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

Chapter 90 Taeyeon's Secret Photo Album

Kim Ha-yeon led Lee Lu-ran through the living room corridor to a door with a cartoon sign.

As you push open the door, a faint scent of vanilla wafts out.

The room was decorated simply yet warmly, with a light purple color scheme throughout.

A single bed was placed against the wall, neatly made, with several oddly shaped plush toys on it.

Near the window is a light-colored wooden desk with sheet music and several music-related books on it.

A microphone stand stood quietly in the corner of the room, with a wooden guitar leaning against it.

Li Luran stood at the door of the room, not going in immediately.

"Um, Xia Yan."

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "This should be your unnie Taeyeon's bedroom, right?"

"Isn't it inappropriate to just go in without her permission?"

Kim Ha-yeon, however, didn't care at all and forcefully pulled Lee Lu-ran's arm, dragging him inside: "Hey, Lu-ran oppa, why are you so rigid?"

"You and my unnie are such good friends, she even lets you ride in her most prized car, what's the big deal about going into a room?"

Kim Ha-yeon patted her chest: "I guarantee, unnie will absolutely not mind you coming into her room."

After saying that, Kim Ha-yeon didn't give Lee Lu-ran a chance to refute her, and grabbed his arm to pull him inside.

She walked to the desk with practiced ease, opened the large drawer, rummaged around inside, and with a whoosh, pulled out an old-fashioned family photo album.

"Lu Ran oppa, come sit over here quickly."

Kim Ha-yeon solicitously moved a chair for Lee Lu-ran to sit down, then moved closer to him with the large photo album in her arms.

"Ta-da! Oppa, look!"

She spread the photo album out on the desk and opened it to the first page.

The first photo shows a baby lying in a crib, grinning foolishly. The little guy has chubby cheeks and an adorable, innocent look that makes you want to reach out and pinch his cheeks.

Her facial features do indeed bear a striking resemblance to those of Kim Tae-yeon now.

However, when Li Luran's gaze slowly moved upwards and landed on the baby's forehead, his expression immediately became somewhat strange.

The chubby little guy in the photo has such light-colored eyebrows that it looks like he has no eyebrows at all.

"Pfft, Oppa, look!"

Kim Ha-yeon poked at the baby in the photo and laughed gleefully, "This is my unnie's 100-day photo, isn't it adorable?"

Looking at the little dumpling grinning foolishly in the photo, Li Luran couldn't help but smile.

He found it hard to believe that this chubby little dumpling was the same person as Kim Tae-yeon, who shone brightly on stage.

Seeing that Li Luran was engrossed in reading, Jin Xiayan continued to flip through the pages with great interest.

"Oppa, look at this one again."

The album was flipped to the middle section, where there was a short-haired little girl wearing a school uniform.

The little girl in the photo is holding a graduation certificate and smiling so hard her eyes are squinted into two crescent moons.

"This photo was taken at the school gate on the day Unnie graduated from elementary school."

"My mom told me that she was the shortest in the class back then, and she could only stand at the front of the line."

As the album continued to be flipped through, the girl's appearance gradually changed, from a short-haired girl to a more womanly one.

Suddenly, Li Luran's gaze was drawn to a photograph on a stage.

In the photo, Kim Tae-yeon is wearing a white dress and singing on a simple stage.

"This photo is one of Unnie's most treasured possessions."

Kim Ha-yeon raised her chin, looking proud: "That's a photo of unnie secretly going to participate in the Jeonju Youth Singing Competition without her father's knowledge."

"It was in that competition that she won her first singing championship."

"Truly remarkable," Li Luran said softly, staring at the photo.

This photo album bears witness to how a little girl with a dream took one step at a time, eventually stepping from a small place in Quanzhou to the most dazzling stage.

Kim Ha-yeon is right, this photo album is indeed an extremely precious treasure.

Just as the two were engrossed in looking through the photo album in the room, Kim Tae-yeon and her mother finished their private conversation in the kitchen.

She covered her burning cheeks and tiptoed out of the kitchen.

Her mother's words were still echoing in her ears, leaving her feeling extremely confused.

"What should I do? My mom actually told me to take the initiative and confess my feelings to Li Luran."

"But I'm a girl, how could I possibly bring myself to ask for something like this!"

Kim Tae-yeon walked absentmindedly into the living room, only to find that Lee Lu-ran and Kim Ha-yeon, who had been sitting on the sofa, were nowhere to be seen.

"Xia Yan?"

"Li Luran?"

Kim Tae-yeon called out softly twice, but the living room was empty and no one responded.

"Hey, weren't those two just chatting on the sofa? Where did they go in the blink of an eye?"

Kim Tae-yeon started searching with a puzzled look on her face. When she got to the vicinity of the hallway, she found that her bedroom door was open a crack.

"Could it be—"

A bad feeling washed over her. Kim Tae-yeon rushed to the door faster than she ever had ever done, even kicking off her shoes in the process.

She took a deep breath, then pushed open the door, and the sight inside took her breath away.

Li Luran and Jin Xiayan were sitting at the desk, pointing at the photos in the album and chatting with great interest, occasionally letting out a few jarring laughs.

Kim Tae-yeon felt her blood rush to her head, and she felt like she was about to burst into flames. Her cheeks turned red at a visible speed.

"ah!"

"Kim! Ha-yeon!"

An angry roar echoed in the bedroom, startling Kim Ha-yeon so much that she almost slipped off her chair.

"You two—how dare you enter my room without my permission!"

"Besides, who gave you permission to touch the things in my drawer!"

At this moment, Kim Tae-yeon didn't care about her idol image anymore. Her short legs ran like the wind, and she grabbed the photo album and slammed it shut.

"Um—unnie, calm down, let me explain!"

Seeing the aggressive Kim Tae-yeon, Kim Ha-yeon instantly cowered. She shrank her neck and her eyes darted around nervously.

"Um, unnie, I heard Mom calling me over to help with the food tasting. I'll go first!"

After saying that, Kim Ha-yeon darted away from Li Lu-ran and disappeared down the corridor without looking back.

Kim Tae-yeon put the photo album in the drawer, took out the key and locked it. After confirming that the embarrassing history was safe, she turned around and angrily said to Lee Lu-ran, "Don't you have anything to explain to me?"