Chapter 60 Chapter 60
When Quan Zhilong arrived at the studio, Kush was the only one there. "Why are you alone?" He pushed open the door and casually placed the hard drive Kush had requested on the table.
"I don't know what Teddy's been up to these past couple of days. He hasn't been around at all." Kush turned his chair and reached for the hard drive. "I originally messaged Lia to bring it, but she's a senior now and doesn't come around often on weekends.
Fortunately, you—Hey, Zhuhe!" The rambling voice stopped abruptly, and he stood up and greeted the person behind Quan Zhilong: "Long time no see." "Long time no see."
Lee Joo Hyuk followed in. Hearing the name, he glanced at Kwon Ji Yong calmly, his lips curling up. Kwon Ji Yong seemed unfazed, lazily finding a chair and sitting down.
"What wind brought you here?" Kush smiled and patted his shoulder. Although they were not in the same circle, they had already become familiar with each other because of Quan Zhilong. "I've been resting at home recently.
"He just happened to be coming to the company to pick something up, so he just tagged along," Lee Joo Hyuk said with a smile, leaning against the counter without sitting down. Kush nodded. "Want to go out tonight? A friend of mine just opened a bar in Gangnam, it's really lively."
The recording studio has been incredibly quiet lately. Everyone else is away on business, at events, or attending school, leaving him alone at the office. He's practically going insane with boredom. As expected, Quan Zhilong shook his head. "No, I'm tired."
After returning, he'd been busy with one trip after another, rarely getting a day off. He just wanted to lie down. Kush pouted and turned to look at Lee Joo-hyuk, who also shook his head.
"You... that's enough!" Kush sighed, leaning back in his swivel chair. "With that face, why are you always tied to that guy? If I looked like that, I'd be nowhere to be seen in the company."
Kwon Ji-yong threw a small piece of paper at him in a gesture of disapproval, and Lee Joo-hyuk chuckled softly. "Oh, right," Kush said, suddenly realizing something. He turned to look at Kwon Ji-yong, "Is that rumor true?" His eyes gleamed with excitement.
Lee Joo Hyuk also looked over upon hearing this. "What scandal?" Kwon Ji Yong frowned. "The one with the Japanese model," Kush prompted, silently mouthing "Kiko."
"No, we're just friends," Kwon Ji-yong replied calmly, not saying anything more. Kush tactfully stopped there. "Where did you see that news?" Lee Joo-hyuk asked curiously.
"Forum," Kush leaned back in his chair and turned around. "You may not have time to read it. The internet is full of news about him lately." "But... there's something else." He seemed a little hesitant and stopped talking halfway through.
"What else?" Quan Zhilong casually took out a cigarette case, but didn't open it, just twirling it in his hands. "They said you plagiarized," Kush glanced at him and changed his tone. "But there are still many people who support you."
There was no substantive evidence, just empty talk. "Hmm," Quan Zhilong muttered, his expression darkening. Although he had been prepared, hearing it in person still put him off a bit.
"Should we tell the company?" Lee Joo Hyuk asked, "As a precaution." "Forget it," he threw the cigarette box on the table and leaned back in his chair, "It happens every year, it will die down after a while." Having said that, he still picked up his phone and opened the forum.
A message popped up. [The lovelovegd222 you follow posted a new post] He raised an eyebrow and clicked on it. The page jumped. ——[Analysis] GD "She's
Gone》Detailed notes. He was a little surprised. This song is not the main song, and compared to other songs on the album, its sound source performance is not very good.
It was a little experiment of his, but he hadn't expected this "special focus" to include an analysis first. He casually scrolled down the page. At first, it was just a standard arrangement analysis—accurate, but not particularly innovative.
At least after reading this person's previous posts, he already had a basic understanding of what was going on. But when his eyes fell to the end of the post, his fingertips paused slightly. "A love that cannot coexist, a love that determines its meaning through its ending..."
He stared at the words. It was so precise it was almost offensive. It had been written down even before he had. He stared at the screen for a long time, motionless, entranced.
Lee Joo-hyuk chanced a glance at him, startled by his sudden focus. "Ding—" Someone's phone rang. Kwon Ji-yong tapped on it a few times, then read the content. His lips involuntarily curled up, then quickly pursed again.
He stood up and said calmly, "I'm going to the bathroom." Then he walked out. Lee Joo Hyuk glanced at Kush, who was oblivious, fiddling with his hard drive, then at Kwon Ji Yong, who had already reached the door, and sighed softly.
This guy, even if the sky fell on him, he probably wouldn't even think of running away. "Yeah." He nodded, indicating that he would wait in the recording studio. Then he picked up a magazine and flipped through it. ...
It was only 1 p.m. when Lia arrived at the office. She could have arrived earlier. But she had a bad day: she waited in line for half an hour, but the crucian carp cakes were sold out, so she had to wait for another batch.
As she was almost at the office, she belatedly realized that it was summer, and crucian carp cakes were clearly not a popular food in such weather. She sighed deeply. She had an inexplicable premonition that things were going to go wrong.
She'd wanted to go straight to the studio, but after a moment's hesitation on the stairs, she decided to go up to the rooftop. The wind on the rooftop was incredibly strong. There weren't any tall buildings nearby to block the wind, and even in late summer, it was giving her a headache. The location didn't seem particularly good either.
She leaned against the railing, her schoolbag at her feet, and lowered her head to type a message. Not long after, familiar footsteps could be heard from behind her. "What do you want me to do?" Quan Zhilong's voice rang out from behind.
Lia turned around. He was wearing a black hoodie, standing against the light. She was a little surprised. He arrived faster than she expected. Quan Zhilong approached, his eyes glancing at the paper bag in her hand.
"Want to eat?" She held up the bag, her tone cautious, a hint of trepidation in her voice. He shook his head: "No, I don't have much of an appetite." "Yeah." Lia nodded and put the bag down. "Have you been busy lately?" she asked again.
It wasn't something she'd prepared, but somehow, as they stared at each other, she let out a question. She felt a pang of regret—a superfluous question. Quan Zhilong felt somewhat helpless, a look that almost blatantly said, "What do you think?"
"Yeah, I'm busy," he replied kindly, though sparingly. The wind blew her hair into a mess. Lia raised her hand to hold back a few strands of hair, looking a little embarrassed. She hummed, lowered her head, and glanced at the tip of her shoe.
The two of them were silent for a moment, with only the whistling of the wind in their ears. "You called me up here just to tell me this?" he finally couldn't help but ask. "No," she pursed her lips and took a deep breath, "I wanted to apologize to you."
He raised an eyebrow, as if waiting for her to continue. "...Well, on your birthday, I promised you I'd be here early. But I ended up being late after all. I'm sorry." After saying this, she suddenly felt a strange sense of grievance.
As if she had just realized her own humbleness—before she even heard the answer, a small voice in her heart rang out: It's not such a serious matter, why can't he forgive her a little? She lowered her head and fiddled with the paper bag in her hand.
"It's okay," he said casually, "It's just my birthday, not a big deal." As if he wasn't the one who had been in a unilateral cold war for so long because of this. Lia stared at him: "Are you really okay?"
"Yeah." He nodded, his eyes looking away somewhat unnaturally, "So, why were you late that day?" "The subway broke down," she said softly, "A friend's grandmother is coming, and she asked me to pick her up." "Friend?" His tone sank.
Almost immediately, she suddenly realized what the problem was—she knew that the day before was Yu Chenghao's birthday. At that moment, all the causes and consequences that had been obscured by the chaotic emotions suddenly became clear. So this is it.
A wave of joy, mixed with panic, surged up at once, and a smile crept up her face. But he had clearly misunderstood her expression. He raised the corners of his mouth and replied indifferently, "Are you so happy to think of a friend? How kind."
"......." Lia didn't feel wronged, nor did she get angry at his sarcastic tone. She just felt a balloon of happiness rapidly expanding in her chest. He was jealous of her.
These words exploded in her mind like fireworks. She couldn't think of anything else, and she didn't know what else to think about. The paper bag in her hand was crumpled from the way she squeezed it, no longer smooth.
The only bit of rationality left made her realize that she couldn't ask directly - it would definitely hurt his self-esteem. But other than that, she really didn't know what to say. "Actually..."
She decided to explain her lateness seriously. "Ring a ding dong, ring a ding ding dong..." The playful ringtone suddenly rang out.
It was his phone. Lia suddenly stopped talking. She wondered if she was being overly sensitive—this wasn't his usual ringtone. "Answer it first." She took a few steps back and turned sideways.
Quan Zhilong seemed irritated by her tact, his expression growing even colder. He answered the phone irritably, turning his back to her. "Hello..." Then he switched to English, his tone softening.
The wind whistled, and his voice pierced through, gentle and light. "Um... no, I just got back from the office." "I haven't eaten yet. Wait a minute." ...
She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she was so close that she could hear every word. The content was nothing special, just ordinary trivia. — And it just happened to be ordinary trivia.
Somehow, she remembered the gossip she'd read on the forum last night. Her heart sank, and something thick and heavy settled in her throat. Soon, the call ended.
He hung up the phone, turned around, and his face returned to its previous calm expression. The wind blew his hair across his forehead. He wasn't wearing a hat today, and his platinum hair shone softly in the sunlight. Clean and eye-catching.
How could she think that such a person was jealous of her? Lia couldn't help but think about it. "Were you talking about which friend?" Quan Zhilong picked up the topic again.
There was a hint of stiffness in his tone, as if the person who spoke softly on the phone a minute ago wasn't him. Lia suddenly lost interest in answering, her eyes fixed on the rolling clouds in the sky.
She didn't answer, so he waited patiently—a silent struggle. Finally, she gave in first. She looked at him provocatively, "Oppa also knows about this friend."
"Oh..." He didn't ask any further questions. He lowered his eyes and remained silent for a while. When he spoke again, a lazy smile suddenly appeared on his face. "Don't you want to ask me who called just now?"
They were only half a meter apart, yet it was too far to tell what he was thinking. "Who is it?" Lia asked. Reason screamed at her to stop, but she spoke anyway. If only he could read her eyes. "My girlfriend."
The balloon suddenly vanished. "Oh," she said dryly after a long pause. Emotions receded like the tide, and all that had filled her chest vanished. Quan Zhilong stared at her intently, as if waiting for some reaction.
Shocked? Confused? Reluctant? But she felt none of these. Instead, she seemed a little tired. He suddenly felt something was out of his control, and his eyes froze for a moment. "What a beautiful day," she said suddenly. She bent down, picked up her schoolbag, and dusted it off.
Quan Zhilong stood still, his fingertips twitching slightly. "Come to the rooftop more often to enjoy the fresh air. I haven't been thinking clearly lately." She suddenly smiled and tapped her forehead. Then she gave him a deep look and clenched the paper bag in her hand.
Forget it. "I'm going down first. It's windy here, Oppa, don't stay out too long." She said, turning around and walking away. The soles of her shoes made a crisp "dang" sound on the iron stairs.
Just as she reached the door, she suddenly paused, as if realizing something. Turning her head, she saw Lee Joo-hyuk awkwardly raise his hand and emerge from the tool room. "I really wasn't eavesdropping this time, do you believe me?" he said with a wry smile.
He just wanted to come up to look for someone, but unexpectedly ran into another good show. Lia glared at him and stuffed the crucian carp cake into his arms. "Here you go." Then she disappeared around the corner of the stairs angrily.
Li Zhuhe lowered his head to look at the paper bag in his hand. After a moment, he couldn't help laughing. "Give it to me." At some point, Quan Zhilong came up behind him and said in a bad tone. Li Zhuhe glanced at him. "No, if you give it to me, it's mine. I want to eat it."
With that, he slowly walked downstairs with the small bag in hand. "And—when did you get a girlfriend?" Even from a distance, his gloating voice could still be heard from the stairwell.
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