Chapter 470: Solo

Early 2026.

Seoul, in the afternoon.

On the golf course green, the temperature in the air was not high, and the wind was not strong.

On this course with a Membership System, looking around, apart from a few faint figures on another fairway in the distance, there was only this group of people right here around the green.

And the married woman of the day was dressed very purely.

She wore a full set of light blue golf attire; the top was a slim-fit polo shirt, the collar buttoned properly to the second button, the hem tucked into a matching pleated skort, with the waistline cinched very neatly.

Her long hair was pinned behind her head, tied up casually, swaying gently as she walked.

Looking at her from behind, her figure and silhouette, outlined in the backlit afternoon light, created a beautiful silhouette, truly giving the illusion of returning to her youth.

It was just a pity that when she spoke, some fine lines at the corners of her eyes would emerge along with her expressions.

Shallow, thin lines, especially noticeable when she smiled.

And those slightly sagging under-eye bags; when she was young, these under-eye bags were plump and cute.

Even now, the arc of those two under-eye bags was still there, but the firmness of the skin was not what it used to be, so they would droop just a tiny bit when she smiled.

These seemingly inconspicuous details were all silently illustrating the passage of time that Park Hyomin was currently experiencing.

It was not to say she didn't look good; she was still good-looking, even more charming and sexier.

It was just that she was no longer young.

"Pop~"

As Park Hyomin swung her club and hit a white ball, a crisp and clean sound rang out.

That little ball also drew an arc in the air that wasn't perfect but was passable, landing in the short grass area at the edge of the distant fairway, rolling twice before stopping.

After glancing over there, she turned around to hand the club to the caddy waiting nearby, took off one glove to fan the sweat on her neck, and then turned her head to look at Li Juli, who was standing behind her to the side.

But in that look, there was a hint of undisguised envy.

There was no helping it; who told this unnie, who was several years older than her, to have a face and complexion that were both better than her own by more than just a little bit.

Li Juli was wearing a striped knitted golf outfit today, a very simple and basic style.

Standing on the green, the composure she exuded, along with her well-maintained skin and mental state, were indeed several levels better than Park Hyomin, who looked a bit tired at a glance.

Li Juli, who was just taking her putter from the caddy, noticed a gaze fixed on her and turned her head to look in the direction from which the gaze came.

As it happened, she met Park Hyomin's eyes, which were filled with envy.

She couldn't help but laugh, her tone carrying a very relaxed, teasing quality, "Why are you looking at me? Do you think I'll play worse than you?"

"No, I was just wondering when Zhiyan would arrive," Park Hyomin shook her head and withdrew her gaze from Li Juli's face.

While saying this, she took off the other glove, stacked the two gloves together to hand them to the caddy, then took a bottle of water from the caddy, unscrewed the cap, and took a small sip.

What happened next was interesting, because speak of the devil and he shall appear.

As Park Hyomin's voice trailed off, a white electric cart carrying the late Dalongzai drove slowly along the path from not far away.

Then it braked steadily at the parking spot next to the green.

After getting out of the car, she immediately strode toward the green, calling out with a smile, "Sorry, unnie, something came up at the last minute, I'm a little late."

"It's fine, Zhiyan, do you want to start playing from here, or wait until we finish this hole?" Li Juli smiled.

"Let's wait a bit, I'll take a rest while I'm at it." Before Dalongzai, who had walked over, could even stand still, her eyes swept up and down Park Hyomin's body.

Then the corners of her mouth curled up, revealing a meaningful smile, and she teased in a very straightforward tone, "Yo, unnie, you finally came out of seclusion. I called you to come play these past few days and you wouldn't come. So, did you manage to block Lin Xiuyuan?"

Clearly, this gathering was the first time they had met since the New Year.

During that time, Park Hyomin had been refusing their invitations because she was busy trying to block The Gate.

So as soon as they met today, Dalongzai didn't even exchange pleasantries and poked directly at Park Hyomin's most sensitive point.

As soon as she finished speaking, Tian Enjing, who had been standing to the side watching the show, finally switched out of spectator mode.

She took a step forward, circled around to stand behind Dalongzai, and reached out to pat Dalongzai's shoulder gently.

The "pop" sound was neither loud nor soft, like a gentle warning.

Her voice followed, carrying a hint of helpless amusement, "Alright, Zhiyan, stop teasing Hyomin. It's so rare that she's finally opened her heart, don't add any more burden to Lin Xiuyuan."

"I'm just curious," Dalongzai muttered, refusing to let it go even after being hit.

But although she was muttering, she had actually already learned the whole story from Lin Xiuyuan himself.

So those few sentences just now were clearly meant to tease Park Hyomin; she wasn't actually curious about any answer at all.

And precisely because of this, Tian Enjing had hit her.

The meaning was to tell her not to provoke someone until they were angry.

With this back-and-forth chatter among them, the caddies around the green had long since sensibly retreated far away, leaving only the four of them on the entire green, along with a lawn warmed by the afternoon sun.

It was in this environment that Park Hyomin felt she didn't need to keep up any pretenses, so she answered Dalongzai's question very calmly.

"I blocked him. That guy is indeed quite interesting; no wonder you guys like him so much. If it were me, I would have been deeply attracted to him too."

"Huh?"

Dalongzai, who had originally just been treating this as a joke to tease Park Hyomin,

upon hearing this response with its clearly unusual tone, retracted the smile on her face in a split second, her delicate eyebrows arching up as if by reflex.

Her expression switched from the previous playfulness to alertness and curiosity.

At the same time, even Li Juli and Xian Enjing turned their gazes toward Park Hyomin in unison.

Three people, six eyes, all focused on Park Hyomin at once, the concentration of curiosity in their gazes almost overflowing.

Immediately after, Li Juli was the first to break the silence, "Hyomin, what do you mean by that?"

Her tone was not heavy, but she asked very directly, leaving no room for Park Hyomin to be vague.

As a long-time best friend and teammate, she knew Park Hyomin's speaking habits too well.

This person either didn't speak, but if she did, it wouldn't be for no reason; every word was backed by verification.

"It's just that I feel our souls are a bit compatible. I didn't expect to experience this with Lin Xiuyuan either; it was just a guess before, but now it's truly verified." Park Hyomin looked at the uniform expressions of curiosity on the faces of the three people in front of her, and thus drew a smile with great interest.

The curve was not large, but the deliberate sense of provocation hidden within it could not be concealed.

But what made her feel surprised was.

After hearing her words, which carried a clear sense of provocation, her few little companions did not have even the slightest bit of negative emotion on their faces.

There was no frowning, no surprise, no disbelief, and certainly none of the possessive wariness or vigilance she had originally expected.

The expressions on their faces were all surprise and delight, as if they had heard something worth being happy about.

Especially the reaction of Tian Enjing, which caught her most off guard.

After the other party finished listening to her words, her eyes clearly brightened, and then, almost without any hesitation, she took a step forward and reached out to grab Park Hyomin's hand directly.

With a tone carrying a kind of urgent curiosity and anticipation, she hurriedly asked, "Xiaomin, what do you mean by this compatibility you mentioned? It wouldn't be that you and Lin Xiuyuan have already..."

When she reached the end, her voice suddenly stopped, but her gaze very honestly shifted downward.

Her eyes swept back and forth quickly between Park Hyomin's chest and abdomen.

The meaning of that look was too clear, so clear that it didn't need any language or text to supplement it.

So much so that the moment Park Hyomin saw Xian Enjing's downward-sweeping gaze, she completely understood what she wanted to ask, so she shook her head almost like a conditioned reflex.

With an urgency in her tone of being misunderstood, she hurriedly denied it.

"What are you thinking, Enjing? It's not that exaggerated. I just feel that Lin Xiuyuan's interests and hobbies are somewhat similar to mine, and I feel that getting along is just more comfortable than before."

"Interests and hobbies?" After hearing these four words, Dalongzai's curiosity became even heavier, so she took a step forward to get closer to Park Hyomin, tilted her head, and continued to ask, "What interests and hobbies?"

"It's just reading," Park Hyomin replied.

Because that day in the coffee shop, she and Lin Xiuyuan had indeed chatted quite a bit about the book "Awakening".

The overall atmosphere of that conversation was very comfortable, and it was the kind of feeling of being seriously listened to and seriously responded to that Park Hyomin rarely experienced in her interactions with other members of the opposite sex.

This resonance from the spiritual level had an attraction that was simply beyond words for someone like her with a heavy literary temperament.

But just as she finished saying these four words, Dalongzai immediately laughed out loud, "Unnie, don't tease me. You mean Lin Xiuyuan likes reading? Are you sure?"

"I suppose so," Park Hyomin, being asked this by her, also recalled that answer from Lin Xiuyuan.

However, she didn't say it out loud; she still beautified it a little for Lin Xiuyuan, and besides, she didn't believe Lin Xiuyuan hadn't read that "Awakening".

Otherwise, how could he understand the story inside so well and be able to go so deep with her?

At this, the three people beside them looked at each other, and the expressions on their faces recovered to normal in unison within just a few short seconds, changing from the look of surprise and delight just now.

Even within this normality, there was a tiny, not-so-obvious bit of regret mixed in.

At the same time, Dalongzai spoke again, spreading her hands, "Unnie, this answer of yours is not as good as saying Lin Xiuyuan likes beautiful women; that interest and hobby would be more to his taste."

As someone who shares a bed with Lin Xiuyuan, her answer was perfectly justified.

Regarding this, after hearing this roast from Dalongzai, Park Hyomin did not refute, nor did she explain.

She just raised her hand, extended a finger, and pointed at her own face, "Even if it were changed to that, am I not considered a beautiful woman?"

"Alright, alright, Xiaomin, stop talking nonsense. We'll just listen to those words from before; if an outsider heard them, they would really think you intend to cheat."

As a best friend and long-time companion, Li Juli saw Park Hyomin leaning more and more in that direction as she spoke, and finally couldn't help but speak up.

Her tone was more serious than that of Xian Enjing and Dalongzai just now; it wasn't a joke or a tease, but truly carried a sense of reminder and concern.

And facing this remark from Li Juli, which was clearly out of good intentions but carried a bit of a persuasive tone, Park Hyomin suddenly stopped her steps, then turned slightly to the side, looking sideways at the sisters beside her.

"Is it very strange?"

There was no anger in her tone, just pure curiosity.

After a pause, she added another sentence, "Besides, why must it be cheating? Can't one just purely covet that guy's body?"

"Unnie, isn't this just cheating?" After hearing this whole set of rhetoric from Park Hyomin, the speechless expression on Dalongzai's face could no longer be contained.

If coveting someone other than one's husband's body isn't called cheating, then what is?

As a result, Park Hyomin turned her head and looked at Dalongzai, a look of finding it very funny appearing on her face, as if she had heard something that shouldn't have appeared in the other party's mouth.

"So Zhiyan, in your view, does making love equal cheating?"

Then the corners of her mouth curled up, her eyes narrowed slightly, carrying a sense of surprise and playfulness.

"Zhiyan, this time it's your turn not to tease me. Isn't the occurrence of such things very normal?"

"Marriage is marriage, sexual desire is sexual desire, and affection is affection; the three are like a stable triangle. Although each is indispensable, they are also mutually independent. As long as you don't break this triangle, how can it be counted as cheating?"

In her view, marriage is a social contract and identity binding, sexual desire is a physiological need and personal choice, and affection is an emotional connection and spiritual sustenance.

These three can overlap, but they can also operate independently.

As long as the form of marriage remains, that slight adjustment of variables does not constitute cheating at all.

Besides, if one really had to count, her husband doesn't even know how many times he has cheated.

Thinking of this, Park Hyomin shifted her gaze away from Dalongzai alone and swept a circle around the three sisters standing in front of her.

Then she said a sentence that left the three of them speechless at the same time, "You don't think you are normal people, do you? Please, don't have such old-fashioned thinking; be more open, it's the 21st century now."

Once this sentence came out, the putting green was quiet for a few seconds.

The wind blew across the lawn, causing the flag on the flagpole to flutter slightly.

And this time, Tian Enjing was silent, Li Juli was silent, and Dalongzai was also silent.

The three people stood on the putting green looking at each other, a very strange feeling simultaneously arising in their hearts.

Clearly, the emotional views and lifestyles of the few of them, all piled onto Lin Xiuyuan, were already rebellious and radical enough.

Yet now, they were being lectured in return by a conservative married person using a set of triangle theory, saying: Your thinking is too old-fashioned and too conservative.

What does that mean?

The radicals are being roasted by a conservative for being too conservative???

This contrast left them not knowing what reaction to have for a moment.

What a strange feeling.

Just at this moment, an airplane passed across the sky overhead.

Accompanied by a whistling sound that came from afar and then faded into the distance, the noise crushed down from above, briefly wrapping the silence of the few people on the putting green in that mechanical roar.

Its heading pointed east, and it sped off in the direction of Los Angeles with that whistling sound.

……

……

Rumble~

A large Boeing passenger jet whistled overhead, the massive roar of its engines pressing down from the altitude of the clouds, causing the air on the ground to tremble slightly.

And this roar also attracted the attention of Goo Hara, who was sitting in an open-air seat at the restaurant, lost in thought.

She looked up and tilted her head, watching that speck of light moving slowly through the night sky; those two blinking lights traveled steadily between the stars and the night curtain, finally growing smaller and smaller until they disappeared into the skyline in the direction of the distant airport.

It was probably about to land.

Just as her gaze was still chasing the tail of the plane, which was no longer visible, for two extra seconds, Lin Xiuyuan's voice reached her ears at the perfect moment.

"Stop looking at the plane; I'll show you one when we get back."

"Ah, oppa, hahaha."

Sulli's laughter rang out almost the moment Lin Xiuyuan finished speaking, as if she had been amused by some image in that sentence.

At the same time, she did not forget to pick up a menu from the dining table, unfold it, and present it to Goo Hara, saying with a laugh, "Unnie, don't listen to oppa, he's crazy. Hurry up and see what you want to eat."

Hearing this, Goo Hara withdrew her gaze from the night sky and took the menu Sulli handed over.

However, she did not look down at the menu immediately; instead, she first looked up at the man opposite her who was smiling with a wicked glint, and then she couldn't help but laugh along.

She then said, "It's a deal then, Xiuyuan. If you don't dare to show me when we get back tonight, then you're not a man."

"Let's order first. I really feel like you picked up some bad things over in Tokyo, Hela."

After Lin Xiuyuan was hit by this sharp counterattack from Goo Hara, the smile on his face didn't waver in the slightest; instead, his tone became even calmer.

It was as if the person who had just spoken wasn't him, but someone else.

Goo Hara replied while looking down at the menu, "I spent quite a bit of money on those late-night pay-per-view channels in Tokyo, you know. What do you think?"

After finishing, she didn't even look at Lin Xiuyuan's reaction, but just traced her finger casually across the menu, finally stopping on a picture of a grilled fish set meal, and tapped her fingernail next to the image.

She muttered, "I'll have this one."

Then she snapped the menu shut with a *clack*.

Opposite her, Lin Xiuyuan's hand holding the menu paused slightly.

He truly had not expected Goo Hara to be so frank, so he was a bit dazed.

At the same time, he began to reflect on the situation; he really had had too little contact with Goo Hara—not referring to their time together in Los Angeles over the past two days, but to the time before that.

At this moment, Sulli also began to help explain for her unnie from the side, "Oppa, unnie is actually just under too much pressure usually, that's why she..."

"Oh my, Zhenli, stop explaining. Why is it getting more confusing the more you explain?"

Goo Hara had only mentioned the pay-per-view channels in passing; she hadn't taken it seriously at all and had no intention of elaborating.

She hadn't expected Sulli to start explaining for her in all seriousness.

With this explanation, the topic that had originally been brushed off lightly was instead placed under the spotlight, which instantly made her feel quite awkward.

So she hurriedly interrupted Sulli's speech.

However, at this time, Lin Xiuyuan also spoke up.

He did not follow up on that topic, nor did he show any sign of finding it funny or wanting to tease her; instead, he steered the conversation in a more serious direction.

"Is the pressure really that high? But I remember that your popularity over in Nihon is quite booming, Hela. It shouldn't be that stressful, right?"

In his impression, the popularity of KARA, to which Goo Hara belonged, was genuinely explosive in Japan; they should be the type of people who are adored wherever they go.

It shouldn't be to the point where she needed to rely on late-night pay-per-view channels to relieve stress.

"The higher you stand, the greater the pressure."

After hearing this from Lin Xiuyuan, Goo Hara picked up the glass of lemonade the waiter had just brought over and took a small sip.

It was a bit sour.

Afterward, the narrator spoke again.

"Oppa, don't look at how glamorous unnie and the others are now; actually, everyone knows it's only temporary. That's why she has been thinking about developing in film and television since last year, but it's a pity that the roles she gets aren't very good, or rather, unnie doesn't have the talent for it."

Sulli's words were very realistic; she didn't deliberately praise or belittle, but simply laid out the predicament Goo Hara had faced over the past year exactly as it was.

Facing this very realistic supplementary explanation from Sulli, Lin Xiuyuan nodded, and something suddenly came to his mind.

"Oh, that's right. I remember seeing a video before that summarized your film and television roles, Hela; they really weren't that great."

"Stop kicking me while I'm down, I know," Goo Hara said, rolling her eyes at Lin Xiuyuan in frustration.

That eye-roll contained seventy percent helplessness at being exposed and thirty percent coquettish protest.

Then she picked up the lemonade and took a big gulp, as if wanting to wash away the frustration of being exposed with that sour taste.

However, Lin Xiuyuan continued to speak with a smile, "I didn't mean to make fun of you. I was thinking, since the film and television path isn't working out, would you like to continue down the path of being a singer, Hela?"

"I am one right now," Goo Hara said, swallowing the lemonade and blinking, not quite understanding the point of Lin Xiuyuan's question.

She was already a singer, and the group was still active; wasn't she already walking down the path of a singer?

"I mean, solo debut." Lin Xiuyuan rephrased this slightly vague suggestion; this time, he was very direct.

This time, not only Goo Hara but even Sulli beside her showed a surprised expression.

Both of them turned their gazes toward Lin Xiuyuan almost simultaneously, their four eyes filled with incredulous questions.

"Ah, solo? How could I go solo with my ability?" Goo Hara was the first to react, her tone full of self-doubt and insecurity.

She had self-awareness regarding her singing skills; the group had main vocalists to carry the load, and as the lead dancer and visual, her singing parts were never the most prominent ones.

If she were in the group, she could play to her strengths and avoid her weaknesses.

If she really had to stand on stage alone and sing from beginning to end, her legs would feel weak just thinking about that pressure.

"That's right, oppa. Unnie isn't Taeyeon unnie, and besides, IU had to struggle for a long time before she finally made it," Xueli chimed in, echoing the sentiment.

Moreover, the two examples she cited were both very precise.

Kim Taeyeon is recognized as having the top-tier vocal ability among girl group members, while IU is the classic representative of an independent musician who struggled for many years before breaking through.

Compared to the two above, Goo Hara possesses neither the pure vocal foundation of Taeyeon nor the independent songwriting ability and musical persona of IU, so the path of going solo sounds truly unrealistic.

Facing the doubts raised by the two of them simultaneously, Lin Xiuyuan was not stumped; he had clearly already thought through a complete plan.

"I didn't tell you to look toward Seoul; actually, you could also place your focus on Nihon. Take advantage of your current popularity, release a few songs to steady your footing, and then take it slow."

"Isn't that even more foolish? There are so many divas in Tokyo; what use is there for me to go there other than to wait for death?" Goo Hara blurted out almost immediately.

Although she is currently just in a girl group, she still has a personal, visceral understanding of the intense level of competition in the Tokyo music scene.

Those divas standing at the pinnacle of the pyramid each fought their way out from countless competitors.

Vocal ability, stage presence, works, and popularity—everything must be top-notch to stand firm.

This suggestion from Lin Xiuyuan was simply pushing her into a pit of fire.

After hearing this self-deprecating retort that came almost from instinct, Lin Xiuyuan smiled slightly, then extended a finger and tapped the tabletop lightly.

As if emphasizing a key point, he said, "Since your vocal ability isn't enough, then take a different path."

"What?" Goo Hara stared straight at Lin Xiuyuan, waiting for his answer.

Looking into her eyes that were fixed directly on him, Lin Xiuyuan immediately laid out his core line of thinking: "Originals, or rather, as long as you sing good songs, that's enough. As for vocal ability, you might not be able to compare to those diva superstars, but, I think... a good song can overcome anything."

A good song can overcome anything.

When these five words were spoken from Lin Xiuyuan's mouth, his tone was light and airy, as if he were stating the simplest principle imaginable.

But as they landed in Goo Hara's ears, they were like a bright lamp suddenly switched on by someone.

*Click*, it lit up.

It illuminated all the problems in her mind that she had been struggling with and unable to figure out, all in that single instant.

Consequently, she stared at Lin Xiuyuan even more earnestly, and her entire posture shifted from the relaxed state of leaning back against the chair to a slightly forward-leaning state of listening, quietly waiting for Lin Xiuyuan's next words.

Seeing Goo Hara's reaction, which showed she was completely captivated, Lin Xiuyuan knew he had hit the mark.

So he smiled and continued to unfold his line of thought.

"Look, if there are no surprises, the first female solo artist in Seoul from now on will definitely be Taeyeon; after all, her future song library is too vast."

"In that case, how about you, Hela, take the market here in Nihon? One on each side, and we shall meet again once we reach the peak."

This analogy was both grand and concrete; it didn't sound like empty boasting at all, but rather a truly feasible plan.

After all, the future Nihon music market, whether in terms of volume or the richness of its song library, is much larger than that of the Peninsula.

Paving a small path for Goo Hara to walk down within a major thoroughfare really has no difficulty at all.

However, thinking of this, Lin Xiuyuan calmly stated, "But Hela, don't get too excited yet. Let's find an opportunity to test it out first; if it fails, we'll find another plan. But if it succeeds, then the next BoA, the next Ayumi Hamasaki, might just be you, Hela."

The sea breeze blew in from the side of the restaurant terrace, carrying that slightly salty and cool scent unique to the ocean at night, causing the pendant lamp above the dining table to sway gently.

The light on the tabletop also swayed along with it in a small arc.

Likewise, this gust of wind also brushed a few stray hairs on Goo Hara's forehead, drifting into her line of sight.

It was a bit itchy, but she didn't reach out to brush them away.

Because everything reflected in her eyes at this moment had already been completely and fully occupied by the man in front of her.

Everything!!!

When is a man most sexy and most mature?

Of course, it's when he's PUA-ing someone!!!