weddingnovel Chapter 24 | The Past of Queen Eun
Chapter 24 | The Past of Queen Eun
When Cao Yisen heard the name "Li Huili," his heart skipped a beat. He didn't interrupt, but focused his attention on her tone.
"Later, I actually went and competed for it," Kwon Eunbi continued. "Before that... I debuted once. You probably didn't know that."
Cao Yisen genuinely didn't know, but he didn't say "I don't know," he just quietly waited for her to continue.
Kwon Eunbi seemed to finally no longer need to worry about her "idol image," her tone tinged with self-deprecation: "Back then, the stage name I used was pretty cringeworthy, it was Kazoo. We were an eight-member group, we released songs, took photos, and performed on stage. The album sounded really impressive, like something about 'national treasures,' and the title track was called 'UP N DOWN.'"
After she finished speaking, she chuckled softly, but there was no sweetness in her smile; it seemed more like she was mocking her own earnestness back then.
"But those kinds of groups, you know." Kwon Eunbi raised her shoulders and then lowered them, as if she were saying "it will break up soon" with her body. "Later, I left with another member. When my name was removed from the official introduction, I realized—it can be so easy for someone to disappear."
Cao Yisen's fingers tightened slightly on the edge of the railing. He wanted to say something comforting, but he felt that comfort was too weak.
Kwon Eun-bi didn't even wait for him to comfort her.
"Then came the auditions," she continued. "Auditions non-stop. One company today, another tomorrow. Singing in front of the mirror until I doubted my own tone; dancing until my knees were weak, and I still had to smile and say, 'I'm fine.' Later I signed with Woollim and also worked as a backup dancer for INFINITE and Lovelyz."
As she said this, a hint of weariness finally crept into her voice: "At that time, I thought that this might be how my life would be. Always standing behind others, in the background, always 'that sister who dances well,' but not 'the one who gets remembered.'"
The night wind blew her words a little away, but Cao Yisen heard them very clearly.
"So for me, Produce 48 was more than just an opportunity," Kwon Eunbi's voice suddenly became a little steadyer, "it was also the last attempt of my life. I was already a repeat contestant back then. Others practiced for three years, I practiced for almost ten. I was already this age, so why shouldn't I give it my all?"
"I thought to myself, if I fail again this time, I'll go work at a convenience store."
Cao Yisen finally spoke: "But you managed to spell it out."
Kwon Eunbi did not respond immediately. She leaned on the railing, staring at the street lamp in the distance, as if confronting it.
After a few seconds, she softly hummed in agreement.
"I've spelled it out." She repeated it, as if to confirm, or perhaps to remind herself, "And now it's over again."
The balcony fell silent the moment those words were spoken. The faint sound of Choi Ye-na's laughter drifted from the living room, sounding unreal through the thick glass.
Quan Enfei suddenly turned her head and glanced at Cao Yisen. That glance was brief, but it conveyed a lot.
"Do you know what's the scariest thing?" Kwon Eunbi asked.
Cao Yisen didn't answer immediately. He knew she wasn't looking for a standard answer.
Kwon Eunbi continued, her tone still calm, but that calmness seemed to be weighing on something: "The scariest thing is that I'm finally standing on the stage now, finally someone is calling my name. And then someone tells me—time is almost up."
Cao Yisen's throat tightened, and he wanted to say "No, it won't happen," but he knew that this statement was too unrealistic in the face of reality.
All he could say was, "So that's why you want people to come and see it?"
Kwon Eunbi nodded slightly: "Yes, and no."
She looked back into the distance, her voice becoming even softer: "Because when there are people sitting in the audience, you feel like it's not a dream. You feel... that these years haven't been wasted."
Cao Yisen remained silent for a while, looked at Quan Enfei seriously, and then slowly said, "Quan Enfei, you are not a dream."
Upon hearing this, Kwon Eun-bi's shoulders stiffened slightly, as if a hidden part of her heart had been touched. She didn't turn around, but simply rested her chin lightly on the back of her hand, and after a few seconds spoke as if casually:
"Cao Yisen... why are you being so talkative today?"
Cao Yisen was brought back to reality by her words. His ears burned slightly, and he explained, "I just... didn't want to make you feel too bad."
Kwon Eunbi chuckled softly, a laugh that finally carried a hint of genuine warmth. She took out an e-cigarette from her pocket, twirled it between her fingers, but didn't inhale. It was as if, after saying those words, the weight on her chest had eased a little, and for the time being, she no longer needed anything to suppress it.
She put the e-cigarette away, her tone returning to that of a domineering older sister.
"Alright." Kwon Eunbi raised her chin, gesturing towards the living room. "Let's go back. If we don't go back, Choi Yena will say I kidnapped you."
Cao Yisen couldn't help but laugh: "Cui Ruina dares to say anything."
Kwon Eun-bi also laughed and said, "So you need to learn how to handle things. If you don't hone your verbal skills when you work at an entertainment company, they'll devour you completely."
Cao Yisen nodded, as if agreeing, or perhaps encouraging himself: "I'll do my best."
Behind her, Kwon Eunbi suddenly added softly, "Thank you for not pretending not to see me just now." Kwon Eunbi said, "And thank you... for not looking at me like that."
Cao Yisen paused for a moment, then whispered, "Eun-bi-ssi, I won't."
After Kwon Eun-bi said "thank you," she seemed to realize it was a bit sentimental, and her lips twitched slightly with a self-deprecating smile.
She didn't look at Cao Yisen again, but instead focused her gaze back on the streetlights in the distance, as if giving herself a way out.
"Never mind." Kwon Eunbi sighed softly. "Why should I tell you all this?"
Kwon Eunbi pushed her hat brim up a little, revealing a cleaner look in her eyes and brows, and her tone returned to that of an older sister—casual yet subtly distant.
"You're only a few years younger than me," she said. "You finished college in the US, came back to work as a white-collar worker, and can start over by changing companies or positions. People like you... how could you possibly understand what we female idols, who have climbed our way up from the bottom, are going through?"
She spoke softly, not like she was being sarcastic, but more like a habitual form of self-protection: drawing a line first to prevent others from getting too close and acting too self-righteously.
Cao Yisen opened his mouth, wanting to refute "I understand," but then felt he wasn't qualified to say "I understand." In the end, he only uttered a very stupid truth.
"I haven't experienced what you've gone through," Cao Yisen paused, "but I don't think you're being unreasonable."
When Kwon Eun-bi heard this, she actually smiled.
The laugh was brief, like a whisper carried away by the wind.
"That doesn't sound like... something you said accidentally." She turned to look at him, a hint of teasing in her eyes. "It's not the style of a 'white-collar worker' like you."
When Cao Yisen was looked at like that, his heart tightened for no reason, and he even unconsciously straightened his posture.
After a while, Kwon Eunbi seemed to realize that the gaze had lingered for a bit too long, so she simply shifted her attention, reached into her coat pocket, and pulled out the e-cigarette. She casually twirled it between her fingers, like twirling a pen.
Then, as if on a sudden impulse, or as if to bring her emotions back to normal, she abruptly tossed the e-cigarette toward Cao Yisen.
"Cao Yisen," Quan Enfei said, her tone almost joking, "would you like to give it a try?"
Cao Yisen instinctively reached out to catch it.
He caught it, but his movements were clumsy and awkward; he almost let the object slip through his fingers, barely managing to grab it. Only after he had a firm grip did he realize—it was the one Kwon Eun-bi had just smoked.
The first thought that flashed through his mind was: Should I refuse?
But his quick refusal seemed strange, as if he were deliberately avoiding something; yet his prolonged hesitation seemed even stranger, as if he were seriously considering "whether or not to kiss indirectly."
Before he could even process what was happening, Quan Enfei raised an eyebrow and urged, "What? Are you scared?"
These three words sound too much like a provocation.
Cao Yisen gritted his teeth, simply raised the e-cigarette to his lips, and took a very unnatural puff.
The next second, he regretted it.
It's not that the taste is unpleasant.
On the contrary, the taste was very mild, like some kind of fruit—light and sweet, not overpowering, even somewhat pleasant. The smoke lingered in his mouth for a moment, carrying a slight residual warmth. Cao Yisen couldn't even distinguish whether it was a fruity taste or something more subtle—like lipstick, like perfume, like the scent that only comes when someone is close.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he almost choked, but he held it in and pretended to be very calm as he exhaled.
Kwon Eun-bi looked at him, a slight smile playing on her lips: "It's not difficult, is it?"
Cao Yisen hummed in response, his voice a little hoarse.
He looked down at the e-cigarette in his hand and realized something: he had indeed put his lips to the spot where Kwon Eunbi had placed them earlier.
The exact same position.
A sudden "ding" sounded in his mind, as if someone had tapped him in the quiet night.
So what is this?
Indirect kiss?
He tightened his grip, and the e-cigarette almost fell again.
Kwon Eun-bi seemed to see through his momentary confusion, and instead became even calmer, even adding a touch of mischief: "What's wrong? Why is your face red?"
"No, no," Cao Yisen immediately denied, but his hasty denial only made it seem more likely that he was telling the truth.
Kwon Eun-bi chuckled softly, as if afraid of being overheard by those in the living room. She held out her hand, palm open, the meaning clear: Give it back to me.
When Cao Yisen handed over the e-cigarette, his fingers accidentally touched Quan Enbi's palm.
It was just a very short moment.
But that moment seemed amplified by the night wind—the cold wind, the warm palm, the instantaneous touch, and the thought of an "indirect kiss" that had just popped into his mind. It made him momentarily lost in thought.
He suddenly had a very inopportune thought—
Is this smell going to linger for too long?
Kwon Eunbi took the e-cigarette back, but did not immediately put it back in her pocket.
She twirled the thin object between her fingers, like twirling a pen, or perhaps waiting for Cao Yisen's reaction. Cao Yisen stood there, his ears still burning, but the lingering sweet fruity taste in his mouth was stubborn, as if deliberately reminding him of what had just happened.
Kwon Eunbi glanced at him, her eyes carrying a hint of "I saw it all" in her smile.
"Cao Yisen," she called slowly, as if deliberately drawing out, "How does it taste?"
This statement is too clean; so clean that it becomes unclean.
"Um…?"
Cao Yisen's first reaction was: Of course she was asking about e-cigarettes.
A second thought popped into my head: But why did she ask in that tone?
The third reaction was even worse: he wasn't even sure if his answer of "good" or "bad" was evaluating the taste or something else.
Cao Yisen glanced at the lips of the person next to him out of the corner of his eye. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he answered with a forced smile, "...It tastes like fruit."
Kwon Eunbi hummed in response, her voice rising slightly at the end, as if she was dissatisfied with the answer.
"Just fruit flavor?" Kwon Eun-bi's tone sounded casual, but every word felt like a veiled attack. "Nothing else?"
Cao Yisen instantly realized he had been amused.
He tried to play dumb, but the heat on his face betrayed him completely. He looked away, staring at the distant streetlights, as if those lights could save him from his predicament.
"Quan Eunbi," he lowered his voice, "don't talk like that."
Kwon Eunbi smiled, a very soft smile, as if she had finally caught someone who was usually very restrained but couldn't control themselves now.
"What did I say?" she retorted innocently. "I was just asking you about the taste."
She paused for a moment, then casually added, "You're overthinking it."
Cao Yisen was speechless after she said, "You're overthinking it."
Just then, a gust of wind slipped in through the cracks in the building, and the chill of the night suddenly became sharp. Quan Enbi hunched her shoulders slightly, and the brim of her hat swayed gently in the wind. She subconsciously took half a step closer to Cao Yisen, the movement so natural, as if she were simply finding a sheltered spot from the wind.
The distance between the two people was instantly shortened.
Kwon Eun-bi is a little over 1.58 meters tall, and standing next to Cao Yisen, she does appear petite, as if a gust of wind could push her even closer. Her coat collar wasn't pulled all the way up, and as the night wind blew, the fabric clung back to her chest, and Cao Yisen's gaze inadvertently swept over her chest—the presence there was quite different from the slender figure she usually exuded, creating a stark contrast.
Cao Yisen looked away immediately, as if he had been burned.
But the less I looked, the more I realized what I had just seen.
His ears instantly burned even hotter, and he froze as if he had been suddenly called on to go on stage and introduce himself.
Kwon Eun-bi clearly sensed his embarrassment. Instead of backing away, she tilted her head slightly, as if deliberately moving a little closer to confirm his reaction. Her voice was even lower, with a hint of mischievous laughter.
"Cao Yisen, why are you suddenly so quiet?"
She paused, then added insult to injury, "What are you thinking?"
"I wasn't thinking anything," Cao Yisen said almost reflexively.
Kwon Eunbi gave an "Oh," but the last syllable was drawn out very softly, as if she didn't believe it at all.
She pulled her hat brim down a little, leaning against the railing, still very close to him. The e-cigarette tapped lightly on the railing between her fingers, as if reminding him: that puff just now wasn't a dream.
"Then why is your face so red?" Kwon Eunbi asked.
When pressed, Cao Yisen had no choice but to lie and say, "It was the wind."
Kwon Eun-bi chuckled softly, as if she had heard a very funny excuse: "The wind can make your face turn red? You're quite good at making excuses, aren't you?"
Cao Yisen, unable to bear it any longer, finally turned to look at her: "Quan Enfei, what exactly do you want?"
Quan Enfei looked at him, her eyes holding a half-smile, a hint of unreadable emotion. She wanted to continue teasing him, but then suddenly felt it was enough; she shouldn't push him too far, or her sister would come looking for trouble.
She put the e-cigarette back in her pocket, her voice softening slightly: "I didn't mean to do anything."
After saying that, Kwon Eun-bi added casually, as if to save face, "I just think you're quite interesting."
Cao Yisen's heart skipped a beat.
This question is more dangerous than any "How does it taste?" because it doesn't sound like a joke, at least not entirely.
"Let's go back," Kwon Eunbi said. "If we don't go back, Choi Yena will really make up a story, saying that you confessed to me on the balcony or something, and then who knows what kind of strange story it will become when it gets to Won Young."
Cao Yisen, who had been tense, relaxed a little after her words and couldn't help but retort: "Yuan Ying... she wouldn't believe that, would she?"
Kwon Eun-bi tilted her head and raised an eyebrow slightly: "Who knows? She's always thought you were a liar since she was little."
Cao Yisen choked, completely speechless.
After Kwon Eun-bi said, "You're quite interesting," the balcony suddenly became eerily quiet. She stood by the railing, as if suddenly remembering something, her gaze falling back to Cao Yisen's face, pausing for a second.
Then, she took a step forward.
It was slow and natural, as if she just wanted to confirm whether he was hiding again.
Cao Yisen's body tensed up first. He could feel the warmth that Quan Enfei brought as she approached, like a small lamp suddenly appearing in the night breeze. Her face gradually enlarged, her eyebrows, eyelashes, and lip shape becoming incredibly clear, even the faint fruity scent in her breath became distinct.
Cao Yisen instinctively held his breath, his fingers gripping the balcony railing tighter and tighter.
A jumbled thought flashed through his mind: Does this count as crossing the line?
The next second, an even more absurd question flashed through my mind: Should I back down?
But he didn't move.
He realized that by making a single movement, he was essentially acknowledging that he was genuinely expecting something.
Kwon Eun-bi's gaze was steady, even carrying a hint of mischievous amusement, as if she were enjoying his "pretending to be nervous despite being nervous" act. She tilted her head slightly, so close that Cao Yisen could almost count the number of her eyelashes.
Just as Cao Yisen was about to lose his mind due to his pounding heart—
The balcony door was pushed open with a "whoosh".
A gust of hot air, reeking of alcohol, rushed out, accompanied by Choi Ye-na's voice that completely disregarded the atmosphere.
"What are you two doing?!" Choi Ye-na said, peeking out with an unusually bright look in her eyes. "I can't hear you guys talking in there anymore. You wouldn't be here...wow?"
Cao Yisen felt as if he had been electrocuted, instantly snapping back to reality, his face flushing.
Kwon Eun-bi's reaction was surprisingly quick.
She didn't even noticeably step back; instead, she simply stood on tiptoe and gently patted Cao Yisen's shoulder twice, her movements as natural as if she were genuinely checking his clothes.
"Cao Yisen's clothes are dirty," Quan Enfei said calmly, as if reporting the weather. "I'm just reminding him."
Choi Ye-na squinted, clearly disbelieving: "Why are you so close to your face if your clothes are dirty? Are you rubbing your eyes?"
Kwon Eun-bi remained completely calm, even managing a slight smile: "I'm nearsighted. You probably can't tell when you've had too much to drink, right?"
Choi Ye-na was taken aback, then turned to stare at Cao Yi-sen: "Cao Yi-sen, tell me, where are your clothes dirty?"
Cao Yisen's mind was still racing, but his mouth pleaded for his life: "...the shoulder. The ribbon from earlier."
"Weren't the ribbons already cleaned up?" Choi Ye-na was even more suspicious. "You two..."
Kwon Eun-bi simply draped her arm over Tsao Ik-sen's shoulder and gently pulled him away from the "crime scene" from the balcony. Her movements were very natural, like a captain leading his team back to the team with a confident air.
"Let's go back," Kwon Eunbi said to Choi Yena, her tone like she was coaxing a child. "If you stand here in the wind any longer, you might catch a cold."
Choi Ye-na wanted to turn back and gossip, but Kwon Eun-bi gave her a push as well: "Come on, they're still playing games inside. What are you doing out here directing idol dramas?"
As the three of them walked into the living room, Cao Yisen was still completely dazed. He could feel Quan Enfei standing very close, so close that the fabric of her coat would occasionally brush against his arm. She hadn't done anything, yet it was more unsettling than if she had.
Just as she reached the balcony door, Kwon Eun-bi's hand slipped very lightly.
Cao Yisen felt something gently slip into his pocket. He subconsciously looked down and saw that Quan Enfei had already withdrawn her hand as if nothing had happened, as if she had just straightened her cuffs.
The next second, she leaned close to his ear and whispered so softly that only he could hear her.
"Please keep this for me."
Cao Yisen's heart skipped a beat.
Kwon Eunbi paused for a moment, then added casually, her tone carrying a mischievous smile:
"Also, before you go back... wipe your lips."
Cao Yisen froze, his ears turning even redder instantly. Almost instinctively, he raised his hand to touch the corner of his mouth, and the words "indirect kiss" popped into his head again, inappropriately.
"Damn it, I've been tricked again."
At this moment, Kwon Eunbi turned around and walked into the living room side by side with Choi Ye-na without changing her expression, as if nothing had just happened.
Choi Ye-na was still muttering, "Let me tell you, I really felt something was wrong just now."
Kwon Eun-bi replied calmly, "You're mistaken."
Choi Ye-na retorted, "My intuition is incredibly accurate."
Ahn Yu-jin called out from afar, "Choi Ye-na, you're back! Where were you just now?"
Zhang Yuanying raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping between Quan Enfei and Cao Yisen, as if she had caught something, or perhaps she didn't want to admit it. Finally, she coldly remarked, "You two have been enjoying yourselves for quite a while now."
Jiang Huiyuan lazily added, "The wind feels good, doesn't it?"
Cao Rouli turned around and frowned, "Why did you all go out together?"
Kwon Eunbi naturally chimed in, "Choi Ye-na drank too much, so I brought her back."
Choi Ye-na immediately protested, "Hey! I'm not drunk!"
The living room erupted in laughter again.
Only when Cao Yisen sat back down on the sofa, his hands still in his pockets, did he touch the e-cigarette. He flinched as if burned, but didn't dare take it out.
His mind was in complete turmoil, but Quan Enfei was sitting not far away, talking to Ahn Yoojin and Jang Wonyoung, looking completely at ease, and her eyes didn't linger on him for even a second.
It seemed as if he was the only one who took the phrase "wipe your lips" as some kind of secret code.