Peninsula Platinum Era

Chapter 65 "Maru Studies"

"Thank you so much lately. That girl has been giving me a lot of trouble, but I feel much more at ease with you taking care of her."

Whether it was sincere or not, Chen Shijun's gratitude always made An'an very happy, even though she had already noticed Xiao Yuan's occasional glances at her.

Clearly, some members had already noticed his arrival and knew that it wasn't appropriate for him to stay there any longer after seeing the big dog, otherwise Xiaoyuan would remain restless.

At that point, there's a high chance of rumors circulating about members of the group fighting over fans, and if these people maliciously edit the footage, things could get really messy.
I don't want to see any "Maru Studies" or my sister become the female lead in it. A simple matter can often be interpreted in countless ways, and most of these interpretations are detached from the essence of the matter.

“This is what we should do. Yuanying is very sensible and hasn’t done anything to trouble us.”

In front of Chen Shijun, one should naturally speak highly of Yuan Ying. Whether he believes it or not is another matter, but the proper posture must be maintained.

"Let me talk to the agent later and have them come along. I'll treat you to dinner and thank you for taking care of her."

He pointed to his watch, indicating that he would wait for them to finish, and as he turned to leave, he glanced at his manager's anxious face, realizing that a small disturbance was about to occur.

……

"Yuan Ying's brother is treating us to dinner? What are you guys thinking? If word gets out, you'll be torn to shreds. As the team leader, are you out of your mind?"

The manager launched into a tirade against Captain Eunbi, questioning Wonyoung about why she had been eating during the event, a series of puzzling behaviors.

The event just ended and they're already talking about going for barbecue. It's only been two days since they ate there, and if the story of twelve women and one man gets out, it'll cause another uproar.

"Xiaoyuan's brother rarely takes time out of his busy schedule. As a director of Big Hit, he is usually very busy. Today, he took time out of his busy schedule to see his sister. Manager oppa, please fulfill this girl's brother-sister relationship."

An An quickly took over the conversation, first subtly revealing Chen Shijun's identity, and then steer the conversation towards the brother-sister relationship, which quickly calmed the manager down.

"What Big Hit? What board member? Tell me about it."

Chen Shijun had no intention of keeping it a secret from the girls. After all, he wasn't a political figure. On the contrary, revealing some clues would save Xiao Yuan a lot of trouble.

An An's words calmed the manager down considerably. Big Hit is no small company; it has created a huge buzz in the process of acquiring other companies and has basically taken over the most profitable boy groups in the K-pop scene.

Prior to this, it had already extended its reach into upstream and downstream sectors, including distribution channels and fan platforms, and a giant trust seemed to be gradually taking shape.

This kind of person is clearly not someone an average office worker earning the average salary in Seoul should offend. After all, you're bound to run into these companies all the time, so there's no need to cause trouble for yourself.

“What you said makes sense. I can understand the members’ excitement at seeing their families, but they should try to control themselves in the future and not cause trouble for themselves.”

He gradually found a way to back down from his anger, expressing that he fully understood the value of family ties and that going out to eat was fine, but he should let them know first.

Big Hit and CJ have a deep partnership, and the company that directly operates IZ*ONE is Off The Record, which was jointly established by Big Hit subsidiary Pledis Entertainment and CJ.

After confirming its authenticity, a response was quickly received. However, who would have thought that this girl who debuted in the center position had such a relationship with such a person, although this relationship led to many speculations.

However, this is none of my business. After all, they have a valid reason and are expressing their gratitude to the members for taking care of their younger sister. It makes sense both emotionally and logically.

Besides, if you're worried about one or two people, what's there to worry about with twelve? It's not a novel; nobody has that kind of ability. And since they invited me to go, it's clearly a very formal gathering, and there's no harm in making good connections.

Amid the girls' laughter and chatter, Chen Shijun reappeared. This time, he had booked a rather large private room, as a group of twelve people was no joke.

"Weren't we supposed to be having barbecue? Why did we switch to a seafood feast? This is way too much of a waste of Se-joon oppa's money."

Yu-jin pulled Xiao-yuan aside and whispered, "After all, there are twelve female idols plus their managers, and the restaurant looks quite upscale. This meal is bound to cost a lot."

"I already told unnie not to call me oppa, it wouldn't be good for my oppa to hear it."

Who knew that this guy would only listen to half of what she said, only to her sensitive points, which made Youzhen helplessly shut her mouth.

However, this oppa is indeed very generous, as can be seen from the gifts and pocket money he gives himself, so there is no need to worry about Chen Shijun's financial situation.

Although she complained about Chen Shijun's wasteful spending, this girl acted like a big shot in front of her sisters, pointing out the various seafood swimming in the huge aquariums.

He even picked up a big crab and compared it to his own face to see which was bigger, which was quite endearing. Chen Shijun also found it really cute.

Chen Shijun told Xiaoyuan to order whatever she wanted, as it would help her replenish her energy for today's activities. He figured she could burn off the calories later by exercising.

Seafood sashimi is served amidst roses sculpted from crushed ice, its translucent texture radiating a dazzling light. The chef drizzles aged soy sauce over it on the spot, and the amber-colored sauce instantly awakens Yuan Ying's taste buds.

Chen Shijun could see that this greedy girl couldn't wait any longer, so he gave her a boiled shrimp. As Xiao Yuan cracked the shell with her hands, the shrimp roe gushed out like molten gold.

She instinctively caught the dripping cream with the tip of her tongue, which burned her so much that she gasped for breath. She glared angrily at Chen Shijun, who had embarrassed her, only to find that her sisters were laughing so hard that they were doubled over, while she was the only one wincing in pain.

"Have some water, you silly girl, you're so greedy, I can't believe it."

Xiao Yuan poured the little girl a glass of ice water. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she forced a few awkward laughs and watched as her oppa expressed his gratitude to his teammates and manager for taking care of him for so long.

Chen Shijun took the opportunity to examine the girls in front of him. In fact, he had been discussing this with the girls within Source Music and even with the management of Big Hit in the past few days.

I proposed that we should make a backup plan for "N girl groups". Given the current surplus of resources, we can definitely make another backup.

As for not having suitable trainees, we can use a combination of half newcomers and half returning trainees to form a team. Perhaps this model can be quickly replicated in the future.

However, Representative Su was unwilling to give up the current "N Girl Group" project, because that would mean completely surrendering to Min Hee-jin, while Bang Si-hyuk was also hesitant to make a decision.

Because Min Hee-jin's current pace is very wrong. Under the current circumstances, she is still demanding an increase in the frequency of global recruitment, while at the same time trying to reduce the number of debut spots.

Gradually, the direction of this combination is diverging from Su Chengzhen's ideas. Judging from this, it seems that they cannot tolerate each other for the sake of the country, and their final dishonorable end is not far away.

We've been thinking about whether there are any promising talents we could bring back to the company as a framework for their debut. However, we quickly rejected this candidate after contacting the leader of IZ*ONE, as age remains the biggest issue.

However, it's clear that this captain has some ideas. She's one of the few members of the group who exudes femininity, especially with the way she looks at people with her captivating eyes. She's even more alluring than Yoo Jimin.

(End of this chapter)