201: In Chapter 199, I ultimately defeated Hakimi's guardian by repeating myself like a broken record, winning the battle!

In her impression, although Im Yoona would occasionally tease people, she rarely truly lost her temper, let alone to the extent of "scolding" someone.

Jiang Zhiyu coughed dryly, gesturing with his fingers in the air as if searching for the right words: "Actually... it wasn't exactly scolding, it should be called educating? Yes, educating. Last time Yoona Noona came to visit the set, maybe the variety show script was designed a bit disrespectfully toward the original idol persona, so Yoona Noona..."

He paused, recalling that day at the Myeong-dong filming site when Im Yoona had pulled him aside, her expression serious as she pointed out the overly exaggerated settings in the script that could damage an idol's image. Her voice wasn't loud, but every sentence was clear and logical, hitting the mark.

"She said, 'Variety effects are important, but they shouldn't come at the cost of consuming an artist's professional image,'" Jiang Zhiyu imitated Im Yoona's tone at the time, though he didn't sound much like her. "'These kids are very professional and willing to cooperate with your creativity, but as a PD, you have a responsibility to protect them while creating laughs.'"

After hearing this, Kim Taeyeon quickly understood and chuckled, saying, "Yoona looks gentle, but sometimes she can be very serious and loves to stand up for others! Especially toward juniors, she has always been very caring."

Jiang Zhiyu fell silent for a moment, seemingly recalling Im Yoona's serious face during her critique—brows slightly furrowed, eyes focused, lips pursed into a line. It was a stern look she rarely showed in public. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but let out a soft laugh: "Yoona Noona is just like water."

"Like water?" Kim Taeyeon looked at him sideways with curiosity.

The car drove over a small bridge, the creek water below flowing gurglingly, sparkling with fine light under the sun.

Jiang Zhiyu seemed to be considering if the metaphor was appropriate, but soon nodded with certainty: "Yoona Noona has a personality like water—inclusive, yet possessing many forms: ice, mist, snow, clouds..."

His voice gradually softened, his gaze drifting out the window as if he were conceptualizing something through the scenery before him: "Usually gentle as water, able to adapt to any container; when serious, she's like ice, firm and angular; occasionally mischievous on variety shows, elusive like mist; and on stage, she's like a snowflake, beautiful and unique..."

As he spoke, he suddenly sat up straight, his eyes lighting up: "If Yoona Noona wants to do a solo, I think approaching it from this angle would be absolutely great. Not a common ballad, but using the imagery of water as a metaphor for the multifaceted nature of her personality..."

Jiang Zhiyu almost instinctively took out his phone and opened the memo app, his fingers tapping rapidly on the screen. His speech became faster and faster, as if afraid those sudden bursts of inspiration would slip away in an instant:

"If I could have deeper contact with Yoona Noona and understand more of her sides, I could definitely create a massive hit..."

"Yoona Noona, water, is a feeling of constant temperature. Not blazing like fire, not freezing like ice, but a kind of... just right warmth?"

He stopped typing, his brow slightly furrowed, unsatisfied with the description: "But this constant temperature of Yoona Noona's—one degree more and it's hot, one degree less and it's cold. Even if heated to a boil, it will eventually turn cold..."

This thought seemed to touch a certain nerve. Jiang Zhiyu's voice became even softer, more like he was talking to himself: "Turn cold?... Why did our relationship suddenly turn cold? The temperature of love can also become unbalanced... No, no, now is not the time to talk about this..."

He shook his head, refocusing on his creative train of thought: "The point is the imagery of water—gentle but powerful, formless yet able to penetrate all things..."

Kim Taeyeon listened to him silently, her gaze fixed straight ahead, her expression seemingly calm. But when she heard the words "Yoona Noona" come out of Jiang Zhiyu's mouth once again, her fingers gripping the steering wheel tightened involuntarily, her knuckles turning slightly white.

Her brow furrowed slightly, and her lips pursed into a thin line. That warm fruity fragrance still filled the car, but at this moment, it made her feel an inexplicable irritability.

Why... mention Yoona so frequently?

Jiang Zhiyu was completely immersed in his creative conception, totally failing to notice Kim Taeyeon's subtle emotional shift. He continued recording fragments of inspiration on his phone, occasionally humming a melody softly before rejecting it himself.

"No, this tune is too ordinary... it needs to be more special..."

The car turned into a quieter street where the houses on both sides were more spacious, with various plants and flowers growing in the courtyards. Kim Taeyeon slowed down, her gaze scanning the house numbers along the road.

She took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound natural: "We're almost there. The one with the white wall ahead is it."

Only then did Jiang Zhiyu snap out of his creative state and look ahead. A traditional Hanok building came into view, with black tiled roofs, white walls, wooden doors and windows, and a courtyard planted with several pine trees and a meticulously tended vegetable garden.

"It's very beautiful," he praised sincerely.

Kim Taeyeon slowly parked the car by the main gate and turned off the engine. The car suddenly became quiet, leaving only the final hum of the air conditioner and the occasional bird chirping outside the window.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to look at Jiang Zhiyu. Sunlight slanted in through the car window, casting soft shadows on his face. His eyes still held the afterglow of creative inspiration, and his lips carried an unconscious smile.

A complex emotion suddenly surged in Kim Taeyeon's heart—she wanted to ask him about those metaphors for "water," why he thought of "the temperature of love being unbalanced," and even more, she wanted to ask...

Why do your eyes shine so brightly when you mention Im Yoona?

But in the end, none of these words were spoken. She just said calmly, "Let's get out. Tima must be getting impatient."

Jiang Zhiyu nodded, put away his phone, and pushed open the car door. The warm early summer breeze immediately rushed in, mixing with the fresh scent of greenery from the courtyard, diluting the heavy fruity fragrance inside the car.

Kim Taeyeon also got out of the car, standing by the door, watching Jiang Zhiyu stretch and then curiously take in the surroundings. The sunlight shone on his hair, giving it a soft luster.

She gently closed the car door, the sound of the car locking exceptionally clear on the quiet street.

"Let's go," she said, her voice returning to its usual calm, betraying no abnormality.

But only she knew that in some corner of her heart, it felt as if she had been lightly pricked by something, leaving a faint, inexplicable sourness.

The soft "thud" of the car door closing sounded exceptionally clear on the quiet street. Jiang Zhiyu had just stood firm and was about to turn back to say something to Kim Taeyeon when he heard a long, energetic shout:

"Oppa—I missed you so much~!!!"

The voice came from the direction of the Hanok's main gate, carrying a sweetness and exaggeration unique to young girls.

Jiang Zhiyu almost instinctively dodged to the side.

In the next second, a figure wearing a powder-blue traditional Hanbok rushed out from the gate like a small cannonball, arms wide open, pouncing forward in a posture completely devoid of any concern for her image—it was Lee Tima.

The hem of her Hanbok skirt flared out in an exaggerated arc in the air, and the ribbon on her head almost flew off. Her small face wore a mischievous smile of a prank about to succeed, and her eyes were strikingly bright.

But she missed.

Jiang Zhiyu nimbly moved a step to the side, and Lee Tima flew right past where she should have landed in his arms, rushing straight forward. She obviously hadn't expected to be dodged; her body lost balance, she let out a short "Whoa!" and then—

Thud!

Lee Tima rolled once on the ground, her Hanbok skirt spreading out messily and getting stained with dust. She lay on the gravel path for two seconds before pushing herself up in frustration, standing up huffily, and glaring at Jiang Zhiyu with her hands on her hips.

"Hey! Why didn't you catch me? ψ(*｀ー´)ψ"

Her cheeks puffed out and her eyebrows shot up, making her look exactly like a pampered young lady throwing a tantrum in a period drama—if one ignored the crooked ribbon on her head and the dust on her skirt.

Kim Taeyeon had just come around from the car and saw this scene, her eyes widening in shock. She looked at Lee Tima's obviously meticulously chosen Hanbok, then at the undisguised frustration of a "failed prank" on her face, and for a moment didn't know what to say.

Jiang Zhiyu, however, had an expression of having expected this all along, with a gentle but unmistakable "I know you too well" smile on his face. He slowly approached Lee Tima, his gaze falling on her hands.

"What do you have on your hands?" he asked in a deliberately curious tone, then turned to Kim Taeyeon, "Let Taeyeon Noona see~"

Lee Tima instinctively tried to hide her hands behind her back, but this action only made her more suspicious. Kim Taeyeon frowned, stepped forward quickly, and without a word, grabbed Lee Tima's wrist and pulled her hand in front of her.