The Camera in the Dark

Chapter 93 The Camera in the Dark (4k)

Cicada..

蝉？

Having studied in New Zealand, Jennie's English level made the meaning of the word come to mind naturally.

"Cicada?" she repeated, as memories of the word began to surface.

It's not the "Cicada" that keeps chirping in the trees during the summer.

It's the hidden Cicada on the treetop!

Anyone who has paid attention to Red Velvet and SM Entertainment should have heard of this name.

The legendary third pillar of SM Entertainment, besides Yoo Young-jin and Kenzie!

"Is it the producer Cicada?!" She looked at Pei Xiyan in surprise, trying to get his confirmation.

Pei Xiyan hesitated for a moment, then said, "I think so." His tone was ambiguous, as if he himself was somewhat unsure.

"?" This answer surprised Jennie Kim.

"Oh, what do you mean by 'should be'? Besides you, who else is called Cicada?" Knowing his younger brother's personality, Kim Jongin...

He laughed and cursed.

"That's hard to say," Pei Xiyan shook her head, muttering to herself, "There are so many English names in the world, you're bound to run into one."

"But there's definitely only one Cicada on the peninsula, and you're the only one." Kim Jongin clenched his right fist and gently punched Pei Xiyan's shoulder. "I only recognize you too."

"Uh..." Pei Xiyan pursed her lips and asked seriously, "Is your approval really that valuable?"

"You brat..." Kim Jongin's eyes widened, and he was so angry at these words that he wanted to grab Pei Xiyan's neck and teach him a lesson, but Pei Xiyan dodged him by stepping back.

"Let's forget about my height," Pei Xiyan said casually, waving her hand.

"I should have just left instead of saying hello!" Kim Jongin felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck and began to regret his decision to go up and say hello not long ago.

I know this kid's personality perfectly well!

"Just kidding, besides, he's not the shortest in EX0." Pei Xiyan patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"Hey! How can 182cm be considered short? You're just too tall!" Kim Jong-in slapped his hand away indignantly.

"They have such a good relationship." Jennie Kim remarked, watching the two interact.

When she returned to the Peninsula a few years ago, she found it hard to adjust because the Peninsula is completely different from New Zealand. If the atmosphere in New Zealand is like relaxed and free water, then the Peninsula is like hard and stubborn rock. It is really rare to have such a carefree and playful relationship on the Peninsula.

"Maga." Bae Joo-hyun smiled and nodded.

"I never expected that Unnie had such a secret weapon." Jennie turned to look at her, her gaze a mixture of teasing and surprise.

One of the unsung heroes who helped Red Velvet achieve their current status is actually the group's leader's younger brother? If this news were to be revealed, Jennie Kim doesn't know how others would react, but she was stunned when she first heard it.

It's like when it was suddenly revealed that Teddy had become her boyfriend!

"It can't really be considered a secret weapon." Bae Joo-hyun then recalled the recent trend, "Where did Cicada go?"

This can already be considered a weapon used openly and legitimately.

"Unnie, are you talking about that trend?" Jennie Kim guessed what she meant.

"Inside."

"So why isn't Cicadai participating in this comeback?" Jennie Kim was also quite curious about this question.

"He's putting too much pressure on himself," Bae Joo-hyun sighed softly.

Even though "PowerUp" performed quite well, both its initial ranking and subsequent PAK chart success created a buzz.

The only drawback in the history of Velvet's and even SM's music charts might be that their songs lack staying power.

Pei Xiyan stubbornly attributed this one imperfection to her own problem and then withdrew from the return.

Jennie Kim can understand.

"I feel like Teddyoppa, both of them have a perfectionist personality."

Teddy has been in charge of producing Blackpink's albums since their debut, and his perfectionist nature has forced them to have very long intervals between each comeback.

After saying that, Jennie licked her slightly dry lips.

"Oppa, we think we need to buy some water too," she reminded him.

"Yes." Stopping his jokes with Pei Xiyan, Kim Jongin also remembered the things he hadn't finished.

"It's all your fault, you little brat, that made me almost forget about it." He directly shifted the blame.

"I want to buy one too, I'll go." Pei Xiyan smiled and strode over to the vending machine in a few steps.

He tapped the electronic screen, then took out his wallet and put the banknotes in. With a few clanging sounds, the contents fell into the retrieval compartment below.

"Here." Pei Xiyan walked back, took out two bottles and handed them to Kim Jongin. She put one of the remaining two bottles into the pocket of her baseball uniform and twisted open the other bottle, handing it to Pei Joo-hyun.

Seeing this, Kim Jong-in followed suit and opened a bottle, handing it to Kim Jennie.

"Thank you, oppa." Jennie smiled sweetly.

"Kenchana." Kim Jongin looked at her with a bright smile.

The two stared at each other, and a sweet, cloying scent of romance began to ferment and spread in the air.

Pei Xiyan frowned involuntarily.

It wasn't that he was provoked by the scene in front of him; with Kim Nancy as his friend, his resistance to such sweet moments was higher than Mount Everest.

He suddenly felt very awkward, as if he were being stared at by something.

He turned his head to look in the direction where he felt something was wrong. There was a dark forest where the streetlights couldn't reach, and he couldn't see anything. Further out, there were cars driving by on the street, but they were far away and even more blurry.

"What's wrong?" Bae Joo-hyun took a small sip of water and also peeked over there.

"It's nothing." Pei Xiyan shook his head, instinctively feeling that he wasn't prepared to talk about such vague and uncertain things.

He then took out his phone to check the time, when suddenly a video call invitation appeared on his screen at just the right moment.

Upon seeing the name on the screen, Pei Xiyan's pupils contracted.

"Who called?" Bae Joo-hyun asked curiously, standing on tiptoe to peek over the phone.

"Oh, it's Jin Nanxi." Pei Xiyan blinked and turned off the screen. "He's probably talking to me about random things again. I'll go answer him over there."

He smiled slightly at Bae Joo-hyun, then took his phone and walked quickly in one direction, his steps revealing his haste.

Bae Joo-hyun knows Kim Nam-hee, who is a close friend of her younger brother. Apart from being a bit glib, she has no other problems.

"Where did Xiyan go?" Kim Jong-in snapped out of his sweet reverie and watched Pei Xiyan's departing figure.

"I went to answer the phone." Bae Joo-hyun screwed the bottle cap back on. "Let's find a place to sit and wait for him."

"Yes~" Jennie raised both hands in agreement. She had walked quite a distance with Jongin tonight, and her legs were already a little sore.

Meanwhile, to ensure that no one could hear her at this distance, Pei Xiyan reopened her screen and clicked the video call acceptance button.

A pretty little face appeared on the screen.

It's Sana Minatozaki.

"Ugh! Why did it take you so long to answer?" She pouted her pink lips, her tone slightly dissatisfied.

She was still downstairs in the apartment complex when the cold white light of the streetlights and snowflakes fell on her. One snowflake even drifted to the tip of her nose and melted into water.

"I was a little uncomfortable just now," Pei Xiyan coughed twice and explained.

"Are you outside too?" Minatozaki Sana blinked her big eyes, noticing the background behind him. Judging from the surrounding trees and road, it didn't look like they were indoors at all.

"Inside, taking a walk in Sky Park." Pei Xiyan held up her phone to show her the surroundings.

"Why did Sana suddenly call me?" he asked after putting down his phone.

Who knows how surprised he was when he first saw the name?

"What? Can't we fight?" Minatozaki Sana asked back.

"Ani, I feel quite surprised." Pei Xiyan scratched her cheek.

This was the first time the two of them had initiated a video call; in the past, they had only chatted.

"Because today isn't the first snowfall." Sana Minato smiled gently, her bright smile disappearing under the cool lamplight.

The colors faded. "You know... do you think this counts as us watching the first snow together?"

Even through the screen, her eyes still sparkled, as if adorned with dazzling gems.

Pei Xiyan pursed her lips, her heart beating faster and faster.

He didn't know if he was being stared at by Sana Minatozaki's eyes or prompted by her question.

Or perhaps both.

He really wanted to ask Sana Minatozaki if she knew the meaning of "watching the first snow together" in the context of the peninsula, but he stopped himself from saying it.

"I guess so," Pei Xiyan said.

"It would be even better if... we could watch it together live sometime in the future."

"Yes." Sana Minatozaki smiled.

Pei Xiyan was stunned.

"Just like the promise we made for the night view, if Shiyan takes the initiative." Minatozaki Sana's eyelashes fluttered, her eyes bright.

"If Sana doesn't mind," Pei Xiyan replied in the same sentence structure.

Just then, Son Chaeyoung's voice came from not far away, "Unnie! Let's build a snowman!"

"Does this amount of snow look like enough to build a snowman?" Yoo Jeong-yeon's voice came over with a comment.

"You'll only know if you try, right, Mina unnie?"

Mina's voice seemed to be hidden, and neither of them could hear it.

"What is Sana unnie doing?" a voice asked.

"Okay, I won't bother you anymore." Seemingly, a member approached, and fearing being recognized, Minatozaki Sana waved her finger cleanly at the screen. "That's all for today, bye-bye~"

"Bye-Bye."

As the call ended, Pei Xiyan looked at the screen that flashed back to the main interface and smiled slightly.

"We're here."

Bae Joo-hyun, who was sitting on the bench, noticed a figure slowly approaching in the distance and waved.

Pei Xiyan was gone for only a short time, less than ten minutes.

"Who are you talking to on the phone?" Kim Jongin asked as he walked over.

"Someone you don't know." Pei Xiyan said calmly as she sat down next to Pei Zhuxuan.

"How do you know I don't know you if you don't even say your name?" Kim Jongin retorted.

"I don't want to say because I know you don't know me," Pei Xiyan retorted.

"Okay, okay." The two girls tacitly interrupted their childish argument.

The two sides didn't chat for long afterward, as they didn't want to disturb Kim Jong-in and Kim Jennie's hard-won time alone, so the siblings said goodbye and left.

The first snow is still falling in the park, but it's getting lighter and lighter, and it'll probably stop soon.

"I really didn't expect that." Walking down the street, Bae Joo-hyun was still surprised that Kim Jongin and Kim Jennie were together.

"Yes, I would never have dared to even think about this before," Pei Xiyan agreed.

Because of the incident in 17, he learned some old stories about SM and YG.

Due to the rivalry between the two parties behind them, the relationship between YG and SM has always been bad. It has eased up a bit now, but in the extreme years a few years ago, they were practically estranged. Back then, no matter how good the relationship between the artists under the two companies was, they couldn't talk about it openly. Even if they bumped into each other on the street, they would have to think about whether or not to go up and say hello.

"So you see, it's normal for popular celebrities to date." Bae Joo-hyun changed the subject, her words carrying a hidden meaning.

"Nuna, are you tired? If you are, let's go back." Pei Xiyan pretended to be clueless and didn't want to talk about this topic.

Bae Joo-hyun frowned, but quickly relaxed her expression and didn't press the matter further.

"Let's go then."

After exiting the park's main gate, the two walked to the car parked by the roadside.

As soon as Pei Xiyan opened the car door, that unpleasant feeling returned.

He looked in the direction he sensed and spotted a gray sedan parked on the opposite side of the road. It was inconspicuous and easily overlooked.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he thought he saw the car window was still open when he turned his head just now, though it's closed now.

"Damn it, have we been discovered?"

Inside the gray sedan, the man in the driver's seat looked at Pei Xiyan with astonishment in his voice.

"It shouldn't be that bad. Celebrity couples like them definitely check if anyone's taking pictures before getting in the car." The man in the passenger seat was also staring at his window. "Let's keep watching. He might get in soon."

"Inside."

"Xiaoyan, what's wrong?" After getting into the car and fastening her seatbelt, Pei Zhuxuan noticed that Pei Xiyan was still standing by the door and hadn't come in.

"It's nothing." Upon hearing Bae Joo-hyun's voice, Bae Xi-yan frowned, glanced at the car again, and then got in.

As the engine started and the Panamera drove away, the people in the car breathed a sigh of relief.

"I knew it! We're Dispatch, Dispatch! Do you think everyone's like Kim Da-hyun from Twice, able to see our cameras from that far away?" The man in the passenger seat was pleased with himself for being right.

"That's true, and we've captured everything we wanted to film. I never expected to have such an unexpected bonus tonight." The man in the driver's seat looked down at the photos on his camera. The photos completely captured the scene from Pei Xiyan and Pei Zhuxuan walking out of the park side by side to getting into the same car.

"Maga, who would have thought Irenei would have a mysterious male relative? Tsk tsk tsk, I knew a lot of people in the entertainment industry just have personas. But who is that guy? Does he even exist in the industry?" the man in the passenger seat asked.

"No, but he's quite handsome." The man in the driver's seat sighed. When he was taking the photos, he had the illusion that he was taking pictures of the two of them in a park-themed magazine.

"The two look quite compatible. If the price isn't agreed upon and it gets leaked, Red Velvet's fans will probably feel a little comforted by the male lead's good looks."

"That's true. It seems that in addition to the Kai and Jennie storyline, we'll also need to add an Irene storyline."

"That definitely needs to be added; ordering more will make the price easier to negotiate later..."