NABC Chapter 88 Why won't you become the fuse?
Chapter 88 Why won't you become the fuse?
Nonhyeon-dong Seocho Apartment.
Jiang Yan stood in front of door number 1202 and pressed the doorbell.
A "click" sound.
It was Lim Yoona who opened the door. She smiled slightly and stepped aside to let Jiang Yan in. In the instant they passed each other, Lim Yoona whispered, "Sunny unnie hates being lied to the most, so what you need to do is, as honestly as possible with her while ensuring the secret isn't exposed, understand?"
Jiang Yan nodded, changed his shoes, and walked into the living room.
The living room's layout is completely different from Kim Tae-yeon's home.
If Kim Tae-yeon's home has a gentle and lazy color scheme, then this place is another extreme.
The entire wall of glass display cases is filled with various limited edition figurines and game consoles, and several rows of Blu-ray discs are neatly stacked under the TV cabinet.
In the corner stands a cherry blossom tree made of neon tubes, its pink glow turning the entire living room into a mini amusement park.
Upon entering the living room, I saw someone curled up on the sofa.
Lee Soon-kyu, stage name Sunny.
She was wearing a Pikachu-print T-shirt, had a bright yellow blanket over her legs, and was holding a square cushion in her arms.
She was huddled in the corner of the sofa, looking tiny and clumsy, not at all like a member of a top girl group who has been in the industry for nearly ten years.
"Oh, you're here." Sunny tossed the cushion she was holding aside, pointed to the sofa next to her, and said, "Sit down, don't be shy."
Jiang Yan bowed respectfully and sat down on the single sofa opposite Sunny.
"Hello, senior, I'm Jiang Yan."
"Aigoo, why call me senpai? Call me nona."
Sunny waved her hand, casually picked up a bag of shrimp chips from the coffee table, tore it open, and crunched on two chips. "Taeyeon said your Sichuan food is especially delicious. Can you cook some for me next time? I like spicy food."
Jiang Yan was slightly taken aback, then nodded: "Yes, Nuna, please give orders at any time."
"Hmm, you're quite well-behaved." Sunny handed him the bag of shrimp chips, and Jiang Yan politely took one. She then turned to Lin Yoona, "Yoona, could you go to the kitchen and get me a drink? There's something cold in the fridge."
Yoona raised an eyebrow, inwardly rolling her eyes.
The refrigerator was filled with nothing but liquor; there was no other beverage in it.
But she didn't expose her, she just gave Sunny a reproachful look, got up and slowly walked towards the kitchen.
She knew that some things could only be said to Sunny and Jiang Yan alone.
For a moment, only the two of them remained in the living room.
Sunny didn't speak immediately, but instead crunched on a few more shrimp crackers, then picked up the remote and turned the TV volume up two notches.
"Jiang Yan".
"Nirvana."
"Yoona told me about you two."
Sunny shifted to a more comfortable position, crossing her legs, and continued casually, "So I'm quite curious, what was your purpose in doing all this? Was it for Sulli, or for Yoona, or Tiffany, or... Taeyeon?"
Jiang Yan did not hesitate and said directly, "It's because of Shirley and the other members of the Nuna group that we met by chance, and also because we share the same goal."
"You're very honest." Sunny put the shrimp chips on the table and clapped her hands casually. "If you had brought any of them with you, I wouldn't have believed anything you said afterward."
Jiang Yan felt a chill run down his spine, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Sunny didn't care what he was thinking. She casually picked up the remote and changed the channel. "You've messed with Kim Sung-hoon. I know that guy pretty well. He's been with SM for many years. You're a newbie who just joined the company. You dare to confront him head-on. You're either stupid or you're very confident."
She turned her head, her eyes fixed on Jiang Yan: "Which one do you think you are?"
Jiang Yan met her gaze: "What do you think, Nuna?"
Sunny's answer was crisp and clear: "I think you're neither stupid nor confident enough. If you were truly confident, you wouldn't have come to me today. The fact that you came to me means you need help."
Jiang Yan was taken aback by those words. "Nuna is right. Given how things are developing, I do need help."
Sunny didn't respond immediately. Instead, she picked up her water glass, took a sip, put it down, and suddenly changed the subject.
"Jiang Yan, do you know how Jessica got there?"
This question exploded silently in the quiet living room like a depth charge.
Jiang Yan could feel Lin Yoona's gaze coming from the kitchen doorway, and he could feel Lin Xiaolu suddenly holding her breath behind him.
He answered cautiously, "I know some, but not all."
"Do you know how the rest of us fared after she left?"
Sunny's voice remained calm, as if she were talking about something completely unrelated to herself.
"Taeyeon locked herself in her house for three days without coming out, Yoona was practicing dancing in front of the mirror in the practice room, and suddenly squatted down and cried while dancing, and Seohyun was sitting alone in the corner of the dressing room, holding her book, without turning a single page."
"Later, the company told us that they would be releasing a new album and that we would use our achievements to prove that Girls' Generation would not be affected by anyone's departure. We practiced like crazy, sang like crazy, and smiled more brightly than anyone else in front of the camera."
"We won a lot of awards that year, but deep down, none of us were smiling."
Sunny stopped, picked up her water glass and took another sip, then looked at Jiang Yan with a very faint smile on her lips.
"So you come to me about renewing the contract, about bringing the eight of us back together. Of course I want to, but what I want to ask you is, what makes you think you won't become another catalyst for the Jessica incident?"
"Instead of Girls' Generation becoming seven members, or even fewer, wouldn't it be better to disband and nominally maintain eight members? What do you think?"
Jiang Yan remained silent after hearing this.
Lin Xiaolu paced anxiously behind him, muttering, "Say something!" But she herself didn't know what Jiang Yan should say.
This is a complete dead end. No matter how much Jiang Yan guarantees it, it won't work because there have been precedents.
After a long while, Jiang Yan finally spoke, "Nuna, I can't give you any guarantees."
Sunny glanced at him but didn't say anything.
"I don't know what happened back then, I don't know how Jessica left, I don't know what the rest of us went through during that time, and I don't know what kind of power struggles the company's higher-ups were engaging in behind the scenes."
"But I only know a few things."
"First, Yoona is willing to give up her resources not because she doesn't care about herself, but because she cares more about the team."
"Secondly, Taeyeon was willing to help us not because I fooled her, but because she understands better than anyone what Girls' Generation means to her."
"Third, I currently have three songs that are considered main hits. Teacher Kenzie said that one of them can be finalized at the song selection meeting this afternoon, and if all goes well, the other two songs will also be finalized later."
He paused, then met Sunny's scrutinizing gaze with an open and honest look.
"I'm not showing off my abilities, I'm just stating a fact."
"My value at SM is growing at an irreplaceable rate. When Yoona, Noona, and I confront Lee Soo-man in the next few days, I will have enough leverage."
"I can't guarantee it will work, but I can guarantee that if someone has to take the blame this time, I'll be the first."