Please! My relationship with the girl group leader is purely platonic.

Chapter 25 Hollywood Veterans?

Out of politeness, Kang Woo-jin nodded, maintaining his standard smile as he answered their questions, "I'm here to see someone. Sorry to bother you. Also, could you please tell me, do all the trainees practice here?"

He noticed that many people were coming out of the corridor behind them, guessing that it must be time for a break.

One of the tall girls pointed behind her and asked with some confusion, "It's over here, but who are you looking for?"

"I'm here to see a friend. Thanks for your reply." Jiang Youzhen nodded slightly in thanks, then walked past them into the corridor.

Seeing this, Choi Soo-young curiously turned her head to look, and at the same time asked her companion, "Is this Hollywood veteran friends with any of our company's trainees?"

"I don't know, but this is amazing. I remember he didn't have much cooperation with our company." Just as the girl next to them finished speaking, they saw Kang Woo-jin enter the practice room they had been in before.

The three of them immediately widened their eyes.

"No, who else was in the practice room?"

"Sooyeon, Tiffany, Taeyeon, and Seohyun."

"Nonsense, aren't Tiffany and Seohyun behind you?"

...

Kwon Yuri awkwardly turned her head to look behind her, and unsurprisingly, she saw both the older and younger children staring at her with resentful eyes.

Feeling guilty, she quickly changed the subject, "So it's just Jessica and Taeyeon in the practice room, right? When did they meet the Hollywood veteran? Jessica? She used to live in the US for a long time."

Since it was Hollywood, they naturally treated the two as acquaintances.

But the practice room wasn't what they expected. When the group went back to gossip, they found Jessica Jung, whom they considered their "friends," standing at the door, while Taeyeon Kim was sitting with Woojin Kang, chatting and laughing.

...

What's going on?

Jessica Jung caught sight of them returning, raised an eyebrow, and chuckled, "Surprised? Me too. When did Taeyeon meet this person?"

"I don't know," the group shook their heads in surprise. They hadn't expected Kim Tae-yeon to have such connections.

At the other end of the practice room, Kang Woo-jin sat on a rather small chair, his legs together somewhat awkwardly. The chair was too small for him and very uncomfortable to sit in.

Kim Tae-yeon really wanted to explain that it was because he was too tall that he thought that way. After all, this practice room was for girls, and they would only choose the kind of chairs that were light and compact. Besides, when they were tired, they would just sit on the floor and wouldn't care whether the chairs were comfortable or not.

"So, for the past two years, I've been sending messages all over the state?"

When Kang Woo-jin learned that Kim Tae-yeon had changed her phone number, he felt relieved, but also inexplicably disappointed.

"You changed your phone number, but you didn't tell me, and you didn't send me a single message."

"I... because I was in a rush to move my luggage at the time, and you were very busy then, so we didn't contact each other for a month or two, and I just forgot about it."

Sensing the disappointment in Kang Woo-jin's eyes, Kim Tae-yeon felt a lump in her throat, unable to swallow it. Driven by guilt, she took out a donut from the bag and handed it to him, deliberately smiling brightly.

"I'm sorry, Anders, I didn't think of that. I've been so busy since I arrived in Seoul that I really forgot about it."

Looking at the donut covered in frosting, Kang Woo-jin suddenly regretted buying something so sweet.

But now that it's Kim Tae-yeon holding the donut, the situation is a little different.

Kim Tae-yeon held the donut to his lips, smiling as she said, "Don't you like it? Or would you like the pistachio cake?"

"No...this is fine."

The pistachio cake was sweeter and topped with sticky cream. He just picked a few of the girls' favorites based on the shop assistant's recommendation, but he definitely didn't consider that he would also take a bite.

While eating the donut, Kang Woo-jin was already thinking about how long he would need to exercise to burn off those calories.

Noticing someone approaching, the smile on his face instantly faded, and he reached out to press Kim Tae-yeon's hand back. He instinctively felt resistant when there were strangers nearby.

"Taeyeon, aren't you going to introduce her?" Kwon Yuri looked at them with a curious expression.

Before Kim Tae-yeon could react, Im Yoon-ah couldn't help but interject, "Unnie, you guys watch the news every day, don't you know Kang Woo-jin?"

Kang Woo-jin "..."

Should he say thank you?

"So this Hollywood veteran..." Choi Soo-young was about to gossip when she saw Kang Woo-jin suddenly stand up.

His sudden action startled these people. After all, he was a senior figure in the entertainment industry, so they didn't dare to voice their gossip directly.

Jiang Youzhen wasn't used to being surrounded by so many girls. After thinking about it, he decided to leave for the time being. Anyway, he had already found his answer, and the problem that had troubled him for two years had been solved.

So he lowered his head and whispered to Kim Tae-yeon that he would meet her outside, and then smiled and nodded to the others.

Kim Tae-yeon watched him walk away from them as if he were avoiding some kind of monster, and couldn't help but laugh. Seeing the astonishment on her sisters' faces, she took the initiative to explain.

"He's a bit shy around strangers, he's just feeling awkward, he doesn't mean any harm, please don't be angry, just ignore him."

When Jiang Youzhen saw him at the practice room entrance, his face was full of joy, but when he noticed that there were other people in the practice room, his smile instantly became polite.

As if separated by the Han River, he nodded and greeted her from afar before running over to Kim Tae-yeon and then quietly explaining that he was a little shy around strangers.

It's really inconvenient for a grown man like him to be here, since everyone here is a girl.

Kang Woo-jin's purpose in coming to SM was simple: to find her and find out why she hadn't replied to his messages for the past two years.

Fortunately, the problem has been solved, and now Kim Tae-yeon has finally witnessed Kang Woo-jin's shy personality.

The explanation was finished, but it was clear that these people were unwilling to let Kim Tae-yeon leave. They blinked, their faces full of gossip and curiosity.

"Hey, do you know that Hollywood veteran?"

"It seems like we've known each other for a while now. Taeyeon, didn't you just come to Seoul last year?"

"So Taeyeon has connections in Hollywood too!"

"He looks even more handsome in person, with very delicate facial features. If he debuted in our company, he would definitely have a lot of fans."

Kim Tae-yeon was surrounded by them. She wanted to explain, but they kept talking and didn't give her a chance to speak.

Remembering that Kang Woo-jin had said he would wait for her outside, she sighed helplessly and stood up. But when she saw Choi Soo-young and Kwon Yu-ri standing in front of her, she was especially surprised because she was wearing flat shoes.

She was speechless for a moment, and after hesitating for a while, she explained without much thought that they had known each other since childhood, but had not communicated much, especially since Jiang Youzhen had gone abroad to study.