289: Chapter 269: You can occasionally urge someone to update.

Lee Tima had completely entered her "Special Class Chef: Cold and Ruthless Ingredient Processor" mode.

The childishness and playfulness on her face vanished entirely, replaced by a focus that bordered on indifference.

Her small hands gripped the specially made chef's knife steadily, her eyes sharp as a hawk's, fixed on the sea bass that Im Yoona was pressing onto the cutting board with some stiffness.

"Yoona Unnie, keep your wrist steady. Angle the blade, and make the cut from this position behind the gills. Be fast and accurate to minimize the fish's pain."

Her voice was steady, devoid of any excess emotion, as if she were reciting a physics formula, "When gutting, make the incision here, avoiding the gallbladder. The movement must be fluid, done in one go."

Im Yoona listened with extreme concentration, a thin layer of sweat even beading on her forehead.

She forced herself to ignore the occasional, weak struggles of the fish's tail, her eyes following the tip of Lee Tima's knife closely, not letting a single detail slip by.

She asked whenever she didn't understand, even if the questions were very basic: "Tima, is this angle of inclination correct? If I use too much force, will I cut the fish's head off?" "What color is the gallbladder? About where is it located?"

Her attitude was that of a model student; that drive to cast aside her idol baggage and fully immerse herself in learning made Sunny, who was watching from the sidelines, nod to herself (though her main attention was not on this).

Sunny was indeed "listening in," but her mind had long since flown to the clouds.

Although she was still holding her phone, the lens was slightly tilted.

Her gaze wandered over Jiang Zhiyu, her brain's CPU running frantically: The atmosphere is okay right now... but mentioning Lemm directly would be too abrupt... Should I first praise his sister for teaching well? Praise the fish for being fresh? Praise TG's rapid development? Then smoothly transition to "Those high-tech products of yours at TG are really interesting"? Then transition naturally to "That Slime assistant looks really fun"? No, no, that's too deliberate... I need to find an opportunity to suggest eating together! Yes! Eating! Chat and eat, and once the drinks have been poured a few times, it'll be easier to talk! But how to bring it up? On what grounds? Celebrating Yoona learning to kill a fish? That's too ridiculous...

Just as Sunny was racking her brains and fighting an internal battle, the silent conversation in the corner on the other side also temporarily came to an end.

After receiving Kim Taeyeon's vague and obviously perfunctory (or perhaps shy) answer of "resting at home," Jiang Zhiyu did not continue to press, simply giving a very light "hmm" before falling silent.

His gaze, naturally and as if pulled by some force, turned toward Im Yoona by the sink.

His gaze changed.

It was no longer the polite, gentle yet slightly distant manner he had when speaking to Kim Taeyeon earlier, nor was it the helpless indulgence he showed when facing Lee Tima's antics.

It was a pure, deep observation, carrying inquiry, carrying assessment, and even... carrying a trace of imperceptible immersion.

His line of sight landed on the space between Im Yoona's brows, which were slightly furrowed from concentration, on the lines of her arms, which were tensed from effort, on her tightly pursed, somewhat stubborn lips, and finally, it rested on her doe eyes, which were usually filled with laughter or mischief, but were now clear and earnest, reflecting the glimmer of the knife and the water.

His gaze was so focused it was almost trance-like, as if he were looking through the Im Yoona in front of him to see another image that existed within his conception.

The kitchen light cast fine, fragmented spots of light into his deep eyes, which then quickly vanished into that sea of focused ink.

He seemed lost in his observation, his lips moving almost imperceptibly.

A very soft murmur spilled from the corners of his mouth, as if he were unconsciously repeating a thought, or perhaps performing some kind of precise measurement:

"Water... twenty-five degrees... constant temperature?"

This sentence was as light as a sigh.

Except for Kim Taeyeon, who was extremely close to him and whose senses were unusually sharp due to the scent on him, I'm afraid even Sunny, who was trying hard to "eavesdrop," couldn't have caught it.

However, Kim Taeyeon heard it.

Her body stiffened for an imperceptible moment.

This sentence... this metaphor...

She suddenly remembered that just a short while ago in Jeonju, in Jiang Zhiyu's car, he had also used "water" to describe Im Yoona.

He said that Im Yoona was like water—multifaceted, agile, able to adapt to any container, seemingly gentle, but actually containing power.

And now, he had provided more precise "parameters"? Twenty-five degrees? Constant temperature?

An indescribable feeling suddenly seized Kim Taeyeon.

It wasn't just a simple case of "observing an actor through the lens of a character."

The focus in that gaze and the stare that seemed almost like it wanted to carve itself into his mind carried a kind of... near-obsessive inquiry and a certain deep, complex emotion that she couldn't fully understand.

Was he assessing whether Im Yoona was suitable for the role of "Withe"? Surely, yes.

But why... did his gaze make her feel that what was contained within it was far, far more than a producer assessing an actor?

Kim Taeyeon's heartbeat lost its rhythm again, but this time, it wasn't because of shyness or embarrassment, but a complex emotion mixed with confusion, a subtle sourness, and a faint sense of unease.

She looked at Jiang Zhiyu's profile as he stared at Im Yoona, looked at the faint, almost imperceptible curve at the corner of his mouth that seemed to appear because he had captured some perfect detail, and then thought back to his plain greeting to her earlier and this observation that was so focused it was almost self-forgetful...

An indescribable sense of disparity quietly sprouted.

In the kitchen, Lee Tima's blade finally fell, the movement fluid and precise, beginning the actual demonstration of processing.

Im Yoona held her breath in concentration.

Sunny was still racking her brains trying to figure out how to speak up.

Jiang Zhiyu's gaze remained on Im Yoona, so focused that it was as if nothing else around them existed.

As for Kim Taeyeon, she silently shifted her gaze, looking at the water splashing in the sink, feeling that the tempting peach scent at the tip of her nose seemed to carry a hint of an indescribable, slightly cool bitterness.

Under Lee Tima's textbook-precise, and even somewhat coldly aesthetic operation, the sea bass, which had been pinned with high hopes (the Oscar/Best Actress ladder), quickly completed its full process as a "teaching sample" and "ingredient."

Scaling, gutting, cleaning the innards, rinsing clean... every step was neat and efficient, forming a brutal contrast with the "tragedy" of Im Yoona's attempt yesterday.

What finally appeared on the cutting board were pieces of clean fish meat of uniform size, with clear texture, and even carrying a slight crystalline luster.

Compared to the predecessor from yesterday that had been ravaged, died a miserable death, and "died with grievances," today's sea bass, in Lee Tima's hands, at least "died a worthy death," fully realizing its value as a high-quality ingredient.

Lee Tima looked at her "work" with satisfaction, her small face recovering that look of slight pride, and turned to Im Yoona, who was still somewhat dazed: "Unnie, did you see clearly? The key is stability and speed. Next time you can try starting from stunning it yourself."

Im Yoona looked at the beautiful fish meat, then looked at the fish innards and bones that had been cleaned up in the trash can next to her, let out a long sigh of relief, and nodded.

Although her hands were still a bit shaky, there was more confidence in her eyes.

Regardless, she had finally "experienced" it completely once.

The kitchen was filled with the faint, slightly fishy scent unique to fresh fish and the smell of clean water vapor, mixed with the clear, cold scent of wintersweet on Lee Tima.

Just then, Jiang Zhiyu, who had been standing in the corner and whose gaze seemed to have only just been withdrawn from Im Yoona a short while ago, spoke up at the opportune moment.

His voice was gentle, breaking the short silence after the teaching had ended.

"It's getting late," he glanced at the darkening sky outside the window, his tone as natural as if he were making a suggestion in his own home, "I happened to buy some ingredients in my car. If you Noonas don't mind, I'll cook tonight. Consider it..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Im Yoona and Lee Tima, "A celebration for Yoona Noona's initial success in 'learning the craft,' and also thanks to Tima for causing everyone trouble."

"Yay!!!" Lee Tima was the first to jump up and cheer, a wave of wintersweet scent wafting through the air, "Oppa's cooking is the best! Taeyeon Unnie, Sunny Unnie, Yoona Unnie, you're in for a treat!"

Upon hearing this, Kim Taeyeon also temporarily suppressed that inexplicable sense of sourness in her heart.

She knew deeply that Jiang Zhiyu's cooking was delicious; the medicinal breakfast in Jeonju (and the various events that followed) was still fresh in her memory.

She turned to Im Yoona, who still hadn't quite come back to her senses, and Sunny, whose eyes were starting to wander again, with a tone of affirmation that suggested "you guys lucked out": "Yeah, Zhiyu's cooking is indeed very good."

She said it very naturally, as if she were just stating an objective fact.

Im Yoona nodded.

Her mind was currently half on the steps of killing the fish just now, and half feeling somewhat surprised and... subtle about Jiang Zhiyu's sudden suggestion to cook.

After all, he was the author of the script for "the crab," the "creditor" whose script she had "peaked at."

Having him cook felt a bit strange.

However, Sunny's attention was not on the matter of "whether the food is delicious" at all!

Her ears sharply caught the extremely natural intimacy and affirmation in Kim Taeyeon's words—"Zhiyu's cooking is indeed very good."

This sentence in itself was not a problem, but that tone, that unhesitating praise filled with familiarity, coming from Kim Taeyeon, who almost never cooked and wasn't particularly picky about food, directed at a young man who was not a professional chef and whose main job was even the CEO of an entertainment company...

There's a problem! A big problem!

Sunny's eyes, which always shone with a sly light, lit up instantly.

She jerked up one eyebrow, and her face broke into her signature, bright smile full of gossipy curiosity, dragging out her tone: "Oh—?"

She switched her gaze rapidly between Kim Taeyeon and the back of Jiang Zhiyu, who had already turned to go downstairs to get the ingredients, as if she had discovered a new continent, "Tae—yeon—ah—?"

She deliberately paused to ensure everyone's attention (at least Kim Taeyeon's) was attracted, and then asked slowly, in a tone of "I've caught you": "How—did—you—know—that Zhiyu's cooking is very good?"

She specifically emphasized "know" and "very good," the mischief in her eyes almost overflowing.

Kim Taeyeon: "!!!"

She hadn't expected Sunny to attack on this point at all.

Her cheeks flushed "poof," staining with a vibrant crimson even more rapidly than when she had blushed earlier due to the scent and the gaze, turning red all the way to her ears.

She opened her mouth, and for a moment, she didn't know how to answer.

Should she say she had eaten it at home in Jeonju?

Wouldn't that expose even more details?

Just as Kim Taeyeon was speechless, Sunny's smile became even brighter, Lee Tima blinked curiously, and Im Yoona also came back to her senses and looked over with slight confusion, Jiang Zhiyu, who had already walked to the door and had his hand on the doorknob, stopped his movement.

He did not turn back, but his clear and gentle voice was clearly transmitted over, carrying a hint of just-right amusement, deflecting the question with ease: "Sunny Noona, Lee Tima's skills were taught by me."

His tone was very calm, as if he were saying something as natural as could be.

The implication was obvious: If Lee Tima, this lawless little girl, learned her cooking skills from me, could my skills as her master be bad?

This had no direct logical connection to whether Kim Taeyeon knew or how she knew; he was just explaining the source of his cooking skills and incidentally resolving Kim Taeyeon's embarrassment.

Sunny was choked up a bit by his soft yet firm rebuttal, but she wasn't angry; on the contrary, she found it even more interesting.

She immediately switched to an "oops, I misunderstood" expression, exaggeratedly patted her forehead, and gave a perfunctory apology with no sincerity: "Ah~ so that's how it is! I was just too curious, sorry Taeyeon, Zhiyu~"

But when she apologized, those eyes flashing with brilliance didn't stop at all.

Her gaze, like a searchlight, scanned frantically back and forth between Kim Taeyeon, whose blush hadn't faded and who was secretly letting out a sigh of relief, and that tall, upright back at the door, and the excited smile at the corner of her mouth that said "I smell a big scoop" could not be suppressed no matter what.

Kim Taeyeon was both shy and annoyed by her unabashed, inquisitive gaze and glared at her fiercely, warning her with her eyes: Lee Soon-kyu! You better stop!

Sunny, however, didn't care at all, instead returning an even more ambiguous, even more "I get it~", "Wow, I didn't expect there to be such a hidden plot!" excited look, which was practically glowing.

"Click."

The door was gently closed, and Jiang Zhiyu went downstairs to get the ingredients.

Almost the same second the door closed, Sunny, as if she had springs installed, "whooshed" over to Kim Taeyeon's side, grabbed her by the shoulders (avoiding sensitive areas), her face full of irrepressible, burning fire of gossip and a wicked smile like a successful prank.

She leaned into Kim Taeyeon's bright red ear, using a breathy voice, but at a volume that ensured Im Yoona and Lee Tima nearby could also vaguely hear, chuckling, and pressed her impatiently:

"Yah—! Kim Taeyeon! Quick! Hon-est-ly! Con-fess!"

"What! The! Hell! Is! Your! Re-la-tion-ship—with that Jiang Zhiyu—?!"

Her voice was full of the excitement of discovering a shocking secret and the threat of "I won't stop until you tell me," her eyes wide round, staring fixedly at Kim Taeyeon, as if she were about to see flowers bloom on her face.

Lee Tima also curiously leaned in, the scent of wintersweet mixed with the aura of gossip.

Even Im Yoona, who had just finished "learning the craft," temporarily forgot about the fish and the script, and with a bit of surprise and inquiry, looked at Kim Taeyeon, who was being "interrogated" by Sunny and was blushing so hard she was about to smoke.

In the kitchen, the tense atmosphere of the fish-killing lesson was instantly replaced by this even more powerful whirlwind called "gossip."

Kim Taeyeon only felt darkness before her eyes, wishing she could immediately dig a hole to crawl into, or throw Sunny, who was smiling like a cat that had stolen cream, directly out the window.

Jiang Zhiyu... please come back quickly!!! She screamed silently in her heart.