Chapter 39 Confession (Bonus Chapter for 11,000 Nutrient Solution) Because I like...
For the next week, Jiang Tinghan had very little communication with Kwon Ji-yong. She was extremely busy. First, she had to sign a contract with Wake One Entertainment, the agency of the show's organizer, Ment. It was a two-year limited-time contract.
As for her personal contract, many companies extended offers to her, including the four major entertainment companies nowadays, but Jiang Tinghan didn't like any of them. In the end, she signed a two-year contract with Stone Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of the parent company CJ ENM. Of course, this SM is not the same as the SM of today.
During the communication, the company tried every means to persuade Coldy to sign a five-year or even longer contract, using promises such as "We rarely sign new artists anymore, we mainly release music, so we can allocate a lot of resources to you" to entice her, but Jiang Tinghan firmly refused.
Two years from now, she might earn enough to buy a house and then focus on her studies. Besides, she doesn't like being tied to a big company for so long. If they put her on hold to force her to renew her contract, wouldn't that just prove that the company can't sign long-term contracts?
Finding a lawyer, asking the director for money, visiting Kong Yanshu Villa, accompanying her father to play with Xiao Han, comforting the injured Xia and taking her to the airport, having dinner with the new members and getting to know the various staff of the new company... Jiang Tinghan made many trips in the past week, and there was always work to do as soon as she opened her eyes every day.
There was also the dormitory accommodation, where two people shared a room. Because so many people wanted to live with her, they decided by lottery. In the end, she shared a room with Anri Tsukichi, which was a kind of ending.
Decorating your dorm room is also a very tiring task.
Fortunately, everything was completed perfectly in the end, and the feeling of the money in my pocket was truly reassuring.
Jiang Tinghan, finally having some free time, opened her chat with Kwon Ji-yong. There had been very few chats in the past few days, with the chat from the night of the finals at the top.
Kwon Ji-yong congratulated her, she said thank you, and that was it. It was as if their relationship had suddenly cooled down.
But Jiang Tinghan knew that wasn't the case; Quan Zhilong was giving her time to think.
The show is over, she's debuted, and the restrictions are gone. She has to make a choice: stay together or stop seeing each other altogether. There's no option to "be good friends."
Kwon Ji-yong doesn't want to be her good friend, he only wants to be her boyfriend.
Jiang Tinghan felt that being busy for only a week was a bit short. During this week, when she didn't want to think about Quan Zhilong, she felt indifferent towards him. But as soon as she opened the chat box, her heart started racing, making it impossible for her to deceive herself.
These past few days, she keeps recalling the figure she saw during the finals. He appears whenever she closes her eyes, and she imagines what his expression would be, what emotions would be hidden in his eyes... If it were him, he wouldn't hide anything at all.
I also think about all sorts of random things, like why he has a seat but doesn't sit down and runs down to stand and suffer, whether he can really see the performance clearly from so far away, whether he's afraid of being recognized by fans and surrounded by them (there are no bodyguards here), and why he didn't come alone but with friends...
This person would appear silently whenever Jiang Tinghan had a moment of free time, like a ghost.
Open KakaoStory and you'll see Kwon Ji-yong in the newly added CL mentor's posts. He's drunk, talking nonsense with his friends, laughing and joking around like a child. It's completely different from the mature, gentle and considerate demeanor he had when he met Jiang Tinghan before.
She looks... kind of cute?
She felt like she was doomed.
The longer the cooling-off period goes by, the less calm people become.
After staring blankly at the screen for five minutes, Jiang Tinghan decided to give up entirely.
Oppa, what are you doing?
Before, it was all Kwon Ji-yong who proactively sent "good morning, good afternoon, and good night" messages every day; now it's her turn to proactively send messages.
Kwon Ji-yong replied quickly: [At a friend's pet shop]
Jiang Tinghan: [Do you take your cat for a bath?]
Kwon Ji-yong: [kkk Do you think I'm the kind of person who would personally bathe a cat? I'm not that free, am I?]
Jiang Tinghan: [Yes]
Kwon Ji-yong: [Yeah...you guessed right! But not today, I've been thinking about getting a puppy lately.]
He also included a location, seemingly saying, "I'm here."
Jiang Tinghan searched for the location and found it was a half-hour taxi ride away.
Why did I suddenly want to get a dog? Aren't I enough with iye and zoa?
Kwon Ji-yong: [This is just something I'm thinking about. Iye and Zoa are mine, but I also want a puppy that I can share with someone else.]
Jiang Tinghan: [?]
She wanted to use her usual methods, either pretending to be stupid or saying, "I haven't agreed yet, how could you dream about me before?" But now that things have come to this point, the other party is being open and honest with her, and if she keeps running away, she'll look like a coward.
Do you offer afternoon tea? I'm a little hungry.
Kwon Ji-yong patted the head of the Pomeranian in his arms, and as he looked at the message that clearly expressed "I want to come," the corners of his mouth continued to turn upward.
[We have small cakes, milk tea, and coffee. If you don't like those, I can go to a nearby store and buy you something to eat right now.]
The message was marked as "read" immediately after it was sent, but she didn't reply for several tens of seconds, as if she was thinking about what to eat.
Jiang Tinghan: [I want to eat pancakes, with syrup on top.]
Kwon Ji-yong: [Good]
About thirty minutes later, a figure sneaked into the pet store, wearing a hood that covered her hair, like the coat she wore when performing "E Back to Me," with a brown fur trim around the hood and a turtleneck sweater underneath, not even her neck showing.
But her furtive manner only meant she walked quickly; her back was still very straight, and her slightly flared jeans accentuated her long, straight legs. Paired with white sneakers, her outfit made her look like a K-drama heroine stepped into reality.
Jiang Tinghan looked up and around, thinking that this place was really hard to find. Did they even want to make money? But the decor had a strong artistic vibe, so it was probably just a pastime for one of Kwon Ji-yong's wealthy friends.
She glanced down at her phone and saw that Kwon Ji-yong had messaged her a few tens of minutes earlier, saying that she could just go to the room on the right-hand side of the second floor, and she obediently did as he said.
As soon as the door opened, Kwon Ji-yong made no attempt to hide his presence and sat there surrounded by a bunch of dogs, with dog treats beside him.
Coincidentally, he was wearing a beige turtleneck sweater today, which made him look refined and elegant.
When the word popped into Jiang Tinghan's mind, he inexplicably felt like laughing.
She quickly slipped something into Kwon Ji-yong's hand, sat down next to him, but kept a distance of one person between them.
"What is this?" Kwon Ji-yong looked down and saw a plush toy keychain. The IP was from the popular Korean chat app KakaoFriends, featuring a yellow bear named Ryan.
Jiang Tinghan: "I bought it on the way to Lotte World with my family a couple of days ago."
Kwon Ji-yong let the Pomeranian run away from his arms and poked the teddy bear's head: "You really like dolls?"
Jiang Tinghan: "It's alright."
Kwon Ji-yong's voice carried a hint of amusement: "But you seem to keep giving me dolls, from different amusement parks. Are you going to help me collect them?"
Jiang Tinghan took off her mask, folded it, and put it in her bag, saying in a relaxed tone, "It's not impossible."
Kwon Ji-yong raised an eyebrow: "Sounds good. Next time you go back to China, give me a Disney one. It's a shame that Korea doesn't have a Disneyland."
Jiang Tinghan retorted sarcastically, "Wouldn't I be at a huge loss? At least reselling can make some money."
“I think we don’t need to talk about money anymore in our relationship. What do you think, Tinghan?” Quan Zhilong easily grasped Jiang Tinghan’s lifeline with a single sentence.
Asking "What is our relationship now?" plays right into the other person's hands, while saying "No matter what our relationship is, money is very important" is like admitting the ambiguity in their words.
It's always like this, trying to have it both ways.
Jiang Tinghan simply stopped answering and looked around: "Where are my pancakes?"
Kwon Ji-yong stood up: "Wait a moment, I'll get it for you, Miss."
His voice trailed off, conveying a sense of helplessness in the face of unreasonable demands, but more than anything, it was filled with doting affection.
Jiang Tinghan rested his elbows on his knees and his wrists on his chin, inwardly complaining, "What kind of weird address is this? It's so cheesy."
There were only two pancakes in total, and Kwon Ji-yong took one of them. Jiang Tinghan could only angrily stuff the pancake into her mouth. Her face was so small that even a small pancake made her cheeks puff up, and every bite seemed like she was venting her anger.
Kwon Ji-yong also has a small face and eats just as much, but he still mocked her: "Aigoo... our Tinghan has turned into a squirrel now."
Jiang Tinghan rolled her eyes without any regard for her image: "Just eat yours."
In the past, she rarely had such vivid expressions.
Kwon Ji-yong's expression brightened, and a sly smile appeared on his lips, though it wasn't obvious, as if he was trying to suppress a laugh.
He also learned to change the subject: "There are so many dogs here. Which one do you like? I'll give it to you. The puppies that are a few months old are in another room."
Kwon Ji-yong waved the dog treats in his hand, and more than a dozen dogs rushed over, wagging their tails wildly around him and Jiang Tinghan, as if they could immediately worship the two of them as dog king and queen as long as they could eat the treats.
Jiang Tinghan looked down at the dog. A husky was licking her hand. It wasn't very big, probably not even a year old, and looked rather silly. She couldn't resist feeding it a goat milk stick, and then said:
"Oppa, even if you gave it to me, I couldn't raise it."
Kwon Ji-yong then said, "I can help you take care of it for a while."
Jiang Tinghan lifted her eyelids and glanced at the smiling Kwon Ji-yong. She always felt that he was up to something when he smiled: "Oppa, my dog has only been gone for a few years. Aren't you afraid that I won't like the new puppy?"
"Would you?" Kwon Ji-yong's smile remained, even appearing somewhat tolerant and gentle. "We've both had similar experiences. I know you won't dwell on the sadness of the past; you'll look forward."
The husky in front of him was still crunching on a stick when Kwon Ji-yong lifted him up by the armpits.
"Besides, isn't it cute?"
Kwon Ji-yong lifted the husky to his face, held its two paws and waved them. Its blue eyes and amber eyes stared at Jiang Tinghan, looking equally clear.
Jiang Tinghan felt that she was going to bring home not just one puppy, but two.
Her heart skipped a beat, but she quickly regained her composure and cleared her throat: "Then... then this one will do."
She pointed to the husky in Kwon Ji-yong's hand.
"Woof?"
Kwon Ji-yong turned the husky around, staring at it blankly. The husky, a high-energy breed, was clearly not in his considerations; he had just picked it up as an example. Little did he know that he had shot himself in the foot.
Jiang Tinghan asked "thoughtfully," "What's wrong, Oppa? Don't you like it? Then I can change to another one."
Kwon Ji-yong gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words: "I like it, of course I like it."
"Because I like you, I will like any pet you choose."
His originally heavy tone suddenly shifted, and he casually uttered a confession, catching Jiang Tinghan completely off guard and leaving her no time to prepare herself.
A look of astonishment flashed in her dark eyes. She had anticipated what would happen before she came, but she thought it would drag on for at least a few hours and only happen when the event was over. She didn't expect it to be so swift and unexpected.
It's unbelievable that Kwon Ji-yong, given his personality, didn't pull any big surprises.
Seeing the girl in front of him fall silent for a long time, seemingly a little nervous, Kwon Ji-yong comforted her, "It's okay. I'm already thirty-four years old this year. I won't be affected by your refusal. You can agree if you want, or you can refuse boldly if you want."
"I'll do whatever you say."
Jiang Tinghan looked at his effortless demeanor and didn't believe his nonsense at all.
In a moment filled with ambiguity and tension, yet also revealing a touch of tenderness, the husky in Kwon Ji-yong's arms suddenly opened its mouth and bit him—not hard, just the force of a lick.
Kwon Ji-yong noticed the puppy's impatience and was about to let it go when he suddenly felt a warm sensation on his hand. Looking down, he saw a yellow stain.
"..."
Hey! At this exact moment, you're really inconsiderate!
Before he could break down, he heard a soft laugh coming from in front of him.
Looking up, I saw her smiling with her eyes crinkling, like a spring stream breaking through thin ice, or like snow melting in early spring—clear, bright, vivid, and lively.
Jiang Tinghan said, "But I don't want to refuse, oh dok?"
Her voice trailed off lazily at the end, and it even sounded a little coquettish.
Kwon Ji-yong's inner collapse and helplessness vanished instantly, and he relaxed completely, his shoulders slumping slightly as he chuckled and said, "Then we'll just have to take care of this ignorant little puppy together."
Together they asked the shop owner for tools and did a simple cleaning. The shop owner apologized while saying that it was time for the husky to have a bath.
The two exchanged a glance and enthusiastically helped the husky take a bath. The puppy kept yelping and howling, probably because it was very dirty.
Upon seeing that it was a male puppy, Kwon Ji-yong became even angrier, showing no kindness towards male creatures.
Jiang Tinghan chuckled to herself, her narrow phoenix eyes constantly lowered in a crescent shape. Now that there was a result, she felt much more relaxed.
When you get back, you need to work even harder, write more great songs that everyone will love, and create more outstanding performances.
Before leaving, the shop owner asked Kwon Ji-yong to sign his name on the wall of his shop. Kwon Ji-yong quickly and neatly signed his daisy GD signature.
"Honey, why don't you sign one too?"
The change of title was so rapid, it was truly astonishing.
Jiang Tinghan suppressed his emotions and said calmly, "Wouldn't it be too obvious if I signed it?"
Kwon Ji-yong quickly offered a solution: "Then let's sign something that isn't obvious."
“What could be unclear?” Jiang Tinghan twitched the corner of his mouth, somewhat helplessly. He took the marker and wrote a bold LTTR on the wall, which stands for Listen To The River.
The upper part of "L" is connected to the lower right part of "R", which looks like a string of scribbles, yet it has a certain artistic feel.
Kwon Ji-yong patted the puppy's head and handed it to the shop owner. He hadn't prepared anything and planned to come back in a few days to pick up the husky and mentally prepare himself.
Then, he looked up at Jiang Tinghan's signature, raised an eyebrow, and joked, "What? Why are you imitating my signature style?"
Jiang Tinghan spoke calmly, but a smile was hidden in her eyes: "Is that so? Maybe good-looking signatures are always similar."
Those who flirt are always the ones who get flirted with. Kwon Ji-yong was stunned for a moment, feeling as if a feather had gently brushed against his heart.
He took Jiang Tinghan's hand, his fingers slowly weaving together, from grasping to holding, and finally their fingers intertwined.
For the first time, they had physical contact, and for the first time, their touch was so intimate. Their fingers intertwined, and their two passionate hearts seemed to be intertwined as well.
Kwon Ji-yong's tone was quite light and cheerful, with rising intonation at the end of each syllable, as sweet as a twenty-year-old boy just starting out in love:
"Let's go, I'll take you home."
Jiang Tinghan glanced at the time: "It seems like it's still early."
It means I want to spend more time with him.
Kwon Ji-yong readily changed his mind and said, "Let's go, I'll take you home."
Jiang Tinghan: "...?"
Don't push your luck like that.
Seeing the other person's surprised look, Kwon Ji-yong felt a sense of satisfaction and chuckled to himself. He said, "My cat can do backflips—just kidding. Let's go eat, it's on me."
"Um."
Jiang Tinghan responded softly, put on her mask and hood. Since the other person was still holding her hand, she could only operate with one hand. The mask strap was on her left ear, with the lower half hanging down, waiting for her to move it to her other ear.
Kwon Ji-yong reached out his other hand and naturally helped her put on the mask strap, while smoothing the stray hairs by her temples with his fingers. He could clearly feel the warmth on her earlobe, and—she trembled slightly in discomfort.
Jiang Tinghan had lost count of how many times she had felt anxious throughout the day. Her thoughts were in complete disarray. She wondered if there was a clause in the contract prohibiting dating. It seemed not. The activities hadn't officially started yet, and the company hadn't issued a ban on them in time. Would dating before the ban was issued mean that she wouldn't be violating the rules...?
Okay, calm down. She's known online as the bewitching Naga, and when it comes to captivating hearts, she absolutely can't lose to Kwon Ji-yong.
Just as his fingertips were about to leave, Jiang Tinghan suddenly turned his head and leaned forward slightly. His lips, through the mask, brushed against the inside of Quan Zhilong's wrist, leaving a touch more fleeting than a spark.
Even though the texture was rough, Kwon Ji-yong could still feel the warmth, and his heart was instantly stirred, as if pebbles had been thrown into his heart lake.
A kiss from a mask landed on my wrist.
It's light and airy, with little force, so fast that it escapes before you can even catch it, like falling snow.
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Author's note: I'm so touched by this! [poor face]
Congratulations Oppa on receiving the Jade Crown! And it just so happens that I wrote about love, hehe! [Laughing out loud]
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