Chapter 95: The tour finally ended in December...

In December, the tour finally came to an end, and they returned to South Korea to bring a perfect conclusion to their upcoming 10th anniversary.

Kwon Ji-yong clutched the water bottle provided by the production team, a barely perceptible hint of distraction lurking deep in his eyes. His phone was on vibrate, but there hadn't been any messages yet. The third stop should be starting soon, right?

"Aigoo, really, it took our production team a lot of effort to get all five of them together!" Kim Gu-ra fired off first: "Especially GD-xi, hasn't he been flying all over the world doing tours lately? He finally has some free time!"

“It just so happens that there are a few days of downtime during the tour, and it’s a precious opportunity for the members to get together and appear on a show,” Kwon Ji-yong answered flawlessly.

Host Kim Guk-jin, flipping through the script, suddenly asked, "GD-ssi, have you had any new sources of inspiration lately?"

Kwon Ji-yong tapped the rim of his glass lightly with his fingertips: "Travel, the customs and culture of different places always bring a sense of novelty."

"Ah~" Jin Guozhen drawled meaningfully, "I heard you went to the United States recently?"

"Yes, work." Kwon Ji-yong said without changing his expression, "I shot some footage."

Sun suddenly coughed beside him, almost choking on his own saliva.

Meanwhile, after a short break, the Short Track Speed ​​Skating World Cup also began its two Asian competitions.

China, Shanghai.

At the starting line of the women's 1500m final, Ren Xiyao felt the hardness and temperature of the ice beneath her feet. The ice on her home rink seemed to fit her skates perfectly.

The gun fired! Her start was impeccable. Without the slightest hesitation, her start was exceptionally powerful, immediately seizing the lead! This was completely different from her usual 1500-meter strategy of launching a counter-attack from behind!

"Oh! Ren Xiyao! Very rare! She chose to take the lead from the start in the 1500m race!" The commentator's surprised voice rang out: "It seems that on her home turf, she wants to win the race in a more dominant way!"

The cheers from the audience instantly rose to a fever pitch!

Ren Xiyao maintained a steady pace, her gliding posture fluid and powerful, seemingly integrated with the ice surface, making the entire glide feel exceptionally smooth. Her opponents behind her tried to keep up with her rhythm but found it extremely difficult. Her speed wasn't the fastest, but it was incredibly stable; every push-off and every arm swing was as precise as a machine, maximizing her physical exertion.

He dared to choose this tactic this time because of her biggest rival, the South Korean athlete. Of the three athletes participating in the 1500m, only one advanced to the A final. While the European athletes had good physical fitness, based on observations of these races, their techniques and tactics were insufficient to support their stamina in the latter half of the race, meaning their fundamental skills were not very solid.

As the race entered its second half, Ren Xiyao began to gradually accelerate! It wasn't an explosive surge, but a continuous and steady increase in speed! This gradual, slow acceleration was making life difficult for the skaters trying to keep up. Overtaking was incredibly exhausting; trying to stay close was becoming increasingly strenuous.

In the final three laps, Ren Xiyao had extended her lead, while South Korea's Park Min-hee and Canada's Sanx were locked in a fierce battle, neither willing to give an inch.

And so, without a doubt, she was the first to cross the finish line, easily winning the first gold medal of the Shanghai leg!

As she skated towards the sidelines, she removed her goggles, her face glistening with a light sheen of sweat, her gaze calmly sweeping across the stands. Then, she took out her water bottle from the sidelines, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip, her movements unhurried. It was as if she had just finished a routine training session.

Meanwhile, our gazes are drawn to another moment in the South Korean studio.

“Speaking of views on love,” Kim Guk-jin suddenly turned to Taeyang, “Taeyang-ssi and Hyorin-ssi’s relationship has always been very stable, what’s the secret?”

Sun smiled and said, "Let's try to understand each other. After all, we're not ordinary people."

Suddenly remembering something, he interrupted with a mischievous smile: "Brother, it's especially classic when you're apologizing."

"Oh? How so?" the host immediately asked.

"It's like, 'It's all my fault. When I ask what I did wrong, this guy says my very existence is a mistake!' That kind of thing!" He loudly imitated the sun's tone, perfectly capturing the essence.

The studio erupted in laughter again. Sun, his face flushed, retorted, "When I used their methods to handle arguments before, it almost made things worse."

The host immediately became interested: "Who is it?"

Taeyang pointed at GD and said, "GD-xi is very good at making people like him, but then things just turn into a mess."

Upon hearing this, Kwon Ji-yong immediately sat up: "That's because as a friend, I don't think it's necessary to go to that extent, but from my sister's perspective, I can't do that. It's just not possible."

A deep voice suddenly interjected from the side: "Ji-ryong, your eye for people has always been unique. They are not people that ordinary people can handle, nor are they people that ordinary people can make you truly bow down to. But such people do not get angry easily, and if they do get angry, they are probably very difficult to coax."

"Hey! Hyung!" Kwon Ji-yong was both amused and exasperated. Was his brother helping him or just pouring oil on him?

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," the host keenly caught the information: "'Don't get angry easily'? Does that mean that if you really get angry, the consequences will be severe?"

"Of course!" Loudly interrupted, looking like he was enjoying the drama, "If he really gets angry, I reckon Brother Zhilong... might be even more outrageous than Brother Taiyang! He might even fly over there to apologize!"

Before Kwon Ji-yong could answer, Taeyang suddenly interjected, "His views on love are even more abnormal than mine."

The atmosphere at the scene became increasingly excited, ignited by gossip.

"How so?" another host quickly interjected.

“For example,” Sun said, counting on his fingers, “when a girl says ‘I miss you,’ she sends a message saying ‘I miss you,’ and he immediately replies with three long essays.”

Kwon Ji-yong grabbed a water bottle from the table and pretended to throw it: "Hey!"

The studio erupted in laughter, and the host, wiping away tears of laughter, exclaimed, "Looks like GD is really good at dating!"

Quan Zhilong sighed, but this secret sweetness could not be hidden.

"Beautiful!" The Chinese team coach suddenly stood up.

Ren Xiyao steadied herself and crossed the finish line first with a half-blade advantage! Another gold medal.

The stands erupted in cheers. Amidst a sea of ​​national flags, she removed her goggles. Her breathing hadn't yet caught up, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

As soon as Kwon Ji-yong walked into the dressing room after the recording ended, Taeyang hooked his arm around his neck and asked, "How was my acting? Pretty good, right?"

"You did this on purpose?" Kwon Ji-yong narrowed his eyes and stared at him.

"I didn't name names." The sun spread its hands innocently. "Besides, haven't you always wanted to go public?"

“.

Kwon Ji-yong instantly forgot about their earlier argument and typed rapidly: "So handsome!"

"miss you!"

Is Shanghai cold?

"I'm recording a show and haven't had time to watch the live broadcast yet. I'll catch up later."

The sun peeked over and clicked its tongue in amazement: "Just a period, and you can flood the screen?"

Kwon Ji-yong shoved his phone back into his pocket: "Mind your own business."

As the second day of competition ended, Ren Xiyao lay in bed with her phone screen lit up. It was a voice message from Kwon Ji-yong: "The show is over. They kept making a fuss all day."

She listened to it twice before replying, "I heard it."

Kwon Ji-yong replied instantly: "That's it?"

Ren Xiyao thought for a moment and replied with a "".

As expected, G-Dragon immediately exploded: "Ren Xiyao!"

She chuckled softly, about to reply, when Lin Shan suddenly came out of the bathroom: "What are you laughing at? Can you tone it down a bit? Those guys in the team who are afraid of you should really see this. You look like you're head over heels in love."

"I wasn't laughing at anything." Ren Xiyao held her phone to her chest. "The variety show was pretty funny."

Lin Shan gave her a speechless look: "When did you start watching variety shows? It's probably your boyfriend's again, isn't it?"

Ren Xiyao didn't answer, her fingers secretly stroking the simple ring on her ring finger. Lin Shan shook her head. She went to look at her phone under the covers, out of sight, out of mind.

The third day featured the 1000m final and the women's 3000m relay final.

The 1000m final. He followed the line for the first half to conserve energy, and in the last two laps, he used precise inside overtaking maneuvers and strong control to quickly take the lead. However, on the final corner, he failed to finish his lap properly, allowing the Dutch skater to exploit the opening. He unfortunately missed out on the gold medal.

The women's 3000m relay final brought the atmosphere to a fever pitch. Ren Xiyao, as the sprinter, overcame a half-body deficit to pull off a stunning comeback on the final bend, crossing the finish line first with a single skate edge!

The stadium erupted in cheers! Her teammates rushed over to hug her excitedly! Everyone raised their arms high, waving to the cheering audience. Sweat and smiles mingled on her face, making her radiant.

Three gold medals and one silver! In the Shanghai leg of the competition, Ren Xiyao once again defended the honor of her home court with a near-perfect performance, consolidating her leading position in the new season's standings.

Kwon Ji-yong lay in bed, repeatedly watching Ren Xiyao's match video from today. Suddenly, a message popped up from Taiyang: "Aren't you going to check on your partner?"

Kwon Ji-yong couldn't hide the smile on his face: "Her next competition is here."

The sun replied with a sweating emoji: "No wonder you've been in such a good mood these past few days."

Kwon Ji-yong replied with a smug emoji.

He put down his phone and looked out the window. Separated by vast distances, their worlds continued to operate at high speed on their respective tracks, yet they were closely connected by that invisible thread, drawing each other in and shining with the same light on their respective battlefields.