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

"Knock knock".

"Here you are!"

Hearing that familiar knocking rhythm, Kim Ji-won's eyes lit up, and she excitedly ran to the door.

She subconsciously smoothed the stray hairs by her ears and patted off non-existent wrinkles on her apron before opening the door.

"Didn't you bring your keys?"

With a faint smile and a hint of affectionate reproach in her voice, she naturally reached out and took the scarf that Li Mingye had taken off.

Li Mingye paused slightly, then gently shook his head, his voice lower than usual:

"I forgot."

Kim Ji-won didn't immediately realize that something was wrong. Like a busy little bee, she circled behind him and stood on tiptoe to help him take off his coat.

She carefully hung the coat on the hanger, every movement revealing her unconscious virtuousness.

"Huh?" After hanging up the clothes, she finally saw Li Mingye's attire clearly and looked surprised. "Why are you dressed so scantily?"

He was only wearing a thin shirt underneath, and his coat wasn't even a thick winter coat. It had been snowing all day, and the temperature outside was at least seven or eight degrees below zero. This was practically reckless dressing.

Li Mingye smiled for the first time after entering the room, and lightly punched his chest with his hand:

"I'm healthy, this little bit of cold is nothing to me."

Kim Ji-won blushed slightly, as if she had thought of something, and glared at him sideways:

"I know you're feeling better, but you can't do anything reckless; catching a cold is really uncomfortable."

Li Mingye nodded obediently, not taking it too seriously.

His body is evolving a bit slower than before, but it's still unlikely that he'll catch a cold or anything like that.

Kim Ji-won tiptoed and gave him a light peck on the cheek, saying with a smile that didn't fade, "I just made something delicious."

She turned and went into the kitchen, then carefully brought out a bowl—

Instant noodles?

Li Mingye's eyebrows involuntarily twitched slightly.

It wasn't that he disliked the instant noodles, but the contrast between Nu Na's serious demeanor and the bowl of instant noodles was rather endearing.

Kim Ji-won caught his micro-expression almost instantly, her face turning bright red to her ears. She quickly waved her hand and explained:

"I also ordered Chinese takeout, it'll be here soon."

"Eat something to tide me over..." Her voice trailed off, and her head drooped unconsciously.

I feel that my already limited authority as a Nuna has been damaged once again...

She's genuinely bad at cooking. Her few attempts at cooking throughout her life have all ended in disaster, and this bowl of instant noodles is practically the pinnacle of her "culinary career."

Li Mingye chuckled at her embarrassed yet vain expression.

He sat down in the chair, picked up his chopsticks, and slurped a mouthful of food into his mouth.

Sitting next to him, Kim Ji-won clenched her fists nervously, her eyes fixed on his chewing movements.

Although the flavor mostly comes from the seasoning packet, she also made many small innovations, and some of the ingredients were even made by her own hands.

Li Mingye looked up and gave her a warm smile: "It's delicious."

He didn't overreact; after all, it was just instant noodles, and a big reaction would seem fake.

"Then I'm relieved." Kim Ji-won happily clasped her hands together, tilted her head, and smiled.

"Isn't Nuna going to eat?"

"I'm on a diet recently, so you can eat it."

"Nuna is already so thin, does she still need to lose weight?" Li Mingye exclaimed in a somewhat exaggerated manner.

This was the biggest expression he made since he came in.

Kim Ji-won suppressed a laugh and patted him, her joy overflowing: "No way, I've gained a lot of weight recently."

"Really?" Li Mingye looked her up and down in a pretentious manner, then shook his head in a serious manner.

"I didn't feel anything."

He lowered his head again, picked up a mouthful of noodles, and put it in his mouth, but unconsciously slowed down his chewing speed.

The air suddenly became quiet.

It wasn't the kind of warm, wordless quiet, but rather a silence as if something was suspended in mid-air, reluctant to fall.

Kim Ji-won belatedly realized that something was wrong.

Mingye seems unusually quiet today.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly as she silently observed Li Mingye's state.

He wasn't deliberately ignoring her; he probably didn't even realize the change in atmosphere.

His chopsticks would suddenly stop in mid-air, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the soup in the bowl, as if his thoughts had drifted far away.

The two had been silent for over a minute now, and he still seemed oblivious to everything, mechanically chewing his noodles.

Kim Ji-won bit her lower lip, moved closer to Lee Myung-yeop from the side, and gently poked his elbow with her finger, her voice filled with a cautious inquiry:

"you……"

She hesitated for a moment before choosing her words, but ultimately opted for the most direct approach.

Are you unhappy?

Li Mingye turned his head slightly and met Jin Zhiyuan's eyes, which were full of concern.

His expression finally showed a slight change, like a pebble being thrown into a calm lake.

He chuckled softly, trying to appear nonchalant.

"I recently read a script and I'm thinking about the plot."

Upon receiving this explanation, Kim Ji-won did not respond immediately. She gently clenched her fingers, her eyelashes lowered, and something flickered in her eyes.

Then, she slowly rested her head on Li Mingye's shoulder, her hair slipping down and brushing against his neck.

"Is it because of her?"

Her voice was soft, but her tone was unusually firm.

She didn't specify who it was, but both of them knew who "she" referred to.

Some things women can understand without ever meeting in person.

Li Mingye fell silent, his gaze involuntarily drifting to the head resting quietly on his shoulder, a complex emotion passing through his mind.

Are women all so perceptive about these kinds of things?

He opened his mouth, wanting to offer a nonchalant excuse to brush off his worries.

But when the words reached his lips, it was as if something was blocking them, and he couldn't say them no matter what.

Feeling the heavy warmth on his shoulder, he felt as if he had finally unloaded an invisible burden, and let out a long breath.

"It's related to her, but it's not her problem."

He leaned back on the sofa, his gaze fixed on the somewhat glaring incandescent light bulb above him, the white light from the bulb burning a small blind spot on his retina.

Kim Ji-won leaned against his chest, her fingertips unconsciously fiddling with his buttons, her expression hesitant and cautious.

"Can...can I know?"

Li Mingye's first reaction was to refuse.

It's absurd to talk about this kind of topic with Nuna.

At the same time, the things that were stuck in my chest seemed to have a hole opened by those words, and they rushed out eagerly.

His urge to confide was particularly strong today. He hadn't felt this troubled for far too long, as if his breath was being blocked by a wad of cotton, wanting to exert force but unable to.

He turned his head, resting his chin gently on the top of Nuna's head, and closed his eyes:

"I first met her... at the JYP building."

……

The story wasn't told for very long. He only mentioned the general timeline, omitting all the specific, sweet details.

Kim Ji-won probably doesn't want to hear those things; she has that much emotional intelligence.

After saying the last sentence, he realized that the person on top of him had been silent for quite some time.

He gently stroked Kim Ji-won's hair, a belated sense of absurdity welling up inside him.

What am I doing? Confessing about my relationship with my girlfriend to another woman I'm connected with...

Kim Ji-won clung tightly to his arm, burying her face in his shoulder, making it impossible for him to see her expression.

What should be done in this situation?

First, let's look for a time machine.

Just as he was frantically brainstorming how to end this, he heard Kim Ji-won's muffled voice coming from his chest:

"very nice……"

She raised her head slightly, revealing a pair of watery eyes, gazing up at him.

In truth, she had always harbored an inexplicable sense of guilt towards that unknown girlfriend. She was the one who came later, and no matter what reasons she used to embellish it, that was the truth.

Having heard just the tip of the iceberg of this story today, that sense of guilt has become even more concrete.

They're so close in age, she's much more suitable than her...

No, I'm going to cry if I keep thinking about it.

Kim Ji-won buried her face again and tugged at his sleeve hard in a fit of pique, the force not too strong, but not too weak, like some kind of silent protest.

Li Mingye sighed softly, something flickering slightly deep within his eyes.

He couldn't hold back any longer and finally blurted out the words that had been swirling in his chest all night:

"Nuna, what should I do?"

Silence spread like a tide, stretching the tens of seconds into several minutes.

Kim Ji-won slowly straightened up and stared at him intently.

Her eyes were noticeably red, and her eyelashes seemed to be covered with a thin layer of moisture.

"She loves you very much."

Her voice trembled slightly when she said this, but it was unusually firm.

She couldn't help but think of herself—if she were in her shoes, how would she choose in the face of such a choice? Perhaps she would consider reality more rationally, or perhaps she wouldn't let the hesitation last so long.

But the moment such a thought crossed her mind, a deeper sense of guilt welled up inside her. It was as if she couldn't even compare to that girl in terms of the degree of love she felt.

Kim Ji-won gently wiped her eyes and took a deep breath:

"Don't let her down."

A look of astonishment flashed across Li Mingye's face. His heart felt as if it had been suddenly clenched by something, and his arms wrapped around Kim Ji-won's waist almost instinctively, with more force than usual.

Kim Ji-won pressed her body closer to him with his force, wiping the moisture from her eyes onto his shirt.

A small patch of the fabric was damp, with a slightly cool touch.

She raised her hand, her fingertips gripping the front of his shirt, her voice thick with a nasal tone, yet each word was deliberate and clear, like a declaration:

"But you can't let me down..."