Peninsula: These female celebrities are all so neurotic.

Chapter 102 Things are getting more and more complicated (7k)

After the video was taken, Jin Qiutian stood in the middle of the practice room.

She placed her hands in front of her and bowed to the four members of BLACKPINK: "Thank you so much for dancing with me today, seniors. I'm truly grateful."

Kim Jisoo waved her hand, revealing two rows of teeth with a smile: "Autumn, what are you saying? It's really fun. I haven't been this happy in a long time."

Lisa turned to look at Jennie Kim, who was leaning against the wall without moving. Jennie's lips twitched slightly: "Let's pack our things, we have practice later."

Liu Zimu gestured towards the door with his lip: "Xiao Qiutian, let's go. Zhenghua, pack up the equipment."

Jin Qiutian responded and bent down to pick up the water bottle from the ground.

Park Chaeyoung suddenly spoke up, sounding a little anxious. The practice room fell silent, and everyone heard her: "Cheonju, wait a moment."

Jin Qiu straightened up, still clutching the crushed mineral water bottle in her hand.

Park Chaeyoung walked over, stood in front of Kim Qiu-ti, tilted her head, and looked her up and down.

The look in his eyes wasn't like he was looking at a person, but like he was picking out clothes: "Take off this hoodie."

Jin Qiutian was stunned. She looked down at her black hoodie, which was a notorious outfit.

"what?"

Park Chaeyoung didn't explain, but reached out and pulled up the hem of her hoodie.

Startled, Jin Qiutian quickly grabbed him and took a step back: "Unnie! What are you doing?"

Park Chaeyoung wouldn't let go, gripping the hem of the hoodie tightly, her tone firm: "I want this one you're wearing."

Jin Qiutian stared wide-eyed and turned to look at Liu Zimu for help.

Liu Zimu stood to the side, watching like two cats fighting: "Why are you looking at me? She stole your clothes, so why don't you beat her up!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's lips twitched violently!

Kim Qiu looked at Park Chae-young pitifully.

Park Chaeyoung had already taken off the hoodie that Kim Qiu-ti was wearing over her clothes. She pulled out a marker from somewhere, uncapped it, and lay down on the practice room floor, quickly signing her name under the four characters "Shiguang Coffee" on the back of Kim Qiu-ti's hoodie.

The handwriting was crooked and messy, with the four letters ROSÉ squeezed together, and the last É even had a long tail.

After signing, she stood up, took two steps back, looked at it for a second, wasn't satisfied, and then leaned back to draw a smiley face next to the signature.

Jin Qiutian froze on the spot, like a chick cornered against a wall.

"Unnie, I'll be wearing this outfit again later."

"Go ask your oppa for a new one." Park Chae-young didn't even look up, she was already flipping through her phone looking for the best angle to take a picture.

She took three steps back, raised her phone and pointed it at Jin Qiutian and the hoodie she was holding. In the picture, Jin Qiutian looked like she wanted to die, and the back of the hoodie had a crooked ROSE and a smiley face signed on it.

Click.

Park Chaeyoung looked down at the photo, a smile playing on her lips, then looked up again: "Autumn, move to the left, yes, just stand there and don't move."

Kim Qiu subconsciously took half a step to the side, but Park Chaeyoung reached out and hugged her waist, pulling her back.

He leaned close to Jin Qiutian's ear and spoke in a very low voice, so low that only Jin Qiutian could hear him.

"Autumn, take a picture of me and Oppa secretly later, and then print it out when you go to the store tomorrow."

Golden Autumn blinked.

Park Chae-young continued, "Hang it above Sulli's picture on the photo wall, as close to the center as possible, understand?"

The breath of autumn paused for a moment.

Park Chaeyoung released her arms from Kim Qiu-tian's waist, took a step back, and patted her shoulder with a grin: "It's starting now."

Then, in the autumn of the year, she saw her rush to Liu Zimu's side and pull him back.

She linked her arm with his, tilting her head slightly towards Liu Zimu, maintaining just the right distance.

It lies somewhere between ambiguous and ambiguous.

Jin Qiutian subconsciously pressed the shutter button.

I must say, the filming was actually pretty good!

The whole process took only about ten seconds, and Liu Zimu had already been filmed.

Liu Zimu shoved Park Chaeyoung aside: "You are...

'

"You're crazy! I am, I am..." Park Chaeyoung interrupted her, answering for him first, while glancing at Kim Qiu-tian's secret OK sign to her out of the corner of her eye.

Liu Zimu said goodbye to Kim Ji-soo and the other two, then left: "Kim Qiu-tian, if you're not leaving, you can take a taxi home later."

Park Chae-young was overjoyed that her scheme had succeeded, and handed her a signed CD: "Autumn, fighting!"

Jin Qiutian stared at her stiffly, "Unnie, I don't want to be a little traitor to Korea anymore."

I have to report to Sherry unnie and Joo unnie every day, and now you've come too.

Ugh, my head hurts!

But she had no choice. She bowed to the four members of BLACKPINK before turning and running away.

As the elevator doors were about to close, she squeezed in, pressed her back against the elevator wall, and took a deep breath.

Liu Zimu pressed the button for the first floor, and the elevator descended, the numbers jumping up and down.

He glanced at Kim Qiu-ti and asked, "What did Park Chae-young say to you? Your face is so red."

Jin Qiu shook her head, pulled up the hood of Park Chae-young's down jacket, the brim pressing down to her eyebrows: "It's nothing."

"What's wrong with your face looking like a boiled shrimp? You seem so guilty."

Jin Qiutian didn't answer, staring at her own reflection on the elevator door.

After a few seconds, she suddenly spoke up: "Oppa, have I gotten myself into something weird?"

The elevator arrived at the first floor and the doors opened.

Liu Zimu walked out first, and after taking a couple of steps, he replied, "You're only just realizing it?"

Jin Qiutian followed behind, letting out a mournful wail.

After the practice room door closed, the room became quiet, with only the four members of BLACKPINK inside.

Kim Jisoo bent down, picked up the water bottle cap from the ground, tightened it, and threw it into the trash can in the corner.

Jennie didn't move. She leaned against the wall, swiped her thumb across the screen twice, and then locked the screen.

Park Chaeyoung hugged the hoodie to her chest, still looking at the photos that Jin Qiutian had just sent her.

I looked at it for two seconds and then saved it to my favorites.

Jennie's voice came from behind, neither too loud nor too soft: "Park Chaeyoung."

Park Chaeyoung didn't turn around, still looking at her phone screen: "Hmm? What's wrong, unnie?"

Do you like Liu Zimu?

The practice room fell silent.

Jisoo's movements froze in mid-air, Lisa put her legs down after stretching, and the two of them turned to look at Rosé at the same time, and then at Jennie at the same time.

Park Chae-young locked her phone, put it in her pocket, turned around, and her expression was normal, so normal it was almost abnormal.

"No." She smiled, her tone flat.

Jennie stared at her for two seconds: "You're lying. You don't treat him like a normal friend."

"Really, no." Park Chaeyoung tilted her head, her blonde hair slipping down her shoulders. "He's Choi Sulli's boyfriend, I wouldn't do anything reckless."

Kim Jisoo and the other two all exclaimed in unison, "Oh my?"

Kim Jisoo looked at Park Chaeyoung: "But Chaeyoung, I just heard you making a heart shape with your hands for him at the last concert. You even asked Qiutian to put the photo on top of Choi Sulli. You say it's nothing? Who believes that?"

Park Chaeyoung glanced at her, and the two stared at each other for two seconds.

Park Chaeyoung laughed first, her eyes crinkling into crescents, revealing her teeth: "I just think he's a really interesting person, is that wrong?"

She walked to the mirror, looked at her reflection, and reached out to brush her bangs to one side.

"Besides, his girlfriend is Choi Sulli, not me. What use would it be for me to do anything?"

Jennie Kim climbed off the wall and walked to Chaeyoung Park's side. The two stood side by side in front of the mirror.

Two faces in the mirror, one cold, one smiling.

"Are you serious?" Jennie asked.

Park Chaeyoung didn't answer. Instead, she adjusted her hoodie collar in front of the mirror and pulled up the slipped bra strap. "Unnie, were you nervous during your solo performance?"

Jennie frowned: "What are you changing the subject about?"

"Nothing's wrong." Park Chaeyoung turned around, leaning against the mirror, her hands in her hoodie pockets. "I just feel that there aren't many people who can make me nervous, but he's one of them."

Jisoo finally couldn't hold back anymore: "Chaeyoung, you already said he has a girlfriend!"

"I know," Park Chae-young said casually. "I didn't say I wanted to do anything. I just want to see him a few more times, is that wrong? His coffee shop is open, is it illegal for me to go in for a coffee?"

Kim Jisoo opened her mouth, only to find that she couldn't refute that statement.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything reckless. Shall we continue practicing or go back to the dorm?"

Her hands were in her hoodie pockets, touching the non-existent sticky note.

She kept that piece of paper in her secret place.

But she remembered every single word on it.

Be happy! In my memory, you're such a cheerful person.

She laughed.

At 11 p.m., Liu Zimu leaned against the headboard with his laptop on his lap.

Choi Sulli huddled next to him, wrapped in a blanket, her head resting on his shoulder, her hair tickling his neck.

She had already showered, and her face was bare, her eyes fixed on the edited video on the screen.

"Are you still looking?" Liu Zimu glanced at her sideways.

"Let me see if you've filmed my little sister Chaeyoung well." Choi Sulli said this in a normal tone, but she pinched his arm with her finger. "You bastard, I thought you were just going crazy once, but I didn't expect you to go and film videos with them. You're getting bolder and bolder."

Liu Zimu gasped in pain and ignored her.

Today's video included more footage of Yoo Jung-hwa, not just the dance in the practice room, but also his preparations before entering the YG building, and his serious demeanor in the golden autumn...

He still sent the edited video to Han Sung-tae of YG Entertainment, asking him to reply within half an hour.

The other party responded quickly. Although there were a few scenes where Park Chae-young and Liu Zimu were a little too intimate, it was still within acceptable limits.

The scene begins with three people standing at the entrance of YG.

Jin Qiutian had a serious expression on her face, unlike the tense atmosphere she had when she first went to SM Entertainment.

Then switch to the practice room.

The four members of BLACKPINK were surprised and enthusiastic when they saw Jin Qiutian, displaying standard politeness and manners, showing the care and concern of senior trainees.

Park Chae-young's enthusiasm for Kim Chu-gu, and Kim Chu-gu's natural address of "unnie," made it clear at a glance that the two knew each other before.

It's quite impressive how well-connected this young woman is.

Then the four of them continued their dance practice, with Jin Qiutian following behind to learn.

Camera angle change.

The six people stood in front of the mirror, with Jin Qiutian standing next to Lisa, the two of them being quite a bit different in height.

Park Chaeyoung glanced at the camera in the mirror, her lips curled up slightly, then she looked away, pretending to concentrate on dancing.

During the chorus, Liu Zimu's shots were specially processed by the system.

A yellow laughing-crying emoji was projected onto his face, covering his entire face except for his eyes, and remained there for three seconds.

There's also a sentence above: 【Unbearable to look at!!!】

When Choi Sulli saw the smiley face and the words, she paused for a moment, then laughed so hard she fell against him, the blanket slipped down, revealing a section of her white shoulder.

"What are you laughing at?" Liu Zimu helped her pull the blanket up.

"That thing on your face..." She laughed so hard she could hardly breathe, poking at the screen with her finger, "Where did you find the editing? You're pretty good at it."

"Ugh! My expression is too scary, I guess I'll have to sacrifice it!"

Choi Sulli laughed even harder, leaning all over him, her shoulders shaking.

He laughed for a while before looking up, his eyes were wet. He wiped them with his hand and then looked at the screen again.

The image freezes, the screen goes black, and white text appears line by line:

Special thanks to BLACKPINK and everyone who never gave up on their dreams.

Choi Sulli fell silent, didn't say anything, and just stared at the white text on the screen for a few seconds.

Then she reached out, tapped the touchpad, dragged the progress bar back to the scene where Jin Qiu said to the four members of BLACKPINK, "I will do my best," and watched it again.

"This girl is getting better and better."

Liu Zimu exported the video, opened Instagram, and logged into the Shiguang Coffee account.

The number of followers has grown to nearly 70,000.

The previous video received 140,000 likes and over 5,000 comments.

He dragged the new video into the upload box, leaving the title bar empty, his fingers hovering over the keyboard.

"Write what?"

Choi Sulli thought for a moment and said, "Keep going! In this golden autumn, those who chase their dreams will be seen!"

"this one?"

"That's it?" She snatched the laptop from his hands and started typing. "Those four must be feeling lost right now; I understand that feeling. Shouldn't their dreams, and Qiu Tian's dreams, be seen by others?"

Liu Zimu nodded, and then saw Cui Xueli press publish.

He closed the laptop, tossed it onto the bedside table, and turned off the light.

The room darkened, with only a few city lights shining through the gaps in the curtains.

Choi Sulli turned over, buried her face in the crook of his shoulder, and her breathing gradually became even.

He thought she was asleep.

"Oppa," she suddenly said, her voice muffled.

"Hmm, you're not asleep?"

"What do you think people will say online tomorrow?"

"What did you say?"

"Tell me about your videos." She rolled over, lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. "Right now, whatever YG Entertainment does is wrong. I think Chaeyoung and the others are going to get criticized again, and maybe you guys too."

Liu Zimu did not respond.

he knows.

He had thought about this issue before uploading it.

The Lee Seung-ri affair is not completely over yet; people are being tried every day, and the trials are quite severe.

Now, whatever YG artists say online becomes a target.

If BLACKPINK makes an appearance at this time, there will definitely be people who jump out and say things like "they are from their company".

But what he said in Han Chengtai's office was not just empty talk.

If you keep hiding, you'll never be completely rid of the problem.

"People will criticize it."

"But there will also be people who speak up for them. The four of them didn't do anything wrong. In time, everyone will see things clearly."

Sulli didn't ask any more questions.

The phone in the drawer lit up.

Liu Zimu glanced to the side and saw that it was a photo sent by Park Chae-young.

She was wearing the same gray sweatshirt she wore today, taking a selfie in the mirror. Her makeup wasn't completely removed, but her eyes crinkled as she smiled, revealing her bright white teeth.

The photo was accompanied by another message: "Oppa, I'm so happy today, thank you, Saranghae."

Liu Zimu stared at the message for two seconds, then put down his phone.

Sulli had already curled up under the covers, her right hand resting lightly on his body, and was asleep.

The video went viral again.

Unlike last time, this time the comments section was not overwhelmingly positive.

The trending topics were #FightingGoldenAutumnSecondPart# and #BLACKPINKSupport#. Clicking on them, the top comments praised Golden Autumn's great progress and BLACKPINK's good performance. Scrolling down a few more comments, different voices began to emerge.

[What were the CEO and senior artist Qiu Tian thinking? How dare a YG artist come out like this? The Lee Seung-ri scandal hasn't even been fully investigated yet.]

BLACKPINK didn't do anything wrong; they were victims too.

[Ha, victims? How could they not know that working in a company like that?]

Anyway, it turned into a complete mess.

However, one comment was pushed to the top, and its number of likes far surpassed those of the others.

This was written by a passerby: "Regardless of Lee Seung-ri's situation or what's happening now, the four girls of BLACKPINK haven't done anything wrong. Here, they were simply dancing with a junior trainee in the practice room. Before you criticize them, think about whether you've ever been implicated because of someone else's mistakes."

At first, some people were cursing under that comment, but later more and more voices of support emerged, eventually overshadowing the negative comments.

When Liu Zimu saw it in the morning, he smiled.

He put his phone back in his pocket, tied on his apron, and started grinding beans.

A queue had already formed in front of the store.

Jin Qiutian is doing well at school. Tell her she doesn't need to come today. If necessary, she can go back to the company to practice dancing.

But there were several new messages on the whiteboard.

The top line of text was written in a crooked, childlike handwriting: "Autumn-senpai, the second installment was really good. Looking forward to your debut."

Someone then asked: "When will the third installment be released?"

Below: [President, how did it feel to knock Jisoo unnie flying? And is that CG on her face for real? Hahahaha]

Liu Zimu stared at the line of text for two seconds, then turned and walked into the store.

Four new employees joined today, so everyone is less tired.

The line at the entrance grew longer.

Some people were taking pictures, some were chatting, and the song playing randomly in the store was the one we used to dance with last night.

As Liu Zimu listened to the melody, he paused for a moment while frothing milk.

Then continue.

Life must go on.

Whether it's the golden autumn, Park Chae-young and her friends, or those little girls waiting at the door holding up their phones.

Everyone is moving forward.

In the afternoon, Liu Zimu inexplicably felt his eyelids twitching.

A twitching left eye means good fortune, while a twitching right eye means bad luck.

Both eyes are twitching at the same time; something big is about to happen.

Lee Jin-hee walked by carrying a tray and whispered, "Oppa, that person at table number 5 has been sitting there for almost twenty minutes, and they've been staring at you the whole time."

Liu Zimu looked up and glanced at it.

There sat a man in his early forties wearing a dark gray jacket and black-rimmed glasses. He had a glass of Americano in front of him, but he hadn't drunk much of it.

He was observing, watching Liu Zimu, pausing for two seconds each time, moving away, and then moving back.

Liu Zhenghua leaned closer and whispered, "Brother, is that man a tax official? He looks like one."

"What's there to be afraid of? We didn't evade taxes," Liu Zimu said, pressing the ground soybean powder into the handle and flattening it. "I guess it's either a reporter or... whatever, whoever it is, they're a customer once they've placed an order."

He didn't go to greet them.

The man stood up and walked to the bar only after the number of customers in the store had decreased.

He took a business card out of his jacket pocket, placed it on the bar counter, and pushed it over with two fingers: "President Liu, I'm a production PD from tvN, my surname is Jung."

Liu Zimu glanced down at the business card.

tvN, Variety Show, Jung Woong-hee.

"PD Zheng." Liu Zimu nodded, not taking the business card, and continued wiping the cup in his hand. "What do you need?"

Zheng Xiongxi smiled, a little embarrassed. "Did you make that iced Americano? It was quite good, but I didn't come here for coffee today."

He paused for a moment: "The 'Go Golden Autumn' series has received a very good response."

Liu Zimu's hand, which hadn't stopped wiping the cup for a second, asked, "And then?"

"Our station watched these two episodes and thought they were excellent." Zheng Xiongxi said this with some excitement in his voice and his eyes were not calm. "These videos are very professional from planning to execution. The editing pacing and emotional build-up are better than many variety shows."

"Thank you," Liu Zimu said calmly.

Zheng Xiongxi leaned forward and lowered his voice: "I apologize for bothering you today, but I wanted to ask President Liu if you'd be interested in doing a program? Not part-time, but a full-time program writer. The station can sign a contract with you, pay you by the number of episodes, the copyright belongs to the TV station, but you'll be credited."

The music playing in the store was still a slow song, a song by Kim Tae-yeon.

Liu Zimu hung the cleaned cups on the cup rack, turned around, leaned against the bar counter, and looked at Zheng Xiongxi: "PD Zheng, I own a coffee shop."

"I know."

"So, I'm not interested."

Zheng Xiongxi exclaimed in surprise, not expecting Liu Zimu to refuse.

But he wouldn't give up: "One day a week is fine. Our station is preparing for a new project and needs fresh blood. It's not about having you work fixed hours, it's about being on set, coming up with ideas, overseeing filming, and reviewing footage. You can take one day off a week at your coffee shop, right?"

Liu Zimu stared at him for two seconds: "PD Zheng, you've got the wrong person. Please leave."

Jung Woong-hee didn't leave: "Your performance in the video wasn't bad; you were just trying to be funny, right?"

Liu Zimu did not answer.

"This girl," Jung Woong-hee pulled out his phone and pointed to Kim Qiu-tian's face on the screen, "she has potential. Your two videos brought her into the public eye, and now people online call her 'Qiu-tian sunbaenim.' But she's still a trainee; she hasn't debuted yet. If our program professionally trains her, she can be considered to have officially debuted."

"I'm sorry, she's not ready yet, so we won't consider it for now." Liu Zimu hesitated for a moment, but still refused.

Zheng Xiongxi put the business card down: "This is my phone number, it's on 24/7. Contact me anytime you've made up your mind, no matter how late."

He stopped at the door, glanced back at the photo wall, his gaze lingering for a second on the central photo of Liu Zimu and the other celebrities, before finally pushing the door open and leaving.

Lee Jin-hee leaned closer: "Oppa, you don't even want to go on TV?"

"Go to hell." Liu Zimu stuffed the business card into his apron pocket. "Not interested."

"They've already come knocking on our door, aren't you going? If you become famous, our shop will benefit too."

"Am I not famous enough already?" Liu Ziming glared at her. "The line outside is practically blocking the door of the shop next door. How much more famous do you want to be?"

Li Zhenxi pursed her lips, picked up her coffee, and left.

The doorbell rang again.

The man who came in was wearing a dark blue overcoat. He didn't look at the menu when he entered. He went straight to the bar, scanned the store, and finally his gaze fell on the photo wall, on the photo of golden autumn.

"President Yoo," he said formally, "I'm Kim Jae-hoon from Starship Entertainment."

Liu Zimu continued what he was doing: "What would you like to drink?"

Kim Jae-hoon didn't reply. He took a folder out of his briefcase, placed it on the bar, and opened it.

Inside were several pages of paper, the first page of which read "Golden Autumn Debut Plan".

"Golden Autumn is a trainee in our company." Kim Jae-hoon tapped his finger twice on the proposal. "The 'Cheer Up, Golden Autumn' series has received a great response online, and we plan to take advantage of this popularity to debut her next year."

Liu Zimu glanced at the proposal but didn't pick it up: "So?"

"So we hope to officially bring this series under the company's management." Kim Jae-hoon's tone was somewhat matter-of-fact. "From now on, all of Golden Autumn's external exposure will be planned and managed uniformly by the company. The company plans to register the IP 'Cheer Up Golden Autumn,' and subsequent content will be produced by a professional team."

Liu Zimu threw the rag she was holding onto the bar counter, turned around, and looked at him coldly: "You mean, you're going to take the videos I made and turn them into your company's stuff?"

Kim Jae-hoon's expression remained unchanged: "President Yoo, Kim Qiu-ju is a trainee at our company. Her image rights, name rights,..."

The intellectual property rights to all publicly disclosed activities belong to the company. Your unauthorized use of Jin Qiutian's image for commercial activities is, strictly speaking, something the company can pursue legal action against.

The shop became quiet.

Li Zhenxi stood next to table number three, holding a tray, her movements frozen.

Several guests looked up and glanced in their direction.

Liu Zimu smiled.

It's not the kind of forced laughter after being threatened, but the kind of laughter you can't help but let out after hearing a really funny joke.

After he finished laughing, he stood up straight and walked up to Director Kim.

The two people were separated by a bar counter, their eyes meeting.

"Where did this idiot come from?" Liu Zimu's voice wasn't loud, but each word was clearly enunciated. "First of all, I obtained Jin Qiutian's consent before filming the video, as well as the consent of SM and YG. Secondly, my video didn't generate any commercial revenue. The coffee shop's business is good because my coffee is delicious, not because of Jin Qiutian's face. Finally..."

He paused for a moment, then reached out and flipped to the last page of the proposal, where Starship Entertainment's official seal and signature section were left blank.

"Jin Qiutian won't debut now; she's not ready yet."

Kim Jae-hoon frowned slightly: "President Yoo, when Kim Qiu-yu will debut is a decision made by my company."

"So, what can your company offer her after her debut? Will you put her in an existing group? Or form a new group? Or let her go solo?" Liu Ziming's voice rose a half-octave. "With just a few pieces of paper, can you guarantee she'll debut without any problems? Can you hire the best producer for her? Will you stand up for her when she's being criticized online?"

Kim Jae-hoon opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Liu Zimu threw the proposal back: "Wait until she's ready, until she can stand on stage without being outshone by others, then we can talk about her debut."

Director Jin's expression changed: "President Liu, what is your relationship with Jin Qiutian? Are you her guardian?"

Liu Zimu stared at him for two seconds: "She's my employee, the mascot of my coffee shop. I like her because she serves me coffee."

Now, get out of here. Tell Jin Shidai I'll come find him.

Kim Jae-hoon is gone.

Liu Zimu stepped outside and took out his phone: "Manager Park, could you help me assess whether I can influence Star right now?"

Ship operation?

>