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

Chapter 94 Exchanging Secrets

"Mom, I need to take this call." Lee Ji-eun waved her phone in her hand.

Li's mother nodded knowingly, and after leaving, she closed the door for her.

"Hey, Jinri, what brings you here?" Lee Ji-eun leaned back comfortably on the bed, lifting her little feet and swinging them back and forth contentedly.

"Ji-Ji-eun unnie—hehehehe—" Sulli's dazed laughter came from the phone. "I think—"

You dialed the wrong number.

"Choi Jin-ri, have you been drinking?" Lee Ji-eun immediately noticed Sulli's unusual behavior and hurriedly asked, "Jin-ri, where are you?"

"Unnie, don't worry, I'm fine, um—" Sherry hiccuped, "I'm just a little dizzy."

"Hey, where are you? I'm coming right now!"

"Huh? Unnie's coming too? I'm here—"

Half an hour later, Lee Ji-eun, braving the cold wind and panting, pushed open the door of a Japanese-style pub.

"Hoo-hoo-hoo—the truth?"

The bar wasn't very big, and after looking around, Lee Ji-eun quickly found Shirley sitting in the corner.

She hurried over and saw Shirley slumped over the table with a bottle of sake in front of her.

"Truth?" She gently nudged her shoulder, but Shirley remained slumped over the table, as if asleep.

Lee Ji-eun leaned over worriedly to check on her, but suddenly, Seol-ryun looked up and shouted, "Ji-eun unnie!"

Lee Ji-eun was startled and took two big steps back.

"Hahaha." Seeing Lee Ji-eun's panicked look, Sulli covered her mouth and chuckled, like a smug little fox.

Realizing she had been tricked, Lee Ji-eun became furious and stormed over to her, frantically scratching at her.

"Hehehe—Oh, unnie, I was wrong—Hahaha, please forgive me!"

"Hmph!" Lee Ji-eun withdrew her hand, put her hands on her hips, and said seriously with a stern face, "What exactly happened? Why didn't you go home on the first day of the new year? Why are you here drinking alone?"

Upon hearing this, Shirley's smile faded, and a hint of melancholy flashed in her eyes.

She picked up her wine glass again, but Lee Ji-eun grabbed her wrist.

"Hey, you silly girl, I'm already here, why are you still drinking? If you have something on your mind, just tell me, don't drink alone."

"Come on! I'll take you home!" Lee Ji-eun grabbed her arm and pretended to leave.

Shirley stubbornly and gently pulled her hand away, her eyes lowered: "Unnie, I don't want to go back."

"Truth, what happened? Did something happen at home? Or did you have a fight with your family?"

Seeing Shirley's dim eyes, Lee Ji-eun stamped her feet anxiously, "Ugh, you're going to drive me crazy! Come on, let's go back together first."

Lee Ji-eun forcibly pulled her up.

Shirley's eyes reddened slightly, and her voice trembled with a sob: "Unnie, I don't want to go home."

As Shirley spoke, her eyes began to redden. Seeing this, Ji-eun felt her heart soften and suggested, "Let's go back to my apartment first. It's not far from here. We can talk about it when we get back."

Shirley hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded. "Then I'll have to bother you, unnie."

Twenty minutes later, Lee Ji-eun took Sulli back to their apartment in Hannam-dong.

Lee Ji-eun poured Sulli a glass of warm water, and then the two sat side by side on the sofa.

Since leaving the bar, Shirley has remained silent, refusing to speak no matter how much Lee Ji-eun asked.

Actually, during this time, Lee Ji-eun had also vaguely noticed that Sulli's emotions were not quite right, and even Ji-yeon and the others noticed it.

Everyone's been busy with year-end schedules lately, and sometimes they can't even take care of themselves, let alone others.

However, Shirley was one of her best friends, and she could never let her sink into such despair.

The problem now is, how do we get her to open up? Sigh, we still have to take it slow; this girl is too tight-lipped.

"Hey, how have you been lately?" Lee Ji-eun casually started a conversation.

Shirley kept her head down and softly hummed in agreement.

"It's great. The other members in the group take good care of me, except for Krystal, who sometimes annoys me. The group will be making a comeback soon, and the company even arranged an audition for me for a drama, which I've already passed."

"Unnie, I'm really fine, you don't need to worry about me."

Lee Ji-eun nodded thoughtfully. According to Sulli, everything was indeed moving in a positive direction: the group was about to make a comeback, and her individual resources were also good. So why did she feel that Jinri was not happy at all? Her smile was more like a forced cry.

"Stop talking about me, what about you, unnie?" Sulli looked up at Lee Ji-eun and changed the subject. "Unnie has been all the rage lately, constantly in the news and always trending on social media."

"It's...it's alright." Lee Ji-eun was a little embarrassed by the praise.

"What do you mean 'okay'?" Shirley gently nudged her shoulder. "So many people struggle to even trend on social media, but it's hard for you to avoid it! Sigh, it's infuriating to compare yourself to others."

,

"Oh, right!" Sulli suddenly remembered something and winked at Ji-eun, "Who exactly is that mysterious rumored boyfriend that Unnie was photographed with before?"

"Cough cough!" Lee Ji-eun almost choked and hurriedly explained, "What rumored boyfriend? I've already clarified that he's just a colleague."

"Are you really just colleagues? Don't lie to me, unnie!" Sulli smiled knowingly, her eyes mischievous. "Holding hands under the moonlight, a hero rescuing a damsel in distress at a book signing—this scene is just too romantic. If it were me, I would definitely fall in love with him on the spot!"

"No!" Seemingly struck by a sensitive topic, Lee Ji-eun became flustered and somewhat incoherent. "Um, no, it's not!"

"What's wrong with that, unnie?" Sulli looked at Lee Ji-eun slyly.

Poor Ji-eun, who was trying to slowly get information out of her, ended up having Sulli take the initiative all the time.

"We didn't hold hands while strolling, and there was no hero rescuing the damsel in distress!" Ji-eun's voice grew softer and softer, and less and less convincing.

"That's so nice, unnie. Sometimes, I really envy unnie—" Seeing Lee Ji-eun's shy appearance, Sulli didn't press further. The smile she had forced earlier gradually faded, and her mood seemed to have plummeted again.

Lee Ji-eun felt really sorry for Sulli when she saw her like that.

In my memory, Choi Jin-ri has always been a very lively girl. What happened to her that made her so sensitive and fragile?

"It's true," Lee Ji-eun suddenly leaned closer to her and earnestly suggested, "Let's play a game. How about we exchange a secret we've been keeping in our hearts?"

Sulli paused for a moment, looked up at Lee Ji-eun, her eyes flickering. After hesitating for a second, she nodded: "Okay, what secret does unnie want to tell me?"

Lee Ji-eun sat up straight and looked intently into Sulli's eyes: "I have someone I like."

"Really?" Shirley exclaimed, both surprised and delighted. "Could it really be that person?"

"Yes." Lee Ji-eun didn't hide it anymore and nodded heavily.

She recounted to Shirley her journey of getting to know Li Luran, from their first meeting to their growing affection, and how she gradually developed feelings for him.

"How romantic!" Shirley was so moved that she was almost speechless after hearing this.

"Unnie, I support you! When you have time, you must formally introduce him to me. I'm really curious."

"Yes, of course," Lee Ji-eun agreed with a smile.

Then, she changed the subject, looking directly at Choi Sulli: "I've told you my secret. Now, shouldn't you tell me what's on your mind, Zhenli?"