Peninsula Cicada Song Diary

The stairwell is a good place.

This place is suitable for conversation, for crowd evacuation, and for unexpectedly encountering villains or superhumans around every corner in movies or variety shows.

But this is also a bad place. If a man and a woman are seen together here, their innocent relationship will be misunderstood as something sinister.

Judging from the voice, Pei Xiyan knew that the person coming was a girl, but she wasn't sure if she was a KBS employee or an artist.

Regardless of their identities, due to Sana Minatozaki's physical condition, it was destined that the two would be discovered.

He looked down at Sana Minatozaki, who also understood the same thing, and a nervous expression appeared on her face.

"Miane."

Having made a decision on the spot, Pei Xiyan apologized softly.

To Sana's bewilderment, he took off his baseball cap and covered her head with it, pulling the brim down so that it successfully obscured the upper half of her face.

He then forced her back against the wall, blocking her completely with his body, making it difficult for anyone to see her face even when the door opened.

In that instant, the distance between the two of them was reduced to about ten centimeters, to the point that Sana Minatozaki could smell the orange-scented detergent on his clothes.

Her eyes widened slightly as she understood Pei Xiyan's thoughts, but she hadn't expected him to be so bold.

The voices grew closer; "It seems the hallway lights still aren't fixed."

"It seems so, but there are two of us. Aren't you scared?"

"Hehehe, unnie should be scared! I'm not scared!" The door was pushed open, and the light from the corridor spilled into a small fan-shaped area of ​​the stairwell.

"It's a bit dark... Oh my!"

Pretending to be startled by the noise, Pei Xiyan turned around and saw two dumbfounded girls at the door.

Their makeup and hairstyles clearly identify them as celebrities. One has a cute face with slightly protruding lips, like a duck's beak, while the other has a mushroom haircut and a flat nose, a rare feature among idols.

Sana Minatozaki also raised her head slightly and recognized the girl in front of her with a glimpse of light from under the brim of her hat.

They're here to promote their songs on Music Bank again today. They also visited their juniors, Choi Ye-na and Kim Chae-won from IZ*ONE, before.

Neither Choi Ye-na nor Kim Chae-won recognized Pei Xi-yan, but judging from his appearance, they figured he was probably in the entertainment industry as well. As for the girl, they could only catch a glimpse of her reddish-brown hair through the gap.

But now is not the time to think about their identities. They had never experienced stumbling upon someone's secret rendezvous before, and for a moment they were awkwardly standing there, not knowing what to do.

"Hello." Pei Xiyan nodded in greeting, without the embarrassment and anger they had imagined, only a very calm and awkward greeting.

Shouldn't she be angry in this situation? It's a bit strange to greet her like this! Choi Ye-na screamed inwardly.

"We're missing Song Hamida-senpai, let's go!"

Not knowing whether the boy in front of her was a senior or a junior, but thinking that calling him a senior couldn't be wrong, Choi Ye-na took Kim Chae-won's hand and bowed in swift succession to apologize, then turned to leave.

"Wait a minute," Pei Xiyan called out to them.

The two stopped abruptly, turned around, and bowed again in one smooth motion to apologize, "Que Song Hamida, we didn't mean to bother you, senior!"

"Are you going downstairs or upstairs?" Pei Xiyan asked.

"We need to go downstairs, senior," Choi Ye-na replied quickly and respectfully.

"Then why don't you come downstairs?"

"Can we... go this way, senpai-nim?"

"Why not?" Pei Xiyan tilted her head. "The stairs aren't mine."

But the way you're having your secret rendezvous looks just like your husband's. Choi Ye-na swallowed hard and squeezed the palm of Kim Chae-won, who was standing silently beside her.

Kim Chae-won realized what was happening, and the two of them thanked him together:

"Kamsahamida-senpai-nim!"

Having been pardoned, they hurried past Pei Xiyan, their steps quick as if they were escaping death. Their descent down the stairs resembled the clicking of a typewriter, each footstep sounding like at least a dozen words being typed per second.

Fearing they might accidentally trip while walking so fast, Pei Xiyan reminded them, "Slow down."

"Yes, senpai-nim!"

They were doing well, but they didn't seem to slow down at all. Soon, their footsteps faded into the distance.

"What adorable juniors." Minatozaki Sana was amused by their behavior.

"Yes, sir," Pei Xiyan replied, stepping back. "Excuse me."

"I should be the one saying thank you," Minatozaki Sana gently shook her head.

"What was Sana trying to ask?" Pei Xiyan stopped after taking four or five steps back.

"It's nothing serious." Sana Minatozaki smiled and smoothed her hair that was covered by her hat. "Let's hurry up and go while no one's around."

Seeing that she didn't want to talk about it, Pei Xiyan blinked and didn't press her for details. Having experienced it firsthand, he knew how annoying it was to be persistent and clingy.

On the way back, just like on the way there, Minatozaki Sana walked ahead, with Pei Xiyan following behind. The two kept a distance between them, neither speaking to each other, as if they were complete strangers.

When Pei Xiyan reached the door of the waiting room, he turned his head and found that Minatozaki Sana was also turning her head to look at him. The two of them didn't say anything, but it seemed like they had said something.

......

"We thought you fell into the toilet, and we were just about to go fish you out." Back in the waiting room, Park Chanyeol's teasing voice drifted over.

"I ran into an acquaintance on the way and chatted for a while," Pei Xiyan explained casually.

"Male or female?" Park Chanyeol raised an eyebrow.

"Guess." With that, Pei Xiyan went to the corner of the sofa by the window and sat down next to Byun Baekhyun, who was focused on playing the game and wouldn't say a word.

"It must be a girl." Park Chanyeol looked at him and said confidently, "Because only girls need to hide it."

This statement resonated with many people present.

"Indeed." "It would be dangerous if a guy had to hide it." "Chanyeol, you yourself have hidden quite a bit." "Chanyeol, it's like this..."

The discussion took a turn, turning into a condemnation of Park Chanyeol. Pei Xiyan didn't choose to join in at this opportune moment. He looked down at his phone, tapped the screen with his finger, and watched it automatically turn off, repeating this cycle over and over again.

Kim Jong-in did not join the attack; he was frowning as he looked at Pei Xiyan.

"Want to play a game?" Byun Baekhyun, who had just finished a game, noticed Pei Xiyan's bored behavior.

"Brother, you can play by yourself." Pei Xiyan shook her head.

"Call me if you want to come over. If you're bored, you should play games," Byun Baekhyun said, starting another game.

He's truly a well-known gaming addict in EXO; yesterday, he dragged Pei Xiyan to play League of Legends for almost the entire night.

"I'm completely overdose on the game."

Pei Xiyan smiled, jokingly changed the lyrics of "Overdose" and hummed, "Someone called the doctor and told me that games are nothing but an illness, an overdose..."

doctor?

Suddenly remembering something, Pei Xiyan stopped humming.

Instead of watching the screen go out, he unlocked his phone and opened his contacts. He didn't have many contacts in his phone; less than a hundred people in total, including family and friends.

He quickly found the one he was looking for.

"Ahn Ji-hyun".