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

The connection between Li Mingye and Lin Nayan has not been severed. In fact, it's even stronger than he expected.

Besides the unwavering good morning and good night greetings, my phone would occasionally vibrate during mealtimes, displaying a message from her.

The words and phrases are no longer as unrestrained and cloying as before. There are no exaggerated emoji bombardments, and no more of that tantalizing "darling".

His tone was polite and mild, as if he were speaking through an invisible veil.

Li Mingye seemed to be able to see her struggle and pain through those carefully chosen words.

Li Mingye looked at the two lonely "Good morning" messages on the chat interface and gently tapped his temples with his knuckles.

He slowly typed:

Are you free these next few days?

The message was quickly marked as read, followed by a gap of several minutes.

A message bubble finally popped up on the message page:

"Sorry, our agent has been keeping a very close eye on us lately."

The reply was as Li Mingye expected; he naturally typed his response:

"It's alright, we'll talk about it when we have another chance."

He turned off his phone screen and turned his gaze to the television in front of him.

Whatever the outcome, at least we should meet in person.

He firmly anchored the thought in his mind, then shook his head, temporarily setting aside those extraneous thoughts, and stared listlessly at the swaying figures on the television screen.

The drama is called "Prime Minister and I," and the main character is Yoona. Today's episode is the third one; he hasn't watched the first two episodes yet.

Not long after, he frowned and couldn't help but mutter a complaint:

"What kind of plot is this?"

……

"Pass it on to me! Pass it on to me!"

The urgent shouts coming from the right wing drew Li Mingye's attention back to the field.

His feet moved faster than his thoughts—he feinted with his right foot, easily fooling the defender in front of him, and then with a gentle flick of his toe, a low through ball pierced through the gap between the two defenders.

Before the defenders could get back in position, Lu Han took a quick touch and kicked the ball into the goal.

Time stopped just then, and the final score was 4-3.

"Nice!"

Lu Han ran over quickly and bumped into Li Mingye's shoulder, his face still showing the excitement of scoring a goal.

"Holy crap! Your download was amazing!"

Kim Minseok also joined in, giving a thumbs up and adding with an amazed expression:

"Not just that one move, he was amazing throughout the whole game."

As he wiped his sweat, he silently calculated in his mind—a total of four goals were scored, with this player contributing one goal and three assists, plus a perfect open goal that was wasted by his teammates.

Pure is here to deliver a devastating blow.

Li Mingye waved his hand and smiled modestly.

The opposing team also includes Super Junior's Lee Donghae and Eunhyuk. He got in touch with these people through Kim Heechul, and they called him up when they were short of players for their game.

He was holding back; if it weren't for the need to save face for his seniors and avoid being too harsh, he could have kicked the opponent for double digits.

Li Mingye took a towel to wipe his sweat and handed a few bottles of water to Lu Han and the others.

Although they weren't very familiar with each other before, a fast-paced, high-intensity football match, with a few back-and-forth runs and some tacit cooperation, was enough to establish a kind of primal trust and friendship between the men.

Li Mingye tilted his head back and gulped down a few mouthfuls of water, then suddenly remembered something and turned his head to casually ask, "Isn't it the end of the year? You guys are so popular, don't you need to rehearse for the year-end stage?"

"We have to line up," Kim Minseok said, taking a big gulp of water and wiping his mouth casually with a towel. "There are lines this afternoon and tomorrow morning."

Li Mingye's lips twitched.

So, to still find time to play football amidst his busy schedule, it seems he really loves it.

His train of thought shifted, and another thought popped into his mind, so he followed up by asking:

"You've recorded 'Happy Camp' several times, haven't you?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Are there any things I should pay attention to during recording?"

"Oh?" A hint of surprise flashed in Lu Han's and Kim Minseok's eyes, but it quickly turned into relief.

This person is currently very popular in China, so it's normal for him to appear on Happy Camp.

"There's not much to worry about; it's even easier than variety shows on the Peninsula."

After saying that, Lu Han casually asked, "Are you going alone?"

"No." Li Mingye shook his head.

"Who is that with? The other main actors from 'The Heirs'?"

Li Mingye continued to shake his head, not intending to keep them in suspense: "With Bae Suzy."

When "Happy Camp" extended an invitation to him, he accepted without much hesitation.

He had spent quite a bit of time in Xiaoxiang, and now, thinking back, he still felt a pang of longing. Being able to go back and visit during his work trip was a way for him to relax.

JYP Entertainment, seeing such a great opportunity for exposure, naturally wouldn't let it pass by. Leveraging their previous collaboration with Hunan TV, they even got missA to join them.

Then, Bae Suzy will record Happy Camp with him, and then she will participate in Day Day Up with Miss A. Immediately afterwards, she will have to take a plane back to the Peninsula that night to continue her schedule and rehearse for the year-end stage.

Li Mingye mentally reviewed this grueling itinerary and couldn't help but secretly marvel at it.

Suzy is amazing! Even at a time like this, she hasn't forgotten her role as a workaholic.

He admired him from the bottom of his heart.

His current popularity is in no way inferior to Bae Suzy's, and even surpasses hers in the entire Asian region. However, in terms of hard work, ten of him tied together cannot match one Bae Suzy.

There's no way to make him work himself to death or work non-stop.

The image of that corridor suddenly flashed back into Li Mingye's mind, and he shook his head with a wry smile.

long time no see.

……

"Sooji noona, it's been a long time."

Li Mingye stood in the airport hall, dragging his suitcase. When he saw that familiar figure in the distance, he raised his hand, his smile showing no sign of unfamiliarity.

Bae Suzy approached, dragging her carry-on suitcase, a bright smile blooming on her face, her tone carrying a hint of unconscious coquettishness:

"Has it been a long time? Only a little over a month."

Bae Suzy responded with a bright smile.

"Isn't a little over a month a long time? I'm going to be hurt if you say that."

Li Mingye exaggeratedly clutched his chest, frowned, and made a sad expression.

Bae Suzy chuckled softly and gave him a reproachful look.

Since that awkward encounter in the hallway, the two have been communicating more on their phones.

They would occasionally share everyday trivia or complain about work troubles, and over time, their relationship became much closer than when they were deliberately polite to each other face-to-face.

However, meeting in person is extremely rare. Bae Suzy's schedule is too packed, and she's rarely seen around.

The two men claimed to work for the same company, but in reality, they didn't meet much more often than he did with his friends from other companies.

The two chatted and laughed for a while before boarding the plane.

They were traveling in first class. Normally, given JYP's current stingy nature, they would never buy first-class tickets for their employees, but since Lee Myung-yeop was also there, they had to buy first-class tickets for Bae Suzy to avoid discrimination.

"Happy Camp" and "Day Day Up" were not recorded on the same day. Miss A and the others are flying tomorrow and will be in economy class.

As soon as he boarded the plane, Bae Suzy joked with him with a smile:

"Wow...it's been so long since I've flown in first class."

She winked playfully at Li Mingye.

"Thanks to you, Mingye."

There was three parts joke and seven parts truth in those words.

Lee Myung-yeop understood that, given Bae Soo-ji's position in the company, Park Jin-young had probably already revealed his background to her.

I wasn't just being polite—I was just teasing him.

He didn't pay attention to those irrelevant comments and casually retorted to her joke:

"How does Nanuna plan to repay me?"

"Hmph~" Bae Suzy straightened up, twisted from side to side in the large chair, and found the most comfortable position to settle in. "I'll have to think about it carefully."

After speaking, she closed her eyes as if she were truly beginning to think things through. Her long eyelashes rested quietly on her eyelids, and her breathing gradually slowed.

Several tens of seconds passed.

Li Mingye turned his head, about to ask this woman if she had made up her mind, but swallowed the words back.

Bae Suzy's mouth was slightly open, her head was tilted gently to one side, and she had already fallen into a deep sleep.

The moment the smile vanished, an undisguised weariness appeared between her brows. Even the most exquisite makeup couldn't conceal the faint blue shadows under her eyes.

Li Mingye stared at her silently for a few seconds, then took out his phone without any hesitation and took another picture of her unguarded sleeping face.

This is already the second one; we can make an album about it later.

He put away his phone, gently raised his hand forward, and lowered his voice:

"Could you please bring me a blanket?"