"Oh, isn't this our superstar's sweet little hubby?"
As soon as the private room door swung open, old E's sarcastic tone made Liu Xin'an's face line with black lines.
Of course, common jokes like this between good buddies wouldn't really make Liu Xin'an angry, let alone...
He grinned, revealing a shameless smile on his handsome face: "What, are you jealous?"
"Damn, this kid's putting on airs."
Old E was dumbstruck, could it be said that staying in Korea for a long time has indeed thickened Liu Xin'an's skin?
"You should really come back home more often; staying over there will make your skin..."
"Cough, that's enough now, alright."
Liu Xin'an hurriedly interrupted old E's tirade. If it were just the guys, some ribbing would be no big deal, but today he wasn't alone.
His girlfriend... no, to be precise, his future wife was here too!
Yes, Bae Juhyun had already been promoted from "girlfriend" to "future wife." It had been over half a month since the day Bae Juhyun accepted his proposal. After finishing her comeback, Bae Juhyun naturally returned to her boyfriend's side, enjoying her final vacation.
The workload for 2023 was still plenty, with concerts, her solo work... Each of these would take a significant amount of her time.
But since she had accepted Liu Xin'an's proposal, some things were necessary to do.
Just like now...
"Long time no see~"
Bae Juhyun didn't mind old E's earlier teasing at all. Already quite familiar with Chinese, she understood the insinuation, but she was completely immune to such things.
Young people from both countries have been poking fun at each other for ages, sometimes Liu Xin'an would even tease in front of her; it's all normal.
"Ah, long time no see, Irene. You came along too."
Old E was momentarily stunned, then shot an awkward smile, first giving a sheepish glance at Liu Xin'an. Seeing the gloating expression on Liu Xin'an's face, he quickly greeted Bae Juhyun.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Finished up with work?"
Scatterbrain, a hometown buddy of Liu Xin'an, naturally knew Bae Juhyun as well. More outgoing than old E, and easier to get along with, Bae Juhyun responded quite naturally.
"Yeah, all done, now I'm on vacation~"
Bae Juhyun spoke while pulling Liu Xin'an over to sit down beside her. The grill in front of them was already filled with aromatic roasted meat, making Bae Juhyun's eyes light up, having been hungry all morning.
"You should've told me you were bringing Irene along, I would've brought Feifei."
"Alright, enough already, trying to kill me here?" Scatterbrain rolled his eyes, handing dining ware to Bae Juhyun and Liu Xin'an.
Bringing your plus ones, how's he supposed to survive?
This bunch of jerks.
"Want me to introduce you to some friends?" Possibly due to the happiness syndrome, Bae Juhyun really wanted to play matchmaker.
She indeed had quite a few good female friends, and although Liu Xin'an's hometown buddy wasn't particularly striking in appearance, his personality was genuinely nice.
She's seen Liu Xin'an chatting happily with him several times; humorous men are always popular.
"No need for that; I don't have the guts like Xin'an to get a foreign girlfriend."
Scatterbrain politely declined, being the typical type who likes to talk big but takes no action whatsoever.
Despite everyone teasing him about not finding a girlfriend, in reality... he's in no hurry at all.
Single life is quite enjoyable indeed.
"But what are you guys doing back here, got some events?" Old E, shaking off the earlier awkwardness from teasing Koreans in front of Bae Juhyun, asked curiously.
Liu Xin'an and Bae Juhyun instinctively exchanged a glance, then Liu Xin'an curved his lips, reaching out to hold Bae Juhyun's petite left hand, raising it up.
Under the ceiling light, her delicate white hand looked incredibly translucent, and even more eye-catching was naturally the ring on her ring finger.
The significance of a ring on that finger, old E and scatterbrain, whether experienced or not, knew full well.
The two were stunned, then tacitly exclaimed, "Holy shit!"
"Need to head home for a bit."
"Awesome."
"Congratulations."
Bae Juhyun pursed her lips into a smile, naturally began handling the grilled meat over the charcoal with tongs.
This was her specialty, she did it effortlessly.
"Have you already visited Irene's parents?"
"Uh... not yet, we're not planning to come back for the New Year, going to her place instead. So now, before the year-end, coming over to inform my parents first."
"Ah... indeed, only a month left till the New Year."
"You're doing alright, kid, but for you two... can you keep things low-key? Isn't cross-cultural marriage tricky?"
"Not rushing to get the certificate yet, just getting things set and engaged is enough. As for the certificate... it's still prone to issues, let's prioritize her career first."
Though everyone knew he and Bae Juhyun were a couple now, there was still a big difference between dating and being married.
Forget everything else, if news of him marrying Bae Juhyun got out, could Bae Juhyun's career as an artist continue?
As an idol, dating in itself is already considered quite inappropriate, let alone getting married...
Let's not, wait another two years.
"Why didn't you fly straight to Jincheng?"
"Chenglu's heading back too, I'm tagging along with Chenglu."
"Ah~"
The mention of Chenglu's name caused Bae Juhyun, who was tending the grilled meat, to pause, then she lifted her eyes to glance at scatterbrain, then at Liu Xin'an's profile beside her, staying silent.
