Chapter Eighty-Seven: Another Glance

py about it.After returning to the waiting room, Lee Seung-hwan briefly explained a few things before heading out to discuss the aftermath with SBS. Meanwhile, the members enthusiastically discussed w..."Thanks for the hospitality, I'll be going now."

Ji Jingyuan stood at the entrance of the restaurant, smiling and bidding farewell to Kong Shengyan who was beside him.

"Where, I should be grateful. Jingyuan xi, being such a big-name artist, didn't forget me, this small actor, and is willing to come out for dinner together."

Kong Shengyan stood beside him, carrying a blue bag. She wore casual light-colored clothing and white flat shoes instead of high heels. Her overall appearance was very elegant, showing both youthfulness and vivacity. Her clothes were all branded goods, not cheap, indicating that her family background should be quite good.

She grinned at Ji Jingyuan, watching him while she idly played with a strand of hair that had fallen loose.

“Everyone is new here, so don't worry too much about these things. Shengyan xi has great conditions, she just needs an opportunity.”

Chi Jingyuan chuckled and shook his head, saying that he was just lucky. Then, a shy smile appeared on his face: “Besides, it’s really an honor to be invited by such a beautiful Nana for dinner.”

Ji Jingyuan is in casual attire today as well. If the canvas shoes on his feet were replaced with slippers, people would think he just lives upstairs and came down for a casual meal.

"Hee hee hee..."

Kong Shengyan covered her mouth and smiled a few times. Seeing Ji Jingyuan's farewell gaze, she waved to him and tentatively asked, "So, chat again next time"

"That's inside."

Qi Jingyuan nodded slightly, then the two of them smiled and said goodbye.

Ji Jingyuan watched Kong Shengyan's figure disappear around the corner. He put on a mask and hat, then walked out of the restaurant as well.

This hat is one of Chi Jingyuan's many favorites, a Pokémon collaboration baseball cap. The center of the hat features a Pikachu with wide eyes, looking blankly ahead.

Looking at it just makes you feel intellectually superior, and your mood improves a bit.

Today is November 17th. Since the beginning of the month, the hard work for the special stage rehearsals has finally come to an end these days. Because M team has already flown to Xia Guo yesterday to record a program with WanWan.

Besides running some promotional events, there's also a series of programs produced by Yahoo! Chimo Entertainment for M Team. The focus is on showcasing the unique characteristics of each member, capturing their interactions and behind-the-scenes moments.

The M team is gone, and only the K team is left, so they can't practice much. Compared to the hard time before, things are a lot easier for them now.

Although I've been practicing hard for over a month now, there aren't really any problems with these stage performances anymore.

They already know how to dance several Cover stage performances. Now, they are learning and getting familiar with new choreography while also polishing the details for stage effects. For example, making the group dances more synchronized and the movements more impactful.

Trainees or idols after their debut usually don't just focus on practicing one or two songs' choreography. They also learn to dance to classic tracks from senior artists and popular hit songs.

Besides practicing more dance to improve their skills, many variety shows also have artists perform dances from other groups. This requires them to learn the songs and choreography of many different combinations.

Like the very popular hit song "Curse," Chi Jingyuan practiced countless times before, so familiar that he couldn't be more familiar with it.

Don't even mention "The Curse," he'll jump to it at the mere word of "< Gee>".

This morning while practicing, Ji Jingyuan received a message from Kong Shengyan asking if he had time this evening to have dinner together.

They met and exchanged contact information while filming a commercial together last time. They occasionally text each other greetings, but that's about it.

I suddenly received a message from her today. Chi Jingyuan happened to be free these two days, so he agreed directly, which led to the goodbye just now.

The restaurant is very close to the ** company, located in a stylishly decorated and well-designed establishment in Cheongdam-dong. It takes less than ten minutes to walk there from the company.

During the meal, she didn't say anything else, just chatted about some recent interesting things that happened, the difficulties of filming commercials, including being scolded by the director on set again recently, and some embarrassing stories that her manager sighed about every day.

Kong Shengyan is quite cheerful and likes to laugh. She has a good sense of atmosphere, making her approachable and able to build rapport without any awkward or ambiguous feelings. Overall, she gives off a very positive impression.

Chi Jingyuan is currently in a relationship, so there's nothing else going on. It's just a simple dinner, making friends and enjoying the view of beautiful women.

He casually mentioned some EXO anecdotes, like when they were transparent on television variety shows and staff couldn't even remember their members' names.

Their EXO group name is pronounced 'XO' in casual speech, as the 'E' is not pronounced.

However, despite participating in so many recordings over the years, he hasn't met many crew members who can pronounce their names correctly.

After the meal, the two people who hadn't said much before had grown more familiar with each other. For Ji Jingyuan, Kong Shengyan was an independent individual now, her impression no longer simply 'Jiang Seqi's friend'.

But that's about it, just at the level of knowing each other, some acquaintances.

Chi Jingyuan walked out of the restaurant and stood on the street. The cool temperature and the sudden burst of noise made him feel like he had entered a new world. The dazzling lights emanating from the myriad signs around him made him squint.

Having scanned their surroundings at random, they realized that they had eaten quite late. Now that dinner was over, it was even later in the evening, and there were far fewer people around.

At this point, the members probably all went back to their dorms. It doesn't take very long to walk from here to EXO's dorm, maybe half an hour at most.

However, he didn't really feel like going back to the dormitory right now. After a brief moment of thought, Ji Jingyuan followed the road north, in the direction of the company, and slowly walked over there.

It was late in the evening, and there weren't many people on the street anymore. Occasionally, some pedestrians would glance at the pattern on his hat, while most just passed by with a sideways glance before turning their heads back to take a furtive look.

Her figure and temperament were still quite striking in the evening.

The ceaseless chatter of people and the occasional blare of horns from cars rushing by gave Chi Jingyuan a sense of dense, vibrant life. He felt a little out of place after spending so long cooped up in the practice room.

He walked along the road, passing through Olympic Avenue, and after about ten minutes, he arrived at the viewing walkway beside the Han River.

The ** building in Cheongdam-dong is very close to the Han River, less than 200 meters away. It is said that many artists or trainees like to come and stroll around during their free time to enjoy the river view and relax.

Before Chi Jingyuan, he had practiced with the members in the evening and came over a few times during his free time, but it was always a group of guys. Someone started complaining that it was boring and wanted to go back after just taking a look.

If the coworker was replaced with a beautiful senior female, I wonder if people would still say it was boring.

This time, he was alone. With an appreciative gaze, Chi Jingyuan stood at the railing of the riverside walkway, staring at the dazzling scenery on the opposite bank and the lights on the Shengsui Bridge in the distance for a long while.

"Sigh."

After a long while, for some reason he couldn't quite place, Chi Jingyuan let out a soft sigh and started walking. He lowered his head slightly and strolled along the railing by the river.

There were only a few people left by the riverbank, and it would be a while before someone else occasionally passed by.

As he walked, a figure suddenly appeared in Chi Jingyuan's sight. He raised his eyes to look at it.

A girl with long hair stood at the railing, her hands folded together resting on it, her forehead pressed against her arms, her head bowed deeply buried in her arms. Her whole body seemed hunched, as if she might be blown away by a gust of wind at any moment.

She seemed to hear footsteps coming and stop beside her. The girl turned her head to look at him.

The moment he saw this face, Ji Jingyuan's mind flashed a name.

Jennie

Compared to the last time we met, her complexion didn't seem much better. Besides the dark circles under her eyes which hadn't faded, her lips were also a bit dry, and her eye rims were even redder than last time. I don't know if it's because of her health or something else.

Her gaze held a touch of mistiness amidst the sadness, and when it met Pool Jingyuan's, he felt an inexpressible fragility.

Less than a month later, in different places and settings, the two had another identical look.

First published on the Traditional Chinese Novel Networkared to ordinary top-tier male idols.But this EXO release started with pre-orders of hundreds of thousands, consistently breaking records with sales reaching millions. These kinds of numbers, which th...