Peninsula: The sharp-tongued producer is forced to work.

3:30 a.m., CUBE Entertainment Building.

The entire building was almost asleep, with only the door of the private studio at the end of the third-floor corridor still letting out a glaring light and the faint sounds of arguing that sounded like a demolition proposal.

"Hey! Liu Yu! I told you the Drop mode doesn't need that much reverb! Are you stuffing donkey hair in your ears?!"

"Tian Xiaojuan, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about the word 'heavy'? Your original version is so dry and lifeless, it's like a mummy that's been sitting in the Sahara Desert for three years! If I don't add some polish, CUBE's stock will plummet the day after this song is released, believe it or not?!"

"You're talking nonsense! The melody I wrote is the most perfect! Bring that synthesizer track back!"

"Pull it back? Okay, but pulling it back sounds like two screaming chickens fighting. Are you sure you want to change it like that? If you're not afraid of being roasted by netizens, I'll save and export it for you right now!"

In the production studio, Tian Xiaojuan stood in front of the control panel with her hands on her hips, like a little lioness with her mane standing on end. Liu Yu, sitting in a swivel chair, was typing rapidly on the mouse and keyboard, every word he uttered sounding like a poisoned blade.

This intense verbal sparring has been going on ever since Liu Yu was dragged away from KZ Studio by Tian Xiaojuan like a dead dog.

If an unsuspecting CUBE trainee were to pass by at this moment, they would probably think that some horrific murder was taking place inside and be ready to call the police at any moment. But for the owners of this studio, this is just their usual way of "friendly communication".

"Alright, stop arguing, listen to this version."

Liu Yu clicked his tongue impatiently and slammed down the space bar.

The chorus, which had troubled Tian Xiaojuan for three whole days and seemed thin no matter how she listened, suddenly gained a profound and layered feel under Liu Yu's bold "dismantling" and rearrangement. The originally harsh synthesizer effects were cleverly hidden under the bass, creating a sophisticated auditory tension.

After the music finished playing, the studio fell into a brief silence.

Tian Xiaojuan opened her mouth, but the whole string of curses she had prepared got stuck in her throat.

She had to admit that although this brat had a mouth that made people want to tear it apart, his musical intuition was so sharp that it was enviable.

"...It's barely acceptable." Tian Xiaojuan looked away, gave a haughty snort, and said, "At least you didn't eat my takeout for nothing today."

"Barely enough?" Liu Yu sneered, pushed away the keyboard, and slumped into the swivel chair like a lump of mud. "Tian Xiaojuan, if it weren't for the fact that you taught me to say 'Annyeonghaseyo' back then, I would have deleted the entire project file right now just because of your 'barely enough'."

"You dare!" Tian Xiaojuan immediately pounced over and quickly pressed the save button. She breathed a long sigh of relief when she saw the save success message pop up on the screen.

With Liu Yu, this human cheat code, there was room to fill in the gaps and make up for any shortcomings, and the efficiency was indeed ridiculously high.

"Alright, you've finished your work, I'm going home now." Liu Yu yawned widely, took off his signature black-rimmed glasses and tossed them onto the table, then rubbed his sore eyes.

After several days of audio editing at KZ Studio, and today being drafted by Tian Xiaojuan again, his brain has issued a serious strike warning.

"Where are you going? Will you even be able to get a taxi at this hour?" Tian Xiaojuan said without looking up as she tidied up the discarded sheet music on the table. "Go lie down on the sofa. I'll have my manager give you a ride home tomorrow morning."

"This crappy sofa of yours is as hard as a rock. I'd rather sleep in the subway at Seoul Station..."

Liu Yu's voice grew softer and softer, becoming increasingly indistinct.

Tian Xiaojuan turned her head and saw that he had already staggered to the sofa by the wall and slammed into it like a piece of chopped wood. Almost three seconds after his head hit the cushion, she heard his even and gentle breathing.

Sleep in seconds.

"Oh, you really don't hold back." Tian Xiaojuan rolled her eyes speechlessly.

She turned off the glaring monitors on the control panel, leaving only a dim floor lamp. The workshop instantly fell silent, with only the faint hum of the computer fans and the steady breathing of the man on the sofa.

Tian Xiaojuan tiptoed and slowly walked to the sofa and squatted down.

Without the thick-rimmed glasses obscuring his face, and without his usual arrogant and infuriating expression, Liu Yu looked surprisingly harmless when he was asleep.

His eyelashes were long, casting a faint shadow under his eyelids. His pale skin, which rarely saw sunlight, appeared somewhat pale under the dim light, and the dark circles under his eyes caused by staying up late were clearly visible.

Tian Xiaojuan squatted quietly on the ground, her hands supporting her chin, her gaze slowly tracing the face she knew all too well.

"She looks perfectly normal, so why does she have a mouth?" she murmured to herself in a very low voice. Her tone was no longer as fierce as a lioness, but instead revealed a girlish innocence and helplessness.

She recalled how Liu Yu was so angry with An Youzhen at KZ Studio that he jumped up and down, and then she remembered how he was so earnestly adjusting every audio track to the perfect state while cursing and swearing.

This guy always uses the coldest, most prickly exterior to wrap his heart, which is actually softer than anyone else's.

She reached out her hand and paused in mid-air for a moment, then gently and carefully placed it on Liu Yu's cheek.

The temperature emanating from her fingertips was slightly cool, yet so real that it made her fingertips tremble. She gently stroked Liu Yu's slightly furrowed brow with her thumb, trying to smooth out the crease.

"Click".

The doorknob of the studio suddenly made a soft click, and then the door was pushed open.

"Xiaojuan, aren't you done yet? I've been asleep for a while now..."

Accompanied by a lazy, slightly nasal, and somewhat endearing female voice, Zhao Meiyan walked in, carrying two steaming cans of coffee and yawning.

Then, she saw her captain squatting in front of a man's sofa in the dim light, tenderly touching the man's face.

If this were a typical female lead in a Korean drama, she would probably have jumped up in a panic by now, blushing and frantically waving her hands to explain, "It's not what you see."

But Tian Xiaojuan is no ordinary person.

She simply withdrew her hand calmly, turned her head, and looked expressionlessly at Zhao Meiyan who had barged in.

"Unnie, don't you know how to knock before entering? Did Shuhua eat your manners?" Tian Xiaojuan's tone was completely flat.

Zhao Meiyan's reaction was truly remarkable. This woman showed absolutely no embarrassment at having stumbled upon someone's secret; she didn't even raise an eyebrow.

She simply leaned lazily against the doorframe, casually pressing a can of hot coffee against her face to warm it, her tone laced with a strong sense of mockery.

"Oh dear, if I knock on the door, wouldn't I be disturbing our producer Tian's opportunistic pleasure?" Zhao Meiyan walked over with a grin, glancing at Liu Yu, who was fast asleep on the sofa. "This blockhead is still asleep? Your progress is too slow. Should I help you tie him back to the dorm?"

Tian Xiaojuan likes Liu Yu.

This secret is more public than what we'll eat for breakfast tomorrow in (G)I-DLE. From Cho Mi-yeon to Seo Soo-jin, even Yeh Shu-hua's dog knows that their leader has extremely impure thoughts about that sound engineer who always wears black-rimmed glasses and whose words can give people a heart attack.

Everyone in the world knows this, except for Liu Yu himself.

"Shut up." Tian Xiaojuan rolled her eyes at her, stood up, and took the hot coffee from her hand. "Why did you come here? Didn't I tell you to go to sleep first?"

"I noticed you weren't home yet, so I went downstairs to the convenience store and bought some drinks." Zhao Meiyan yawned, glanced at the computer screen, and asked, "All done?"

"Hmm, all done. Having this thing saved me a lot of trouble." Tian Xiaojuan took a sip of coffee, feeling the warm liquid slide into her stomach, dispelling a trace of fatigue.

"Then why aren't you going back to the dorm? Are you planning to keep watch for him here all night?" Zhao Meiyan raised an eyebrow.

Tian Xiaojuan didn't say anything. She put down the coffee can, went to the cabinet next to her, took out a spare blanket, and then walked to the sofa and deftly unfolded the blanket and covered Liu Yu with it.

The moment she covered him with the blanket, Tian Xiaojuan suddenly bent down and gently and quickly planted a kiss on Liu Yu's smooth forehead.

"Goodnight, you little brat," she muttered in a voice only she could hear.

Seeing this scene, Zhao Meiyan, who was standing at the door, couldn't help but rub the goosebumps on her arms and let out an exaggerated "Eek—".

"Alright, let's go." Tian Xiaojuan straightened up, clapped her hands as if nothing had happened, picked up her coat and bag, and turned off the last light in the studio.

"Click".

The door was gently locked, shutting out the still-sleeping man and the silence of the room.

The CUBE corridor was deserted in the early morning, making the sound of their footsteps all the more distinct.

"Hey Xiaojuan," Zhao Meiyan said, linking arms with Tian Xiaojuan as they walked, gossiping, "when are you going to confront him? Are you just going to keep dragging this on? Aren't you afraid that one day some other woman will chop him up and use him as firewood?"

"Why reveal your hand? Isn't it fine as it is?" Tian Xiaojuan yawned, a hint of hidden cowardice in her voice. "You know what kind of person he is, afraid of women and afraid of social situations. Besides, with his awful personality, who but me could stand him?"

"That's not necessarily true," Zhao Meiyan deliberately drawled. "I heard he really stole the show when he recorded for IZ*ONE. They're twelve incredibly youthful and radiant young girls. What if some blind girl finds his sarcastic persona particularly charming?"

Tian Xiaojuan suddenly stopped in her tracks.

Instantly, she recalled the bright, sparkling eyes of Ahn Yoo-jin, the big golden retriever, staring at Liu Yu's back in the KZ Studio control room that afternoon, and the maknae named Jang Won-young, who, although always smiling, always looked at Liu Yu with a strange glint in her eyes.

"Impossible." Tian Xiaojuan snorted coldly, and started walking again, but her steps were noticeably heavier than before. "With that mouth of his, he's lucky he didn't make that little girl quit the group today. Charm? I think he's just committing a sin."

"Yes, yes, yes, what a mess." Zhao Meiyan shook her head helplessly as she looked at her captain's stubborn expression.

"But unnie."

"Um?"

"Remind me tomorrow that the food at KZ Studio seems to be not very good lately, and I need to give the owner some feedback."

Zhao Meiyan burst out laughing.

"Okay, okay, our great captain is here to offer suggestions, not to stalk people~"

"Hey! Zhao Meiyan, do you have a death wish?!"