Peninsula: My e-sports dream shattered, I chose to become an actor.

As Li Mingye walked deeper into the stairwell, he caught a glimpse of an unexpected figure in the dim light—Zhou Ziyu.

She huddled in the shadows at the far corner of the stairs, her hands tightly wrapped around her knees, her head buried deep between her legs, like a wounded little animal trying to protect itself. The only sound was her suppressed, intermittent sobs, echoing in the corner, making one's heart clench.

Li Mingye, who was secretly observing, was somewhat moved.

The scene is easy to understand; it's clear that someone has been wronged or hurt somewhere and is hiding away to cry secretly.

A girl not yet 14 years old left her hometown for a completely unfamiliar peninsula, living a high-intensity trainee life every day. Being introverted and slow to warm up to others, she couldn't quickly integrate into the group like the others, so the hardships and loneliness she endured are unimaginable.

Seeing Chou Tzu-yu's shoulders trembling slightly from crying, Lee Ming-ye felt a pang of heartache.

Even if she were a complete stranger, Li Mingye would still be moved, let alone the fact that she and he shared a connection that only he knew about.

After thinking for a while, Li Mingye still couldn't ignore it.

There's nothing I can do; he's kind-hearted.

He quietly retreated to the top of the stairs, deliberately making his footsteps louder, and walked deeper into the building with slightly heavy steps, in order to give her a mental preparation.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Chou Tzu-yu, like a startled deer, hurriedly wiped the tears from her face with her sleeve and looked up in panic toward the direction of the sound.

"How could it be him?"

The thought flashed through Chou Tzu-yu's mind, and she successfully made eye contact with Lee Ming-yeop.

At this moment, Li Mingye's acting skills, honed over the past few days, finally came in handy. He subtly revealed a hint of surprise and concern, his tone carrying a natural astonishment:

"Tzuyu? What are you doing here?"

"I...I want to be alone here and have some peace and quiet." Chou Tzu-yu's eyes darted away, avoiding his gaze. Her voice was broken and choked with sobs, and her Korean was not fluent, sounding awkward no matter how you looked at it.

"How did he manage to see me like this...?"

A wave of intense shame washed over Chou Tzu-yu, her toes gripping the soles of her shoes so tightly she wished she could disappear into the ground.

"What happened?" Li Mingye naturally switched to Chinese, trying to keep his voice as soft and gentle as possible, while carefully observing Zhou Ziyu's condition.

Upon suddenly hearing her familiar mother tongue, Chou Tzu-yu was stunned, a strange mix of bittersweetness and warmth rising in her heart.

In a foreign land, at such a sad and helpless moment, I suddenly heard such warm and familiar concern.

In that instant, Chou Tzu-yu seemed to understand the profound weight behind the phrase "meeting an old friend in a foreign land."

"I... I just like being alone. It's very... very quiet here," Chou Tzu-yu said stubbornly, sniffling, trying to maintain the last bit of her self-respect.

Li Mingye, who had been observing silently, lowered his gaze and noticed something unusual hidden under her trouser leg—her right ankle was noticeably red and swollen.

"Wait a moment, I'll be right back."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Mingye turned and left in a hurry without any hesitation.

Still in shock, Chou Tzu-yu stared blankly at Lee Ming-yeop's disappearing figure, a sudden emptiness washing over her.

Will he... come back?

Although he had just said he would come back, Chou Tzu-yu couldn't help but think the worst, wondering if she had done something wrong again and made him leave.

However, before Chou Tzu-yu could dwell on her thoughts for long, hurried footsteps sounded again, and Lee Ming-ye returned with something—an ice pack.

Chou Tzu-yu looked at the ice cubes with a bewildered expression, her face full of confusion.

"You can apply it yourself," Li Mingye said calmly, without even panting, while pointing to her ankle.

Chou Tzu-yu then realized what was happening and looked somewhat surprised: "How did you know?"

"My eyesight is good, okay?" Li Mingye said irritably, but there was no blame in his tone.

Chou Tzu-yu nodded blankly, obediently took the ice pack, and gently applied it to her swollen ankle.

"Hiss... It's so cold." The icy touch made her involuntarily shrink her neck.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you..." Her voice was barely audible, filled with guilt.

"Don't say sorry, just say thank you. It was my idea to help you, it's no trouble at all."

Li Mingye spoke casually, then sat down about a meter away from Zhou Ziyu, maintaining a distance that wouldn't make her feel pressured.

Chou Tzu-yu didn't say anything, biting her lower lip tightly and burying her head even lower.

Seeing Zhou Ziyu's taciturn demeanor, Li Mingye was somewhat speechless, but still asked with concern and a hint of reproach:

"You sprained your ankle, didn't you put an ice pack on it? What if it gets even more swollen?"

Chou Tzu-yu responded softly and shyly, "I forgot."

"How did you twist it?" Li Mingye pressed.

"...It's from dancing," Chou Tzu-yu replied hesitantly, her voice growing softer and softer.

Li Mingye nodded, indicating that he understood.

At this moment, Chou Tzu-yu, who had been keeping quiet all along, actually spoke up.

"After spraining my ankle, I didn't dance well and got scolded by the teacher..."

She lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, and said somewhat embarrassedly.

She didn't want Li Mingye to think that he had become like this simply because of pain; that would be too embarrassing.

Although things don't seem to be much better now.

"I see." Li Mingye looked enlightened.

"You must be feeling very wronged," Li Mingye said with heartache, his tone full of pity.

Upon hearing Li Mingye's concerned words, Zhou Ziyu's lips trembled, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

Sometimes, intense pain doesn't make you cry, but sudden warmth does.

"Hmph... Hmph..."

Hearing Chou Tzu-yu's sudden, uncontrollable sobs, Lee Ming-ye moved a little closer, reached out, and gently patted Chou Tzu-yu's back, as if comforting a frightened kitten.

Once the sobbing had subsided, Li Mingye said softly, "Why didn't you tell your teacher? Getting injured is beyond your control; she'll understand."

Chou Tzu-yu's voice was heavily nasal and muffled, with a slight sob at the end.

"I dare not."

Li Mingye sighed inwardly, but encouraged them aloud, "It's okay, the teachers are all reasonable people. If there's a next time, just be brave and speak up. Your health comes first."

Chou Tzu-yu didn't say anything, but silently switched hands to hold the ice pack, seemingly processing his words.

After a while, Li Mingye looked at Zhou Ziyu's somewhat relieved expression and asked gently, "How are you? Can you stand up now?"

Chou Tzu-yu tried to move, nodded, and said, "It's okay."

Li Mingye hummed in agreement and said, "Then should I call your friend and have them help you back?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Chou Tzu-yu showed a somewhat embarrassed and dejected expression.

Li Mingye instantly understood the implication and asked with some surprise, "Don't you have any friends?"

Chou Tzu-yu turned her head away, looking at the wall, her expression unreadable.

"There are still people who can speak..."

Li Mingye sighed, rubbing his forehead; it wasn't too surprising.

A foreigner who doesn't speak Korean well and is so introverted, it's already a miracle if she's not ostracized in this highly competitive environment. She's probably more likely to be accepted by other Chinese people.

"Have you eaten?" Li Mingye suddenly asked.

Chou Tzu-yu shook her head, her eyes somewhat dazed.

"Wait a moment longer." Li Mingye propped himself up on his knees and quickly left.

Chou Tzu-yu stared straight at his departing figure, motionless, as if she had turned into a stone, but something inside her was quietly melting.

Li Mingye returned in even less time than before.

He was carrying two plastic bags, one containing spare ice packs and the other containing several hot loaves of bread and milk.

"Let's go, lead the way!"

……

"Thank you so much for your help today." Standing in front of the dormitory, Chou Tzu-yu, her face tense, bowed slightly to Lee Ming-ye.

Li Mingye waved his hand and said in a relaxed tone:

"You don't need to come with these things; just follow Chinese customs."

Zhou Ziyu nodded, then recalled the strange looks she received from those around her when Li Mingye had been supporting her all the way. Her body felt slightly warm, but she also felt a strange sense of security.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she began to fidget, her eyes darting around, her fingers twisting together.

Seeing her adorable behavior, Li Mingye quickly came to a guess.

"There's a question I haven't asked Tzuyu-xi yet," Li Mingye said with a mischievous smile, leaning forward slightly.

Have you installed Kakao?

Chou Tzu-yu's face instantly turned quite red, like a ripe apple, and she nodded obediently.

"I wonder if I would have the honor of becoming Tzuyu's Kakao friend?"

"……Um."

Chou Tzu-yu lowered her eyes slightly, her eyelashes trembled, and her cheeks flushed slightly, like a flower bud covered in morning dew, hiding a hint of shyness.

After saying goodbye to Li Mingye, Zhou Ziyu carefully returned to bed and took out the ice pack that Li Mingye had just bought and applied it to her ankle.

So cold!

Her toes twitched from the cold.

When Chou Tzu-yu recalled the large, warm hand that rested on her waist as he supported her, she felt as if the warmth penetrated through her clothes and body, directly touching her heart.

Chou Tzu-yu blushed and buried her head in the pillow, her heart churning with turmoil that she couldn't calm down for a long time.