CHAPTER 39: MISUNDERSTANDING RESOLVED!

Bae Juhyun sniffled, not daring to lift her head as she walked past Liu Xin’an to the familiar entryway.

However, upon seeing that her usual pair of pink slippers were not placed where they usually were, the girl almost shed tears again.

After all, she was in an extremely guilty and sensitive state, on the brink of collapsing into tears at the slightest hint of harshness in Liu Xin’an’s demeanor.

She sniffled again, lifted her head, and tried to smile, but her reddened eyes betrayed her unsettled emotions.

"My slippers are not there..."

Although she was merely stating a fact, from her expression and tone Liu Xin’an could feel Bae Juhyun’s aggrieved heart.

Liu Xin’an didn’t think much, opened the shoe cabinet, took out the slippers Bae Juhyun usually wore, and placed them in front of her.

His consistent attentiveness and care made Bae Juhyun secretly pinch her thigh.

Absolutely! She must not cry!

The pain helped dissolve some of the sourness in her heart, and she honestly used one hand to steady herself on the shoe cabinet as she took off her shoes and stepped into the familiar slippers before looking up at Liu Xin’an again.

To be honest, even now, Liu Xin’an was still very confused, mainly because he couldn’t fully understand the meaning behind Bae Juhyun’s expression.

He blinked, striving to tune into the same frequency as Bae Juhyun, and then suddenly remembered something, "Is it that crazy guy who has been chasing after you, he found your place?!"

He figured she was crying from guilt, presuming she was crying out of fear.

And what else could scare Bae Juhyun but that man she had always been avoiding?

However, Liu Xin’an would have been better off not mentioning that entirely non-existent man, because now, Bae Juhyun was not just feeling guilty.

She hurriedly and nervously grabbed Liu Xin’an’s sleeve, terrified that he might rush out the door in a moment’s notice.

"No, it’s not!"

"It’s okay, let’s call the police."

"Don’t, don’t, he didn’t come!"

Bae Juhyun had actually considered whether to come clean with Liu Xin’an.

But recalling his distant tone earlier, her courage, already not great, shrank even further.

Well... better to wait a bit longer.

"Then you..."

Bae Juhyun shook her head, then slowly released Liu Xin’an’s sleeve. In a voice almost a whisper, she carefully began, "I just feel like disappearing for these two days was too much... especially since you’ve always been taking care of me."

After voicing her inner unease, Bae Juhyun felt much more relaxed.

But she still didn’t dare to look up at him.

Mainly because she was truly afraid of seeing an expression on Liu Xin’an’s face that she didn’t want to see.

"Uh..."

Liu Xin’an did have his complaints about the situation, but seeing Bae Juhyun now, it wasn’t hard for him to guess that she probably had her reasons.

Since she had come all the way here, he was more than willing to give her a chance to explain.

But before that.

"Ah, come in first. I have a live stream running over there. Just take a seat on the sofa, I’ll be right there after I say a few words," Liu Xin’an said awkwardly as he scratched his face, then pointed to the living room sofa and his streaming room, hurrying to add.

Bae Juhyun shook her head vigorously, not forgetting to wave her hands as well.

"No, no, no, you go ahead with your work... I don’t want to disturb you."

"It’s okay, give me a moment," Liu Xin’an dropped this line and quickly walked back to his streaming room where he picked up his headset and gave a quick explanation before shutting down the stream.

He could make up for the stream duration later, but considering Bae Juhyun’s current state...

Perhaps Bae Juhyun lacked friends, or maybe she had been hurt by one before. Could that be why she was now so treasuring every friend?

Liu Xin’an, completely oblivious to whether his feelings were reciprocated, cheerfully left his room to find Bae Juhyun already seated on the sofa.

However, unlike her usual carefree cross-legged posture, Bae Juhyun now sat demurely and neatly, a sight Liu Xin’an found a bit awkward.

Instead of sitting down directly on the sofa, he first went to the fridge, took out two bottles of water, and twisted off the cap of one in front of Bae Juhyun before handing it to her.

"Calm down first. Everyone gets busy, and I’m fine."

Although there was a bit of a lie in there, Liu Xin’an truly was that magnanimous.

Bae Juhyun had left a good impression on him, or he wouldn’t have cared about her for a while after her unexplained departure.

Only after a whole day without a response did he consider the possibility that she no longer wanted to deal with him.

But his reassurance didn’t help Bae Juhyun relax. The girl glanced at him, a mix of grievance and fright in her eyes, "Just now your tone was so cold..."

"Cough, okay, I admit it, I was a little annoyed, because it was just too strange."

"I’m sorry..."

"Stop apologizing, so what happened? Are you okay?"

The concern in his words warmed Bae Juhyun’s heart, but... she still couldn’t tell the truth.

Even though Kang Seulgi had given her some perspective while at the dorm, and she had come to terms with a lot.

But now, facing Liu Xin’an, facing the person she had feelings for, her courage was truly insufficient.

To declare her feelings outright? No, no, no, she couldn’t even be sure he felt the same about her, and the thought of possibly being rejected made her feel as if even breathing would be difficult.

So a confession now! It’s impossible!

"A friend of mine who’s close to me suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized, so I’ve been taking care of her these past days. I wanted to tell you when I left your place, but you were live streaming then... I didn’t dare to disturb you."

Bae Juhyun steeled her heart, no matter what, she had to clear up the misunderstanding first.

As for whether Liu Xin’an would later discover that she was lying...

She would deal with that when the time came!

"Later, when I wanted to message you, I couldn’t hold onto my phone, and it broke, so I haven’t been able to talk to you..."

This plausible explanation left Liu Xin’an blinking in surprise. He first organized his thoughts, then his face showed realization.

"So that’s what happened."

Liu Xin’an believed her without the slightest hesitation, which made Bae Juhyun feel even more uncomfortable.

She silently apologized in her heart, but out loud she just responded, "Mhm..."

"Is your friend okay?"

"She’s fine, she’s doing well. The surgery is over, and she’s now recovering."

Anyway, since the friend didn’t exist, Bae Juhyun just made things up.

"That’s good, well, these things happen. At first, I thought it was my suggestion that scared you off."

Liu Xin’an said cheerfully, while Bae Juhyun was taken aback.

"What suggestion?"

"About pretending I have a girlfriend over here, to trick the audience and clean up the fan base."

Liu Xin’an spread his hands.

Bae Juhyun was at a loss, but she quickly remembered the matter Liu Xin’an had mentioned before.

Pretending to be a girlfriend...

"I can do it!"

She gave an answer completely different from her previous one.

Liu Xin’an found Bae Juhyun’s sudden change in reply strange, but he waved his hand and laughed, "Ah, no need now, I’ve already bluffed my way through that situation."

He was referring to the incident when Bae Juhyun had spoken out during his live stream.

This answer startled Bae Juhyun. She tried hard not to show her intense inner turmoil on her face, feigning curiosity as she asked, "Did you... get someone else to help?"

"How could I? I just said it was a little bug during the live stream."

Upon hearing that Liu Xin’an hadn’t found someone else, Bae Juhyun also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you still angry?"

"What do I have to be angry about? I’m pretty open-minded about that stuff. To be honest, I really thought I’d offended you in some way and that made you very dissatisfied, so you just left." Liu Xin’an shrugged, with a self-deprecating sense of humor.

But such a thing was clearly impossible. Liu Xin’an shouldn’t even have thought that, considering he was both a gentle and good man.

"Not at all, it’s my fault. Don’t think like that," Bae Juhyun said quickly, fearing that Liu Xin’an might actually entertain that idea, taking the blame onto herself again.

Her caution made him smile wryly.

"Alright, it’s fine now that everything’s been explained, you don’t need to be so tense and careful."

"Mhm..."

Bae Juhyun clearly still felt a bit uneasy, which Liu Xin’an noticed and his eyes lit up.

"Actually, to celebrate the safe return of the only friend I have here, why don’t I treat you to dinner today?"

Changing the subject is a good way to divert someone’s attention.

Moreover, honestly, most of Liu Xin’an’s impressions of Bae Juhyun involved eating and drinking.

And getting drunk...

Bae Juhyun nodded vigorously. Of course, she was willing. These days without Liu Xin’an to share meals and chat with, she felt she had barely any appetite.

The dormitory sisters were usually very busy. Her moments of leisure were pitifully rare, so even in the dormitory, the time she spent with them was very limited.

The taste of loneliness was painful. How could it compare to sharing a meal with someone you’re close to?

Especially with the person you like!

Bae Juhyun sneaked a glance at Liu Xin’an, who was scrolling through food delivery apps on his phone. His handsome face and earnest expression made her cheeks turn red.

Ever since she realized her feelings for Liu Xin’an, she found it increasingly difficult to look him in the eye.

Because just one glance would make her heartbeat accelerate and heat rise uncontrollably to her cheeks.

Fearing that she’d make a fool of herself, Bae Juhyun hastily drank a sip of ice water, but perhaps she drank too quickly...

"Cough cough cough."

Busy searching for takeout, Liu Xin’an heard Bae Juhyun’s coughing and saw her somewhat embarrassed look as she covered her mouth. He didn’t think much of it, smiling as he approached her, and gently patted Bae Juhyun’s back to help her catch her breath.

"Drink slowly, is it too cold?"

The gentle patting caused Bae Juhyun to cross her legs tightly. She shook her head, suppressing the joy in her heart.

"I just choked a bit."

The very person who was nervous to the extreme just moments ago was now secretly thrilled over a simple physical touch from Liu Xin’an...

Women are indeed fickle.