192: Angry Chaeyoung

In the gaps between sending messages, many people secretly glanced at her. Xu Zhiyou continued walking inside as if nothing was wrong; this was not the time to be flustered.

By the time she walked into the store, the crowd had dispersed, leaving only two girls whispering to each other.

“Oh my, so beautiful.” Park Min-eun thought of her profile, looking at her friend beside her, “Hye-seon, why do I feel like she looks so much like a celebrity? You…”

“Zoe, right?” Shin Hye-seon finished her sentence. She also thought so, but then she reconsidered, finding it unlikely, and looked at her friend.

“Min-eun, as a big celebrity, Zoe wouldn’t come here alone for lunch in the middle of the day, and without any disguise. We must have mistaken her for someone else.”

Park Min-eun was persuaded and immediately deflated, “I thought I could get an autograph. She’s the only one I’m missing from BLACKPINK’s five members. Sigh~”

Shin Hye-seon patted her back, “Isn’t she releasing a full album soon? There will definitely be a fan signing event then, no need to rush.”

“That’s true. Let’s go.” The two walked hand-in-hand towards Hongik University.

…

Xu Zhiyou knew that for an ordinary person to recognize her at a glance, it would probably only happen with a die-hard fan or a sasaeng fan.

Her hair slightly covering her face was enough; too much disguise would be overkill. She confidently approached the ordering counter: “Annyeonghaseyo, I’d like a boneless pig’s trotters, and also…”

After ordering everything in one breath, she saw the waitress only staring at her, so she waved her hand, “Hello!”

The waitress snapped out of it and bowed repeatedly, “Mianhae, I didn’t mean to space out.”

“It’s okay, I’ll just repeat it. Could you please find me a quiet spot?”

“Ne, please follow me.” She was led to the innermost small booth, “Zoexi, is this spot okay?”

“Yes, kamsahamnida.”

At the time, she didn't feel anything was wrong, and sat down. Only when she was about to pull out her phone did she realize.

She looked up and saw the waitress staring at her with a look of pleasant surprise. She slapped her forehead, “Oh my god, did I just get roasted that quickly?”

The waitress had only tentatively called out, not expecting her to actually respond, “Zoe, I can’t believe it’s really you, I… mmph mmph”

Xu Zhiyou stood up and covered her mouth, “Lower your voice, it won’t be good if people get attracted and come to watch.”

“Mhm mhm!” The waitress nodded repeatedly. With her mouth covered by Xu Zhiyou, she had only one thought, “She smells so good.”

Xu Zhiyou released her hand and found her spacing out again. She waved her hand in front of her, “Hello~~”

Coming back to her senses, she gave another ninety-degree bow of apology, “Mianhae, this is my first time seeing a living celebrity this close, I’m a bit excited.”

“Uh!!!” Xu Zhiyou always felt something was off. After realizing, she looked at her in surprise, “Oh my, have you ever met a dead celebrity?”

“Pfft hahahaha~~” The waitress was amused by her, waving her hands repeatedly, “Aniyo, I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Okay, I understand, I understand…” Before she could finish, her phone vibrated non-stop. She saw it was Park Chaeyoung calling.

Seeing Park Chaeyoung’s profile picture, the waitress knew she should leave, “Zoe, could you give me an autograph later?”

“Of course.”

“Kamsahamnida, you’re busy, I’ll go to work now.” Only after the waitress left did Xu Zhiyou answer the call, “If you have something to say, say it, don’t disturb my meal.”

As soon as Park Chaeyoung heard ‘meal,’ she got furious. That last sentence from Xu Zhiyou, the accursed Xu Zhiyou, was better left unsaid. The problem was they didn’t see it.

They were practicing; where would they find time to look at their phones? Others might not know, but she had just left the practice room, so it was clear Xu Zhiyou deliberately didn’t want to include the four of them.

Thinking of this, she unleashed a barrage of asterisks into the phone. Xu Zhiyou moved the phone away from her ear.

She wondered when Park Hanhan had become so good at cursing. After she finished her rant, Xu Zhiyou slowly said, “You actually dare to curse at me.”

“Pfft, which brat said she was going to ask Leah Unnie about the group reality show, and what happened? She went shopping alone, right?”

“Tsk tsk tsk!” Watching Park Chaeyoung verbally assault Xu Zhiyou, Kim Ji-soo and Kim Jennie huddled together, trembling, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

Lisa secretly clicked her tongue, looking at Kim Ji-soo and the other one, “Jisoo, has Chaeyoung been practicing rap in private? Her flow is amazing.”

The two shook their heads repeatedly. Kim Jennie was the first to speak, “Only Zoe can activate Chaeyoung’s rap state, no one else can.”

“I think so too.” Kim Ji-soo also strongly agreed, adding, “She’s purely driven by anger.”

“It does seem to be the case…”

Before Lisa could finish, Park Chaeyoung kicked her in the butt, “Yah! She ditched us, and you still have the mind to talk about me.”

Lisa didn't mind. This roughhousing culture was started by Xu Zhiyou. Compared to her, Park Chaeyoung was infinitely gentler.

“Chaeyoung-ah, what are you doing? We’re filming our group reality show tomorrow. Can’t you live without Zoe, huh?”

Park Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, “Lalisa, are we talking about the same thing? She tricked us, okay?”

Lisa shrugged indifferently, “This is nothing. Haven’t you gotten used to it yet? You need to practice.”

“Yah!”

“Exactly.” Xu Zhiyou liked to hear that. “Chaeyoung-ah, Lisa is right, you still need to practice. Look at the three of them, what they need is this calm approach to things… *beep beep beep*”

Before she could finish, a busy signal came through. “Heh, Park Hanhan is getting bold. Cursing me is one thing, but daring to hang up on me? We’ll talk when I get back.”

She tossed her phone aside and focused on the delicious food on the table. Nothing else mattered compared to eating. After eating her fill, getting her autograph, she left.

Passing by an accessories store, she remembered being roasted earlier, so she went in and bought a mask and a hat to wear. She took a selfie with her phone to check.

“This damned aura, I can’t hide it! So annoying.” She tucked her phone away and walked towards Hongdae Square, found a shady spot, sat down, and started to enjoy the view.

Behind her, in a coffee shop, the six members of T-ARA gathered to discuss the T-ARA trademark issue. After genuinely going through the lawsuit, they truly understood what it meant to have little say.

“Ji-yeon, I don’t think we’ll get the T-ARA trademark back.”

“Aniyo, Eun-jung Unnie, we haven’t even lost the lawsuit yet, how can you be so defeatist?” She glanced at Jeon Bo-ram and Park So-yeon.

“Boram Unnie and Soyeon Unnie are both back, we…”

Ham Eun-jung interrupted her, “Ji-yeon, I think we should just accept the CEO’s proposal. We can’t win this lawsuit.”

She had deeply experienced what it meant to live in a capitalist country; as long as enough money was thrown in, even the Blue House could be controlled.

If evidence were useful, how could they have been framed for five years? Jeon Bo-ram and the others all knew this, which was why they didn’t object.

Park Jiyeon saw the reactions of the other four and finally swallowed her words, turning her head just in time to see Xu Zhiyou’s back.

Lee Juri felt a pang of sympathy seeing her like this and ruffled her head, “Ji-yeon, you’re different from us, you’re still young…”