Peninsula: My e-sports dream shattered, I chose to become an actor.

On June 14th, the air was thick with the heat of summer.

Deep inside the JYP building, in a long-abandoned practice room, the air seemed to solidify into thick honey.

After a while, Lin Nayeon, her face flushed, slumped against Li Mingye like an exhausted kitten, her chest heaving as she breathed heavily. The air was filled with an ambiguous atmosphere and a faint scent of perfume.

Li Mingye lowered his head, ran his fingers through her slightly damp hair, smoothing out the messy stray strands, and then placed a gentle kiss on her smooth forehead.

Nayeon squinted her eyes, enjoying the intimate gesture.

If the passionate kiss just now was an outpouring of emotions and a release of desire, then this kiss on the forehead is a transmission of warmth and reassurance.

After catching her breath, she got off Li Mingye.

After a short while, Lim Nayeon stepped out of his embrace and straightened her slightly wrinkled cardigan. She tilted her head slightly, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him:

"Oppa, I saw people criticizing JYP online today."

"Hmm?" Li Mingye raised an eyebrow.

"You're saying you're not giving them job opportunities, that you're deliberately creating artificial scarcity, and that your fans are protesting? Is that true?"

Li Mingye shook his head, reached out and teased Lin Nayeon's earlobe, his tone casual:

"That's not the reason. I just don't want to take the role. Besides, actors don't need too much exposure anyway."

Hearing his nonchalant reply, Lim Nayeon hummed and muttered under her breath:

"An actor? He hasn't even acted in a single drama yet..."

Upon hearing Lin Nayeon dare to question his professionalism, Li Mingye immediately shouted and pretended to punish her. He stretched out his hands and precisely attacked the ticklish spot on her waist.

"Hahahaha...no...!" Unable to bear the tickling any longer, Lim Nayeon began to whine and beg for mercy, constantly shrinking back like a frightened little rabbit scurrying around on the sofa.

Only when Lim Nayeon's back was pressed against the far end of the sofa, with nowhere left to retreat, did their faces come incredibly close, their breaths pattering against each other's faces, warm and rapid.

Lim Nayeon stared blankly at Lee Myung-yeop's face, which was so close to hers. Seeing her reflection in his eyes, her heart raced again, and she leaned closer to him.

……

Watching Lim Nayeon furtively peek out, looking around like a thief to make sure no one was watching before pulling down her hat and hurrying away, Li Mingye chuckled softly.

He took out his phone and skillfully sent a message:

"Where would you like to go next holiday?"

"Waaaah, I don't even know when we'll get a holiday..."

Lim Nayeon quickly replied to the message, followed by a crying rabbit emoji.

They are now in the honeymoon phase, and Lim Nayeon tries to call him whenever she has free time, even if she can't make a phone call. If she can't make a phone call, she bombards him with text messages.

However, this level of communication is unlikely to reduce the longing, and may even intensify the feelings.

Sometimes, Lim Na-yeon would kiss the front-facing camera of her phone repeatedly, and even asked him to kiss her in return.

To alleviate his lovesickness and to provide a safe haven for the clingy rabbit, Li Mingye managed to obtain the right to use the vacant room.

Or rather, this room should now be considered the exclusive lounge of the "second largest shareholder of JYP".

Of course, he and Lim Nayeon wouldn't come here for secret meetings every day, otherwise it would really affect their practice. They would come about twice a week as a spice in their boring practice life.

Looking at the time, it was almost dinnertime. Li Mingye straightened his clothes in front of the mirror, preparing to head to the parking lot for his appointment—today was Zhou Ziyu's birthday.

When they arrived at the parking lot, Chou Tzu-yu was already waiting by the car.

She also wore light makeup today, which was noticeably better than before. It was no longer a clumsy application, but rather added a touch of mature sophistication to her youthful face.

"Why are you here so early again? How long have you been waiting for me?" Li Mingye asked as he unlocked the car door.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Tzuyu's face showed obvious joy, and she obediently shook her head: "I didn't have to wait long, oppa, you arrived right away."

Seeing that she didn't seem to be lying, Li Mingye nodded, then took a beautifully wrapped gift box from the back seat, handed it to Zhou Ziyu, and said with a smile:

"Happy birthday!"

Chou Tzu-yu accepted the gift box, letting out a silly laugh. Holding the gift in both hands, her eyes revealed excitement and anticipation.

"Can I open it now?"

"Whatever you want, it's yours now."

Upon hearing permission, Chou Tzu-yu eagerly opened the gift box, and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise upon seeing what was inside:

"So cute!"

Inside is a finely crafted puppy doll, fluffy with round, bright eyes, which is sure to appeal to girls.

Seeing Chou Tzu-yu excitedly hugging and rubbing the plush toy against her, Lee Ming-ye breathed a sigh of relief.

He's not very good at picking gifts, and he always gets a headache when it comes to giving gifts. He used to be tormented by his sister a lot.

Fortunately, Chou Tzu-yu seemed to really like the gift, and Lee Ming-yeop was also infected by her happiness, reaching out to ruffle her hair.

"I'm glad you like it," he said calmly.

Chou Tzu-yu looked at him happily, pressed the plush toy to her cheek, and said earnestly, "I will take good care of it."

Actually, she would be happy with anything Li Mingye gave her, especially since she really liked this doll.

Li Mingye nodded with satisfaction, leaned over, and reached out to help Zhou Ziyu fasten her seatbelt.

The faint fragrance emanating from the two mingled together, and Chou Tzu-yu's cheeks flushed slightly, but this was quickly masked by the joy of her birthday.

We finally arrived at the restaurant, the same one we'd been to before. The food and privacy were both great, and Tzuyu had said she missed it.

Li Mingye took the pre-ordered birthday cake from the trunk and went into the private room.

After sitting down and waiting for the food to be served, Li Mingye took a few bites and suddenly spoke up as if he had remembered something:

"By the way, I heard you moved up to Class B?"

Chou Tzu-yu looked slightly puzzled, as if asking, "Who told you that?" but quickly changed her expression to one of happiness.

"Yes! The teacher even said I'm the most likely to debut among our batch!"

Li Mingye smiled with pride and said, "I told you Ziyu, you're pretty good."

At this moment, Chou Tzu-yu suddenly blushed, lowered her head, and whispered:

"Luckily, I had Oppa's support and encouragement..."

Li Mingye patted Zhou Ziyu's hair, but did not accept the credit.

"It's all because Tzuyu is strong and hardworking enough; she would have been the same even without me."

"No, that's not true!"

Tzuyu rarely spoke up to refute him; her voice was soft, but it carried a stubbornness.

"Without Oppa, I don't know if I could have kept going."

As she spoke, her voice weakened, but the firmness in her tone remained unchanged.

"When I was hiding in a corner and crying, I felt like I was really going to give up. I felt like all this suffering and exhaustion was meaningless and there was no end in sight."

Then she raised her head and looked straight at Li Mingye, her eyes seemingly sparkling with stars:

"And then oppa appeared."

"They gave me warmth when I was at my lowest point, and encouraged me when I was most afraid."

"If it weren't for oppa, I probably would be home by now."

Li Mingye looked into her sparkling eyes, but the image of her shining in his dreams flashed through his mind.

If his deduction is correct, the scenes in his dream should represent the future under conditions where he did not interfere.

Even without him, Chou Tzu-yu would still have succeeded and shone. She might have shed more tears and suffered more grievances, but no matter how much hardship she endured, she persevered.

She is actually much stronger than she thinks.

Li Mingye's heart softened, and as if possessed, he reached out and hugged Zhou Ziyu, gently patting her back.

This was the first time Chou Tzu-yu had been touched so intimately by him. Her body stiffened at first, but then she slowly relaxed. She leaned against him, inhaling his pleasant fragrance and listening to his steady heartbeat, feeling an immense sense of peace.

"Alright, let's eat the cake."

After a while, Li Mingye loosened his grip and said softly.

Chou Tzu-yu's face was still a little dazed, as if she was still craving that body warmth and hadn't had enough of the hug, her eyes slightly glazed.

Li Mingye placed candles on the cake, lit them, and the dimly lit private room was instantly filled with warm candlelight. He looked at Zhou Ziyu and said gently:

Make a wish.

Chou Tzu-yu took a deep breath, closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and made a sincere wish:

"I hope I can debut, I hope I can become a big star!"

She silently added a sentence in her mind, saying it to herself:

"And I hope he'll be by my side every year."

Chou Tzu-yu opened her eyes, puffed out her cheeks, and blew out the candle in one breath.

Her eyes lit up with a smile as she stared intently at Li Mingye, his image reflected in her gaze.