Chapter 24 In the corridor of the training base, Ren…
In the corridor of the training base, Ren Xiyao was wiping her sweaty hair with a towel. She had just finished her afternoon training at the ice rink, and her cheeks were still flushed from exercise.
"Xiyao, the coach asked me to give this to you." The assistant coach poked his head out of the office and handed her an envelope.
"What is it?" Ren Xiyao asked instinctively as she took the envelope.
"Same as always. You came in second in the last training match, and considering your training this month, here are two tickets for you." The assistant coach said and then closed the door.
She opened the envelope; inside were two beautifully printed tickets bearing the words "YG FAMILY CONCERT." She wasn't particularly interested in these things. She glanced at them casually. Just as she was about to put the tickets back in the envelope, her peripheral vision caught a familiar name.
“G-DRAGON…”
Her finger hovered over the name. Suddenly, she recalled their first meeting at the bar. In all their subsequent encounters, he had always seemed gentle and reserved. But that flamboyant display from that time at the bar seemed to have been completely suppressed. She was still somewhat curious—what kind of person was he really?
Back in the locker room, Lin Shan saw her holding a white envelope and knew she had received tickets again. He walked over and sat down next to her: "Your points are really outrageous. Are you going to give the tickets back to us to handle?"
Ren Xiyao handed over the envelope. Lin Shan opened it and found only one ticket: "Weren't you second in points? Only one ticket?"
Ren Xiyao bent down to pack her bag: "I need the other one."
"Hey, the sun is rising in the west! You should go see it!"
At this moment, Li Enjing walked in with a meaningful smile and patted Lin Shan: "Look. Look at these tickets. Look at the guest performers."
When Lin Shan saw the name on the ticket, he immediately had a look of sudden realization: "Oh, I understand."
"Oh dear, Eun-jung, can you help me? My eyesight isn't good, who's on this ticket?" Lin Shan started acting. Lee Eun-jung laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight.
"I just suddenly wanted to take a look." Ren Xiyao awkwardly touched her slightly reddened ears: "Anyway, it's rare for training to end so early."
"Oh, it's rare that training ended so early and she didn't go out with us. Eun-jung, do you think this counts as prioritizing your boyfriend over your friends?"
Lee Eun-jung finally managed to stop laughing. She nodded with feigned seriousness, but the teasing was still unmistakable.
Ren Xiyao slung her backpack over her shoulder, walked up to Lin Shan, and pinched the back of Lin Shan's neck: "You think you know everything? Mind your own business." Then she quickly ran out of the locker room, ignoring Lin Shan's roars behind her.
Rita opened the door to another locker room and stopped her: "Remember to tidy up. Don't go in your tracksuit this time. You'll really look out of place. And remember to prepare some support items."
Ren Xiyao's face turned genuinely red, and she lowered her head and ran back. The laughter behind her was deafening.
Back in her dorm, Ren Xiyao placed the ticket on her bedside table and took a hot shower. The warm water washed away the fatigue from training, but it couldn't wash away the name in her mind. She dried her hair. The ticket showed today's date, and training had unusually ended early. Her finger traced GD's name as she opened her phone and looked at the chat history; he had complained about the intense rehearsals for this concert.
I sleep less than four hours a day.
"The president insisted on adding new arrangements."
Ren Xiyao poured herself a glass of water and stared at the ticket for a long time. Just then, her phone screen lit up with a message from Kwon Ji-yong: "How was training today?"
She hesitated for a moment before replying, "It's okay, I got off the ice safely." Her finger hovered over the screen for a second, but she ultimately didn't mention the concert.
The subway was packed with young girls holding support banners. Ren Xiyao gripped the handrail, feeling as if she had stumbled into some other world. Two girls next to her were chattering about GD's recent airport outfit. Ren Xiyao had to admit that she was actually a little nervous at this moment. It was funny, really. She hadn't felt anything when she was chatting and interacting with him naturally before, but now that she was seeing him in a different capacity, she felt a little lost.
"Want to buy a light stick?" As she exited the subway, a girl with pigtails stopped her, holding up a sparkling crown light stick: "This is the last one."
She instinctively wanted to shake her head in refusal, but then she remembered Rita's words. She touched the change in her pocket: "How much?"
"Twenty thousand won!" the girl laughed. "And it even has a color-changing effect!"
Ren Xiyao paid and stuffed the exaggeratedly designed light stick into her bag. Continuing towards the venue, she was surrounded by mostly teenage and twenty-something girls wearing T-shirts printed with their idols' names, holding glow sticks and support signs, chattering excitedly.
"Want some support items?" A girl with a ponytail handed her a plastic bag with the Bigbang logo on it: "There are banners and glow sticks inside."
Ren Xiyao instinctively took it: "Thank you... How much is this?"
The girl laughed: "It's free! You're a new fan, right? You obviously haven't followed any concerts before."
Ren Xiyao nodded, curiously rummaging through the bag. Besides glow sticks, there were several cards with photos of the members printed on them. She pulled out GD's card; he wore heavy stage makeup and had a sharp gaze, completely different from the person she knew in private. But unconsciously, it reminded her of that night at the nightclub.
"The VIP area is over here!" another girl enthusiastically directed her. "Your ticket is for the inner section, I'm so envious!"
Ren Xiyao followed the signs and walked forward, the sounds of fans discussing things constantly ringing in her ears:
"Have you seen the documentary? GD planned a lot of things for this concert!"
"Yes, I saved up my allowance for three months to buy the ticket... It was totally worth it!"
"He smiled in my direction at the last concert!"
She suddenly realized that the "GD" these girls were talking about and the Kwon Ji-yong she knew who would drink hot lemonade with her seemed to be two completely different people.
The security line was very long. Standing in the crowd, listening to the excited screams and discussions around her, she suddenly realized that she might be the only person in the entire venue who came to the concert alone.
When she found her seat, the stadium was already about 80% full. Her seat was in the middle of the stands, not the best, but she could still see the entire stage. The moment the lights dimmed, deafening screams erupted all around her, startling her so much that she almost jumped out of her seat.
When the music started, Ren Xiyao finally understood why Kwon Ji-yong had said that the live performance was different from the recording studio. The subwoofer made her chest tingle, the lasers were blinding, and the fireworks exploding on stage brought waves of heat. There were many groups she didn't recognize or know, but she tried her best to blend into the atmosphere. When GD appeared in the center of the stage wearing a dazzlingly studded jacket, the decibels of the screams from the entire audience almost lifted the roof off.
For a fleeting moment, she felt as if their casual chat at the beverage shop reminded her of the carefree bike ride along the Han River, and the chance encounter at the convenience store. Those ordinary fragments of daily life seemed so unreal in the face of this dazzling stage.
"The next song, 'Young Man,' reflects some of my recent thoughts," GD suddenly said on stage, his voice carrying throughout the venue through the microphone.
"I saw lives that were living in different ways, yet even more vibrant." He smiled, and the prelude to music began.
The screams around her grew louder, but Ren Xiyao suddenly felt a strange calm. Looking at the dazzling figure on the stage, she realized for the first time clearly: Kwon Ji-yong wasn't just the man who would buy her hot lemonade; he was also GD, the idol of millions of fans. The Kwon Ji-yong she admired—the one who would walk with her, listen to her talk about training, always gentle yet humorous—was only a tiny part of his life. His world consisted of the stage, the lights, the screams, and countless pairs of eyes watching.
For the first time, she truly understood the weight of Li Enjing's words, "You and he are not from the same world." Ren Xiyao's world, in essence, consisted of nothing more than the ice rink, the stopwatch, and the daily grind of training.
As the music started, she listened to the lyrics. She knew the song; she didn't know the full lyrics, but she had heard it many times. She heard the hardships, ambitions, and dreams of youth in the song. And now, it seemed to be mixed with a different kind of emotion.
Ren Xiyao smiled unconsciously, laughing at her own fickleness. This person seemed to be both near and far throughout the night. Listening to this song, thinking about his new ideas for it, although she didn't know why, at this moment, she felt that GD on stage wasn't so distant after all. Not that arrogant superstar; his voice had gentleness and vulnerability, just like the person she knew.
It was late at night when the concert ended. Ren Xiyao slowly walked out of the venue with the crowd, the deafening music still echoing in her ears.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was Kwon Ji-yong calling: "My performance is over."
Ren Xiyao stood at the subway station entrance, listening to this ordinary greeting, her finger hovering above the screen. She thought of the dazzling superstar on stage, and then of the man quietly waiting for her in the corner of the venue.
"Congratulations on your successful performance!"
"You didn't even come to see me, how do you know it went smoothly?" He coughed twice but couldn't suppress his laughter: "I'm going to New York next week."
"Um."
Silence filled the phone. Ren Xiyao heard his lighter click, then suddenly said, "I found a newly opened shop near the ice rink a couple of days ago. They have hot lemonade on the menu."
Kwon Ji-yong laughed: "Will I take you back?"
"Okay." Ren Xiyao's voice tinged with laughter, but she hung up the phone. The rapid reflection on the subway glass blurred her thoughtful expression. It overlapped with the lights rushing past outside the carriage, making her indistinct. She was somewhat glad that she had come today.
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