Peninsula's Life Begins in 2016

Chapter 29 Noona and Oppa

Choi Sulli held the beer can, her fingertips scraping the pull tab on the edge of the can, the soft metallic scraping sound particularly clear in the silent room.

After asking that question, she didn't speak again or urge him. She just quietly looked at Jiang Yan, waiting for his answer.

Jiang Yan lowered his eyes and looked at the few dried paintbrushes scattered on the floor. The paint had hardened on the tips of the brushes, like something that had long since solidified but had been forgotten.

After a long pause, he finally spoke with difficulty, "I've wanted to contact you many times, but every time my fingers are on the dial pad, I don't know what to say."

He placed the water bottle back on his lap, his gaze never lifting.

"You're under the spotlight, and I'm in a basement. While you're filming movies and appearing on variety shows, I'm eating triangular rice balls at a convenience store. You've become Choi Sulli, and I'm still that poor kid from Busan. I don't know what I can say to you after I make that call."

"I've thought about it many times," Jiang Yan said softly, as if talking to himself. "I've thought about what you would say when you answer the phone, how I would introduce myself, and whether you would even remember me. Every time I think about it, I end up locking my phone."

He took a deep breath, finally raised his head, and met Choi Seolli's eyes, which glistened with tears in the dim light of the studio.

"Mianne, I should have contacted you sooner."

Sulli did not respond.

She lowered her head, placed the beer can on the floor beside her feet, and wrapped her arms around herself, in the same posture as she had in the elevator during the day, like a bird with its wings folded.

"Do you know I've been waiting all this time?"

"I've been waiting since the day you were taken away. I missed you when you left; I even lost a shoe running. I chased after you barefoot to the intersection, but the car was already far away."

"I stood there until sunset, and then my nanny came to find me and said, 'Don't wait anymore. Xiao Yan will have his own life in the future, and you should also live your own life well.'"

"Later I went to Seoul, became a trainee, debuted, acted in movies, and filmed GG."

“Every time I go back to Busan, I go to visit my grandmother halfway up Yeongdo Island. She says that you went to study in Seoul and will come back occasionally.”

"I left my number with my nanny, telling her that if you go back again, you should definitely call me."

"I waited two years." She looked into Jiang Yan's eyes. "You didn't call. I thought you hated me just like they did, that you thought I had changed, that I was a strange and difficult person to get along with."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yan felt as if something was tightly gripping his throat.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but couldn't utter a single word.

Choi Sulli suddenly smiled, her eyes curving slightly, her lips pressed into a thin line, "It's good that you're not, it's good that you're still the same as before."

Jiang Yan took a deep breath, put the bottled water in his hand at his feet, and got up to walk in front of Cui Xueli.

He squatted down to look her in the eye, and just like when they were children in the hills behind the orphanage, he reached out and gently pressed his hand against her lowered head.

"I haven't changed, and neither have you. You're still that little crybaby you used to be."

When Choi Sulli felt the warmth of that large hand, her shoulders trembled violently.

But she didn't move away; she just stayed quietly, letting him stroke her hair.

The second hand of the old-fashioned wall clock in the corner of the studio was still ticking away, and the occasional sound of a car passing by in the distance could be heard outside the window.

Their breaths mingled in the quiet space, slowly smoothing out the wrinkles of so many years.

After a long while, Choi Sulli finally raised her head, wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve, and forced a smug smile: "Who's the little one? I'm Choi Sulli now, a big star."

"Yes, yes, yes, Sulli, the great star." Jiang Yan withdrew his hand and walked back to sit on the sofa. "Then may I ask, Sulli, the person who kept bothering you in the elevator today, does he often come looking for you like this?"

Upon hearing this, Choi Sulli's smile faded slightly.

She bent down to pick up the beer can from the ground, took another small sip, and frowned slightly as the cold liquid slid down her throat.

"You mean that person? He's from the film and television department. He's been talking to me about the 'Real' project lately. The script was submitted by Kim Soo-hyun's team, and CJ is investing in it. The company is taking it very seriously."

Jiang Yan shook his head and said definitively, "But you don't like that script."

Choi Sulli looked up at him with some surprise, her fingers unconsciously gripping the pull tab on the beer can, making a clicking sound.

How did you know?

"You didn't even glance at the folder he handed you the whole time." Jiang Yan leaned back on the sofa and looked at her. "And you kept biting your lip. When you were little, you would bite your lip whenever you were nervous or unhappy, and you wouldn't even realize it when your lower lip bled. You still haven't gotten rid of this habit."

Choi Sulli paused for a moment, subconsciously touched her lower lip, and then burst out laughing.

This smile was more genuine than any of the previous ones; the corners of her eyes curved, revealing a hint of her childhood self.

"You actually still remember these things."

"Of course I remember." Jiang Yan counted on his fingers, "You would bite your lip when you were nervous, frown and wrinkle your nose when you were angry, hop around on your tiptoes when you were happy, and cry silently, just quietly shedding tears."

"When you were little, your mom was scolding you at the Zhagaqi Market. You stood next to the fish stall, tears streaming down your face. The aunties who came to buy fish were terrified and insisted on buying you candy."

"Hey!" Choi Sulli raised her hand as if to hit him, but then burst out laughing first.

After laughing, she sighed, and the smile on her face slowly faded. "That script has a lot of scenes with explicit content."

"The company said they could use a stand-in, lighting, and post-production, so they wouldn't make things too difficult for me. They said this was a milestone for me as I transitioned from idol to actor, and that Kim Soo-hyun personally requested to work with me, saying it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

She paused, took a big gulp of beer from the can, and the icy liquid made her cough softly twice.

"Cough...cough cough, but I don't want to answer."

"If you don't want to answer, then don't." Jiang Yan's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable firmness.

Choi Sulli looked up at him, a clear look of surprise and confusion flashing in her eyes.

"Aren't you going to ask me why? You're part of SM now, so you should understand what this means."

"I won't press you about things you don't want to talk about." Jiang Yan picked up the half-finished bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip. "I just think that if it's something you don't want to do, then don't do it. There are no opportunities in this world that you have to force yourself to get."

Choi Sulli looked into his eyes for a very long time.

"You still talk just like you did when you were a kid. Back then, you helped me fight. That big kid was a head taller than me. You rushed up and pinned him to the ground and beat him up. After you finished beating him up, you wiped the blood off your face and told me, 'If anyone bullies you again, just tell me and I'll beat him up for you.'"

Jiang Yan felt a little embarrassed by what she said, and touched the back of his neck: "I was young and ignorant back then."

"You're still young." Choi Sulli tilted her head, the light casting dappled shadows on her eyelashes. "How old are you this year? Twenty?"

"Yes, you're two years older than me. You're Noona."

"Yes, I am Noona." Choi Sulli put the beer can on the ground, rested her chin on her hands, and looked at him with a look that was hard to describe as either relief or dependence. "But when you stood in front of me in the elevator today, I felt like you were my oppa."