Peninsula Cicada Song Diary

"Xiao Yan is back~"

"Yes." Pei Xiyan hurriedly replied, then swept across the living room, leaving behind the words, "I have something to do. Nuna, you go ahead and eat. Don't wait for me." She then went upstairs.

He was eager to preserve the sudden inspiration, as if he were depositing hard-earned money in a bank.

Watching his retreating figure as he quickly went upstairs, Bae Joo-hyun blinked behind her black-rimmed glasses at the dining table.

"Has another inspiration struck?"

She felt that this was most likely the case. There weren't many times when she saw Pei Xiyan so eager, so the possibilities were limited.

The food in front of her was still steaming, and Bae Joo-hyun, all alone, picked up her chopsticks and started eating by herself.

Just like taking a nap, when the recording studio door closed and reopened, time had flown by from noon to five in the afternoon.

Taking a long nap can make you feel drowsy, and Pei Xiyan felt the same way, though it was mostly due to her hungry stomach and her blurred vision from staring at the computer screen for too long.

He planned to go downstairs to get something to eat and rest for a while, and watch the live stream.

"Are you done with your work? Are you hungry?" Hearing the sound of people coming downstairs, Bae Joo-hyun, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, turned her head and asked with concern.

"I'm done for now." Pei Xiyan walked into the living room, patted her stomach, and asked, "Is there anything left to eat at home?"

"There are still some dishes left from lunch, and we also have some ramen at home." Bae Joo-hyun said, jumping off the sofa and walking towards the kitchen in her slippers. "I'll heat it up and add it to the ramen for you."

"Okay, thank you, Noona." The sofa still had the indentation left by Bae Joo-hyun sitting cross-legged. Bae Xi-yan didn't intend to disturb his Noona's special spot, so he sat down at the other end, picked up the remote control on the coffee table, and switched the TV channel to KBS2.

The timing was perfect. The male and female hosts on TV were covering their faces with their cue cards, then uncovering them to deliver the classic line to the audience: "Music bank!"

Music Bank started on time.

A dozen minutes later, the kitchen door opened, and Bae Joo-hyun came out carrying a bowl of ramen. She heard the television playing. "Music Bank has started?"

As a former phenomenal MC of this show, Bae Joo-hyun is very familiar with it.

"Let's see if EXO's members can get first place." Pei Xiyan licked her lips as she smelled the aroma wafting over.

"I don't think there's any suspense. TWICE just made their comeback this week and aren't participating in any music shows, so they don't have much competition." Bae Joo-hyun placed the bowl on the coffee table in front of him and handed him chopsticks. "Eat."

"Um."

Given the status and experience of Twice and EXO, both of them wouldn't be able to appear until the second half of the show. Therefore, the first half of the show held no appeal for Pei Xiyan, and he took the chopsticks and settled down to eat his ramen.

"How does it taste?" Bae Joo-hyun sat down next to him, looking at him tenderly.

"It's delicious." Pei Xiyan nodded.

Bae Joo-hyun only cooked one packet of ramen, but she added a generous amount of leftover ingredients from lunch, and the combination tasted surprisingly good. The portion was large, and Bae Xi-yan ate slowly, while the performance groups on TV flashed by like a revolving lantern.

"Here." After he finished eating, Bae Joo-hyun, who had been keeping a close eye on him, thoughtfully handed him a tissue and asked the question she hadn't had a chance to ask at noon, "How was your morning?"

Pei Xiyan wiped her mouth, pulled a lollipop from under the coffee table, and said to her while unwrapping it, "The security guard at the KBS entrance is still the same uncle as before. He didn't stop me when he saw me and just let me in."

"Because I've seen you so many times before, right?" Bae Joo-hyun rested her chin on her hand, her smile faint.

During the time she was an MC, Pei Xiyan often visited her at the venue. She would go in and see the security guards at the entrance once and once when they came out. It was hard for them not to become familiar with each other.

"That security guard was really nice," she continued. "Several times he saw that we had trouble getting off work and he offered to help us carry our things to our car."

"Yes." Pei Xiyan, with a lollipop in her mouth, said, "Nothing much has changed inside KBS. The waiting room is still the same. The eight EXO members plus the staff make it as noisy as a market..."

"That's how it is." Bae Joo-hyun couldn't help but chuckle. The five of them were already quite noisy in the Music Bank's waiting room.

"The only change might be that the stairwell light is broken for some reason and hasn't been fixed yet," Pei Xiyan shook her head.

"Really?" Bae Joo-hyun remembered that things were fine during their "Power Up" promotions.

"I estimate it will be fixed by the time we return," she said, otherwise it would be inconvenient to use the stairwell for urgent matters.

"If the stairwell lights can't be fixed in a month, then KBS has no reason to exist," Pei Xiyan complained.

"Maga." Bae Joo-hyun agreed with a smile.

The siblings chatted as the night gradually enveloped the French windows, concealing the rain and revealing only fleeting white lines visible through the lamplight.

The living room lights came on, and the TV program was in its second half. The scene then switched to the backstage area, where TWICE lined up to be interviewed by the two MCs.

Looking at them, Bae Joo-hyun brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and asked indirectly, "Did you see Twice today?"

"Hmm." Pei Xiyan nodded intently, watching TV. "Sana is sick, and she's not feeling well."

"It does seem a bit like that." Just by looking at Sana Minatozaki's expression on TV, Bae Joo-hyun could actually tell that she was standing in the middle, with a faint smile on her face as she echoed the conversation around her, looking as if she had no interest in anything.

"Isn't she going to see a doctor?" Bae Joo-hyun asked.

"She and Nuna are actually a bit alike," Pei Xiyan sighed. "They're both people who value the stage more than their own health."

"It's just an idol's job," Bae Joo-hyun said, finding it perfectly normal. "So you didn't do anything for your friend?"

"Should we take her home and care for her like we did with Nuna?" Pei Xiyan glanced at her and teased.

"Oh my~" Bae Joo-hyun slapped him, both amused and exasperated. "It's not like that."

"I'm helping her right now, silently cheering her on in front of the TV," Pei Xiyan said with a smile. Pei Xiyan felt it was too strange to say that she was calling a doctor for someone she had only known for a short time, so she kept it to herself.

"Okay, I'll cheer her on too." Hearing the reply, Bae Joo-hyun's lips curled up slightly, and she didn't ask any more questions.

After the interview, there was a stage performance where two songs were played: "BDZ" and "Yes or Yes".

This was the first time Pei Xiyan had seen them perform their album's title track on stage since the showcase. The melody was as lively as ever, but Sana Minato's movements lacked the energy she had shown before.

Even after the check-up and taking the medicine in the afternoon, her condition wouldn't improve immediately; she was still in poor condition, just like the weather today, listless.

[That's already done a great job.]

After the performance ended, Pei Xiyan lowered her head and sent a message.

EXO was the last to appear, and their styling and stage performance were excellent. As an absolutely popular boy group, they deservedly won their first number one spot in this comeback.

It was worth Pei Xiyan's blessing before she left.