Peninsula: Please, I only want to talk about ordinary people.

Chapter 30 I'll be the MC? Not a kid!

Mina watched as yet another green light turned red, and finally couldn't hold back any longer.

Since leaving the company, Sana Minatozaki has missed an intersection, almost run a red light, and is now staring blankly at the green light.

"Sana, how about I drive?"

"Huh? Mina, what did you say?"

Sana Minatozaki turned her head, her gaze as if she had just come back from a very far place.

Mina pursed her lips and glanced at her, deciding to ask again when she got back to her dorm.

"It's nothing, the light's green again, go ahead and drive."

Sana Minatozaki looked up and saw the car behind her honking. She quickly stepped on the gas, smiling sheepishly.

"Sorry, I was a little distracted."

Mina nodded without replying. The fact that Sana was acting this way meant that her earlier guess was correct—it must be related to Kang Young-tae!

Sana Minato tried to focus her attention back on the road, but her thoughts kept drifting back to her short meeting with her manager.

……

The agent placed a tablet on the conference table. The screen was lit up, displaying a project outline with the words "Refrigerator Interview" in large letters in the title bar.

"Recently, due to the pandemic, most overseas performances and offline events have been canceled, leaving your schedule much freer."

In order to maintain TWICE's exposure, the company negotiated a collaboration with tvN.

He pushed the tablet towards Sana Minatozaki again.

"tvN is preparing to produce a talk show on the TVING streaming platform. After discussions between the company and the talent department, we feel that you are the most suitable candidate for host. Please take a look."

Sana Minatozaki took the tablet and slowly swiped her finger down the screen.

The core concept of the proposal is written very concisely:

A talk show that uses "refrigerator" as a starting point. Each episode, guests bring real ingredients from their refrigerators, and the host and guests use these ingredients to make simple dishes on the spot, chatting as they cook.

The atmosphere of the whole program is not the kind of formal, in-depth interview, but rather like friends chatting casually in their own kitchen while rummaging through the refrigerator.

The recording venue will be set up as a kitchen-like set, with each episode lasting 15 to 20 minutes, suitable for streaming users to watch during their spare time.

A staff member from the publicity department added, "We have preliminarily confirmed the program's positioning with tvN. The goal is to create a lightweight online variety show and shorten the recording cycle as much as possible to match Twice's comeback schedule."

Sana Minatozaki put down her tablet and looked up with a smile on her face.

"I think it's a good idea; consider it my personal resource."

Having debuted for so long, the company has always been very strict about their personal resources. She didn't want to let go of this rare opportunity.

However, another question came to her mind: "The invited guests shouldn't be limited to artists within the company, right?"

If we can only invite artists from Jyp, the show will be very limited, and we probably won't be able to film many episodes.

The person from the publicity department smiled and nodded.

"No, Sana, your idea is the same as theirs. We did mention that we would only find guests from within the company, but tvN's attitude was very firm."

This program is a new attempt by them to promote the platform and attract users on TVING, with the target audience being young people interested in K-pop and overseas fans.

If it's just our company's people, the coverage and the buzz won't be enough; this program needs to be internationalized.

We also considered Nayeon before, but there are many idols who are Japanese, from Tokyo University, or from Southeast Asia. Sana, you're also from Japan. After discussing it with tvN, we felt you were a better fit than Nayeon.

Sana Minatozaki nodded, then asked, "Besides me, Momo, Mina, and Tzuyu are all foreigners, so why not choose them?"

The agent laughed, and the people in the publicity department couldn't help but laugh along. Then they coughed lightly and explained to her.

"You know what Momo and Mina are like. It's too much of a stretch for the MC of an interview program. Okay, judging from your expression, you agree?"

"Yes, I agree."

Sana Minatozaki realized that her question was a joke and apologized to the three members in her heart.

"But could you tell me which production team it is? I didn't see it mentioned in the project proposal."

She picked up the tablet and flipped through it again. Generally, such projects would list the production team in charge, but this one didn't mention it at all.

The spokesperson replied, "tvN said that this time it will be produced by a new team."

The PD is also new; he previously worked as an assistant PD for Music Bank and "2 Days & 1 Night" at KBS. I think his name is Kang Young-tae... Do you know him?

When Sana Minatozaki heard "the new PD" and "KBS," she suddenly looked up and stared at her blankly.

The people in the publicity department were puzzled by her reaction and asked her another question.

Sana Minatozaki realized she had lost control of her expression and quickly pulled it back, but her fingers tightened around the tablet, forcing a smile.

"I don't really know him... but I think I've seen him before when he was promoting on Music Bank."

The PR staff nodded without asking any further questions. It's perfectly normal for TWICE to have one or two familiar PDs at KBS after so many years since their debut.

The agent tapped the table. "Then it's settled. I'll take you to tvN tomorrow night to meet the production team and discuss things."

Sana Minatozaki lowered her head. Tomorrow? So soon?

This show... could it be that Jiang Yongtai himself picked her to be the MC? What's he planning?!

"Sana? Sana?" The manager called out twice when she saw that Sana had her head down and was not moving.

"Hmm? Sorry, Oppa, I was a little distracted."

Sana Minatozaki raised her head, a smile tugging at her face, and looked over.

The manager frowned slightly. He didn't remember Sana being someone who would get distracted during meetings, but he assumed that she was tired from practicing dance today, or that she was worried about scheduling conflicts when she made her comeback.

"Yeah, don't worry, we've already talked to tvN. The recording time will be staggered from the comeback schedule, so it won't cause any problems. It'll just mean you might be a little tired, but is that okay?"

"No, Oppa..." Minatozaki Sana nodded.

Regardless, she'd wait until she met Jiang Yongtai tomorrow to discuss it further. If it really was her he had chosen, she'd like to ask him why!

"Okay, that's all for now. You can go back now. Thank you for your hard work today."

"……Um."

……

The car was parked in the parking space downstairs from the dormitory building. Minatozaki Sana turned off the engine and, before Mina could even ask, told her everything that had happened that night.

After listening, Mina remained silent for a few seconds in the passenger seat before speaking.

"So, is Kang Young-tae the PD for the show Sana is going to record?"

Sana Minatozaki frowned and nodded, resting her forehead on the steering wheel, her voice muffled as it came from the crook of her arm.

"Yeah... Mina, do you think he did it on purpose?"

Mina did not respond immediately.

Kang Young-tae just went to Jeju Island two days ago to catch up on the missing episodes of "A Heartbreaking Trip" and just got back today.

Given his recent employment experience, how could he so quickly secure the planning for a brand-new online variety show and even appoint a member of a currently popular girl group as the MC? She found it hard to believe he had that kind of authority.

But then she remembered the message Kang Young-tae sent while she was waiting for Sana in the practice room, and the box of steamed buns he had specially brought back from Jeju Island.

With these two events occurring together, Jiang Yongtai's behavior seems somewhat deliberate...

Could he be trying to "bribe" her with gifts, hoping she'll speak up for him in front of Sana?

But it doesn't feel quite like it...

Jiang Yongtai had never mentioned inviting Sana to be an MC to her before, so he couldn't have kept it a secret from her all this time and only sent her a gift now... It's too late!

"Mina, what are you thinking about?"

Seeing that she hadn't spoken for a while, Minatozaki Sana lifted her face off the steering wheel and ran her hands through her hair.

"Ugh, why me! Couldn't he have chosen Nayeon unnie instead? And he even said it was 'for internationalization'..."

Mina couldn't help but chuckle as she looked at her.

"Sana, if you don't want to be this MC, you can call your manager oppa now and ask him to choose Nayeon unnie instead."

"No!"

Sana Minatozaki lowered her hand, slammed her hand on the steering wheel, and the horn sounded.

"This is my first time being a regular MC on my own, why should I not be allowed to do it!"

She paused, turned her face away, and her voice suddenly lowered, as if she were talking to herself.

"You just want me to know you still remember that promise and have started over, right? Then I'll go see how you're doing!"

The car was only so big, and even though she spoke very softly, Mina heard every single word.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, a strange feeling welling up inside her, but she still managed a smile to encourage him.

"I support you, Sana. Do what you want to do!"

Sana Minatozaki turned to look at her upon hearing this, her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, Mina, you're the best, but..."

"But what?" Mina tilted her head.

Sana Minato grabbed her hands with both of them, her eyes suddenly becoming unusually serious.

"What should I wear to see him tomorrow?"

Mina frowned, momentarily unable to follow her train of thought.

"What does this have to do with what clothes you wear?"

"Of course it's related!"

Sana Minatozaki shouted angrily, released her hand, and began to gesture.

"This is the first official meeting with that idiot in two years!"

"How can I not dress up nicely, to make him instantly stun me and realize how captivating I am and how foolish he was before?!"

Mina chuckled, knowing that what she thought and what she said were not entirely the same, and teased her.

"Really? I thought Sana was trying to charm him again and make him pursue you again~"

"How could that be! He can forget about it. I could never like him again!"

Sana Minato frowned deeply, scoffed, as if Mina Mina was talking about some kind of fantasy, and turned her face away.

Mina looked at her profile and sighed inwardly.

Remembering what she had told me when she ran into my room late at night a while ago, I silently said to myself:

Sana, you better keep your word...

She cursed Jiang Yongtai in her heart again. Although she still held the same idea as before, she still inexplicably wanted to curse him!

Jiang Yongtai's gift couldn't possibly be as simple as just a "friend's" gift!

Yongtai-san, besides giving Sana an explanation tomorrow, don't forget to give me one too!

Otherwise... even penguins will bite if they get tricked!

……

Jiang Yongtai didn't hesitate to pull back the blanket on the bed.

Jiang Huiyuan was lying face down on the bed, one leg draped over the pillow, the other leg stretched diagonally off the edge of the bed, half of her body twisted into a completely unreasonable angle.

Her hair was smeared all over her face, her pajamas were rolled up above her navel, and her mouth was slightly open; her sleeping posture was truly pitiful.

"Get up, it's seven o'clock. Didn't you say you had to get up early to catch your schedule today?"

Last night I told her to sleep on the sofa, but in the end I let her into the room and made her the head of the living room.

As for Sana Minato's room, Jiang Yongtai didn't want to go in...

Jiang Huiyuan reached out to pull at the blanket in frustration, but made two futile grabbing motions in the air.

"Ah... Oppa, let me sleep a little longer, just five more minutes!"

Jiang Yongtai instinctively slapped her on the bottom. The moment his hand landed, the sensation was completely different from that of the skinny girl he knew when she was a child.

Realizing that things were different now, his hand froze in mid-air, he paused for a moment, then coughed and urged with a frown.

"No way! You did the same thing in junior high, and it made me late for school too!"

Jiang Huiyuan froze, then jumped up from the bed, clutching her buttocks, her face flushed.

"Hey! Oppa, I'm not a child anymore! I'll be twenty-two this year after my birthday!"

"So what! I'm your oppa, I even bathed you when you were little!"

Jiang Yongtai knew he was in the wrong, but he refused to show it on his face.

"Get up quickly, I'll wait for you outside." He said, then turned and walked out, closing the door behind him.

Jiang Huiyuan made a face at the closed door.

"Only an old fogey would say that, Oppa, you're an old fogey!"

She kicked off the blanket, then lay back down on the bed, burying her face in the pillow, but a smile secretly crept onto her lips.

Did Oppa cough just now? From childhood to adulthood, she knew best how Kang Young-tae would react when he was embarrassed!

She chuckled and rolled halfway around in her blanket.

There was a knock at the door.

"Hurry up, I left your clothes in the bathroom. Come out when you're done washing up. You have ten minutes."

Jiang Huiyuan's smile vanished instantly, and she called out irritably toward the door:

"Ugh, I know! I hate you the most, Jiang Yongtai!"

But he still obediently got out of bed and wobbled towards the bathroom.

By the time she finally finished tidying up and came out of the room, it was already past 7:30.

Jiang Yongtai had already changed his clothes and was sitting at the dining table with a cup of black coffee in front of him. He saw that she still looked like she hadn't woken up yet and didn't even lift her head.

"I told you not to eat so much last night, or the makeup artist will say your face is swollen again."

Jiang Huiyuan looked up and glared at him.

"It's all Oppa's fault for not stopping me last night!"

Jiang Yongtai gave him a "you can't blame me for this" look, but he knew he couldn't reason with Jiang Huiyuan who was still grumpy from just waking up, so he just pointed to the table.

"There's no time. Drink the juice and take the sandwich with you on the way."

Jiang Huiyuan looked over and saw a glass of orange juice left for her on the table, along with a sandwich.

Her morning grumpiness was instantly dispelled by the glass of juice, and a smile returned to her face. She walked over, picked up a sandwich, took a big bite, and mumbled something.

"Oppa, do you remember I don't like coffee?"

Jiang Yongtai stood up and glared at her.

"Stop talking nonsense, drink your juice, and I'll take you back to your dorm before you go to work."

"Inside~"

Jiang Huiyuan responded in a good mood, picked up the juice and drank it all in one go, wiped her mouth and followed Jiang Yongtai out the door.

When the two arrived at the parking lot, Jiang Yongtai had just opened the driver's side door when he saw Jiang Huiyuan very consciously climb into the back seat.

He held onto the car door, frowned, and looked back at her.

"Am I your driver? Where are you sitting?"

Jiang Huiyuan took a smug bite of her sandwich and kicked the back of the driver's seat.

"Hurry up, Oppa, I'm going to be late~"

Jiang Yongtai sighed helplessly, "Fasten your seatbelts."

Jiang Huiyuan nodded, fastened her seatbelt, and suddenly raised the hand that wasn't holding the sandwich, shouting in an extremely childish way:

"Merry, depart! Destination: new route!"

Jiang Yongtai did not respond to her. He started the car and drove out of the parking space, unaware that the phone screen on the center console had silently lit up and displayed a message.

"Yongtai-san, are you free after get off work tonight?"