Chapter 92

"Miss Park Ji-yeon." Park Ji-hoon's response took everyone by surprise.

"Huh?" Everyone at the scene was taken aback. After all the discussion, everyone thought he would choose between IU and Nicole! Even IU and Nicole themselves clearly had this expectation, and they were anxiously waiting, only to find out that he suddenly chose the unrelated Park Ji-yeon.

Park Ji-yeon was also stunned, then let out an excited scream, covering her mouth with her hand and tapping her feet on the floor.

She was extremely surprised!

She really didn't expect Park Ji-hoon to choose her! It was like in various competitions, where she had no background and only planned to go through the motions, but unexpectedly, she suddenly won first place. Her excitement was evident.

As for why Park Ji-hoon chose her, her mind was only focused on the fact that "it was her," and she didn't think about anything else.

"Mr. Park Ji-hoon, why did you choose Ji-yeon?" Lu Hongzhe asked the question on everyone's mind, "Shouldn't it have been IU or Nicole?"

What a big surprise!

"Because she's beautiful! Didn't you say that all conditions except appearance are the same?" Park Ji-hoon replied, "IU and Nicole are good friends."

The phrase "letting friends be" instantly dispelled the slight dissatisfaction in IU and Nicole's hearts. The crowd, who had been looking at Park Ji-yeon, couldn't help but look at the two of them. Park Ji-yeon was just a choice for the show, essentially a joke, but the promise of "good friends" made a significant difference!

"Ji-yeon!" Lu Hongzhe called Park Ji-yeon to talk to Park Ji-hoon on the phone.

"Senior, hello, I'm Ji-yeon." Park Ji-yeon quickly came to the phone and spoke respectfully.

"Ji-yeon, hello." Park Ji-hoon said with a smile.

"Thank you, OPPA, for choosing me." Park Ji-yeon didn't know what else to say.

"Hehe..." Park Ji-hoon chuckled. It was just a simple choice, and everyone had the right to make it. He didn't try to be overly smooth or worldly. However, he had to be careful with his subsequent comments, as his current popularity and attention were vastly different.

"Sorry to bother you, Ji-hoon, but there's one last question!" Lu Hongzhe replaced Park Ji-yeon and said, "Who is the member you least want to marry?"

The atmosphere in the living room suddenly became tense, much heavier than before.

Suddenly, the phone call was disconnected.

"He hung up!" Lu Hongzhe and Li Huicai both showed a helpless expression and picked up the next phone. However, no one said anything, including the program's director.

The female artists were all relieved; no one liked this topic.

Park Ji-hoon's approach was simple and direct. He could definitely choose someone, and he instinctively filtered out one person, but publicly revealing it in the show would hurt the other person's self-esteem too much, so he wouldn't do it.

He didn't need to consider the impact; with his experience, current popularity, and status, he didn't need to worry about these things.

In the evening, he sent a text message to IU, asking if she had time to teach him how to play the guitar. Without this phone call, as the professional gap between them grew, their relationship would have become increasingly distant. But after a phone call and a text message, they might truly become friends.

After consulting with her manager, O Da-hee, IU agreed. She really needed to discuss with her manager before making a decision, as she had many job offers, many of which could be declined, but her career was just starting, and she had no choice.

O Da-hee also didn't expect Park Ji-hoon's success to come so quickly and strongly! As a result, after congratulating him, he didn't dare to contact Park Ji-hoon, fearing a misunderstanding. After all, they hadn't been in touch much before. Now, with this opportunity, he wouldn't let it slip by.

Park Ji-hoon's current popularity was hard to imagine, even by speculation! As reported by the "Chosun Ilbo," "This summer, Korean women are destined to fall for such a charming uncle"! His neat, clean, and graceful image brought a fresh breeze to the entertainment industry, which was dominated by pretty boys.

In 2009, "Boys Over Flowers" ushered in the "Pretty Boy Era" in the Korean entertainment industry; now, "Uncle" was starting to bring the industry into the "Uncle Era"!

Although Park Ji-hoon was only 27 years old, many young fans liked to call him "Uncle."

...

The next night, in a practice room near the dormitory, IU put down her guitar and checked the time. It was very normal to have private time around midnight due to the busy work schedule.

She arrived 10 minutes earlier than the agreed time with Park Ji-hoon, so she had to wait a bit.

However, before 5 minutes had passed, a knock on the door sounded.

IU hurriedly went to open the door and bowed, saying, "OPPA Ji-hoon, hello."

"Ji-eun, hello." The person who arrived was Park Ji-hoon, wearing a hoodie, a cap, and carrying a guitar. He held two cups of strawberry milkshakes in his hands, and a bag was also on his left wrist.

IU quickly took the milkshakes and let him in. Then, she asked curiously, "How did OPPA knock on the door?" The sound didn't seem to be made with his feet.

"With my head!" Park Ji-hoon shook his head and smiled.

"Hehe..." IU couldn't help but laugh. Park Ji-hoon's attitude was very relaxed, and he didn't become arrogant due to his skyrocketing popularity.

"Since I'm taking up your time without paying you, I can only treat you to some food." After putting down the guitar, Park Ji-hoon took out the contents of the bag, which were sushi, still warm.

"OPPA is too polite." IU quickly said.

"Let's have a cup of milkshake first, and then look at the sheet music." Park Ji-hoon smiled and took out the sheet music.

IU nodded and sat down next to him, drinking the milkshake while carefully studying the sheet music.

"I'll have to trouble you to teach me step by step again." Park Ji-hoon said a bit embarrassedly, "I haven't practiced the guitar for a long time, so my hands are a bit rusty, but I must learn it by the 29th."

"Okay." IU continued to focus on the sheet music. After a moment, she put down the milkshake, took her guitar, and started practicing.

Her guitar skills were really solid, and she easily learned the song. Then, she began to teach Park Ji-hoon bit by bit.

An hour later, they finished their first practice session.

Park Ji-hoon drove her back to the dormitory.

He thought about inviting her to his home for a proper thank-you after he finished learning. Of course, it would be Park Min-ya who would cook, as a sign of the greatest sincerity.

On the other side, Seohyun was also practicing hard. Girls' Generation was preparing to enter the Japanese market, so she didn't have much free time. She could only divide the lyrics with Park Ji-hoon and practice separately.

"Uncle" continued to be a huge hit!

On August 11th, the movie "I Saw the Devil," starring Lee Byung-hun and Choi Min-sik, was officially released. It received good reviews and popularity, but unfortunately, it didn't create the expected fierce competition. "I Saw the Devil" was firmly overshadowed by "Uncle."

On August 16th, the official box office statistics for the previous week were released.

"I Saw the Devil" had 518,142 viewers over the weekend, with a cumulative total of 637,481 viewers.

"Uncle" had 809,095 viewers over the weekend, with a cumulative total of 2,864,730 viewers. This performance even far exceeded the success of "Righteous Brothers," starring Song Kang-ho and Kang Dong-won at the beginning of the year!

"2011, the Year of Park Ji-hoon!" Some exaggerated media had already started using such headlines.

Although he only had one work for the whole year, this one movie was enough to transform him from an ugly duckling to a swan!

Headlines like "Park Ji-hoon > Song Kang-ho + Kang Dong-won" and "Park Ji-hoon > Choi Min-sik + Lee Byung-hun" frequently appeared online.

Everyone knew he hadn't reached such a level, but it didn't stop people from talking about it. Ordinary people just needed a topic to discuss and something to attract attention.

The entertainment industry is like this: when things are tough, it feels like the whole world is against you, and no matter how hard you struggle, you can't find a glimmer of hope; but when happiness comes, it also makes you feel somewhat unbelievable, as if you've suddenly become God's favorite!

Another miracle was unfolding in the entertainment industry!

On August 17th, in the afternoon, Park Ji-hoon had to make time again to film "We Got Married."

This time, they would meet with two other couples to film a special episode for the Mid-Autumn Festival. To avoid disrupting his schedule, the production team had already notified him during the previous filming.

He met Seohyun at a bus stop outside the city.

"How's the practice going?" Seohyun asked as soon as they met.

"Pretty good." Park Ji-hoon smiled and took the suitcase from her hand.

"Really?" Seohyun asked, not quite convinced, as she naturally handed the suitcase to him.

Park Ji-hoon nodded.

It was late summer, and the weather wasn't as hot, but the sun still felt scorching on the skin!

The two stood in the shade of the eaves, chatting while waiting for the other two couples. The agreed time had passed, but the other two couples hadn't arrived.

"It's so hot!" Seohyun put her hand on her forehead and said softly. She was wearing black jeans and a long-sleeved cotton shirt, which had been fine in the morning but now felt a bit hot.

After hearing this, Park Ji-hoon turned his head and suddenly pulled her arm.

Seohyun was startled and looked at Park Ji-hoon with surprise and tension. Physical contact between them had always been minimal, and even the number of times they held hands could be counted! She could sense that Park Ji-hoon was overly cautious with her, so what was going on today?

In the past six months, this was only the third time he had taken the initiative like this.

Park Ji-hoon didn't say anything, just rolled up her sleeves to above her elbows, then did the same for the other arm, and finally put his baseball cap on her.

Seohyun's face turned a light red. After he was done, she didn't feel cooler but rather felt even hotter! Her eyes wandered, and she gently fanned herself.

"Those guys really deserve a lesson!" Park Ji-hoon said.