The winter nights in Seoul are exceptionally cold, and the street lights cast hazy circles of light amid the flying snowflakes.
That very day, SM quietly spread the news that Han Geng had terminated his contract with the company, and the atmosphere in the practice room became depressing for a while.
Ouyang Guang and Zhang Yixing just looked at each other at the time, and they saw worry in each other's eyes, but no one said much - for them, apart from practicing hard, they were powerless to change anything at the moment.
The warm yellow lights were still on in SM's practice room. Ouyang Guang and Zhang Yixing's figures swayed in front of the floor-length mirror. Their sweat-soaked clothes stuck to their backs, but it did not reduce their concentration at all.
With a click, Zhang Yixing pressed the pause button hard, and the music stopped abruptly. He supported his knees with both hands, breathing heavily: "No, the force of this turn is still not enough." In the mirror, his face was red, and the strands of hair on his forehead were stuck to his skin by sweat.
Ouyang Guang wiped the sweat from his forehead and performed the last dance move.
Ouyang Guang walked to the corner, took out two bottles of water and handed over one: "Brother, you have been practicing for five hours, take a break first." His voice was a little hoarse, and his fingertips still had pain from bumping into the barre while practicing dancing just now.
This was Zhang Yixing’s second day after arriving in the country. The cold wind in Seoul seemed to be able to penetrate the glass of the practice room and swirl around the back of their necks.
Zhang Yixing stopped what he was doing, took a deep breath, and slowly sat down in the rest area: "No, I have to do the best in the assessment next week." He picked up the water bottle and took a few gulps of water.
At this moment, Ouyang Guang's cell phone vibrated on the locker. He stood up and walked over to see the screen showing an incoming call from "Mom". He smiled unconsciously and answered the call: "Hello, Mom!"
"Hey, baby, are you cold over there? Wear more clothes and don't catch a cold." Mother's gentle and caring voice came from the other end of the phone.
"I know, Mom. I'm wearing very warm clothes. Don't worry about me." Ouyang Guang responded with a smile, his eyes full of tenderness.
"By the way, Mom is telling you that tomorrow is the winter solstice." Mom's tone was full of concern, "Remember to buy some glutinous rice balls to cook and eat, and also buy some osmanthus honey, cook the glutinous rice balls and pour the osmanthus honey on them, it will be sweet, and it will bring good luck!"
Ouyang Guang was stunned for a moment, then he realized that the winter solstice was coming soon. "Hey, I remember, Mom. You and Dad should also remember to eat glutinous rice balls."
"Don't worry, we will definitely not forget. You take care of yourself over there and don't get too tired," Mom reminded.
After hanging up the phone, Ouyang Guang turned around and met Zhang Yixing's curious gaze. "What's wrong?"
Zhang Yixing came over and asked, "You look so happy, is there something wrong at home?"
Ouyang Guang shook his head and explained: "My mother reminded me to eat glutinous rice balls during the winter solstice, and she also asked me to buy osmanthus honey."
“Winter Solstice? Don’t we eat dumplings?” Zhang Yixing was surprised, his eyes wide open. “We always eat dumplings at my place, it’s so lively. If you don’t eat dumplings at Winter Solstice, your ears will freeze!”
Ouyang Guang was amused by Zhang Yixing's expression and said with a smile: "Maybe it's because of different customs at home. In my hometown, we eat glutinous rice balls, which symbolize reunion. How about we both eat them?"
Zhang Yixing's eyes lit up, he stood up suddenly, clapped his hands excitedly and said, "This is a great idea! Let's invite Shengxian, Junmyeon and the others to have some fun together. It must be fun to celebrate the holidays together in a foreign country!" As he said this, he suddenly remembered something, and a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes, but he still said, "By the way, let's invite Brother Fan too, we haven't gotten together for a long time."
Ouyang Guang's smile froze instantly, and the expression on her face became a little complicated.
Ever since Zhang Yixing got into a fight and was sent back to China by the company, and Wu Yifan did not help him, Ouyang Guang has always felt somewhat resentful and alienated towards him.
During that time, he felt that as a friend, Wu Yifan should stand up and speak for Zhang Yixing, but Wu Yifan chose to remain silent. But looking at Zhang Yixing's expectant and earnest eyes, he finally nodded: "Go ahead."
Walking out of the company building, the cold wind carrying fine snow particles pricked my cheeks like ice needles.
Ouyang Guang and Zhang Yixing wrapped themselves tightly in their down jackets and hurried on the way to the dormitory.
The white breath he exhaled instantly condensed in the cold air. He shrank his neck, silently praying in his heart that he could get back to the warm dormitory as soon as possible.
After they arrived at the dormitory, they called their friends one after another. Kim Seung-hyun, Kim Junmyeon, Kim Jong-seo, Oh Se-hun, and Park Chan-yeol all readily agreed, and Kim Jong-seo even said that he would bring a practice friend named Kim Moon-kyu with him.
At 5pm the next day, after class, Ouyang Guang, Zhang Yixing and others met up with their friends who had arrived one after another and headed towards the supermarket. In the cold wind, a group of youthful teenagers talked and laughed as they headed towards the supermarket.
The shopping was so exciting that everyone instantly became excited. Ouyang Guang and Zhang Yixing went straight to the frozen food area and picked out dumplings and glutinous rice balls with various fillings. "I'm definitely going to eat this three-fresh filling dumpling, and I love this black sesame glutinous rice ball." Zhang Yixing said as he put the selected items into the shopping cart.
On the other side, Kim Seung-hyun, Park Chan-yeol and others rushed to the snack and beverage area. "This potato chip has a new flavor, you must try it!" Park Chan-yeol shouted while holding up a bag of potato chips. Wu Se-hun was holding a few bottles of drinks on the side, his eyes still searching the shelves: "Get some more juice, so that I can eat dumplings and rice balls to relieve the greasiness later."
Suddenly, a female student came up to Ouyangguang and asked shyly, "Are you a trainee at SM? You were famous on the post before."
Ouyang Guang was a little surprised, and nodded with a smile: "Yeah, I didn't expect you to recognize me." The people around heard the noise and cast curious looks at him.
"Wow, this is really practice! Can you sign an autograph for me?" More people came over.
Ouyang Guang was a little at a loss, and the situation gradually got out of control.
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