Chapter 48

Would you suddenly feel like sleeping, suddenly want to skip work, suddenly want to throw things, suddenly want to hit your boss, suddenly want to bang your head against the wall? Don't worry, it's not the end of the world, it's just Monday.

This is Monday Syndrome.

Monday also has its good side; its arrival will bring updates to the magazines in the newsstands, with fresher information waiting for people to discover. Many white-collar women subscribe to fixed magazines, not just for tips on makeup and beauty, clothing coordination, but also for book reviews, movie reviews, music reviews, and many workplace tips, and women's private matters can all be found in these beautifully bound women's magazines. Observant people will notice a fresh breeze blowing through Seoul's fashion media, not just in music but also in fashion.

In terms of fashion, these magazines start to instill an idea in women: summer is all about freshness. As the scorching summer approaches, people tend to become irritable and anxious in the heat. At such times, the appearance of a forest-like beauty will dispel the irritability, and men will surely follow her footsteps madly. If a woman appears like a tranquil and serene lake in the forest, everyone on the street will turn their gaze towards her. After such talk, there naturally follows a series of clothing coordination suggestions, such as a certain brand's top, a certain style of long skirt, a certain design of sandals... Whatever appears in the magazine is definitely not cheap, and as for whether to buy it, many of the items are considered too expensive even by the magazine's editors. A pundit once joked that so-called fashion magazines are a group of women earning 30,000 yuan a month teaching a group of women earning 10,000 yuan a month how to live a 100,000 yuan a month lifestyle.

Next, the makeup section starts to promote another idea: summer is all about freshness. Summer makeup is always hard to manage; every time you sweat, it causes small issues, and you often need to touch up. Waterproof makeup is also troublesome, so the magazines start to teach how to conquer men with light makeup. In short, a fresh makeup look will exude a pure and innocent aura, which is often more popular than those seductive ones. Whether this is true or not, the magazine claims to have conducted a survey, but they don't tell the readers how they did it. Below, you will see a neat list of makeup products, including certain eyeshadows, lip glosses, and blushes, and they even provide the purchase locations.

Fashion magazines always talk about music because music is also a part of women's lives. How to be an elegant woman? Art! An artistic life makes you artistic!

If two best friends go out for coffee during their lunch break, they often ask each other: "What did you do last night?" If one person says they watched a TV drama at home and cried, her friend will surely laugh.

"I listened to Pink Floyd's 'The Dark Side of the Moon' at home last night. I found the album on a shelf in an old bookstore by chance. You can't imagine how excited I was; it was like finding a pearl in the sea. This is a pioneering work of psychedelic and space rock, and it's almost impossible to find this legendary band's album in Korea. The owner didn't even know the album was on the shelf, and we argued for a long time before he finally gave it to me. I paid 1.25 million won, and it was worth it because music is priceless. Do you know what it means to dominate the Billboard charts for 735 weeks? That's a god-like achievement." This statement immediately sets the tone, and a small coffee table quickly becomes two worlds.

Actually, this lady also watched a TV drama at home last night and cried...

"Last week, I went to the movies with my boyfriend, 'Ice Age,' it was super cute."

"Ha, that animated movie?" This is usually accompanied by a look of disdain. "Last week, I watched 'Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon' at home for the tenth time. The charm of **tide is that you can always feel a deep sense of helplessness and despair through the screen. Life is a bitter journey, and I may never find a man who can provide me with spiritual comfort in this life. Those are just animals driven by their lower instincts."

Actually, this lady also watched a TV drama at home last week and cried...

Women's topics don't need to be elaborated on; even if they like TV dramas, they still listen to music.

The music critics who have columns in magazines, under Song Seok-jae's "not very interesting, just a little, a tiny bit, really not very interesting, I'm really sorry" approach, are all very "meaningful." At least they all mentioned Li Jingming's "Confession" and said many good things, describing him as a fresh breeze in Korea's restless June, a white lotus in the visual-dominated pop music world. After all, praising someone isn't hard.

Many magazines feature Li Jingming's image, the face that netizens compare to Won Bin. How could it not be impactful, even though it's a topic that many people are hyping up. Female readers of women's magazines, and some male readers, start to form an impression of Li Jingming. Having an impression is a good start because it's often easy to go from having an impression to being interested.

The audio of Li Jingming's "Confession" has been released online, and all six major music websites have opened downloads. It can't be called a failure, but it's also not a huge success. No matter how much Li Jingming tries, he can't change the fact that he is a newcomer, and he doesn't even have a fan yet. He might have one, but it hasn't shown up in the data.

The complete MV hasn't been released yet. This ten-minute MV is divided into three parts, and only the first part is available online, which was broadcast on MBC at 8 PM last night. Li Jingming and his team have created a "TV series MV" in three episodes. The first episode is about the male and female leads, played by Li Jingming and Lee Ji-hyeon, developing a mutual attraction and secretly exchanging love in a crowd. In two words: pure love.

Li Jingming was woken up by Baek Geum-hyun in the morning and has been watching videos ever since. He doesn't have the habit of watching his own videos on loop; he's watching a girl named Ellen Page's videos. He just finished watching "Hard Candy" and is now looking for other scattered videos online. This will be his female lead in the American film.

Li Jingming isn't sure if the original female lead was Ellen Page; he only has a vague impression of the film because of the Oscars. When he got the script, his ideal female lead was his Harvard classmate, Natalie Portman, because the girl in "Juno" is very unique, and it's hard for an ordinary girl to play this role well. Natalie Portman is naturally strong and has a bit of a rebellious spirit, but unfortunately, she couldn't join Li Jingming's team due to scheduling conflicts.

In the morning, Ahn Han-geun called, saying that the screenwriter and director were very satisfied with the girl during the audition and asked him to take a look, essentially asking him to make the final decision. Practice makes perfect, and Li Jingming, after receiving the video materials from Ahn Han-geun via email, also watched them. Overall, he was also very satisfied, and if there were no surprises, this girl would be the one.

While Li Jingming was still watching videos, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw only one letter "J" displayed. Who is this? Li Jingming was puzzled. Could it be Julius Erving (Dr. J) who exchanged numbers with him?

"Hey, what did you say to Kim Tae-yeon?" The "Hey" immediately reminded Li Jingming that this was Jessica's number. When they exchanged numbers, he found it troublesome to type seven letters, so he just entered one letter "J." But what's going on, and why is she so angry?

"What did I say?" Li Jingming felt like Jessica was his girlfriend, not using polite language, and always questioning or being playful.

"Yesterday, after you played the harmonica, you even took a walk by the Han River with her. You really have a lot of leisure time." Jessica clearly watched the video, and her words were tinged with jealousy.

Jessica went back to the company to practice as usual that morning. Everyone was working hard, but Kim Tae-yeon kept staring at her. Jessica had noticed but didn't say anything. At lunchtime, Kim Tae-yeon actually came over to sit with her, something she never did before. She even said she wanted to talk. Jessica, known for her "fierce" reputation, had never shown fear in front of others (she was afraid of horror movies, the dark, ghosts, earthworms, and the smell of cucumbers...), and she was a few centimeters taller than Kim Tae-yeon, so she wasn't afraid of her.

At first, Jessica was confused by what Kim Tae-yeon said. She wanted Jessica to help manage the team's interpersonal relationships and support her. Jessica, who is a bit shy and often chooses silence, and Kim Tae-yeon, who is resilient and often handles things on her own without communicating with others, have always had the desire to communicate but never did.

After the conversation, Jessica understood Kim Tae-yeon. She herself had experienced many things, such as camera shyness, being canceled before debut, and long-term training without a clear path. She deeply understood the pressure of being an artist. Kim Tae-yeon promised to take good care of everyone and be a good captain, and she assured Jessica that she would still be the caring older sister to the team.

Kim Tae-yeon openly told Jessica that the reason for this change was her conversation with Li Jingming. Then, driven by women's unique curiosity, she started asking about Jessica and Li Jingming's relationship, wondering how far they had progressed. Being able to stay at his place must mean they were more than just friends.

Kim Tae-yeon first talked about her conversation with Li Jingming and then naturally transitioned to the topic of Li Jingming and Jessica. Jessica assumed that Li Jingming had told Kim Tae-yeon everything, including the accommodation. Jessica couldn't help but feel resentful, thinking that Li Jingming was treating Kim Tae-yeon like an insider, especially after the incident with his mother, which made Jessica feel even more alienated.

Jessica secretly complained. This matter was originally only known by Pani and Crystal, but now there was one more person. She didn't know that most of the Girls' Generation trainees already knew about her staying at a senior's house on Friday, and if she knew, she would definitely make Tiffany pay.

"I just scolded Kim Tae-yeon for being too overbearing and told her to apologize to you." Li Jingming lied.

"You didn't talk about life goals, and 'why don't you sing the songs you like,' you really are a good senior." Jessica sarcastically replied, wondering why he didn't say these things to her.

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