Chapter 466: 490

The year 2025.

No, strictly speaking, it is 2026, early morning, Seoul.

Krystal, having finished a full day of studio filming, had just driven back to her Apartment from Yeouido.

When she parked the car in the underground garage, the entire parking lot sounded empty, with only the sound of her car engine cutting out echoing between the concrete walls.

Originally, she had wanted to go to the Villa; besides being closer, the large bathtub in the bathroom was her favorite.

But on second thought, Lin Xiuyuan was not there, and if she stayed by herself, the empty space upstairs and downstairs would seem even more desolate than the Apartment.

So, she decided against it.

Then, she turned the steering wheel half a turn to the left and took the road back to the Apartment.

After returning to the Apartment, as soon as she entered The Gate, she stepped on her left foot with her right, kicking off the shoes she was wearing.

She then walked straight through the Living Room and immediately ducked into the bathroom, standing under the showerhead to let the warm water wash away the exhaustion clinging to her skin bit by bit.

After showering, she wrapped a bath towel around herself and walked out of the bedroom with soft, relaxed steps, arriving in the Living Room.

Outside the Living Room.

On the coffee table sat a Pizza delivery she had ordered before returning, which she had picked up on her way in.

She walked over, sat on the carpet, and opened the cardboard box; the aroma of cheese mixed with the scent of baked dough wafted out instantly, and one could still see thin wisps of steam rising from the golden cheese surface.

Although it wasn't exactly gourmet food, it was still very tempting.

After all, this was her second meal of the day.

Having only eaten a simple egg for Breakfast, she had only had some fruit handed to her by an assistant at the studio at noon, which was not filling at all.

So, at this point in time, Krystal felt she could finish an entire medium Pizza by herself.

In fact, it wasn't that Krystal didn't dare to eat, nor was she deliberately controlling her weight; she simply didn't have the time to eat.

The drama was currently rushing its schedule, and the filming itinerary was packed tight; sometimes a single scene from set design to blocking to the official start of filming would take several hours.

The breaks in between were so short they were only enough to go to the restroom or touch up her makeup; there was no time to sit down and have a proper meal.

Moreover, ever since she met Lin Xiuyuan, or more accurately, ever since she had slept with that guy, Krystal had never again been as cautious about dieting as she used to be.

With his Immortal Medicine Constitution, one round would directly max out her metabolism, and the food she ate would be consumed incredibly fast.

Such a thing would have been a luxury she wouldn't have dared to dream of back when she was a trainee and just debuted, but now it had become the part of her life she needed to worry about the least.

Thinking about these things, Krystal pinched the edge of a slice of Pizza with one hand to bring it to her mouth, while her other hand swiped across her phone screen, scrolling through some short videos she hadn't had time to watch yet.

The phone suddenly vibrated violently, and a video call invitation popped up directly at the top of the screen, pushing the video she was playing down.

Krystal glanced at the name of the caller, raised a smile, and tapped the answer button on the screen.

The screen quickly switched to video mode.

Jessica's familiar face immediately appeared in the frame, with the Oriental Pearl Tower, already swallowed by the night, in the background.

She was wearing loungewear, her hair casually clipped behind her head with a few stray strands falling from the side of the clip, and she looked relaxed and comfortable.

"Oh, Xiujing, you're eating a late-night snack too? What a coincidence, me too."

As soon as the call was answered, Jessica's voice came through the phone's speaker, carrying a hint of delight at seeing her sister.

She even held up a skewer of grilled meat and waved it in front of the camera; the surface of the meat was glistening with oil, and one could see the cumin seeds and chili powder sprinkled on it.

Krystal chewed and swallowed the bite of Pizza in her mouth, then said bluntly to her own sister on the screen, "Jessica, if you have something to say, just say it; I still want to watch my video."

"I'll hit you, talking to me like that." Jessica waved her fist on the other side of the screen.

But that was just her being fierce with her words; Lin Xiuyuan wasn't by her side now, and even if she wanted to run over and hit someone, she couldn't—there was such a long distance between them.

So, after finishing this perfunctory threat, she lowered her fist and spoke again, stating the real purpose of this video call.

"It's not about what you told me earlier today regarding YoonA's idea; I thought about it, and I still wanted to call you to talk it over."

"Let's hear it." Upon hearing that it was about a serious matter, Krystal looked around at her surroundings.

She then reached out and grabbed a half-drunk water glass from the coffee table, leaning her phone against it so she wouldn't have to keep holding it.

She herself continued to sit cross-legged on the carpet, her hands freed up, and picked up another piece of Pizza.

Jessica on the other side of the screen held up a finger, hitting the nail on the head regarding a key issue they had overlooked when discussing this matter before.

"First of all, have you considered the issue with Xiuyuan? Just talking about IVF is useless; what if Xiuyuan's sperm motility is basically non-existent? Given his situation, I feel there's a ninety percent chance of that. If that's the case, it doesn't matter how much YoonA thinks about it."

Jessica's tone was very direct when she said these words, without beating around the bush.

If this premise held true, then no matter how Lin Yun'er planned for IVF or how much she put herself through, it would fundamentally be a waste of effort because the raw material itself was not up to standard.

Those involved are confused, while the bystanders are clear—this saying couldn't be more appropriate here.

So when Jessica said this, Krystal was stunned for a moment, and then her brows furrowed in surprise as she exclaimed, "I really don't know about that; the main thing is that it's hard for Xiuyuan to go get checked."

After turning this problem over in her mind twice, she looked at Jessica on the screen and thought of a plan that might bypass the hospital.

"Jessica, do you think this situation could be like some illnesses or blood sugar, where you can test it yourself at home with test paper?"

Her idea was very simple.

If there were a testing tool that could be operated at home, like measuring blood sugar or pregnancy, then there would be no need to go to the hospital, and there would be no risk of exposure.

"No, I asked a friend; there's no such thing out yet. You have to use professional equipment, otherwise, why do you think those infertility hospitals are so profitable?" Jessica's answer came quickly; clearly, she had already checked this issue before making the call.

Upon hearing this answer, Krystal was silent for a short while, and then her brows suddenly relaxed.

As if she had figured something out, she laughed with sudden clarity, "Then there's no way; as for YoonA unni, we can just tell her not to let her mind run wild."

Although this answer wasn't the one she had originally envisioned, at least there was a definitive conclusion.

And if Lin Xiuyuan's body objectively couldn't do this, it would actually save her a worry, and for everyone else, it would save them from overthinking and tossing and turning over this matter in the future.

But just as she thought of this, before the thought had fully settled in her mind, another thought emerged from the depths of her consciousness like a bubble from the bottom of the water, without any warning.

So Krystal refocused her gaze on the screen and looked at Jessica, "Jessica, what if Xiuyuan is fine? What then?"

"Hmm?" Jessica was eating a skewer of rice cakes she had just picked up; upon hearing Krystal's words, she stopped chewing, and then said in a very serious tone, "If he's fine, Xiujing, I suggest you be the first one to step up."

???

Krystal's first reaction to hearing this was that she didn't react at all.

Subconsciously, she asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean if there's no problem with Lin Xiuyuan, I think it would be better if you were the one to have this child," Jessica repeated her meaning very calmly.

She said it so nonchalantly, as if she weren't suggesting her own sister have a baby, but rather suggesting she change her hairstyle or buy a new dress.

It could be said that she was shocking the world with her words.

And sure enough, as soon as Krystal heard it, she went completely numb.

If it were when Lin Yun'er told her she wanted to get pregnant earlier, although she was shocked, she could at least find a logical angle to understand it.

But now, her own sister Jessica was sitting on the other side of the screen eating rice cakes, telling her with a calm face to get pregnant.

This time, Krystal really couldn't hold it together.

Almost as a conditioned reflex, she shouted, "How is that possible, me? You want me to get pregnant?"

"Yes, if there really is no problem, then from my personal perspective, I certainly hope you, Xiujing, will be the one to take the first leg and secure Lin Xiuyuan's first child."

Jessica nodded calmly; to her, the logic of this matter was very clear.

She then set aside the empty skewer she had been using for the rice cakes and began to analyze it for Krystal in an organized manner, as if unfolding a business plan.

"Look, Lin Xiuyuan already feels differently about you. If you add a child to that in the future, then your position as queen will never be threatened again. His feelings for this side, even if not much, can't just be abandoned like that."

"Vying for favor?? Isn't this just vying for favor?"

After Krystal finished listening to Jessica's analysis, this was the first word that popped into her head.

She didn't even have time to filter or refine it, blurting the word out directly. Her expression was as if she had been struck by lightning, her eyebrows almost flying into her hairline.

"It's not that exaggerated, it's just to solidify your position," Jessica said, likely feeling that the term "vying for favor" wasn't quite right after hearing it, so she switched to a slightly softer phrasing.

But Krystal wasn't stupid; how could she not hear the meaning behind Jessica's words?

Because whether it was "vying for favor" or "solidifying a position," the core was the same.

Using a child as a stronger bond to tie Lin Xiuyuan and herself closer together.

Krystal heard this meaning very clearly, and it was precisely because she heard it clearly that she reacted so strongly.

So she shook her head almost immediately, refusing very decisively, "Jessica, how old am I now? This matter is too far away from me. I've never thought about it, you'd better stop bringing it up."

When she said this, Krystal wasn't just giving a perfunctory dismissal; she had truly never allocated a single bit of mental space to this matter.

Never.

In her current life, work, Lin Xiuyuan, sisters, and friends already occupied all of her energy.

In her view, things like pregnancy and childbirth belonged entirely to another stage of life, something that only needed to be considered many years later.

Bringing it up for discussion now felt unreal just to hear.

"Alright, forget it then. I was just saying it casually, just take it as listening to something random."

Seeing Krystal's reaction was so intense, Jessica didn't continue to apply pressure; she could see that Krystal was truly impacted by this topic.

She really hadn't made any mental preparations.

In the time that followed, the two continued to chat for a while, the topic sliding away from Jessica's earth-shattering suggestion and returning to the thoughts Lin Yun'er had discussed with Krystal in the studio earlier.

As they chatted, somehow, the topic extended from the egg retrieval surgery mentioned by Lin Yun'er all the way to egg freezing surgery.

Jessica said she had heard a female guest talk about egg freezing while recording a Variety Show before, and at the time, she felt the process sounded much more complicated and arduous than she had imagined.

As Krystal listened, she couldn't even eat the Pizza in her hand; her mind was full of the needles, medicine, and operating tables they had just discussed, and she felt a faint discomfort in her stomach.

She hurriedly found a sentence to end this call with Jessica.

Her fingers pressed the hang-up button quickly.

After the screen went black, she immediately flipped the phone over onto the coffee table.

Then she leaned back, her back against the bottom of the sofa cushion, and sat on the carpet, dazed.

The light from the floor lamp cast her shadow onto the opposite wall; the shadow was motionless, as quiet as she was.

At the same time, various thoughts and questions flashed wildly in her mind.

For example: What exactly did Jessica want to say with this phone call just now?

Did she really think it would be better for her to carry this child?

Or did Jessica actually have this idea herself and was just testing her reaction?

Or, from a more rational perspective, did Jessica truly think she should seriously consider pregnancy, not just for the sake of vying for favor?

The more she thought, the more confused she became; Krystal truly couldn't tell anymore.

Thinking further, she even started rubbing both of her temples.

Her brain felt like a ball of yarn played with and tangled by a cat, with all sorts of loose ends knotted together, and she couldn't find the beginning of any of them.

Her head was such a mess.

So, sitting there dazed for a long while, she realized she couldn't reach a decent conclusion no matter how much she turned it over in her mind, so she finally gave up on thinking and retied the belt of her bathrobe.

She crawled up from the carpet and walked barefoot toward the bedroom.

At this point, forget it, let's just sleep.

On the other side.

In the Magic City Apartment, Jessica looked at the screen that had been hung up, smiled slightly, and sat alone on the sofa muttering to herself.

"Xiujing, oh Xiujing, if you don't bring these things up with Lin Xiuyuan properly first, how are we supposed to tell him?"

"Yun'er is really something, insisting on going through my line. I wonder if Xiujing will be angry later."

"She shouldn't be. I didn't say anything, just gave a little push. Overall, it's a good thing."

"Mm, that's right."