395: Chapter 453 Phantom Thief Zhimin (19)

Outside the film set, the sunlight was just right.

The sunlight was sliced into neat geometric shapes by the high walls and rooftops, spreading across the concrete floor in distinct patches of light and shadow. A few idle prop boxes were stacked in the corner, covered in a thin layer of dust. In the distance, the faint sounds of the busy staff on set could be heard, but here, it was as quiet as another world.

Jiang Zhiyu stopped in his tracks and turned around. Before he could even open his mouth, a figure lunged at him.

He felt a gust of wind hit him, followed by a weight on his chest as two soft sensations collided with his embrace. His body swayed instinctively, but his heels remained firmly planted on the ground, not retreating a single step. His hands rose subconsciously to support the sides of her legs.

Karina looked down at him, her beautiful eyes swirling with irritation, shame, and a hint of some indescribable emotion. She raised her small fists and rained them down on his shoulders.

"Jiang Zhiyu!!!"

The voice was sharp and loud, echoing over the open ground.

Jiang Zhiyu stood his ground, neither dodging nor flinching. The fists landed on his shoulders and collarbone with considerable force, but to him, it was no different from a tickle. He even had the leisure to tilt his head slightly, avoiding the stray locks of hair that swept past when she swung.

Karina punched a few more times, then suddenly stopped.

She lowered her head and looked at him.

"Why didn't you dodge?"

There was a hint of curiosity, a hint of confusion, and a hint of softness in her voice that even she hadn't noticed.

Jiang Zhiyu looked up, meeting those eyes just inches away, and sighed.

"I wanted to dodge, too," he said, his tone full of helplessness, "I even wanted to fight back. Look at my hands—"

He lowered his head to gesture.

Karina followed his gaze downwards.

His hands were supporting the sides of her legs, his long fingers slightly tightened, the warmth of his palms seeping through the thin fabric.

"Can I fight back?" he asked. "Or do you want me to use my mouth to fight back, Ji-min?"

Karina's gaze fell onto his mouth.

His lips were ruddy and full, slightly curved, like a freshly ripened peach, gleaming with a healthy luster. The cupid's bow of his upper lip was well-defined, his lower lip was plump to perfection, and the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, naturally giving him a smiling appearance. At this moment, those two lips were slightly parted, as if waiting for something, or perhaps implying something.

She stared at those lips for several seconds, her mind going blank. Then her gaze shifted downwards, landing on the hands supporting her legs. Those hands were slender and strong, with distinct knuckles, and his fingertips were slightly tinged with a healthy pink.

The image of their current position suddenly flashed in her mind—her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms looped around his neck, the whole of her hanging on him like a cat being picked up.

The heat radiating from her thighs made her whole body tremble.

"Quick, quick, put me down!"

She twisted her body violently, her voice sharp and urgent, her cheeks instantly burning red.

Jiang Zhiyu slowly released his hands, sighing as he did so.

"Aish, you were the one who jumped up first."

Karina slid down from him, her feet touching the ground, and took two steps back to put some distance between them. Her hair was a bit messy, with a few stray strands sticking to her cheeks, and the flush on her face spread from her earlobes down to her neck.

She took a deep breath, trying hard to make herself look serious.

Then she narrowed her eyes and stared at him.

"Speak!"

The voice carried the air of an interrogation.

"That Pig 51 on the internet, was that your doing?"

Jiang Zhiyu rubbed his nose.

The corner of Karina's eye twitched slightly.

"It really was you!"

Jiang Zhiyu lowered his hand and looked at her, his mouth opening and closing. His eyes darted around for a moment before settling on her puffed-up face, and he awkwardly let out two "hehe" laughs.

The laugh was dry and raspy, carrying a sense of guilt from "getting caught."

Karina stared at him, her anger flaring up even more, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward uncontrollably—which she quickly suppressed.

She took a deep breath and continued the interrogation.

"That Zhimins Little Strawberry account, is that your account?"

Jiang Zhiyu blinked, looking completely innocent.

"No, it's not."

Karina squinted her eyes, her gaze like two knives.

"Then that Wonyoung account..."

Jiang Zhiyu's expression became even more innocent. He tilted his head slightly, his clear eyes filled with "I don't know what you are talking about." Then he spoke.

He wasn't speaking Korean.

It was Chinese.

"I don't know Korean, I don't know what you are talking about."

The words were crisp and round, the pronunciation standard, the tones perfect. If one hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would absolutely believe this was a native Chinese person speaking.

Karina was stunned for a moment.

Then she laughed, her eyebrows raised.

That smile wasn't one of happiness; it was a laugh born of anger.

"I can speak Chinese too!"

She retorted in Chinese, her pronunciation carrying a stubborn stiffness. Those syllables popped out of her mouth like building blocks forced together, wobbly, but they managed to stand.

This was the result of her self-study—what she had learned from NingNing, and some she had figured out herself while watching Chinese dramas.

Jiang Zhiyu watched her little "I can do it too" expression, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Is that so?"

His voice was slow and leisurely, as if teasing a ruffled kitten, "Then besides 'hello,' 'thank you,' and 'I love you,' what else can you say?"

Karina opened her mouth.

Her brain rapidly searched for the Chinese vocabulary she had learned.

Hello. Thank you. I love you. Hello everyone. I am Karina. I love my fans. I love aespa. I love...

She realized she really only knew these.

But being provoked by Jiang Zhiyu like this, her unyielding temper flared up.

She took a deep breath, trying hard to recall the sentences NingNing had taught her, and then—

"I... I love you?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she froze.

These three words, in this scene, at this distance, from this angle of eye contact—why did they sound so much like...

A confession?

Her brain "buzz," and her face instantly turned bright red.

Jiang Zhiyu was also stunned for a moment.

His gaze fell on her face, those eyes slightly reddened from shame and anger, those lips pressed tightly together from tension, those eyelashes trembling slightly from shyness.

Something in his mind was gently stirred.

Then, a sentence popped out of his mouth, so fast he couldn't even stop it:

"I already said that! Dummy."

The wind stopped.

The sunlight painted static light and shadows on the ground.

Both of them were stunned.

Karina's brain ran at high speed, tearing that sentence apart, mashing it up, and chewing it over and over.

He said... he already said that?

When?

She recalled the conversation just now—

"Then besides 'hello,' 'thank you,' and 'I love you,' what else can you say?"

Right.

When he was listing "hello, thank you, I love you," he did indeed say "I love you."

It was just too fast, glossed over, and she hadn't noticed at all.

But those three words, he had indeed said them.

He had indeed said them.

Karina's face was red enough to drip blood. Crap! So he had hidden such a sentence in such an unintentional place!

She lowered her head, not daring to look at him, her voice muffled, carrying a hint of resentment that even she hadn't noticed: "Then you should have taught me..."

The voice was as small as a mosquito's buzz.

Jiang Zhiyu pretended to look elsewhere nonchalantly, but the tips of his ears quietly turned red.

"Doesn't your persona include 'can speak Chinese'?" his voice drifted a bit, "And Ningning could have taught you too."

Karina glared at him.

That glare carried playfulness within the feigned anger, and sweetness within the resentment, making Jiang Zhiyu's ears turn even redder.

He cleared his throat and looked away: "How about this, I'll teach you how to say a sentence."

Karina looked at him suspiciously, her gaze like a small knife, wishing she could cut him open to see what kind of bad intentions were inside.

"Don't you dare teach me anything weird," she said, enunciating each word, her tone carrying a warning, "If I find out..."

She paused, her voice sinking:

"I will never talk to you again in my life!"

Jiang Zhiyu looked at her "I'm serious" expression and smiled. The smile was gentle and sincere.

"Don't worry."

Karina hesitated for a moment, then nodded. She straightened her back, put her hands behind her back, and struck a "good student" pose, her face full of seriousness.

"Go ahead."

Jiang Zhiyu cleared his throat and said in Chinese, one word at a time:

"Phantom. Thief. Zhimin. Steals. Pig. Head. In. The. Live. Stream. Acting. Calm."

He read it very slowly, enunciating every word clearly.

Karina listened intently, repeating after him word by word.

She learned very seriously, her brows slightly furrowed, her lips opening and closing with his pronunciation. That exquisite little face was filled with the determination of "I must learn this sentence."

"Phantom... Thief... Zhimin..."

She repeated it word by word, her pronunciation a bit stiff, but just barely intelligible.

"Steals... Pig... Head... Live... Stream... In... Acting... Calm."

Her pronunciation was stumbling and her tones were crooked, but she said every word with great effort.

Jiang Zhiyu watched her earnest appearance, quietly took out his phone, and turned on the video mode.

He aimed the camera at her, recording her earnest learning process frame by frame.

Sunlight leaked in through the gaps in the buildings, plating her hair with a golden edge. She tilted her head slightly, her lips opening and closing with the pronunciation in her memory, her eyelashes casting a small, fan-shaped shadow under her eyelids.

It was unbelievably beautiful.

"What does this sentence mean?" Karina asked after finishing, looking up, her eyes full of curiosity.

Jiang Zhiyu nodded with satisfaction, stopped the recording, and pocketed his phone.

"Strike a cool pose and finish reading it, and I'll tell you."

Karina thought about it, put her hands on her hips, lifted her chin, and struck a standard "Phantom Thief Zhimin" pose.

"Phantom Thief Zhimin steals a pig head and acts calm in the live stream!"

She used her loudest voice and most serious expression to recite that Chinese sentence again.

Every word was perfectly enunciated.

It was imposing.

If you ignored the content, that is.

Jiang Zhiyu nodded in satisfaction, tapped his phone screen gently, and ended the recording.

Karina lowered her hand and looked at him expectantly: "Can you tell me now? What does it mean?"

Jiang Zhiyu put his phone into his pocket, lifted his head, and a brilliant smile appeared on his face.

"Ji-min-ah, I will give this video to the SM publicity department and have them post it on the official Chinese Douyin account."

Karina blinked.

"Just wait for it to go viral."

Karina's expression shifted from expectancy to confusion, from confusion to suspicion, and from suspicion to—

"Yah! Jiang Zhiyu! Tell me quickly what it means!!!"

Jiang Zhiyu thought for a moment and explained solemnly: "It means—after you steal a pig head, you act like 'I didn't steal it' in the live stream, implying your acting is very good."

Karina stared at him for three seconds.

Then she laughed.

It was a laugh born of anger.

"I'm going to kill you!"

She lunged at him, her small fists starting to rain down on him again.

Jiang Zhiyu dodged while laughing, laughing so hard he couldn't straighten his back.

"Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! I was wrong!"

"What do you mean you were wrong! You did it on purpose!"

"I did it on purp... no, wait, I didn't do it on purpose!"

"You clearly did it on purpose!"

The two of them scuffled, chasing each other around the open space. Karina's fists landed on Jiang Zhiyu's shoulders and back; the force wasn't great, but every blow carried the seriousness of "I am really angry."

After running a few laps, both of them were tired.

Karina bent over, hands on her knees, gasping for air. Her hair was even messier, with wisps of hair from her forehead stuck to her cheeks by sweat, and a flush still lingered on her face.

Jiang Zhiyu leaned against the wall, his chest heaving, the smile still lingering on the corners of his mouth.

He looked at her and suddenly felt—

These kinds of days are pretty good.

Karina panted for a while, then straightened up.

"Oppa." Her voice wasn't loud, but every word was articulated clearly.

Jiang Zhiyu raised an eyebrow slightly, waiting for her to continue.

Karina stared into his eyes, then spoke.

"'Zhimins Little Strawberry'."

When she said that name, Jiang Zhiyu's expression froze visibly for a moment.

"That account," Karina continued, her voice as calm as a weather forecast, "is Song Shuxiu Unnie, right? Your female assistant."

Jiang Zhiyu's mouth opened slightly, then closed. His reaction was quick, almost imperceptible, but Karina caught that fleeting moment of panic.

"You don't need to deny it." She cut him off beforehand. "During the video fansign, she came to see me. Even though she was wearing makeup and a wig, her gaze when looking at me, her tone of voice, her little habit of touching her earlobe when nervous—"

She paused.

"I've observed for a long time. I've been observing since we debuted. Because that account has been supporting me since our first day of debut, and every post it made felt like it was watching me from right by my side."

She looked into Jiang Zhiyu's eyes and said word by word: "So I could recognize it. Just like I can recognize Oppa's footsteps."

Jiang Zhiyu was silent for a long time.

The hallway was so quiet that one could hear the wind outside the window and the rustling of the ginkgo leaves.

He didn't deny it. Nor did he admit it. He just looked at Karina, with something in his eyes that she couldn't understand.

Karina waited for a few seconds, seeing he had no intention of speaking, and spoke again.

"That flame war, you were the one who started it, right?"

Her voice remained calm, but her fingers clenched slightly at her sides.

"'guardian of princess wonyoung' is your account. 'Zhimins Little Strawberry' is also your person. You alone, using two accounts, started a flame war across the entire Korean entertainment industry. You made my fans and Jang Wonyoung's fans fight incessantly, made the malicious nickname 'Pig 51' spread across the internet, and made everyone discuss who 'Five Girls One' is—"

Her voice finally had a hint of trembling.

"Oppa, do you know how I've spent these past few days?"

Jiang Zhiyu looked at her. The light from outside the window fell on his face, and those eyes that always carried a smile were exceptionally quiet at this moment.

Karina bit her lip and continued: "Those comments, I've read every single one. Plastic face, mantis girl, Pig 51... I told myself not to care, that those were just haters talking, not true. But—"

Her voice lowered.

"But when those keywords were hanging on the trending search list, when the company's PR department didn't say a single word, and when I still had to smile and work in front of the camera... I still cared."

She lifted her head and met his eyes.

"Oppa, why did you do this?"

Silence.

The air in the hallway seemed to have frozen.

Jiang Zhiyu looked at her for a long, long time. Then he sighed softly.

"Ji-min."

She walked up to him, tilted her head back, and looked into his eyes.

Those eyes, at this moment, had no anger, no annoyance, only a clean, pure seriousness.

"Oppa."

Her voice was very soft.

"Next time, don't deceive me."

Jiang Zhiyu looked at her, listening quietly.

"Don't hide these things from me. Whether it's for my own good, or for anything else—"

She paused, as if organizing her words, or perhaps as if encouraging herself.

"You must tell me."

The wind blew again, carrying the chill of early autumn, stirring her hair and the hem of her clothes. The sunlight spread out a golden glow behind her, making her silhouette appear exceptionally soft.

Jiang Zhiyu looked at her.

Looking at those serious eyes, looking at her slightly pursed lips, looking at her eyelashes trembling slightly from nervousness.

Then he smiled.

That smile was different from his usual smiles—not the calculated, smug, or inscrutable kind, but a genuine, heartfelt, gentle smile.

He nodded.

"I promise you."

The voice was soft, but like a pebble thrown into a lake, it sent ripples through both of their hearts.

Karina looked at him and suddenly smiled. That smile was as bright as sunshine, her eyes curved, the corners of his mouth lifted, revealing a bit of her teeth, and she seemed to be glowing.

Jiang Zhiyu was momentarily dazzled by that smile.

Then Karina spoke again, her tone returning to that spoiled, slightly temperamental manner: "Also! Oppa, teach me some normal Chinese. The last sentence doesn't count!"

Jiang Zhiyu looked at her, silent for a second.

Then his gaze became soft, as if remembering something from a long time ago. He spoke, saying in Chinese, word for word:

"Like flowers and leaves, year after year."

His voice was soft, as light as the wind. When the sentence came out of his mouth, it carried a strange rhythm, as if reciting a poem, or perhaps making a wish.

Karina listened intently, her mouth slightly open, following his rhythm. But she didn't repeat it; she just stood there quietly, as if savoring the rhythm of that sentence.

"What does that sentence mean?" she asked.

Jiang Zhiyu looked at her, with something in his eyes that she couldn't understand. That thing was deep, heavy, like a secret hidden for a very, very long time.

"Ask Ningning when the time comes," he said, his voice returning to its usual lightness.

Karina pouted, obviously not very satisfied with this answer. But she didn't press further, just kept the sentence in her heart.

Jiang Zhiyu looked at her "I will definitely go ask Ningning" expression and suddenly laughed again. He leaned in close to her, lowering his voice: "Also, I promised not to lie to you, so I want to tell you the next secret."

Karina curiously leaned her ear in.

Jiang Zhiyu leaned to her ear and said in that breathy voice that gave her goosebumps:

"In a while, I will use the 'guardian of princess wonyoung' account—"

He deliberately dragged out his voice.

"To call you Pig 51."

The moment the words fell, he had already turned and run.

Karina was stunned on the spot.

Then her face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, burning from her cheeks to her earlobes, and from her earlobes to her neck, as if her whole body had been ignited.

"Yah!!!"

Her voice resounded throughout the open space, carrying anger, shame, and a hint of grievance from being betrayed.

"It really was you!!!"

She took off chasing after him.

"Jiang Zhiyu, you stop right there!!!"

"Not stopping!"

"You stop!!!"

"You liar!! Big liar!!!"

"I said I wouldn't lie to you! Didn't I just tell you!"

"You acted first and reported later!!!"

"As long as I reported it, who cares if it was first or later!"

"You stop right there!!!"

The two of them were chasing each other on the open ground again. This time Karina's fists really used force, and Jiang Zhiyu took several hits on his back, but he just laughed, laughing until his eyes curved into crescents.

Sunlight spilled over the two of them, stretching their shadows long. The shadows overlapped, separated, and overlapped again on the ground, like an improvised dance without a script.

On the set, the staff heard the commotion outside and poked their heads out one after another.

"What are the CEO and Ji-min doing outside?"

"It looks like they're... fighting?"

"Fighting? Should we go check?"

"Don't go, don't go. Look at how the CEO is laughing; it doesn't look like fighting at all."

"Then what are they doing?"

"Who knows, anyway, just don't go and disturb them."

A few of them exchanged glances and tacitly retracted their heads.