novelraw Chapter 23 It turns out they were one of our own.
Chapter 23 It turns out they were one of our own.
The three of them chatted idly in the living room.
The conversation ranged from the group's daily practice to how inactive CUBE Entertainment was, from the hardships they faced before their debut to how much effort they put into performing on stage.
Song Yuqi sat cross-legged on the sofa, gesturing with her hands as she spoke, while Zhao Meiyan was quieter, her eyes occasionally glancing at Li Yuan.
Just then, the sound of the door lock being opened was heard again, followed by a series of light footsteps.
A girl walked in carrying a plastic bag.
Huang Lizhi was wearing a black tight-fitting vest and loose sweatpants, with a jacket casually draped over her shoulders. A few strands of her hair were damp with sweat and stuck messily to her forehead and cheeks. Her ponytail was also not tied very neatly.
Those signature fox-like eyes widened suddenly for a moment when they saw Li Yuan, then curved into two beautiful crescent moons.
"Oppa!" she called out happily when she saw Lee Won, her voice filled with undisguised joy.
She put the plastic bag on the ground, walked over quickly, and opened her arms, seemingly wanting to hug Li Yuan.
Then she saw two people sitting on the sofa.
Huang Lizhi withdrew his arm, took a step back, and his smile became somewhat forced.
"Uh..." She quickly tidied her hair and clothes, then bowed respectfully, "Annyeonghaseyo."
"These two are Yuqi and Miyeon, members of (G)i-dle." Lee Won pointed to the two who were standing up to return the greeting.
"Yes, I know." Hwang Yeji straightened up, curiously looking at the two people in front of him. "These two seniors are my idols, members of this year's 'Monster Rookie' (G)i-dle."
This is obviously a compliment, after all, (G)i-dle has only been around for a short time.
"So when people came to visit, Oppa didn't even tell me." Hwang Ye-ji turned her head to look at Lee Won, and patted his arm in a slightly coquettish tone.
Wow, we have guests at home.
Looking at this girl who treated this place like her own home, Song Yuqi felt a deep sense of crisis.
The naturalness with which she spoke, the seamless sense of belonging, it was just like... the lady of the house.
That's so natural.
"Yeah, I want to know why too?" Li Yuan said, looking at Song Yuqi.
She hadn't explained it yet.
Song Yuqi snapped out of her daze and quickly explained:
It's almost Captain Tian Xiaojuan's birthday, and they wanted to give her a surprise, but they couldn't keep it a secret in the dormitory. Song Yuqi remembered that Li Yuan had given her the house password before, so they chose this place as the location.
Zhao Meiyan had just returned from her schedule and came straight here covered in sweat. Seeing that the bathroom was still usable, she took a shower.
"So Yuqi is Oppa's..." Hwang Yeji heard Song Yuqi calling him "Oppa" repeatedly, and a hint of inquiry and wariness appeared in his fox-like eyes.
"Oh, she's my sister." Li Yuan waved his hand casually. "My mom and her dad are related."
"Oh, it's you, unnie!" Upon hearing Lee Won's explanation, Hwang Ye-ji's gaze towards Song Yu-qi immediately softened, and the subtle wariness he had felt earlier vanished.
"Please take care of me from now on! If you need any help, just let me know." A sincere smile spread across her face. "Let's add each other on Kakao."
I thought they were "competitors" at first, but it turns out they're one of our own.
"They're not very close relatives." Song Yuqi looked at Huang Lizhi, who had become much more enthusiastic, and couldn't help but add, but her hand had already reached out to take the phone Huang Lizhi handed her. "Add him."
"I want one too!" Zhao Meiyan hurriedly took out her phone from her pocket and leaned over.
The three exchanged contact information, and their relationship quickly warmed up.
"Alright, alright, stop adding now." Li Yuan said helplessly, looking at the three of them who seemed ready to swear brotherhood on the spot. "By the way, what's in here?"
His gaze fell on the plastic bag that Huang Lizhi was still holding in his hand.
The bulging plastic bag revealed some green vegetables and a white packaging box inside.
"The ingredients and vegetables for jajangmyeon," Hwang Ye-ji said, shaking the plastic bag in her hand, making a rustling sound. "Oppa's moving, right? So we definitely have to eat jajangmyeon!"
Huang Lizhi clearly considered this a top priority.
Hearing Huang Lizhi's words, the sound of the plastic bag shaking sounded to Li Yuan like the whisper of a demon.
He seemed much more alert, and a hint of panic was visibly visible on his face.
He almost reflexively reached out and took the bag from Huang Lizhi's hand, then quickly changed the subject: "Why are you back so early?"
The other two looked at Li Yuan with puzzled expressions, wondering why he was making such a big move and reacting so strangely.
What's going on?
Eating jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) when moving to a new house is a Korean tradition. Doesn't Lee Won like it?
Huang Lizhi glanced at Zhao Meiyan and Song Yuqi, then hesitated.
This is a company matter, and Li Yuan will definitely know about it, because he was involved in the planning of ITZY, and he even wrote their debut song.
But she knew she shouldn't let these two people know, after all, it was their first meeting, and they were CUBE idols.
It's never a good thing for company inside information to leak out.
"I'll go check out the clothes." Zhao Meiyan stood up tactfully and walked towards the bathroom.
Her clothes were still in the bathroom—the ones she had changed out of and washed were hanging wet on the rack, not yet dried.
Although Li Yuan didn't know why she would bring this thing.
"I'll go take a look too." Song Yuqi stood up as well, and the two of them went into the bathroom one after the other.
Only Li Yuan and Huang Lizhi remained in the living room.
Hwang Ye-ji then spoke up: "I was practicing when Somi was called out by PDnim. They seemed to have a big argument, it was quite a commotion."
"Then the company gave us a day off."
Li Yuan frowned slightly.
So—Somi is leaving?
When ITZY was first formed, he reminded Park Jin-young to be careful when choosing Somi to join the group.
It's not that Somi lacks ability, but rather that her heart is no longer with the company.
Since IOI disbanded, Somi has been in a bad state, and every day at JYP feels like a countdown.
As a result, Park Jin-young said that Somi had been with JYP for four years and it was time for her to debut, and that her skills were enough to debut with ITZY.
It seems she's about to leave JYP. Li Yuan sighed inwardly.
Some things cannot be stopped.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore." Li Yuan shook his head, banishing those messy thoughts from his mind. "Let's eat first, I'm hungry."
"Yuqi, come out!"
The two women came out, and Li Yuan asked them which of them knew how to cook Korean food. They both said they knew how to make instant noodles.
"Oppa, let me cook!" Hwang Yeji volunteered, raising her hand. "I was planning to cook anyway."
"No need," Li Yuan refused decisively, without even a moment's hesitation. "We don't have enough materials."
"Why don't you let Yeji cook?" Zhao Meiyan blinked her beautiful big eyes. "I really want to eat jajangmyeon (black bean noodles). I haven't had it in a long time."
Li Yuan sighed, a sigh tinged with the weariness of someone who's been through it all: "You wouldn't want to eat Huang Lizhi's cooking."
Having already tried Hwang Ye-ji's cooking, I can only say that some things cannot be faked, such as cooking skills.