Chapter 90

Li Chong dragged Jinyoung into his apartment, closed the door, and only then released the hand that had been covering her mouth. "In the middle of the night, you’re dressed like this to scare people? What’s your name?"

Jinyoung looked at Li Chong with an incredulous expression, "You... you... you..." but couldn’t get a word out.

"You were going to ask why you’re here, right!" Li Chong spoke for Jinyoung, who nodded fiercely. "I rented this apartment, so there’s no problem with me living here."

"But... but... but..." she stammered, but couldn’t finish her sentence.

"But why didn’t you tell us you were living next door?" Li Chong spoke for her again. Jinyoung nodded fiercely.

"Your girls, if you gather two tables for mahjong, there’s still one extra. If they knew I was living next door, can you imagine what my life would be like?" Li Chong suddenly remembered the instant noodles and quickly went to the kitchen to get them.

Jinyoung blushed, realizing that during the times she had been with Li Chong, the girls of Girls' Generation had been completely out of control. No wonder they didn’t want to know even if he lived next door.

Li Chong looked at Jinyoung, who was silent, "Are you hungry? I just made some instant noodles." He pointed to the noodles.

Jinyoung shook her head.

"Then I’ll eat them. I only had a piece of cake at your place, and I didn’t get full. Brother Zhang Xun was in a bad mood tonight, and I’m hungry now." Li Chong started slurping the noodles.

Jinyoung watched Li Chong, gradually calming down and her thoughts returning to normal. "That’s not right. Even if you told us you were our neighbor, there wouldn’t be any problem! We’re all busy, so how could we not know what our neighbor looks like after so long?" The more she thought about it, the more she felt like Li Chong was pulling her leg. What he said wasn’t really an issue; they had only become close recently, and before that, she was just closer to YoonA.

"How did you end up living next door to us?" Jinyoung felt she should ask for more details.

"I sold my old apartment to raise money for a movie, so I decided to rent one. This apartment’s location, layout, and price all met my requirements, so I rented it." Li Chong didn’t look up, just kept eating the noodles.

"What about the old lady?" Jinyoung remembered that when they first moved in, the landlord was a kind old lady.

"She went to Japan. Her daughter-in-law gave birth to a big, healthy grandson in Japan, so she went to take care of him." Li Chong finished the noodles, even drinking the broth.

Jinyoung blushed, realizing she had just eaten at her place and now had to take care of her own hunger.

"I thought about it, and what you said isn’t the reason you didn’t tell us you were living next door. Back then, even if we knew you were next door, what difference would it make? There wouldn’t be any conflict!" Jinyoung asked.

Li Chong, having just filled his stomach, was thinking of how to get Jinyoung to go back to sleep when he heard her question.

"Um, mainly... it’s just that..." Li Chong was trying to come up with an excuse.

"Mainly, I was really busy back then. By the time I thought about telling you I was living next door, you were already having a big discussion about your neighbor. YoonA said there was a creepy uncle, Jessica found a round-faced uncle, and Hyoyeon saw a small-eyed uncle. You all saw me like that, how could I go to you?" Li Chong threw the noodle box in the trash.

Jinyoung laughed, "That’s right, we observed you for a while, but we never ran into you. But who were those people?"

"Who else? The one YoonA mentioned was me, the round-faced one was Brother YoonSeok, the small-eyed one was Brother JungWoo, and the rest were staff. After that period, we moved to the set to start filming, and I was working all night, coming back in the morning. You had no chance to see me." Li Chong poured Jinyoung a glass of water.

"Ah, we were busy too. Our official album was about to be released, so we were practicing songs and dances every day. We went out after 9 in the morning and came back late at night. No wonder our schedules didn’t match up!" Jinyoung realized they had very little overlap in their schedules, but even with little time, Li Chong and the girls had become more than just friends. If they had known he lived next door, it would have been even better.

Jinyoung really enjoyed talking to Li Chong. It was carefree, without worries or pressure, something impossible in the Korean entertainment industry, which was like a big pressure cooker. Everyone in Girls' Generation had a special fondness for Li Chong.

Li Chong chatted with Jinyoung for a while, "It’s late, you have a schedule tomorrow, and I have to shoot a movie!" Li Chong felt that if he didn’t say goodbye soon, Jinyoung would chat with him until dawn.

Jinyoung looked at the time, which was already 2:30 AM, "Ah, it’s this late already, I need to go to bed, or I won’t have the energy for tomorrow’s schedule."

Li Chong finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"By the way, Uncle, I called you to tell you that the Versace watch I was going to return to you, but since you hid the fact that you’re our neighbor for so long, I’ll keep it as compensation for my mental distress." Jinyoung raised an eyebrow.

"It was a gift for you, keep it. To be honest, I didn’t even pick it out. I had a press conference today and didn’t have time to buy a gift, so I asked Brother ShiXie to get one for me. I didn’t expect him to get such an expensive gift; I was worried about the cost." Li Chong was a bit confused and explained.

"Ah..." Jinyoung felt dizzy. She had spent the whole night thinking and worrying, feeling both happy and disappointed, only to find out it was all a misunderstanding? "Uncle, I was feeling a bit guilty, but now I’m not at all. I think I should keep this gift, and not only that, you should buy gifts for the rest of the Girls' Generation. If you don’t, I’ll tell them you lied to them, that you live next door and always lie to them."

Li Chong felt he must have gone crazy from eating the noodles, saying too much. Now he was not only out of pocket but also didn’t get any thanks. "Alright, I understand. I won’t forget anyone. Don’t threaten me with this. If it comes to that, I’ll knock on your door in my pajamas and see what everyone’s reaction is."

"Ha ha," Jinyoung imagined everyone’s reaction to seeing Li Chong in his pajamas, and they would probably be shocked. "Alright, I won’t expose you for now, but..."

Before Jinyoung could finish, Li Chong cut her off, "No need for that. I’m busy filming a movie and don’t have time. I’ll explain to them later. As for why I’m busy, you can see the news today."

Jinyoung felt that was the best she could do. However, she went to bed with a good night’s sleep, the Versace watch still on her wrist...