Celebrity Neighbor: My girlfriend is a big star?
Chapter 38: Yes, it’s very effective.

Chapter 38: Yes, it’s very effective.

Bae Juhyun’s pain left Kang Seulgi at a loss for words for a moment.

Uh... to be precise, she hadn’t yet snapped back to reality from her shock.

How many years had she known Bae Juhyun?

As members of a group, and living together under one roof for a long time, usually, if someone had a crush on Bae Juhyun and pursued her, it hardly ever escaped her notice.

Despite Bae Juhyun being the older sister and the leader of the group, in terms of romantic life, she was quite dense.

She was even protected by her younger siblings.

But now?

This dense sister, who had never mentioned her own love life, was now looking sad and saying she had someone she liked but had to suppress her feelings for some bizarre reasons.

Once Seulgi had cleared her thoughts, she slapped her thigh hard, sucked in a breath of cold air, and began to rub it vigorously.

"What are you babbling about, Sister Juhyun!"

"...Ah?"

Bae Juhyun was caught off guard by her sister’s response.

"What’s wrong with being an idol? Why can’t idols date!"

What a joke, this sister is going to be 30 this year.

What’s wrong with dating after seven years of debut?

If the company doesn’t mind, why is she restraining herself?

Wasn’t it just before their debut when she pulled them along to drink behind the company’s back?

"Uh... Seulgi, it’s not that idols can’t date, it’s just that I now..."

"What about now? Isn’t it the perfect time to date since you’re temporarily out of work and can’t make public appearances?"

Even Seulgi herself was envious; she also longed for a break to enjoy a passionate love affair.

"What are you talking nonsense for? If my fans find out about my romance now, then afterwards..."

"Why does it have to be known?"

"..." Bae Juhyun was stunned, her usually expressionless eyes becoming a little dazed.

"Liu Xin’an is your neighbor, right? Where in the world could you find such a coincidence? If you, Sister Juhyun, could really be with Liu Xin’an, you wouldn’t even have to worry about the media for future dates!"

The fresh perspective left Bae Juhyun with her mouth slightly agape, an angle she had never considered before.

After all, as soon as she had realized her own feelings, her subconscious reaction was "it can’t be known by the fans," so she had to suppress her own feelings, compelling herself to forget this romance.

But Seulgi’s counsel gave her another perspective to consider.

That is... what if she really got together with Liu Xin’an?

Or rather, why did it have to be exposed to the media at all?

She was a homebody, and so was Liu Xin’an, at least these past few days she had never seen Liu Xin’an leave his house, busying himself with work and nothing beyond eating and drinking.

Since they were both homebodies, if they really got together, the natural place for dates would be each other’s homes, an ordinary affair for celebrities dating in private, she might never have seriously dated, but she had seen others date.

So, for some celebrities, the possibility of worrying about being caught by the media when spending the night at their partner’s place didn’t seem to apply to her and Liu Xin’an.

After all, the only thing separating her from Liu Xin’an was a hallway, or to be more precise... a wall in her bedroom.

"But... but..."

It had to be admitted, Kang Seulgi was wasted as an idol.

She would have had a much brighter future as a negotiator than as an idol.

Bae Juhyun, having not come up with a decent rebuttal after all her "buts," pursed her lips, her lifeless eyes lighting up with a glimmer of hope.

"But what, I think it’s the best time for you right now, Sister Juhyun. And you don’t have to worry about the fans. If the secrecy is well managed, it definitely won’t be exposed."

An idol’s life gets too busy to care about romance, but what Bae Juhyun had in abundance right now was time.

Why not take advantage of this time to fully enjoy her youth?

Idols have to sacrifice some freedom, and the liberty Bae Juhyun has now is envied by many of her peers.

Well... except for the scandal issue, but with the company’s cold treatment, the situation has lessened a lot and after a while, Bae Juhyun could probably make her comeback on stage.

This family concert was just a trial, right?

"So... should I not force myself to give up?"

Her normally considerate sister had become a complete idiot when it came to romance.

For once, Kang Seulgi showed a reliable facade and tapped gently on her sister’s smooth forehead, a touch of exasperation in her action.

"There’s no need to give up at all. It’s only right to accept your feelings and happily be together with Liu Xin’an as lovers, isn’t it?"

Seulgi’s words were like a breath of fresh air for Bae Juhyun.

She took a deep breath, and the dark clouds that had been lingering around her instantly dissipated.

It was all her own overthinking; she really should have talked to someone about it.

Moreover... she sincerely felt that she didn’t want to give up on these budding feelings at all. On the contrary, she now longed to see Liu Xin’an.

"So, Sister Juhyun, these past few days you’ve been avoiding him, haven’t you?"

"Hmm..."

"And you didn’t even say hello?"

"..."

"What about your phone? Contact information?"

"..."

The dead silence made Kang Seulgi smack her forehead in speechlessness.

Bae Juhyun finally understood just how terrible her actions had been; if someone else had left without a word and then continued to disappear... probably they wouldn’t leave a good impression in anyone’s heart, right?

Thinking of this, Bae Juhyun’s heart, which had finally started to lighten, once again became Emo.

Would Liu Xin’an hate her for this?

"What are you spacing out for? Hurry and go explain!"

"How... how do I explain?"

"Come on, just... just say your phone was broken, you had something urgent come up, but you didn’t know Liu Xin’an’s number, so you couldn’t tell him in time!"

Bae Juhyun turned her head to glance at her phone, made up her mind with a nod, and then lifted the phone high.

Kang Seulgi swiftly intervened, stopping her now seemingly scatterbrained sister.

"Are you really going to smash it?! Just change the case!"

"..."

After changing into a new set of clothes, Bae Juhyun put on her mask and hat, and, encouraged by Kang Seulgi’s supportive gaze, mustered the courage to walk out of the house.

She was going to see him.

However, there was one thing neither of them had noticed: from beginning to end, their discussions were all about Bae Juhyun’s matters with Liu Xin’an after getting together.

But there was an essential precondition to this whole affair.

That was whether the said Liu Xin’an was willing or not...

———

The two-day absence of Bae Juhyun from his life sent a message: she was indeed intentionally avoiding him.

Liu Xin’an racked his brain but couldn’t think of the exact reason. On the first day, he was a bit worried about Bae Juhyun; after sending a few messages without receiving a reply, he understood what she meant.

He just didn’t expect her to be such a person who seemed so different from her appearance.

They were, after all, people who had shared drinks, talks, and meals together; only he regarded her as a friend, and he felt like a fool for it.

Liu Xin’an wasn’t too sad; he was an adult, and it’s quite normal in a person’s life to have some who come and go.

At most, he just felt that his genuine feelings had gone to waste.

Ahem, it’s just a metaphor.

The disappearance of Bae Juhyun from his life didn’t bring much change to his daily routine.

However, there was still a little discomfort, like when eating or when he went to the fridge to get a drink or a beer, seeing those bottles of soju.

By the way, he had finished the kimchi Bae Juhyun gave him; even though she wasn’t a good person in his heart anymore, her stuff was quite delicious—this much he acknowledged.

As usual, he started today’s livestream; just as Liu Xin’an was about to speak, the doorbell’s "ding-dong" pulled him out of his live broadcasting.

He took off his headset, turning his head quizzically toward the living room.

Then he spoke into the microphone: "Hang on, I need to open the door; sounds like someone’s knocking."

It wasn’t "sounds like"—the doorbell had indeed rung, and the viewers in his streaming room heard it too.

But when Liu Xin’an left the streaming room and closed the door behind him, the chat exploded with various jokes, like the knocker being the neighboring flight attendant, among other speculations.

Yet, these were things that Liu Xin’an, who was already at the door, couldn’t see.

He walked to the door in his slippers, nonchalantly pulled it open.

"Who... oh?"

Standing at the door, panting, was none other than Bae Juhyun, whom he had not seen for three long days.

However, Bae Juhyun looked quite disheveled compared to normal, even her beautiful long hair comically stuck to her forehead.

Of course, Liu Xin’an didn’t have a welcoming face for someone who had abruptly left his place and then vanished without a single returned message for days.

His expression was calm, his voice showing little fluctuation: "What do you want?"

The distance in his words almost made Bae Juhyun, who had gathered her courage to knock, burst into tears right then and there. She knew her actions had been too much, considering that Liu Xin’an had been caring for her without any complaints all this time.

She was the one who would always get drunk at his place and refuse to leave...

The one who would disturb him during his work...

The more she thought about it, the more inadequate she felt. Bae Juhyun’s eyes grew redder, but fortunately, she was short enough that, with her head lowered, Liu Xin’an, no matter his abilities, couldn’t see her expression.

"...Well, my phone was broken."

She suppressed the sourness in her heart, recalling the excuse she had agreed upon with Kang Seulgi, and stuttered her way through.

"...What?"

This random statement confused Liu Xin’an somewhat.

"Sorry... I’m sorry..."

Bae Juhyun finally couldn’t hold back, sobbing as she offered her broken apologies.

This completely threw Liu Xin’an off.

He was indeed upset, but clearly, Bae Juhyun was in this state for a reason.

He quickly stepped aside: "If there’s something wrong, come in and talk first."

"Um..."

———

PS: I gave you all just a tiny bit of heartache, and to make sure you don’t linger in an uncomfortable spot, I’m posting four updates today! So you can read through the painful part in one sitting.

I promise there’s only this little bit in the entire book that’s painful because this part, where Bae sis goes through a significant psychological change, is quite important. She wouldn’t dare make another mistake after already causing trouble for all the members.

And Kang Seulgi’s advice helped her a lot, which is why she could wholeheartedly accept these feelings she has.