Peninsula: From Water Injection to Stardom

Today, I chose Lotte World as the place for my date with Kim Seolhyun.

Actually, there weren't many options. In Jiang Yan's opinion, there weren't many things to do in South Korea to begin with, so this was already the best choice.

Moreover, it's a place that couples can easily visit together.

Jiang Yan had a premonition that he might come to this place many times in the future.

The two people covered their faces completely and took a taxi straight to their destination.

We didn't experience too many attractions, but we queued up and tried out several of the recommended must-do attractions for couples.

After dark, the two stood in front of a castle with its neon lights on, and took a group photo.

There will definitely be no group photo, since if they wanted a group photo, they would have to find a passerby to take it for them.

But this would mean temporarily handing over one's personal phone to a stranger, something Jiang Yan would never do.

After taking some commemorative photos of each other, the two quickly left together.

They chose a Western restaurant for dinner.

After ordering, Jiang Yan noticed that Jin Xuexuan next to him was holding her phone and constantly swiping.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Yan asked curiously.

"I'm picking a photo that I can post on Instagram," Kim Seolhyun replied, her expression focused and without looking up.

"Hmm... be careful when you choose," Jiang Yan said after a pause.

He knew very well that the "detective" ability of fan groups was comparable to that of Detective Conan; they would dig deep into anything that seemed amiss.

"Oppa~ Do I look like such a stupid person?!" Kim Seolhyun could easily understand what Kang Yeon meant by that, and she pouted with a slightly dissatisfied tone.

"It's not just similar, it is." Jiang Yan commented bluntly.

His stereotype of these female idols is that they are empty-headed and their actions are full of flaws.

He would even beat up his own girlfriend.

"Hey! I'm not a pabo!" Kim Seolhyun put down her phone and stopped choosing photos, glaring at Kang Yeon and retorting angrily.

Seeing the other party's unconvinced expression, Jiang Yan suddenly thought of something.

"Alright, I'll give you a question to test your knowledge. If you can't answer it, it proves you're a pabo."

"you say!"

"It's very simple. Who is the South Korean national hero who successfully assassinated Ito Hirobumi?"

Upon hearing this question, Kim Seolhyun's eyes immediately became incredibly clear.

She opened her mouth, and after a moment, she weakly said, "I don't know..."

Jiang Yan was not surprised at all by Kim Seolhyun's reaction.

"If you don't even recognize your own country's national heroes, and this gets made public, you're going to get criticized by netizens."

"No one would ask me that kind of question on a TV show, would they...?"

"That's hard to say."

Jiang Yan asked this question because he thought that AOA had failed because of this, which led to the group's complete downfall and no chance of recovery.

"So who is it?"

"Have you forgotten where you went to elementary school?" Jiang Yan reminded him kindly.

"Ahn Jung-geun Elementary School, what's wrong?" Kim Seol-hyun blinked and replied.

"..."

Seeing the other person's silly look, Jiang Yan couldn't hold back.

He had essentially given the answer, but Kim Seolhyun still hadn't quite grasped it.

The other person's behavior only reinforced his preconceived notions about most female idols.

What else is there to say? Things have come to this, let's eat first.

……

After a short two-day break, on the afternoon of May 13, Jiang Yan began his first commercial performance, which was the anniversary performance of Jian Guo University.

For school anniversary performances like these, well-known girl groups or singers are usually invited, as well as some famous rappers.

However, they rarely invite boy bands.

The reason for not inviting boy groups is simple: well-known boy groups have higher appearance fees, while there is no need to invite obscure boy groups.

It's important to know that if you're not a student of the school, you need to buy a ticket to watch this kind of school anniversary performance.

A washed-up boy band with hardly any fans can't attract any passersby to watch.

Both are obscure, but hiring a girl group is cheaper and more visually appealing.

Therefore, you basically won't see boy bands at most commercial performances; you can usually only see them at large-scale variety concerts.

Meanwhile, backstage at the Jian Guo University open-air theater, Jiang Yan was engrossed in playing on his phone.

Half an hour ago, he had already met with the organizers, familiarized himself with the stage, and tested his hand microphone. Now, while waiting, he was bored and could only play some mobile games.

Of the celebrities invited to Konkuk University's anniversary celebration, Kang Yeon only recognized EXID.

As for the remaining local rappers, that falls into his area of ​​expertise.

Although he had watched one or two seasons of SMTM in his previous life, he only watched it casually and couldn't remember any of the characters' names.

But it wasn't a big problem, and he didn't seem to have any intention of getting to know these rappers.

Not far from Jiang Yan, all the members of EXID were waiting there, chatting amongst themselves.

"Jiang Yanxi's song seems to have already made it into the annual chart TOP100, right?" Xu Luzhi, the team leader, said after glancing at Jiang Yanxi.

"Yes, I checked before, and it's ranked much higher than our song," Ahn Hyo-jin nodded in confirmation.

Their comeback single only ranked on the outer ring of Melon's year-end chart, while Jiang Yan, who released her song later, has already broken into the middle ring of the year-end chart after two weeks of accumulating listens.

Moreover, its ranking continues to improve, and it's only a matter of time before it enters the inner circle.

"That song is really nice. Hani unnie often hums it in the dorm, right? How about we take this opportunity to exchange contact information?" maknae Park Jung-hwa suggested slyly.

"Hey! Jung-hwa, was it because unnie was too nice to you before? Or are you just going through your rebellious phase?"

When the maknae (youngest member) suddenly teased Ahn Hee-yeon, she raised her hand with a feigned displeasure, as if to teach Park Jung-hwa a lesson.

"Haha, Solji unnie, come save me!" Park Jung-hwa ran behind Heo Solji with a grin, dodging Ahn Hee-yeon's clutches.

The others smiled knowingly when they heard what the youngest member said.

As teammates, they were all well aware of An Xiyan's stress response.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yan also noticed the commotion made by EXID, but he took it as just normal chatting and joking around, and looked away after a glance.

Right now, he's thinking about whether he should add some extra flair to his upcoming performance.

Although the school anniversary performance naturally generates some discussion and exposure, if it's just an ordinary performance, there's not much angle to use for marketing.

How can you market without creating something interesting?

But he hasn't yet figured out a specific plan on how to perform in a way that makes him stand out from the others.

Jiang Yan's gaze unconsciously drifted to the stage that had already been set up, and she was suddenly inspired by a girl group that had been produced by JYP.

If you really can't come up with anything good, just create some kind of accident for the sound system halfway through the song and show off your live performance skills.