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

"Sit down."

The agent's voice was low and hoarse, seemingly revealing a hint of frustration and disappointment.

Lim Na-yeon sat down carefully in the chair, her hands awkwardly placed on her knees, and nervously swallowed.

This was the first time she had ever seen her usually decisive manager, Unnie, act like this.

The manager also sat down opposite her, giving Lim Nayeon a complex look from head to toe, as if examining a work of art with a crack.

After a moment of silence, the air seemed to freeze, making it hard to breathe, before she slowly spoke:

"I'll just say it straight, Nayeon."

Her gaze was fixed on Lim Nayeon's face, her tone so serious that it was hard to look her in the eye:

"Someone reported you for dating."

Lim Nayeon was stunned for a moment, her mind went blank for a moment, and then she panicked. Her heart was pounding as if it was going to jump out of her throat.

She was about to explain something when her agent interrupted her.

"You don't need to explain anymore, the person who reported you took photos."

The agent deliberately avoided revealing the specific content of the photos, simply placing the phone face down on the table.

The photo simply shows Lim Na-yeon getting into an unfamiliar car, with the figure inside being quite blurry. In reality, it's not very conclusive evidence; she could easily be fooled by insisting it's a relative or friend.

However, she had been observing Lim Na-yeon's condition and had long suspected something; this incident simply confirmed her suspicions.

Lim Nayeon bit her lip and lowered her head, her fingers gripping the fabric of her pants tightly until her knuckles turned white, like a child who had done something wrong and was waiting for judgment.

She had considered the possibility of being discovered, and was even on edge during every date, but it still happened so suddenly that she couldn't help but panic.

Nayeon's trainee life has been too smooth. As a key trainee of JYP, she has no idea how to deal with the current situation.

She felt like she couldn't breathe, and an invisible pressure was pressing down on her like a mountain.

What should I do?

Seeing her helpless expression, the agent opposite her sighed heavily.

The woman in front of her was a "royal" figure favored by the company and fiercely protected by the shareholders. She didn't want to offend her too much or push her too far, lest she be the one kicked out after the matter was over.

So she decided to reason with them.

"Nayeon..." she began slowly, her tone becoming earnest.

"You know how much the company values ​​you. Although you're not the team leader, you're a core member of 6MIX, the face of the company, and the center of attention."

Lim Na-yeon remained silent with her head down, tears welling up in her eyes.

"In a sense, you represent the image of 6MIX, am I right?"

Lin Na-yeon nodded almost imperceptibly, her shoulders trembling slightly.

"Do you know what would happen if your relationship were exposed when you debuted?"

The agent leaned forward, his eyes sharpening, his tone sincere and earnest as if he were looking out for her.

Lim Nayeon paused, lowered her head even further, and dared not meet his gaze.

"It's not just you who will be affected; the most likely scenario is that your entire group will be completely wiped out, then forgotten by everyone, or even disbanded by the company."

The agent deliberately exaggerated the problem, so the possibility of disbanding is still unlikely.

"Think carefully about all those years of trainee life, all that sweat, tears, even blood you shed. Was it all for nothing? Was it really worth it? To ruin everything for a man."

A tear slid down Lim Na-yeon's cheek, fell straight to the ground, and shattered.

"You have a good relationship with Yoo Jeongyeon and Park Jihyo, right?"

The agent's voice softened, but that softness turned into a soft knife, stabbing into the heart of the other person again and again.

"Park Jihyo joined JYP in 2005, and it's been 8 years now."

"If all this hard work is wasted because of your mistake, and eight years of your life seem to have vanished, how would you feel? How would Jihyo feel?"

The manager straightened up and reached out to touch the top of Lim Nayeon's head, the movement gentle yet carrying immense weight.

Even if you can take responsibility for your own life, can you truly be responsible for other people's lives?

"Do you really think your best friend will forgive you after going through all this? Can you really live with yourself watching them be abandoned by their company and scorned by the public because of you?"

"Even if your relationship hadn't been exposed, what would your teammates think of you? A selfish, irresponsible center who doesn't care about the team and its members?"

After posing several questions in a row, Lim Nayeon finally couldn't hold back her tears, which fell like beads from a broken string.

Her body trembled uncontrollably, and she sobbed incessantly; her mental defenses had completely collapsed.

The manager sighed again, stood up, gently patted Lim Nayeon's back, and delivered the final blow.

"Think about it carefully yourself."

After saying that, she slowly walked out of the room, gently closed the door, and left despair to the girl inside.

Hearing Nayeon's uncontrollable sobs coming from inside, the manager silently reviewed his actions.

That should be tactful enough, right?

If we've gone to this extent, surely we won't be held accountable later?

The agent thought about it and felt there shouldn't be any problems.

If it were anyone else secretly dating, she would use force to make them break up, but Lim Nayeon is a special case, so she had to go soft and win her heart.

She not only threatened her career but also used moral blackmail, which is quite effective on young and responsible girls, especially when the person she is responsible for includes her best friend, doubling the harm.

Now it depends on Lim Nayeon's reaction. But based on her manager's understanding of her, this silly girl will probably break up with him immediately.

She shouldn't be that clueless.

"I'm sorry, I'm just an employee."

The agent sighed softly, walked a little further away, and took out his phone to call his superior.

This matter needs to be clearly reported to the superiors.

……

In the early hours of the morning, Seoul was shrouded in darkness.

Li Mingye looked at the unread messages in the chat box, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Is practice still not over? They're working way too hard..."

There are still several months until their debut, so it's not necessary to practice this intensely, to the point that they don't even have time to check messages in between.

After thinking about it, he didn't dwell on it too much. After all, the pressure before a girl group debut is indeed immense. He sent a message saying "Goodnight, get some rest" and placed his phone on the bedside table.

I'll punish this little rabbit severely tomorrow! How dare he not reply to my messages!

Li Mingye closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

In his dream, he saw a cold and aloof face.

Meanwhile, in the JYP dorm, Lim Nayeon hugged her knees, looked at the "Goodnight" message on her phone, and cried her heart out.