Hancheng: There is a door between me and the future

Chapter 291 Various Timelines Corrected by Forking Intervention (Please Subscribe and Vote)

Inside the apartment.

As Ham Eun-jung's gaze swept across Sweet Eun-jung's radiant face several times, her suspicions were pretty much confirmed.

So he first glared fiercely at Lin Xiuyuan behind him, who was trying to make himself less noticeable, the meaning in his eyes was self-evident: I'll settle the score with you later!
Taking a deep breath to suppress the inexplicable irritation in her heart, Ham Eun-jung walked to the sofa and stood across the coffee table from Sweet Eun-jung, trying her best to make her tone sound like genuine concern, "How are you? I heard from Soo-won that your leg has flared up again. Is it anything serious?"

Leaning back on the sofa armrest, Sweet Eun-jung smiled slightly, her tone as relaxed as if she were discussing today's weather.

"Yeah, it's nothing serious, it's just an old problem, it's just that it flared up a bit more this time. You should know that before, when I was extremely tired, it would just be swelling or soreness, but this time the rehearsal was too intense, and it tore a little."

After hearing this explanation, Ham Eun-jung's brows did not relax; instead, they furrowed even more.

Almost subconsciously, with a hint of resentment and venting, she blurted out a sarcastic concern: "So you should know how old you are. You have osteoporosis, why are you still pushing yourself so hard? Take it easy, okay? Don't end up spending the rest of your life on crutches, that would be a real problem."

Upon hearing this, Sweet Eun-jung was clearly taken aback.

After all, as Eun-jung herself, she knows "herself" all too well.

Under normal circumstances, and without any special circumstances, one's tone of voice should be reserved and subtle, rather than this kind of direct "aggressiveness".

Thinking of this, she subconsciously straightened up, turned her questioning gaze to Lin Xiuyuan, and asked loudly, "Xiuyuan, did you provoke her? I wouldn't say such hurtful things, what happened?"

Lin Xiuyuan, who was called out, stood there looking at Tian Enjing with a helpless smile on his face. At the same time, he pointed to his face with his finger and made a funny face-wiping gesture, indicating to her: Think about the reason yourself, it's all on your face.

Sweet Eun-jung looked at his movements, first blankly, then as if she suddenly remembered something key, and exclaimed "Ah!" in realization.

So when she looked at Ham Eun-jung, who was clearly annoyed, her eyes were filled with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, along with a hint of something strange that was hard to describe.

"What's wrong?" Sweet Eun-jung leaned back on the sofa, her tone playful, even slightly provocative. "This is between Xiu-yuan and me. Why are you sulking here? It doesn't involve you, right?"

After she finished speaking, it seemed as if she wanted to prove something, or perhaps she wanted to deliberately provoke the "young" Ham Eun-jung.

So she looked intently at Lin Xiuyuan and said with a bright smile, "Xiuyuan, it seems Zhiyan was right. You really do have a 'miraculous effect' on my injury. Look, I can walk slowly now without crutches, just with a support frame. Although it still hurts a little, it's so much better than yesterday."

After this sentence was spoken...

Lin Xiuyuan immediately looked at Tian Enjing in shock, his voice incredulous, "Are you crazy? Are you sure this has anything to do with me? I'm not some kind of magic pill, don't talk nonsense."

He dared not take the blame for this, and even if it were true, he didn't want to admit it; it was too much, it would be a fatal blow.

Equally surprised, Ham Eun-jung noticed another crucial detail. She looked down and examined Eun-jung's bandaged left leg again, then asked, "When exactly did you get this injury?"

"A few days ago, less than a week ago," Tian Enjing answered truthfully, while her gaze towards Lin Xiuyuan became even more intense and... expectant?
It's as if it's saying: "See how effective it is? Let's do it again next time?"
Even though those burning gazes weren't directed at her, Ham Eun-jung still felt extremely uncomfortable, so she turned around and stared intently at the protagonist, Lim Soo-won.

When Lin Xiuyuan felt a chill run down his spine from those two gazes, he quickly retreated tactically, turned around and slipped towards the kitchen, shouting, "I'll go find some drinks and wash some fruit. You guys chat, you guys chat."

Their behavior clearly shows they don't want to get involved in this dangerous topic.

However, this attempt to cover up the truth only made Ham Eun-jung both annoyed and amused.

Turning back to her, she fixed her gaze directly on Eun-jung, no longer beating around the bush, and asked the question she most wanted to know, "So, what stage have you two reached?"

Sweet Eunjung met her gaze without flinching, and instead smiled with a hint of regret and ambiguity.

"It was just a little bit short. If it weren't for these legs being so uncooperative, it would have been a home run. It's such a shame."

Although nothing was explicitly stated, the other party's ambiguous response left more room for speculation than a direct admission.

Hearing this, Ham Eun-jung frowned, her heart filled with mixed feelings.

In the end, it turned into a helpless sigh, "You're making me feel really awkward."

It was that eerie feeling of "I'm cheating on myself" or "being NTR'd by my future self" that drove Ham Eun-jung a little crazy.

Sweet Eun-jung, however, adjusted her posture nonchalantly and said in a carefree tone, "What's so embarrassing about that? You are you, and I am me. We're not some kind of supernatural tale of two souls in one body. I'll do my thing, and you can do yours. We won't interfere with each other."

“But aren’t we all essentially the same person?” Ham Eun-jung tried to sort out this confusing logic.

"That's hard to say, since we're from two different timelines, we'd have to check our DNA. And even if the DNA matches, I think we're completely different on a mental level, so I personally think you can think of us as two people who look very similar."

After offering a reasonably reasonable solution, Sweet Eun-jung added earnestly, "If you think about it this way, does it make you feel a little better?"

Ham Eun-jung was so angry at this powerful logic that she laughed. "Self-deception?"

“That’s a very harsh thing to say.” Sweet Eun-jung waved her hand gracefully, looking like she had seen through the world. “I think the phrase ‘it’s good to be confused’ is very appropriate here.”

The warm afternoon sunlight streamed obliquely into the living room through the clean glass windows, casting long shadows on the gleaming floor, while dust particles in the air floated slowly within the beams of light.

Two women who look almost identical, one lounging comfortably on the sofa and the other standing slightly tense to the side, are engaged in a bizarre conversation about identity, feelings, and ethics.

Just then, Lin Xiuyuan, who was in the kitchen, probably felt safe, or perhaps just wanted to break the eerie atmosphere, poked his head out and asked, "Um, I noticed this fruit is quite fresh, would you like some?"

Sweet Eun-jung immediately responded enthusiastically, "Yes, I was just thinking of eating it."

Lin Xiuyuan said "Oh", and after a short while, he came out with a fruit platter containing a plate of clean grapes, strawberries, and sliced ​​apples that were still dripping with water.

He was also holding three cans of chilled drinks in his other hand.

As he entered the living room, he immediately saw Ham Eun-jung still standing there like a wooden stake.

So he very naturally plopped down in the only single sofa seat next to the sofa, and then looked up at Ham Eun-jung, pointing with his chin to the empty seat next to her, his tone as casual as if he were greeting an old friend.

"Sit down, why are you just standing there like an idiot? You're not a stranger." Hearing this, Ham Eun-jung glared at Lin Xiuyuan with some annoyance, but finally resigned herself to sitting down on the sofa where Sweet Eun-jung was, and then picked up a few grapes and stuffed them into her mouth.

The sweet juice burst in her mouth, but it did nothing to alleviate the irritation in her heart.

After swallowing the fruit, she looked at Tian Enjing again and asked, "So, according to what you just said, what exactly do you mean? And what exactly does 'it's good to be confused' mean?"

"What do you mean?" Sweet Eun-jung slowly munched on her apple, pretending to be clueless.

"It's that 'self-deception,' the idea of ​​treating us as two separate people," Ham Eun-jung persisted, demanding a clearer explanation.

Or rather, she needed an explanation that would make her feel better.

Even when you're deceiving yourself, you need a reason to convince yourself.

Having been pressed to this extent, Sweet Eun-jung clicked her tongue, finally put down the half-eaten apple, thought seriously for a moment, and organized her thoughts before answering.

"Actually, I've been thinking about this ever since I first followed Xiuyuan across that door and became aware of your existence."

Her injured foot made her adjust her posture every now and then, and she continued, "Think about it, when Xiu Yuan, this variable, appeared in your 13-year timeline, from the moment he came into contact with the time portal, the world you are in may no longer be the single future that I remember and that I experienced."

"It is more likely to be another parallel world derived from it."

As she said this, Sweet Eun-jung stretched out a finger and pointed into the void, as if she were tracing an invisible timeline.

"Similarly, when Xiu Yuan pushed open the time portal and officially stepped into 25 years, the timeline began to branch from that precise point in time, and even started to have an impact from the moment Xiu Yuan was born."

Upon hearing this, Ham Eun-jung, always quick to understand, blurted out, "One is a worldline where Xiu Yuan intervenes and continues to have an impact, like the one we're in now. The other is a worldline without Xiu Yuan, or where he's just an NPC without a time portal, eventually returning to a 'normal' trajectory. Is that what you mean?"

Sweet Eunjung nodded approvingly, "Bingo!! So what I mean is very simple, you really don't need to worry too much about what happened between me, the 'Eunjung' of this parallel world, and Xiuyuan. In countless possible parallel universes, you are you, and I am me. The story that happened between him and me will not be directly projected onto you, much less forcefully change your choices and fate."

"Whether it is the body or the mind, we are independent beings."

After listening to this seemingly rigorous but actually more like an excuse for certain behaviors, Ham Eun-jung felt not relieved at all, but rather even more upset.

So he sighed and rubbed his forehead, "I thought you were going to say something, but you're probably wrong. What I'm worried about isn't this 'impact' at all."

Sweet Eun-jung was taken aback, blinking in confusion. "What's that? What are you worried about?"

She thought Ham Eun-jung was afraid of some kind of butterfly effect, or that some strange telepathic connection had made her feel the enjoyment of playing poker.

Ham Eun-jung opened her mouth, the real reason that made her feel awkward swirling around on her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to say it, mainly because it was just too embarrassing.

Left with no other choice, she turned her gaze once again to Lin Xiuyuan, who was trying to remain invisible, her eyes filled with accusation and a "you tell me" tone.

This time, Lin Xiuyuan knew he couldn't avoid it anymore. He awkwardly touched the back of his neck and tentatively replied, "Eun-jung, don't you think the way I've been looking at you has been a little strange since just now?"

Ham Eun-jung didn't answer directly, but the sudden tightening of her lips was a silent acknowledgment of the statement.

Now Tian Enjing was even more confused. She looked at Lin Xiuyuan curiously, "Eyes? What's so strange about eyes?"

Lin Xiuyuan coughed lightly and tried to explain tactfully, "It's just a bit too direct, or rather, blatant? It's similar to what Xiujing complained to Zhenli before, saying that the way I looked at her had become very strange, as if I could see right through her."

"Hmm?" Sweet Eun-jung looked at him.

“Krystal~” Lin Xiuyuan threw out the answer.

“Krystal?” Eunjung repeated softly, then suddenly realized, “Ah, you mean Jung Soo-jung from 13?”

Then her gaze swept back and forth between Ham Eun-jung and herself several times, and after considering a certain possibility, she suddenly burst into an undisguised, even somewhat gloating, laugh.

"Hahaha!! I get it! I understand! Hahaha!!"

On the sofa, Ham Eun-jung watched her laughing so hard she was practically spitting fire.

I really wanted to slap her injured leg to "wake her up."

After laughing for a while, Sweet Eun-jung finally managed to stop laughing and looked at Ham Eun-jung, who looked depressed, and spread her hands.

"What can I do? It's not my fault that they look at me and react like that. I can't just be left to live a life of loneliness, can I?" she said, deliberately using the words Ham Eun-jung had just used to tease her, her tone exaggeratedly aggrieved, "You're young and energetic, you've got plenty of work to do. And everyone says I have 'osteoporosis,' so all I need is a little 'milk' to supplement my calcium intake~"

Hearing these incredibly explicit and lewd words, Ham Eun-jung's cheeks flushed bright red. She was both ashamed and angry, and turned her gaze to Lin Xiu-yuan once again.

Unfortunately, Lin Xiuyuan was completely focused on scrolling through his phone, his fingers moving at lightning speed, as if there was some major news on the screen that concerned the very survival of the world.

He perfectly embodied the ostrich mentality of "Don't look at what you shouldn't see, don't listen to what you shouldn't hear, and say whatever you want, it's none of my business."

In the midst of this suffocating awkwardness and chaos, a flash of lightning suddenly struck Ham Eun-jung's mind, reminding her of Lin Xiaolu's face during dinner.

Then her eyes widened suddenly as she looked at Lin Xiuyuan in disbelief, her voice rising eight octaves, "Wait, Xiuyuan~ As for Yoona, the two Yoonas have already seen through this, haven't they?! That's why they can still get along so naturally."

Faced with this soul-searching question, Lin Xiuyuan froze for a moment, then began a practiced three-part denial.

He shook his head like a rattle-drum, his eyes darting around.

"I don't know! I don't understand this! Don't ask me! You have to ask Yoona herself!"

　I originally intended to earn 10,000 yuan a day, but Eun-jung's performance completely stunned me.

　　Tonight, I'll just do a simple patch: the worldline without Xiuyuan in reality is two, three, or more parallel universes compared to the worldline with Xiuyuan.

　　Then let me think about how to write the rest of the story. I'm a bit dumbfounded and confused.
　　(PS: I'm still a bit speechless. I was just about to start developing Eun-jung's storyline!!!)
　　
　
(End of this chapter)