Why would Peninsula want to date a lazy dog ​​like me?

Exhausted, Jang Won-young slumped into the soft sofa, letting the makeup artist meticulously touch up her makeup. As the absolute core of IZ*ONE, her daily schedule was packed so tightly that even breathing felt like a luxury.

Just as she closed her eyes to take a five-minute nap, her personal cell phone on the dressing table emitted a piercing vibration.

The words "older sister" flashed on the screen.

Zhang Yuanying frowned slightly, waved her hand somewhat irritably to signal the makeup artist to stop, and then answered the phone.

"Yuan Ying, come home right now." As soon as the call connected, Zhang Zhenying's voice, which was both unquestionable and secretly excited, came through.

"Unnie, I really don't have time. What's wrong?" Zhang Yuanying lowered her voice, her tone filled with helplessness.

"I need you to take someone to visit your starship for me." Zhang Zhenying's voice sounded somewhat erratic on the phone. "Then, using your company's highest level of confidentiality as an excuse, get him to sign a contract I've prepared."

Zhang Yuanying was stunned.

"Confidentiality agreement? What contract?"

"A contract... that can keep him in Korea forever, and keep him by my side." Zhang Zhenying chuckled, a chilling laugh carrying a hint of malice. "I've already had my lawyer review it; it's completely legal. Once he signs it, the penalty for breach of contract is five billion won. He's just a poor international student; he can never pay that back in his lifetime. He'll have no choice but to obey me."

"Unnie, are you crazy?!"

Zhang Yuanying abruptly sat up from the sofa, ignoring the makeup artist's surprised gaze, and walked straight to a corner of the dressing room, where she growled in a low voice:

"Are you kidding me! You want me to trick a foreign student into signing this kind of servitude contract? If this gets out, what will become of my idol career?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Zhang Zhenying's soft sigh.

"Yuanying, you don't understand. He's different. He won't even look at me twice. I'm being driven crazy by him..." Zhang Zhenying's voice gradually trembled with a hint of nervousness. "If you don't help me, I'll take matters into my own hands. If things get out of hand, your future will be in jeopardy too."

Zhang Yuanying felt a layer of cold sweat seep out of her back.

She knew her sister wasn't joking. But if the methods were too extreme, and the media caught wind of the violence, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"...Okay. I can consider it." Zhang Yuanying took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, her mind racing. "But before that, I need to see him. I need to see him with my own eyes before deciding whether to help you. What does this man who has you so infatuated look like?"

"Okay. He'll come to my house tonight at eight o'clock to give me a lesson. Be back on time."

The call was disconnected.

Zhang Yuanying stared at the darkened phone screen, her gaze becoming extremely complex. She wanted to see what kind of extraordinary genius could drive her arrogant older sister to this state of madness.

……

3 PM, Mapo-gu, GS25 convenience store.

The sweltering heat meant there were very few pedestrians on the street.

Wei Wu was sitting on a high stool behind the cashier, taking a leisurely sip of an ice-cold Coke.

"Ah...that feels good."

He looked at the empty convenience store, a rare sense of peace appearing in his dead fish eyes.

Today, Zhang Zhenying, that crazy rich heiress, didn't show up.

This brought Wei Wu a great sense of relief. Since he decisively changed his SIM card yesterday, cutting off all the trouble that had come his way because of the song "Believer," his world had finally returned to peace.

"Looks like that woman's interest only lasted three minutes. She probably thought that a poor international student like me wasn't worth exploiting, so she gave up."

Wei Wu silently calculated in his heart.

He didn't care what Jang Jin-young was thinking at all; all he cared about was going to class for two hours tonight and making sure he could pocket 100,000 won.

"A convenience store job paying 8,000 a hour, plus a tutoring job paying 50,000 a hour. If I save enough money this month, I can get that secondhand monitor system." Wei Wu dreamed happily, leaning on the counter, closing his eyes, and starting his daily paid nap without fail.

As for those entertainment companies and producers who are going crazy online because of "LazyDog"?

It's none of his business.

……

8 PM, Jang Family Villa in Cheongdam-dong, second-floor study.

Wei Wu pushed open the study door on time.

As usual, without even looking up, he mechanically pulled a Chinese textbook from his faded canvas bag and began, "Zhang Zhenying, today we'll cover the grammar on page thirty-two..."

Before he could finish speaking, Wei Wu paused for a moment.

He raised his head, his lifeless, dead-fish eyes sweeping over the scene in the study.

Besides Jang Jin-young, who was sitting behind her desk in conservative home clothes, there was another rather dazzling girl sitting on the leather sofa next to her.

She wore a fitted white short-sleeved T-shirt paired with high-waisted jeans, which perfectly showcased her ridiculously long legs.

That face was as exquisite as a porcelain doll's, with fair and translucent skin, and a pair of bright eyes that were scrutinizing, curious, and deeply hidden arrogance, staring intently at him.

Zhang Yuanying.

To prepare for tonight's meeting, she specially turned down a gig and even carefully adjusted her makeup to make herself look both innocent and fatally attractive.

She possessed absolute self-confidence. In South Korea, no young man with eyes could remain calm the moment he saw her.

She was waiting for Wei Wu's exclamation, waiting for him to become flustered and even obsequious upon recognizing her.

however.

silence.

A deathly silence permeated the study.

Wei Wu looked at Zhang Yuanying, his brows furrowing slightly.

There was no amazement or fervor in his eyes, only a pure frustration and bewilderment at having his work progress disrupted.

"Who is this?" Wei Wu turned to look at Zhang Zhenying, his tone as cold and hard as if he were questioning an employee who had made a mistake. "Zhang Zhenying, our contract clearly states one-on-one Chinese tutoring. If we need to add more people, the hourly rate will double. And I don't accept auditors with zero foundation; that would be a waste of my time."

Zhang Yuanying's perfect smile instantly froze.

She stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the man in front of her, who was wearing a cheap T-shirt.

What is he saying?

Auditing students? A waste of time?

Is he blind?!

Seeing Wei Wu's reaction, Zhang Zhenying's eyes flashed with a hint of wild joy, but on the surface she still pretended to be surprised: "Teacher Wei...you don't know her? She's my sister."

Upon hearing this, Wei Wu turned his head again and looked Zhang Yuanying up and down with a rather straight-man-like and emotionless gaze.

"It does look somewhat familiar..." Wei Wu stroked his chin, seemingly trying to recall.

Zhang Yuanying breathed a slight sigh of relief. Right, she must have seen her somewhere on a music show or a music program.

"However," Wei Wu continued, his words utterly crushing Zhang Yuanying's pride, "should I know her? Is she some distant relative of yours? If she's not here to pay tuition, please ask her to leave. I need to begin class."

"you……"

Zhang Yuanying suddenly stood up from the sofa, her chest heaving violently.

She, Jang Won-young, the center of IZ*ONE, was treated like an insignificant "distant relative" by this man?! He couldn't even remember her name!

"Don't you usually go online?!" Zhang Yuanying gritted her teeth, her voice trembling slightly with anger.

"Internet access costs money, and I don't have any," Wei Wu retorted without hesitation. "Young lady, if you're angry about my ignorance, the door is behind you. Zhang Zhenying, we've already wasted three minutes."

Wei Wu pulled out a chair, sat down, opened a book, and didn't look at Zhang Yuanying again.

Zhang Yuanying stared intently at Wei Wu, her hands clenched into fists. If it weren't for the need to maintain her image, she would have rushed up and torn that cold face to shreds.

Zhang Zhenying quickly stepped in to smooth things over. She pretended to scold her sister, then put on a sweet smile and looked at Wei Wu:

"Mr. Wei, actually, the reason I asked my sister to come over today is to ask you a favor. My sister works at Starship Entertainment, and she thinks you are very talented in music, so she would like to invite you to visit Starship Entertainment tomorrow. The equipment there is top-notch in Korea..."

coming!

Zhang Yuanying stared nervously at Wei Wu. This was her sister's plan; as long as he agreed to go, he would fall into the trap of a 5 billion yuan penalty for breach of contract.

In Zhang Yuanying's view, no young person could resist such a temptation.

However, Wei Wu did not stop writing.

"I'm not going."

Decisive and without the slightest hesitation.

"Why?" Zhang Zhenying was stunned, and the smile on her face faltered.

"First, there's no money. It's a waste of my time." Wei Wu raised his head, his dead fish eyes coldly staring at Zhang Zhenying. "Second, I hate trouble the most. Entertainment companies are crowded and noisy places. If a talent scout insists on signing me, I'll have to spend energy refusing them. This seriously goes against my plan to just coast along and live a life of leisure."

"Third, and most importantly," Wei Wu's gaze swept across the Zhang sisters' faces, "I only teach Chinese, I don't do anything not written in the contract. Now, turn to page thirty-two and read after me."

The study fell silent once again.

Zhang Zhenying's face turned extremely ugly. Her proud plan seemed like a joke in the face of this man's absolute rationality and obsession with money.

Zhang Yuanying was completely shocked.

He not only ignored her beauty, but also rejected the allure of Starship Entertainment.

For the next two hours, Zhang Yuanying was forced to sit on the sofa and watch Wei Wu, like an emotionless machine, precisely and coldly correct her sister's Chinese pronunciation.

He didn't say anything unnecessary, nor did he show any fawning expression.

It was exactly 10 p.m.

"bite."

Wei Wu's phone alarm went off right on time.

He didn't even say "get out of class dismissed," he simply closed his book, stuffed it into his canvas bag, stood up, and walked out.

"Tomorrow night at 8 PM. If any unrelated people are present, I'll leave immediately."

"Bang."

The study door was slammed shut.

Wei Wu left just like that. From beginning to end, he never regarded Zhang Yuanying as a "woman" or an "idol," but only as an "obstacle" that might affect his ability to make money.

Zhang Yuanying sat blankly on the sofa, feeling as if her worldview had been devastated.

"Unnie...is this the man you were talking about?" Zhang Yuanying turned her head, looking at Zhang Zhenying's gloomy face, her tone filled with disbelief and mockery. "He's a monster who's obsessed with money! Arrogant and rude! You actually want me to trick him into signing a contract of servitude for someone like that?"

Zhang Zhenying didn't say anything. She just walked to the desk, picked up the tablet, and turned the screen towards Zhang Yuanying.

"See for yourself. See what kind of person this 'monster' really is."

Zhang Yuanying frowned as she took the tablet.

The screen displays the account named "LazyDog".

And below "Believer," a song that has surpassed two million plays and caused a major upheaval in the entire Korean music scene, it is clearly stated:

[Believer_Final Assignment_Wei Wu]

"boom!"

Zhang Yuanying's mind went completely blank for a moment.

She stared intently at the Chinese characters on the screen, her pupils contracting violently.

That poor, low-class international student in a cheap T-shirt, who kept saying "make money after get off work" and treated her like she wasn't there... was actually the genius producer that major entertainment companies were frantically searching for?!

Jang Jin-young pressed the play button.

Wei Wu's raw, untamed voice boomed in the study.

Zhang Yuanying's body suddenly stiffened.

The song ended.

Zhang Yuanying remained in that position, but her breathing became rapid.

"Now you understand, right?" Zhang Zhenying walked behind her sister, placed her hands on her shoulders, and her voice was filled with a morbid madness. "He's a genius. If he doesn't sign that five billion contract, once other companies find out, he'll be surrounded by countless women, he'll be snatched away! I absolutely won't allow it!"

However, what Zhang Zhenying didn't see was that Zhang Yuanying's face, which was turned away from her, had become horribly distorted.

The moment she heard "Believer," the moment she realized that the man who had ignored her was this unparalleled genius.

A switch deep within Zhang Yuanying's heart was completely flipped.

From a young age, she was used to being in control and having everyone's attention revolve around her. Wei Wu's indifference did not deter her; instead, it ignited her deepest desire for conquest.

That's a psychological distortion a million times more terrifying than Zhang Zhenying's low-level tactics of using money and contracts to bind people.

"Tie him up with a contract? Unnie, you're too naive."

Zhang Yuanying sneered inwardly.

Dealing with this kind of extremely rational and trouble-averse man by using forceful methods will only make him run further away.

The true hunt involves using the most perfect disguise to gradually infiltrate his life, becoming the only "safe haven" in his trouble-averse world. It requires making him willingly lower his guard until he discovers he's completely entangled in an invisible net, unable to leave her any longer.

This is the ultimate form of possession.

Zhang Yuanying took a deep breath, and when she turned to look at Zhang Zhenying, her face had already put on a perfect idol mask that conveyed a hint of sympathy and obedience.

She perfectly concealed her chilling nature beneath her sweet exterior.

"Unnie, I understand." Zhang Yuanying's voice was soft and obedient. "This song is really amazing."

Seeing her younger sister's "enlightenment," Zhang Zhenying excitedly grabbed her hand: "So you're willing to help me? You're willing to take him to the starship?"

"Of course." Zhang Yuanying grasped her sister's hand in return, her eyes filled with sincerity. "I'll find a way to get him to the starship. But, Unnie, he's too wary. Your five billion contract is too obvious; it'll alert him. Leave it to me. I'll find a more natural way to make him willingly fall under our control."

"Fine! Fine! As long as we can keep him here, I don't care what happens along the way!" Zhang Zhenying was completely unaware of the fleeting mockery and coldness in her sister's eyes.

What Zhang Zhenying didn't know was that her younger sister standing in front of her wasn't helping her at all.

Zhang Yuanying was prepared to monopolize this prey.

"Cao Cao..."

Zhang Yuanying silently pondered the name in her heart, a smile that was both extremely sweet and extremely dangerous curving her lips.

"You can't escape. Neither the starship nor my sister are anything more than tools I use to hunt you down. In the end, you will belong to me alone."

She didn't intend to let Jang Jin-young know her true thoughts; she would play the perfect accomplice until the final moment of the operation, at which point she would kick everyone aside.