Chapter 35 Things That Can Still Be Seen

the surface."Alright, then don't leave. It's just a bit lonely living alone." Sunny senior wasn't afraid at all, looking straight up with a challenging gaze.Chi Jingyuan laughed out loud and shook hi...Olympic Park is a super-large, multifunctional park located in Seongdong District, Seoul. It is divided into three themed parks centered around culture and art, life sports, and environmental ecology. Many events, including competitions and star concerts, are held here at its venues, making it a very famous leisure, entertainment, and tourist destination in Seoul.

Last year, EXO's first world tour concert spanned three consecutive days at the Seoul Olympic Gymnastics Arena. During the period leading up to the concert, I almost went there every day for rehearsals and site visits. Speaking of which, Ji-young seems quite familiar with this place.

The Gymnastics Arena has been used as a large-scale concert venue since 1994. Because of its unique characteristics and large size, only outstanding and well-known "best singers" are generally able to hold concerts here. Holding a concert here is widely considered a symbol of success. Nowadays, among the idol groups on the peninsula, very few can actually hold a concert here.

EXO already held three concerts here last year, and according to the released concert tour schedule for this year, they will continue their second round of EXO concerts here in May.

Park Jung-Hyung and Issa had agreed that the venue for the showcase would be K-Arthall, an indoor Olympic Park in the park itself. It's just a small stage, with limited space and seating capacity.

However, showcase doesn't need to be that big of a place either. In recent years, many artists choose to hold their comeback showcases here, and some well-known esports events also choose this venue.

As they neared the k-arthall venue, Ji Jingyuan pulled out his phone and sent a message. When he reached the entrance and saw dozens of promotional posters for I-ssa hanging on the wall, an assistant-looking worker wearing glasses hurried out of the venue. Even with a baseball cap and mask to disguise himself, he recognized Ji Jingyuan from afar and rushed over in three strides.

"Jingyuan xi, Anihasayo..."

"I'm President Park Jeong-yeong's assistant. I'm here waiting for you. The president has a slight emergency and will be here a little later. I apologize for the inconvenience... This is our internal staff badge. You can freely enter and exit the building and backstage."

"Hello... I know, just now Zhenying told me."

Ji Jingyuan nodded, not surprised. He had received a phone call from Park Jin-young earlier saying he would be about twenty minutes late. It was normal for the president to be busy, and if Park Jin-young specifically came to watch the showcase with him, Ji Jingyuan estimated he would feel a little awkward.

But this assistant was very polite, I guess Park Jin-young told him something, his attitude was very kind and completely unlike how you'd treat an ordinary idol.

"Congratulations, Mr. Ke." After receiving his work badge, Ke Jingyuan followed the assistant into the venue. They passed a hall decorated with slogans and posters before arriving at the showcase's location.

Seeing the assistant's diligent and eager-to-accompany demeanor, he quickly waved his hand, indicating that he could manage on his own.

As soon as he entered, he heard a voice constantly speaking from the speakers. The entire venue's lights were turned off, leaving only the stage lighting, making the audience seats rather dim. Chi Jingyuan glanced at it but didn't walk to the front row. Instead, he found an empty spot in the last row and sat down on the side, his gaze fixed on the stage.

At this time, the stage is having a conversation segment. Several members are sitting in chairs and Jin Seong-young, who is the designated MC, is talking about some interesting anecdotes from their album preparation.

Kim Shin-young is one of the most well-known female comedians in Korea. She was very popular and active a few years ago. However, in recent years, she has lost a lot of weight due to health or other reasons. She doesn't look as charming as she did when she was chubby, and her career seems to be declining slightly.

The profession of a comedian doesn't really have strict requirements on physique. The main things are being funny and having good audience rapport.

Of course, everyone has their own pursuits.

After listening to a few sentences, Chi Jingyuan lost interest. He could tell right away that the story was pre-written and while fans might be interested, fellow industry insiders like him would find it unremarkable.

And the reason why one can tell at a glance... is because EXO has also written a similar plot story before.

He glanced around. The venue wasn't large, and the audience seats weren't many, estimated to be only a few hundred in total. At this time, at a glance, they were not yet full, and there were quite a few empty seats, which looked a bit glaring.

Even as a small-scale comeback showcase, the attendance rate was a little high. Considering IU's past popularity and sound source achievements, especially Bae Suzy's fanbase, it seemed a bit incongruous.

Although Bae Suzy is well-known, a large part of her popularity and fame comes from TV dramas and advertising cases. Honestly, there aren't many people who genuinely like her because of the girl group and stage performances.

He also noticed a VJ standing by the aisle next to a row of seats, filming the audience in front. From his close proximity, it was clear they were capturing a close-up shot.

Because it was quite far away, and the chairs blocked my view somewhat, I could only see what appeared to be several women holding a banner and talking about something.

It wouldn't be that they hired a few actors and set designers to film this, would it Don't need to be so pretentious about these things.

Chi Jingyuan glanced twice, muttering to himself in his heart,

Because it's impossible to film so close-up in front of a normal audience.

JYP is really declining.

After complaining for a few sentences, Chi Jingyuan changed his sitting position and looked back at the stage. At this time, the chat from just now had ended and entered into a stage performance.

Actually, he isn't very interested in watching iisa's performance. Although iisa has some well-known songs, their style doesn't really suit him. Besides Suzy, the other members are also unfamiliar to him.

He is a personality who enjoys interacting with acquaintances. Compared to Issa, Ji-seong prefers watching Red Velvet's performances or showcases.

Unfortunately, the company didn't arrange it for them before because of Taohu Lake.

The entire showcase was about forty minutes long. When the last stage performance was yet to begin, Ji Jingyuan's phone vibrated. It was a message from Park Jin-young saying he had arrived. Ji Jingyuan scanned the audience and the stage one last time. The atmosphere crew who had been filming earlier had disappeared at some point, and now there was just a boring chat segment on stage. Ji Jingyuan simply got up and left early, heading backstage.

After leaving the dark theater, his vision was immediately flooded with light. The backstage corridor was bathed in the glare of incandescent lights. Chi Jingyuan, carrying a backpack, walked out of the theater, glancing at the nameplates along the narrow corridor.

Although Olympic Park has been visited many times, k-arthall is a venue he has never been to before. Even though showcase doesn't need to be very large, it still feels a little small for EXO.

Just as Chi Jingyuan turned the corner and took a few steps, his pace slowed down involuntarily. He saw that there were quite a few people standing in the corridor ahead, which was relatively spacious. Several staff members and assistants dressed in designer clothes were talking to each other, several young girls were waiting with their heads bowed, and two VJs were beside them, holding cameras and checking equipment in preparation for filming. It was obvious that there should be some kind of filming activity here soon.

He walked down the small steps in front of him, and Chi Jingyuan curiously scanned the area. He found that the four girls holding Issa cheering banners were familiar to him except for one whose face he didn't recognize. There were three others he actually knew.

One is the Tzuyu from TWICE, who I saw backstage at a music show on "so", another one is oo who I saw at the viewership agreement event for "Unproduced," and there's also another one, who appeared with oo in the same place before, and I even coincidentally met her in an elevator a few days ago. That's the girl named Nana from NMB48.

Chi Jingyuan's gaze swept around, the other people didn't seem to feel anything, it was just that he met this Ming Yinan again, which he found quite interesting.

This is less than two days and met again, how lucky is that What a coincidence!

And suddenly, Chi Jingyuan who walked to this place also immediately attracted the attention of those people in front of him. Hearing the footsteps, several pairs of eyes looked over together. Just looking at Chi Jingyuan wearing a hat and mask, they didn't recognize him for a moment and only felt that he was very eye-catching and outstanding in temperament. They didn't know what Chi Jingyuan, who suddenly appeared here just before the shoot, was doing. Seeing that he was wearing a staff badge, they hesitated for a moment and then prepared to walk over and ask.

"Pool... Senior, Anihaseyo..."

...It's just that others didn't recognize him at first. Minami, who was closest, recognized him instantly after a glance over his eyes and hat. She was so shocked that her mouth opened wide, nearly shouting out "Chi Jingyuan," but she quickly reacted, bowing deeply in greeting. Although she was excited, her voice was a bit hurried but not loud, with a soft tone...

"Pool…"

Even the staff member who was about to come forward to ask questions stopped in their tracks. After hearing Minami's voice, several people looked at her in surprise and started sizing her up. Ji Jingyuan glanced at Minami and blinked strangely, as if wondering how this girl reacted so quickly.

"Well... hello..."

Then, Chi Jingyuan took off his mask and politely nodded at the several staff members. He then nodded towards the four girls beside him.

"Senior Annyeonghaseyo!" As soon as they saw the few people in front of them, especially Ji-young's eyes widened considerably. They even glittered with a bit of surprise. Then, immediately after, Nayeon took the lead and bowed quickly before straightening up again. Her gaze couldn't help but linger on them, filled with a mixture of surprise and delight.

The vj and staff who were preparing for the shoot were all a bit strange. After nodding in greeting, they didn't know what to say for a moment. They thought that Ji Jingyuan was here to participate in the filming, but there was no such scene in the previous schedule.

"What are we shooting"

Then, Ji-yeong looked at Min-ji first, then at the most cheerful member, Na Yeon, before curiously looking towards the VJs beside her. Her gaze lingered on the already set up camera as she asked a question.

"Yes..."

"Jǐngyuán ah."

Before the staff from jyp beside him could reply, a familiar, somewhat heavy voice and hurried footsteps came from afar. Park Jin-young with his black hair and face appeared quickly in front of everyone, followed by an assistant.

Park Jin-young appeared, and everyone immediately greeted him warmly. Ji-seong was sharp enough to notice that the four girls beside him instantly straightened their bodies. Then, he politely bowed at a 90-degree angle, and when he called out "Jin-young hyung," he also gave a greeting.

"Haven't started filming yet, have you..."

Park Jin-young walked up to the front and first nodded at a few JYP staff members, inquiring about the progress of the shoot. It was obvious he knew what they were doing there. After confirming, he nodded again and didn't pay any more attention, his gaze swept over the four female trainees as if acknowledging their presence, then a smile appeared, squinting his eyes, he patted Ji-seong's shoulder: "This is filming for our company's variety show, I'll tell you about it later, go sit with me for a while first."

He had no intention of lingering. After receiving a call from Ji-yeong, he waved and prepared to return to the resting room. Even though Sixteen was an important variety show for JYP, he wouldn't necessarily be present for such minor shoots. He didn't even need to personally supervise Issa's showcase as the president.

Actually, if it wasn't for Ji Jingyuan, he wouldn't have come today at all.

"...."

Pool Jingyuan also smiled and nodded, then glanced at the four trainees beside him. After his gaze briefly met Nan's, he followed Park Jin-young, bathed in the gazes of over ten people, and left here. Before he walked far, it seemed like he heard a faint murmur of discussion.

"Sit."

"I got sidetracked by something just now... How is it What do you think of our i-ssa comeback after watching the showcase"

Before entering the lounge, Park Jin-young waved his hand to signal his assistant not to follow him any further. After coming in, he proactively took two cups of water from the nearby water dispenser and placed them on the table. He gestured towards the sofa with a smile, explained something first, then sat down beside it with a hearty laugh, appearing very confident in his expression.

Although he was indeed late, it was a trivial matter. With the age and seniority difference between them, an apology was certainly out of the question. Pool Jingyuan didn't take it to heart.

"That's great, the main song is awesome. I remember it seems to have directly debuted at number one on the music charts"

Chi Jingyuan nodded and smiled in agreement, "Issa's main song for this time, , is indeed very good. The excellent sound source results are a testament to that."

"Do you think that Jingyuan could compare to your XO" Park Jin-young took a sip of water, squinting his eyes, his voice sounding both probing and expectant.

Of course, I now regret that we set our return date for April 1st.

Chi Jingyuan looked at the results with a worried expression, shaking his head. "If I had known Issa's track record would be this good, I definitely would have pushed back the release date by a few days."

His expression looked very real, his eyelid even twitched slightly, as if he was genuinely worried about Exo hitting Issa. In the end, he also sighed dramatically to show his helplessness.

"Hahaha, you..."

Park Jin-young, a seasoned professional like him, wouldn't believe it. He chuckled mirthfully at this pretense and pointed at Ji Kyeong-won, shaking his head helplessly.

After a while without seeing each other, Park Jin-young, of course, wouldn't jump straight into business. After making plans to eat together later, he showed great interest in chatting with Kim Kyung-won about EXO's recent comeback. He expressed his appreciation for ** Entertainment's arrangement of EXO's four-month monthly release schedule and, from a professional standpoint, analyzed with Kim Kyung-won the reasons why the debut single "e" achieved unexpectedly good results.

Park Jin-young's professionalism is really amazing. He talked in detail about everything from music theory, melody, lyrics to packaging and promotion. Even Ji-sung was a bit stunned and couldn't keep up with the pace. It can only be said that he is indeed a senior figure in the music industry, and even after opening his own company, he is still so successful.

Isn't it just that you're so amazing, how could GOT7 be managed like that

After a while, the door was knocked. After the showcase ended, Suzy Bae, who had changed clothes, walked in. She greeted Park Jin-young and sat on the sofa beside him, smiling gently at Ji-sung with a reserved posture like a well-bred lady.

However, to be honest, this time around, Tzuyu's return, Suzy's makeup is really quite outstanding. Among the four of them, she stands out quite a bit. It's a type of makeup that's quite thoughtful, appearing pure on the surface, but in reality, it exudes a more bright and lively feeling.

"It's over"

"Hmm."

What about the others

"Go film Sixteen."

Park Bo Gum and Suzy had a brief exchange, and he was very kind to her. It was far from how he treated ordinary artists under his agency. Compared to the female trainees he had just glanced at and greeted earlier, it was worlds apart.

Although it might not be as good as Lee Soo Man's treatment of Park Kyung, it's still pretty close.

Although Chi Jingyuan was curious, he didn't ask questions like "Why didn't you go when others did" which would be awkward. He acted as if he hadn't heard and chatted with the two people for a while with a smile.

Pei Suzy's upcoming comeback activities are many, she left after sitting for ten minutes. Park Jin Young looked at the time and then prepared to greet Ji Chang Wook to go have a meal together, by the way, to chat about today's business.

I'll be right back, just going to the restroom.

Before leaving, Chi Jingyuan greeted everyone and walked out of the resting room to the restroom next door. He looked in the mirror and straightened his hair that had been slightly deformed by the baseball cap, put it back on, washed his hands, and blew them dry before walking out.

He could hardly help but slow his pace as soon as he stepped out. As soon as he left, he saw a girl standing by the wall in the corridor outside the bathroom, her head bowed and staring intently at her phone in her hands, but her eyes reflected a distracted look, perhaps lost in deep thought. Her upper lip was slightly puckered unconsciously.

Nanami Minei.

The name appeared in Chi Jingyuan's mind, vivid and familiar. After several chance encounters over the past few days, even if he hadn't paid much attention before, it was certainly a name he could remember now.

Not to mention, because of the experience with cb and the police that day, Chi Jingyuan had a pretty deep impression of her.

She has long, black hair that falls straight down to her shoulders. She wears a short black jacket over a white turtleneck top, which is slightly crop-style. Her lower body is clad in ripped jeans paired with black pointed-toe high heels, giving her a rather trendy look. She's got more of a fashionable vibe than the average trainee.

Judging from her appearance, she probably waiting for her friend at the restroom. It's very common for young girls to go to the bathroom together.

It seemed as if she had sensed being watched. Namiki Minami raised her head with a sudden intuition, her eyes still slightly dazed for a moment. Then, upon seeing Ki Kyougen in front of her, her pupils noticeably constricted, appearing even more surprised than before.

Pool Jingyuan met her gaze and couldn't help but think, 'This is the how manyth time' She found it amusing and smiled. Seeing her surprised look mixed with hesitation, he didn't point it out. He lightly nodded towards Zhu Mingnan and then prepared to leave.

"...".

But after taking just a few steps, a distinct rise and fall of breathing suddenly appeared behind him, followed by a voice that was slightly hoarse, but mostly soft and gentle: "Chi… senior."

Qi Jingyuan was startled and turned to look.

Only then did Ming Nan's hands be seen to have slipped into his sleeves at some point, lightly biting his lips. His gaze was unwavering yet hesitant. A pair of eyes stared back at him, full of intensity, but as his head tilted upwards, it involuntarily dipped back down. The conflicted expression tugged at one’s heartstrings.

"Thank you, thank you..." She began, still gathering her courage to meet Chi Jingyuan's gaze. But after just two seconds, she saw the smile on his face and wilted. Her eyes drooped, and her chin trembled as she whispered weakly,

Chi Jingyuan thought about it and figured out that she must be thanking him for his help with the cb incident before.

Seeing how stressed the girl was, Chi Jingyuan chuckled and looked at her, blinking: "If..."

His voice caught Minami's attention, making her look up again.

"Are you talking about that thing with CB last year I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me, but honestly, it's kind of faded from my memory. Would you be disappointed or upset if I told you that"

Seeing her looking at him, Ji Jingyuan raised his eyes and thought for a moment before tilting his head and saying in a very natural way.

"No, no..."

Minami shook her head quickly, denying it hurriedly. To increase her credibility, she even repeated it, and her long black hair swayed back and forth with it. But while her mouth said no, her eyes clearly dimmed, her lips slightly pouted, and the hand tucked inside her sleeve seemed to retreat further.

“*Snort.*” This girl is really interesting. Chi Jingyuan couldn't help but laugh at her stubbornness. He wasn't bothered to tease her anymore, so he waved his hand casually: "Forget it... Of course not. To be honest, I haven't really seen a girl who can cry for so long before. So the impression is quite deep, Amina Nan, right”

"... Hmm."

Upon hearing this, Mingnan's face brightened a bit. She felt a little embarrassed by the teasing and bit her lips. Then, when she heard her name, she quickly nodded in affirmation. As if remembering something, she hurriedly explained, "I don't usually cry that often. That time was..."

She stopped mid-sentence, unsure how to explain. After hesitating for a moment, she gave up and said instead, "That day was because we were filming a video for a senior from the production company, so..."

I know, it's obvious.

Chi Jingyuan interrupted her hesitant explanation, giving a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

He was right, those three JYP trainees back then were clearly very green. They kept shrinking in the corner and wouldn't even speak, otherwise they wouldn't have been so scared to even say "cheers" and nearly crying out of fear. If it had been someone more sociable and well-connected, a senior who was good at navigating social situations, I bet they would have downed their drink straight away.

Just seeing Minami Nani looking so serious, Keijyun Chi also nodded. However, hearing her somewhat awkward, slightly stiff Korean, he took the initiative and said: "Actually, you can speak Japanese, I understand."

I can do it!

He meant well, but his offer was rejected. Minami Namiki pursed her lips and looked at him with determination, still speaking in somewhat unpolished Korean.

"Alright..." Chi Jingyuan nodded without saying much, smiling as he took her in with a glance. He turned his head and glanced towards the rest room, raising his chin slightly and gesturing: "I'll go first then"

Mingi raised her mouth, glanced at him and then lowered her gaze again. She seemed to want to say something but was hesitant, her expression showed she was struggling with what to say.

"Hee hee..."

Seeing her hesitate, Chi Jingyuan chuckled, as if he had seen through her thoughts. He took the initiative and said, “So, do you still want to exchange contact information”

He had a strong impression of this girl because when they said goodbye, she asked for his phone number and he just refused it casually. In front of other people, that was really disrespectful.

..."

Mei Nan heard this and her eyes lit up. She didn't speak, but nodded quickly like a little penguin, hope sparkling in her eyes.

"Well... maybe next time."

Chi Jingyuan thought for a moment, then shrugged at her: "I think it's really fate. If we meet again next time, let's exchange contact information then."

He pointed in the direction of the restroom and said nothing more. Finally, he smiled and waved goodbye before turning and walking away.

Your friend is probably coming out…

"See you later."

Peninsula asteroid

Original text: Translated text: First published on the Traditional Chinese Novel Network

Let me know if you have any other text you'd like me to translate! pre-sale. Although EXO has participated in stage performances and promotions, strictly speaking, it's still a warm-up period because the title song's audio source hasn't been released yet, and they a...