Peninsula: Starting with the nation's first love, the white moonlight

In the underground parking garage of KBS television station, a black van slowly drove out and merged into the crowded street.

The first comeback stage ended successfully, and the atmosphere in the car was very cheerful.

Lee Ji-eun showed no signs of fatigue and remained in a state of high energy.

She sat in the middle, chattering away as she shared interesting stories that happened backstage with Lin Xiuying.

"Unnie, you don't know, I ran into Sulli and Jiyeon backstage today! Sulli said she watched my MV and complimented my dress in it. We even made plans to go shopping together next time."

"But Jiyeon is driving me crazy! She said she'd look way sexier than me in that outfit, don't you think, unnie?"

Lin Xiuying responded with a smile, "Then it must be our Zhi'en who's the cutest."

Li Luran sat in the last row, listening to the two women excitedly gossiping.

He couldn't match the names of these girl group members to his own, and getting a little bored, he simply leaned against the car window, put on his hoodie, and closed his eyes.

Just as he was drifting off to sleep, Lee Ji-eun happened to see his sleepy-eyed appearance through the rearview mirror, and a mischievous thought popped into her head.

"Li Luran!!!"

She suddenly shouted.

Li Luran was startled by her shout, jolted awake, and sat bolt upright: "What's wrong? What happened?"

Lee Ji-eun turned her head, looked at his terrified expression, and grinned secretly.

"It's nothing," she blinked her innocent-looking big eyes, "I just suddenly wanted to call your name."

Li Luran took a deep breath. He didn't want to comment on the childish behavior of this "national little sister."

He shook his head helplessly, leaned back against the car window, and prepared to go back to sleep.

But how could Ji-eun let him have his way so easily?

"Don't sleep."

Lee Ji-eun turned around and leaned back in her seat, staring intently at him with her big eyes. "Lee Lu-ran, who was that girl you were chatting so enthusiastically with just now?"

Li Luran yawned with his eyes closed, giving a perfunctory reply:

"I don't know her, but judging from the banner she's holding, she must be a fan of yours."

"You chatted so happily with her even though you don't know her?" Lee Ji-eun sat up angrily and glared at him fiercely.

Unfortunately, with his eyes closed, Li Luran's extremely threatening gaze from Ji-eun completely failed him.

"They approached me to talk, and they're even your fans, so I just responded casually out of politeness," Li Luran said calmly. "There's no such thing as a lively conversation; don't jump to conclusions."

At this moment, Lin Xiuying, who had been sitting on the side listening to the gossip, couldn't help but join the conversation.

"Ji-eun," Lim Soo-young covered her mouth and chuckled, "Lu Ran is so handsome and tall, it's normal for him to get hit on by girls when he's in a crowd. But don't worry, Ji-eun, when we're on a schedule, I'll keep a close eye on your Lu Ran and make sure no other girl gets near him."

"Oh my! Unnie!"

Upon hearing "your Lu Ran," Lee Ji-eun's face immediately turned bright red.

She waved her hands frantically, stammering, "What?! My Lu Ran! Don't talk nonsense, Unnie! What business is it of my business which woman he talks to!"

She forced a straight face, trying to regain her composure: "I'm just angry. He clearly promised to watch my debut performance seriously, but he was chatting with other women the whole time!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Lin Xiuying's teasing tone remained unchanged. Seeing Li Zhien's puffed-up cheeks, she couldn't help but want to tease her.

At this moment, Li Luran, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly had the image of the blonde woman on the final stage flash through his mind.

"By the way, Sooyoung noona. Do you know the name of that blonde girl who sang in the middle of the stage before we left?"

"The last song?" Lim Soo-young recalled the previous sequence. "Oh, you mean the encore stage? I remember TTS won first place, and the blonde one should be..."

"Unnie! Don't tell him!"

Lee Ji-eun suddenly interrupted Lim Soo-young loudly.

Lin Xiuying was startled by her. Seeing the wary look in Li Zhi'en's eyes, she instantly understood what was going on. She smiled awkwardly and turned to Li Luran, shrugging her shoulders.

"Lu Ran, since Zhi En has already spoken, it's not convenient for me to say anything. Why don't you... go ask Zhi En? She definitely knows!"

Li Luran glanced at Li Zhi'en, who looked like she was determined not to tell him even if he killed her.

He knew he wouldn't get an answer today. However, he didn't press the matter further; it would be a loss to anger this little darling.

Perhaps he really did mishear.

"Hey, Li Luran."

Lee Ji-eun narrowed her eyes warily. "Didn't you always say you weren't interested in girl groups? Why are you suddenly asking about other female celebrities today?"

A woman's intuition is always frighteningly accurate. Li Luran usually doesn't care about female celebrities in the entertainment industry and can't even recognize all their faces, so it's very unusual that he would take the initiative to ask about the name of a female idol today.

Li Luran shook his head and casually replied, "Nothing, I just thought her singing voice was quite unique, so I was just asking. Just pretend I didn't say anything."

Li Luran didn't ask any further questions, and Li Zhi'en naturally didn't say anything more.

She turned to look at the night view outside the window, quickly going through the names of the people who had won first place that day in her mind.

Girls' Generation's leader, Kim Tae-yeon.

"Kim Tae-yeon and Lee Lu-ran...it's impossible for them to have any connection, right?"

One is an international student from China, and the other is the leader of a popular girl group. These two people are completely unrelated and there is no way they could have any connection.

However, a woman's intuition told her that when Li Luran asked that question, there was a strange glint in his eyes, and this matter was definitely not that simple.

……

Time flies, and it's already mid-December.

With the continued success of her new album and the dominant performance of her title track on various music charts, Lee Ji-eun's popularity has experienced an unprecedented surge, causing LOEN Entertainment's stock to soar.

Today is the offline autograph session for IU's new album. Given IU's current popularity, you can imagine how popular the event was.

In the plaza of a large shopping mall, the line of fans waiting for autographs stretched as far as the eye could see, completely blocking the three floors of the mall.

Li Luran was wearing a black windbreaker and was standing in the staff area behind the autograph table.

Normally, it wouldn't be his place to be present at such an event, but unfortunately, Han Te has an important business meeting to attend and can't get away today.

He was worried about Lin Xiuying handling such a big scene alone, so he asked Li Luran to come and help keep an eye on things.

Li Luran had never been to a Peninsula Idol's autograph session before, and feeling a bit curious, he agreed.

The book signing event officially began at 2 PM.

Lee Ji-eun, dressed in a white dress, smiled and signed autographs for every fan present.

The atmosphere at the scene was fantastic.

A very heartwarming little incident occurred during the book signing event.

A five-year-old girl, led by her mother, walked to the autograph table. The little girl was wearing a princess dress and clutching an album tightly in her hands.

"Ji-eun unnie!" the little girl called out in her childish voice.

"Oh my, so cute!" Lee Ji-eun's heart melted. She quickly bent down and asked, "Little sister, what's your name?"

The little girl blinked her big eyes and asked curiously, "Unnie, how do you make time go faster? Did you eat the clock? Mommy said eating random things will make your stomach hurt."

The question elicited a burst of laughter from the entire audience.

Lee Ji-eun was also somewhat amused. She gently patted the little girl's head and played along, saying, "Yes, but unnie has magic, so my tummy doesn't hurt. You can't eat random things like unnie, okay?"

After signing her name, the little girl left satisfied.

The book signing proceeded smoothly and soon reached its second half.

Just as Lee Ji-eun had finished signing an album and was about to pick up the poster...

On the outskirts of the crowd, a man wearing a baseball cap and a mask suddenly pushed open the security barrier.

He held a bouquet of red roses in his hands, his eyes filled with fervor.

In the blink of an eye, he crossed the cordon and rushed toward Lee Ji-eun on the stage!