Chapter 72

After dinner, Zhang Chengyuan sent Moon Geun-young back to her doorstep. Without going in to sit for a while, he directly bid her farewell and then drove back to Seoul. It was already eight o'clock in the evening. He didn't stop along the way and only returned to Lee Hyori's apartment around midnight. That night, he embraced Lee Hyori several times, performing the rites of Zhou Gong. After a day of intense energy expenditure, the fatigue of the journey, and the exertion of intimacy, even with his superhuman stamina, he was quite exhausted. However, he felt it was sweet and satisfying.

A few days passed in the blink of an eye. After much effort, Park Byung-ryul managed to secure Zhang Chengyuan a spot on the currently hottest variety show, "X-Man."

Since November of last year, "X-MAN" has been broadcast on SBS. It didn't take long to stand out among the fiercely competitive weekend variety shows, and it has since become a flagship program in Korean entertainment, consistently maintaining high ratings. It has also made stars of MCs like Yoo Jae-suk, Kang Ho-dong, and Kim Je-dong, as well as many guests. Yoon Eun-hye, who maintains a good friendship with Zhang Chengyuan, has also benefited from this show.

Due to the show's popularity, most artists, especially second- and third-tier actors and singers, are eager to appear on it, making it quite difficult to get a spot. Not only must the artist be currently very popular, but they must also have a certain level of public relations skills. However, the show's original beloved faces, such as Kim Jong-min, Andy, Kim Jong-kook, Yoon Eun-hye, and Lee Ji-hyun, can appear on the guest list whenever their schedules permit, as they are an important part of the show's ratings guarantee.

Zhang Chengyuan extremely dislikes and is not good at entertainment shows, especially those that require comedy or配合MC搞笑. He always feels that such shows are very insincere. Perhaps this is because he has never realized how remarkable and hard it is to make the audience laugh. Therefore, in the past, he would avoid such show invitations whenever possible, only appearing if he couldn't refuse.

Park Byung-ryul, however, has always hoped that he would participate more often. Although there is little pay for such shows, they are very helpful for maintaining exposure and popularity. After much persuasion, and because he hadn't seen Yoon Eun-hye for some time, and hearing that she had agreed to appear on this episode, Zhang Chengyuan reluctantly agreed.

On the day of the recording, Zhang Chengyuan arrived at the SBS "X-MAN" filming location about half an hour early. After greeting the PD and writers, he greeted a few early-arriving guests and then sat in a corner of the waiting room, waiting for the filming to start. Park Byung-ryul occasionally reminded him to be more active during the filming, fearing that Zhang Chengyuan would stand there like a wooden post, motionless.

While sitting there, he suddenly noticed a beautiful female guest who had just arrived was secretly observing him. She was in her early twenties, with long hair cascading over her shoulders, a delicate and beautiful face, large and expressive eyes, and a well-proportioned figure. Her waist was slender, and she moved with a mysterious grace, suggesting she was an excellent dancer.

What was strange was that Zhang Chengyuan felt her gaze was a mix of excitement and hesitation.

"Could she know me?" Zhang Chengyuan thought, but he had no memory of this beautiful woman. He vaguely remembered that she was a singer, but he had never met her in person before.

Just as he was about to ask Park Byung-ryul, Yoon Eun-hye entered the waiting room alone. He waved to her, and she immediately walked over with a smile, bowing respectfully to the other artists and guests along the way.

When Yoon Eun-hye reached Zhang Chengyuan, she was about to bow, but he pulled her to sit on a chair next to him. Zhang Chengyuan said, "No need for formalities. You know I don't like this stuff."

Yoon Eun-hye leaned in and whispered, "With so many people around, I have to at least put on a show."

Zhang Chengyuan replied, "That makes sense. Then get up and bow to me properly, respectfully!"

Yoon Eun-hye playfully slapped his shoulder and said, "Brother Chengyuan, how can you be like that? You're teasing me! When Sister Lee Jin comes, I'll tell her to punish you."

Zhang Chengyuan was pleasantly surprised, "Sister Jin is coming too! When I asked her a few days ago, she said she couldn't make it this time."

Yoon Eun-hye said, "I don't know about that, but she told me yesterday that she was coming."

...

The two chatted and playfully hit each other, showing a very close relationship. This made some of the artists who were close to Yoon Eun-hye curious, speculating that Zhang Chengyuan might be her boyfriend. But then they thought, if he were really her boyfriend, he probably wouldn't be so affectionate in front of so many people. They concluded he was just a very good friend.

Some fans might remember that Yoon Eun-hye and Zhang Chengyuan had collaborated on a school uniform advertisement in the spring of 2000, which had caused a stir among students. However, most of the artists present wouldn't know this.

However, there was an exception. One of the guests knew this story, and it was the beautiful woman who had been observing Zhang Chengyuan. As Yoon Eun-hye and Zhang Chengyuan chatted, this female guest approached and greeted Yoon Eun-hye, "Eun-hye, hello. How have you been?"

Yoon Eun-hye quickly stood up and bowed, "Sister Hye-bin, hello. It's great to see you. Let me introduce you, this is..."

"No need, how could I not recognize you? You and Senior Zhang Chengyuan met while shooting the CleverS school uniform ad in early 2000. Senior Zhang Chengyuan, hello, I'm Hye-bin from the group LUV, and I'm also your fan JEON. Do you remember me?"

"JEON? My number one fan JEON? The one who wrote over a hundred letters to me and then disappeared without a trace?" Zhang Chengyuan couldn't forget this name. Although he hadn't read many of the letters and had given them to Park Byung-ryul to handle, this person was a die-hard fan who supported him from the start, even his first fan. He was deeply impressed. He was a bit disappointed that after he joined the military, JEON stopped writing to him, thinking that people had forgotten about him. He never expected to meet her in person today, and she had even become his colleague.

Hye-bin said, "Brother Chengyuan, can I call you that?" Although Hye-bin and Zhang Chengyuan were the same age, because Zhang Chengyuan was born in February, he was considered a senior to those born after March 1982, so Hye-bin had always called him "oppa" when she was his fan.

Zhang Chengyuan, not knowing Hye-bin's age and thinking she looked younger, nodded, "Of course."

At that moment, he didn't realize that he was only one year older than Yoon Eun-hye. Since Yoon Eun-hye called Hye-bin "sister," Hye-bin was at least his age, making it somewhat inappropriate for her to call him "oppa." However, even if he had realized this, he wouldn't have cared, as he was much older in his previous life.

Hye-bin sighed, "Oppa, since I became a singer, I haven't had the time to write you letters seriously. I didn't fulfill my promise to you, and I'm really sorry. Please forgive me!"

Zhang Chengyuan, not having read the letters, didn't know what her promise was, so he vaguely replied, "There's no need to apologize. Don't worry about it." He thought this explained why she had looked worried and afraid when she saw him.

"So, oppa, you forgive me!" Hye-bin's joy was evident.

"Of course, of course," Zhang Chengyuan replied, deciding to find the letters after the show to understand what Hye-bin had promised him. However, the letters she had sent him had long been handled by Park Byung-ryul and were not kept.