Peninsula: Please, I only want to talk about ordinary people.

Chapter 12 Those who understand need no further explanation

"Amateur?"

Mina couldn't help but laugh.

He had just bumped into two idol girls at the pop-up store. When Zhao Meiyan left, her ears still had some pink stains that hadn't completely faded. Now he was telling himself that he was only talking about ordinary people.

Jiang Yongtai was somewhat annoyed by her laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"Yongtai-san~"

Mina's smile faded, and she asked in a light tone, "Are there any other ordinary people with you?"

Jiang Yongtai was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously wanted to refute, but his mind automatically generated a result based on interpersonal relationships...

"...There will be more later, just attend more gatherings."

"OK."

Minami remained noncommittal and turned to walk away.

"Hey! Minami-chan, what kind of attitude is that?"

Jiang Yongtai chased after him.

Mina walked to the shelf, picked up an Animal Crossing co-branded Switch, flipped it over to look at the back, put it back and exchanged it for another one, without even looking at him.

"Okay, I understand."

"Aren't ordinary people good? More time, more topics to talk about..."

"Mmm, you're right~"

She picked up the game console she had chosen and turned to walk towards the cashier.

Jiang Yongtai followed behind her, listing the benefits of dating ordinary people one by one.

"Guest, the total is 400,000."

The cashier put down the barcode scanner, and numbers appeared on the screen.

"Yes, he paid."

Minami raised her chin towards Jiang Yongtai.

Jiang Yongtai's rambling was finally cut off. He glanced at the Switch on the cashier's counter and then looked at Mina.

"Why me? I didn't say I wanted to buy it."

Mina rolled her eyes at him, knowing he wouldn't remember.

"Yongtai-san, just pay first. If you don't know, check the date."

The cashier maintained a professional smile, glancing back and forth between the two men before kindly reminding the male customer who was still confused about the situation.

"Sir, if your girlfriend said that, it must be your anniversary. The total is 400,000."

"Excuse me, we are not..."

Just as Jiang Yongtai opened his mouth, Ming Jingnan put her hands behind her back and tapped the floor with her toes.

"We're not a couple, Yongtai-san, hurry up, I'm hungry."

Jiang Yongtai looked at the cashier's smiling face, which seemed to say "we all understand without explanation," and still reached into his pocket and took out his card.

The two walked out of the pop-up store. By evening, the streets of Hongdae were a bit more lively than before, but still much less crowded than before.

Jiang Yongtai took a few steps with the bag and handed it to her.

"your."

Mina smiled and reached out to take it, grasping the handle of the paper bag.

"Thank you, Yongtai-san."

"Wait a minute." Jiang Yongtai pulled his hand back, leaving the bag suspended in mid-air.

"Tell me first why I want to give you a gift."

Mina snatched the bag and peered inside.

The new Animal Crossing co-branded machine has Tom Nook and his family printed on the packaging box, and she nodded in satisfaction.

"Look at the date, Yongtai-san."

She slung the bag over her wrist and turned to walk away.

"Let's go, I'll treat you to dinner."

Jiang Yongtai stood there, frowning.

Date? White Valentine's Day has passed, there's no anniversary, and there aren't any special holidays in March.

He just checked the calendar, but nothing matched up... Wait a minute, today is the 22nd...

He stopped and looked at Mina's back in front of him, showing no intention of waiting for anyone.

"Nan-chan".

Minami didn't turn around.

He took two steps to catch up: "Your birthday is the 24th, today is only the 22nd."

Mina paused for a moment, but he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been watching her the whole time.

Then she continued walking forward and pointed towards the parking lot.

"Ah, I see your car."

"So you called me out two days early just so I would buy you a birthday present?"

She stopped by the car door, finally turned to look at him, and frowned slightly, showing her dissatisfaction.

"You paid for it yourself."

"You were the one who pointed at me and said 'pay up'."

"Yes, that's right."

She tilted her head, as if she didn't understand what the problem was.

Jiang Yongtai pressed the car key, opened the driver's side door, and looked at her through the roof.

"So you planned to ask me out today?"

Mina had already gotten into the passenger seat, fastened her seatbelt, and her voice came from behind her mask, sounding a bit muffled.

"Otaku sometimes need to go out to buy game consoles."

"Why not just say it directly?"

Mina finally raised her head, pulled off her mask, and revealed her broken and distressed face.

Those who know how to do it don't need to say anything.

She looked at Jiang Yongtai, who was still standing at the car door, with a very serious expression.

"What are you standing there for? Let's go. It's a barbecue restaurant, your treat."

Jiang Yongtai got into the car, started the engine, and as the car backed out of the parking space, he suddenly spoke.

"Nan-chan".

"Um?"

"You just said it was your treat."

"I regret it~"

……

The car was parked downstairs in Twice's dormitory building.

Jiang Yongtai turned his head to look over.

Mina leaned back in the passenger seat, her head resting against the window, her eyelashes drooping quietly.

Just now, while we were eating, I was still defiantly fighting him for the last piece of beef tongue, but not long after we got in the car, I fell asleep with my head tilted to the side.

After taking off her mask, she wore light makeup, with a thin layer of foundation that slightly melted from the warmth of the heater. Her nose tip had a natural glow, and her beauty mark was even more noticeable.

The lip gloss that was originally on my lips was mostly wiped off while I was eating, leaving only a faint base color. I pursed my lips slightly, as if I were struggling with something even in my dreams.

"We're here, Nan-chan."

Mina's eyelashes fluttered, but she didn't open her eyes.

"Hmm~"

She let out a lazy snort, shrank her head further into the seat, and rubbed her neck against her collar, like a cat that had been woken up but refused to admit it.

He slowly opened his eyes a crack, letting in the light from the streetlamp, his pupils filled with a layer of mist from just waking up.

Jiang Yongtai shifted his gaze, staring ahead, waiting for her.

He ended up paying for the meal, and she didn't even pretend to care when it came time to pay.

I sat across from him, resting my chin on my hand, watching him take out his card. The expression on my face was exactly the same as when I said "he's paying" at the pop-up store.

Mina stretched, her arms barely able to extend within the limited space on the roof.

She yawned slightly and fully woke up.

"Um... thank you, Yongtai-san."

"It's nothing, let's go back."

"oh."

She unbuckled her seatbelt, picked up the paper bag, and prepared to open the car door, but stopped halfway through the movement and turned back to look at him.

"Thank you for going shopping with me and for treating me to dinner."

Jiang Yongtai smiled when he saw her suddenly serious face.

"Didn't I already say thank you? Besides, this is also an apology for not keeping my promise to go to your comeback concert last time."

Mina wrinkled her nose. "That still seems a bit too light."

Jiang Yongtai chuckled, "What else do you want?"

Minami smiled slyly.

"Fine, I understand if you don't want to go."

"……Well."

Jiang Yongtai was momentarily speechless.

Besides being busy, Sana Minatozaki was indeed partly to blame that time.

He sighed as he looked at the expression on Mina's face.

"Nan-chan, could you please stop bringing her up all the time?"

Did I say who?

Mina blinked innocently.

Jiang Yongtai gave up; playing word games with this woman never yielded a high success rate.

"Let's go back."

"Okay, I won't ask you to play games for a while, I need to practice."

She reached out to pull the car door open.

"Wait a moment."

Mina turned around and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong?"

"Mask." Jiang Yongtai pointed to his face.

"oh."

Mina then remembered, took out a mask from her trench coat pocket, put it on, and opened the car door.

"I'm gone."

Jiang Yongtai rolled down the car window and called out to her retreating figure.

"Nan-chan".

She turned around.

"Happy birthday."

Mina paused for a moment, and a small smile slowly crept onto her lips beneath her mask.

"Didn't Yongtai-san say he hadn't arrived yet? Tell me again in a couple of days."

Jiang Yongtai smiled.

"Okay, let's split the bill for dinner tonight. I'm off."

The car window rolled up, the gray Hyundai turned out of the parking space, its taillights flashed twice, and it disappeared into the intersection.

Minami stood downstairs at the apartment building, looking in that direction, and wrinkled her nose.

stingy person~

She turned and walked into the apartment, the paper bag in her hand swaying lightly with each step.

……

"I'm back."

Minami Mii pushed open the door.

Several people were sitting around the TV in the living room, with fried chicken boxes, stir-fried rice cakes, and several bottles of soju scattered on the carpet.

Ziyu sat cross-legged on the far side, holding a piece of radish kimchi in her hand. She nodded when she saw her come in.

Sana Minatozaki turned away from the sofa, draped one arm over the backrest, and chewed on half a piece of mochi.

She immediately noticed the paper bag with the Animal Crossing pattern in Mina's hand.

"So, Mina went out to buy a game console today?"

"Yeah, NS opened a pop-up store, I went to check it out."

Mina bent down to take off her shoes and put the sneakers she had taken off back on the shoe rack.

Hirai Momo pulled a chicken leg out of the fried chicken box, waved it at her, and asked if she wanted some.

Minami shook her head.

"No need, I've already eaten out."

"Ah! A pop-up store~ Why didn't you invite me to go!"

Sana Minato put down the mochi in her hand, glared at her angrily, with a little chili sauce still on the corner of her mouth, and didn't look very intimidating.

Mina looked away, raised her hand to rub the back of her neck, and looked exhausted after a long day of shopping.

"I only decided to go on a whim. I've been sightseeing all day, so I'm going back to my room now."

Seeing her expression, Sana Minato pouted, but swallowed her protest.

"...Okay, remember to call me next time you go to a fun place!"

Minami waved her hand behind her and went into her room.

Sana Minatozaki glanced at the closed door, then refocused her attention on the food in front of her and the TV program "I Live Alone" playing on the screen.

She picked up a piece of fried chicken, dipped it in the sauce, and brought it to her mouth, but her brow furrowed slightly.

Did Mina wear a hat when she went out today?

It looks somewhat familiar...