Chapter 12

In the early summer morning, Li Jingming was sighing, perhaps his getting up was not due to the pursuit of clothes, but rather the lack of retention by the blanket. At 8:30, with a faint sorrow, he brushed his teeth and washed his face, then walked down to the store below. The store was empty, and he pulled open all the curtains, allowing the sunlight to pour in recklessly, trying to occupy every corner.

Li Jingming brewed coffee and put a CD into the machine. The rich voice of a black singer slowly spread, melting into every cubic centimeter of the air. Kim Ya-Dawson, a singer in her thirties with a voice like a young girl, sang songs that would never grow old.

After opening the front door, Li Jingming arranged everything and casually picked up a book, sitting in a window seat on the second floor to read. There was no business in the morning, so he opened at 10 and operated until 10 at night. There were only six people working here, divided into two shifts, plus a store manager, making a total of seven people. It was only 9 o'clock, and none of the employees had arrived yet. Li Jingming was happy to have a moment of leisure, seemingly doing everything himself before opening, but in fact, others had already cleaned up before leaving the night before. He just tidied up and arranged things, enjoying this long-lost sense of ease. Bai Jieqian and Song Shizai had been taken to the house in Nonhyeon-dong by Li Jingming the night before. He couldn't take care of a playboy and an American-style introvert. Being alone, he felt a bit lonely but also quiet. The daytime in Cheongdam-dong was much quieter than the night. Sitting in the window seat on the second floor, he could see the entire street corner, and his attention had already drifted from the book in his hands to the outside.

"Is anyone there? Is anyone there?" Just as Li Jingming was lost in thought, a woman's voice came from downstairs. The voice was as clear as a silver bottle breaking and as melodious as a new swallow's chirp.

Li Jingming walked down the stairs, and sure enough, it was a young beauty, not yet twenty, with a childish face but already showing a hint of charm.

She wore a baseball cap, a white short-sleeved shirt, and tight jeans, with a pair of canvas shoes on her feet and a camera hanging from her chest. If she had a backpack, she would look like a standard tourist. The girl saw Li Jingming come down and pointed to the vanilla ice cream on the sign: "Can I have that, please?"

"We're not open yet, sorry," Li Jingming said, his attitude naturally better because of the beauty. This was just human nature, not a trait exclusive to the appearance association. When a handsome man does something trivial, it's considered four-dimensional and cute, but when an ugly man does the same, it's considered a problem and neurotic. When a beautiful woman likes to prank, it's considered clever and a bit manipulative, but when an ugly woman pranks, it's considered annoying and disliked. Human nature is such.

Li Jingming's attitude was already good, but the other party clearly didn't believe him, pointing to a pot of coffee on the front desk: "You've already brewed coffee, how can you not be open?"

"Who drinks hot coffee in the middle of summer? I'll open when this pot of coffee cools down," Li Jingming said deliberately.

The young beauty was still fiery: "Hey, is there anyone who does business like this? I want to buy that, hurry up."

"Hey?" Li Jingming looked at this obviously much younger girl, wondering if she wasn't Korean, how could she be so impolite? But if she wasn't Korean, how could her Korean be so fluent, and she even called "Hey"?

Li Jingming found it a bit amusing and said, "Hey, student (older Koreans call younger ones this), it's Monday today, shouldn't you be in school, coming to a coffee shop to buy ice cream?" It was June, and the U.S. was on holiday, but Korea wasn't.

"I don't need to go to school! And you, you little brat, just because you're a bit taller, you call me a student. Don't you know to call me 'noona'?" The woman didn't back down at all.

Li Jingming had never been called a "little brat" before. Was this a first blood? Due to his long-term practice of the Mixed Yuan Qi Gong, his face looked much younger, about sixteen years old. To the other party, he looked younger, and she thought Li Jingming was a high school student working here.

"I was born in 1986, how old are you?" Li Jingming was a bit angry at being called a "little brat."

"1989!" The other party was stunned, "When were you born, 1986?"

Li Jingming, seeing that the other party didn't believe him, took out his ID from his wallet: "I, Li Jingming, have I ever lied to a child (his siblings would be crying at this moment, have you lied less?), it's written here, 1986."

"You're called Li Jingming, but it says Li Kan here," the other party said with a look of having uncovered a small secret, "Is this your brother's store? You even stole his wallet!"

"Li Kan is my real name, look at this photo, it's me," Li Jingming suddenly found himself a bit tongue-tied.

"Brothers look alike, give me the ice cream quickly, or when your brother comes, I'll tell him you did something bad," the other party said triumphantly, her nose wrinkling a bit, showing a bit of pride.

Li Jingming was helpless. Since making an ice cream wasn't difficult, he decided to do it. He liked sweet things and often made them himself. He took a cup, pressed the machine to get a cup of vanilla ice cream, sprinkled colorful chocolate needles and resin powder with a small spoon, and finally inserted a piece of chocolate. After finishing, Li Jingming didn't know what to charge, so he simply said, "Service (free)."

"Really? Thank you." The girl looked at the ice cream, which was different from the picture but more beautiful, and her attitude immediately became friendly. However, she then frowned, thinking that although it was free, it might be too high in calories. She had just passed by, thinking she was very hungry in the morning and saw the tempting picture on the sign. But after getting it, she remembered that she was about to debut, and the company strictly prohibited high-calorie foods. She took a photo of the ice cream and, after a lot of hesitation, decided to eat it.

"What's your name?" Li Jingming made one for himself and asked casually.

The girl, with ice cream in her mouth, answered indistinctly, "Jessica."

Li Jingming didn't hear clearly: "Your surname is 'Jie,' such a rare surname?" Could she be the daughter of the Shadowflow Leader? (Let's assume Li Jingming played League of Legends)

"Jessica!" The girl called Jessica said in English, dissatisfied.

Koreans aren't really that bad at English; they just use Korean phonetics, like when we chat online and say "You are the phonetic party, your whole family is the phonetic party." Koreans, very strong and powerful, are a phonetic party as a whole. They speak English in a strange way because they use Korean pronunciation rules and read Korean words, like "sofa" in Chinese. They just use more English words in their daily lives, all marked with Korean.

"Just saying you're impolite, no need to pretend to be a foreigner," Li Jingming said with a smile.

Jessica frowned and said angrily, "Who's pretending? I am a foreigner. No, I'm half foreign, no, I have dual nationality, and I used to live in the U.S."

"I just came back from the U.S., lived there for so long, how come I never met you?" Li Jingming's "uncle syndrome" flared up again, always liking to tease children. The U.S. isn't a convenience store where everyone meets.

"Believe it or not!" Jessica was already completely attracted by the interior decoration.

Li Jingming ate a big piece of his ice cream with a spoon and continued to ask, "No Korean name?"

"Jeong Soo-yeon," Jessica answered absentmindedly.

Li Jingming was stunned. This was Jeong Soo-yeon? No wonder he felt so familiar from the beginning.

There are thousands of Jessicas in the world, but this one, who also goes by Jeong Soo-yeon, was the right one. In his previous life, he was a high-ranking person and didn't care much about the entertainment industry, but the fame of Girls' Generation was so great that he had an impression of the members. As a cultural official, he even invited them for a meal. However, the thirty-year-old Li Jingming met the thirty-year-old Girls' Generation, who had already achieved the highest honor in the Korean entertainment industry.

The girl in front of him was the one who would be recorded in the "2020 Time Traveler's Guide" as a significant figure. Jeong Soo-yeon, known as "Jessica, must-recommend for time travelers, total recipient," and "Jessica, must-recommend for reborn, Alba," were known as the two major female protagonists in the East and West, elevating the status of the name Jessica. They were often among the top names in the must-kill lists of most male and some female protagonists.

The Jessica who hadn't yet developed the aura of a goddess was taking photos. One of her hobbies was visiting coffee shops. When she walked by, she felt the place looked beautiful through the glass and wanted to come in and see. Inside, the decoration was indeed exquisite, and the combination with books made it different from other coffee shops, which often emphasized a sweet and warm atmosphere. The atmosphere of knowledge raised the level of the place.

Jessica saw some photos hanging on a wall, including one of Li Jingming. In the photo, he was wearing a white shirt and black pants, sitting and reading a book, with a cup of coffee on a small round table beside him. The sunlight slanted in from outside, casting a misty glow on the photo, as if the person in the photo had a warm and mysterious power.

The wooden frame of the photo had a date, July 2004. This photo was more attractive to the women who came to consume than the apron-wearing handsome men downstairs. The man in the photo exuded a sense of purity and nobility, elegance and depth, and Li Jingming's nineteen-year-old self was already very outstanding, a result of forty years of refinement in his previous life. Jessica felt a sense of familiarity with the person in the photo.

Men say that having a wife is not as good as having a concubine, having a concubine is not as good as having a secret lover, and having a secret lover is not as good as having one that can't be obtained. Women are the same. A man who can only exist in their imagination is often given a perfect, illusory image, and the mental satisfaction derived from this creation can be as addictive as opium for women.

Jessica, with her young heart, was usually too busy to have the energy to think about romance. She felt a sense of regret that she hadn't come here earlier, as everything here suited her taste. Although she liked to go out, she mostly stayed in Apgujeong. The life of a trainee was very hard, sometimes so tired that she couldn't even turn over, let alone go out for a walk. Recently, they were about to debut, and her long-held dream was about to come true, but she felt lost. With fewer practices recently, their bodies were more relaxed, but her mind was more tired. She had always had a fear of cameras and was always worried. Jessica, who usually liked to sleep, woke up very early today, tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. She took her camera and secretly ran out, planning to take some beautiful photos to relax. Then she came to Cheongdam-dong and walked to the front of this coffee shop. She didn't know that if she had come a day earlier, Li Jingming wouldn't have been back yet, and if she had come a day later, Li Jingming might have already left to do something else.

She started to daydream again, sitting in the seat Li Jingming had sat in, watching the pedestrians below, thinking about her life and predicting her future.

"Jeong Soo-yeon, are you a tourist?" Many people from other parts of Korea come to Seoul for sightseeing, and they are also tourists. Li Jingming knew Jessica wasn't, but he was just making conversation.

Jessica came back to her senses and answered, "No, I've been in Seoul for eight years."

"Then you're a photography enthusiast?" Li Jingming continued to ask.

"Just a hobby," Jessica lowered her head and fiddled with her camera. She was very shy and not familiar with Li Jingming, so she was the passive party in the conversation. Sometimes, when "acting on impulse," Jessica could seem very bold, straightforward, and even domineering, but most of the time, she was this shy.

Li Jingming wasn't trying to get close to her for any special reason; he was just passing the time. Who knew he would meet such a quiet person.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward but also carried a hint of something undefined between them. They unconsciously looked at each other, then quickly looked away.

Perhaps the world doesn't have such a fast and pink atmosphere, but sometimes the word "fate" is indeed mysterious. The "Dream Book" says:

Fate arises, hinting at an unfinished story, continuing a distant wish, or repaying an uncountable debt.

If it can be well resolved, even with a thin blessing, the fragrance of fate does not fade, and the pain of separation and the silence of death can be turned into a wish for the future, waiting calmly for the next fate to arise.

Li Jingming didn't know that at one of the meals he had in his previous life, there was a person who also smiled shyly, looking at him secretly. That person never found their other half until the day he was stabbed to death, or perhaps they found them but couldn't be together.

Li Jingming didn't know that someone had made a wish at his grave.

Jessica didn't know that the song playing in her ears was called "All I Could Do."

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