Chapter 65

The room suddenly fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Kim Cho-wan belatedly realized that now was not a good time to bring up Ran Hyun.

But she has already said it.

In Li Xing'en's suddenly narrowed pupils and in Jiang Chen's stormy silence, Jin Chuwan began to wish she were the kind of weak female protagonist in online novels, preferably the kind who could faint at the slightest gust of wind.

But obviously, this won't work.

The rain pattered outside, and the air was damp, cold, and stuffy.

Jiang Chen was the first to break the silence. He pushed his phone, which was resting on the edge of the table, further in. The very faint scraping sound gave Jin Chuwan the illusion that she had been let off the hook.

But soon she heard his deep voice again.

"I remember you two were just getting along not long ago, how come you're together now?"

Jiang Chen's eyes slid across the metal side of the phone. He slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with a mixture of inquiry and unintentional mockery.

He stated bluntly, "I don't believe it."

Li Xingen's eyes flickered, and he looked at Jiang Chen. For a moment, he actually found him more pleasing to the eye.

But soon, he laughed at his own perception.

From the moment they realized each other's identities, they regarded each other as a threat. Now, they were abandoned at the same time. In just a moment, they seemed to have become brothers in arms, sharing the same trench and enduring bombing.

To be honest, he didn't believe it either.

He turned to look at Jin Chuwan, whose face was as calm and composed as ever, but her slightly clenched hands betrayed her unease and tension.

Jiang Chen could laugh, he could be angry, he could question, he could doubt, but he could not.

They couldn't even express the slightest jealousy or resentment.

Because he had already made a promise, he hoped and was willing to 'go back to the past' with her.

The boy wore a faint smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes; instead, it made his face look even paler.

At this moment, Li Xing'en felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly, not painful but strangely suffocating. Resentment and jealousy were as sticky as a spider web, binding him to the sofa beneath him, rendering him unable to move.

He slowly exhaled, habitually suppressing the resentment and coldness in his eyes.

It's as if, in order to maintain some pitiful persona, his life always seems to experience some setbacks at crucial moments. Even though he himself doesn't possess any upright or pure character, setbacks don't make him brave and fearless; they only amplify the coldness and gloom deep within his heart.

It even took him an excessively long time to make his doubtful and suspicious self realize his true feelings in a flustered and confused state.

But now she says she wants to be with someone else.

The boy's bangs hung low, almost obscuring his eyes.

He smiled, but his eyes turned ashen and cold.

Why? No matter what, it was him or Jiang Chen who spent the most time by Jin Chuwan's side. He patiently cultivated their bond, made her accustomed to his presence, and made her trust him completely.

Why should just anyone be able to steal it?

Lee Sung-eun finally raised his eyes and stared quietly at Kim Cho-wan. His overly calm gaze made Kim Cho-wan feel even more pressured.

If she hadn't been a time traveler who had lived a lifetime, she would almost certainly have collapsed and fled under Jiang Chen's questioning and Li Xing'en's gaze.

But she insisted that she was an adult.

Jin Chuwan averted her gaze from Li Xing'en and turned her eyes to Jiang Chen.

After saying "I don't believe it," he maintained a state of observation towards her. His calm and unwavering gaze and nonchalant posture seemed to express a sense of certainty.

Well, it probably stemmed from a kind of anger and embarrassment.

Kim Chu-wan finally broke down.

She wanted to break free from this interrogation, so she replied firmly, "Who I'm with is my business, and I don't need to explain it to you. Anyway... I'm with Ran Xian right now, and he... isn't so bad."

The tall, aloof young man keenly noticed the flaw in her words.

"He's not bad... so you mean he's not good either?"

After changing his stance, Jiang Chen easily brought up the words Xia Zhihe had just left behind.

"Then just treat him as someone who's obedient to play with. If you get tired of him, just kick him out. After all, he's not all that great."

Jin Chuwan was momentarily shocked as she looked at Jiang Chen's smiling eyes.

"Are you saying that you truly like him and that you can't live without him?"

This remark seemed to amuse Li Xing'en, and the young man let out a low laugh at the right moment, with a hint of mockery and contempt.

He agreed with Jiang Chen's words; it was just a stray dog ​​that would run a few steps after a passerby waved it down. Jin Chuwan could just tease it if she found it boring or uninteresting.

We can't actually take them home.

Jin Chuwan suddenly fell into a long silence. She had thought she would have to fight both of them tonight no matter what, but now it seemed unnecessary. Her companion, who hadn't even appeared yet, had already been thoroughly attacked in just a few words, yet she still seemed to maintain her composure.

Oh well, this is fine too.

It's better for Ran Xian to be targeted than for her to be put on trial for her romantic history.

That kind of thing is really hard for her to come up with.

Jin Chuwan breathed a slight sigh of relief. She glanced at the two people in the room. Not long ago she had felt sleepy, but now she was awake.

She was about to tell them to leave.

"The rain has subsided a lot now. You can leave once the IV drip is finished."

She told them to leave.

Let's go together, let's go quickly.

Now that things have come to this, there's no need to pretend you don't understand, don't believe, can't, or that it's impossible.

Jin Chuwan subconsciously touched the collar of her pajamas, then secretly glanced at the two people beside her.

That's right, they like her.

Given this, she couldn't possibly keep a man with such intentions in the house.

And there were two of them.

In a daze, Jin Chuwan glanced at the mirror placed diagonally on the table, her face appearing blurry in the palm-sized projection.

She suddenly drifted off into deep thought.

She summarized her boring persona and concluded that, in this world of online novels filled with melodramatic conflicts and excessive obsession, being boring can also become a kind of charm?

Jin Chuwan was lost in thought and didn't notice the two people whose eyes met.

Jiang Chen and Li Xing'en seemed to have reached a tacit understanding in an instant; they neither answered Jin Chuwan nor rejected her.

However, this also means that they followed Kim Chu-wan's wishes.

Half an hour later, the two left the old-fashioned apartment building one after the other.

In her memory, the two of them had never given each other a friendly look, but when they left this time, Jin Chuwan seemed to hear a few whispers in the corridor.

After much deliberation, Kim Cho-wan turned the key a couple more times.

--

The rain lasted all night, and the air was much cooler the next day.

Jin Chuwan woke up late, quickly washed up, changed her clothes, grabbed her backpack, and rushed downstairs.

On the way, she was still considering whether to take the bus, until she saw the eye-catching sports car at the entrance of the community and Ran Xian standing in front of the sports car looking at his watch.

Their eyes met, and Ran Xian sneered.

"So rushed, did you oversleep?"

Jin Chuwan rubbed the back of her neck hesitantly, somewhat surprised.

"Why are you here?"

And how did he know she had class today?

Ran Xian opened the car door and waited for Jin Chuwan to sit down before handing her the chicken soup that her aunt had prepared.

Today he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, making him look more refined and elegant than usual.

"What's so strange about me caring about my 'girlfriend'?" He glanced at Jin Chuwan, his fingers unconsciously pushing up his glasses. "But you are the one who should be concerned. I remember you used to be very disciplined. How come you're either taking a shower when you're sick or being lazy in bed?"

Kim Cho-wan was drawn in by the aroma of the chicken soup, but she still emphasized, "First, I didn't get sick on purpose, and second, I wasn't lazy in bed; I just overslept."

Ran Xian scoffed again, started the car, and drove steadily toward T University.

Jin Chuwan drank two mouthfuls of warm chicken soup and felt satisfied. She turned to look at Ran Xian, thought for a moment, and then spoke.

"Well, I told Jiang Chen and Li Xing'en about our situation yesterday."

The young man driving raised an eyebrow, his reaction was subtle, and he simply asked in a low voice, "What did you say?"

Jin Chuwan paused for a moment: "Just... say you're my boyfriend."

What else can we say? Lovers? So cloying…

Soon she heard Ran Xian's laughter. He seemed to be in a much better mood, and even reached out to ruffle Jin Chuwan's hair.

"Not bad, not bad."

Upon hearing Ran Xian's praise, Jin Chuwan's expression changed. She immediately dodged the hand above her head and frowned, saying, "Don't touch my hair..."

"I drove you to get breakfast first thing this morning, and you can't even touch my head? Don't forget, we made a promise. Even if it's fake, we need to build up some relationship to make it believable..."

Mentioning this made Jin Chuwan feel tired again. She glanced at the young man beside her and said with a hint of helplessness, "But Jiang Chen said on the spot that he didn't believe it..."

Ran Xian laughed again, then stopped laughing and said with a pitying expression, "Then what can you do with him? He's just putting on a brave face..."

Jin Chuwan silently glanced at the young man driving the car. She suddenly remembered that last night, Jiang Chen and Li Xingen seemed to have a similar dismissive attitude.

She suddenly felt a little worried. Although her relationship with Ran Xian wasn't very close, she didn't want to cause him too much trouble because of herself.

"Anyway... if they really make things difficult for you, we'll 'break up peacefully'."

That's not how it's always written in novels, with all that threats and bribes...

Jin Chuwan had mixed feelings.

As they approached the school, Ran Xian slowly brought the car to a stop. He looked relaxed and calm until Jin Chuwan finished drinking the chicken soup, at which point his expression turned serious.

He advised Jin Chuwan, just as he had advised Ran Min.

"I'm telling you, you should read fewer novels or watch fewer idol dramas in the future. Don't let your imagination run wild, and don't worry unnecessarily. We're in a free-love relationship, so even our own parents can't say anything. What can they do?"

Jin Chuwan, who had just gotten out of the car, suddenly froze for a moment. She looked at Ran Xian, who waved to her, then closed the car door and turned to leave, and suddenly felt like she might have a heart attack.

What...?

What's with this minor character, who's barely even a background character in the novel, spouting such nonsense?

Only after the sports car was completely out of sight did Jin Chuwan lower her eyes to glance at the time on her watch.

very good.

7:50 a.m. on September 24, 2001.

This was the most depressing time she had experienced since she transmigrated.