Chapter 74: Youzhen Ni
Junggye Middle School entrance in Junggye-dong, Nowon-gu.
It was a little past eleven in the morning.
Ahn Yujin, wearing the Junggye Middle School uniform, walked out of the school gate, chatting and laughing with her classmates.
“Youzhen Ni, aren’t you going home?” A classmate asked as she watched Ahn Yujin stand at the entrance, craning her neck, searching for something.
“No, Ouni is picking me up,” Ahn Yujin explained with a smile.
“Oh, okay, then we’ll go first.”
“Goodbye.”
After bidding farewell to her classmates, Ahn Yujin scanned the cars at the entrance and quickly spotted the one she was looking for—a black van.
She walked over quickly, and to make sure she hadn't found the wrong car, Ahn Yujin still took out her phone, ready to confirm the license plate.
But before she could confirm, the car door was already opened from the inside.
“Get in,” a familiar voice came over, and Ahn Yujin deftly put away her phone and got into the van.
As soon as she got into the car, Ahn Yujin smelled a pleasant scent.
“Karina Ouni, what perfume did you spray in the car? It smells so good?” Ahn Yujin twitched her nose, like a puppy arriving in a new territory, sniffing the air inside the car.
“It’s a car air freshener I bought online; the scent is quite mixed, but it’s alright,” Liu Zhimin said with a smile.
“So good!” Ahn Yujin nodded heavily, then looked at Liu Zhimin, “Wow! Ouni’s outfit today is so beautiful!”
Looking at Ahn Yujin with sparkling eyes, Liu Zhimin subconsciously lowered her head and glanced down.
She hadn’t changed clothes, and Jiang Shu hadn’t reacted so strongly earlier.
“Ahn Yujin, you’re too exaggerated,” Liu Zhimin said in surprise.
“Ouni!” Ahn Yujin’s eyes widened instantly, an expression of betrayal on her face, as she looked at Liu Zhimin in disbelief.
Liu Zhimin was confused by her gaze; why was she reacting so strongly?
“Why did Ouni call me by my full name!” Ahn Yujin asked, feeling wronged.
Liu Zhimin: “?”
“Call me Youzhen! Youzhen Ni!”
Liu Zhimin looked at the puppy’s serious face, opened her mouth, but what came out was…
“Youzhen Ni.”
Ahn Yujin immediately beamed with joy.
This sudden change of expression left Liu Zhimin bewildered.
“Youzhen Ni, are you sick?”
Liu Zhimin’s bluntness might have been mistaken for anger by someone unfamiliar, but Ahn Yujin was quite familiar with this senior who spoke unpleasantly in private but was actually just simple-minded.
“Doesn’t Karina Ouni think calling someone by their full name feels very unfamiliar, very distant?” Ahn Yujin said with a chuckle.
Liu Zhimin nodded thoughtfully.
“So, the President calls me Xiao Liu instead of Liu Zhimin or Karina because he’s very familiar with me?”
Ahn Yujin snapped her fingers.
“Bingo!”
At this moment, Ahn Yujin’s phone rang.
She pulled it out of her backpack, looked at the caller, and spoke.
“It’s Autumn Ouni!”
Kim Autumn, one of the company’s trainees; Liu Zhimin had some impression, a very pretty trainee.
“Autumn Ouni!” Ahn Yujin happily answered the phone.
“Yah! Ahn Yujin! Did you take my jacket again?”
Silence.
Ahn Yujin met Liu Zhimin’s puzzled gaze and smiled awkwardly.
“Ahn Yujin! Speak!”
“Yes… Ouni, I’m here,” Ahn Yujin quickly replied, “Ouni’s jacket isn’t with me; Youzhen Ouni took it.”
“Uh… did Youzhen take it?” Kim Autumn’s momentum instantly weakened, feeling as if it had withered directly.
“Yes! Youzhen Ouni said this jacket looked very good and asked to borrow it to try on. Ouni, you said jackets could be lent to others, so I lent it to Youzhen Ouni,” Ahn Yujin continued.
“Is it the Yonsei University baseball jacket?” Liu Zhimin interjected from the side.
“Yes… Is that Karina Senior?” Kim Autumn asked uncertainly.
“Yes, it’s me. I saw Youzhen wearing it; she probably borrowed it to buy the same one,” Liu Zhimin said.
The last time she went out with Shin Ryujin, Shin Ryujin was wearing that jacket.
Wearing a baseball jacket on such a hot day, it was clear she really liked it.
“Yes, I understand, thank you, Karina Senior!” Kim Autumn said cautiously. She wasn't like Ahn Yujin, who could get along with all the company staff. She hadn't fully familiarized herself with the company’s trainees either, only being close with Ahn Yujin, that social terrorist.
“Ouni, that’s all for now, I’m hanging up.”
“Mm.”
The call ended, and before Ahn Yujin could look up, Liu Zhimin’s voice rang in her ears.
“Why does Kim Autumn call you by your full name? You two should be very familiar, right?”
Ahn Yujin smiled awkwardly and looked up.
“I’m a little scared of Autumn Ouni…”
“Is she bullying you?” Liu Zhimin asked curiously.
“No, no!” Ahn Yujin was startled by Liu Zhimin’s mention of bullying and quickly waved her hands.
“Oh.”
“Cough cough, did Ouni call me to talk about something?” Ahn Yujin asked.
“Yes, there are some things,” Liu Zhimin nodded, “I was in the President’s office this morning, and a new trainee came. Her mother is Senior Li Lanxi, who has a lot of connections in the industry. The President asked me to take some time to look after her, so you pay more attention.”
Liu Zhimin was so busy all day, how could she have time to help take care of Kim Chae-won, so she chose to delegate the task.
“No problem! What’s her name?” Ahn Yujin readily agreed.
“Kim Chae-won.”
“Kim Chae-won… I’ve noted it down,” Ahn Yujin nodded.
“The President said there’s no need for special attention, just don’t let her bully others, or let others bully her, that’s enough,” Liu Zhimin thought for a moment and added.
“Bully others?” Ahn Yujin widened her eyes, “Is this new trainee that strong-willed?”
“I don’t know, but that’s what the President said.”
Ahn Yujin hummed in understanding.
“It’s okay, with Caiyan Ouni there, it doesn’t matter even if her personality is really strong-willed.”
“It seems Li Caiyan has a lot of authority among you?”
“Yes!” Ahn Yujin nodded heavily, “Caiyan Ouni is the big boss!”
Liu Zhimin hummed in response, not paying much attention.
As a debuted artist, not to mention her own popularity, just the fact that she had debuted meant she wouldn’t particularly care about the grudges and rivalries among these trainees who were still practicing.
Mainly, she hadn’t experienced a long trainee period, so she wasn’t very familiar with the daily lives of trainees like Ahn Yujin and her friends.
The helplessness of royalty.
“Let’s go, I’ll treat you to lunch,” Liu Zhimin came back to her senses and said to Ahn Yujin.
“Does Karina Ouni not have a schedule today?”
“I do, I’m going to a performance after lunch,” Liu Zhimin explained.
“Oh.”
Then Liu Zhimin looked at the driver, who was acting like air in the driver’s seat.
“Ajussi, we can leave.”
Liu Zhimin would “throw a tantrum” at Jiang Shu, but she wouldn’t do that to the people in her own team.
There’s a distinction between closeness and distance; the more unfamiliar a person is, the more polite one tends to be.
Thanks to “Still Need to Eat” for the 500 Qidian coin reward!
Thanks to “Still Need to Eat” for the 100 Qidian coin Liu Zhimin character reward!