Chapter Eighty-One: How Did You Meet?

previous clamor was replaced by the roar of car engines and honking horns on the road, making it feel like we were in two different worlds.After walking for about ten minutes, he returned to the hotel..."It's Yuan…"

This sound is actually quite familiar to both Huang Meiying and Seo Hyun. After hearing it, the two immediately made a colorful expression in front of the camera, miming to each other with knowing smiles full of anticipation.

Even though they had just met, Kim Taeyeon still put on a facade and explained: "You should have watched our TTS's 《The Tae Ti Seo》, right Today, I invited close friends to a party. Do you have time to come and play"

"《The Tae Ti Seo》," Ki-won's voice was laced with curiosity, as if he were hearing the name of this variety show for the first time.

"Haven't you heard" Taeyeon's voice suddenly dropped.

"Ani, of course I've heard..." he quickly denied. "In a while"

"inside."

"

“Brother, we're here…” There was a sound of Ji Jingyuan and his agent discussing on the phone. It wasn't very clear what they were saying after some processing, but about thirty seconds later he replied: “I’m good here, see you then.”

"

"All! I'll give you my address!" Kim Taeyeon promised in a crisp voice, then hung up the phone. After that, she winked at the camera that had been filming her and stuck out her tongue playfully. She looked very happy.

Then she turned her head and winked at her two younger sisters: "As agreed... we should prepare more snacks. This relative really loves this kind of thing."

"Wow, unnie, you really have foresight! We already bought a lot before!"

After Huang Mei-ying and Seo Hyun, they each invited their own friends, but the phone call shots were not filmed.

Relieved, the three of them let out a collective sigh after finalizing the invitation. After exchanging a few pleasantries, they arrived at the studio space prepared by the production crew. Carrying several large bags filled with their purchased materials, the trio ascended the stairs and began preparations.

The table was set with a variety of pastries, and in the center sat a strawberry cream cake covered by a glass dome, looking quite sweet.

Next to the table was a large pile of snacks, with several candles flickering in the center, adding a touch of warmth. On the side were neatly arranged rows of drinks and champagne. A miniature cocktail party was ready to go, looking surprisingly presentable.

Only Jin Tae-yeon, these three people kept waving and eating, occasionally licking their fingers. It felt rather unhygienic.

Ji Jingyuan was a little taken aback by this scene. He had just seen Kim Taeyeon eat a snack, lick her fingers, and then place a small chocolate cake on her plate.

He remembered this chocolate cake. When he recorded it, he seemed to have eaten this cake and thought the sweet taste was pretty good at that time.

I didn't expect this to happen...

It was past four in the afternoon, almost half a day had passed. Kim Taeyeon looked at the carefully prepared cold meal and nodded with satisfaction. "Let's call the kids and tell them to come over soon," she said.

"I'll go first..." After saying that, she took out her phone and called Ji Jingyuan again: "Yo, are you busy Where are you When will you be here"

What time do you guys need to be there

"Ani... It's coming now, you're not already out there, are you" Kim Taeyeon froze at the words, opened her mouth in surprise and glanced around. She awkwardly avoided the camera and lowered her head, asking in a hushed voice.

"How could that be... I'll be there in a jiffy."

After urging him again, she hung up the phone.

She felt that Chi Jingyuan didn't seem very reliable.

After Seo Hyun and Hwang Me-young finished their phone calls respectively, it wasn't long before the friends they invited came upstairs. Upon entering, a close-up shot was given, with letters beside them indicating that the two were Sistar's Bora and Soyu, best friends of Seo Hyun and Pani respectively.

At this time, a VCR introduction to sistar was played.

sistar is also a girl group with high popularity in the past two years. Their characteristic is that their sound source results are very good, and basically every time they return, the title song can be ranked in the top of the year-end chart.

Of course, the drawback

The drawbacks such as poor sales, a smaller number of die-hard fans and difficulties in organizing tours are common problems for girl groups. Only Girls' Generation doesn't have these issues.

As soon as they stepped in, Seo-hyun was greeted by a few people who rushed to hug her tightly. Seo-hyun held onto Chae-youn's hand, looking like very excited friends meeting again.

Kim Taeyeon gave the two of them each an animal ear headband to wear. As for the three of them, they had already put on such a gathering that was essential to enhance the atmosphere. The five female idols chatted excitedly on the sofa.

After chatting for a while, Kim Taeyeon glanced several times towards the door. She had been calling for Ji-seong all along, but he didn't come. The camera zoomed in on her face, and she could no longer force a smile. She pursed her lips and sat on the sofa, pretending to be calm. However, there was obvious anxiety and restlessness in her eyes, as if fearing that Ji-seong was up to something again.

At this moment, a shot of a man's lower body suddenly appeared on the screen. He was wearing ordinary blue jeans and black shoes with white edges, walking quickly down the road.

As the pace quickened, the camera slowly rose. Apart from the head, which was out of frame, the upper body clad in a gray and white plain round-neck sweater gradually came into view. Although there was no face shown, anyone could tell that this person had a really great figure. An ordinary casual outfit seemed to have a lot of flavor.

Of course, this man was Chi Jingyuan who had been waiting for half a day. Under the camera's follow-up, he walked in and began to go upstairs.

Several people in the room had been waiting for quite some time, looking at each other with confusion as to why Jin Tae Yeon's relatives hadn't arrived yet. An irritable Tae Yeon was also staring out the door on the stairs, suddenly her ears perked up at the sound of footsteps coming upstairs. Her face lit up and she quickly stood up, rushing to the door to take a peek, then with a sly smile, crouched beside the door, ready to give whoever came in a good scare.

Pani and Seohyun, also seeing this, excitedly ran to the door and hid with Taeyeon to give Ji-won a surprise.

Zhao You and Bao La stood up from the sofa, smiling at this side but not participating.

As footsteps grew closer, the transparent door was slowly pushed open. Seeing someone about to walk in, the three members of TTS shouted in unison: "Drink!"

He was very imposing, his voice booming and echoing in the room even after he finished speaking. He also made a menacing face, baring his teeth and gesticulating wildly, trying to intimidate whoever was coming.

...As expected, there was no fear in sight. Instead of being frightened as they had imagined, Ji Jingyuan walked in and stood at the door calmly. He turned his head slightly, looking down at the three underage members who were making threatening gestures with a puzzled expression on his face. He blinked a few times, seeming confused as if he didn't understand what they were doing...

Chi Jingyuan saw the expressions of these sisters and was stunned for two seconds. He slightly bowed his head and looked at them with concern, asking: "Nana, what's wrong with you"

Keeping a threatening pose, the three of them, including Kim Taeyeon, had their heads dubbed over with an awkward bird call during post-production. The scene became rather indescribable for a moment.

Although they had experienced a lot in their youth, the three people instantly understood each other and pretended nothing happened. They lightly patted their pants as if some dust had fallen on them. After that, Kim Taeyeon raised her head, her expression changing rapidly. She enthusiastically went up to him, extended her hand, and shouted happily, "Kyung-won!"

Seo-hyun and Pani also went up to him one on each side, cheering loudly to show their support.

The failure just now was immediately taken away.

"Oh... Yuan!" Paula and Shao-Yu, who were behind him, also looked at each other, covering their mouths in surprise. The suspense and anticipation built up for the audience was instantly heightened.

At this time, a VCR introducing the pool scene source was played. A dense block of subtitles scrolled down the side from top to bottom. Besides various hyperbolic praises like "EXO's consecutive million-selling albums" and "Super popular boy band," there were also special mentions like "Rising star actor" and "Advertising prince."

This rendering made the pool courtyard look so much more upscale, even he himself felt it was a bit over-the-top.

Ji-sung smiled broadly and clasped hands with Taeyeon. He then gave a playful punch to the arm of each of the approaching members, Hyoyeon and Seohyun. While bowing slightly to Bora and Sowon, he walked past them surrounded by his three older sisters.

He went and sat in the very center of the sofa.

After sitting down, a few people glanced at each other, and the atmosphere felt a little awkward. However, Kim Taeyeon quickly waved her hand and looked at Ji Kyoung-won: "Kyoung-won ah, there's only you as a man here today. Don't you feel anything special"

"Am I the only one" Kijeong looked around and pointed at himself, his gaze fixed on Kim Taeyeon.

"Hey, what are you looking at

Do you think of me as a guy in your heart"

That look made Kim Taeyeon a little annoyed. She widened her eyes and stared at him threateningly.

"Haha, Taeyeon, the impression you left on people doesn't seem very good," Hwang Miyoung burst into laughter, collapsing onto Kim Taeyeon. After glaring at her for a moment, Taeyeon couldn't help but laugh as well.

Ji Jingyuan took the mouse ear headband from Xu Xian and put it on his head. Paired with his long bangs styled for a role, he looked quite adorable.

Back then, these few sisters of the pool were all very familiar to Jingyuan. Kim Taeyeon goes without saying, Pani and Seo Hyun had also met many times. Although their relationship was not as close as Taeyeon's, it was more than just ordinary friends.

Two members of Sistar seem to be quite interested in Ji-seong. Over the past two years, they've bumped into EXO countless times at various program backstages, but this is their first time sitting so close and chatting. The two sides exchanged words quickly, heating up the atmosphere.

As they chatted, the conversation naturally turned to how TTS's three members and today's three guests became friends. After everyone else had shared their stories, only Ji-seong and Taeyeon remained. The crowd immediately began teasing: "By the way, Taeyeon unni, what brought you and Yuanxi together"

"I kind of forgot, do you remember" Kim Taeyeon puffed out her cheeks and glanced at Ji-won.

"Hmm..." Ji-yeong looked up, recalling something with a hint of sentimentality. "It's been over two years, I think. I remember meeting Taeyeon at the Dream Concert shortly after our debut in 2012."

"It's so late, isn't Yuanxi an ** trainee She should have known Taeyeon before, right" Chae-yoon chimed in curiously.

"Ani, because I joined the company relatively late and after my debut, I was practicing every day without any free time, so I didn't get to know many people in the company, whether they were senior idols or trainees."

Ji Chang Wook nodded in agreement, then glanced at Kim Taeyeon with a hint of amusement. "I remember back then, our K-team was resting in the waiting room. I think I was still playing video games. Then Taeyeon unnie and several TTS senior members barged in, which really startled me."

"How is that possible I did knock!" Taeyeon immediately corrected Ji-won's "mistake," looking at him earnestly and saying, "I definitely knocked!"

"Must have knocked, I just didn't hear it... Mi ah ne," Ji Jingyuan pretended to be startled and quickly nodded in agreement. The people next to him immediately burst into laughter.

Look at his intentional expression. Taeyeon gritted her teeth as if she wanted to hit him, but seeing the camera filming their face-to-face confrontation, she quickly held back.

"That day, I still remember it, wasn't that the time we met Turns out it was Taeyeon unnie and Yuanxi's first time meeting" After hearing this, Seohyun was also a little surprised, her eyes darting back and forth between the two.

That's when I met them.

"Now, Jingyuan, what was your first impression of Taeyeon And how did you two become so close I remember that both of you seemed pretty hard to get close to initially, not the type who enjoys making friends." Huang Meiying asked curiously.

She also remembered meeting that day, but how the two of them gradually became familiar later on, she had somewhat forgotten.

"First Impression..." Ki Seong felt a murderous glare beside him. He swallowed the objective and neutral comments like "short," "makeup too heavy," and after thinking carefully, he stated confidently: "It's probably 'aura.'"

"Aura" Several people looked at Kim Taeyeon, finding it hard to believe that someone who seemed so soft and delicate could possibly have an aura.

Taeyeon also curiously looked over.

She was really knowing for the first time what kind of impression she made on Chi Jingyuan.

"Because at that time, we had just debuted for a month or so and were still new. I hadn't met many seniors either. When Taeyeon unnie pushed the door open and stood in front of us, her presence was really deep impression on me. At that time, I felt that this senior had a particularly strong aura, very domineering, truly making me feel like this is what the leader of Girls' Generation should be like."

Ji-yeong nodded seriously, explaining that the day had left a deep impression on him and he could still recall it easily to this day. He just omitted the part where Taeyeon had approached him afterwards to ask for his contact information.

He felt the story behind was the true domineering one.

"Huh... ahhahahaha..." Feeling the sincerity in Ji-yeong's evaluation, Kim Taeyeon felt her heart blossom. She tried to act reserved, but after holding back twice she couldn't resist it. She lifted her head, covered her mouth, and laughed loudly and openly. Her signature smile echoed around them without any pretense, clearly showing how happy she was.

As for what I remember, I've forgotten the specifics. But there's one thing that really stuck with me afterward. Under everyone’s curious gaze, Chi Jingyuan paused for a moment, organized his words, and said: "At that time, I received a role in a play. Back then, it was my first time acting, as a complete newcomer. Every day on set, I was quite nervous, the pressure was really high."

Then one day, suddenly the staff told me that someone had sent a support truck for me. At that time, I was really surprised. Recalling with some color of memory, Ji Jingyuan twitched his mouth: "Because our group wasn't doing well at the time, so we didn't know many people. Since joining the show, we haven't received anything like a support truck..."

They all had some impression of EXO's situation back then. Their debut year was really tough. When Park Kyung filmed a drama, the K team besides online criticism already couldn't get any resources and was in a state of being half-frozen.

"So it was quite a surprise that someone sent a support truck, considering it's not cheap."

"Was this from Taeyeon" Bora asked at the right time.

It's already quite obvious.

"That's from Taeyeon unnie, I remember it very clearly. At the time, I was quite puzzled, you know A senior who I had only met once would actually send me a support truck. After being surprised, I felt really grateful." Thinking back on some past experiences, Ji Kyeong-won's mood brightened considerably. He exchanged glances with Kim Taeyeon: "After that, we gradually became familiar with each other."

"How's that, Nunna Pretty righteous, huh" Taeyeon smirked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Inside." Chi Jingyuan also raised an eyebrow, the two of them smiling and simultaneously extending their hands to clap again,

When the two hands collided, the screen slowed down under processing. The screen's color scheme also turned into black and white. The camera gave close-ups to both Ji Jingyuan and Kim Taeyeon, showing their blooming smiles, as well as individual close-up shots of their palms overlapping in the middle. Under this kind of post-production embellishment, viewers would feel the precious friendship between these two male and female idols.

And that unspoken understanding caused the few people standing nearby to glance at each other, their eyes filled with a mixture of admiration and envy.

After chatting for a while, they began eating and drinking champagne. After that, the focus shifted away from Pool View. While he appeared in many shots later on, they were mostly ordinary conversations and lighthearted banter. Besides him, the broadcast also focused on the other two guests, giving everyone a fair share of screen time.

And lastly, he wasn't really interested in seeing some sentimental scenes of mutual evaluation.

In total, he appeared for about half an hour. I don't know the exact details of how long it was, but just watching him in the car for those twenty minutes made me think this variety show is pretty good.

At least from an objective fan's point of view, even if it was someone who liked E-Lly, they shouldn't attack Taeyeon just because she and he seemed very familiar in this episode. Anyone watching could see that their relationship was purely that of siblings, a very close sibling relationship.

He had experienced firsthand the fervent passion of his fans countless times. Because they were overly loyal and crazed, EXO members during their appearances on variety shows were hesitant to interact with other female idols for fear that a gesture or expression might be misinterpreted by fans, leading to considerable trouble.

I even reminded them of this during meetings with XO inside the company, which sometimes made things awkward in situations where other female artists were present.

Chi Jingyuan looked at the bright smiles of several people in the TTS video on the screen, shook his head and closed the video.

This episode was filmed around September 20th. At that time, the event of Jung Soo-yeon's departure hadn't happened yet, so the recording atmosphere was very good. The three members of Girls' Generation throughout the entire process had smiles on their faces. However, after what happened, looking back at it feels a little inappropriate and might irritate sensitive fans.

But since the photos were taken and the video was aired, saying these things doesn't really help.

……

"Are you ready"

Today is October 10th, there is a whole week left until the premiere of , they will officially take over next Friday, welcoming the finale of which is coming to an end soon.

This highly anticipated opening program for the 8th anniversary of TV channel N is finally here. Let's see what it's really made of.

Today is also the day of the pre-broadcast press conference for "The Untamed". Several leading actors and key crew members are in the meeting room waiting, while a nearby small exhibition hall is already filled with journalists who will be taking their turn on stage shortly.

"Relax, PD. Don't look at Jingyuan's age, he's been to many press conferences like this." Sitting beside him, Li Xingmin waved his hand, indicating that it was a small event.

Let's go, they've already notified them to start over there.

Under the leadership of several key creators, including Jin Yuanxi, the seven lead actors walked into the exhibition hall, following behind them. First, they stood on a platform where a large number of journalists who had been waiting downstairs for a long time took turns snapping photos, blinding their eyes with flashes, before finally taking a seat on a row of chairs placed on the platform.

Pool Kyung-won, as the male lead, sits in the fourth position, following the producer, director, and screenwriter. To his left is Lee Seong-min, and then to his right are people like Go So-ra and Kang Ho.

Such TV drama press conferences usually follow a similar process. They start with photos, followed by a Q&A session with reporters. Actors share some interesting anecdotes from the filming process. If there are pre-planned activities, they might include some small games as well.

The main purpose is still to warm up and promote, what you say should not involve negative or privacy issues, the more topical the better.

As soon as the host began, the reporter he called out immediately asked a very aggressive question: "I want to ask Lee PD, it is rumored that when choosing the male lead for 'The Uncanny Counter,' the initial candidate was Kim Seon-ho, right He also played Jang Klye in the short film of 'The Uncanny Counter' last year, and later changed to Ji Chang-wook. What is the necessary reason behind this Or are you placing more importance on the popularity of XOs compared to acting skills"

This message actually spread quite widely, after all, last year's short film starring the male lead of this drama was indeed Kim Seon-ho, and at that time, after the male lead was confirmed, his fans made a commotion online for several days, scolding Ji Chang-wook. They were quickly overwhelmed by Alice fans and silenced.

Once the question was posed, the recording device waited for producer Lee Jae-won's reply.

“When we held the production meeting in June, the key creative personnel listed several characteristics needed for the actor playing Jang Klye, and including myself and PD Kim, almost everyone’s first reaction was to think of Jiung… From that moment on, we cast Jiung as Jang Klye and started communicating with ** and issuing invitations.”

Despite not being conventionally attractive, Li Zaiwen remained calm and collected. Facing a crowd of reporters, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "There are many variables in the TV drama casting process, and there are many things that can't be said. Bringing up past events again is meaningless. What I want to say now is that even if the TV series 'The Untamed' failed and the ratings didn't meet expectations, Jiang Cheng was still best played by Peng Guan Ying. He is the most suitable person for this role."

Finally, he smiled at the reporter who had asked the question and shook his head. "I'd like to correct something, though. Our team values both popularity and acting skills very much. And it was precisely because we valued acting skills that we chose Jingyuan."

First Release on [繁體] Novel Networks!""Digital single...kkkkk, this kind of cost-free comeback already shows that the company doesn't have high expectations for them, otherwise they wouldn't be so perfunctory. In recent six months, **...