Hancheng: There is a door between me and the future

Chapter 287 Seoul Version [Burning Winter] (Please Subscribe and Vote)

As the end credits rolled, the lights in the theater came on.

At this moment, Lin Xiaolu was practically leaning against Lin Xiuyuan.

She clung tightly to his arm, for it had become her only support.

Then, with her head slightly lowered and her gaze fixed on her toes, she let Lin Xiuyuan beside her support her as she followed his rhythm step by step, shuffling out of the theater.

Those long, slightly weak legs, and the indescribable, cool, and damp sensation at the hem of her skirt made Lin Xiaolu feel as if her soul had been ripped away, leaving her mind blank.

All that remained was the body's instinct to cling tightly to the damned "culprit" beside it, clinging to that last bit of safety and reality.

Lin Xiuyuan gently supported her head and helped her into the passenger seat.

Only after the soft leather seat supported her weak body, and after watching the other person walk around the front of the car and get into the driver's seat, did Lin Xiaolu finally break free from the blush-inducing and heart-pounding environment she had been in.

He let out a long, deep sigh, releasing a breath he had been holding in for a long time.

As she exhaled, a wave of shame and belated embarrassment washed over her like a tsunami.

Her beautiful eyes glared at the man beside her, who still had a smug, wicked smile on his lips. She was instantly furious and screamed, "Hey~ Lin Xiuyuan, I'll fight you to the death!"

Then, like an agitated fawn, she pounced forward with her little head raised.

Her tiny, pink fists landed haphazardly on the other's solid chest and arms.

Lin Xiuyuan, who was being pounced on and criticized, laughed heartily and did not resist. He let Lin Xiaolu's little cat strength "violate" on him, and found her shy and angry face extremely cute.

He waited until she had been hitting him for a while, and then, when she was slightly out of breath, he waited until she was fully awake.

Then, seizing the opportunity, he stretched out his arm and easily grabbed the slender Lin Xiaolu.

Then he tucked her under his armpit, securing her firmly to his side.

Then, he raised his free right hand and brought it down, neither too hard nor too soft, onto the other person's slightly upturned, pert buttocks.

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Several crisp sounds rang out, accompanied by Lin Xiaolu's startled trembling and sobbing.

"You still don't know you're wrong? You still dare to disobey your superiors?"

Lin Xiuyuan chuckled and leaned close to the reddened earlobe, his voice teasing as he breathed on it, "Yoona, if you keep being naughty, I might really have to show you what the legendary 'Parking Lot God of War' is all about."

Having just experienced a "heart-stopping" scene, Lin Xiaolu, whose body was still 100% sensitive, immediately felt a faint sense of threat coming from somewhere upon hearing these words.

Then she was so frightened that her face turned pale. She shook her head and struggled in his arms, her voice filled with panic and sobs.

"No, no, I don't want to. I was wrong, Xiuyuan~ I was wrong, I really know I was wrong, please don't."

Her little face was tilted up, and her eyes were slightly red.

A thin layer of moisture covered her clear, bright deer eyes. It was hard to tell whether she was genuinely frightened or if it was just a natural bodily reaction.

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, glistening with moisture; her fair cheeks were flushed; and her slightly parted lips were moist and alluring.

Seeing Lin Xiaolu's aggrieved and pitiful appearance, as if she had been greatly bullied, instantly triggered a certain trigger in Lin Xiuyuan's heart, and also aroused his deeper, wicked desire to continue "bullying" her.

So Lin Xiuyuan's eyes darkened, his breathing became heavier, and he considered whether to put the "threat" into practice.

In this small space, I'll give this alluring but oblivious little vixen a good "lesson"...

"Dingling bell~~"

A crisp cell phone ringtone suddenly sounded, like a bucket of cold water poured over someone's head, instantly extinguishing the budding flame that had just risen within them.

This caused Lin Xiuyuan to pause, click his tongue, and then somewhat annoyedly take out his phone to take a look.

Upon noticing the name "Shirley" flashing on the screen, he raised an eyebrow and quickly pressed the answer button.

"Hey, Sensei, what's wrong?"

He tried his best to make his voice sound steady.

Sulli's cheerful voice, tinged with a hint of something else, came from the other end of the phone, "Oppa, are you up? Do you want to come out and have lunch with me? I have a friend I haven't seen in a long time and I'd like to meet up."

Shirley's words were very vague, a riddle.

But Lin Xiuyuan still caught a key piece of information: "A friend I haven't seen in a long time."

Thinking of this, his gaze unconsciously turned to Lin Xiaolu.

At that moment, Lin Xiaolu was also looking at him. Their eyes met, and they both saw the same question in each other's eyes.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Lin Xiaolu's eyes widened slightly, and she silently lip-synced a name: Goo Hara!

Lin Xiuyuan finally understood.

Oh, so it's this person.

So he answered into the microphone, "Sure, Zhenli, send me the location, I'll be there in a bit."

"Okay, I'll send it to you in a bit." Sherry hung up the phone decisively.

As soon as the call ended, Lin Xiaolu took the opportunity to break free from Lin Xiuyuan's arms and quickly moved back to the passenger seat.

While tidying up her clothes and hair that he had messed up, she used the back of her hand to cool her still burning cheeks.

"Goo Hara? When did she come back?" Lin Xiuyuan knew he had no chance, so he asked while fastening his seatbelt.

Hearing the voice, Lin Xiaolu shook her head, though her breathing was still a little unsteady. "I don't know either, I haven't heard of this situation. But Xueqiu suddenly called to invite me to dinner and specifically mentioned 'friends,' so I guess she might have some 'ideas' about it."

When Lin Xiaolu said those words with a hidden meaning, she didn't forget to look at Lin Xiuyuan next to her.

Lin Xiuyuan naturally understood what she meant by "ideas".

So he slowly started the car, looking ahead, his tone calm but with a hint of consideration, "Meeting is no problem, but we need to completely resolve all the troubles she's been through first. There's no rush before that, there's still time."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaolu nodded in agreement.

She understood Lin Xiuyuan's thoughts very well. If the controversies surrounding Goo Hara were not properly dealt with, she would definitely be dragged into it too deeply in the future.

That would be bad news for both Goo Hara herself and Lin Xiuyuan's tavern "church". Following the navigation, Lin Xiuyuan quickly drove to the foot of a star-rated hotel in Seoul.

The Spanish restaurant that Sulli and Goo Hara chose was located on a high floor of the hotel, so the two of them could take the elevator directly from the underground parking lot to the floor where the restaurant was located.

Eating at the hotel avoids having to go out onto the street, reducing unnecessary contact and hassle.

As the elevator reached the floor, Lin Xiuyuan led Lin Xiaolu into the elegant, dimly lit, and tranquil restaurant.

Then, with a quick glance, he spotted two familiar figures in the booth by the window.

Sulli and Goo Hara, who arrived a few minutes earlier than them, had obviously just sat down, and their lemonades in front of them were barely touched.

When Lin Xiuyuan and his companion appeared, Goo Hara, who was sitting facing the door, noticed them immediately.

But when she saw the tall, slender, and charming figure beside Lin Xiuyuan...

Those already large eyes widened even more instantly, filled with undisguised surprise and... a burning passion for gossip.

The ambiguous rumors I heard from Shirley last night, which were hard to distinguish as true or false, now seemed to be completely confirmed by the eye-catching scene of "handsome man and beautiful woman walking side by side" in front of me.

Lin Xiuyuan is tall and steady, while Lin Xiaolu is beautiful and lively. The height ratio between the two when they walk together, as well as the natural sense of closeness they exude, are striking.

They're so beautiful, like something out of a promotional poster; they couldn't be more perfect together.

At this moment, Shirley, who was sitting opposite her, also noticed that her best friend's gaze was different.

So he turned around and saw Lin Xiuyuan and Lin Xiaolu walking together, a look of surprise flashed across his face.

But she quickly broke into a bright smile, raised her hand and waved, calling out, "Oppa, Yoona unnie, over here."

Lin Xiuyuan and Lin Xiaolu smiled and walked over quickly.

"When did you arrive?" Lin Xiuyuan, who had come to the dining table, naturally pulled out a chair and let Lin Xiaolu sit down first.

"We arrived a few minutes earlier than you, oppa, and we just got here recently," Sulli replied with a smile. She also thoughtfully got up and sat down next to Goo Hara, leaving the seat next to Lin Xiaolu for Lin Xiuyuan.

After the four of them sat down, they exchanged a few simple pleasantries.

However, as she spoke, Goo Hara's gaze seemed to be drawn to a magnet, constantly scanning back and forth between Lin Xiuyuan and Lin Xiaolu, filled with inquiry and intense curiosity.

After waiting for the waiter to bring the menu, we ordered our food.

While waiting for the food, Goo Hara's undisguised scrutiny finally made Lin Xiaolu, who was sitting opposite her, burst out laughing.

Tilting his head, he teased Goo Hara, "Hara, what are you doing? Why are you staring at us with such wide eyes? Is there something on our faces?"

The thought that Lin Xiuyuan was currently living with Shirley, yet was now behaving so intimately with Lin Xiaolu, made Goo Hara's gossipy nature and worries completely uncontrollable.

Since she wasn't the type to be coy, she simply went for it, giving the two of them one last look before asking with a teasing and inquiring tone, "Unnie, what's going on between you two... you and Xiuyuan...?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaolu immediately curved her signature doe eyes into a smile, looking "innocent and harmless," and waved her hand, her tone relaxed and natural.

"Us? We're nothing special, just friends, just normal ordinary friends."

Lin Xiuyuan, who was standing next to him, was habitually rinsing the tableware with the hot water he had just asked the waiter for.

Hearing this, he nodded without looking up and smiled slightly, "Yeah, we're just friends."

But the subtle, slightly teasing and lazy tone in his voice made Lin Xiaolu glance at him sideways and glare at him angrily.

But then, inconveniently, the image of that large hand that had been playing tricks on me in the dark corner of the movie theater flashed through my mind again.

Her cheeks flushed, and the confidence she had just mustered vanished instantly. She lowered her eyes somewhat guiltily and subconsciously brought her legs together.

Goo Hara, on the other side, took in all the subtle actions and expressions of the two, including their flirting, one's obvious attempt to hide something, and the other's feigned composure while actually feeling guilty.

My mind was screaming: Believe you're just ordinary friends?! No way!

If she could believe this, she felt she could just gouge out those eyes that had seen too much and jump off this high-rise restaurant.

She's not stupid or blind; even a blind person could tell something was off about her tone.

But when Goo Hara thought about how these two were obviously in a special situation, and how Lin Xiuyuan had an even more outrageous relationship with Sulli by "living together," she felt like her CPU was about to burn out.

She couldn't help but cast a confused and slightly strange look at Shirley, who was sitting next to her, watching everything with a smile.

After receiving Goo Hara's inquisitive and shocked gaze, Sulli naturally guessed that Goo Hara was thinking about something incoherent.

So she picked up her water glass, took a small sip, and then grinned. Her smile was pure yet somewhat enigmatic. She replied softly, "Ah, unnie, why are you looking at me like that? Yoona unnie and the others are friends with oppa, that's for sure."

However, Goo Hara had absolutely no faith in this answer.

So she immediately leaned close to Shirley's ear and whispered, "Are you crazy? You call someone who looks like that a friend? What are you and him then?"

Sulli smiled again, her heart itching from Goo Hara's breath.

She paused, then turned her gaze to Lin Xiuyuan, replying in a natural and affectionate tone, as if stating a simple fact, "Oppa and I are naturally family."

When the word "family" came out of Shirley's mouth, it carried an undeniable intimacy and sense of belonging, instantly adding an even more intriguing layer to this already complex and subtle relationship.

This completely unsettled Goo Hara.

Looking at the three people in front of me.

One is Sulli, who calmly declared that they were "family".

Lin Xiaolu, whose eyes are filled with longing but who stubbornly insists she's just a "friend".

There was also Lin Xiuyuan, who had a smile on his lips and seemed completely unaffected despite being in the eye of the storm.

She felt that the scene before her was more exciting and chaotic than any TV series or movie she had ever seen.

Just as Goo Hara was about to say something more, she seemed to notice something out of the corner of her eye, and quickly shifted her focus from Lin Xiuyuan and the other person, looking up towards the entrance.

The same was true of Shirley, who was sitting next to her.

"Huh, Hyomin??"

"It's Hyomin unnie."

(End of this chapter)