Peninsula: It’s just a dream, are you serious?

Chapter 586 Don't drool!

However, the eight of them didn't chat for long. Soon after, they all went back to prepare for the official live broadcast.

Chen Yan followed Taozi and the others out of Girls' Generation's waiting room, then asked for directions to Bae Suzy and Park Jin-young's waiting room and headed towards it.

This guy is also participating in tonight's singing competition; it wouldn't be right not to check it out.

After being chatted with Park Jin-young for a while, Chen Yan finally left his waiting room.

After walking a few steps, he took out his phone and texted Park In-jae to ask which seat he was sitting in.

Park In-jae quickly replied to the message: Where are you?
Chen Yan: At the door of Zhenying's waiting room.

Park In-jae: Okay, I'll be right there.

Less than three minutes later, he reappeared in front of Chen Yan.

As soon as he came over, he smiled and put his arm around Chen Yan's shoulder: "Come on, come with me to the restroom first, and then I'll take you there."

Chen Yan did not refuse.

It's actually quite normal for men to go to the restroom together.

However, based on his understanding of this guy, he keenly sensed that something was amiss.

"You're a PD, are you really that free? The live stream is about to start, can't you just find someone to take me? What's up?"

Park In-jae's smile immediately brightened: "You really understand me best, brother. You truly are my best friend."

Chen Yan interrupted him: "Get to the point."

"Oh, I just want you to appear on screen for a bit to help boost my ratings. You don't need to do much, just sit there and watch the performance. We'll give you screen time occasionally, and the host will call on you a few times."

Chen Yan raised an eyebrow: "Aren't all these popular groups enough to boost your ratings?"

"Oh, that's different. With your current reputation and popularity, your appearance will definitely bring new buzz to this year's Gayo Daejeon. It might even turn this year's Gayo Daejeon into a classic. Besides, this is something that neither MBC nor KBS's year-end stages have ever done."

Chen Yan thought for a moment and then agreed: "Okay."

"Thanks, bro. I'll treat you to dinner next time."

The two went to the restroom and then headed towards the stage outside.

On the left side of the stage, in the rows of seats specially prepared for the artists, almost all the artists participating in tonight's music competition had arrived.

A few minutes later, Chen Yan followed Park In-jae onto the stage.

The performers on stage immediately stood up and bowed when they saw the two.

Kim Tae-yeon and the others looked at them with some confusion.

Park In-jae led Chen Yan to the front row and pointed to the seat between Kim Tae-yeon and Lee Ji-eun.

"You can sit here."

Chen Yan was taken aback: "I'm sitting here?"

He thought he was going to sit in the first row of the audience, but he didn't expect to be sitting in the first row of the artists' section.

"Yes, this is a great angle. Just focus on the performance."

Park In-jae nodded, then glanced at Kim Tae-yeon and Lee Ji-eun beside him, and smiled, "I believe Tae-yeon and IU won't mind."

As he spoke, he subtly raised an eyebrow at Chen Yan.

This was a good spot he specially chose for his good brother.

Surrounded by beauties on both sides, how pleasant!

Kim Tae-yeon and Lee Ji-eun quickly understood what was going on from their conversation.

So it turns out they wanted Chen Yan to sit here and watch the song battle with them.

They glanced at their husbands and shook their heads with smiles: "We don't mind."

So Chen Yan sat down in the empty seat the two of them had made, which happened to be the C seat in the first row.

On the left are Girls' Generation, led by Kim Tae-yeon, and on the right are Lee Ji-eun, EXO, and others.

Kim Tae-yeon leaned closer and asked, "Were you drafted?"

Chen Yan smiled helplessly: "Yeah, Park In-jae asked me to appear on screen so the show would generate more buzz."

But you know what, sitting with his women is definitely much better than sitting alone in the audience.

The view of the stage is great, and there's no fear of being alone; even the surrounding air smells familiar.

Park In-jae really did a great job in this regard.

Lee Ji-eun also joined in with a grin and said, "Oppa has indeed been generating a lot of buzz lately."

First came her three duet songs, followed by the historic achievement of EXO's "Growl" album selling over a million copies.

In addition to the interviews and reports from various newspapers in the past few days, it is no exaggeration to say that Chen Yan is now one of the most popular and talked-about figures in the Korean music scene, just like EXO.

Even their collaborations, "Palette" and "Friday Night," benefited from this surge in popularity, achieving an all-kill on the real-time charts.

Even because of the sweet song "Meet on Friday," the number of fans who ship the two has surged, and they all believe that the two must be secretly dating.

However, right now it's all just speculation from fans, and there haven't been any official reports of any rumors, so neither of them has given a formal response.

Chen Yan smiled at Li Zhi'en and glanced at the girl.

Because the live broadcast was about to begin, Lee Ji-eun was wearing her stage outfit for the evening.

She wore a white chiffon blouse with gold patterns on the top, and sheer sleeves on both sides. She wore a light gold short skirt on the bottom, revealing a pair of fair and smooth long legs, and red high heels on her feet.

"Ji-eun, are you still performing 'Pink High Heels' tonight?"

"correct."

Lee Ji-eun nodded.

She had originally considered asking Chen Yan to sing "Friday Meetup" together, but then she gave up on the idea after realizing that Kim Tae-yeon and Im Yoon-ah would also be participating in the evening's music show.

She was actually a little hesitant to sing sweet love songs with oppa in front of these two unnies.

Besides, neither of these two unnies has ever sung a song with oppa, but I've already done it several times. I still need to be careful and not be too over-the-top. It wouldn't be good if they kept a record of it.

Chen Yan nodded, then turned to look at the people in the back rows.

Peach and Krystal Jung both sat on the left side of the third row.

Seeing him look over, Peach immediately returned a sweet smile, while Krystal cutely wrinkled her upturned nose.

Only Lee Min-young and Wang Feifei were sitting in the miss A seats; Bae Suzy and Meng Jia were not there, probably because they went to prepare for the opening group performance.

Besides these family members, he also saw many familiar faces.

For example, Girl's Day and Apink, two groups, also participated in tonight's Gayo Daejeon.

A moment later, at 8:45 p.m., the 2013 SBS Gayo Daejeon officially began.

As the stage lights came on, the first thing the group to do was a group performance of "Sleigh Ride" by some members from various boy and girl groups.

Many of Chen Yan's acquaintances were among them.

Victoria and Luna from f(x), Suzy and Meng Jia from miss A, Minah from Girl's Day, and Jung Eunji from Apink.

Chen Yan spotted Bae Suzy in the crowd at a glance, and finally saw what the girl's stage outfit under her black down jacket looked like. She wore a red sweater with white embroidery on top and a white skirt on the bottom, her shapely, fair legs shining brightly under the stage lights.

Coupled with the sexy red high heels, the girl's delicate makeup, and her slightly wavy long hair, she truly embodied the words "pure and charming".

A look of amazement flashed in Chen Yan's eyes, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Tsk, I definitely have to try this outfit at home sometime.

Equipment that greatly increases attack speed.

After the opening chorus, the MCs for tonight's Gayo Daejeon, male singer Sung Si-kyung, Park Sandara from 2NE1, and Kim Heechul from Super Junior, walked onto the stage to the sound of music.

After the three of them gave their opening remarks, Kim Heechul continued, "Actually, we also have a special guest here tonight. He's sitting on the stage right now. Let's welcome one of the best music producers on the peninsula, our Director Chen!"

This was a line that Park In-jae added on the spot before the show started, so that Kim Hee-chul could cue Chen Yan, give Chen Yan a chance to appear, and make it easier to cut to the camera later.

The camera immediately cut to Chen Yan's face, and his handsome smiling face appeared on the big screen.

Kim Tae-yeon and Lee Ji-eun on either side of him raised their hands in unison, making a flower-scattering motion.

"Ahhhh!!!"

The moment Chen Yan's face appeared, a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted throughout the entire venue.

"Wow~ Director Chen is really popular."

"Inside."

The three MCs made a remark, then said a few more words to transition the conversation back to the first group to perform.

In the following time, one group and artist after another took to the stage to perform.

Chen Yan sat between Kim Tae-yeon and Lee Ji-eun, watching the performance. He would occasionally chat with the two people next to him, as well as Lim Yoon-ah and Jung Soo-yeon, and seemed to be enjoying himself.

Soon, a familiar melody began to play on stage—Girl's Day's "Something".

However, the performers on stage were not Girl's Day, but Apink.

Kim Tae-yeon leaned closer and said, "This is a special stage exchange. Girl's Day will be performing 'nonono' in a bit."

She participated in the daytime rehearsals and was familiar with the evening's program.

"Oh, that's how it is."

Chen Yan nodded in realization, quickly understanding the highlight of this stage exchange.

Isn't this just creating a contrast?

Apink, known for their innocent image, performed a sexy song like "Something," while Girl's Day, known for their sexy image, performed a pure song like "Nonono."

But you know what, this kind of stage is actually quite interesting.

At least when he watched Park Chorong, Jung Eunji, and the others dance to "Something" in slit skirts, he felt there was something different about it, especially when they did their signature moves like squatting down, splitting their skirts, and lifting their hems.

Cheers and screams erupted from the audience from time to time.

Just as he was admiring it intently, Kim Tae-yeon's enigmatic voice suddenly rang in his ears:
"Be careful not to drool, wipe it off quickly."

Chen Yan was slightly taken aback and turned to look at Kim Tae-yeon, only to find that not only her, but also Lim Yoon-ah, Jung Soo-yeon, and Lee Soon-kyu were looking at him with a half-smile.

He subconsciously forced a smile, then turned to look at the other side. Lee Ji-eun was smiling at him, her smile carrying an inscrutable meaning.

"cough"

With a light cough, Chen Yan looked back at the stage, his body straightening up slightly, and the smile on his face faded.

The only downside to sitting here is that you can't look too freely.

Soon, the exchange of stages between the two groups came to an end.

The three MCs came back on stage and praised the performances of the two groups.

At this moment, Kim Heechul seemed to suddenly remember something and said with a look of realization, "Oh, right, those two songs were actually composed by our Director Chen."

Sung Si-kyung and Park Sandara also looked enlightened: "That's right."

"Then why don't we have our Director Chen give his evaluation of the performance just now?"

As Kim Heechul spoke, he walked with the two towards the artists' section.

A cheer immediately erupted from the audience, and the camera cut to Chen Yan.

Chen Yan stood up at the right moment, and Kim Heechul walked to his side: "Director Chen, both songs are your works. What did you think of the performance just now?"

Lowering his head slightly, Chen Yan leaned close to the microphone Kim Heechul offered to his mouth and replied with a smile, "I think it was a great performance. It had a charming contrast and was a new interpretation of the musical work."

"Yes, thank you for your evaluation, Director Chen."

Kim Heechul put the microphone back and replied, then glanced at the cue card in his hand.

"Tonight is the 2013 SBS Year-End Gayo Daejeon, which also means that 2013 is about to end. I would like to ask on behalf of the audience here and those watching on TV: when will we be able to hear Director Chen's new work next year?"

The microphone was handed back to his mouth, and Chen Yan smiled: "Well, actually it will be very soon. On January 10th, the single 'Some,' which I collaborated on with Suzy, will be officially released. I hope everyone will support it."

He could guess that this was Park In-jae's special arrangement, to let him use this music festival to promote his and Bae Suzy's upcoming new song, and also to increase the popularity and buzz surrounding the music festival.

"Ahhhh!!!"

A cheer erupted from the crowd, and Bae Suzy's fans waved their light sticks wildly.

The camera then cut to Bae Suzy's face, where the girl raised her hand to make a heart shape with her hands and smiled sweetly, eliciting another round of screams.

Chen Yan then spoke again, "The OST for the SBS drama 'My Love from the Star,' which I co-starred in with Taeyeon, will also be released on January 20th, coinciding with the drama's release. I hope everyone will support it then."

The drama "My Love from the Star" is scheduled to premiere on January 20th, and the OST will be released simultaneously. This is a good opportunity to promote it, since it's all broadcast on SBS anyway.

"Ahhhh!!!"

Now it's Girls' Generation's fans' turn to scream.

Sitting next to Chen Yan, Kim Tae-yeon also faced the camera, smiling brightly and making a heart shape with her hands.

"Wow~ There are already two new works by Director Chen in January."

Kim Heechul put the microphone back and sighed, then chatted with Chen Yan for a couple more minutes before the interaction ended and the stage performance continued.

One group of artists after another took to the stage to perform, and Chen Yan sat in his seat watching with great interest.

One of the groups that impressed him the most was a girl group called Nine Muse, whose members are all over 170cm tall.

Wow, they all have such long legs!

However, because Kim Tae-yeon and others were nearby, he didn't dare to look too recklessly.

A moment later, the song battle entered its second half.

TTS, miss A, Lee Ji-eun, f(x), and Girls' Generation took the stage one by one.

The cheers and screams from the audience grew louder and louder.

Chen Yan sat in the artists' section, watching, but he was thinking to himself.
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I have to try each and every one of them when I get home.

(End of this chapter)