novellhall Chapter 1 Fangbei Cave Monroe
Chapter 1 Fangbei Cave Monroe
January 10, 2009, early morning.
Bangbae-dong, Seoul, a slightly cramped semi-basement.
"Oppa, look at me! Look at me!"
"Do I feel sexy and alluring right now?"
On the wooden rocking chair next to the sofa, Li Zhixing had a lollipop in his mouth and turned his gaze away from the ceiling.
He turned his head and looked in the direction of the sound.
A few steps away, in front of a full-length mirror, Lee Ji-eun, wearing a white embroidered nightgown, was desperately trying to strike a pose.
She tried to push forward her non-existent curves, pressed her waist down, stuck out her buttocks, and even flirtatiously tossed her hair with one hand.
Maintaining this awkward posture, Lee Ji-eun turned her head with difficulty, staring at him expectantly.
A look of utter absurdity appeared on Li Zhixing's face.
"Ji-eun, if the definition of sexy is a chubby face, a round waist, and short legs, then I would call you the Marilyn Monroe of the Square Back Hole."
"Hey! Li Zhixing!!!"
Lee Ji-eun instantly lost her composure, stomping her foot in exasperation: "Do you have to be so sharp-tongued with your dear sister?"
Li Zhixing chuckled, stretched, and walked behind Li Zhien in his slippers.
Two figures squeezed into the mirror.
Even though the little man in front of him was trying his best to straighten his back, the top of his head barely brushed against Li Zhixing's chin.
Looking at her oppa's face in the mirror, Lee Ji-eun's initially angry expression slowly crumbled.
The kind of "attractiveness" that you try so hard to create, Oppa just stands there with messy hair and that's it.
Li Zhixing in the mirror has excellent bone structure and extremely sharp facial features.
His high nose bridge and brow bone gave him a somewhat aloof and unapproachable air.
But this aloofness was softened by a beauty mark at the corner of his eye, which instead brought out an indescribable gentleness.
Looking at this face that looks like it's in a magazine even without any styling, Lee Ji-eun felt more and more that God was being unfair to her.
She looked up at Li Zhixing's face, and a wicked thought suddenly popped into her head. Her little hand darted out in a flash.
"Oppa! Give me that mole of yours... I'll pick it off!"
"Hiss! Ah! Lee Ji-eun!!!"
Li Zhixing gasped and slapped the claw away.
"Stop acting normal!"
He rubbed his eyes and glanced disdainfully at his sister, who was still eager to try.
"Tell me, what's wrong with you looking in the mirror so early in the morning?"
Lee Ji-eun lowered her arms somewhat dejectedly and gestured.
"Yesterday I went to the company, and the planning team leader asked me for my thoughts on the concept of the new album... Girls' Generation's new song 'Genie' with its leg-swinging dance is really popular right now, so I was thinking, how about we try a sexy style too?"
"Pfft, hahaha!"
Before Li Zhixing could reply, a burst of extremely unrestrained laughter suddenly came from the crack in the half-open bedroom door.
Lee Jong-hoon rubbed his sleepy eyes and staggered out.
"Noona, with your short legs, you think you can do a leg-swinging dance? I think it's more like a puppy kicking its legs!"
The air in the living room froze for a second.
Lee Ji-eun squinted and slowly turned her head.
"Lee, Jong, Hoon! Are you tired of living?"
"I……"
"Stick your butt out here!!!" Before the words were even finished, Lee Ji-eun had already pounced on her.
"Dude, help me!!"
Knowing things were going badly, Li Zhongxun scrambled around the sofa, trying to hide behind Li Zhixing.
Unexpectedly, Li Zhixing skillfully pressed down on his younger brother's head, turned it halfway around, and gently kicked him back.
"Get away from me, don't splatter your blood on me."
"Brother, you're so disloyal... Ouch! Spare me!"
"You little dog kicking its legs, huh?" *Smack!*
"Fat face, huh?" *Slap!*
"Round waist, huh?" *Slap!*
Lee Ji-eun pressed her younger brother down on the sofa and slapped him hard on the buttocks.
"Noona, I didn't say that last part!" Lee Jong-hoon wailed, clutching his head. "Grandma! Lee Ji-eun is going to kill someone!"
"Why are they fighting again?"
A helpless yet kind voice came from the direction of the kitchen.
Grandma came out carrying a bowl of soybean paste soup and gave her eldest grandson, who was watching the commotion with glee, a sidelong glance.
"Zhixing, still laughing! Quickly pull them apart, it's time to eat."
"Okay, Grandma."
Li Zhixing stepped forward, forcibly pulled the two menacing siblings apart, tucked them under his arms, and escorted them to the dining table.
A typical Korean breakfast was already laid out on the table.
The soybean paste soup was bubbling and steaming, served with several dishes of homemade pickled vegetables and a few boiled eggs.
Lee Ji-eun grabbed two eggs, skillfully peeled off the shells, and stuffed the egg whites into her mouth.
Then, she threw the two egg yolks directly into Lee Jong-hoon's bowl.
"Eat up, no need to thank me."
Seeing the two chokingly hard-to-choke egg yolks in the bowl, Lee Jong-hoon's features instantly contorted: "Ugh! Who wants to eat egg yolks?! Bro, can't you control her?!"
Li Zhixing handed him a glass of milk: "Egg yolks are nutritious. Drink it with milk, and do you still want to grow taller?"
"Not growing tall is entirely due to your parents' genes, okay!" Lee Jong-hoon angrily poked at the egg yolk in his bowl with his chopsticks. "Brother, if you had parents that short, you wouldn't have grown that tall either..."
"Snapped!"
Lee Ji-eun grabbed another egg and smashed it hard on her younger brother's forehead.
"Are you looking for death, Lee Jong-hoon!"
Covering his reddened forehead, Lee Jong-hoon suddenly realized what a stupid thing he had said.
He glanced at Li Zhixing cautiously.
Seeing that his older brother looked normal and was just drinking soup with his head down, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, shrank his neck, and obediently lowered his head to eat the egg.
Grandma broke the silence at just the right moment.
She peeled an egg and put it into Li Zhixing's bowl.
"Now that you're back from filming abroad, you should be able to rest for a few more days, right?" Grandma sighed. "You already have trouble sleeping, and working as a stunt double means you keep getting injured every few days. How can you manage? If it really doesn't work out, we should just quit."
Listening to his grandmother's endless worries, Li Zhixing swallowed the hot soup in his mouth and looked earnestly at his family members at the table.
"Grandma, I was just about to tell you that I will no longer be a stunt double, and I will gradually stop doing other part-time jobs as well."
Upon hearing this, all three people at the table turned to look at him.
"Really?" Grandma was taken aback at first, then her face lit up with joy.
"I filmed a movie last summer, and it's about to be released. I'll be doing promotional work in a few days."
"After the movie is released, I will officially debut, and I plan to focus on being an actor from now on."
"Wow!"
Lee Jong-hoon perked up again: "Brother, does that mean our family will have two entertainers?"
Grandma's face was full of a relieved smile: "That's good, that's good! We don't have to do dangerous work. Our Zhixing is so good-looking, he's destined to become a big star."
Lee Ji-eun leaned gently on her grandmother's shoulder, sweetly asking, "Grandma, am I pretty? Can I become a big star?"
"Of course you can! Our Ji-eun is beautiful too!" Grandma stroked her hair, beaming from ear to ear.
"What about me? What about me? Grandma, am I pretty?" Lee Jong-hoon asked, not wanting to be left behind, and leaned his face closer.
Grandma looked at her grandson and remained silent for a moment.
Then, she picked up the last hard-boiled egg and put it into Lee Jong-hoon's mouth: "Jong-hoon, have another egg, sweetie~"
"Ugh...Grandma!!!"
......
After a lively breakfast, Lee Ji-eun changed her clothes and ran to the mirror to fix her bangs.
Li Zhixing was wiping the table when he casually asked, "Do you have a schedule so early today?"
"Go promote your songs on Music Bank. My song 'Isn't It' from my album is quite popular lately, so the company has specially arranged a performance stage for the follow-up track."
Li Zhixing was slightly taken aback.
He turned to look at his younger brother, who was walking out of the bedroom with his schoolbag on his back, his eyes filled with confusion: "This song... is popular?"
Lee Jong-hoon stopped and shrugged dismissively, "Brother, don't ask me. I didn't even know this song was on her album."
"Hey! You two, don't go too far!"
Seeing his younger sister jumping up and down in anger, Li Zhixing chuckled and said, "Alright, I won't tease you anymore. I'll bring you lunch from Yeouido at noon."
Lee Ji-eun's eyes lit up instantly, and she leaned closer with an expectant look on her face: "Oppa, are you coming to watch my music show?"
"We'll see. I'm mainly going to see a friend and invite her to a preview screening in a few days."
Lee Ji-eun's smile vanished instantly, and she pouted in disdain, "Hmph, I knew I was just an afterthought!"
"Beep, beep—"
Two car horns sounded outside the window.
Lee Ji-eun peeked outside on tiptoe, then quickly grabbed her bag and rushed out, saying, "My manager oppa's here to pick me up, I'm off!"
Zhong Xun tightened his grip on his backpack strap and followed closely behind: "Noona, let me hitch a ride!"
As he reached the door, he turned back and shouted loudly towards the kitchen, "Grandma, tomorrow's Saturday, I'm going straight to Mom and Dad's after school!"
"Okay, remember to call home when you arrive!"
"Bang."
The security door closed, and the house instantly fell silent.
Li Zhixing rubbed his temples, turned around and nestled back into the rocking chair, picking up the earphones hanging on the armrest and putting them on.
The moment I closed my eyes, a captivating female voice flowed into my ears through the headphone wire.
"If I get close to you..."
"If I get closer to you step by step..."
—Kim Tae-yeon, "If".
......