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

Chapter 596 Why are you here?

After returning to the peninsula, Chen Yan quickly resumed his previous routine of going back and forth between home and the company.

He still lives in the house in Cheongdam-dong.

In the house in Gangnam District, the dressing room is already finished, only the recording studio on the basement floor is still under construction.

Chen Yan's current thought is to find a suitable time to hold the housewarming banquet.

After the recording studio is renovated, we can officially move in.

The family members are still busy, with Kim Tae-yeon and the others being the busiest.

They're making a comeback at the end of February, and they're busy with various promotional activities every day, while also practicing the dance for their new song.

Since last week, SM Entertainment has been releasing promotional materials day after day.

When fans and the public saw the promotional image of the nine members of Girls' Generation dressed in black suits and top hats, their expectations were immediately raised.

It seems like she's going for a unisex style; she's changed her style again.

Last year's "I Got a Boy" had a cool hip-hop vibe, while this time it's a cool and androgynous style.

Moreover, both main tracks were written by Chen Yan, which is something to look forward to.

Thanks to SM Entertainment's promotion, Girls' Generation frequently trends on Naver's hot list, and Chen Yan, the producer of their title track, is also often brought up for discussion by fans and netizens.

After all, his collaboration with Bae Suzy, "Some," is still in the top ten on various music charts across the peninsula.

Moreover, just a few days ago on February 1st, "Some" unsurprisingly topped the monthly music chart, winning the monthly crown.

Nearly a month after its release, "Some" remains firmly in the top ten of the music charts, and occasionally even makes a comeback to the top of the real-time, daily, and weekly charts.

This powerful audio performance doesn't sound like a song released a month ago at all.

Many industry insiders say that Some has already secured a place in the top ten of Melon's 2014 year-end chart.

Under these circumstances, fans and netizens naturally look forward to seeing what kind of song Chen Yan wrote for Girls' Generation called "mrmr".

They might even see "Some" and "MRMR" compete on the music charts.

When Chen Yan wrote "I Got a Boy" for Girls' Generation at the beginning of last year, he was not yet famous, so there was no scene of gods fighting each other.

Meanwhile, Chen Yan, the person involved, was in her office, intently watching her computer screen, composing music for Girl's Day's new song.

His new song for Girl's Day is almost finished.

Just then, a cell phone rang.

Pulling himself out of his creative state, Chen Yan reached for his phone, saw the caller ID, and immediately answered the call.

"teacher."

Kim Sung-hoon's gentle voice came through: "Xiao Yan, are you free on February 15th?"

Chen Yan thought for a moment and replied, "I'm free, teacher."

"Alright, then go back to the school. The school is planning to appoint you as an honorary professor of the music academy. Since you're available, I'll reply to the school and the appointment ceremony will be held on that day."

Honorary professor of the music academy?
Chen Yan was momentarily stunned. This news caught him completely off guard; he hadn't heard anything about it.

Seemingly anticipating that his students might be caught off guard, Kim Sung-hoon explained with a smile:
"This decision was made by the school leaders at a meeting at the end of January. However, you had already returned to China by then, so I didn't tell you. Don't feel pressured. With your current achievements and honors, you are fully qualified to be an honorary professor, and there won't be any doubts from the outside world."

Chen Yan took a deep breath: "Okay, teacher, I understand."

"Well, actually this is also for publicity purposes. We'll be recruiting students in March, and Xiaoyan, you have a lot of influence among young people."

As he spoke, Kim Sung-hoon remembered something else: "Don't forget, Xiaoyan, you promised me that you would give a lecture at the school in March. It's also your duty as an honorary professor. You can come to the school to give lectures and chat with the students of the music academy whenever you have free time."

Chen Yan smiled and said, "I've always remembered, teacher. Just let me know once you've arranged the time with the school."

"it is good."

The two chatted for a while before hanging up the phone.

Putting down his phone, Chen Yan leaned back slightly in his chair, gazing at the ceiling.

A moment later, a smile appeared on his lips.

He's an honorary professor at the music academy.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, he sat up straight again, picked up his phone, opened Kakao, and clicked on a group chat called "[A Loving Family (Men's Version)]".

This group chat was created after I bought a house in Gangnam District a while ago, to make it easier for everyone to communicate about things related to the house and chat casually.

To differentiate it from the "Loving Family" group chat which only had eight women, Lim Yoona simply added the words "Men's Version" to the end.

Yes, the group owner of this group is Lim Yoona, and the group owner of the other group is Kim Tae-yeon. The two of them really manage their households very well.

Chen Yan opened the group chat and began typing rapidly with both hands.

[Ahem. I have something to say. I'm going back to Yonsei University on the 15th for an appointment ceremony. The university is planning to appoint me as an honorary professor of the College of Music.]

When there's good news, you should naturally share it with your family as soon as possible.

A reply popped up in the group chat within seconds.

Li Sunny: !!! Okay! You're definitely my man!
As the relatively most idle person in the family, Lee Soon-kyu always seems to be the first to chime in.

Chen Yan smiled and continued typing and chatting with her.

Before long, the peaches started to bubble.

Peach: Wow!!! Yay! Oppa is awesome!!!

The others haven't posted anything yet; they've all been busy with their own schedules.

Time flew by and it was February 15th.

That morning, in the bedroom of the house.

Chen Yan stood by the wardrobe, while Zheng Xiuyan stood in front of him, helping him tie his tie.

After tying her carefully chosen tie, she took a small step back, looked at her husband in front of her, who was dressed in a black suit and had a very upright posture, and smiled with satisfaction.

“Very good, the tie is also suitable, Xiaoyan, you can go to the appointment ceremony like this.”

"Thank you, Nuna, you've worked hard!"

Chen Yan reached out and pulled the older woman into his arms, then lowered his head and kissed her pink lips.

She gave him a charmingly reproachful look, then reached out to straighten his collar: "Alright, go ahead. I don't have any schedules this morning, I'll watch some videos online later."

For such a formal and promotional appointment ceremony, Yonsei University would definitely invite the media to the scene.

Although the family members all wanted to witness this moment in person, they couldn't go.

If you go to the event, wouldn't that be practically the same as officially announcing your relationship?

"Okay, I'm off then."

"Well~ go ahead~"

He lowered his head and kissed Jessica Jung's pink lips again before walking out of the bedroom with a smile.

At 9:30 a.m., the ceremony to appoint Chen Yan as an honorary professor of the College of Music at Yonsei University was held at the Yonsei University Centenary Memorial Hall.

At the scene, many reporters were already waiting, all looking down at their cameras.

Yonsei University's appointment of Chen Yan, one of the most talked-about music producers on the Korean Peninsula, as an honorary professor is definitely a hot news story.

When Chen Yan, dressed in a black suit, and the president of Yonsei University took the stage at the invitation of the ceremony's host, the flashing frequency of the cameras instantly increased significantly.

Under the camera flash, Chen Yan received the letter of appointment from the president of Yonsei University, officially becoming an honorary professor of the music academy.

The two shook hands with smiles on their faces, then turned to face the media cameras.

In the shot, Chen Yan holds the open appointment certificate, his smiling face frozen in time.

After the appointment ceremony, the media invited to the scene immediately began writing articles and posting them online.

Unsurprisingly, the report quickly sparked heated discussions online. [Ahhh!!! Our PD Chen has been appointed as an honorary professor at Yonsei University's College of Music! That's awesome!!!]

[Wow! That was so sudden! There was no prior warning at all. But PD Chen truly deserves it!]

[He's already an honorary professor?! And from Yonsei University! Amazing! PD Chen is only 25 years old this year!]

Look at him at 25, an honorary professor at a top university; then look at me at 25, ignoring the risks and insisting on making this visit. Sigh...

[Hahaha, I'm a high school senior, and I've made up my mind! I'm going to apply to Yonsei University so I can become PD Chen's junior. Maybe I'll even see PD Chen at school someday!]

[+1, I want to apply to Yonsei University too!]

Amidst heated discussions among netizens, the hashtag "[Chen Yan, Honorary Professor of Yonsei University College of Music]" quickly rose to the top of Naver's trending list.

Just a few hours later, a seasoned player capitalized on the hype and emerged.

SM Entertainment released an announcement on their official website, starting by congratulating Chen Yan on becoming an honorary professor at Yonsei University's College of Music, then promoting Girls' Generation's new album to be released at the end of the month, and finally tagging Chen Yan, the creator and producer of the title track.

SM's public relations department had actually noticed this trending topic a long time ago.

They have no reason not to capitalize on this trend.

However, considering Yonsei University's situation, they deliberately waited several hours before releasing the announcement.

As expected, this announcement, whose purpose of riding the wave of popularity was so obvious, was met with ridicule from netizens.

If we're talking about congratulations, it's only natural that JYP should send one, since they're all family.

But PD Chen and SM Entertainment are just business partners, so why are you congratulating them?

Most importantly, your announcement also included Girls' Generation's new album, so your intention to ride on their popularity is pretty obvious.

SM's attitude towards netizens' mockery has always been clear: you can say whatever you want, I'll just keep doing what I want. The more people criticize me, the happier I am, because it means I've actually gotten something out of it.

As for Chen Yan's appointment as an honorary professor at Yonsei University's College of Music, besides Chen Yan himself and several family members, Park Jin-young was probably the happiest.

Seeing the company's stock price rise significantly because of this incident, this man, who is all talent except for his good looks, sat at his desk, grinning from ear to ear.

Let SM Entertainment try to ride the wave of popularity if they want; I've definitely profited from it.

Time quickly passed amidst the heated discussions, and it was now the 27th of the month.

At midnight that day, Girls' Generation's fourth mini-album title track "mrmr" was officially released.

With the combined popularity of Girls' Generation and Chen Yan, the hashtag "[Girls' Generation's new song "mrmr"] topped Naver's trending chart just over ten minutes after the song's release.

At 1 a.m., the real-time charts on major music streaming platforms across the peninsula were updated, and as expected, "mrmr" topped the real-time charts, achieving an all-kill in the real-time charts.

On the afternoon of the second day, Girls' Generation, dressed in neat suits and top hats, performed their first stage show for "MRMR" on Music Bank.

For the first time, male backup dancers were added to the stage.

The synchronized dance moves, always mentioned during each comeback, are a refreshing and cool and androgynous style, and the first time male backup dancers have been added.
Every point has been discussed with great interest by netizens, sparking wave after wave of heated discussions online.

Chen Yan, the song's creator, was naturally mentioned quite a bit as well.

However, Chen Yan didn't have much time to pay attention to the online discussions; he was busy with something else.

It's almost March, and Chen Yan had promised his teacher, Kim Sung-hoon, that he would go back to school to give a lecture.

Kim Sung-hoon told him yesterday that the time had been arranged and it would be Sunday, March 9th.

Since it was his first time giving a lecture, he naturally needed to be well-prepared and try not to make any mistakes.

After a brief February, March has officially begun.

March is also the month when universities across the peninsula start their new semester. For example, Yonsei University set the start date for March 1st this year, with students returning to campus to register on the 1st and classes officially starting on the 2nd.

However, at the beginning of March this year, students at Yonsei University were more excited than in previous years.

Because the school issued a notice yesterday, which was the last day of February.

[Emperor Chen Yanxi, honorary professor of the School of Music and a top music producer from the peninsula, will be giving a lecture at the school on the morning of March 9th. Students of the School of Music are requested to attend on time. Students from other departments may attend voluntarily.]

Upon seeing this announcement, the students at Yonsei University were basically in an uproar.

College students are one of the main groups of K-pop fans, and if they follow K-pop, they naturally can't be unaware of Chen Yan.

This man's achievements in the K-pop scene over the past year have been dazzling.

"I Got a Boy", "Something", "Nonono", "Wisdom Tooth", "Roar", "Hush", "Some", "MRMR".

Which one wasn't a huge hit?

Girls' Generation, Girl's Day, Apink, f(x), EXO, miss A—he has collaborated with every one of the most popular groups on the peninsula right now.

In less than two years since graduation, Chen Yan has transformed from an unknown to a well-known top music producer in the peninsula, winning Best Music Producer at both the Melon Music Awards and the Golden Disc Awards.

Last month, at the young age of 25, he was appointed as an honorary professor of the music academy.

Calling such a person a legend wouldn't be an exaggeration.

And now that someone like that is coming to the school to give a lecture, who wouldn't be excited?

The students at the music academy were ecstatic. This legendary senior was now the idol of everyone at the academy.

The freshmen who just enrolled this year were also ecstatic.

I'll finally get to meet Chen Yan, someone I've only ever seen on TV or on my phone before, right after starting school!

This education is absolutely worth it!

In an instant, everyone at Yonsei University who saw the news reached a consensus.

You must arrive early that morning to secure a good spot.

As they eagerly awaited it, March 9th arrived quickly.

At 9:30 a.m. that day, Chen Yan’s lecture was held in the Great Hall of Yonsei University’s Seoul Campus.

The large lecture hall, which can accommodate 2600 people, was packed to capacity, with people even sitting in the aisles and standing at the back, making the scene look somewhat crowded.

Among them were students who had come from other campuses early in the morning.

Chen Yan, who was waiting backstage for the lecture to begin, glanced at the scene and was somewhat surprised by the large number of people present.

Shouldn't college students hate attending lectures, especially lectures held on a weekend like Sunday?

Seeing this, Kim Sung-hoon, who was standing next to him, smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't underestimate your influence among the students. Xiaoyan, you're now an idol to everyone in the music academy and a well-known alumnus of Yonsei University. It's almost time, go up there."

"it is good."

Chen Yan gave his teacher a slight bow, then stepped onto the podium.

"Ah! It's Senior Chen Yan!"

When Chen Yan emerged, cheers and applause erupted from the crowd.

Walking to the center of the stage, Chen Yan bowed 90 degrees to the audience.

The applause from the audience grew even louder.

Straightening up, Chen Yan smiled and glanced around the room before picking up the microphone and speaking:

"Hello everyone, I am Chen Yan. Thank you all for coming to my lecture."

The audience burst into warm applause again.

Just as Chen Yan was about to speak again, his eyes unconsciously met a pair of familiar, beautiful eyes in the first row of the audience, and he was immediately stunned.

The figure in the first row, seeing that he seemed to recognize him, waved to him with a smile.

"How did you come?!"

(End of this chapter)