Peninsula: My cheat code is unscientific

Chapter 95 Roundtable Conference
Im Yoona snapped back to reality, gave a dry laugh, and her eyes darted around.

"Unnie, you...you let me explain...it's like...um...something like in science fiction movies...split? Or...clones? Do you...believe it or not?"

Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, clearly lacking confidence.

Upon hearing this nonsense, Taeyeon's eyes screamed, "You're deliberately trying to make me laugh." She glanced around, then suddenly grabbed a cushion from the sofa, clutched it tightly, and pointed it menacingly at Yoona:
"Lim Yoona, do you think I'm a fool? Do you think I'd believe you?"

I think you believe it.

"I'll make you believe it, I'll make you believe it!" Taeyeon said, grabbing a cushion and throwing it wildly at Yoona.

Under Taeyeon's violent threats, Im Yoona finally resigned herself to her fate and began to explain.

"It's... his name is Jiang Che... he said he's from a parallel world... that time... when I saw him appear with my appearance, I was afraid something would happen, so I took him home,"

"Later we found out that he could also transform into other people. You've all seen Pokémon, right? It's similar to Ditto. After transforming, it looks exactly like the real thing."

Jiang Che, standing beside him, promptly adopted a well-behaved expression.

Taeyeon seemed to have thought of something, and her eyes became somewhat subtle and inquisitive:
"Which time was that? When exactly did it happen?"

Yoona swallowed hard and whispered:
"It was...it was on your birthday, unnie...that person on stage was him..."

Taeyeon seemed to confirm her suspicions, looking at Kang Cheol with a complicated expression, then quickly glancing at Yoona. Her lips moved, but she ultimately remained silent.
But the emotions churning in his eyes were even more intense. So it was so early…that's why he said I was the first person he ever met…

"Transformation?" Sunny suddenly interjected from the side:

"Try having him transform into Taeyeon, or even into you, but stop staring at my face all the time, it's creepy."

"Oh, so if you look like me, you won't be creepy anymore?" Taeyeon next to her complained.
Jiang Che spoke helplessly, but the voice that came out was Sunny's, which sounded particularly eerie:
"Um... there's a cooldown period. I just transformed not long ago, so I can't transform again for now."

"Cooldown time?" Sunny's expression became even more bewildered:
"Are you really a shapeshifter? You even have stamina?"

Jiang Che awkwardly touched his nose.

As Taeyeon listened to the increasingly absurd conversation, and recalled her previous complex imaginings about the primary and secondary personalities, she felt as if a crow was flying overhead, cawing:

"Fool, fool." She weakly held her forehead.
"Aigoo... So, from beginning to end, there was never any alternate personality? Yoona is still Yoona, just with an extra... you who can transform?"

Jiang Che nodded obediently:

"Yes, congratulations on getting it right."

Taeyeon: "..."

At this moment, Sunny, who was standing next to her, keenly caught the key words. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously and looked at Taeyeon:

"Wait a minute... what alternate personality? What... what are you talking about?"

Taeyeon froze, a look of extreme embarrassment and shame flashing across her face. How could she possibly admit to her own wild imaginings? She could only stammer an "Ah," without saying anything more.

Sunny looked at Taeyeon's expression, and then at Yoona and Kangcheol's expressions of wanting to laugh but desperately holding it back, and immediately guessed seven or eight parts of the truth.

Her gaze towards Taeyeon was suddenly filled with pity and amusement as if she were looking at a fool—the original horror movie atmosphere dissipated somewhat.

Taeyeon was instantly enraged by that look, bursting into a fit of impotent fury:
"Hey! Lee Soon-kyu! Don't look at me like that!! How can you blame me?! It's because the two of them teamed up to lie to me!!"

She once again turned her anger towards the culprits:
"Why?! Why did you lie to me?! Is it fun to play tricks on me?! Is it interesting to watch me guess like an idiot?! Ugh!!" She was so angry that she wanted to swing a pillow again.

Yoona quickly stepped forward to soothe Taeyeon's hair and hugged her arm:

"Unnie, unnie, calm down. We didn't mean it. It's just that the situation is too complicated, and we don't know how to explain it..."

Just then, Jiang Che spoke softly, his tone noticeably innocent:

"Um... from beginning to end, I never admitted that I was a secondary personality... it was Taeyeon-ssi who said it herself... so I... just went along with it... think about it, wasn't everything I said true?"

Taeyeon: "!!!"

One fatal blow! Perfect KO!

Taeyeon opened her mouth, but found that she couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal—Kang Cheol seemed to... indeed... never personally admitted that he was a secondary personality!

All the settings regarding multiple personality disorder were based on her own observations, speculations, and then her unwavering belief... She just didn't deny it?!
The feeling that "the clown was actually me" almost made her suffocate; unable to find an outlet for her frustration...

Finally, with a "smack," a slap landed squarely on Yoona's incredibly bouncy buttocks!
"Ouch!" Im Yoona jumped away, clutching her bottom, looking completely aggrieved.
"Unnie! Why did you hit me?!"

Taeyeon glared at her angrily and said:

"How dare you ask? I've spoiled you for nothing! You kept such a big thing from me! You even conspired with me to lie to me! Who else should I hit but you!" She seemed still not satisfied and glared fiercely at Jiang Che.

Yoona couldn't refute it, but still felt wronged.

Without hesitation, he snatched the pillow from Taeyeon's hands and accurately threw it at Kang Cheol, who was secretly laughing:
"Hey! Jiang Che! It's all your fault!"

Jiang Che was hit squarely by the pillow, but he didn't dodge. He just touched his nose and chuckled twice.

After this commotion, the eerie and terrifying atmosphere eased considerably; at least, the truth finally came to light.

Then, Taeyeon did something that stunned everyone: she suddenly took a few steps and walked up to Kang Cheol.
She looked at him with an extremely complex expression—a mixture of relief, resentment, weariness after the anger had subsided, and something... indescribable, glistening. Then, before Jiang Che could react, she suddenly reached out and gently but firmly embraced him.

Jiang Che's body froze instantly.

Taeyeon buried her face in his shoulder, her voice soft, tinged with a sob and a hint of relief, as she murmured to herself:

"You're not a secondary personality... really... that's great..."

Upon hearing these words, Jiang Che felt a gentle touch on his heart, and his previously stiff body relaxed.

He raised his hand, gently patted Taeyeon's back, and whispered in response, "Mmm."

Sunny glanced at the two embracing, then at Yoona's subtle expression, and a thought inexplicably popped into her mind:
'This feels like a creepy family of three. I shouldn't have come in; I feel so out of place…'

Immediately afterwards, Sunny suddenly remembered something extremely important.

Her eyes widened instantly, and she pointed at Jiang Che:

"So... that radio show in four languages, the Macau Running Man segment, the one where they shouted 'Forever Girls' Generation,' and that gaming mastermind behind it... it wasn't Yoona at all, it was you?! Kang Cheol?!"

Jiang Che was still being held by Taeyeon, so he could only nod stiffly.

Sunny suddenly realized what was happening, and all the clues instantly connected. She looked at Taeyeon with a playful expression.

"So...Taeyeon, the one you liked...was never Yoona?! But...Kang Cheol?"

These words were like a needle, instantly puncturing the little bit of warmth that Taeyeon had just created.

Taeyeon's body trembled slightly, and her cheek, which had been leaning on Kang Cheol's shoulder, suddenly lifted up. There were still wet tears on her eyelashes, but her ears turned red first, which was quite disappointing.

"Hey! Lee Soon-kyu!"

Like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, she suddenly sprang away from Jiang Che's arms, ignoring the redness in her eyes, and pounced on Sunny, reaching out to cover her mouth.

"Who, who likes it?! I just... Ugh! Shut up!"

While skillfully dodging Taeyeon's attacks, Sunny continued to hurl probing questions—this time directed at Kang Cheol.

She looked Jiang Che up and down and asked the question that had been lingering in her mind since earlier.

"So, Jiang Che-xi..."

She paused, then asked clearly, word by word.

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

Taeyeon, who had been playfully fighting, stopped what she was doing and her gaze involuntarily drifted toward Kang Cheol.

When Jiang Che heard Sunny's shocking question, he remembered his promise to Yoona and subconsciously glanced at Yoona beside him.

Yoona received a look from Kang Cheol, then glanced at Taeyeon and Sunny, who were staring intently at her, and decided to go all out, loudly declaring:

He's a boy!

Seeing this, Jiang Che put on an obedient expression and nodded in agreement.

"Boy...boy?" Taeyeon murmured, repeating herself, her eyes widening slightly.

At that moment, countless images flashed through her mind—the brief touch in the Macau hotel room, the fleeting glimpse of that handsome stranger…

So... that wasn't a dream?
So... I'm not some kind of cheerleader? Nor am I a pervert? My sexual orientation is normal!

But... I forcibly kissed a boy?!

An extremely complex emotion surged into Taeyeon's heart in an instant—she subconsciously took a small step back, her fingers unconsciously twisting together.

Sunny, on the other hand, reacted much more directly.

She froze, as if struck by lightning, for a full three or four seconds before letting out an incredulous gasp and staring at Yoona, saying:

"Moragu? A...boy? Oh! Yoona...you're living with a guy?"

"Uh..." Yoona's eyes darted around frantically as she whispered her explanation:

"This...this is a special case..."

Sunny's gaze then swept over Taeyeon, whose face was still flushed, her eyes even more playful. Taeyeon's ears burned from the look, and she simply lowered her head and frantically played with her fingers.

Finally, Sunny's gaze returned to Jiang Che, and a horrifying thought flashed through her mind, causing her voice to tremble:

"So...when you...when you became like me...did...even your body......"

She didn't dare say it out loud, but the meaning couldn't be clearer.

moment!

(End of this chapter)