Peninsula: From a supporting actor to the best actor in Chungmuro

Chapter 97 The Little Finger Trap is finally resolved

"What about off-stage?"

Kim Ji-won's question was like a stone thrown into a calm lake.

"What off-screen?"

Jiang Zaixun's fake stupidity successfully caused a round of boos.

Park Hyung-sik started to make fun of it: "If you can't afford to play, you'll have to drink three glasses of wine!"

"These are clearly two different questions—"

Kang Jae-hoon tried to protest.

There was another round of boos in the box.

"I'm going to the bathroom."

Krystal's voice suddenly came from the door. She lowered her head and walked away quickly, without even taking her coat.

“…Isn’t there a bathroom in the box?”

Jin Zhiyuan suddenly came over and lowered her voice:

"Teacher Jiang, let's go out and see..."

"what?"

"Ah, you head, go!"

Jiang Jae-hoon was pushed out of the box by her.

The lights in the corridor were much brighter than in the private room, and the sound of jazz music was blocked by the heavy door. Jiang Zaixun looked around and finally found Zheng Xiujing's figure on the terrace at the end.

The December night wind is wrapped with fine snowflakes.

She stood in front of the railing wearing only a thin sweater, and the white mist she exhaled quickly dissipated into the night.

The Han River Bridge in the distance is lit with twinkling lights, like a falling Milky Way.

Krystal's profile was particularly soft in the distant light, and tiny drops of water on her eyelashes, which were not sure whether they were snow or tears, were stained. The moment she heard footsteps, she hurriedly wiped her face with her sleeve.

"Why aren't you wearing a coat?"

Jiang Zaixun put his down jacket on her shoulders, and the remaining body temperature inside the clothes wrapped in the smell of woody perfume filled her nose.

Zheng Xiujing did not move, but asked softly:

"Did you just tell the truth?"

"……Um."

Krystal turned around suddenly and her down coat slipped off her shoulders.

When Jiang Zaixun helped her put it back on, he heard her ask:

"What about off-screen?"

"When you hooked your finger with me on the day of wrapping, I was thinking—"

Krystal's eyelashes fluttered like a startled butterfly.

"If it was Bona, she would just interlock their fingers."

Jiang Zaixun tightened her down coat that was about to fall off her shoulders:

"But Soojung only uses her little finger, like a kitten tentatively extending its claws."

Krystal's eyes were surprisingly bright in the night, as if they contained all the lights of the Han River.

"what about now?"

"Now I know it's a kitten trap."

Krystal suddenly stood on tiptoe.

The down coat fell to the ground.

The moment their lips touched, the sound of a cruise ship's whistle could be heard faintly in the distance.

The kiss, scented with strawberry wine, was light.

Like a piece of snow falling on the skin, the fleeting coolness is followed by a scorching heat.

But it reminded Jiang Zaixun of the script reading party, when she secretly practiced grinning in front of her phone.

The throbbing that I didn't understand at the time now set off a tsunami in my blood vessels.

Both of them were a little out of breath when they separated.

Zheng Xiujing raised her head, her lips trembling slightly.
"Aren't you going to say anything after the kiss?"

Jiang Jae-hoon stared at the tip of her red nose for two seconds, then suddenly bent down to pick up the down jacket on the ground, shook off the snow and put it back on her.

"You'll catch a cold."

Krystal grabbed his wrist and said, "Don't change the subject."

"……say what?"

"Say you like me too."

The night wind blew the snowflakes between the two of them.

Tiny ice crystals fell on Jiang Zaixun's eyelashes, sparkling in the light. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, and finally uttered only one sentence:
"you've been drinking."

Krystal's eyes darkened instantly.

She suddenly shook off Jiang Zaixun's hand and turned away.

Jiang Zaixun looked at her thin back and suddenly felt that all the lights on the Han River had dimmed.

(It shouldn't be like this.)
(Clearly——)
He strode after her, the crisp sound of his leather shoes crushing the snow being particularly clear on the silent terrace.

"I mean--"

The moment he grabbed her wrist, Jiang Zaixun was startled by the panic in his own voice:
"I'm afraid you'll regret it tomorrow when you sober up!"

Zheng Xiujing was stunned, and her eyes were still red when she turned around: "What?"

"I'm afraid you'll wake up tomorrow and..."

"Listen carefully!"

Zheng Xiujing interrupted him suddenly: "I am very clear now, I know you are Jiang Zaixun, not Yin Canrong, I know-"

She paused, her voice suddenly lowered: "I know I like you."

"so……"

"Would you like to try... to like me?"

Her voice began to tremble as she spoke the last few words.

I was as nervous as a college entrance examination candidate waiting for the announcement of test results.

"Not just once."

Before Krystal could react, she was pulled into a warm embrace.

Jiang Zaixun rested his chin on the top of her head, and his voice came through his chest:

"A lot."

Zheng Xiujing buried her face in his chest and said sullenly:

"Then why did you just…"

“Because I am Prabhu.”

Jiang Zaixun tightened his arms: "The super N-th power kind."

This familiar line made Zheng Xiujing burst out laughing:

"You talk like me."

“Because it’s cute.”

Zheng Xiujing suddenly raised her face and rested her chin on his chest:
"So we are dating now?"

"Ah."

"What do you mean?"

Krystal wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction.

"It means... well."

“That needs a stamp.”

"What chapter—"

Before he could finish his words, he was pulled down by the collar.

This kiss was much more urgent than before.

Krystal's teeth accidentally hit his lower lip, and they both hissed at the same time and couldn't help laughing.

The sound of a box door opening and closing could be heard from a distance, mixed with Kim Ji-won's deliberately raised voice, "Where did they go?"

Zheng Xiujing hurriedly pushed him away: "Don't tell anyone else yet."

"Where's Jiwon?"

"no!"

"The agent didn't tell me?"

"Ah."

"That……"

"ah!"

Zheng Xiujing directly covered his mouth:

"Don't tell anyone!"

Jiang Jae-hoon covered his mouth with her hand and nodded, his eyes full of smiles.

Only then did Krystal let go of his hand and brushed the snowflakes off his shoulders.

Jiang Zaixun immediately made the same move.

"and many more--"

She fished her phone out of her pocket and switched it to selfie mode: "We need to take pictures for our anniversary."

"Now?"

"Right now!"

The two people in the camera had unmelted snow on their hair, and their noses were red from the cold.

When Krystal counted to three, she suddenly turned her head and her lips brushed against Kang Jae-hoon's cheek.

Kim Ji-won's voice calling from a distance was getting closer and closer.

The two of them quickly distanced themselves from each other and pretended to be looking at the river view.

"We all need to call the police for missing persons!"

Kim Ji-won ran over with a scarf wrapped around her: "What are you doing?" "Watching the snow." Krystal said seriously.

"Chatting." Jiang Jae-hoon answered at the same time.

Jin Zhiyuan narrowed her eyes and glanced back and forth between the two of them:
"Oh--?"

"It's freezing, go back quickly."

Krystal walked quickly towards the box, and just as Kang Jae-hoon was about to follow, Kim Ji-won grabbed his sleeve.

"Teacher Jiang."

"Ok?"

"Are you aware of the lipstick marks on your face?"

The moment Jiang Zaixun reached out to touch his cheek, he heard Jin Zhiyuan's laughter:
"I lied to you~"

After saying that, Kim Ji-won skipped after Krystal and put her arm around her affectionately.

"Unnie!"

Krystal's voice became noticeably nervous.

"Don't worry~"

Jin Zhiyuan blinked at her: "I don't know anything~"

"..."
-
One o'clock.

Jiang Zaixun stood downstairs of the apartment building, looking down at his phone——

The photo sent by Krystal Jung was still on the screen.

In the photo, the tips of both of their noses were red from the cold, and her eyes curved into crescents as she secretly kissed him on the cheek.

[Krystal Jung]: 12/12/2020 12:59 PM
[Krystal Jung]: Anniversary certification.

[Krystal Jung]: I will take one photo every year from now on.

It was followed by a string of love emojis.

Jiang Jae-hoon stared at the screen and laughed unconsciously.

[Kang Jae-hoon]: It was well filmed.

[Krystal Jung]: That’s it?

[Kang Jae-hoon]: Then...our Soo-jung is really pretty?

[Krystal Jung]: ...Pabu.

When he looked up, he found that the lights on the fifth floor were still on.

(Is the Bible still awake?)
He suddenly felt guilty.

I unconsciously rubbed my cheeks and lips with the back of my hand.

During the few minutes of climbing to the fifth floor, Jiang Zaixun's brain was working rapidly -

(Want to tell the Bible?)

(Will she think I...)
Before he knew it, he was standing at the door of his house.

The moment the door lock turned, the sound of lights being turned off came from the master bedroom.

Jiang Jae-hoon closed the door gently.

The entrance sensor light casts a circle of warm yellow light under your feet.

He stared at the darkness coming through the crack of the master bedroom door, and the usual words "I'm back" were stuck in his throat, like a piece of rice cake that he couldn't swallow.

The sound of running water in the bathroom was much quieter than usual.

Cold water splashed on my face.

Suddenly, Krystal Jung's words "Do you want to try to like me too?" echoed in my ears.

It was not until he caught a glimpse of his own silly smile in the mirror that Kang Jae-hoon hurriedly turned off the faucet.

(We really are dating...)
(With Krystal Jung...)
This realization made his heart beat faster again.

Lying on the bed, Jiang Jae-hoon stared at the ceiling in a daze.

In the darkness, memories flashed back like a kaleidoscope.

"Ding--"

The phone suddenly vibrated.

Zheng Xiujing sent a selfie——

She was wrapped in a quilt with only half of her face exposed, her eyes sparkling.

【I can’t sleep.】

Jiang Zaixun turned sideways and typed: [Why can't I sleep? ]

The moment the message was sent, the other side displayed "input in progress" for a full half minute.

[Krystal Jung]: The pillow is too hard, the quilt is too thick, and the heater is too noisy——

[Krystal Jung]: Well, actually I was thinking about you.

Jiang Jae-hoon suddenly covered his phone with his chest and kicked his legs twice before picking up the phone again.

[Kang Jae-hoon]: Do you want to hear a story?
[Krystal Jung]:?

[Kang Jae-hoon]: You can sleep better if you tell stories.

This time the silence lasted longer.

Just as Kang Jae-hoon began to regret, a video call request suddenly popped up.

He sat up hurriedly, smoothed his hair twice before answering the call.

The moment the screen lights up.

Krystal Jung's face filled the entire frame.

The warm yellow bedside lamp cast a furry halo on her.

"Speak."

Her voice came through the speakers, slightly nasal and softer than usual.

"R-now?"

Jiang Jae-hoon lowered his voice, fearing to disturb the quiet atmosphere.

"if not?"

Zheng Xiujing narrowed her eyes: "Didn't you say it was a sleep-inducing service?"

The camera suddenly shook.

She seemed to have placed her cell phone on the bedside table.

Only half of her face and a small hand resting on the quilt can be seen in the picture.

"What do you want to hear?"

"I want to hear whatever you have to say."

"Then wait for me for a moment."

Jiang Zaixun took out a copy of "Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales" from the bedside table.

I bought this book a while ago to practice my lines, and the corners of the pages are curled up.

He opened a page at random and cleared his throat:

"Once upon a time there was a little duck, very gray."

"How can you tell a story by reading from a book?"

"what?"

Jiang Zaixun was stunned for two seconds: "How should I explain it?"

“It needs to be adapted!”

"for example……"

Krystal thought for a moment and said, "The ugly duckling is actually a member of a girl group. She was excluded because she can't act cute."

Jiang Zaixun listened to the soft nasal voice on the other end of the phone, and suddenly an idea came to him:

"Later, she met a manager who couldn't dance, and the two of them teamed up to participate in a survival competition."

"Uncle actually used to be a top choreographer!"

"I injured my leg in a car accident."

Late-night sweet phone calls turned into impromptu screenwriting sessions.

Until Krystal's voice gradually became unclear:

"And then they won the championship.zzz"

Listening to the even breathing, Jiang Jae-hoon gently hung up the phone.

The snow outside the window had stopped at some point.

Moonlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, casting a thin silver line on the floor.

He stared at the light for a long time, the smile on his lips lingering.

(Really… I’m dating Soo-jung.)
This thought was particularly clear in the darkness, like a piece of candy in the mouth, so sweet that it made it impossible to sleep.

What do you want to ask her out for tomorrow?

(Have a meal?)

(Pole dancing?)

My thoughts drift further and further away...

It was not until he heard the sound of a garbage truck outside the window in the early morning that he closed his eyes in a daze.

Half asleep and half awake.

He seemed to hear the master bedroom door open and close gently.

(Is it the Bible?)

I am too sleepy.

He fell asleep before he had time to think about it.

In a dream.

He stood in the snow.