Hancheng: There is a door between me and the future

Chapter 38 "Park Jiyeon, do you want to join the cult?"

Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want to...truly live?

【…】

In the lobby, Park Jiyeon looked at the note that a waiter had suddenly handed her, then looked up and exchanged a glance with Ham Eunjung across from her.

The latter shook her head slightly, indicating that she didn't understand either.

However, besides not understanding it, Ham Eun-jung also asked curiously, "The waiter just now said it was given to him by Jessica?"

"Well, that's true. But look at this handwriting, it's all crooked and doesn't look like Jessica's handwriting at all. I think..."

Park Jiyeon paused, a hint of suspicion appearing between her brows.

Unlike Ham Eun-jung, who wasn't very familiar with Jessica Jung, Park Ji-yeon, along with Park Hyo-min, had dined with Girls' Generation a few times through Sunny's connections and had even seen Jessica's handwriting.

and so……

"That boy."

Ham Eun-jung gasped as if she had just thought of something, and Park Ji-yeon nodded in agreement. "Besides this, I can't think of anything else."

After getting a general idea of ​​the situation, when the two looked at the note again, their initial unease lessened, replaced by curiosity and amusement.

Ham Eun-jung, in particular, tapped the paper with her fingertips with great interest and said, "Then why did he contact you? This passage is so interesting, it feels like reading a storybook."

"I don't know, what do you think, unnie?"

Park Jiyeon, who just turned 18, has had a relatively smooth life all these years, except for the major accident last year.

When faced with this situation suddenly, I was a little unsure of what to do.

After glancing at the meaning of the words a couple more times, Ham Eun-jung, who debuted as a child star, clicked her tongue again, "It seems like they want to be friends with you, but it doesn't quite seem like they don't want to know you either, yet they've already provided your address and phone number. To be honest, this is the first time I've encountered a situation like this."

……

On the other side, inside the private room.

"How can you fool people like that? Who can understand what you've written?"

Thinking of the piece of paper she had just sent out, Jessica Jung looked at Lin Xiuyuan across from her with a speechless expression.

"Same as you," Lin Xiuyuan replied casually while eating his barbecue. "I can't exactly tell her I cheated, can I?"

After saying that, he smiled again. "It's a matter of trust and a gamble. You trusted and came, so you won the gamble. The same goes for Krystal. If she didn't trust and didn't come, then she wouldn't be with me. That's fate; it's up to her to choose."

Wow, tsk tsk tsk~

Faced with Lin Xiuyuan's answer, Zheng Xiuyan's gaze towards him became amused. "Do you know what you sounded like when you just said those words?"

"A life mentor?" Lin Xiuyuan asked with a smile.

"No, he's like a charlatan, the kind from a cult."

Living on the peninsula, how could Jessica Jung not understand the local specialties? Lin Xiuyuan's tone and logic just now really did have a bit of that flavor.

However, her answer amused Lin Xiuyuan: "If I am a cultist, then wouldn't you and Krystal, who have joined me, also be considered followers of this cult?"

"..."

Jessica Jung was speechless, not expecting Lin Xiuyuan to answer her like that.

After a while, she realized what was going on and laughed at herself, "It seems that's really the case."

Lin Xiuyuan's eyes lit up even more, and he even put down his chopsticks, looking at Zheng Xiuyan with a happy expression, "Oh, I remember some doctrines clearly state that believers need to have a spirit of service, I wonder..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jessica Jung kicked him from under the table, yelling, "Get out of here!"

Fortunately, Lin Xiuyuan dodged in time, so the other party only kicked the table leg and not his leg.

Lin Xiuyuan quickly reassured her, "Haha, Jessica Jung, don't get so worked up. We're just chatting, why are you getting so worked up?"

After being comforted, Jessica glared at him fiercely a few times, then lowered her head to continue grilling meat for him. This time, however, she was vengeful and grilled the meat until it was very tough before placing it in front of him, letting him exercise his teeth and jaw.

But soon, she thought of something else. She picked up the barbecue tongs and sat down next to Lin Xiuyuan, almost startling him so much that he dodged away. Luckily, she stopped him in time, saying, "Don't run away, I want to talk to you about something."

"what?"

Hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan continued eating his fried chicken.

"I remember Krystal asked you for help over there, so shouldn't you have asked Jiyeon over there?"

However, when Jessica asked this question, Lin Xiuyuan looked at her as if she were an idiot, which made Jessica feel uneasy. "What? I didn't say anything wrong."

"What's there to think about? Just like you. The other side is already ruined, so we can only look for the other side. The past can't be changed, we can only salvage the future that hasn't happened yet."

Lin Xiuyuan picked up a piece of beef and put it in his mouth, but soon frowned, clearly the beef was too tough.

Upon seeing this, Jessica Jung quickly turned her eyes away, feeling a little guilty and unable to meet his gaze.

Fortunately, although she's a bit old, she has a unique charm, so Lin Xiuyuan, who found it more and more enjoyable to chew on, continued, "Besides, isn't a young Park Jiyeon still Park Jiyeon?"

"What you're saying makes sense."

Upon hearing Lin Xiuyuan compare herself to him, Jessica Jung, unusually, did not refute him. Instead, she sighed with a downcast expression, "Compared to me, Jiyeon is really doing quite badly over there. No wonder Soojung, who usually doesn't care about things, would speak up."

"Actually, that's not the case. If Krystal hadn't contacted me, I was thinking of contacting Tara and the others instead."

When Jessica Jung heard Lin Xiuyuan say this for the first time, she looked at him with some surprise, "Why Tara? I think Yoona and the others could be chosen, or there could be others."

Lin Xiuyuan's answer was also very straightforward: "Lim Yoona? Is she down on her luck? There are thresholds for 'joining' here. You need to be a rich woman who is down on her luck but still has money, and also has a strong desire to succeed. There are not many beautiful rich women like this in Seoul. I think the ones in Tara are pretty good."

"Get lost! I was just joking with you, and you actually took it seriously."

After discovering that Lin Xiuyuan still kept mentioning the word "joining the religion," Jessica Jung couldn't help but laugh and slap him on the shoulder.

"Ouch, big sister."

"Hey, don't call me sister."

……

noon the next day.

A film studio in Seoul.

Park Jiyeon, who hasn't worked with the whole group for a long time, shot a new promotional poster with several members of her subunit today.

However, during the filming, she couldn't stop thinking about the note she received during dinner the night before.

A woman's intuition told her that if she didn't go, she would definitely regret it.

But the sense of security and crisis that women should have is frantically warning her that if a girl goes out alone to find a boy, no one can say what might happen next; the risks are unpredictable.

This hesitation lasted from the start of filming until the end.

Having finally made up her mind, Park Jiyeon decided to make a phone call to inquire about the situation, but she was unable to get through.

I called several times, but got the same reply each time.

After finishing all her work for the day, she returned to her dormitory under the starlight of the late night and dialed again with the mindset of "let's try one more time".

This time, the call came through.

"Hey."

It was a male voice, young, magnetic, clear, and genuine.

After receiving confirmation, Park Jiyeon glanced back at the busy members, walked to the window, and asked, "Hello, I'm Park Jiyeon."

"Oh, Park Jiyeon, hahaha."

The other person smiled, their tone relaxed yet mysterious, "So, do you want to join the cult?"

　Brothers, the double rewards are on for the last half day! If you still have tickets, don't hoard them, support the newbies!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)