Chapter 2: The Third Possibility

“However, I just thought of a third possibility.” Pei Zhenlüe’s mind raced swiftly, as if he had made a discovery, and he continued with a smile:

“Perhaps because so many girls like him, the handsome guy has never actually been in a real relationship since childhood.”

“That’s not hard to imagine, right? Actually, many beautiful girls in our company have never dated either.”

Indeed, from a statistical perspective based on those around her, it made sense.

Being more attractive does not necessarily mean one will definitely have romantic relationships.

In fact, as one’s appearance rating rises, the likelihood and frequency of dating might actually decrease.

Xue Yun seemed to have a sudden realization:

“So maybe the other person, like me, isn’t really familiar with what it means to like someone?”

But she quickly noticed her slip of the tongue. She wanted to explain more, but seeing Pei Zhenlüe’s rather proud expression, she knew she couldn’t hide anything from him.

“So, that person wouldn’t be the guy at the convenience store who looks a lot like Takashi Kashiwabara, would he?”

“Huh? How do you know that?” Xue Yun glanced around and, after confirming there were no teammates or staff nearby, continued, “I don’t think I ever told you about this.”

Pei Zhenlüe looked at her in disbelief and spread his hands:

“Sis, is it possible… I also attend Hanlin Arts High School, and we’re even desk neighbors?”

“The fact that there’s a handsome guy at the convenience store near the school who looks just like Takashi Kashiwabara is almost common knowledge at school, you know?”

Although Zhenlüe’s words made sense, Xue Yun inexplicably felt a little unhappy.

It was as if her treasured secret had been discovered by others.

If so many people knew about him, surely many must have expressed interest in getting close to him, right?

“Sis…” Zhenlüe tentatively poked Xue Yun’s arm.

“You wouldn’t really have feelings for him, would you? We just debuted, after all.”

“Of course not… I don’t really have much interaction with him…” Xue Yun’s voice grew quieter and quieter, even she didn’t quite believe her own words.

“Sis, it’s normal at our age to have interest in the opposite sex, but we should still focus on our careers. Don’t worry, I’ll keep this secret for you.”

“If you need to, you can always come to me to discuss this further.”

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In the conference room, Xia Xing finished presenting the last slide of his PowerPoint to the marketing department leaders.

He knew his presentation skills still needed improvement; after all, preparing a dozens-of-pages PPT in just a few hours and delivering it fluently required experience.

Notes from Xue Yun kept flashing through his mind.

However, the leaders in the room tacitly refrained from nitpicking and instead engaged seriously in the discussion.

Moreover, they were quite receptive to his suggestions.

“According to Commissioner Xia’s analysis, ITZY and NMIXX indeed align well with the company’s requirements.”

“Does anyone else have other candidates to recommend?”

The head of the marketing department, Director Jin Xun, looked around, then signaled Xia Xing to return to his seat and continue with the meeting.

“Let’s discuss the implementation plan in detail.”

The meeting, consisting of one director, three managers, five team leaders, and one commissioner, lasted about two hours.

They smoothly arrived at a general plan.

Xia Xing would be responsible for the concrete execution of contract negotiations with JYP Entertainment and securing the endorsement deals for the new product.

To put it bluntly, the meeting was essentially about how to cultivate Xia Xing.

“Don’t worry, leaders. I will work hard to carry out the task. If there are any issues, I’ll seek your guidance.”

Xia Xing ended the meeting with this promise and saw off the marketing leaders.

Sometimes, he had the odd feeling: who really is the leader here?

Isn’t it usually the top leader who announces the end of the meeting?

While contemplating this, Xia Xing used the company’s existing contact list to reach out to JYP’s business department, expressing initial cooperation intentions.

When the other side heard they were considering ITZY or NMIXX as endorsers, their attitude became much more proactive and enthusiastic.

It made sense; these two groups’ commercial value had yet to be fully unlocked, and JYP needed a company with substantial scale to support their groups.

That way, they could secure more endorsement contracts from other companies later and hold more bargaining power during negotiations.

After arranging a detailed meeting for tomorrow afternoon, Xia Xing’s mood improved.

After all, it had been months since he last saw Xue Yun.

What expression would she have if she found him sitting across from her at the meeting tomorrow?

With this thought, Xia Xing opened KakaoTalk and sent her a message:

“Busy with work lately? I’ve been working hard too. Let’s keep it up together.”

“I heard Aquarius will have good luck if they just focus on working hard recently. Maybe some surprises are waiting for us.”

At this moment, lying on her bed and absorbed in playing games alone, Xue Yun glanced at her phone, her brow slightly furrowing.

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Her mood was nothing like Xia’s optimistic spirit.

Instead, she was tangled in a complicated emotional knot she couldn’t explain.

That guy was really too much—why wasn’t he at all confused about their relationship?

In the end, it was only herself who was suffering mentally.

Maybe… following Zhenlüe’s advice, she should try to create some distance between them for a while?

Yes, she would do just that.

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“Xue Yun, are you really that busy lately? You haven’t replied all day.”

Xia Xing opened JYP Bubble and saw that Xue Yun was still frequently sharing photos from the practice room. His mood sank even further.

She wasn’t ignoring her phone; she just didn’t want to reply to him.

When Xia Xing realized this, he felt completely drained, collapsing weakly in his car.

On the passenger seat lay some small gifts he had carefully picked out at the mall last night.

They were gifts bought “wholesale” based on the meeting list, intended for JYP employees and members of ITZY and NMIXX attending the meeting.

Among them was a separately chosen gift especially for Xue Yun. Though it might not be as expensive as the others, it was definitely picked with great care by Xia Xing.

Xue Yun always played games holding her tablet, which seemed tiring just to watch. So he chose a controller compatible with the tablet.

To keep this gift a surprise, he even spent more money trying to conceal its special nature.

It was a bit like “making dumplings just to spite this jealousy.”

So… what exactly went wrong between them?

He could only think of two possibilities.

One: Xue Yun felt he had been too focused on work lately and didn’t treat her as the most important friend.

Two: Something he said yesterday might have hit a nerve with her. But she was also a very career-driven girl, and talking about zodiac signs and luck hardly seemed like a sensitive topic.

Racking his brains, he couldn’t think of a third possibility.

Before he knew it, he had driven to JYP.

Since their meeting was scheduled for the afternoon, arriving early at noon gave Xia Xing enough time to look around the JYP offices.

As a friend, it was only natural to care about Xue Yun’s work environment, right?

He didn’t want to wait until the meeting to see her. Knowing she was training, he decided to go straight to her.