Peninsula: Starting with the nation's first love, the white moonlight

Four o'clock in the afternoon, in the VIP ward.

Li Luran lay bored on the hospital bed, an IV drip in his hand, his eyes glazed over, staring blankly at the ceiling.

He has always hated this feeling of being tied down, let alone now that he doesn't even have a tool to pass the time.

In the chaos, Lee Ji-eun had casually stuffed his phone into her bag and took it downstairs with him.

My mind gradually went blank, and the image of Lee Ji-eun running out with a blushing face was still vivid in my mind.

Although he's usually a bit of a straight man, he's not a block of wood after all, and of course he can sense Lee Ji-eun's dependence on and affection for him.

Does he like Lee Ji-eun?

Li Luran asked himself this question.

If he didn't have a good impression of her, he wouldn't have rushed up to her at the book signing without thinking for even a second.

However, his unsuccessful first love with Suzy caused him to close himself off emotionally and become overly guarded in relationships.

Later, it was the appearance of that blonde girl from New Zealand that allowed a glimmer of light to shine back into his closed heart.

If things continue naturally like this with Lee Ji-eun, perhaps...

"Click".

The sound of the door opening softly interrupted Li Luran's thoughts.

He assumed it was Lee Ji-eun returning from shopping, so he propped himself up on the bed, a smile on his face, and turned to look at the door.

"Ji-eun, come back..."

However, the next second.

His smile froze on his face.

The person who pushed open the door was not Lee Ji-eun, but a woman wearing a hat and mask.

She was tall with long legs and was wearing a gray coat; she was clearly not Lee Ji-eun.

Li Luran's gaze shifted upwards, and their eyes met...

"thump!"

Li Luran's heart skipped a beat.

is her!

He knew that look in his eyes all too well!

A year ago, those eyes appeared countless times in his dreams.

Even though they only had a brief encounter back then, that unforgettable feeling of attraction, even after so much time had passed, even though he thought he had long forgotten, the memory still surged up instantly at the moment their eyes met.

It was the woman who gave him his first love fantasy—Bae Suzy!

Why is she here?

The smile on Li Luran's face cooled down at a visible speed, and even the surrounding air seemed to drop a few degrees.

He had imagined countless scenarios in which the two of them might meet again.

Perhaps they will bump into each other at Lee Ji-eun's concert a few years later, or perhaps they will meet again at an awards ceremony, looking at each other from afar as if they were strangers.

However, he never expected that the place of their reunion would be in a hospital ward.

Li Luran took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the throbbing in his heart.

When he looked up again, his eyes were cold and devoid of any emotion.

"Are you here to see Zhi'en?"

Despite Li Luran's repeated warnings to himself to stay calm, his voice remained very tense when he spoke.

Suzy did not answer his question immediately.

She closed the ward door behind her, took two steps forward, and removed her hat and mask.

That familiar face appeared before Li Luran's eyes once again.

It really is Suzy.

She looks even more beautiful than she did a year ago; her features have matured, and she exudes a more composed and confident aura.

The girl who once trembled in the elevator is now a completely different person from the powerful woman in front of me.

"I'm not here to see Ji-eun unnie."

Xiuzhi looked into Li Luran's eyes and said bluntly:

"I'm here to see you."

There were no small talk, no feigned probing.

Upon hearing this, Li Luran's eye twitched slightly.

Although he had countless questions he wanted to ask this woman, looking at her calm expression, Li Luran suddenly felt that asking them was pointless.

Everything was in the past. The moment that text message arrived, he forced himself to slowly let go.

He now has a new life and people in his life who are worth his serious consideration.

He didn't want this woman's reappearance to disrupt the peace he had finally achieved in his life.

"There's nothing more to say between us."

Li Luran looked away from her, no longer looking at her. "If there's nothing else, you can leave now."

However, Bae Suzy did not back down in the face of Li Luran's cold words.

She took another step forward, almost touching the edge of the hospital bed.

As the distance between them gradually closed, she could sense that the boy in front of her seemed different from before.

He used to be so tolerant and warm. Now, he's filled with indifference and defensiveness.

Perhaps this indifference was caused by her own hand, and with this thought in mind, Soo-ji felt a sudden pang of pain in her heart.

Her eyes were lowered, and she said softly:

"I'm sorry, perhaps this apology comes a little late."

"That text message back then... I was indeed too selfish." Suzy looked at his profile and spoke sincerely.

Suzy's direct apology was clearly unexpected by Lee Lu-ran; he had thought she would make up some excuse.

The ward fell into a deathly silence. After a long while, Li Luran slowly exhaled.

"It's all over now."

Li Luran neither said he forgave nor he didn't. For that relationship, this was the most dignified ending he could offer.

After Li Luran finished speaking, Xiuzhi sensed that his wariness had noticeably decreased. For her, this might be a good start.

"Then... can we still be friends?" Suzy asked tentatively.

Li Luran didn't reply, and turned to look out the window.

Seeing that he didn't refute her, Soo-ji's eyes lit up, and she bent down slightly, trying to find his gaze.

"Li Luran, although I don't really believe in fate, sometimes the relationships between people are just so magical."

"I never expected that we would meet again on the peninsula, and your Korean has become so good now."

Soo-ji smiled faintly: "Thinking back to the past, when I texted you, I had to look up each word in the dictionary. I was so stupid."

Suzy began to gently steer the conversation: "By the way, you said you'd give me a surprise, do you still mean it?"

surprise?

Yes, back then, in order to prepare that so-called surprise for her, he stayed up countless nights to learn Korean on his own, and even went to a foreign country for her.

But what was the result in the end? All that sincerity got in return was a text message saying they would no longer contact each other.

And now, she's so confident in bringing up that surprise to him?

Li Luran turned his head sharply and almost shouted:

"Bae Suzy, that's enough!"

"I told you, it's all in the past!"

Startled by his shout, Soo-ji froze on the spot. She had thought that as long as she lowered her stance a little, he would soften his resentment.

But seeing Li Luran lose control, she truly realized that some things, once broken, can never be put back together.

Her carefully constructed confidence crumbled instantly, and her eyes slowly reddened.

Just then, light footsteps came from outside the door.

Lee Ji-eun, carrying a plastic bag, pushed open the door and walked in with Lim Soo-young.

"Li Luran, we're back! I bought you your favorite food..."