Chapter 212 Mysterious Bonds
Confession Balloon
Original Singer: Jay Chou
Performers: Hitomi Honda, Jiang Shu
Jiang Shu, rarely dressed in a suit, sat at the pristine white piano. Hitomi Honda, in a white strapless gown, stood beside the piano, her sweet face illuminated by the lights, captivating the audience.
The camera cut to a close-up as the pianist's hands began to play, and the beautiful prelude to “Confession Balloon” suddenly filled the air.
Bae Joo-hyun's beautiful eyes were fixed on Jiang Shu, who was playing the piano on screen. As a well-known producer in Korean Entertainment, it wasn't surprising that Jiang Shu could play the piano, but Bae Joo-hyun had never seen him perform on stage before.
“By the Seine River, on the left bank, the coffee~~”
Hitomi Honda's sweet singing style, combined with her carefully practiced pronunciation, offered a brand new interpretation of this song that had been popular across the internet a few years ago.
The piano music, mixed with the background of other instruments, blended skillfully with Hitomi Honda's singing, leading to a spontaneous sing-along from the entire audience.
“My dear~ Falling in love with you~ Since that day~~”
The glow sticks in the audience swayed along with the singing on stage, their countless points converging into a sea of pink.
“It’s so beautiful,” Bae Joo-hyun couldn't help but exclaim.
She had only seen such a scene of fan support at the end of the year. Red Velvet hadn't held a concert yet, so she hadn't experienced their pink ocean.
“The response isn’t bad,” Jiang Shu said, looking down at his phone.
“What response?” Bae Joo-hyun was curious about the content on Jiang Shu's phone but made no inappropriate moves.
“I’m looking at what the Chinese online forums are saying about my and Renmei's performance,” Jiang Shu explained.
Bae Joo-hyun nodded in understanding.
“It’s almost New Year’s Eve, why hasn’t the countdown started yet?” Jiang Shu asked, puzzled.
Bae Joo-hyun was also startled by his words. She then picked up her phone, looking at the 11:59 displayed on it.
“It’s less than a minute until twelve, the countdown should… Hmm?”
Bae Joo-hyun suddenly paused, turning to look at Jiang Shu, who also looked up at that moment.
They both suddenly realized.
“Time difference!” they blurted out in unison.
Whoosh!
Outside the window, fireworks soared into the sky and burst, creating a brilliant and beautiful display, confirming their guess.
“So they meant Korean time for New Year’s Eve,” Jiang Shu couldn't help but laugh. This Bilibili really knows how to play, timing it perfectly for Jiang Shu's New Year’s Eve in Seoul.
“How thoughtful,” Bae Joo-hyun exclaimed.
They both hadn't realized this before and were only just catching on.
“No matter what…” Jiang Shu looked up at Bae Joo-hyun, “Happy New Year.”
A bright smile also appeared on Bae Joo-hyun's face.
“Happy New Year!”
Bae Joo-hyun did not stay overnight at Jiang Shu's house. After watching the Bilibili New Year’s Eve gala together, Bae Joo-hyun left.
About half an hour later, Jiang Shu received a voice message from Bae Joo-hyun confirming her safe arrival home, only then did he finally relax.
Sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the brightly lit night Seoul, he turned back to the equally illuminated living room.
He was the only one in the large house, and a sense of loneliness naturally arose.
He couldn't help but sigh.
“It’s been three years.”
He looked out the window with a hint of bewilderment.
Here, he was a big shot in the Korean Entertainment industry, possessing fame, power, and wealth, infinitely stronger than his past self. But when he truly obtained these things he once yearned for, he found that there was no one beside him to share them with.
There once was someone, but unfortunately, he personally sent her away.
Looking at the buildings outside the window, Jiang Shu suddenly felt a bit homesick.
Not for the home of this body, but for his true home.
The older he grew, the more he understood the concept embedded in the word ‘home’.
In the past, he didn't have much, but he never felt lonely because he knew that no matter how long he drifted outside, when he returned home, there would always be those two people waiting for him.
“Can’t go back,” Jiang Shu gave a bitter smile, staring blankly at the dark sky, and then fell into a deep sleep.
…
Jiang Shu had a dream.
He dreamt that the girls he had personally discovered were glowing. On their bodies, Jiang Shu saw names of bonds, and the names of the bonds of those who had already debuted were shining brightly, while the names of the bonds on the girls who had not yet debuted were gray.
On the bodies of these girls who had already debuted, lines of light connected their bonds and extended upwards.
Jiang Shu looked up and saw the convergence point of these light lines in the distant sky.
There, a massive bond flickered with alternating brightness and dimness.
Jiang Shu wanted to clearly see the name of this bond, but ultimately failed, only able to see that this massive bond seemed to be only half-lit.
Staring at the mysterious bond in the sky, after a moment, Jiang Shu woke up.
Slowly opening his eyes, the dazzling sunlight woke Jiang Shu.
Having slept all night in the lounge chair, his entire body felt like it was falling apart. He shakily stood up from the lounge chair.
“I’m going to die…” Jiang Shu clutched his waist, his brows furrowed, his whole body aching.
“I really brought this upon myself.” Jiang Shu rubbed his lower back. What was he thinking, having an emo moment in the middle of the night? If he was going to be emo, why emo on a lounge chair, and then fall asleep emo?
He gave a bitter smile, leaning against the wall with one hand, trying to ease the discomfort in his body.
But the soreness in his body couldn't stop Jiang Shu from recalling the dream he had last night.
Generally, he would dream when he slept, but remembering a dream so clearly, like today's, was extremely rare.
“What was that bond?” Jiang Shu murmured.
He had no impression of the bond in the dream that connected everyone; there was no such large-scale bond in the game at all.
The largest, twelve stars. fantasy fairy tale, only had twelve people, but the mysterious bond connected more than thirty people.
It was extremely out of place.
No matter how much Jiang Shu racked his brain, he still couldn't think of any bond related to this mysterious bond; that damn game didn't have it.
This made Jiang Shu, who had always relied on the game, feel a bit dramatic; the development of events seemed to be somewhat beyond his imagination.
“Was it a dream?” Jiang Shu really wanted to dismiss this scene as a dream he had imagined, but that vivid sense of déjà vu didn't feel like a dream, especially the girls whose bonds were already activated and emitting light; there was an indescribable feeling about them.
Jiang Shu vaguely felt that if he could figure out these things, perhaps he could understand how the concept of bonds came into being.
After the soreness in his body eased a bit, Jiang Shu straightened up.
On the first day of 2020, there was something he had wanted to do last year but couldn't because he lacked funds. This year was different; the company had money, and he had already arranged it back in November of last year.