Chapter Eighteen: Dinner Party

  Jang Sung-won had originally planned to meet with Lee Hyori after they both got over their busy schedules, but it took a long time and they didn't have a chance until Fin.K.L finished promoting their second album and started preparing for the next one. It wasn't until late August that they finally had some private leisure time.

  During this time, Jang Sung-won shot four commercials and three magazine covers in addition to improving his acting skills. Although they were all small-time gigs that couldn't compare to the Shin Ramyun commercial he did with Jang Dong-gun, they still helped increase his exposure and prevented him from being forgotten by audiences. Through these activities, his reputation rose somewhat within the industry, making people aware of his real name "Jang Sung-won" rather than just calling him "Jang Dong-gun's brother". This further solidified his position in the advertising model world, gradually drawing attention from major corporations, who saw him as a potential stock for future consideration.

  Jang Sung-won met with Fin.K.L again in their dormitory, and the attendees were still only Lee Hyori, the four members of Fin.K.L, and Jang Sung-won. This was because Lee Hyori knew that Jang Sung-won liked quiet places and didn't like crowded areas, so they didn't invite other friends to join. Moreover, in their hearts, Jang Sung-won was their exclusive younger brother, and celebrating his success was their own business, and they absolutely did not want anyone else to intervene, thereby destroying the intimate atmosphere.

  Around 7 pm that evening, Jang Sung-won came to the Fin.k.l dormitory door with an empty stomach and empty hands. After ringing the doorbell for a while, Lee Hyori rushed out and pulled Jang Sung-won in, closing the door behind him. Looking at Jang Sung-won's empty hands, she scolded: "How could you not even buy something to eat before coming over?"

  Zhang Chengyuan took off his shoes and said in surprise, "Xiao Li Jia Xiaoli sister, didn't you tell me not to bring anything, just come with an empty stomach for dinner?"

  Lee Hyori pinched Jang Sung-won's face and smiled lightly: "How can there be someone as silly as you? I was just being polite, didn't you know?"

  Jang Sung-yoon smiled and said, "Hyo-ri sister, I've never been polite to you guys. In my opinion, it's only natural for a younger brother to eat his older sister's food. Sister, I'm hungry, can you serve me some rice?"

  Lee Hyori shook her head and said somewhat dejectedly: "There's no food, you'll have to starve for now."

  At this time, Sung Yu-ri walked out with a smile and said: "Sung Won, please bear with it for a while. Hye-ri sister just cooked the rice with too little water, so the rice is hard and can't be eaten. Now, she's redoing it."

  Zhang Chengyuan suppressed a smile: "It turns out that Xiaoli sister can't even cook, I really opened my eyes today, no wonder you just blamed me for not buying food to bring up?"

  Lee Hyori glared at Jang Sung-won, threateningly saying: "Who says I can't cook? It was just a small mistake earlier. If you mention cooking again, I'll shut your mouth!"

  Zhang Chengyuan was not afraid of her threat, and with a swift motion, he wrapped his arms around Lee Hyori's slender waist and lifted her up straight, saying: "Hyori sister, why are you covering my mouth? Now your hands can't reach me?"

  "Let me down, quickly, can you hear? If you don't put me down, I'll kick you with my feet!"

  After hearing her words, Zhang Chengyuan smiled slightly, turned his hands over, and disregarding Lee Hyori's protests, lifted Lee Hyori's entire body into the air, with her face upwards, unable to see the ground, saying: "Sister Hyori, this way you can't kick me."

  Lee Hyori was a bit panicked because she couldn't see the ground and her hands waved wildly.

  At this time, Li Zhen and Yu Zhu Xuan also came out of the kitchen after hearing the noise. Seeing Lee Hyori's struggling appearance, they laughed: "It looks like Hyori sister is practicing backstroke! The posture is really beautiful!"

  Lee Hyori struggled to turn over, but was firmly grasped by Jang Sung-won's hands and couldn't break free. After a while, she became somewhat out of breath and begged: "Sung-won, let sister go down, I won't cover your mouth anymore."

  Zhang Chengyuan saw that Lee Hyori was indeed tired and worried that if she stood for too long, she would strain her waist, so he took the opportunity to hold her in his arms and gently put her down.

  Lee Hyori grabbed Zhang Chengyuan's neck and stood up, her feet just touching the ground, took a slight breath, and immediately pinched Zhang Chengyuan's earlobe twice, panting: "You dare to make fun of sister, are you tired of living?"

  Zhang Chengyuan smiled at her, his eyes revealing a "you won't be able to do anything to me" expression.

  Lee Hyori fondly stroked his face, and casually removed the glasses from his eyes, saying: "Why are you still wearing such an ugly thing? It's covering up a pair of beautiful eyes that shine brighter than diamonds. Get rid of it sooner rather than later."

  Jang Sung-won took the eyes, folded them up and put them in his upper garment pocket, saying: "Hyori sister, this is my treasure, with this thing, I can go out on the street more conveniently. Eh? Why is there a burning smell?"

  Yu Zhuo Hui immediately let out a sharp cry and shouted: "Ah! My spaghetti!" She turned around and rushed into the kitchen to rescue her food.

  "Hey, Hye-ri noona, let's stop playing around. Let's bring out all the food and utensils."

  Lee Hyo-ri and Sung Yu-ri responded with a "yes" and headed towards the kitchen. Jang Sung-won was about to follow them to help, but Lee Hyo-ri chased him out, pointing to a large dining table against the wall and instructing him: "Go move that dining table to the center of the living room, then sit there and wait. With sisters around, boys shouldn't enter the kitchen."

  In Korea, traditional men are generally male chauvinists and never pay attention to household chores, which has led Korean women to develop the good habit of being diligent and taking care of the family. Although in recent years, under the influence of Western culture, young people do not attach much importance to these things, Lee Hyori still has some idea that "men should not enter the kitchen to help".

  Zhang Chengyuan was stunned for a moment, didn't think much, and arranged the dining table and chairs according to Lee Hyori's command. Then he sat upright and waited for the dishes to be served.

  Before long, Lee Hyo-ri, Lee Jin and Sung Yu-ri brought out the tableware one by one and arranged them neatly, and placed an electric grill in the center of the dining table, as if they were going to have a barbecue. Then, they brought out plate after plate of fresh pork belly, ribs, eel, autumn knife fish, clams, marinated sauce steak and other ingredients for barbecue, which confirmed Zhang Chengyuan's idea. Of course, there are also Korean staple side dishes such as spicy white vegetables, large bean paste soup, and Perilla leaves.

  The food on the table was enough for five or six ordinary people to eat their fill, but it was clear that it still couldn't satisfy their appetites. Not to mention Zhang Chengyuan, who had an appetite equivalent to seven or eight ordinary people, Fin.k.l had also been trained to be a big eater after becoming a singer. It was normal for her to finish two people's portions by herself, considering they jumped around and practiced singing every day, attending events everywhere, burning off countless calories. No wonder no matter how much they ate, they couldn't gain weight, even Yu Zhuxuan, who had a physique prone to gaining weight, had gradually slimmed down over the past year or so.

  So they cooked two more pots of rice, but due to Lee Hyori's carelessness, the previously cooked rice was inedible, so they had to cook two more pots again. It is estimated that it will take another half hour for the rice to be ready.

  After arranging the bowls and plates, Yu Zhuxuan's Italian noodles were also ready. Thanks to the timely rescue, there was basically no loss. Except for Zhang Chengyuan having a large plate, everyone else had one bowl each, and the amount was not small, enough to fill up an ordinary woman. Yu Zhuxuan said: "If you want to eat barbecue, it will take some time, everyone must be starving, let's eat some noodles to fill our stomachs."

  Before she finished speaking, Lee Hyori and others had already started eating noodles, eating while murmuring in praise: "Delicious, delicious." "Joo Hyun's cooking skills are getting better and better."

  Zhang Chengyuan also chimed in, "It's much better than instant noodles." For Zhang Chengyuan, who used to want to cut a single coin into two halves, spaghetti was a luxury. This was the first time he had eaten this kind of noodle in his life, and he felt it had a unique flavor. However, after eating it several times, Zhang Chengyuan might also think that spaghetti is no different from instant noodles, just something to fill his stomach.