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

Christmas arrived quietly, and light snow began to fall from the night sky. Pedestrians continued to walk along the streets near Seoul National University, and delicate snowflakes danced in the air under the streetlights.

Inside a reasonably well-decorated izakaya, the walls were covered with colorful lights, and a small Christmas tree stood in the corner, creating a festive atmosphere everywhere.

Tonight, students from the Economics and Humanities departments of Seoul National University pooled their money to book the largest private room inside.

There weren't many people here today; there were only about twenty people from both departments combined.

The group sat around a long table, some playing drinking games, others joking with each other, and the private room was filled with laughter.

Park Ji-hoon was completely at home. He wandered around with a wine glass in hand, busy showing off his humor to the female students, making them giggle.

In contrast, Li Luran sat quietly in a corner, looking somewhat out of place among the men and women mingling together.

Just then, a pretty girl walked over.

She glanced at Li Luran and then sat down next to him.

Seeing someone sit down, Li Luran politely made way for them. He didn't say anything and continued to eat the grilled meat on his plate slowly.

Low-key and aloof. That was the girl's first impression of Li Luran.

She smiled and broke the silence: "Hello, I'm Jin Xiuzhu from the Chinese Department of the School of Humanities. I hope I'm not bothering you by sitting here?"

Li Luran glanced at her and replied indifferently, "No need to disturb, please go ahead."

After saying that, he lowered his head again and continued to enjoy his food.

Kim Soo-joo wasn't angry at his coldness. She sat quietly to the side and observed for a while, then casually asked, "Is the food here really that good?"

"It's alright. It's just that the taste is a bit different from what we have in China," Li Luran replied casually.

Upon hearing this, Jin Xiuzhu's eyes lit up slightly: "Oh? You're Chinese? Are you an international student?"

"Hmm," Li Luran replied indifferently.

Kim Soo-joo's smile widened: "What a coincidence! My major happens to be related to Chinese, and I often struggle with language issues. Um... could we exchange contact information?"

As she spoke, she took out her phone, her eyes full of anticipation.

Just then, Park Ji-hoon, beaming with joy, returned and was visibly taken aback when he saw Kim Soo-joo sitting next to Lee Lu-ran.

"Senior?" Park Jihoon exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you sitting in the corner? Aren't you going over there to talk to them?"

Kim Soo-joo smiled and said, "Never mind, this is a get-together for the younger students, I won't join in. I'll just consider myself a substitute today."

Park Ji-hoon immediately realized what was happening. He secretly nudged Lee Lu-ran with his elbow and gave him a knowing look.

"Senior, you chat with this guy for a bit. I was worried he'd be bored by himself. Now that you're here with me, I won't bother you."

After saying that, Park Ji-hoon happily ran back into the crowd.

……

Meanwhile, in a small private room next door.

Lee Ji-eun, Bae Suzy, and Park Ji-yeon, who they had temporarily brought along to make up the group, were chatting enthusiastically.

On the table lay exquisite Japanese cuisine and juice. Park Jiyeon picked up a piece of sashimi and popped it into her mouth, laughing as she teased Lee Ji-eun, "Ji-eun, you're really hot right now. Your new song is doing so well, you're trending every day. Tell me honestly, have you been secretly dating anyone?"

Lee Ji-eun rolled her eyes at her, then guiltily took a sip of her drink: "There's no romance to speak of. Running around to music shows every day is exhausting. But Ji-yeon, T-ara's schedule must be packed lately, right?"

"Yeah, I'm so busy I don't even have time to sleep," Jiyeon sighed. Then, she turned to Suzy, who was looking down at her phone, and asked, "Suzy's been busy with her comeback lately, right? How come you had time to be dragged out to dinner by IU today?"

Suzy looked up and glanced at Lee Ji-eun across from her. The two girls exchanged a knowing look.

Suzy smiled slightly: "Today's radio program was canceled at the last minute. It just so happens to be Christmas, so I wanted to come out and relax a bit."

"I think so too, right?" Suzy winked at Lee Ji-eun.

"Yes, yes." Ji-eun felt increasingly guilty under Soo-ji's gaze.

"It's a pity that Peach has a schedule today, otherwise we could have invited her out together." Ji-eun quickly changed the subject.

Speaking of Sulli, Park Jiyeon frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "Ji-eun, I've run into Sulli a few times recently, and she seems... a little strange. How should I put it, she would say things to me that I couldn't understand."

After hearing what Jiyeon said, Lee Ji-eun thought about it carefully. She did feel that way when she ran into her backstage at the TV station a few days ago.

"Now that you mention it, it does seem true. Peach doesn't seem to smile as much as before. I'll ask her out for a chat once things calm down."

"Yeah, we're all so busy! Opportunities to get together like this are so rare," Park Jiyeon remarked, taking a sip of her juice. "If we weren't idols, at our age, we'd definitely be having a sweet school romance, right, Ji-eun? Suzy?"

"Ah!" The two people whose names were called were shocked. Suzy almost dropped her phone on the tatami mat, and Lee Ji-eun almost knocked over the juice glass in front of her.

Seeing the two sisters acting strangely, Park Jiyeon stared at them suspiciously. "You two... are you hiding something from me?"

"No!" The two best friends denied it in unison, showing perfect understanding.

Lee Ji-eun glanced at her watch, guessing that the social gathering next door was almost over, and suggested, "Suzy, and Jiyeon too. We've been sitting here for quite a while. How about we go somewhere else? Or maybe to a karaoke room? It's been so long since we've sung."

Bae Suzy understood immediately. She picked up her bag, stood up, and smiled meaningfully: "Okay, whatever you say, unnie."

The three of them tidied themselves up, put on hats and masks, and walked out of the private room.

They walked down the corridor, and when they reached the door of the large private room, Lee Ji-eun suddenly stopped.

She pretended to have accidentally entered the wrong room and pulled open the door to the large private room.

As luck would have it, the moment the door opened, Lee Ji-eun clearly saw what was happening in the corner.

A pretty girl was standing sideways, holding a phone in her hand, smiling sweetly at Li Luran.

Although Li Luran's expression was indifferent, he did not push her away, and the two stood very close in the corner.

With just one glance, Ji-eun's face turned completely dark.

Standing behind her, Bae Soo-ji also looked over. When she saw the pretty female college student next to Lee Lu-ran, a cold glint flashed in Soo-ji's eyes as well.

Only Park Jiyeon, walking at the very back, was completely unaware of what was going on. Looking at her two best friends, who were radiating murderous intent, she blinked, puzzled, and peeked out, whispering a question:

"Ji-eun, are you alright? Did we open the wrong door?"