Peninsula: I can steal the luck of disgraced celebrities

The first sentence was uttered softly.

The pitch was slightly off by half a degree, hovering just between "uncertain" and "out of tune".

Li Yingfu's brow twitched slightly, not in a frown, but as if he were unlocking it.

In the second sentence, he regained his composure.

It didn't stabilize suddenly; it was gradually regained, like a foot finally feeling the thickness of ice.

He opened his eyes, his gaze passing over Bae Yong-joon's shoulder and landing on a distant spot outside the window.

His voice began to rise, like a fledgling bird clumsily flapping its wings after falling from its nest.

Lin Zhixun's voice suddenly became louder.

Like a river that has found its way to the sea, all the previous probing, restraint, and caution have transformed into a kind of all-out force at this moment.

His chest opened, and his breath rose from his abdomen. The volume was not loud, but the density was extremely high. Every word carried the clean stubbornness that only someone who had crawled out of the mud would have.

Bae Yong-joon put the pen on the table.

The silver pen rolled a little on the table and stopped next to Park Hye-ryun's script.

He didn't reach out to pick it up; instead, he leaned back in his chair and gently tapped his knee with his right index finger.

Lin Zhixun suddenly stopped speaking.

It didn't end abruptly—it was like reeling in a kite string, all the power being gently pulled at the highest point, leaving an extremely clean trailing note.

A flock of pigeons flew past outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the sound of their wings flapping filtered through the double-pane glass and muffled into a distant echo.

He turned his gaze away from the window and back to the four people behind the long table.

The pen in the hand of the head of KBS's production department, which had been drawing circles on the paper for who knows how long, finally stopped.

Park Hye-ryun took off her round-framed glasses and rubbed the corners of her eyes with her fingertips.

Li Yingfu's expression had remained cold since he entered, but he suddenly spoke up: "Can you dance?"

Lin Zhixun withdrew the light from his eyes and reverted to his usual calm and composed self.

"I've studied a little jazz, but my teacher said I dance like I'm fighting."

Li Yingfu smiled slightly, finally letting his guard down.

Bae Yong-joon picked up the sticky note from the table, glanced at it, and said:

"You sing just so-so, but... your vocal quality is excellent, so your mediocre singing is actually an advantage."

"It aligns with the character's growth and development, giving the audience a sense of nurturing the character."

After the audition, they told Lin Zhixun to go home and wait for further notice.

When Lin Zhixun walked out of the interview room, he discovered that the vending machine in the corridor was actually hidden in the corner behind the elevator.

He stood in front of the vending machine for a moment, put in two coins, and bought a can of hot cocoa.

The can fell with a dull metallic clang that echoed through the empty corridor.

He bent down, took the can of cocoa from the retrieval opening, pulled the tab, and took a sip.

"Not as good as the coffee brewed by Ha Joo-hee."

He made a silent comment to himself.

Lin Chih-hsun leaned against the vending machine, holding a hot cocoa can in one hand and taking out his phone with the other.

There are two unread messages on the screen, one from Lu Han and the other from Lu Han.

The first one is an emoji: a yellow dog raising its paws above its head to make a heart shape with its hands.

The second one is a formal invitation.

"I haven't properly thanked you all since I signed the contract! My dad said we should be polite and told me to treat you to a nice meal."

"I left in a hurry last time and didn't get Joo-hee and Choi Ho's contact information. Could you help me make an appointment with them?"

"I'll book the restaurant."

Lin Chih-hsun placed the hot cocoa on top of the vending machine and forwarded the message to the two of them.

Cui Hao replied almost instantly, his message as concise as an automated reply: "I'm busy lately and can't get away, you guys go ahead."

Ha Joo-hee replied quickly: "Okay."

He compiled the three people's replies and forwarded them to Lu Han, who responded as quickly as if he were waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump.

"Okay! I'll invite Brother Cui Hao separately later. I'll send you the time and place!"

The following evening, Lu Han sent an address pointing to a hidden alley deep in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Seokparang – this name carries the weight of Le Cordon Bleu in the Korean culinary world, equivalent to the famous kaiseki restaurant in Kyoto, Japan. It is a living fossil of royal cuisine from the Joseon Dynasty, and the chef's lineage can be traced back to the court ladies of the Joseon era.

Lee Chang-dong brought Jeon Do-yeon here to celebrate the success of "Secret Sunshine," and many presidents have been guests here.

Lin Zhixun waited for He Zhuxi at the alley entrance.

Today she wore a navy blue coat, her scarf was tied meticulously, and her hair was styled in a neat low bun instead of being casually tied up as she usually did in the coffee shop.

She looked Lin Zhixun up and down and said, "You're only wearing this?"

Lin Chih-hsun was still wearing the same faded down jacket he wore last year.

"What? Even if I'm completely naked, everyone's eyes will be on me."

"...If you don't wear it, everyone's eyes will definitely be on you."

It was cold outside. After Ha Joo-hee arrived, the two entered the stone slope corridor.

As you push open the door, warm yellow light and a faint scent of pine wood waft in.

Lu Han had already arrived in the private room.

Three sets of white porcelain tableware were already laid out on the table, the chopstick rests were made of black pottery, and the menu was written on silk with a brush.

Lu Han stood up to greet them, his ears slightly red, but his eyes bright.

"You're here! Please have a seat. This is a treat I'm giving you with my first signing bonus from SM Entertainment."

Lin Zhixun hung his down jacket on the rack, jokingly saying:

"Then I'll eat you out of house and home, until you're stuck washing dishes, so you'll never forget this meal."

Ha Joo-hee glared at Lim Ji-hoon and said to Lu Han, "If he eats too much, just make him work as a waiter. Anyway, he can talk to anyone, no matter who they're talking to."

The dishes were served one by one.

Nine-fold Slope – Thinly sliced ​​beef served with eight kinds of vegetables, and the sauce is a traditional fermented wheat sauce.

The charcoal fire was burning brightly under the copper pot of the Immortal Stove, and the soup contained sea cucumber, abalone, and wild mushrooms. The umami flavor spread layer by layer from the tip of the tongue to the throat.

As Lu Han added slices of meat to the pot, he dipped his food in his experiences as a trainee over the past month as a condiment:

"Do you know how terrifying the trainees' schedule is? They get up at six in the morning, practice their voices at six-thirty, have a dance class at eight, do physical training at one in the afternoon, continue dancing at three, and have dinner at six."

"It feels like I'm back in high school," Lu Han said with a wry smile.

The soup in the copper pot was bubbling away, and the roasted meat in the white porcelain bowl was oozing golden oil.

Lu Han had already talked about the trainees' daily routine, then about the food in the cafeteria, and then about the embarrassing incident of a fellow trainee fainting during physical training.

His language naturally carries the rhythm of a Beijing accent, and when he gets excited, he will laugh first as a sign of respect. His clear laughter lightly bumps against the wooden lattice window of the private room and bounces back.

Just then, a series of light footsteps came from outside the paper sliding door, followed by the hushed but still excited voices of several girls.

"I heard you need to book the ginseng chicken soup here three days in advance, but thanks to my unnie, I got to eat it today!"

"Keep your voice down, there are still guests inside."

Several slender figures were reflected in the frosted glass of the paper sliding door. One of them, a girl with a ponytail, paused at the door, seemingly checking the room number, before being pulled away by her companion.