March 10, backstage at the Music Center.

Cui Youqi knocked on the door of Girls' Generation's lounge in a familiar manner and walked in. Inside, Kim Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun were sitting and chatting after putting on makeup.

"Youqi is here." Tiffany smiled with crooked eyebrows and waved to Cui Youqi to sit over and chat together.

Cui Youqi walked over, dragged a chair, and sat next to Kim Taeyeon: "Nuna, happy birthday yesterday."

"Yeah, are you just saying it now?"

Before Kim Taeyeon could speak, Tiffany, who was sitting opposite him, stared at him in disbelief.

"No, I said it yesterday, but I just said it again in person today."

Tiffany turned her head and glanced at Kim Taeyeon. After receiving a positive reply, she smiled and talked about other topics.

"By the way, why didn't Arisu come to yesterday's party?"

"I had a magazine schedule yesterday, so I didn't go."

Yesterday, if he had worked hard to squeeze in time, Cui Youqi could have attended Kim Taeyeon's birthday party, but to avoid suspicion and because they had just met, the two did not choose to meet again.

However, despite this, Kim Taeyeon still received private teasing from Sunny.

"What gifts have you prepared this year? It won't be another Dragon Ball Gacha, right?"

Thinking of what she thought was Choi Yoosu's straight gift to Kim Taeyeon on Kim Taeyeon's birthday last year, the American sweetheart rolled her eyes gracefully.

Apparently, Cui Youqi also thought about Kim Taeyeon's cheating on Girls' Generation on her birthday last year, and laughed softly, "No, this year it's a pair of earrings."

"It's indeed much more normal this time." Tiffany nodded with satisfaction.

Cui Youqi secretly looked at Kim Taeyeon next to him. When he met Kim Taeyeon's gaze, he raised his eyebrows: Look, my reputation is only because of you...

Kim Taeyeon wore a blue mid-sleeve shirt, an A-line skirt printed with animated portraits, and two pigtails on the left and right, and gave him a non-deterrent look.

Cui Youqi coughed twice and pretended to be serious and said to her: "Nuna, I will give it to you after I meet you at the company for your birthday gift."

Kim Taeyeon, who was obviously trying to hold back her laughter, immediately said "Yeah, yeah" and agreed.

In fact, regarding Kim Taeyeon's birthday gift, he gave it to her the day before her birthday, the night Kim Taeyeon came to his dormitory. It was a pair of punk-style full-diamond skull earrings.

"Are you still going to practice with those two trainees tonight?" Kim Taeyeon approached Cui Youxi and asked in a low voice.

"No need, they are taking the assessment today."

"Oh, that's it, it's time to test Wuli Teacher Cui Nim's teaching results."

Kim Taeyeon smiled and patted Cui Youqi on the shoulder, teasing him, but she felt a little uncomfortable in her heart.

The night before yesterday, she, Xu Xian, and Pani went to the company for a meeting because of team matters.

After finishing, I knew that Cui Youqi was practicing in the company at night, so I planned to go to the practice room to see him.

When she and Pani walked to the practice room floor, they saw Cui Youxi hurriedly ran into a practice room.

She followed her and couldn't wait for the person inside to answer. She knocked on the door and pushed the door open. Then she saw Cui Youqi and a girl squatting next to another girl.

He seemed a little surprised by her arrival...

"What's going on?" The outspoken Pani entered the practice room one step later than her, but asked her the doubts before her.

"They are trainees of the company. Her foot is sprained and she is applying ice now."

Cui Youqi pointed at the two people beside him, then stood up and walked towards them.

"Why do you stay with two trainees?" Pani asked.

Suddenly remembering the smell she smelled on his clothes and coat last night, she raised her eyebrows. She also looked at Cui Youqi slightly, wanting to know how he would answer.

"Oh, they are my friends when I was a trainee. Because they have to dance to my song for this assessment, I'm here to help."

His eyes were magnanimous, and while explaining, he pointed at the trainees who were as frightened as two quails because of the arrival of their seniors.

"This is Kang Seulgi, and this is Bae Joo Hyun."

She smiled and waved to the two of them, trying to look friendly. Jiang Seulqi... If she remembered correctly, this seemed to be his child who could share food photos.

After a few casual conversations, she and Tiffany left the scene.

On the way back to the dormitory, a cold wind blew, causing her mood to become chaotic. She was so happy that she felt cute even when she saw the nuts she was allergic to, but now she was once again sensitive to gain and loss.

On the side, Pani happily pulled her into a discussion, as if he had discovered a big secret tonight.

"You said the person Arisu said he liked before is not between those two people, right?"

"This... I don't know either." She tried her best to respond to Pani by raising the corners of her mouth, but a feeling of gratitude to the night suddenly rose in her heart, otherwise Pani would have noticed her unnatural expression.

"I think it's very possible. You saw how happily he smiled and his eyes were bright when we chatted just now. He is not so lively when he usually stays with us. Or... there is another possibility, he is already talking.

”

"Haha, really?" Faced with Pani's guess, she smiled dryly and didn't know what to say in reply, and finally ended the conversation in a hurry.

Afterwards, Cui Youqi called her again and explained the ins and outs of the matter to her in detail. She felt much better and hung up the phone with a smile, but there was still a strange emotion in her stomach that she could not describe.

Running around.

Until today, when she saw Cui Youqi again, the negative emotions that she thought she had digested popped up again without her realizing it.

"Eh? What trainee?" Xu Xian, who left early the night before, asked a little confused.

Tiffany explained a few words to Xu Xian, blinked, and turned to look at Cui Youqi: "Are you very close to them?"

"No. I have a better relationship with one of them, and she is like a sister."

"Pani, let's discuss the lines later?"

Kim Taeyeon interrupted the conversation between the three of them, took the script from the table next to her and handed it to Tiffany and Xu Xian.

"Ah?" Cui Youqi looked at Kim Taeyeon in surprise. For some reason, he felt that her mood seemed a little subtle, but he couldn't guess why. "Then...do I need to leave?"

"No need. Just sit here."

"Oh."

Then, Cui Youqi stood by and listened to the MC lines of the three of them today.

At the beginning, Cui Youqi was still watching the 'situation drama' with gusto. You know, Kim Taeyeon was kicked out several times because she was too embarrassed to perform the lines that required coquettishness in front of him.

Gradually, he seemed to realize that something was wrong...

"..."

"But the exciting new semester has also begun, and in a little while it will be the White Valentine's Day that we have been waiting for~"

"Candy! Candy!"

"Taeyeon xi, why are you so happy? You must have someone who can accept you?"

Sure enough, as Tiffany said this line, the radar in his brain sounded an alarm.

Kim Taeyeon stretched out her right hand, picked up her fingers, and said, "Isn't this natural? How many people are there? You can't even count them on your fingers?"

Cui Youqi: Hmm??? Are you trying to hit me?
Chapter completed!