I desperately want to win on the peninsula

Night falls.

The trio of Japanese girls walked along the streets of Shimayama-oji. There were several routes back to their dormitory, and although this route was a bit longer, Minatozaki Sana had been walking back from here for some time.

Then, as he passed by, he habitually glanced at the window of that convenience store, and unsurprisingly, the seat was empty; he wouldn't be the one sitting there occasionally.

Still somewhat unwilling to give up, Minatozaki Sana turned around and glanced at a corner of the convenience store. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks and froze.

She recognized a tall, slender figure in black who was picking out snacks from the convenience store shelves. Although the figure was wearing a baseball cap and a mask that covered half of his face, she recognized him at a glance.

"Huh? Where's Sana?" Hirai Momo is usually slow to react, but when it comes to things related to Minatozaki Sana, she reacts very quickly. She noticed that her sister was missing after only a few steps.

Hirai Momo looked around. Mina hadn't run away or gotten lost, but she couldn't see Minatozaki Sana. Just as she turned around, she heard a familiar voice.

"Momo and Mina, go back to the dorm first. I still have some things to buy..." After saying that, Sana Minato waved her hand.

Upon hearing this, Hirai Momo nodded blankly, watching Minatozaki Sana turn and walk into the convenience store.

She tilted her head in confusion, looking at Mina. "Why are we going back first? Can't we shop together?"

"There might be some secret..." Mina's gaze fell on the corner, which was the direction Minatozaki Sana had been looking in. After glancing at it but not finding anything, she turned to explain to Hirai Momo.

"A secret!?" Hirai Momo exclaimed in surprise.

Afterwards, looking extremely frustrated, Hirai Momo kicked at pebbles along the way, and even after returning to her dorm, she was still grumbling about what the secret was...

On the other side, Lin Qianqiao looked down at Minatozaki Sana from his high position in the convenience store. The girl was glaring at him with a strong sense of resentment, her eyes wide open.

"You look terrible, did you buy stocks?"

"no!"

"Is there anything besides stocks that could make you like this? That's incredible..."

"Yes, for example, you might be nearby but not tell me. If I didn't see you, I would just have walked past you without saying anything..."

When Sana Minatozaki's slightly resentful words reached his ears, Lin Qianqiao was taken aback. Looking at her exhausted appearance, but with a stubborn look in her eyes, he sensed something was amiss and calmly reached out to swat Sana Minatozaki's face.

"That makes sense. I should tell Sana, but I need a reason..."

"The reason..." Minatozaki Sana murmured.

Lin Qianqiao leaned down and looked directly into Minatozaki Sana's eyes. "And the most important thing for you right now is to rest. Your dark circles are so heavy. Have you been working very hard lately?"

"Hmm..." Minatozaki Sana didn't want to show it, but her instinctive reaction made her nod.

"I can tell." Lin Qianqiao straightened up and shrugged. "Eat something here and then go back to rest." After saying that, he gestured for Minatozaki Sana to follow him, and then sat down at the same table as last time.

As soon as she sat down, Sana Minatozaki turned her head and asked, "Are you still around here because of practice?"

"Yeah, I've been pretty busy lately. I'm practicing for the SMTM finals here, and I'm going back to Nonhyeon-dong for MONSTAX's comeback stage." Lin Qianqiao replied calmly, while tearing open a bag of dried fruit snacks. She picked up a piece and tasted it, frowned at the packaging, and then thought the taste was... not bad. She then handed a bag to her little dog friend next to her.

"No..." Upon hearing this news, Minatozaki Sana's mood immediately dropped, and the strange emotions that had welled up from the fact that he had kept from her instantly subsided.

"This tastes pretty good, why don't you try it?" Lin Qianqiao casually shook the snack bag, gesturing for her to have some too.

"Okay." Sana Minatozaki took it, picked up a piece, and tasted it. As soon as it entered her mouth, she found it extremely sour and astringent. Her cheeks immediately turned into a bitter face, her eyes furrowed, and her mouth frantically produced saliva. She had to force herself to swallow to relieve the sour and bitter taste.

Looking up, she saw Lin Qianqiao tilting his head back to drink water. When she saw this, Minatozaki Sana also looked for a water source. Fortunately, there was a bottle of oolong tea standing properly on the table. She reached out, took it, twisted it open, and tilted her head back to gulp it down.

"This tastes awful!!!"

"I know."

"Then why didn't you say so!"

"Pabu, I've been feeling unwell all night if you don't eat this..." Lin Qianqiao threw the bag of concentrated dried fruit into the trash can without even glancing at it.

Sana Minato also threw one away, then punched Takumi Hayashi's shoulder. "I'm definitely going to have nightmares tonight, it's all your fault."

"This incident teaches you to be wary of food from unknown sources. Sana should thank me..." Lin Qianqiao, who had been punched, shrugged indifferently. The feeling of being punched on the shoulder by a puppy was not bad. He should make a set meal for it.

"And didn't you notice how appetizing this is?" He was so hungry he could hear his stomach rumbling, but it didn't seem to be coming from his own stomach. He glanced at Minatozaki Sana, whose face was flushed, and suddenly realized.

Seeing his "I see" look, Minatozaki Sana became angry and embarrassed. She glared at him with her eyes full of autumn water, then turned her head away angrily.

"The first test is here. Sana, who's starving, won't even be able to sleep tonight, let alone have nightmares..."

"..." Minatozaki Sana covered her ears.

"The second test is whether Sana can get up and go back to the company for practice tomorrow... The practice teacher must be very disappointed that she can't see you."

"Mo! You're a devil!"

Sana Minato couldn't take it anymore and turned to look at the calm-faced Chika Lin, as if the devil's whispers hadn't come from him.

"I'll eat it!"

"Look carefully."

This time, Sana Minatozaki looked at it very carefully, examining the ingredient list thoroughly.

"You've already asked about my situation, now it's my turn to ask you." Lin Qianqiao casually opened a bag, tore off a piece of bread and took a couple of bites. "Sana, who doesn't trade stocks, seems to be getting more and more listless."

"I'm very busy. Besides practicing, there's recording songs and preparation work, and..." Upon hearing this, Minatozaki Sana seemed to open a floodgate of words and talked about many things in one go. However, while she was talking, she didn't forget to eat the same bread as him. When she chewed, her cheeks were bulging out, and she looked as happy as a hamster, with a glint of light in her eyes.

After listening, Lin Qianqiao nodded slightly, simply indicating that she should eat more.

"Lately, I feel like I'm about to fly," Sana Minatozaki sighed. "I don't know where I'm going to find the time for exercise and fitness you mentioned..."

"I see..." Lin Qianqiao took out a chocolate bar and put it in her mouth, thinking for a moment without biting it off.

"Besides basic practice and recording, the lessons you mentioned sound like things trainees would learn, like etiquette and acting skills—aren't those just techniques for communicating with fans? Given this, are you afraid to get close to your fans?"

"Those teachers should be learning from you, right?" He recalled the wonderful moments of Sana Minatozaki before, and... shook his head with a sigh.

"Huh?" Sana Minatozaki was taken aback by what she heard, her eyes widening in surprise.

"There are also foreign language classes. Isn't JYP's overseas market in Japan? 2PM is also always active there. A very few GOT7 members have specific schedules, but most of their overseas schedules are in Japan... So even if you make your first overseas debut, it will most likely be in Japan, because the path has already been paved. Why would you need to learn a foreign language in your hometown..." Lin Qianqiao bit into a chocolate bar, the peanut butter filling was rich and delicious.

"Huh!?" Minatozaki Sana tilted her head forward, then looked into Lin Qianqiao's eyes with a "you're amazing" expression.

"So..." Lin Qianqiao leaned back slightly, "Actually, you can relax a bit. It's necessary to keep learning and improving your own shortcomings, but doing too many unnecessary things will only lead to confusion and burden."

"Be water my friend... calm down slowly, my friend~" Lin Qianqiao made a downward pressing motion with his hand.

"I know, but why do you talk about these things in such a relaxed way?"

Sana Minato leaned forward slightly, her head almost touching Lin Qianqiao's face; the two were face to face, only a hand's width apart.

"Because my name is Qiao~ finding loopholes is my style. For me, gain means effort, so extra effort will only feel like a burden and will not make me happy."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and flicked his finger. Sana Minatozaki, who was jolted on the head, leaned back, clutching her forehead, and exclaimed, "I'm stunned!"

"Are you going to eat or not? If not, take it back..." Lin Qianqiao ignored the girl's pretense. It was just a light flick, nothing that dramatic. He took out his phone from his pocket, checked the time, and looked up at Minatozaki Sana. "I should probably head back to the company soon."

"Oh... are you leaving now?"

"Not yet, I'm waiting here for my agent to come and pick me up."

Will you come here again tomorrow?

"Um……"

Upon hearing this, Lin Qianqiao glanced at Minatozaki Sana, pondered for a moment, and said, "After finishing practice here, I usually come here to buy something to eat, around this time."

"See you tomorrow?" Minatozaki Sana was delighted to hear this.

"Okay." Lin Qianqiao nodded. "By the way, you tend to hide snacks, right? Take these back with you."

He pointed to the bag of snacks on the table and said, "Share some with your friends, don't eat them all by yourself."

"Of course I will~ I never eat alone!" Sana Minatozaki said. "And you?"

"I won't mistreat myself; I'll eat whatever I want." Lin Qianqiao waved her hand, indicating that she was not worried.

"Alas~" Minatozaki Sana chuckled softly.

As he saw a van parked on the street in front of the convenience store, he stood up and greeted Sana Minatozaki, "The van is here, I'm going back now."

"See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow……"

Watching Lin Qianqiao get into the car and leave, Minatozaki Sana, who had stood up, suddenly went limp and slowly sat back down, letting out a breath.

Recalling the conversation just now, a hint of confusion flashed in her eyes, but she also understood what he wanted to convey.

Her upbringing taught her that to do things well, you have to put in twice the effort, and the happiness you reap will be multiplied.

But... putting in twice the effort is really tiring.

It wasn't the physical exhaustion, but the indescribable mental fatigue of feeling like the effort was disproportionate to the reward.

She rested her chin on her hand, tilted her head, and looked at the street scene outside the glass window, her eyes becoming hazy and gradually sinking into confusion.

...

...

Meanwhile, Lin Qianqiao, who had returned to Nonhyeon-dong from Dosan-daero, appeared at the exit of the parking lot downstairs at Starship and strolled slowly toward the company alone.

Looking at the streetlights along the road, he took a breath. These past few days have been a bit inexplicable.

Thinking about Sana Minatozaki's situation makes me feel helpless. I originally thought that the girl was overwhelmed by the pressure from the company, so I tried to make some adjustments.

But something felt off when we met that night. The girl was feeling a bit down, her emotions were teetering on the edge of a breakdown, and she could collapse in an instant.

So Lin Qian cleverly used a trick to divert her attention, and it worked quite well.

But that concentrated dried fruit was a complete accident; it was so sour it was unbearable, and he frowned whenever he thought about it—it was a nightmare.

As for why he could intuitively sense that Sana Minatozaki was at rock bottom, it's quite simple.

Logically speaking, the two were actually strangers, having only met and chatted a few times.

The rest of the conversations were all on their phones, and at best they could only be described as familiar strangers.

In online chat, both parties will interact based on their previous impressions, maintaining a so-called tacit understanding.

This creates a stereotype: a certain kind of person they should be, and a preconceived notion will form in your mind...

So when you meet them in person and they don't match your impression of them, your self-protection mechanism is triggered. A strong reaction stimulates your brain, either implying that they are who they are, or expressing strong aversion and resistance.

It's commonly said that the filter is broken, and the more unfamiliar something is, the more you can feel it. Lin Qianqiao was able to barely ignore some sensory stimulation, but when she noticed the change in her emotions, she realized that something was wrong.

After getting to know each other and chatting for the past two days, I have learned more or less about the situation.

It was just unexpectedly complicated. There was definitely pressure from the company to get her debuted, and the more troublesome part was Hirai Momo's accident.

Speaking of Hirai Momo, what impressed Lin Qianqiao the most was that she would cry when she felt like it and eat when she felt like it... She seemed to have thrown all her worries to the back of her mind, truly an optimist.

This girl did indeed have an impact on Sana Minatozaki, not too big, not too small, just right...

For example, in an accident, the person in question is lying on the ground in pain, on the verge of death.

Those who rushed to the scene or witnessed it firsthand were the most heartbroken, because a sense of helplessness filled their hearts, and they could only break down and cry.

For example, children from single-parent families may forget the hateful faces and content of their arguments when their parents quarreled and broke things when they were young, but the sound of something breaking may linger in their minds.

I still wake up in fright when I dream about that memory because it has left a psychological scar.

Therefore, the prerequisite for triggering this is, of course, a deep enough relationship. This is the spread of extreme emotions between relatives. When a sense of powerlessness overwhelms the whole body, all that comes is fear, and the panic can only be released through some channel.

It seems that Sana Minato buried this deep in her heart, leaving a psychological scar. This is one of the reasons why her puppy friend isn't very disobedient, and her certain obsessive tendencies become quite normal.

However, Akita dogs in Japan are generally quite stubborn, which is probably due to their personality.

One thing at a time, perhaps this is the trouble of smart kids... So Lin Qianqiao realized the moment she complained that he had become a target for her venting.

I still remember when we first met in the elevator, he and Zhou Xian were both focused on Hirai Momo, ignoring Minatozaki Sana who was feeling really sad.