Peninsula: Aiming for a Grand Slam

Switching back to the chat window, Liu Zhimin was already urging me.

She sent another message:

Has Irene deleted the post?

"have no idea."

Did you message her?

"not yet."

"...You'd better send one now."

Doesn't she dislike Bae Joo-hyun?

Chen Jixian exited the chat and opened Bae Joo-hyun's chat window. The messages were still the same as last night: "Arrived" and "Mm".

type.

Delete it.

They hit him again.

Deleted again.

"I'm sorry" is too soft.

Asking "Are you alright?" is so stupid.

"What can I do?" There was nothing he could do. He had no social media presence, no voice, and he couldn't even get a driver's license; she drove him to the hotel.

The storm swept only towards her; he didn't even have the right to stand inside.

He only typed four words in the end.

"I saw it."

The message was sent, but there is no read receipt.

One minute.

Two minutes.

five minutes.

Chen Jixian couldn't hold back any longer. He was about to call Bae Joo-hyun's number directly when his phone vibrated.

"Move your bricks."

He sent four words.

She replied with four words.

Chen Jixian stared at the line of words, the same as the one she heard in the car last night, but this time she didn't laugh.

Then another one followed.

"The company is already handling it. You have a match today, so don't browse the forums."

Chen Jixian typed: "We will win."

Read.

She didn't reply.

Just as he was about to put his phone down, another message popped up from Liu Zhimin's end.

"What did she say?"

"Let me keep doing my manual labor and not worry about things I can't control."

A few seconds passed.

"Moving bricks?"

"I mentioned it in the chat before. When I went to do coding practice, I told her I was 'going to work on a construction project,' and she remembered it."

The dialog box was quiet for a moment.

Chen Jixian thought the topic was over.

Liu Zhimin posted another message.

How did you two meet?

No question mark was used.

It is a period.

Chen Jixian stared at the line of text, knowing she was serious. This time it was neither gossip nor teasing.

Just now, when she posted the "Echizen Ryoma slapping face picture", she was able to cover it up with a joke.

Now that she sees Bae Joo-hyun using "moving bricks" as a code word between the two of them, she's not going to beat around the bush anymore.

He leaned against the headboard and typed.

I typed a few lines, then deleted them.

It's too long to explain.

Where to begin? From the day she was universally criticized online? From the day he posted on TheQoo to defend her, with his profile picture being that silly photo of himself?

I met her on theqoo.

He sent this message.

not enough.

He added a few more sentences.

"When she got into trouble last year, I posted for her on TheQoo. My profile picture was of myself, and I almost got exposed."

Liu Zhimin did not reply immediately.

There was no "typing" message displayed at the top of the screen.

About a minute later.

"And then?"

He continued typing.

"To afford playing tennis, I sold photo cards, game consoles, and study materials..."

"She was afraid I'd get involved with something bad, like drugs or online loans, so she asked me out to buy business cards."

Liu Zhimin still didn't reply.

He added another sentence.

"She was afraid I would go astray."

The dialog box remained silent for a long time.

It lasted longer than ever before.

Then the screen lit up.

"That's how you met."

It is not a question.

She seemed to be confirming something with herself.

Chen Jixian replied with an "Mm".

A few seconds later, Liu Zhimin sent a message.

"I met you because I picked up the wrong package; you were covered in sweat that day."

Chen Jixian did not respond.

She posted another message.

"So, you met her first."

It's not a question.

There are no Ryoma Echizen emojis either.

This time, she didn't use anything to shield herself.

……

……

Monday morning.

Seoul.

SM Building Public Relations Team.

The air in the office was unusually heavy; everyone spoke in hushed tones, making the sound of keyboards clicking all the more distinct.

Bae Joo-hyun sat on the sofa with an untouched Americano in front of her.

The ice had long since melted, and a layer of water droplets had condensed on the glass.

She didn't touch it.

The agent turned the tablet around for her to see.

The screen showed a screenshot—at the entrance of the stadium, she was handing a bag of tuna rice balls to a boy in a black jacket.

The lighting is excellent.

Both of their faces were clearly visible.

"The post has been deleted, but screenshots can't be stopped."

"The discussion in the comments section is still escalating. The legal team is collecting evidence, and they can also pursue the route of 'stalker filming'."

"The question now is, how should we explain this to the outside world?"

Bae Joo-hyun didn't respond.

"What's your relationship with him?" the agent asked.

The tone wasn't accusatory; it was more like a form that had to be filled out before going through the proper procedures.

"A junior I know," Bae Joo-hyun said.

The agent waited two seconds, then, realizing she wasn't going to continue, took over the conversation himself:

"How did you meet?"

Bae Joo-hyun unlocked her phone, scrolled to a screenshot in her photo album, and pushed it over.

The screenshot is from an old post on theqoo forum, published last October.

At the time, the entire internet was criticizing Irene, and Chen Jixian posted a clarification. The wording wasn't harsh, but it was very serious.

The poster's profile picture is of a boy in a school uniform, who appears to be a high school sophomore.

Bae Joo-hyun said:

"Last year, he helped me post something online, using his own photo as my profile picture. We didn't know each other at the time."

"I later found out that he was alone in Seoul, selling photo cards and study materials to learn tennis."

"I was afraid he might pick up something bad, so I arranged to meet him."

Her expression was calm, and she showed no panic.

This isn't the first time an interrogation has been conducted off-camera.

"Private contact with fans" is a red line that should not be crossed under normal circumstances.

but,

This is not "normal".

What the company cares about is not whether she has private contact with fans, but whether her scandal will affect the stock price.

Compared to the storm outside the window, what did it matter that she met someone outside the bubble?

The company is protecting you not because they trust you, but because outsiders want to tear you apart.

The more fiercely they tear things apart on the outside, the less thoroughly they investigate on the inside.

The agent zoomed in on the screenshot, checked the posting time, and then looked at the profile picture.

There was a two-second silence.

How old was he then?

"Grade 11"

"And now?"

"Senior year of high school."

The agent put down the tablet and looked at her: "You were afraid he'd go astray, so you arranged to meet him, and then what?"

"He hasn't gone astray. He's learning tennis, has a coach, and trains every day. There's nothing to worry about."

"And you've been in contact ever since?" the agent asked.

"It's intermittent, with occasional messages."

She paused:

"It was just a coincidence. He was playing in an ITF junior tournament over there. I was recuperating at home and stopped by to visit him."

The agent remained silent.

He pulled up a document from another tablet on the table, flipped through a couple of pages, and then turned the screen toward her.

A scanned copy of an invitation letter from the Daegu City Government, dated earlier this year, addressed to her.

The gist of the message is: Daegu will be hosting an ITF junior tennis tournament, and they hope she will attend the event.

"You declined that invitation at the time," the agent said.

"Yeah, because I can't move around."

"So you went to the stadium because you were invited earlier this year, and since you were in Daegu, you thought you might as well go check it out?"

The agent did not question it.

He is sorting out or creating a logic.

Bae Joo-hyun nodded.

This is what she's been waiting for.

The agent leaned back in his chair and touched the mouse.

He suddenly asked:

"Could you show me your chat history with him?"