Peninsula: Starting with a silly childhood friend!

SM Entertainment truly lives up to its reputation as the leading company in K-pop; it's a massive and powerful enterprise.

They own three buildings, and today they are at SM's old headquarters in Cheongdam-dong, the Youngmyung Building.

It is also where the dreams of many SM fans begin, as it is the location of the famous "blue sky and white clouds" practice room.

Liu Baiyuan was led to the second floor of the SM building by the staff member called by Kim Young-min.

"Director Liu, this floor is the training floor for our SM artists."

As soon as the elevator door opened, the employee greeted Liu Baiyuan with great enthusiasm.

Upon hearing this, Liu Baiyuan also looked around curiously.

He also saw TWICE's practice room at JYP, so he subconsciously compared the two buildings.

However, what frustrated him a little was that SM seemed to be better.

"This building is currently an auxiliary building for SM Entertainment. It mainly handles matters related to the artists, while office and operational work is done in another main building."

Hearing his words, Liu Baiyuan nodded. Although it wasn't outwardly apparent, he couldn't help but feel slightly surprised.

I feel a sense of disappointment and frustration towards Park Jin-young.

Look at them! The main building and the annex are separate, and the offices and the artists' offices are not in the same place.

Look at you! Offices and practice rooms for artists are all crammed together, and you even have to squeeze into restaurants outside to eat!

Park Jin-young: Stop cursing, stop cursing... This really has nothing to do with me!

"The company has too many artists, so we split it up. This floor is the daily practice room for large groups like Girls' Generation and EXO. If you want to add backup dancers, you have to go to the basement. There are two super large dance studios down there, which can meet their rehearsal needs."

"The third floor is similar to the second floor, but it's for smaller groups like SHINee, F(x), and Red Velvet. These are all small groups, so a regular practice room is enough for them."

Listening to the introduction from the person next to him, Liu Baiyuan felt increasingly envious. He didn't care much about the other things, but he felt that the large practice room was exactly what TWICE lacked.

The nine of them are now in one practice room, which is not too cramped, but it is indeed a bit crowded.

The two briefly toured the second floor. Girls' Generation wasn't at the company at the moment. According to the employee, they had recently finished a long overseas trip, so they were given a break. There were no group activities, just simple individual schedules.

EXO, having just announced their comeback last month, are currently busy with activities. The once twelve-member boy group has dwindled to nine members after two years of members leaving, a situation that evokes a sense of melancholy.

Liu Baiyuan felt a little regretful upon hearing this. It wasn't that he didn't see anyone, but if Girls' Generation wasn't there, what would he do with the autographed photo he promised that silly peach yesterday...?

After looking around the second floor, the two went up to the third floor.

But just as the two reached the third floor, Liu Baiyuan, who had just stepped out of the elevator, suddenly noticed a tall but very thin girl standing quietly in front of a glass wall.

"she is..."

As Liu Baiyuan looked at her figure, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

I think I've seen her in some TV series or movie?

"Director Liu, this is our company's honor wall. These are the awards our artists have won for participating in various music shows or large-scale events."

The man warmly greeted Liu Baiyuan and led him to the wall of honor, which represented not only the achievements of the artists, but also the company's "fruits".

Liu Baiyuan followed him toward the wall of honor. Strangely, when the woman saw someone approaching, she immediately put her mask back on and left.

The woman was very thin; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was frail and delicate.

Her tall stature gave her the illusion of being a "telephone pole," and her fair face and slightly reddened eyes gave her a distinct sense of "melancholy," lacking any of the vitality of a young person.

As Liu Baiyuan passed by her, a pleasant perfume scent instantly filled his nostrils.

"These are all the major awards that all the company's artists have won. They're basically all here, but none of the awards for music show performances are on display. There are just too many. If we put them all here, we might not be able to fit them all. We've just displayed a few symbolically."

The employee introduced the employee to Liu Baiyuan, but his tone was filled with undisguised pride, as if he were also honored to be a part of it.

Liu Baiyuan nodded and glanced at it.

Indeed, there are quite a few awards; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they are dazzling.

But when he turned his head and came to the spot where the woman had just stood, his gaze was instantly drawn to a name.

"F(x)......"

Liu Baiyuan muttered something to himself, and the employee who heard this immediately came to his side, looking at the award that Liu Baiyuan was gazing at.

It was shaped like a gold 3D record, and it's easy to tell from the design that it's the gold record trophy from the three major music award ceremonies in the peninsula.

Below are the names of the organizers who presented the award and the winning team. Sure enough, the name F(x) is engraved below it.

"This should be an award F(x) received two years ago. However, last year, Choi Sulli suddenly decided to leave the group. If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the last award F(x) received as a complete group."

The staff member looked at the trophy and introduced it to Liu Baiyuan.

In the past two years, SM Entertainment's teams have been experiencing a series of personnel changes, making it no exaggeration to call them the "darkest" years.

From Girls' Generation to EXO, and from f(x) to...

However, just as the two were standing in front of the wall of honor observing, five girls walked out of the practice room not far away.

Being on the third floor, and with a five-member girl group at that, it's obvious that it's Red Velvet.

"Unnie, I was wrong, I really did remember your birthday!"

"Then tell me what number it is!"

"It's just September 13th!"

"Oh dear... it's September 3rd!"

Of the five, Kim Ye-rin and Park Soo-young were chasing and playing around, Son Seung-wan and Kang Seul-gi were chatting, and another one was walking with her arms crossed and expressionless. The other four looked very gentle, but the short girl walking alone had an exceptionally strong aura.

Unsurprisingly, this is none other than their leader, Bae Joo-hyun.

Although Bae Joo-hyun looked like someone who shouldn't be approached, Liu Baiyuan couldn't help but smile when he looked at her.

This was one of the reasons he came to SM Entertainment.

Soon, the five of them arrived at the Hall of Fame. The main reason was that both Halls of Fame were located on the only way from the practice room to the elevator, so they couldn't avoid them.

Bae Joo-hyun hadn't thought anything of it at first, but when she saw Yoo Baek-won's face, her little brain momentarily went blank...