Chapter 143: Foreign Tales (Part Two)

Entertainment Around You - No Pop-ups

Story Timeline: March 2007
Recommended Song: Namie Amuro - Baby Don't Cry

Disclaimer: This work is purely fictional. Please do not relate it to real-life counterparts. Any similarities are entirely coincidental!

"Jiang Yihan, have you ever been bungee jumping before?" Jiang Yihan turned his head to see Yoon Eun-hye standing right beside him.

"No, I haven't. I have no idea what it feels like." Jiang Yihan looked up at the towering bungee platform, feeling a slight chill of intimidation.

"Some couples are going to jump together later. Do you want to jump with me?" Yoon Eun-hye blurted out her question preemptively.

"Huh? With me? Haha, what if I end up screaming louder than you? Haha," Jiang Yihan replied with a cheerful laugh.

"It doesn't matter. I just feel like jumping with you would give me a sense of security." After saying this, Yoon Eun-hye felt a tinge of shyness wash over her.

"Ha, okay then. I'm not very close to most people here anyway, so jumping with someone I know will probably be better. Let's jump together later!" Jiang Yihan agreed cleanly and decisively. It was just a bungee jump after all; he didn't read too much into it.

As for what lay hidden beneath Yoon Eun-hye's bright laughter, only she herself knew.

During the warm-up game in the water before the bungee jump, Kim Jong-min and Shin Jung-hwan brought endless laughter to everyone. Jiang Yihan, Hangeng, and Kim Jaejoong walked out of the swimming pool, still laughing as they recalled how much fun they had just had. Giggling all the way, they walked over to the base of the bungee platform on the other side.

After everyone went to the locker room to change back into their own clothes and reassembled beneath the platform, Kang Ho-dong kicked off his opening remarks once again.

"And now, the first highlight of our Phuket Special: The Bungee Jump of Love!" Kang Ho-dong's booming voice resonated across the entire lake, even producing an echo—truly impressive. "Our first challenger, Lee Jong-soo!"

Everyone applauded as they sent Lee Jong-soo off. Watching Lee Jong-soo and Kang Ho-dong board the lifting platform, Jiang Yihan felt the tension begin to creep into his own heart.

When everyone heard Kang Ho-dong say, "Today's mission is a catastrophic one, what are your thoughts?" everyone burst into laughter. Shin Jung-hwan teased, "To actually call a mission catastrophic, seriously..."

As the lifting platform ascended to the fifty-meter peak, the bungee jump was finally about to begin.

"Hyung, what does it feel like standing up there?" Kim Jaejoong looked up, his gaze only able to catch faint, distant silhouettes. Fifty meters didn't sound high on paper, but looking at it in reality, it felt terrifyingly lofty.

"You probably can't feel anything at all except the sound of the wind," Jiang Yihan guessed, having never experienced it himself.

"I think the view up there must be quite nice." Hangeng's remark left both Jiang Yihan and Kim Jaejoong utterly speechless.

"We're about to jump off, there's no time to look at the scenery!" Jiang Yihan said, torn between laughter and tears.

"But doesn't that feel a lot like jumping off a building? The sensation must be very special," Kim Jaejoong mused, his mind wandering into fanciful realms.

"With gravity and acceleration, your heart probably feels like it's being tossed up into the air with a whoosh," Jiang Yihan joined in the chorus of imagination.

"Wait, but if you jump like that, won't your hair and expression get completely ruined? Will that damage our image?" Hangeng's words finally triggered the trio's laughter nerves, and they burst into uproarious giggles.

Suddenly, the people around them also burst into laughter. The three young men reined it in slightly, but upon closer inspection, they realized everyone was actually laughing at Lee Jong-soo up above. Before going up, he had spoken grandly about jumping bravely and decisively, but now he was hesitating, repeatedly calling out from the height, "Wait a minute! Wait a minute!"

"Ah, my heart is starting to race now. It actually looks pretty scary." Seeing Lee Jong-soo back out, Hangeng grew somewhat concerned. However, his worry didn't last long, because after a brief moment of hesitation, Lee Jong-soo immediately plunged downward, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Nam Gyu-ri, I love you!" before diving into the abyss.

Down below, Nam Gyu-ri naturally played along with the show's script, standing at the front and gazing intently at Lee Jong-soo's jump.

Next came Shin Jung-hwan's comical jump, which took nearly twenty minutes to execute, followed by Lee Min-woo's dashing leap. Finally, it was Jiang Yihan's turn.

"Hyung, fighting," Kim Jaejoong patted Jiang Yihan on the shoulder.

"Yihan, don't be nervous," Hangeng offered words of encouragement as well, after which Jiang Yihan stepped onto the bungee platform.

The staff members immediately stepped forward to secure the safety harness around Jiang Yihan's ankles. Once the slightly coarse and cold ropes were fastened, an inexplicable wave of tension surged through the cord straight into his heart, and his pulse began to quicken. Standing on the floor of the lifting platform felt entirely different from standing on solid earth; there was only a numb, hollow void beneath him, and his thighs slowly lost all sensation. As the platform gave a mechanical clunk and began its ascent, Jiang Yihan instinctively gripped the railing behind him.

"Yihan-ah, is this your first time bungee jumping?" Kang Ho-dong conducted an interview right there on the platform.

"Yes, it's my first time, so I'm really nervous right now," Jiang Yihan forced himself to stay calm, stealing a glance at the calm lake below and realizing just how high off the ground he was getting. A strange, indescribable feeling washed over him—it wasn't just nervousness, excitement, or worry; it was purely surreal!

"Is there anything you want to say right now?" The platform stopped at the eleven-meter mark, designating a moment for the guest to speak their mind.

"Jaejoong-ah, Hangeng-ah, don't come up here!" Jiang Yihan said with a gloomy expression, cracking up everyone down below. Kang Ho-dong burst into an even louder laugh, causing the entire platform to start swaying violently.

"Ho-dong hyung, save me! If you keep shaking it, I'm going to fall off!" Jiang Yihan shouted at Kang Ho-dong, but instead of stopping, Kang Ho-dong laughed even harder. Jiang Yihan sat there with a helpless expression, adopting a look of fatalistic resignation that made the guests below laugh even harder.

"Jaejoong-ah, do you think Yihan's reaction up there is real or fake?" Hangeng asked with a hint of doubt.

"It has to be for the show, hyung. Even though going up there is a bit scary, he definitely added a lot of comedic elements to what he said," Kim Jaejoong said with a smile, feeling that Jiang Yihan's variety show skills had improved significantly through experience.

"Yihan-ah, if you were granted one wish right now, what would you wish for?" Kang Ho-dong finally managed to steady himself and continued questioning.

"Can I just go back to Korea?" Jiang Yihan looked innocently at Kang Ho-dong. Kang Ho-dong burst into laughter all over again, while Jiang Yihan offered another helpless shrug, his expression clearly communicating: *I really didn't do anything, Ho-dong hyung just laughed like that on his own.* That innocent look plunged the cast members into waves of laughter once more.

The lifting platform continued its ascent, and Kang Ho-dong resumed his hosting duties: "Yihan-ah, there are so many female guests down there. If you had to choose one to jump with you, who would you pick?" Given the demands of the show, this question was practically mandatory.

Jiang Yihan looked down from above. Fifty meters away didn't sound like much because he had always heard of bungee jumps being hundreds of meters high, so fifty meters should have been fine. But looking at it in reality—good heavens! The people below were reduced to vague silhouettes, followed by a rush of vertigo. Hesitating for a moment, Jiang Yihan spoke Yoon Eun-hye's name.

"Why? With so many beauties here, why did you choose Yoon Eun-hye?" Kang Ho-dong asked with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Just now, I noticed the two of you chatting away for a long time. Is there something ambiguous going on between you two, heh heh?"

"Ho-dong hyung, don't go making wild guesses, or else I'm going back to tell your wife that you were sneaking glances at other women here." Jiang Yihan intentionally put on a fierce expression, leaving Kang Ho-dong with an awkward look on his face while everyone watching the big screen down below burst into laughter anew.

"You mustn't talk nonsense! Honey, you know I would never do that, right?" Kang Ho-dong fawned at the camera with an ingratiating expression, while Jiang Yihan gloated gleefully beside him.

"Yihan, you're going to jump now, you're going to jump!" Kang Ho-dong crowed with schadenfreude, wearing a detached expression that clearly signaled payback for Jiang Yihan's previous threat to snitch.

"Hmph, hmph. Ho-dong hyung, be careful or I'll drag you down to jump with me!" Jiang Yihan's words successfully froze the smile right off Kang Ho-dong's face.

"Aigoo, Yihan, you know I love you the most, right?" Kang Ho-dong instantly switched expressions, looking up at Jiang Yihan with a flattering smile.

Jiang Yihan crossed his arms over his chest and cast a look of utter disdain at Kang Ho-dong. "Ho-dong hyung, don't you know how heavy you are? How could I possibly drag you down?" The unspoken punchline hung heavily in the air: *You really are foolish.*

Jiang Yihan's words successfully turned Kang Ho-dong into a human popsicle once more, while sounds of joyous laughter drifted up clearly from below.

"Be careful or I'll push you straight down," Kang Ho-dong threatened fiercely. Jiang Yihan naturally played along, putting on a frightened expression that made everyone burst into bloom with laughter yet again.

However, when Jiang Yihan actually stood at the edge of the platform, preparing to jump, the violent pounding of his heart told him that he was truly nervous and genuinely terrified.

The wind howled fiercely, blowing strong enough to make it difficult to stand steadily, while the rope beneath his feet had already been lowered, its weight constantly tugging at his ankles. "Ho-dong hyung, I suspect this rope weighs more than I do."

Jiang Yihan's offhanded remark sent Kang Ho-dong into another fit of roaring laughter from behind.

Jiang Yihan glanced down once more at the serene lake. Nearby patches of greenery were whipped about wildly by the strong wind, and the figures of the people by the lake were blurred and indistinct. The wind rushed straight up from beneath his feet, thoroughly disheveling his hair. In that moment, Jiang Yihan had a hilariously stray thought: *Hangeng was right, this really does ruin one's image.* If Kang Ho-dong had any idea what Jiang Yihan was thinking right then, he probably would have laughed even harder.

Due to the gale-force winds and the vertigo induced by the height, Jiang Yihan felt his legs grow weak. Although he was standing on the solid floor of the lifting platform, it felt as though he were stepping on a clump of cotton—a sensation of hollow softness that made him feel as if he could topple over at any second. Jiang Yihan forced himself to stabilize his center of gravity, trying to mitigate the destabilizing effect of the extreme altitude.

"Yihan, do you have anything you want to say right now? Shout it out loud!" Kang Ho-dong prompted once again.

"Uh..." Jiang Yihan hesitated for a moment, shifting his gaze from the ground below to look straight ahead at the distant horizon. The sky was an almost excessive shade of blue, stretching out without boundaries, inspiring a sudden urge to embrace the world. "Jaejoong! Hangeng! Don't you dare come up here..." Jiang Yihan's voice echoed across the sky. Ignoring Kang Ho-dong, who was already doubled over laughing behind him, Jiang Yihan shouted onward, "Eun-hye! It's way too scary up here! I'll jump with you later!" His words elicited a wave of cheers from the crowd below.

After all, a variety show was a variety show; without a bit of manufactured romance, *X-Man* wouldn't be *X-Man*. Jiang Yihan understood this all too well.

Finally, Jiang Yihan let out one last roar: "Hello everyone, I'm Jiang Yihan!" He used every ounce of his strength, his voice carrying far across the boundless sky, faint echoes bouncing back in response.

The wind was strong enough to knock a person off balance, but the brilliant sunshine, azure sky, hazy greenery, and pristine air made one simply want to embrace it all. Jiang Yihan decided to put that impulse into action.

Jiang Yihan spread his arms wide and took a deep breath. For a single, fleeting second, he truly believed he could fly—that his outstretched arms were wings, and the infinitely transparent blue sky was waiting for him to embrace it. Biting down hard on his lower lip, he forced his eyes wide open and leapt forward with all his might. His entire body plunged straight into the howling wind. Except for the whistling of the wind and the soaring acceleration, his heart felt as though it had been violently tossed high into the air, its beating coming to a complete, suspended halt for that briefest of moments. Jiang Yihan opened his eyes; the scenery before him was unexpectedly crystal-clear. Buildings, green trees, the blue sky, and the lake water flashed past his eyes in rapid succession. A blast of freezing air violently surged up his nose and down his throat, and the ground rushed up to meet him. Just as Jiang Yihan felt he was about to smash directly into the lake's surface, the cord behind him tightened abruptly. His heartbeat ground to a dead stop for a single second before an invisible hand seemed to grab hold of him and yank him right back upward. His heart plunged heavily, only to be snapped upward again with a *whoosh*, and the lake retreated from his field of vision.

Jiang Yihan felt his entire being open up. His chest was filled to the brim with the pure wind, and a smile he hadn't even realized he was wearing broke across his face. Suddenly, he felt a powerful urge to shout out everything trapped inside his chest: "Ah... ah... ah..." His voice reverberated across the entire surface of the lake. Once the shout left his lungs, a rush of pure exhilaration flooded his entire body.

In that instant, Jiang Yihan finally understood why some people were so hopelessly addicted to bungee jumping. It possessed the power to expand one's soul entirely, filling a person with an inexpressible sense of joy.

In less than a minute, Jiang Yihan's bungee journey had come to an end. The Jiang Yihan who had felt utterly terrified just moments before was now burning with impatience to jump all over again.

"Hyung, how was it?" Kim Jaejoong and Hangeng rushed over immediately to greet him.

"It was amazing! The feeling was truly fantastic. I want to jump again," Jiang Yihan declared, a bright, unadulterated smile gracing his features, utterly devoid of any artifice—so clear and radiant that it pulled anyone who saw it straight into his charming realm. Several of the female guests standing nearby found themselves drifting into a daze. It wasn't because they harbored crushes on Jiang Yihan or held deep affections for him, but simply because of that smile—a smile so pure it quieted the entire surrounding world. Watching him smile, everyone's lips curved upward unconsciously. The world, after all, was inherently a beautiful place.

"Eh? Didn't you just tell us not to jump a minute ago?" Hangeng teased with a cheerful grin.

"Well, going up there *is* really scary," Jiang Yihan described animatedly, "You can feel the height increasing bit by bit, and your sense of insecurity grows right along with it. When you stand at the very peak, you feel completely unsupported. That lack of security makes your knees go weak. But the moment you push past those few seconds, bite your teeth, and jump—that feeling right then is pure, unadulterated enjoyment." He gestured excitedly. "After you jump, it feels like your entire chest and mind have expanded."

As Jiang Yihan spoke, he caught sight of Lin Erxiang, the next challenger up, walking over to greet Hangeng. Jiang Yihan offered a polite, neutral smile—a clean, unburdened smile that momentarily stopped Lin Erxiang in his tracks. Nodding back instinctively in greeting, Lin Erxiang hurried past.

He had originally assumed Jiang Yihan would hate him, and Lin Erxiang knew he had been in the wrong. Yet he realized that Jiang Yihan was simply someone impossible to genuinely dislike. Whether it was his music, his films, his character, or that clean, untainted smile of his, there was simply no way to harbor resentment toward him. Turning his head, Lin Erxiang watched Jiang Yihan chatting happily, flanked by an equally cheerful Kim Jaejoong and Hangeng. For a fleeting moment, a flicker of envy stirred in his heart.