Peninsula: I'm being supported by a top idol.

Liu Zhimin doesn't have the patience to hold a grudge overnight.

Since Ive was at the TV station today, I decided to get to the bottom of this matter.

Whether it was Li Rui who leaked it or not, we can find out by calling him over and asking him.

With that in mind, while her manager was away, she summoned three teammates:

"Come here for a moment, I have something for you to do."

The three of them, puzzled, stared at her curiously.

"Giselle, call Li Rui to the third-floor restroom later. I'll wait for you there."

Giselle's heart skipped a beat: "You wouldn't be going to...?"

Liu Zhimin calmly said, "Just call the person over, and I'll handle the rest."

"But..." Giselle glanced around anxiously and whispered, "What if word gets out..."

"We won't do anything to her, we'll just call her in and ask her. I need to know how many people know about this, right?"

Ningning and Jin Dongtian, who were standing nearby, finally understood what she was going to do, and were both startled:

"Is Unnie going to hit someone on TV? That would cause trouble..."

"Yes, you should calm down and not make a big deal out of it."

"I didn't say I was going to make a scene. I just wanted to give her a warning. When things get out of hand, you two can pretend to come in and act as peacemakers. Then I'll use that as leverage to back down..."

"I'm not a donkey. Besides, is this really okay? What if other people find out?" Giselle was a little worried.

Liu Zhimin's mind flashed with Zhang Yuanying's hateful face, and he snorted, "That's for the best. I want someone to know that I'm not someone to be trifled with!"

Seeing that she had made up her mind, the women knew they could no longer persuade her and had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

Before Giselle set off to fetch the people, she specifically instructed Ningning to have them arrive early to prevent the situation from escalating.

Then she found Li Rui playing on his phone in the waiting room, a harmless smile on her face:

"Hey Rui, Karina's looking for you. She said thank you for your last album, and it seems she has something for you."

Li Rui didn't suspect anything. Remembering Liu Zhimin's friendliness in asking for an autograph last time, he happily followed Gisele.

The others in IVE didn't think much of it either. In fact, before the two left, Naoi Rei joked that her older brother should just take the girl to Aespa.

However, Li Rui soon realized that something was wrong, because Giselle was leading her in a way that didn't seem to lead to the Aespa lounge.

Li Rui's smile froze slightly only after Giselle pushed open the heavy bathroom door, led her inside, and then gently closed the door behind her.

Liu Zhimin crossed his arms and leaned against the sink, his face devoid of its previous gentleness, replaced by a calm scrutiny.

Even if Li Rui was slow to react, he could sense something unusual about the scene.

"Unnie...?" she called out cautiously.

"Li Rui-xi." Liu Zhimin cut to the chase, his tone carrying a strong sense of pressure:

"I'm curious, where did you hear the name 'Cui Shi'an' from?"

Li Rui's pupils contracted sharply, and his face instantly filled with panic: "I...I don't know what Unnie is talking about..."

"Don't know?" Liu Zhimin saw her shifty eyes and immediately understood what was going on.

Step forward directly and pin her firmly against the wall behind her:

"Zhang Yuanying asked me personally before if I was dating Cui Shi'an. I've only mentioned this to my teammates. Besides you, I can't think of anyone else who could hear it outside our waiting room."

"I...I just..." Li Rui had never seen anything like this before. He was so frightened that he stammered and couldn't say a word.

"Just what? You just told your teammates, right? Do you know you're spreading rumors?"

Li Rui was so anxious she was almost in tears, shaking her head repeatedly: "I...I really didn't talk nonsense...I just...I just heard..."

She glanced timidly at Giselle beside her: "I just heard...Giselle unnie...say...mentioned the name Choi Si-an..."

Giselle's face paled; she hadn't expected to be involved, and she quickly stepped forward as well.

"Then don't talk nonsense! Karina and that Choi Si-an are just friends, how can you say they're dating?"

"I really didn't say they were dating..." Li Rui was almost in tears. The rest of the story was all made up by the IIVE unnies themselves...

Meanwhile, in the IVE waiting room, leader Ahn Yu-jin noticed that the maknae (youngest member) hadn't returned yet and was worried about delaying her makeup, so she called Kim Qiu-yu to come out and look for her.

When they arrived at the aespa lounge, they found it completely empty.

The two women immediately felt a bad premonition and rushed upstairs to the bathroom, because many bad rumors about MBC TV station originated from the bathroom on the third floor.

Sure enough, as soon as the two of them got upstairs, they saw Jin Dongtian and Ningning standing furtively at the bathroom door, and they quickly walked over there.

As soon as Jin Dongtian saw the two of them arrive, he immediately gestured for Ningning to go inside and report the news.

Almost the instant Ningning moved, Ahn Yoo-jin sensed something was wrong and quickened her pace.

Seeing this, Jin Dongtian had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward.

"Oh my, it's Yu-jin! What are you doing on the third floor?"

Jin Qiutian, being quite shrewd, preemptively greeted Jin Dongtian on Ahn Yujin's behalf, saying, "Unnie, it's been a long time~"

Jin Dongtian sneered inwardly. Long time no see? We just greeted each other in the hallway a few hours ago, okay?

"Yes, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

"Inside~"

Both of them were faking smiles, but in reality, they were eavesdropping on what was happening inside.

However, since Ningning had informed them first, Ahn Yoo-jin did not find any evidence of Yoo Ji-min's "violent behavior" when she rushed in.

But seeing Li Rui's red eyes, he couldn't help but frown:

"Rui? What's wrong? Did someone bully you?"

Ningning reacted quickly, casually hooking her arm around Li Rui's neck and saying in a mature tone, "Is there still sand in your eyes? Should I blow it out for you again?"

Li Rui shook his head, lowered his head, and whispered, "Kenchana..."

Actually, at this point, Ahn Yu-jin had already noticed that the maknae was being bullied.

But since Li Rui herself wouldn't step forward to expose it, she couldn't directly attack Aespa right there, so she could only follow Ningning's lead and continue:

"Since you got sand in your eyes, why didn't you let us help you? Why bother the Aespa staff? Come on, let's go back to the lounge and have one of them take a look."

As she spoke, Ahn Yoo-jin took the opportunity to pull Lee Seo's hand, bowed slightly to the three Aespa members, and led her out of the restroom.

Outside, Kim Dong-wook saw Ahn Yu-jin emerge with the maknae (youngest member). The two immediately exchanged glances, and the former promptly said to Kim Dong-wook:

"Then I'll be going now, unnie."

Jin Dongtian breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately feigned reluctance: "Keep in touch!"

At this moment, Liu Zhimin came out of the bathroom. She looked at the three people leaving and smiled slightly: "Now they shouldn't dare to spread rumors."

Ningning didn't understand. Maybe they were retaliating and deliberately spreading the word?

"Fool, since you know where the source is, if the news leaks out, it must be the source's fault, right? If they don't want to make a big fuss, they'll naturally keep quiet."

"Oh, I see..." Ningning stuck out her tongue; she hadn't expected this.

"Aigoo~" Yoo Jimin patted her head affectionately, his voice full of tenderness: "Will you dare say unnie is ignorant again?"

"Hehe~"

"However, the feud is now set in stone, and it will be difficult to maintain even a semblance of peace in front of the camera in the future," Jin Dongtian said with some concern.

"Kenchana," Liu Zhimin said with unusual calm, "we've always been their adversaries."