bit awkward and stiff.

But if only one of the two people felt awkward, then for the other person, it was a purely joyful experience.

Yes, in any case, Han So-hee was very awkward the whole way, while Lin Xiuyuan was very happy.

Soon, the car finally exited the highway ramp and drove onto the roads of downtown Seoul.

The surrounding vehicles increased, the shops and pedestrians along the road gradually became denser, and the bustling atmosphere of the city rushed toward them once again.

Han So-hee looked at the street scene outside the window, then turned her head to look at Lin Xiuyuan, who was driving, and spoke up.

"Um, Xiuyuan-xi, you probably haven't eaten yet, right? How about I treat you? Consider it a thank you for your help just now, and also a way to salvage my image."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan, with one hand on the steering wheel, pointed with his other hand at the map route displayed on the car's navigation screen, his tone sounding a bit regretful, "Sorry, I have plans tonight."

The refusal was very straightforward and very frank, without the slightest bit of concealment or hesitation.

But it also left Han So-hee stunned.

Like Pei Zhuxuan, she was a woman with a glamorous appearance who rarely took the initiative to ask men out for meals, and in her past experience, she had almost never been rejected by a man.

So when Lin Xiuyuan said the words "I have plans tonight," her brain briefly crashed.

Had she just been rejected?

Thinking of this, Han So-hee blinked, looking at Lin Xiuyuan's side profile, which carried a faint smile, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say.

The air in the car was quiet for about two or three seconds, quiet enough to hear the soft ticking sound of the turn signal.

On the other side.

After returning home, Pei Zhuxuan first took a shower, then applied a natural-looking makeup, and finally found an outfit to change into.

Before leaving, she didn't forget to go to the mirror to admire the exquisite and natural-looking self in the reflection, a very satisfied smile appearing on her lips.