Chapter 25 So, do you like me? 9/12.23.53...
An Rufeng spoke calmly and looked composed. Quan Zhilong observed that her nonchalant expression did not seem fake.
Although An Rufeng didn't care about the insults, Quan Zhilong still felt guilty and remorseful.
She shouldn't have had to suffer these unwarranted attacks; it's all because of him.
Kwon Ji-yong said softly, his voice low and slow: "I will make arrangements with the media and try my best to buy out all the photos that have been taken of us. I will not let you be treated like this again."
Kwon Ji-yong's brows were furrowed, and his eyes held conflicting, struggling, and complex emotions.
He knew that this was only a temporary solution, and the best way to protect An Rufeng was for him to keep his distance from her.
But even though he felt guilty, he still selfishly wanted to be with her.
His affection for her was unquenchable and he couldn't bear to part with her.
He couldn't suppress his feelings for her.
An Rufeng disagreed: "Why waste money on a buyout? We're completely open and honest, just friends! Media reports are just rumors, nothing but lies. Let them say what they want, we know the truth ourselves."
But he's not honest!
“I feel guilty because they insulted you,” Kwon Ji-yong said sullenly.
Seeing his guilt, An Rufeng comforted him, "You don't need to feel guilty. It's not your fault. It's the media spreading rumors and some fans believing others!"
Kwon Ji-yong's gaze lingered on An Yeo-feng for a moment, then he lowered his head to hide his expression and whispered meaningfully, "What if one day the rumors reported by the media are no longer fabricated, but true?"
Upon hearing this, An Rufeng was taken aback. Then, thinking of his celebrity status, and seeing his dejected appearance, she didn't consider his own feelings and assumed that he was feeling sad and guilty because of the incident and the thought that his girlfriend would be insulted by his fans if they actually started dating in the future.
So An Rufeng comforted him, "Then you don't need to feel guilty. Since your future girlfriend agreed to be with you, she must have been mentally prepared to be criticized when she's photographed. Besides, anyone who is liked by an outstanding person will more or less be envied by others, right?"
Kwon Ji-yong pressed on, his voice growing even deeper: "If it were you, would you think the same way?"
He paused, raised his head, looked directly at An Rufeng, and said, "That girlfriend is you."
Anru's breath caught in her throat.
In just a moment, An Rufeng came back to her senses, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. She hadn't expected Quan Zhilong to ask such a question.
She thought her words of comfort were ineffective, and that Kwon Ji-yong didn't agree with her. She thought about it carefully and said earnestly, "If I were your girlfriend, I would think the same way."
An Rufeng considered her words for a moment before continuing, "If I were really your girlfriend, I wouldn't care if I got scolded. Isn't that normal? If the person I like liked someone else, I wouldn't be able to resist saying a few words of criticism too."
At this point, An Rufeng couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Ah, in matters of the heart, I should also feel sorry for being a jealous and petty person!"
Hearing this, Kwon Ji-yong couldn't help but smile.
"If it were me, and someone were to criticize you because you're with me, I wouldn't feel guilty. It's because I'm outstanding, and others like me. It's my destiny to date outstanding people."
An Rufeng couldn't help but reveal a slightly narcissistic expression as she said this, and then said to Quan Zhilong, "So you don't need to feel guilty. Being scolded is inevitable. There's nothing you can do about it. Who told you to be so outstanding and worthy of being liked? You've attracted a lot of people's affection."
Kwon Ji-yong's brows relaxed after hearing this, he covered his mouth and laughed, his eyes sparkling as he looked at An Joo-fung.
He couldn't help but ask, "And what about you? I deserve to be liked, and I've won the hearts of many people. Do you like me?"
An Rufeng felt that Kwon Ji-yong's words were rather cryptic today, assuming he was emotionally vulnerable and needed comforting. She didn't hesitate to express her own feelings, saying, "Of course I like you too. Otherwise, why would I be friends with you?"
Upon hearing the first half of the sentence, Kwon Ji-yong's eyes lit up, but upon hearing the second half, his face immediately fell.
What? So open and honest.
Just as Kwon Ji-yong was about to say something, his phone rang. It was his manager.
Kwon Ji-yong answered the call immediately. The media outlet that reported on his affair with An Joo-feng clearly had a lot of photos of him and An Joo-feng.
Kwon Ji-yong asked his agent to communicate and see if a buyout was possible. The agent's call now is probably to tell him the result.
"That media outlet does have quite a few photos, but their asking price is too high," the agent's voice came through, revealing a price and asking, "Are you sure you want to buy it?"
"purchase……"
Although An Rufeng didn't care, he did. In the spirit of minimizing the amount of abuse, Quan Zhilong was about to agree.
An Rufeng, who was listening nearby, roughly understood what was going on and immediately stopped her: "Don't waste money. I said I'm not afraid of being scolded. Just have your company clarify that we are friends."
An Rufeng insisted, and Quan Zhilong had no choice but to give up in front of her.
To prevent Quan Zhilong from wasting money in private, An Rufeng, knowing that the Yamada family had some connections with the media, called Yamada directly.
Ask him to help her suppress the news, or if photos of her and Kwon Ji-yong are taken in the future, either don't report them, or don't write anything untrue. Write truthfully about them as friends, not about an ambiguous relationship!
"While it cannot be guaranteed that all media outlets will report positively, if the major media outlets all write in this way, the impact of the reports from the remaining media should not be significant."
After thinking it over, Kwon Ji-yong decided not to insist on a buyout.
It's better if most of the news is positive than if there's no news at all about him and Anjou.
As fans see more and more reports about him and Anru Feng, they will gradually accept that there is such a person in his life, and they may even develop feelings for her.
Kwon Ji-yong had already asked YG Entertainment to prepare a clarification, so before noon, YG Entertainment released a clarification statement.
It is said that Anjoufeng is a sponsor of Daesung, and that Anjoufeng, Daesung, and Kwon Ji-yong are friends. Every meeting and gathering is based on their friendship.
The statement ended by asking everyone to look forward to Daesung's solo album.
YG Entertainment's statement has gradually calmed the anger of most fans.
In addition, in the afternoon, some media outlets published reports with the headline, "False Alarm! GD's Rumored Girlfriend is Actually a Sponsor from Daewoo?!"
The accompanying photo showed Anru Feng having dinner with YG staff after the final contract signing that day.
Also having dinner with YG staff and company executives, fans can tell at a glance that this report is almost certainly true, and the clarification is also almost certainly true.
After calming down, fans began to reflect on their behavior and realized their overreaction. They then left apologies on Anru Feng's social media, hoping to make up for their previous offense.
Some fans also showed kindness to Anjou Feng, thanking her for sponsoring the Big City album.
However, some fans remain stubborn and distrustful, refusing to accept the company's clarification and continuing to post malicious comments on Anjoufeng's social media.
She didn't care about anyone's insults, so An Rufeng certainly wouldn't care about this small group of people.
The media outlets that had previously reported on the rumors between Kwon Ji-yong and An Joo-feng were planning to do something even more sensational on the third day.
Photos of G-Dragon with Shuiyuan Xizi and G-Dragon with Anru Feng were released together, with the headline "Shocking! GD Suspected of Playing a Love 'Balancing Game,' Two-Timing Himself, How Will This Romantic Storm End?"
However, after receiving messages from industry peers, I dared not write any negative news about Anru Feng, so I had to cancel this topic.
Not wanting to miss out on the sales generated by G-Dragon, they only released photos of G-Dragon and Suwon Seiko, with the headline "Shocking Reversal! GD's Girlfriend is Someone Else—A Famous Model!"
The accompanying photos are two: one of Kwon Ji-yong and Mizuhara Nishiko eating at a sushi restaurant, and the other of Mizuhara Nishiko getting into Kwon Ji-yong's car.
The VIPs, seeing that this media outlet that had led them to criticize the wrong person still dared to report on their idol, immediately launched a scathing attack on them before even reading the report.
The photos this time were indeed quite ambiguous, but having learned from their previous experience, the VIPs simply followed Shuiyuan Xizi's SNS quietly this time without saying much.
Shuiyuan Xizi had just finished work and took out her phone to be shocked to find that her social media accounts had suddenly been flooded with a large number of new followers!
Through snippets of comments in the comment section, Mizuhara Nishiko finally realized that she and Kwon Ji-yong were rumored to be dating.
Seeing the explosive growth in her fan base, Shuiyuan Xizi's eyes flashed. This was a rare opportunity, and she had to seize it.
She noticed that only one media outlet had reported on her rumored relationship with Kwon Ji-yong, but it had already become a trending topic. A smile played on her lips as she decided to take the initiative and capitalize on the momentum.
She carefully selected several photos of herself and Kwon Ji-yong from her phone, taken in different settings, and sent them to her manager. Then she made a phone call and asked him to speak to familiar media outlets to report on her and Kwon Ji-yong's rumored relationship.
Upon seeing her number of followers, her agent immediately began making arrangements.
In the following days, many media outlets reported on the rumors between Suwon Seiko and Kwon Ji-yong.
The rumors surrounding Kwon Ji-yong and Suwon Seo-ko intensified, dominating headlines across major media outlets.
Compared to the swift clarification of the rumors surrounding Kwon Ji-yong and An Ru Feng, YG Entertainment surprisingly chose to remain silent regarding the rumors involving Kwon Ji-yong and Suwon Seo-ko.
The lack of clarification and denial only fueled public curiosity.
Those following the story began to speculate whether this meant they were tacitly acknowledging the relationship.
When the rumors first started and weren't clarified, VIPs comforted themselves not to be impulsive. They thought that if they had to clarify every rumor every time the media reported it, it would be too tiring. YG might as well not do anything else but clarify the rumors.
But as more and more media outlets reported on it, more and more photos of them together appeared, and the matter grew bigger and bigger, YG still did not clarify.
The VIPs couldn't sit still any longer! An uproar erupted!
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Author's Note: I wrote 8000 words yesterday, completely drained! TT! I'll slowly catch up on the remaining 10,000 words once it goes live!
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