People on the Peninsula: I Became a Lucky Koi

Inside the SM building.

Inside EXO's practice room, Byun Baekhyun stared at the trending topics on his phone with a grim expression.

He then opened Kakao.

Kim Tae-yeon hasn't replied to a single message since last night...

The group just finished an extra show at the Olympic Stadium during their second tour, and last night at their concert, they also released the first one-minute teaser version of "Call Me Baby".

The other members looked at each other, clearly having seen the trending topic on their phones.

Park Chanyeol frowned, trying to comfort him: "...Baekhyun, I really don't mean to cause trouble..."

Who is it?

"Haven't the fans figured it out yet?" Wu Shixun crossed his legs, scrolling through anonymous forum posts, searching for the mysterious man's identity...

Kim Junmyeon gave an awkward laugh and comforted him, "Baekhyun, Taeyeon isn't like that. The media is just making things up."

He has known Kim Tae-yeon for a long time and trusts her character.

And the media, they distort the truth...

"Phew~"

Byun Baekhyun let out a long sigh, stood up, and forced a smile: "I'm going to the restroom."

I left the practice room.

In the hallway, the Red Velvet members who came to work gave Baekhyun strange looks.

He quickly bowed and greeted her, "Senior Baekhyun..."

Byun Baekhyun noticed the looks in Son Seungwan and Park Sooyoung's eyes, and his face turned a little green.

After he walked away.

Son Seungwan lowered her voice, "Is the trending topic real or fake?"

"It's fake, right?" Park Soo-young said confidently, but then hesitated, "But why does Baekhyun sunbaenim look so pale?"

Bae Joo-hyun said sternly, "Shut up...don't gossip about your senior's private affairs."

Kang Seulgi chuckled and quickly walked into the practice room with her coffee in her arms.

She locked the door behind her: "Shall we lock the door and talk secretly?"

Bae Joo-hyun glanced at her helplessly, but then she remembered the posts she had browsed earlier.

According to sources, the mysterious man who was with Taeyeon last night appears to be a JYP trainee.

When the company's trainees were mentioned, Bae Joo-hyun immediately remembered Kim Chan, who had made headlines in January when the Golden Disc Awards were in theaters.

While the members were gossiping, they took advantage of the break.

Bae Joo-hyun dug up some memes of Kim Chan and Jackson Wang that have recently become very popular on Korean online forums.

I also compared it to the tall, thin, mysterious guy in the trending topics...

...

Meanwhile, Baekhyun finally got through to Tae-yeon from the bathroom: "Noona?"

Kim Tae-yeon, who had just woken up at Seohyun's house, kept rubbing her groggy head and asking, "What's wrong?"

She picked up the water glass from the bedside table and took a sip.

Memories of last night flooded back like a tide…

"Where is Nuna now?"

"Where were you last night?"

"Why aren't you replying to my messages...?"

Younger people just can't keep their composure.

Kim Taeyeon was somewhat bewildered by Byun Baekhyun's questioning over the phone.

She was about to answer, but for some reason...

Kim Tae-yeon sensitively sensed the anger and suspicion in Byun Baek-hyun's tone on the other end.

This perceived emotion made her feel uncomfortable.

"...Didn't I tell you that I'm in Hongdae with Seohyun and Miyoung?" Kim Tae-yeon suppressed her dissatisfaction and answered patiently.

Byun Baekhyun: "Anything else?"

"Did Noona get drunk and end up in another man's arms?"

"hehe…"

This cold laugh infuriated Kim Tae-yeon, but then she hissed and clutched her throbbing forehead.

"Ah~"

She let out a slight cry of pain.

Her voice was soft and gentle, with a hint of panting in it.

Byun Baekhyun immediately questioned, "What are you doing, noona?!"

"What are you thinking?" Kim Tae-yeon roughly understood Byun Baek-hyun's thoughts and said angrily, "Are you suspecting me of betraying you?"

"Heh, do I need to doubt it? It's clearly shown on the trending topics."

Kim Tae-yeon was taken aback upon hearing this.

She hung up the phone, opened Naver, and quickly glanced at the trending topics.

soon.

The company called, inquiring about the incident of being photographed.

After figuring out the reason behind Byun Baekhyun's actions, Kim Tae-yeon gave the company a brief account of what happened last night.

It's nothing more than friends drinking together.

He drank too much and couldn't stand steadily, I just helped him up...

The phone hangs up.

Kim Tae-yeon glanced at Byun Baek-hyun's number in her contacts.

I want to make a phone call to explain.

But... just thinking about his attitude and his suspicious and distrustful state.

This greatly displeased Kim Tae-yeon, who immediately turned off her phone.

Regarding public opinion, the company will clarify the facts truthfully…

...

...

An anonymous post on the forum revealed this information.

Some extreme fans meticulously pieced together the blurry profile and physical features from the bar scene, managing to identify the mysterious man who was seen embracing Kim Tae-yeon late at night.

Kim Chan and the label of "JYP's current trainee" quickly rose to the top of the real-time trending searches on Naver, Daum, and Nate.

Strangely, apart from his name, rough height and weight, and agency information, no public resume, training materials, or other information about Kim Chan could be found online. He seemed like an invisible person who appeared out of thin air.

Undeterred, fans went back to comparing and tracing the source, digging up airport videos, photos with passersby, and memes from the January 2015 Golden Disc Awards, comparing facial features one by one.

It was eventually confirmed that the man who was seen intimately embracing Kim Tae-yeon in Hongdae that night was indeed Kim Chan.

[Kim Chan] has truly topped the trending searches on major Korean websites for the first time...

Under immense pressure, Lee Soo-man quickly had the company issue a clarification:

"...Regarding the recent online rumors about our artist Kim Tae-yeon having a late-night rendezvous...this is false information...Green Corpse Cold Warning..."

However, some extreme fans from both sides have already arrived at JYP's building.

...

...

"Li Cailing!"

Park Jin-young is still in the trainee department, announcing the list of candidates.

"Lim Na-yeon!"

After reading Lim Na-yeon's name.

Lim Nayeon clenched her fist excitedly, and the ends of her high ponytail, along with her smug smile, flicked across Kim Chan's face.

Jin Can glared at her speechlessly.

"..." Lim Nayeon immediately shrank her neck, bared her rabbit teeth, and blinked.

"Minatozaki Saka!"

Park Jin-young continued reading.

After being selected, Lim Nayeon breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced at Kim Chan, who was silencing his phone, and couldn't help but reach out and rub his arm.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jin Can asked, puzzled.

Lim Nayeon smiled and lowered her voice, "Breathe in some good luck~"

She is now increasingly convinced that this friend is like a lucky charm, bringing good fortune to others.

What was that saying again?

Being close to you brings good fortune; staying away from you brings bad luck...

Jin Can ignored her and was instead puzzled as to why Li Shengjun kept calling her.

"..."

The list has been published.

A total of 16 trainees will participate in the upcoming "SIXTEEN".

Jin Can got up and called Li Shengjun back, then quickly walked out of the practice room.

Park Jin-young followed closely behind…

"What's wrong, bro?" Jin Can asked.

Lee Sung-joon: "Have you seen the trending topics? Should I have someone suppress them?"

"What's trending?" Jin Can switched to Naver.

I only glanced at the title, something about green hats and Byun Baekhyun…

"Don't worry about it. Wouldn't it be like a guilty conscience if we suppressed it?"

We had a brief exchange.

Kim Chan ended the call and glanced at Park Jin-young beside him.

Now I understand why he looked at me like that before announcing the list…

"Family members?"

Park Jin-young was also somewhat worried that the child's family might have seen the trending topic and become dissatisfied.

Upon hearing this, Jin Can chuckled and said, "No."

"...The son of Naver's founder is asking whether to suppress the public opinion."

Park Jin-young stared at Kim Chan-min's nonchalant smile, his face twitching slightly: "The company has already arranged for a clarification."

He had already spoken with Jackson Wang and Bambam about the specifics this morning.

OK.

Jin Can didn't seem to care about this matter.

This prompted Park Jin-young to remind everyone, "Kim Tae-yeon and Byun Baek-hyun's fans are crazy..."

"I know."

Jin Can walked with him to the office, smiling as he said, "My thinking is simple: let's just treat this as a publicity stunt."

Hype is better than stir-frying noodles!

"With our debut approaching, we need buzz and recognition."

The old black and red approach, the golden and mature approach... In this year's fiercely competitive market, taking an unconventional approach is not a bad idea.

Moreover, the trending topics are fake in essence.

Even the real can be redeemed, let alone the fake.

Park Jin-young began, "But I'm worried it might have some negative impact on you."

"Kenchana~" Jin Can thought this was just a beautiful misunderstanding, "and now the buzz is here, isn't it?"

Enjoying a bite of Byun Baekhyun's green hat bun with relish, so delicious and satisfying!

Park Jin-young stared at Kim Chan's smiling face in surprise: "You have such a good attitude."

"There are Baekhyun's fans downstairs in that building..."

"Arasso," Jin Can said with a calm smile.

He doesn't care about the opinions of some fans; after all, there are many people involved, and the law doesn't punish everyone. You can't really go and punish a few fans, can you? It's pointless.

However, Jin Can believes that as an artist in the industry, everyone has a responsibility to regulate the fan culture and promote positive energy!

The more enthusiastically the anti-fans and haters jump around, the less he cares about putting pressure on their good brother. He just doesn't know if their brother can handle the pressure.

I ate this green-hat-shaped steamed bun.

The ones who really suffer are these brainless fans who are jumping around like crazy...

Green and healthy!

As soon as Kim Chan stepped out of Park Jin-young's office, his phone started ringing incessantly.

Bae Suzy, Lee Ji-eun, the scriptwriters, Kim Jong-kook…

But a friend request from a stranger caught his attention.

Jin Can hadn't even agreed yet when he asked who the other person was.

At the corner of the staircase in the corridor, a dozen or so female trainees suddenly darted out, including Tzuyu, Sana Minatozaki, Nayeon Lim, Jeongyeon Yoo, and Mina Mina.

Most of them are trainees who were confirmed to be selected for "SIXTEEN" today.

Somi and Son Chaeyoung had gossipy eyes, while Mina had a furrowed brow and looked at him with concern.

Jin Can glanced at the group of trainees of varying heights. They used to get along quite well, sharing a classroom, practicing together, and occasionally chatting.

Lim Nayeon rushed over: "Chan! We saw it trending on Weibo..."

"There are so many anti-fans downstairs..."