On his second day in this unfamiliar city, Liu Xin'an woke up early.
His alcohol tolerance certainly couldn't be conquered by two bottles of beer, so he felt incredibly refreshed when he got up early in the morning.
Of course, when he says early, it was actually nearly half-past ten when he opened his eyes.
He had bid goodbye to Bae Juhyun just before one o'clock the previous night, then returned to his room and picked up the gamepad to play for a while.
Don't think he was just playing for fun; as a video blogger and livestreamer in the gaming sector, he was broadening his gaming experience to enhance his streaming career.
If this were his student days, his actions could be considered a form of preparation.
Yes, preparation, the kind that top-notch diligent students do!
The life of a freelance video blogger generally has no set routine—sleeping and waking up at odd hours, going to bed at three or four in the morning, and getting up at eleven or twelve is quite normal.
Upon waking, as usual, Liu Xin'an did a set of aerobics on an empty stomach and then, sweating profusely, he walked into the bathroom.
Feeling refreshed after thoroughly washing off his sweat, Liu Xin'an, with his bare upper body, walked out of the bathroom.
Thanks to his steady gym routine, the muscles on his upper body were beautifully defined, with six-pack abs neatly aligned, and his chest and trapezius muscles were perfectly streamlined.
Even his arms were well-defined.
It was just unfortunate that no one had the privilege to witness this pleasing scene yet.
Drying his hair, Liu Xin'an took a water bottle out of the fridge and poured himself a glass of ice water.
This too was a longstanding habit of his; a glass of ice water in the morning invigorated him instantly.
Now, his body was no longer as frail as in his childhood, so he could handle the shock of a glass of ice water to his system.
Today, Liu Xin'an planned to go out for a walk. He had been busy settling in after his arrival yesterday and hadn't had the chance to explore the neighborhood.
Since he was going to live here for quite a long time, it was essential for him to familiarize himself with the surroundings.
However, it was inconvenient in one respect—he couldn't drive here.
He had a driver's license, but a domestic license wasn't valid abroad.
Instead of spending time getting a new license here, he decided it was better to use the subway or taxis during his time here.
Breakfast was simple: he took out two slices of toast, fried an egg, added a few slices of tomato, and thus prepared a simple breakfast sandwich.
Quickly, he ate his "breakfast" at eleven in the morning, changed his clothes, and left his apartment.
Back in his home country, his outstanding physique and looks often attracted unnecessary trouble, so wearing a mask and a hat had become his standard outfit.
However, these additions didn't really help him keep a low profile; in fact, it's quite rare to see people fully geared up like that at home.
Nevertheless, the endless speculations that the mask and hat brought, along with his striking physique, still drew many curious glances.
But here, it was different, as many people wore hats and masks.
Not to mention, when he first met Bae Juhyun yesterday, she was also wearing a mask and a hat.
She was so pretty that she probably faced the same hassles of being approached by people, just like him.
He could really empathize with that.
Of course, all these were his wishful thinking.
As for the girl he mentioned...
Bae Juhyun groggily opened her eyes, but the bright sunlight from the window made her quite uncomfortable.
First, she turned to face the wall on the other side of her bed and zoned out for a while before finally, somewhat dizzily, getting up from the bed.
The first thing she did was to grab her phone from under the pillow, where it had ended up at some point.
She unlocked the screen.
Right, no notifications.
The time, 1:05 PM, looked back at her like a terrifying, eyeless grin, causing her to instinctively let go of the phone.
The phone, with its pale pink case, fell onto the soft bed, bounced slightly with a few ripples, and then settled down.
She rubbed her cheeks with her hands and exhaled a deep breath.
She couldn't quite remember what time she had fallen asleep the night before, but waking up naturally in the late morning was a pleasantly surprising rarity for her.
Usually, she would wake up from nightmares almost every night.
But last night...
It seemed she hadn't dreamt about anything.
Perhaps the gloom that had been building in her heart for a long time had dissipated because of someone's conversation? Even Bae Juhyun wasn't sure.
She zoned out again until the phone's battery low warning startled her back to reality.
No, this wasn't right! She had a dance class to attend today!
At this time... there was definitely no time for a meal!
Her reputation was already plummeting due to some baseless issues, and if she were late to this dance class, she didn't think it would leave a good impression on her dance teacher.
Although the teacher kept reassuring her, saying she believed in her.
But trust was such a delicate matter...
Using her hands and feet, Bae Juhyun clambered out of bed quickly and then hurried to the bathroom to groom herself.
There was certainly no time for makeup, and definitely no chance to wash her hair... After a quick combing, she expertly tied up her long hair, and began to wash her face and brush her teeth.
After some hustle, the time had unknowingly reached one-thirty in the afternoon.
Finally, Bae Juhyun was ready; she grabbed her car keys and dashed out of her house.
As she waited for the elevator, her gaze inadvertently fell on the closed door in the distance.
Until the elevator doors opened, that door remained unopened.
Bae Juhyun self-deprecatingly patted her cheeks, took a deep breath, and walked into the elevator.
Fortunately, her home was not too far from the company.
With a stretch of green lights, she still managed to step into the practice room's door before two o'clock.
"Juhyun unnie?"
A familiar voice made Bae Juhyun pause — she looked toward the corner of the practice room with a gentle smile.
"Seulgi, no schedule today?"
The girl named Seulgi nodded with a smile, "Today's a day off, unnie, are you here to practice?"
Bae Juhyun nodded. In front of familiar people, she would not show her fragile side.
Especially since the other person was one of her closest members.
"Yeah, even though it's a rest day, not exercising a bit would make my body stiff."
Indeed, her body wasn't very flexible, so before the teacher arrived, she began with some basic stretching while answering Kang Seulgi's questions.
"Oh, are you going back to the dorm tonight?"
"Tonight?"
"Yeah, how about it? I'll treat you to a big meal!"
Bae Juhyun paused in her arm stretching but quickly resumed naturally.
Turning to the side, she looked at Kang Seulgi beside her, "Let's do it in a couple of days, I'm afraid I'll disturb you guys."
"Ah! What are you talking about?"
Kang Seulgi didn't quite like hearing that; she stepped forward and hugged her endearing older sister, earning a helpless smile in return.
"Alright, alright, the teacher's coming soon, let go of me."
"You must come back in a few days."
"I know, I know."
Bae Juhyun always kept her younger sisters' concerns close to her heart.
But...pretending to be unaffected in front of close people really was tiring.
So, after forcing herself for a while, she chose to go home and rest for a while.
Not wanting to bother everyone was the truth; the person who had really done something wrong was only herself, and sometimes she was even afraid to face everyone.
Knowing that Bae Juhyun was about to have a dance lesson, Kang Seulgi didn't stay any longer; she adorably gave Bae Juhyun a fighting gesture before quietly leaving with her belongings.
———
"Phew..."
After clearing the fourth story line of "Romantic Tale," Liu Xin'an lazily lay in his gaming chair.
His job required him to sit for long periods, so a comfortable chair was very relaxing for him.
Just like now.
When gaming, time always passed exceptionally fast.
Before he knew it, it was time for dinner.
He had eaten lunch outside, and he had been wandering around the neighborhood in the afternoon, even taking a stroll outside it.
He had to admit, this country really was small; so small that during his stroll, he actually saw a film crew shooting.
Yes, the kind of film crew scene that was rare to see back home.
He had mentally prepared to encounter celebrities before coming here, but he didn't expect to actually see a film crew shooting on his second day after moving.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't curious, but after watching for a while, he quickly lost interest.
It wasn't much different from the rehearsal at the small station's top 100 awards ceremony he attended.
Round it off, and he should also be considered a somewhat... public figure.
All the same, all the same.
"Buzz~"
The vibration of his phone brought him to his feet; he glanced at it and realized someone had tagged him in a group chat.
Ordinary group notifications wouldn't show up on his phone, but when someone he had set special notifications for tagged him, then he'd get an alert.
And this time, it indeed was a friend he knew in real life.
Don't get it wrong, he had set special notifications for all his good friends in real life, not just for a girlfriend… besides, he didn't have a girlfriend.
"Not streaming today?"
This question had Liu Xin'an deep in thought; he glanced at the administrator who tagged him, then chose to ignore it.
The person clamoring in the group chat was none other than his long-time friend, Li Chenglu.
Yes, anyone named that would definitely be a girl, which meant that the two of them were childhood friends.
But not the kind with ambiguous feelings — rather, they treated each other like family, family.
The fact that he had traveled abroad was known to her, but forgetting to stream because of a vacation would be a grave sin indeed.
The message-ignoring Liu Xin'an soon received a deadly series of calls from his friend.
This time, it wasn't just a group chat tag, that girl directly called him.
What a joke, international calls were expensive, so Liu Xin'an straight-up hung up the phone.
A few seconds later...
This time, it was a WeChat voice call.