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

"Unnie, the drama is about to air! Hurry, hurry!"

Liu Zhimin, who had just started junior high school, sat on the sofa, slapping the soft cushion with her right hand, her voice filled with undisguised eagerness and anticipation.

"Here it comes~"

My sister, with a thick white face mask covering her face except for her eyes, strolled leisurely out of the room, carrying a bag of potato chips.

Liu Zhimin beamed with joy and quickly moved to the side of the sofa to make room for her, patting the sofa next to her: "Sit here quickly!"

"Don't rush, it won't matter if you miss a minute or two." The older sister, who was wearing a face mask, spoke slightly unclearly as she slowly sat down.

"How can this be?" Yoo Jimin immediately showed some dissatisfaction, her brows furrowed tightly. "Myungyeoppa doesn't have many scenes."

"He only appeared for 3 minutes in the last episode. What if I don't watch the previous episodes and miss all of oppa's scenes?!"

Last week, the girl was bored and switched to SBS TV, where they happened to be watching a scene of Choi Young-do arguing with his employees at his hotel.

On the screen, Li Mingye's exaggeratedly dazzling face and rebellious aura instantly captivated the 13-year-old Liu Zhimin, making her completely smitten.

There are many people in her class like her. On the contrary, many people are not interested in the type of male lead, Lee Min-ho. For these teenage girls, the second male lead's character and looks are more attractive.

"Oh my god, the second male lead only appeared for 3 minutes in an entire episode! Lee Min-ho must be afraid that oppa would steal his thunder!"

Liu Zhimin waved her little fist and said somewhat unhappily, her tone full of indignation for her idol.

This was the result she came up with last night in a discussion with other people in her fan group, and she firmly believes in it.

The older sister next to her rolled her eyes: "You guys are overthinking things. It's only been three episodes, and his story hasn't even unfolded yet."

She had feelings for Lee Min-ho; after all, she was a big fan of "Boys Over Flowers" when it was airing.

However, she was definitely not as obsessed as her sister, who acted like a cult fan.

As the OST began to play, the drama started airing. Shortly after, the scene shifted to an airport, showing Choi Young-do picking up Yoo Rachel.

"Da ...

The older sister quietly admired the scene. Although they disagreed on some of her younger sister's fervent claims, they shared a high degree of consensus regarding Li Mingye's face.

Watching the amusing interactions between Li Mingye and Jin Zhiyuan on the screen, which resembled a bickering couple, the older sister couldn't help but laugh out loud, causing her face mask to tremble.

"These two have such great chemistry, could they actually be dating?"

Liu Zhimin's smile froze, she frowned, and remained silent.

Then, the older sister suddenly felt like teasing her younger sister, turned around and asked with a mischievous smile:

"What would you do if your oppa really started dating Kim Ji-won?"

Liu Zhimin rolled her eyes and said irritably, "Oppa is still in the rising stage of his career, how could he be dating? The company wouldn't allow it either."

Although she said that, she continued to look at the TV, and seeing the harmonious and natural atmosphere between Li Mingye and Jin Zhiyuan on the screen, she couldn't help but feel a strange worry and bitterness in her heart.

After all, Li Mingye's main job is acting, so it doesn't seem impossible for him to be in a relationship.

"Hmm... I wish oppa was an idol..." she muttered softly.

……

After a day of filming, Li Mingye returned home.

After showering, he lay on the bed in loose pajamas, with only a dim floor lamp lit in the room. He was scrolling through his phone, the screen illuminating his refreshed face after his shower.

The ratings for the fourth episode, which aired a few days ago, are out—12.0%.

The viewership ratings have begun to stabilize and are showing an upward trend, suggesting that the future performance will be promising.

There has been less criticism online, perhaps because those who disliked the show have already given up. Those who remain online now are mostly viewers who genuinely enjoy the plot and characters.

Among these people, he is the subject of particularly much discussion.

As a newcomer to television dramas, many people have highly praised his acting skills. Not only was he chillingly ruthless and rebellious in the first episode, but his portrayal of grievances, vulnerability, and anger in later episodes was also clearly layered, showing the multifaceted nature of the character.

Although there weren't many shots of it yet, it was enough to grab the audience's attention.

Of course, compared to acting skills, appearance receives far more discussion.

In fact, only a small portion of the discussions about him are purely about his acting skills; the majority of the discussion revolves around his "persona" and "appearance."

Countless young girls are easily attracted by his striking face and quickly become his fans. These days, his fan base is growing exponentially, with a fierce momentum.

Those fans who left during his "disappearance" quickly returned, all emphasizing their status as longtime fans.

In contrast, although Lee Min-ho already has a large fan base and is undoubtedly a top star, his popularity growth is not as amazing as that of this "newcomer" due to the character setting and plot development.

His pairing with Kim Ji-won, the "Dosei couple," also garnered significant attention. Despite only interacting two or three times, their on-screen chemistry and "pseudo-incestuous" relationship captivated countless viewers.

There's a lot more to their story, and it'll be interesting to see how big their fanbase grows.

Li Mingye swiped the screen, a playful smile playing on his lips.

Lee Min-ho is now feeling the pressure and is discussing with the screenwriter whether they can revise the script to slightly reduce the second male lead's screen time and the romantic subplot between the two main characters.

The result was, of course, rejection, and Li Mingye learned of this news immediately.

The screenwriter and the investors are both my people, what can you use to fight me?

Li Mingye chuckled softly and continued scrolling through his phone. After a moment's hesitation, his finger paused on the screen before he opened Weibo.

Actually, he had been reading discussions on some Chinese websites. After all, he had spent so much time there before, so he felt a strong sense of belonging and was curious about what the audience there thought of him.

His situation in China differs somewhat from that in the Korean Peninsula. Because the OLENSG trend that made him famous didn't really spread in China, he had virtually no initial fans there, so his popularity was significantly lower than Lee Min-ho's, who had cultivated a large following in China and had a large fanbase from his dramas.

However, his fan base is growing at an astonishing rate; after all, his good looks speak for themselves, and true beauty transcends borders.

He looked at the screenshot posted by his fan club; it was a still from the drama, and the comments below were full of "husband" and "so handsome." He liked it, then thought for a moment.

"Should I start a Weibo account too?"

After thinking it over, he decided that it was feasible and would talk to Kim Hyun-seok tomorrow, since it was an important step in expanding into overseas markets.

The main reason is that he wants to interact more with the Chinese audience.

He then looked at other discussions and discovered his and Kim Ji-won's "Dosei Couple" fan club, which was surprisingly large. Curious, he searched further and found that Kim Ji-won didn't have her own fan club yet.

He smiled and swiped away.

He had originally thought of sending it to Kim Ji-won, but he was afraid she would overthink it or be hurt, so he decided against it.

However, he still took a few other screenshots and sent them to Kim Ji-won.

Not long after, Kim Ji-won replied.

"What does this mean?"

Kim Ji-won, unable to read Chinese, uttered a question mark of confusion.

Li Mingye stared at the screen, his fingers flying across the keyboard:

"Everything is beautiful in Quanuna."

"...smooth-talking."

Li Mingye smiled happily, stopped sending messages, and switched to his chat with Lin Nayeon.