Peninsula's first chance encounter during my stay in Dali

After the group arrived at the restaurant, Zhou Haoming familiarly ordered several signature dishes and then introduced the various dishes to Liu Zhimin and Ningning, explaining what made them delicious so that they could order. Once everything was ready, the three of them prepared their dipping sauces. Ningning, being from Northeast China, still opted for sesame sauce, but Zhou Haoming prepared a dipping sauce with a Southwest Chinese flavor for both her and Liu Zhimin.

Ningning instinctively looked at the dipping sauce with disdain, but then she saw Liu Zhimin devouring Zhou Haoming's sauce and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Unnie, is Haoming's dipping sauce really that good?"

"Mmm! Delicious! So delicious that I'd even shine my shoes with it!" Liu Zhimin replied, his mouth still full of various dishes.

Zhou Haoming smiled confidently, "Just kidding, the dipping sauces from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan are just kidding you, Prince Ning! Sesame paste is good, but you can't dip leather shoes in it!" Watching his idol wolf down his food, Zhou Haoming felt great and turned to Ningning to ask, "When are you guys going back to Korea?"

"Leaving on June 27th? What's wrong, Haoming? Are you in such a hurry to get rid of us?" Ningning put down her chopsticks and suddenly stared at me with wide, teary eyes.

"Stop this nonsense! If you've had spicy food, fine, but don't pull this stunt on me! I was asking how long you're leaving and recommending places to visit. What do you mean I'm kicking you out? I own Dali! The way you're talking is incredibly rude," Zhou Haoming immediately retorted.

"Haoming-xi, we have a concert at the Tokyo Dome on July 13th. Do you want to come? Ningning and I can reserve tickets for you." Liu Zhimin, who was eating at Kuku, suddenly looked up and told Zhou Haoming about his schedule.

Boom!! Zhou Haoming felt like countless nuclear bombs were exploding in his mind. When he heard Liu Zhimin was going to invite him to the Taipei Arena concert, he fainted from happiness! "Zhimin-xi, I really... Waaaaah! I have no way to repay you but to offer myself to you!" Zhou Haoming pretended to cry.

Ningning almost choked on her food from laughing. "Cough cough cough! Haoming, I'm really impressed by your acting skills. Even a dog on the street can act better than you!"

Forget about arguing with Ningning, Zhou Haoming quickly pulled out his phone and opened a travel app to check flight information. Seriously, this was Esper's first concert at the Tokyo Dome! He booked the plane tickets and hotel in five minutes, then shoved his phone into his pocket—the whole process was seamless.

Having already finished eating, Liu Zhimin was taken aback when he saw Zhou Haoming's skillful movements. "Haoming-xi, did you used to be a fan of celebrities? How come you seem to know so much about this and are so adept at it?"

Zhou Haoming then proudly introduced his fan history: "First of all, I am a true SM Entertainment fan (referring to a die-hard fan of SM Entertainment), but I don't like boy groups, I only like girl groups! Secondly, I am a great SONE, and my first idol was Girls' Generation's Yoona!!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhimin felt quite uncomfortable. Although she was also a SONE, she had finally met a male fan who looked good to her. He kept saying that he was a MY, but in the end, he turned out to be a fence-sitter.

(You're not right. I'm a SONE first and a fan of their looks second. Being a fan of Espa just proves that your group's visuals are top-notch! Zhou Haoming silently retorted.)

"Hey Haoming, do you know who I was a fan of before I debuted?" Liu Zhimin asked with a veiled sarcasm. Ningning, who was still eating, gave Zhou Haoming a meaningful look.

Still immersed in the excitement of the Tokyo Dome concert and recounting his fangirling history, Zhou Haoming blurted out without thinking after hearing Liu Zhimin's words: "Hey! Who doesn't know that Liu Zhimin is also a qualified SONE! I also know that you were a confrontational person before your debut!" After saying this, Zhou Haoming felt an unprecedented silence. Zhimin, who was still smiling, now had a tense face, while Ningning couldn't help but laugh, as if her infectious laughter would sweep through the entire hot pot restaurant in the next second.

"I know that Jimin-xi was deliberately created by your company. It's definitely not your intention. This is your company's black-and-red strategy. I believe that Jimin-xi is definitely not that kind of person!" Zhou Haoming said, pretending to be righteous.

But Liu Zhimin, who was standing to the side, didn't say anything after hearing this explanation. His face remained tense, and his cold demeanor was still too lethal.

"Jimin-ssi, I really didn't mean it. Can you stop giving me that cold look? It's kind of scary when you're like that. Bye-bye~" Zhou Haoming rubbed his hands together and continued to explain.

"Ugh, Haoming, can you please stop being so disgusting? That was a picture the company deliberately photoshopped and released. My unnie has been criticized by fans of other groups a lot since her debut because of this. As a member of MY, how can you say such things? No wonder Jimin unnie is heartbroken. Let's see what you do about it!" Ningning said with a righteous judgment.

"Forget it, Ningning. Haoming is just a fence-sitter anyway, so it's normal that he doesn't know much about us. We've finished eating, so let's go, Ningning." Liu Zhimin maintained his cold expression.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Haoming said, "Ladies, Jimin noona, Ningning sister, I was really wrong. I already called her 'sister,' so please forgive my slip of the tongue! As for what compensation you want, Jimin noona, just tell me, and I'll go through fire and water for you!" As Zhou Haoming spoke, he mentally complained about the noona culture on the peninsula. They only feel happy when they hear "noona" every two months? The strange mentality of the people on the peninsula.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhimin immediately switched to a smiling expression: "Since Haoming has said so, remember to bring a super-sized support sign when you come to the concert that says I've stopped being a SONE fan and am now focused on Espa, how about that?"

"WTF?? You can do this?" Zhou Haoming looked at Liu Zhimin with a blank expression, thinking to himself: Good heavens, so this is what they were waiting for me. But then he thought, so many people are going to watch and holding up support signs, and you didn't specify what language to write it in, so I'll write it in Chinese and see what you can do about it. "Okay, I agree!" Zhou Haoming pretended to be reluctant.

  

Dude, I'll show you what it means to be one step ahead of the devil! You little punk.

After dinner, I added Ningning on WeChat and suggested taking them to Longkan Wharf to watch the sunset. The three of them hailed a taxi and set off in a hurry. When they arrived, Liu Zhimin and Ningning looked at Longkan Wharf with admiring expressions as the sun set.

"Damn, if I could live here, I feel like I could live for another ten years!" Ningning exclaimed while taking pictures of the scenery.

"I was initially disappointed that Ningning dragged me to Dali instead of Zhangjiajie, but after arriving here, I discovered that the scenery here is absolutely gorgeous!" Liu Zhimin said, sitting on the shore, cupping her face in her hands and admiring the view.

Standing to the side, Zhou Haoming watched the setting sun cast its glow on Liu Zhimin's delicate face, and he was completely taken aback. A line from a song flashed through his mind: "It's love at first sight, oh no, I can't escape your gaze." Damn it, he'd really gone too far with his fandom. By the time Zhou Haoming realized it, it was already too late.

Sitting to the side, Liu Zhimin, with her idol's keen sense of camera presence, noticed Zhou Haoming staring at her with a lovesick expression, and her face flushed slightly. However, reflecting on their time together over the past two days, she had discovered Zhou Haoming's unique humor and impeccable sense of propriety, which gave her a slight liking for him, but not much, given their relatively short acquaintance. These impressions were all too superficial.

After dropping Ningning and Liu Zhimin off at their hotel, Zhou Haoming rode his electric scooter back to the guesthouse. Lying on the sofa, he couldn't help but sigh, "I never thought I'd be able to add Ningning on WeChat one day." As he spoke, he clicked on a cat avatar and sent her a hello emoji.