Peninsula Cicada Song Diary

"Phew." She stopped in front of the two of them. Her hair, which had been gathered behind her ears, was now loose, with black hair covering her ears and a few strands reaching her lips.

"Are you going to participate in the race?" Pei Xiyan asked seriously.

"Because I'm afraid oppa will run away," she replied earnestly.

"I can't," Pei Xiyan said.

"Oppa, haven't you run away a lot before?" Yoo Jimin pursed her lips at his answer, deftly swept her long hair back to the back of her head, pulled off the Hello Kitty hair tie from her wrist and tied the unruly hair into a ponytail, revealing her round face and full forehead.

"It wasn't my fault back then," Pei Xiyan denied.

"Why not? Oppa, just be honest and behave yourself." Yoo Jimin retorted.

"Then I estimate I'll have to hear you confess your love at least 100 times," Pei Xiyan said.

"Didn't we agree not to mention this?" Liu Zhimin stomped her foot angrily.

"Hehe." Kim Min-jung laughed happily beside her, the candy in her mouth barely visible.

Liu Zhimin and Pei Xiyan first met in the company cafeteria.

It was 16. He was eating alone in a corner when Liu Zhimin sat down next to him with her plate.

"I saw you eating alone. Are you a new trainee too?" she asked.

Even after Pei Xiyan gave a negative answer, she didn't leave. The two of them ate their meal together in silence without saying another word.

For several days afterward, it was the same routine. Liu Zhimin would specifically look for his seat and sit next to him. The two seemed to have become dining buddies. This went well until one day, she suddenly confessed her feelings to Pei Xiyan.

"I think we're very compatible, why don't we be together?"

Thank goodness, Pei Xiyan was eating at the time, and when she heard this, she almost choked on her food. She had to drink several mouthfuls of soup to recover.

He thought this was absurd. He had experienced confessions before, but the two of them had only eaten together quietly for a few days. He had never seen anyone develop feelings for someone over a meal like that in his life.

Pei Xiyan refused decisively.

Liu Zhimin did not give up. Every day after her practice class, she would wait for him at the entrance of the recording studio with other girls who were waiting to bring him drinks. Her teacher, Kenzie, personally chased her away many times, but Liu Zhimin was not afraid at all and would come back the next day.

After the incident in 17, fewer and fewer people waited at the door. She became one of only two people at the door, the other being Kim Min-jung, whom she had pulled along.

Overgrown areas will eventually form paths if you walk around them often enough; and no matter what, you'll eventually become familiar with strangers after seeing them many times.

Later, after they became friends, Pei Xiyan learned that Liu Zhimin's persistent pursuit of him was simply because she overheard someone say something:

"At SM, nothing is harder than debuting. If there is, it's probably being with Pei Xiyan."

Liu Zhimin didn't believe it. She thought that if she could get together with Pei Xiyan, it would mean she would definitely debut. So, everything that happened afterward happened.

"You brought it up first," Pei Xiyan corrected her.

"Oppa, do you have to be so petty? Sigh, it's really heartbreaking." Yoo Jimin shook her head and sighed, her eyes downcast, looking pitiful.

Pei Xiyan knew this was her disguise. She had often put on this pitiful little rabbit act to gain his sympathy before, and Pei Xiyan was immune to it then, and she was immune now as well. His gaze suddenly turned to the direction behind her, towards the entrance of the practice room.

"The examiner..." he said in a low voice.

"Oh my god?!" As if a keyword had been triggered, the pitiful look vanished instantly, leaving only a frightened bird hurriedly finding a stool to sit down.

When the teacher's voice didn't appear as she had imagined, Liu Zhimin consciously looked towards the door and found that it wasn't open at all.

"Oppa!" Yoo Jimin angrily swung her fist at him.

"...They might be here soon." Pei Xiyan added the second half of her sentence casually, then got up and sat down in an empty seat behind the assessment area.

Liu Zhimin didn't dare follow, because she was afraid that the examiner would suddenly come in, and then she would be finished.

SM Entertainment places great importance on performance evaluations, which is the fundamental reason why the company's groups are not afraid of external doubts about their abilities, and also one of the fundamental reasons why SM Entertainment has been able to flourish.

Her idea quickly came true. Just a few minutes later, the door opened again, and this time it was Kim Tae-yeon and two assessment teachers.

"Hello, teacher. Hello, Taeyeon." She pulled Kim Min-jung up and stood up with the other trainees, bowing and greeting them with impeccable manners.

"Hello." Kim Tae-yeon smiled and nodded.

She also noticed Pei Xiyan sitting behind the assessment table, and only after walking over to the assessment table did she ask in a low voice:

"Why are you here?"

"Let's take a look at the company's future." Pei Xiyan nodded to the two examiners as she answered.

"Isn't the company's future you?" Kim Tae-yeon teasingly hooked his chin with her finger.

"Our SM's gem, Cicadaxi."

"Nuna, shouldn't the assessment start soon?" Pei Xiyan said with a helpless expression.

"Yes, Taeyeon-ssi, we're about to start the assessment," the assessment teacher reminded her observantly.

"Yes~" Kim Taeyeon withdrew her hand, her small face straightening, an aura of a senior student beginning to emanate from her. She looked at the paper in her hand, on which were the trainees' names written:

"First, we'll have a vocal assessment, Park Jeong-yeon."

The trainee evaluation is very rigorous, assessing all aspects, not just vocals, but also dance, rap...

"Yes." Upon hearing the name, a female trainee quickly stood up and walked to the center of the practice room in a few steps.

Kim Min-jung was the eighth to take the stage.

Pei Xiyan knew about her vocal talent; her naturally gifted voice was clear and bright, like a drop of water falling into a small pool from a crack in a mountain rock.

The only thing that could attract the singer was her voice; as soon as she opened her mouth, Kim Tae-yeon's expression lit up instantly.

Without a doubt, the rating is A.

Yoo Jimin's vocals aren't as good as Kim Min-jung's, but the standard for an A-level trainee is that all three aspects must be well-balanced, which she meets perfectly: vocals ≈ dance ≈ rap. The evaluation is the same.

At first, the assessment was somewhat novel, and it was also fun to build your team in the early stages of Plants vs. Zombies Endless Mode. But gradually, both of them became boring.

Pei Xiyan forced herself to stay awake until the end.

Out of respect for the trainees' evaluation, he didn't use his phone.

......

The clouds drifted in the sky, their pure white bodies tinged with a pale yellow by the twilight.

At a barbecue restaurant near SM, the meat on the teppanyaki grill was slowly turning a cloud-like color, sizzling with oil. Kim Min-jung swallowed hard, her eyes already fixed on each bite.

"The assessment is as boring as ever." Pei Xiyan lazily flipped the grilled meat over, complaining without any mercy.

"So why did oppa come?" Yoo Jimin rested her chin on her hand, the overhead light casting a warm glow on her face.

"Because friendship is actually like barbecue." Pei Xiyan observed the barbecue closely. "If you don't grill it, it's raw; if you grill it for too long, it won't do either. Only by knowing how to control the temperature can you..."

He paused for a moment, then said, "We can eat now."

"Neigh~" Two pairs of chopsticks were immediately raised, as if Odin had raised his Gungnir and was about to launch a sure-hit attack on the roast meat.