Peninsula: The Deepest Affection in Jiangnan

Chapter 1: Searching the Entire Internet for a Heartbroken Girl

"Hi, Gemini. How do I strike up a conversation with the girl next to me?"

Normally, Shen Yu would have just said Siri, or at the very least asked about Doubao, but...

A girl is taking photos with her phone of the waves rolling on both sides of the ferry after it starts moving.

Choi Jisoo, who was wearing a mask, heard the undisguised conversation between herself and her phone and froze for a second.

Then he opened his eyes wide and looked toward the side where the sound had come from.

Today is not the weekend.

This is on a ferry from Jeju Island to Udo Island.

She realized that the man who made the sound was right beside her, and the girl he was referring to was none other than Choi Ji-soo herself…

The girl's mouth, hidden beneath her mask, opened slightly, almost uttering a sound of surprise, before she instinctively shrank back.

A sudden, speechless laugh?

When she noticed the boy staring intently at his phone, waiting for the AI's response, she almost burst out laughing; her cheeks puffed up under her mask.

Before she could say anything, her phone beside her emitted a voice reply.

"You can start by finding a natural topic in the current situation, such as the book she is reading, the drink she is drinking, or the things around her."

The voice message from the phone clearly reached Choi Ji-soo's ears. She forced a smile, turned her head to the outside, looked at the scenery outside the window, and tried her best to calm herself down.

...That's absolutely hilarious.

"...Don't overthink it when you start. Just greet someone like you would a regular friend, such as, 'This coffee looks delicious! Is it your signature drink?' Try this kind of casual opening first; it'll increase your chances of success..."

Choi Ji-soo, who had just put down her phone and was about to take a sip of iced Americano to cover up her embarrassment and smile, froze on the spot.

"Okay, okay, that's all for now." Shen Yu pressed the stop button and then said to Gemini.

Choi Ji-soo subtly turned her head, trying her best to appear nonchalant, but her utterly unacting eyes and stiff movements betrayed her.

then……

look at each other.

Fortunately, she had a mask to cover her face, and Choi Jisoo resisted the urge to pull down the brim of her baseball cap.

Her smiling eyes, narrowed to slits, betrayed her.

Her slightly droopy eyes, which originally carried the unique aloofness of a young lady, now turned into a pair of crescent moons because the situation was too funny, exuding a friendly charm.

Especially when they made eye contact, Shen Yu had an innocent expression on his face, as if she couldn't hear him.

Choi Ji-soo then noticed that Shen Yu was wearing headphones, but for some reason, Gemini's reply had come from the speaker.

"Haha, cough." Realizing that Shen Yu was still looking at her, Choi Ji-soo immediately realized that it would be too impolite to keep laughing like that, and then looked at the boy in front of her seriously.

She has a clean and refreshing appearance, giving off a strong sense of an ordinary person, or rather, she has the feeling of Nam Joo-hyuk, the protagonist of the drama "Twenty-Five, Twenty-One" that she had just watched a while ago.

She noticed that the other person seemed hesitant, because after making eye contact, the boy quickly looked away, but then couldn't help but secretly glance back at her.

Choi Ji-soo initially thought the other party had discovered her identity, but judging from the conversation with the AI ​​just now, this person... just wanted to chat with her.

"Uh, it shouldn't be me, right?"

Choi Ji-soo stared wide-eyed at Shen Yu.

"Hey? Were you eavesdropping on my conversation? Why were you eavesdropping on my conversation?"

Shen Yu's expression shifted from surprise to seriousness. "Why were you eavesdropping on my conversation with my phone?"

"No, yours..." Choi Ji-soo suppressed a laugh and pointed to Shen Yu's ear, wanting to say that the other person's Bluetooth headset had not connected successfully.

"Honestly, that's very rude of you."

"Sorry! I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

Choi Ji-soo found it both funny and speechless, and could only resort to drinking water to ease the awkwardness, but her apology was still very sincere.

The pulled-down mask revealed a delicate face; the small face, which had been easily covered by the mask, was now exposed to the sunlight.

I turned my head away, trying not to pay attention to the boy, but his appearance was indeed very gentle and comfortable.

Especially on such a beautiful ocean, on a gently swaying ferry, and in a spacious cabin with few people.

Choi Ji-soo couldn't help but steal a glance, only to notice that the boy's lips seemed to curl up slightly, as if he were suppressing a smile.

"what……"

"Um..." Shen Yu looked at the other person's eyes somewhat awkwardly, then shifted his gaze to the iced Americano in the other person's hand.

"Is that coffee you're holding good? Is it the shop's signature drink?"

"..."

If she's in her dorm room, or with the other members of ITZY, she'll definitely hug the person in front of her and giggle nonstop.

It's a complete copy of the AI's dialogue!

Trying hard to suppress her laughter, Choi Jisoo tried her best to imitate the aloof demeanor of a young lady, holding her iced Americano as if she were savoring some elegant hand-drip coffee.

"Yes...that's right."

The embarrassed young lady touched her nose. "It tastes pretty good."

Then, he would steal a glance every now and then, only to find that Shen Yu didn't say anything more.

"..."

The atmosphere was unusually lively.

Shen Yu raised his hand and asked the next question into the microphone of his phone.

"If she says, 'The coffee is pretty good,' how should I respond?"

Choi Ji-soo didn't have time to pull up her mask, so she immediately covered her mouth with her hand and turned her head towards the window.

"You can laugh and say, 'Looks like I didn't choose the wrong reference; I was worried I'd get a flavor I didn't like.' Then you can smoothly transition..."

"Okay, okay." Shen Yu pressed the pause button, looking slightly flustered.

Choi Ji-soo pretended not to hear Gemini's voice, leaning back in her chair with an elegant expression.

then.

"...Don't be too nervous, just treat it as a casual chat with a new friend..." The phone persistently chirped to Shen Yu, as if afraid that his attempt to strike up a conversation would fail.

"Hey hey hey~ It's okay, it's okay, it's okay!" Looking at Gemini who was still answering, Shen Yu panicked for a moment.

In Choi Ji-soo's line of sight, Shen Yu seemed to have accidentally touched the continue button. The phone's speaker was still offering advice and even telling him not to be nervous.

"...Okay, then you give it a try first." The AI's voice from the speaker was understanding.

"Pfft..." Choi Jisoo's composure crumbled instantly, and she immediately used the hand that wasn't holding the coffee to shield her face.

"Hey, hey, what's going on? Why is it still on? Wait a minute, wait a minute." Shen Yu hurriedly turned off the phone screen before the sound stopped.

"Giggle giggle..."

A suppressed laugh, muffled by someone covering their mouth, was right next to Shen Yu's ear.

"Then, then it should be..." Shen Yu was a little afraid to look back.

"You're so funny," Choi Jisoo couldn't help but say.

"Um," Shen Yu couldn't help but turn around, "then I should..."

"So this is how AI is used." Choi Ji-soo looked at the waves crashing outside the window.

My emotions swayed with the waves.