Peninsula: From Water Injection to Stardom

February 1, 2015, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, third floor of Cube Entertainment.

17-year-old trainee Tian Xiaojuan stood nervously at the entrance of a general studio.

Just a few minutes ago, she ran into Lin Longyun, the director of the artist management department, downstairs. After seeing her, he asked her to go to the third floor to pass on a message to a senior colleague who had joined the company more than half a month ago.

This was originally a small matter, but the problem was that Tian Xiaojuan hadn't actually had a proper conversation with this senior yet.

In her memory, after the other party arrived at Cube on the first day, he basically stayed on the third floor and was rarely seen in other parts of the company.

But more importantly, this senior had a major negative public opinion incident online last year.

Tian Xiaojuan, who was also just a bystander at the time, never expected that the other party would suddenly reappear here after disappearing from the public eye.

After gently knocking on the door a few times, Tian Xiaojuan, unsure of the other person's temperament, stood there anxiously waiting for a response from inside.

Even though only a few seconds had passed, it felt like several minutes had gone by, an agonizing ordeal.

"Come in."

After a while, a male voice came from inside the door.

Upon receiving the reply, Tian Xiaojuan immediately turned the doorknob gently and opened the door to the studio.

She walked in very reservedly.

Upon entering the room, before she could even see who it was, Tian Xiaojuan immediately bowed politely and said, "Hello, Senior Jiang Yan, I am Tian Xiaojuan, a trainee from the company."

Jiang Yan is the name of this senior.

The other person replied in a completely emotionless voice, "Hello, is there something you need?"

Tian Xiaojuan slowly raised her head, about to convey the words the director had instructed, but the next second her expression froze.

Although she knew that this senior was a handsome man, and had even seen his photos online.

But upon seeing the person up close, I was still stunned by their appearance for a few seconds.

Fortunately, Tian Xiaojuan didn't forget the important matter. After regaining her senses, she quickly said, "Director Lin asked me to pass on a message. He said that you shouldn't forget the meeting tomorrow morning."

"that's all?"

"Inside."

"Okay, thank you for your trouble, coming all this way."

"It's alright, senior, you can continue with your work. I'll head out."

"Um."

After a brief exchange, Tian Xiaojuan quickly left the room and gently closed the studio door behind her.

After coming out, she slowly exhaled and recalled the attitude of the senior she had just spoken to.

Although neither cold nor hot, he spoke very politely and did not seem to be the kind of person with a bad temper who liked to make things difficult for younger people.

But what impressed her the most was the visual impact of the other person's appearance.

……

Inside the studio, after watching Tian Xiaojuan leave the room, Jiang Yan calmly turned back to his computer and continued preparing for his re-debut.

That's right, he's someone who has already debuted once.

Jiang Yan was formerly a member of the boy group BTS under BigHit Entertainment, but has since left the group due to some incidents.

The incident stemmed from a photo posted last year by his teammate Jin on the group's official fan cafe, showing him having a meal in the dorm.

As a result, on the same day, some netizens keenly discovered an extra-large umbrella box in the corner of the room in the background of the photo, and this detail quickly sparked heated discussions online.

Various speculations and rumors began to circulate, even linking it to the group's image.

Later, during his shift livestream that day, Jiang Yan defended his teammate by saying, "This is a prank gift from overseas fans; it's a size that can't be bought in South Korea."

But to everyone's surprise, because of what he said, many Korean men seemed to be provoked and started to hurl insults and attacks at him online that very night.

Korean men believe that his statement is a veiled criticism of them and strongly demand that BigHit Entertainment immediately remove him from their positions.

Jiang Yan was quite speechless when she saw the angry comments from Korean men on social media.

Damn, these Korean men are so sensitive. He didn't mean anything by saying that.

His words were exactly what they said.

That box of umbrellas is indeed unavailable in South Korea; he specifically purchased it online through overseas channels.

That's right, the box that Kim Seokjin photographed was actually his, which is why he was so kind as to make an excuse for the other party.

On the day of the incident, BigHit Entertainment, which was still a small company at the time, did not have much public relations ability and could only try to play dead and wait for the hype to die down.

Unexpectedly, a few days later, rumors surfaced online that Jiang Yan was dating Kim Seolhyun, a popular top member of the girl group AOA.

Although there are no photographic evidence, this incident has brought Jiang Yan back into the public eye.

However, he himself was unable to respond to this rumor.

Because of this, he actually did it.

On the day the rumors broke, Kim Seolhyun's male fans took the lead in attacking him on various forums, and also brought up the "insulting Korean man" controversy that was about to subside and condemned him again.

BigHit, seeing that the situation was getting out of control, had no choice but to release an official statement a few days later, stating that Kang Yeon, a member of BTS, was leaving the group for personal reasons and that their exclusive contract had been terminated.

Only then did the public outcry subside.

As for why Jiang Yan, who was kicked out of the group back then, is now appearing in Cube.

It was because shortly after that, Du Hua, the founder of Yuehua Entertainment, took the initiative to contact Jiang Yan.

The other party said they were interested in his image and wanted to sign him to Yuehua Entertainment, and to help him follow the example of the two EXO members who had already left and return to China to develop his career.

However, Jiang Yan believed that if he went back like this, there would be no good development for him.

Those two at least benefited from the group's popularity, had national support, and accumulated a large number of die-hard fans, which allowed them to "return home in glory".

What does he have now?

Ultimately, Jiang Yan decided to stay here and continue developing using the KPOP platform.

After some consideration, he chose to sign with Yuehua Entertainment, and then, with Du Hua's help, he reached a cooperation agreement with Cube Entertainment to jointly operate the two companies half a month ago.

This means that Cube Entertainment will be responsible for Jiang Yan's domestic promotion in South Korea, while Yuehua Entertainment will be responsible for activities in the Chinese market.

However, since Yuehua Entertainment's new building in South Korea is not yet completed, he is currently staying at Cube and using their studio there temporarily.

That being said, Jiang Yan is quite confident about her upcoming solo debut.

Although he gained many fans during his time in the group, most of them left after he left the group and disappeared for a while.

But it doesn't really matter.

He has a clear understanding of himself. As long as his face is not disfigured, he will not have to worry about attracting new fans after his comeback.

As the saying goes, as long as you have a reputation, you can maintain your country.