Liu Xin'an subconsciously assessed the room in front of him, which still featured the warm color scheme similar to that of the hallway. The living room was divided by a wall, and on the other side there was a table, likely used by the girl for dining.
In front of the large sofa was a pretty square coffee table with a few cute decorations on it.
The television hung on the wall, and underneath it, in front of the TV cabinet, were some gaming consoles and several photos of the girl.
In the photos, the girl smiled radiantly, seeming much more cheerful than she currently appeared.
When the girl's footsteps sounded again, Liu Xin'an, who had been looking around, shifted his gaze and turned to look at the girl approaching him.
A small ornament, not too large, was handed over by the girl.
"I don't have much to give away at home... think of this as a thank-you gift."
She spoke carefully, then watched Liu Xin'an's expression.
Liu Xin'an took the little wooden Eiffel Tower, examining it curiously.
"You can twist the bottom, it's a music box."
"Oh!" Following the girl's instructions, Liu Xin'an wound up the music box and, sure enough, it began to play.
He nodded with a smile, very pleased with the gift, "Thanks! I've just moved in, and there's still so much I haven't got set up. This really comes in handy."
His words were naturally a bit exaggerated, but Liu Xin'an was indeed very satisfied with the small ornament.
It would look nice in the bedroom or living room, or even on his desk as a decorative piece.
Having helped out and received the girl's gift, Liu Xin'an didn't plan to stay much longer.
Firstly, as a man of his size in the home of a girl living alone, she would surely feel uneasy.
Secondly... he was quite hungry, and his takeout might have arrived by now.
Liu Xin'an pointed towards the entrance: "If there's nothing else, I'll be off. I've ordered takeout, and it would be a hassle if I missed the delivery guy."
"Ah! Sure, and thank you again, Mr. Liu."
"Just call me Liu Xin'an, uh..." Liu Xin'an's response trailed off as he suddenly realized he didn't know the girl's name.
The girl herself realized she hadn't introduced herself yet. Her hands, which normally hung naturally at her sides, subconsciously gripped her trousers tighter, and her head, which had been slightly raised, lowered once again.
Since when had introducing herself become something that made her so nervous?
"My name is Bae Juhyun, I hope for your kind attention in the future."
"Oh! That's a really nice name."
"Thank you."
As Liu Xin'an left Bae Juhyun's home, he happened to bump face-to-face with the delivery guy who had come to bring him his takeout.
Liu Xin'an glanced at the bag in the delivery guy's hand and then asked, "Pork cutlet rice?"
The delivery guy was also startled. He first looked up at the room Liu Xin'an had exited, then turned his head towards the door of Liu Xin'an's apartment, appearing puzzled.
"Ah... yes..."
"Ah! That's mine. I was helping the neighbor install a ceiling light. That's the pork cutlet rice for the room across from me, right?"
"Yes, are you Mr. Liu?"
"Right, right, just give it to me."
"Okay, thank you for your patronage."
That made things easy, as the delivery guy hadn't even left the elevator area before he handed over the takeout.
Liu Xin'an quickly took the food and hurried back to his own home.
What he didn't notice was that only after he entered his door did the bright eye of the peephole on the firmly shut door behind him light up again.
———
As a video blogger adept at both live streaming and video production, evenings were usually when Liu Xin'an felt most energetic.
Not to mention he had taken a nap that afternoon.
The taste of the pork cutlet rice was just so-so, not much different from what he had back in his home country.
Nighttime was reserved exclusively for editing his videos, and since this wasn't his first time filming a vlog, editing these simple life videos wasn't too difficult.
The only real hassle was probably doing the voice-over.
Although he was outgoing and quite the socialite, holding a camera and talking to it in public was still something he found hard to do.
In front of the camera, he was more restrained than in real life, not to mention his followers had grown to such a frightening number. Everything he said and did was magnified a hundredfold by these fans.
Fame brought with it that suffocating pressure.
After quickly editing and assembling a few video clips he had, Liu Xin'an began to ponder the script for the video.
Most people prepared a script before filming, but he preferred to think of the script while watching the filmed content, then fine-tune the edit afterwards.
It was a demanding task in terms of both time and effort, and after toiling away for quite a while, Liu Xin'an decided to temporarily set it aside.
He skillfully picked up a controller lying nearby and pressed the button on the screen converter. The next second, the computer screen switched to the Switch interface.
He would wait another couple of days to stream live; first, he wanted to get his house in order.
It's odd, most people lose interest in their profession once it turns from a hobby into their job.
But not Liu Xin'an. He loved gaming, and although it had become his work, he remained enthusiastic about it.
After a rousing two hours of gaming, Liu Xin'an finally put down his controller, stood up, and stretched languidly.
Still enthralled by the novelty of a strange new place, Liu Xin'an wasn't ready for bed just yet. He turned his head towards the balcony of his bedroom, pondered for a moment, then took out two cans of beer and some snacks from the refrigerator.
Now was the perfect time to enjoy a chilled beer and admire the night view while the weather hadn't quite turned to winter yet; it was quite the pleasant pastime.
Money wasn't an issue for him, so he rented an apartment in a prime location with a riverview, from where one could see the entire city's night panorama from the balcony.
"Tsst"
Liu Xin'an opened a can of beer, contentedly settled into the lounge chair on the balcony, and flung his long legs onto another chair.
Since he was on the upper floors, there weren't many mosquitoes, and besides, he had sprayed some mosquito repellent.
While sipping beer in small gulps, Liu Xin'an occasionally tossed snacks into his mouth; his other hand was not idle either, as he smoothly navigated his phone's screen with his thumb.
After chuckling at a few funny videos, a cautious voice made him freeze.
"Liu Xin'an?"
A chill ran up Liu Xin'an's back in an instant. He lived alone, so why was a woman's voice calling his name?
Could this be... something unclean?
Instinctively, Liu Xin'an got up and asked with a serious face, "Who's there!"
Since it was an instinctive reaction, he had spoken in Chinese.
But obviously, the girl who called his name didn't quite understand what he'd said.
"Is it Liu Xin'an?"
This time Liu Xin'an realized, that to communicate with a Korean, one certainly couldn't use Chinese.
"Who's there, playing tricks! Show yourself!"
The transmission was clear this time, but his nervous question just left the girl who initiated the talk speechless for a while before she spoke again.
"Ah... it's not something dirty, I'm your neighbor, the one who asked for your help changing the ceiling light."
As mentioned before, the apartment Liu Xin'an moved into had a floor plan that was completely symmetrical to his neighbor Bae Juhyun's.
In other words, the bedroom he was in was directly opposite to Bae Juhyun's master bedroom, separated by just one wall.
Similarly, the balcony was shared between the two sides, only divided by a wall in the middle.
But this open balcony setting did not block sound, so the moment Liu Xin'an appeared on the balcony, Bae Juhyun, who was also lying on her balcony enjoying the night view, heard him.
She wasn't too sure at first... after all, her identity was quite sensitive, and recognition could lead to trouble.
She also didn't know Liu Xin'an lived alone.
Luckily, she had guessed right.
Actually, given her personality, she rarely initiated conversations with strangers she'd known for less than a day.
But...
She might have been too lonely, because of her frequent controversies, which inadvertently also dragged down her groupmates.
Although everyone understood what she was like and constantly tried to reassure her to not take what others said to heart, nobody else could truly understand what it was like for her to be under such scrutiny.
Feeling attacked by the whole world, she felt unsettled and decided to take a break.
The company also recognized the impact this incident had on her and agreed to it.
But loneliness sets in over time... she longed for someone to confide in.
And Liu Xin'an, who knew nothing of her issues, was the perfect candidate.
As for whether he would find out about her in the future... she didn't want to worry about that anymore.
"Ah! Bae..."
"Cough, yes, it's me."
For some reason, she didn't want to hear her name from his lips.
Maybe it felt... less honorable?
"You're not asleep yet? It's so late."
True to form as a social butterfly, once Liu Xin'an confirmed the presence wasn't anything nefarious, he relaxed and engaged in sporadic conversation.
There was silence from the other side for a while before the girl's light laughter rang out.
"Aren't you the same? Don't you have to get up early for work tomorrow?"
"Ah, I'm a freelancer; my work hours are very flexible."
"Oh..."
Bae Juhyun regretted initiating the conversation, as she wasn't someone who was good at finding topics to chat about. She was often quiet and reserved on variety shows, and even more so in real life.
Luckily, this time she encountered Liu Xin'an.
"Besides, I just moved in today, and there are still so many things to get ready, just thinking about it makes my head spin."
Alcohol made Liu Xin'an more talkative than usual, and without the presence of cameras, he naturally extended the conversation.
With a topic at hand, Bae Juhyun wasn't so silent anymore. She might not excel at being the center of a conversation, but as an artist trained for variety shows, she definitely knew how to keep a conversation going.