366: Chapter 431 Update Progress Today (1)

The sunshine on Jeju Island was as brilliant as ever, and the sea breeze blew against their faces with a salty, damp scent. Two women wearing sunglasses and casual clothes dragged their suitcases out of the airport terminal, standing at the arrival gate and taking a deep breath in unison.

"We're here," Kim Taeyeon said softly, her eyes narrowing slightly behind her sunglasses as she looked at the azure sky in the distance.

Im Yoona stood beside her, looking at the same sky, the corners of her mouth curving into a faint smile. "Yeah, we're here."

Neither of them spoke, but both were thinking about the same thing—

That person was somewhere on this island.

The address Lee Tima had sent was sitting in her phone. Kim Taeyeon clicked on it and looked at it repeatedly; it was the location of a seaside guesthouse, about a forty-minute drive from the airport. She silently memorized the route, then put her phone in her pocket, pretending to be nonchalant as she said,

"Let's go, call a car."

Im Yoona nodded, and the two of them dragged their suitcases toward the taxi pick-up point.

Forty minutes later, the taxi stopped in front of a detached guesthouse that looked very much in the style of Jeju Island. Kim Taeyeon and Im Yoona got out of the car and stood at the entrance, looking at the half-open wooden door. Strange noises were coming from inside—

There were screams, loud laughter, the muffled sound of something being slapped, and... it sounded like someone was shouting "Foul!"?

The two looked at each other.

Kim Taeyeon pushed open the door.

Then, they were both stunned.

What was going on?

The scene in the yard had completely exceeded all their imaginations of a "variety show filming site."

On the sand, a yellow square object—if it could still be called an "object"—was sprawled there in a spread-eagle position. Hanging between its two huge front teeth was a green Octopus tentacle, swaying gently with the sea breeze.

Is that... SpongeBob SquarePants?

Kim Taeyeon rubbed her eyes.

Nearby, a red mechanical crab was frantically waving its claws at a wooden board on the ground. A coin was stuck to the board, fixed firmly with glue. the crab's claws snapped at the coin over and over, slipping away each time with a "click-clack" sound, but it remained unable to succeed.

A bit further away, a squirrel wearing a pink Karate suit was lying flat on a yellow board, its limbs struggling desperately, but every effort only made it sink deeper. Kim Taeyeon looked closer—that looked like... a Sticky mouse trap?

"Help—!!!" the squirrel let out a shrill scream.

But no one paid it any mind.

Even further away, a blue creature with an octopus head was chasing Ye Shuhua all over the place, holding a Flute in its hand and shouting something like "Give me back my Flute!" Ye Shuhua laughed as she ran, holding the Flute high in the air, occasionally turning back to make a face at the octopus head.

Another large pink fat guy—that must be Patrick Star—was squatting in a corner, hands covering its lower body, looking utterly despondent. Its iconic green triangular trunks were currently hanging from a wooden stick in Kim Minnie's hand, like a flag of victory, fluttering in the sea breeze.

"Give me back my pants—!!!" Patrick Star wailed.

Kim Minnie looked back at it and said slowly, "First, tell me why your underwear has a floral pattern."

Patrick Star: "..."

A girl wearing a black leather jacket, sunglasses, and a whale headpiece—that was likely the legendary "Bad Girl Zhenzhen"—was standing in the center of the field with her hands on her hips, shouting at the other members of (G)I-DLE:

"You're fouling!!! Foul!!!"

Song Yuqi put her hands on her hips and retorted righteously, "Where's the evidence? Show us the evidence!"

Zhenzhen stamped her feet in anger. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Seeing it with your own eyes doesn't count as evidence!" Cho Mi Yeon chimed in from the side. "We need physical evidence! Witnesses! Video recordings!"

Zhenzhen looked at the surrounding "staff members"—people in various strange costumes who were watching the spectacle—but as soon as those people met her gaze, they immediately looked away, pretending they hadn't seen anything.

Zhenzhen: "..."

And in the center of all this chaos, Lee Tima was standing amidst a pile of messy props, her clothes disheveled, her face pale, and her eyes red. She looked like she had just survived a catastrophe.

Kim Taeyeon and Im Yoona stood at the door, looking at this scene that could be called a "battlefield," and remained silent for a full ten seconds.

"...This looks like a battlefield," Kim Taeyeon finally spoke, her voice carrying a hint of absurdity.

Im Yoona nodded, her expression complex. "It's very... Jiang, no, it's the TG style."

She spoke the words "Jiang Zhiyu's style" softly, as if afraid of being overheard.

Just then, Lee Tima turned her head and happened to see them.

In that instant, an amazing light erupted in Lee Tima's eyes—the kind of light Kim Taeyeon had only seen on the faces of people stranded in a desert for three days who finally see a rescue team.

"Unnie—!!!"

Lee Tima took off running, passing Sandy Cheeks who was struggling on the Sticky mouse trap, skirting around Squidward who was chasing Ye Shuhua, vaulting over SpongeBob SquarePants sprawled on the sand, and sprinting all the way to Kim Taeyeon and Im Yoona.

"Unnie, you're finally here—!!!"

She opened her arms, seemingly wanting to give the two a warm hug, but stopped abruptly halfway.

Because Kim Taeyeon and Im Yoona were looking at her with a "what species are you" kind of gaze.

Lee Tima's current appearance was indeed a bit miserable.

Her clothes were rumpled and stained with suspicious green marks. Her hair was as messy as a bird's nest, with a few... were those Octopus tentacles stuck in it? Her face was as pale as paper, but her eyes were red as if she had just cried. Most bizarrely, her left foot was bare, her shoe gone somewhere, leaving her wearing only a sock with a cartoon bear printed on it.

Kim Taeyeon opened her mouth, taking quite a while to find her voice.

"Tima-ya... what happened to you?"

Lee Tima blinked and answered calmly, in a tone that suggested "what's there to be surprised about":

"Nothing much. I just ate wasabi and drank lemon juice, then got pushed onto a designed Sticky mouse trap, then stepped on a mechanism that left my shoe behind, then got catapulted onto a trampoline, and then flew up and landed face-first on the sand with a mouthful of dirt."

Kim Taeyeon and Im Yoona: "..."

"Nothing much"?

With those five "thens" linked together, how did that seem like "nothing much"?

Kim Taeyeon spoke with difficulty, "Are... are you okay?"

Lee Tima nodded, her expression so sincere it was heart-wrenching. "I'm great! It was really thrilling when I got catapulted into the air~"

Kim Taeyeon: "..."

Im Yoona: "..."

The two looked at each other, both seeing the same confusion in the other's eyes:

Has this child been pranked into losing her mind?

Im Yoona cleared her throat and pointed to the nearby Sandy Cheeks, who was still struggling on the Sticky mouse trap, having completely given up resistance and only twitching occasionally, asking:

"That... are those also...?"

Lee Tima followed her finger, nodded, and actually spoke with a hint of pride in her voice:

"This place is my masterpiece!"

Kim Taeyeon was stunned. "You designed it?"

"Yeah!" Lee Tima put her hands on her hips. Though she looked a mess, her smugness couldn't be hidden. "I designed the whole segment! The Sticky mouse traps, the catapult mechanisms, the wasabi-lemon juice combo—it was all my idea!"

Im Yoona looked at Sandy Cheeks "wiggling" on the Sticky mouse trap, then at Lee Tima's "aren't I amazing" expression. She was silent for two seconds before slowly saying:

"Just a bit?"

Lee Tima followed her gaze and saw Sandy Cheeks, who had completely given up struggling and was only twitching occasionally.

She was silent for two seconds, then said in a small voice:

"...Okay, maybe it deviated just a little bit."

"A little bit?" Kim Taeyeon raised an eyebrow.

Lee Tima made a gesture. "Just this little bit."

Kim Taeyeon looked at her, suddenly not knowing what to say.

Was this child a genius or a madman? Or... both?

While she was dazed, her gaze unconsciously drifted past Lee Tima toward the distance—

On the terrace of the second floor of the guesthouse, a slender figure was standing there.

The sunlight shone from behind him, outlining a clear silhouette. He was wearing a light gray casual shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing a section of his smooth-lined forearms. The sea breeze blew at the hem of his shirt and ruffled his hair, but he just stood there quietly, his gaze directed toward them.

Jiang Zhiyu.

Kim Taeyeon's heart skipped a beat.

He was too far away for her to see his expression, and even less able to see his neck. That mark she... she... had left, what was it like now? Had it faded? Or was there still a faint trace?

She thought of the photo Lee Tima had secretly taken—the slightly red earlobe in the sunlight, the earlobe that had turned red because of her.

That image made her cheeks start to heat up again.

But now, he stood there, so far away, so quiet, looking so... cold.

Kim Taeyeon pursed her lips, then raised her hand and waved at him.

The movement was very light, as if she were afraid of being discovered.

On the terrace, Jiang Zhiyu seemed to freeze for a moment, then turned and walked into the house.

Kim Taeyeon's hand froze in mid-air.

What... what did this mean?

He saw her, and then... he left?

While she was still dazed, the guesthouse door was pushed open, and Jiang Zhiyu walked out. He crossed the yard, bypassing the messy props and the strangely shaped "creatures," walking toward them step by step.

Closer.

Even closer.

Kim Taeyeon could see his face clearly now—that face was exactly the same as in her memory, with clean features, a straight nose, and those clear eyes that always made people unable to see through them.

Her gaze subconsciously drifted toward his neck.

The shirt collar... wasn't buttoned to the top. But today he wasn't wearing a windbreaker, just an ordinary casual shirt with the collar slightly open, revealing a small section of his neck.

Was there a mark? Or had it already faded?

She couldn't see clearly.

Jiang Zhiyu walked up to them and stopped. His gaze swept over their faces, finally resting on Kim Taeyeon, and he nodded slightly.

"Noona."

Then he turned to Im Yoona and gave the same nod.

"Yoona Noona."

His tone was polite, the address standard, and the sense of distance was perfectly maintained.

The temperature on Kim Taeyeon's face dropped instantly.

Noona.

It was "Noona" again.

Just like before—the polite, distant, and faultless "Noona."

She remembered that morning when he stood at her door and said, "In private, you can call me Zhiyu," with such tenderness. She remembered the focus in his eyes as his fingers pressed against her head to help relieve her hangover headache. She remembered those sincere eyes when he promised her a "gift exclusive to Kim Taeyeon."

But now, he stood before her, greeting her with the standard posture of a "senior and junior," as if those moments had never existed.

No contact for over a month.

And this was how it was when they finally met.

An indescribable sense of grievance and annoyance welled up in Kim Taeyeon's heart.

It's been over a month, and you haven't even sent a single message.

Now that we meet, it's just "Noona"?

Lee Tima said you blushed and that you were thinking of me—it was all a lie, wasn't it?

She took a deep breath, suppressing those emotions, and put on a standard, polite smile.

"President Jiang, long time no see."

Her tone was polite, the address was standard, and the sense of distance was perfectly maintained.

Jiang Zhiyu's gaze lingered on her face for a moment, his eyes as deep as the sea, unreadable. Then he looked away and turned to Im Yoona, his tone noticeably gentler.

"Noona, why aren't you resting at home? Why did you come here?"

Im Yoona smiled slightly, a smile so gentle and proper that no fault could be found.

"I came to see Tima. And also—to relax a bit; the recent training has been too exhausting."

Jiang Zhiyu nodded, his brow furrowing slightly with genuine concern.

"How have you been resting these past few days? Is the physical training intensity too high? I told Hui Feng before to take it step by step and not give too much all at once."

Im Yoona shook her head, her smile deepening.

"It's fine, I can handle it. The physical training is okay; it's mainly memorizing lines for the dramatic scenes—after all, I don't want people saying bad things about my first transition movie."

Her tone carried a hint of playful self-deprecation, but it was mostly serious.

Jiang Zhiyu looked at her, a flash of admiration in his eyes.

"Don't worry too much. I've seen your progress. As for the dramatic scenes, let's chat in the living room later; we can refine some of the details."

Im Yoona nodded. "Okay."

The two of them began to chat just like that.

About the details of the movie, their understanding of the characters, and the filming schedule for the next few days. Jiang Zhiyu's tone was patient and focused, occasionally gesturing or explaining performance points for a specific scene. Im Yoona listened intently, nodding and occasionally asking questions.

They were so engrossed in their conversation that it felt natural, as if no one else was around.

Kim Taeyeon stood there, her smile barely holding on.

What does he mean?

With me, it's just a "Noona" and a nod, but with Yoona, it's "chatting about dramatic scenes"?

I've been standing here for so long, and he hasn't even given me a second look!

Lee Tima!! Didn't you say he was thinking about me!!

She glared fiercely at Lee Tima beside her.

Lee Tima was shrinking her neck, trying to lower her presence, but Kim Taeyeon's gaze shot over like a knife, leaving her nowhere to hide.

Lee Tima! You liar!

Lee Tima received the look and understood the accusation in her eyes, but she could only respond with an "I'm innocent" expression.

Unnie, I really didn't lie to you! He really blushed! He really went silent! He really was thinking of you! I don't know why he's acting like this now!

Their eye contact crackled with intensity in the air, while beside them, the conversation between Jiang Zhiyu and Im Yoona continued.

"Then let's discuss the turning point in the third scene later," Jiang Zhiyu said.

"Okay, I happen to have a few questions I want to ask you," Im Yoona nodded.

Jiang Zhiyu smiled; it was a gentle smile, yet it carried a reassuring certainty.

"No need to ask; we'll explore it together."

He paused and turned to Kim Taeyeon, his tone returning to that standard politeness.

"Noona, if you need anything here, just find Tima. She's familiar with the venue and knows the procedures. If you want to rest, there are empty rooms upstairs."

Having said that, he looked at Im Yoona again.

"Yoona Noona, let's go."

Im Yoona glanced at Kim Taeyeon.

It was a very brief glance, so brief it was almost negligible. But Kim Taeyeon caught the complexity within—hesitation, guilt, and a hint of... secret delight?

Im Yoona withdrew her gaze and followed Jiang Zhiyu toward the guesthouse.

The two figures, one tall and one short, walked side by side and disappeared into the doorway.

Kim Taeyeon stood there, watching the closed door, her fingers tightening and then loosening, loosening and then tightening again.

Gone.

Just like that.

Gone to "chat about dramatic scenes" with Yoona.

What about me?

"Find Tima if you need anything"?

Did I come here to find Tima?!

She whipped her head around to look at Lee Tima.

Lee Tima had already retreated three steps, her face written all over with "it's not my fault."

But it was useless.

Kim Taeyeon stepped forward, reached out, and directly pinched both of Lee Tima's cheeks, pulling them hard to the sides.

"Mmph—!!!" Lee Tima let out a tragic cry. "Unnie—it hurts—!!!"

"Lee Tima!!!" Kim Taeyeon gritted her teeth, the strength in her hands not diminishing at all. "Explain yourself!!!"

Lee Tima's face was distorted by the pulling as she said indistinctly, "Eshplain wha?"

"Those messages you sent!" Kim Taeyeon said each word with emphasis. "Saying he blushed! Saying he was silent for two seconds! Saying he was thinking of me!!"

The more she spoke, the angrier she got, and she added more strength to her hands.

"And the result?! He just called me 'Noona' and then left with Yoona!! He didn't even give me a second look!!"

Tears were almost coming out of Lee Tima's eyes as she struggled to squeeze out sounds from her pinched mouth.

"He... he really... blushed... I... I didn't lie to you..."

"Then what about now?! Why isn't he blushing now?!"

"M-maybe... there are too many people... he's... he's embarrassed..."

"Too many people?!" Kim Taeyeon looked around—the chaotic courtyard, the messy props, the strangely shaped "creatures," and the staff members watching the excitement in the distance. "You call this many people?! You call this being embarrassed?!"

Lee Tima said aggrievedly, "He... he's like this to everyone usually... but to you... it's really different..."

"How is it different?!"

"When... when he called you 'Noona' just now... his tone was... gentler than usual..."

Kim Taeyeon was stunned.

Gentle?

She recalled that "Noona" from just now—polite, standard, flawless. Where was the gentleness?

Lee Tima took advantage of her being stunned to quickly break free from her hands, rubbing her red cheeks as she retreated to a safe distance, then said seriously:

"Unnie, believe me, he's really different. It's just... you know how he is, he's not good at expressing himself."

Kim Taeyeon glared at her.

Lee Tima continued, "And think about it, Yoona Unnie is his female lead; isn't it normal for them to talk about the movie? It would be weirder if he was exceptionally warm to you in front of Yoona Unnie, right?"

Kim Taeyeon fell silent.

That... seemed to make some sense?

But the grievance and annoyance in her heart still couldn't be suppressed.

She took a deep breath, looked at the closed door, then at the disheveled Lee Tima, and finally at the chaos in the courtyard—

Muscle SpongeBob was still slumped on the beach, the Octopus tentacle between its two front teeth had already fallen off, but it seemed to have given up the struggle.

Iron Mr. Krabs was still battling that coin, the sound of its claws hitting the wooden board ringing out rhythmically.

Sandy Cheeks on the sticky board was no longer struggling, only twitching occasionally to prove she was still alive.

Squidward was still chasing Ye Shuhua, but his speed had noticeably slowed down, and the distance between the person and the fish was growing wider.

Patrick Star was still squatting in the corner, hands covering his lower body, looking completely despondent.

On the wooden stick in Kim Minnie's hand, those green triangular underpants were still fluttering in the wind.

Zhenzhen was still shouting "You're cheating," but her voice was already hoarse, and her momentum had clearly weakened.

The other members of (G)I-DLE—Song Yuqi, Cho Mi Yeon, and Xu Suizhen—were huddled together, laughing uncontrollably.

Kim Taeyeon suddenly felt it was all very absurd.

She had flown all the way from Seoul to Jeju Island just to see this?

To see a man who treated her with indifference, a younger sister who was teased until she lost her will to live, and a variety show filming site as chaotic as a battlefield?

She let out a long sigh, let go of Lee Tima's face, her voice filled with deep exhaustion:

"Forget it... I don't blame you."

Lee Tima rubbed her face and whispered, "Unnie, don't be angry. He... he really..."

"I know." Kim Taeyeon interrupted her, her gaze falling on that door, her voice as soft as a murmur. "I know he doesn't mean any harm. It's just..."

Just what?

It was just that she missed him. It was just that she thought he missed her too. It was just that she thought, after not seeing each other for over a month, he would be a little different when they met again.

But he wasn't.

He was still the same—polite, gentle, distant.

As if everything from that morning had never happened.

Lee Tima looked at her profile and suddenly felt a bit sorry for her.

She leaned in and whispered, "Unnie, how about... I help you call him out?"

Kim Taeyeon shook her head. "No need."

"Then..."

"I'll just wait here." Kim Taeyeon took a deep breath, her face once again wearing that calm and composed smile belonging to the leader of Girls Generation. "I want to see just how long he and Yoona are going to 'chat'."

Seeing that smile, Lee Tima felt a chill down her spine.

She had seen that smile before.

Just yesterday, when Jiang Zhiyu watched (G)I-DLE start causing trouble, he had that same smile.

It's over.

Unnie is going to turn to the dark side too.

She silently took a step back, deciding that from today on, she would stay far away from these two women—no, far away from all women who had anything to do with Jiang Zhiyu.

In the courtyard, the sea breeze continued to blow.

Zhenzhen was still shouting "cheating."

Squidward finally gave up chasing Ye Shuhua and slumped on the ground, panting.

Sandy Cheeks on the sticky board twitched once and then returned to stillness.

And Kim Taeyeon just stood there, her gaze fixed on that door, that spine-chilling smile on her face.

Waiting.