......

The pretty face of last night flashed in front of him, and the corners of Gu Heng's mouth subconsciously curved.

"Oppa, what are you laughing at?"

"Nope." Gu Heng shook his head in denial, and looked at the location at the school gate not far away, "Zhong Xun should be out of school, right?"

"It should be soon," Li Zhien glanced at the time, and added, "If it doesn't drag on."

A few days ago, Lee Jong-shin came to pick him up, and he didn't wait until half past nine until Lee Jong-hoon came out of it.

As soon as her words fell, a small group of students poured out of the school gate.

"Looks like Jong-hoon had good luck tonight." Gu Heng laughed.

"Ah, my wings haven't been eaten yet! Don't let him see it!"

Li Zhien hurriedly put down the chicken wings that he hadn't finished eating, and picked up the one he hadn't touched before and took a bite.

Gu Heng was dumbfounded.

"Zhi'en, I take back what I just said."

"Huh?"

"At the age of twenty-one, you're still grabbing chicken wings from high school students, and it's hard for me to make a proper evaluation of you." Gu Heng's words were tactful.

......

The faint morning light came in through the window.

The quilt was pulled up a little, and Lin Yun'er hid her face inside.

In the month of joining the group for filming, even if the progress of the crew is reasonable, as the leading actor, he must be seriously deficient in sleep.

Blindfolded, she was about to sleep again, but she suddenly remembered something.

Stretching out her hand from the quilt and groping around the pillow for a while, Lin Yun'er took the phone in her hand.

Unlock the screen.

[Yoona]: Did you get home?

[Gu Heng]: Let's pick up Zhong Xun first

[Yoona]: Oh oh

[Gu Heng]: It's already here, don't worry

[Yoona]: Hmm...... Then you rest earlier~

......

[Gu Heng]: Okay, good night

The last reply was sent at around two o'clock in the morning.

"What a ghost, stay up late again......

Staring at the chat window on her phone, she muttered softly.

The remaining sleepiness has also dissipated a lot now.

Holding her mobile phone and sitting up from the bed, Lin Yun'er walked out of the bedroom and came to the bathroom.

As she brushed her teeth, she stared at the screen of her phone on the sink, her mind spinning.

"It's been a long time, Miss Lin Yun'er......" A female voice suddenly sounded.

Lin Yun'er paused for a moment, and turned her face back in surprise, "Sunny Ernie? How are you ...... today?"

When she came back last night, she was the only one in the dormitory.

When I was young, I had just finished my trip to Dongying, and now there are not many group trips, and most of the members have returned to their respective residences.

Sunny leaned against the edge of the bathroom door, his eyebrows bent, "I've been busy with the company's musical recently, it's more convenient to live in the dormitory, I went back home last night, so I wasn't there."

With a soft sigh, Lin Yun'er turned the phone over without a trace.

Sunny looked her up and down, looking suspicious, "...... Hurry up and come out, I'll help you prepare a breakfast."

"Uh-huh, thank you Ernie."

Seeing Sunny turn around and head towards the kitchen refrigerator, Lin Yun'er breathed a sigh of relief and sped up her washing.

......

"How's it going?" Sunny asked, smiling.

"Uh-huh, Ernie's craft has improved again." Lin Yun'er lowered her head and bit on the sandwich, like an emotionless boasting machine. ….

"Again, emotionally, I'll pay you for the show." Sunny narrowed his eyes.

Lin Yun'er couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth slightly.

"Hmm," Sunny pinched his chin, as if realizing, "this looks pretty good......

Sunny propped his chin and observed Lim Yoona in front of him.

When she woke up this morning, she saw Lee Ji-eun's social media updates last night, and someone had already returned to Seoul.

Then she asked a little more about the other person's flight......

It seems like a bit of a coincidence in terms of timing.

Lin Yun'er blinked, silently took a small bite and ate the remaining half of the sandwich.

Standing up, she said, "Ernie, I'll go back to the company first and communicate with the company about the rest of the trip......

Sunny hummed noncommittally, "Will you come back that night?"

"Well, I might have to clean up my accommodation, I haven't lived in it for more than a month."

"Okay."

Seeing Lin Yun'er pack up her clothes and walk to the door, Sunny suddenly said, "Yun'a."

"Huh?"

"Be brave," Sunny whispered, "There aren't as many opportunities for a person to be brave as we think, and if you miss one, you never know if there's going to be the next."

Lin Yun'er was slightly stunned.

「...... I know, Ernie."

......

"Long time no see!"

"I didn't have to attend Kakao's meetings, so I don't need to be so enthusiastic, right?"

As soon as he came to the first floor of Kakao's office building in Seoul, Gu Heng ran into Lin Zhixun, who seemed to be waiting here.

Reluctantly pushed away Lin Zhixun, who was hugging his bear, feeling the eyes of the employees of Kakao not far away, his tone was a little helpless.

"Can meeting be the same as meeting in reality?" Lin Zhixun laughed twice, "You didn't come to give the New Year's money during the Spring Festival this year, and my children are still thinking about you."

"I think the one who is worried about this New Year's money is probably you, Vice President Lin." Gu Heng tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Let's go," Lin Zhixun took Gu Heng's hand, "Go outside, a new café just opened next to it a few days ago, let's talk while drinking."

"Does this count as absenteeism? Don't you need to report to President Kim?" Gu Heng said with a smile.

"Chatting with the directors is the biggest job of the day." Lin Zhixun replied simply.

With a drag, Gu Heng was taken by him to a café next to the company building.

As Lin Zhixun said, this café has indeed opened recently, and even the flower baskets in front of the store have not been removed.

But......

"What's wrong?" Lin Zhixun noticed that his expression was a little strange, and asked suspiciously.

"Nope." Gu Heng shook his head and withdrew his gaze from the signboard of the café, "Let's go."

Coming to the café, Lin Zhixun ordered two cups of coffee.

Taking a sip of slightly astringent coffee, the excitement of the reunion on his face dissipated a little, and he sighed a little, "The last time I sat down with you for coffee was at the beginning of last year."

At the time, Choi Tae-won was facing a final verdict on embezzlement, and the two were talking in a café outside the Seoul Supreme Court. ….

It's been more than a year in the blink of an eye.

Gu Heng smiled and looked out the window, "How is President Cui doing?"

Lin Zhixun shook his head.

"I don't know, the people on the SK side can't sit still, but the person who spent so much effort to send him in at the beginning can't easily let him come back," Lin Zhixun sighed lightly, "And you also know that after AVVE was built, the development momentum was quite good, and there were more and more people staring at us and SK."

"That's expected," Gu Heng pondered for a moment, then asked, "What does President Jin think?"

"Going public is imperative

Okay, the company needs more financing channels now." Lin Zhixun said in a deep voice.

Gu Heng frowned and stared at him for a long time, and asked tentatively, "Seeking a merger with a listed company?"

After picking up Lee Jong-hoon home last night, he went through the Kakao financial information that Li Ran had recently sorted out.

There are not many paths in front of Kakao, and it is not difficult to guess.

Lin Zhixun snorted, "...... There's no way around it."

"The goal?"

「Dau」

Gu Heng's brows furrowed even deeper.

Dau South Korea is the second-largest internet company after NAVER.

"NAVER's market share has already exceeded 70%, right? Now I am seeking to ....... with Dau," Gu Heng shook his head, "There doesn't seem to be any point in business integration other than backdoor."

If Dau has what it takes to compete with NAVER, it's an attractive enough plan.

However, NAVER now has a near-monopoly position in the South Korean market, and the merger of Kakao and Dau does not pose a real threat to NAVER.

After the merger, the shareholding ratio of Kim Beom-so and Jingsheng will also be diluted accordingly.

「...... That's why we need the support of King Shing." Lin Zhixun said seriously.

"It's not something I can decide alone." Gu Heng's eyes lowered slightly.

Although the management of Jingsheng's overseas investment business is now in his hands, it is impossible for Kakao to make such a big move by himself.

Hearing this, Lin Zhixun subconsciously wanted to say something more.

Gu Heng stretched out his hand and pressed it weakly, "I'm not trying to perfunctory you, let the people from Kakao's investment and M&A department send all the materials over, and I will give you an answer in a few days."

Lin Zhixun nodded, "Good ......."

After sitting in silence for a moment, he exhaled and said with a smile, "I just came back to Seoul, and I came to the house for lunch today?"

There is a clear distinction between public and private.

He and Gu Heng have been friends for a few years, so they will not feel guilty because of this.

Gu Heng was about to answer, when he caught a glimpse of a figure not far away, "...... Next time."

Probably misunderstood something, Lin Zhixun half-jokingly, "I'm not going to bribe you with lunch, right?"

Gu Heng shook his head, "No, I just saw a friend."

"A friend?"

Lin Zhixun was slightly stunned, and subconsciously followed his gaze.

A slightly familiar face came into view.

After thinking about it for a few seconds, he seemed to remember something, and immediately got up and coughed twice, "Then you sit down, I'll go back to the company first, and we'll contact you in a few days."

"Hmm."

......

The midday sun shines through the floor-to-ceiling windows, staining the dark brown table top a golden hue.

"Long time no see."

"Long time no see......

Seeing his hesitant look, Lin Yunzhen raised her eyebrows, "Why, I haven't seen you for more than a year, and you haven't even forgotten how to say the word Nuna in Korean?" ….

Gu Heng shook his head and shouted seriously, "Yun Zhen Nuna."

Before he entered the door, he recognized from the name on the signboard that this was a new chain of Lin Yunzhen's cafes.

South Korea is a small country, but on average there are twenty or thirty new coffee shops opening every day, which is more dense than Starbucks' hometown......

Lin Yunzhen nodded, "It's pretty much the same."

「...... It's been more than a year, okay?"

"Well, let Nuna worry, it's all right."

Lin Yunzhen hummed lightly, and slapped Huang Zhihao's little hand again, "Don't touch the cup, when you see your mother's friend, what about your politeness?"

"Oh......"

Huang Zhihao withdrew his hand aggrievedly, and then looked up at the person sitting opposite his mother

This stranger, "...... Hello brother!"

The corners of Gu Heng's mouth raised.

"Screaming again! Oh, mom's friend, you should call it uncle......" Lin Yunzhen pinched her son's face.

"But Aunt Run'e also asked me to call her Nuna......" Huang Zhihao's face became more aggrieved, and he broke free from Lin Yunzhen's arms and jumped to the ground.

The standards of adults are always inconsistent, which makes him feel embarrassed.

Lin Yunzhen's face froze, and she subconsciously looked at Gu Heng and muttered, "It's the same......

Gu Heng took a small candy from the plate on the table next to him, tore open the candy paper and handed it to Huang Zhihao's mouth, coaxing him.

Looking at his movements, Lin Yunzhen's eyebrows and eyes were a little softer, "...... Let's have lunch together."

"Okay, I'll ask Nuna."

"Come, in what capacity did you invite me?"

......

On the side of the street in the afternoon, Gu Heng took Huang Zhihao's little hand and walked with Lin Yunzhen under the shade trees.

"Just had lunch, don't give him candy, or I'll be yelling for you every day in the future." Seeing Huang Zhihao pulling Gu Heng's eyes again, Lin Yunzhen reminded.

"Okay." Gu Heng chuckled and rubbed the child's hair.

「...... Recently, have you met Yun'a?"

Seeing that the café was already in front of her, Lin Yunzhen finally mentioned a certain name for the first time.

"Well," Gu Heng replied, bowing slightly, "She happened to meet her when she was filming."

"Just ......," Lin Yunzhen muttered to herself.

The two walked forward silently for a moment.

Gu Heng handed Huang Zhihao's hand back to Lin Yunzhen, "Nuna, then I'll leave first."

Lin Yunzhen snorted, and suddenly called him softly, "Gu Heng."

"Is it just because of work that I went back to Seoul this time?"

"Huh?" Gu Heng was slightly stunned.

......

Smack.

Lin Yun'er pushed open the door and frowned subconsciously.

I haven't lived in it for more than a month, and the air in the room inevitably smells old.

Although it is not difficult to find a part-time worker to clean up regularly, she is still used to cleaning up her personal belongings in her room.

Pressing the switch on the incandescent light in the living room, she began to clean up little by little.

But I came back a little late from the company today, and if I wanted to clean it from the inside out, I didn't have enough time.

She had to simply clean up the living room and bedroom first.

By the time it was almost over, the street lamp outside the window had also turned on, falling into the house through the gap in the curtains.

Turn off the vacuum cleaner and the bedroom is quiet again.

Sitting down on the bed, Lin Yun'er was in a daze for a moment.

In the past year or so, she has slowly become accustomed to the silence of being alone, but now she .......

Lin Yun'er reached out and took a small wooden sculpture from the bedside table.

The index finger and middle finger pressed the corners of the girl's grinning mouth, and she also hooked the corners of her mouth slightly, "Still laughing, maybe people just dislike you for laughing too silly to dislike you......

Exhaling softly, Lin Yun'er got up and came to the window.

The curtains were pulled open with a thud.

Placing the small wooden tree on the edge of the window, she held her chin and looked at one of the windows in the building opposite.

It's just that as it has been so many times in the past, the window is closed and pitch black.

The person who said she would always be there when she came back had been gone for a long time.

Lowering her head and touching Xiao Muzhu's head, Lin Yun'er whispered, "Let's go, let's get ready for dinner."

Looking up, she was about to close the curtains.

But at this moment, in the opposite window, there were a few flashes.

Click.

Warm yellow lights come on.

...

...

It seems to be brighter than the street lamps outside.

Ah, the sea