105: Chapter 104 Claw Machine

Jang Wonyoung's Room.

Outside the window, the moonlight was hazy, with the occasional faint sound of late-returning vehicles passing by. Jang Wonyoung was sleeping soundly, lying on her side in the soft bed. Her long eyelashes cast small shadows under her eyelids, and the corner of her mouth held a relaxed curve. She held a soft plushie in her arms, her whole body sinking into the fluffy quilt like a defenseless, sleeping kitten.

In her dreams, there seemed to be no "Golden Toilet" or "Three-Meter Giant Pie," only a peaceful sea of stars. She and her members were wearing beautiful dresses (not the Star Armor), taking a leisurely stroll... until—

"Buzz buzz buzz... buzz buzz buzz..."

A sudden and persistent vibration broke the boundary between dream and reality. It was Jang Wonyoung's phone on the nightstand. The screen lit up stubbornly in the darkness, displaying a number that wasn't saved but... seemed a bit familiar.

Jang Wonyoung frowned in dissatisfaction in her sleep and unconsciously rolled over, burying her face deeper into the pillow in an attempt to block out the annoying noise.

The vibration stopped. The world returned to silence.

Jang Wonyoung's breathing became even again.

However, just a few seconds later—

"Buzz buzz buzz!!! Buzz buzz buzz!!!"

The phone vibrated again with an even more tenacious posture, as if it wouldn't give up until it was answered.

This time, Jang Wonyoung was completely dragged out from the shallows of sleep. She let out a muddled nasal sound, her eyes struggling to open a crack as she stared blankly at the source of light and noise in the darkness.

"...Who is it... so late..." She spoke with heavy sleepiness, her voice soft and sweet, carrying the raspiness of someone who hadn't fully woken up. It was the milky, whining tone of a child being woken up. She reached out an arm, fumbling blindly on the nightstand, finally managing to grab the "culprit."

Without even looking at the caller ID (her brain was still rebooting), she acted on instinct, swiping her finger across the screen and pressing the phone to her ear.

"Hello...?" She drawled, her voice thick with drowsiness and a hint of displeasure at being woken up.

From the other end of the line came a clear, gentle, and even slightly excited male voice. In this quiet late night and Wonyoung's hazy consciousness, it sounded exceptionally abrupt:

"Wonyoung-ah! It's me, Jiang Zhiyu. Sorry to bother you so late, but a flash of inspiration hit me while I was showering just now! I have a brilliant idea for the link between your 'star spring messenger' plot and the mineral water commercial! The more I think about it, the more I feel like I have to talk to you right away!"

Jiang Zhiyu's voice came through the receiver with the enthusiasm and focus of someone in work mode, as if he completely failed to realize what time it was in the early morning.

Jang Wonyoung: "...???"

Her mind was still a mess. Jiang Zhiyu? Who? Oh... that PD... what idea? Mineral water? star spring messenger...?

After a few seconds of sluggishness, that name and voice finally connected with a certain "high-risk alert zone" deep in her brain!

Jiang! Zhi! Yu!

In the middle of the night! Calling! To talk about work?! And it's about my segment?!

Jang Wonyoung instantly jolted, her remaining sleepiness mostly scared away. But her body hadn't fully woken up yet, and her movements couldn't keep up with her consciousness. She suddenly bounced up slightly from the bed, only to slump back against the bedside due to muscle weakness, nearly dropping the phone.

"Ugh... ah?" She let out an even more muddled, milky cry full of struggle and confusion. It sounded completely non-threatening, like a startled little animal whimpering.

On the other end of the phone, Jiang Zhiyu seemed to hear the rustling and strange whimpering on her side. He paused, his tone softening slightly, but he was still full of excitement: "Wonyoung? Were you... asleep? Sorry about that, I got too excited. But this idea is really good. Do you have time tomorrow? How about coming to TG? We can chat in detail in person, and I can show you the preliminary concept art!"

Tomorrow? TG? Chat in detail? Concept art?

In Jang Wonyoung's not-yet-sober but alarm-blaring brain, these words automatically translated into: A new trap! A new "social death" plan! A new way to trick me!

"No... don't... I'm... sleeping..." Jang Wonyoung was incoherent, struggling to refuse with her sleepy little milky voice. But because she wasn't fully awake, her tone was soft and sounded more like acting spoiled than protesting.

"Ah? Wonyoung, what did you say? Is the signal bad?" Jiang Zhiyu didn't seem to hear clearly. "Then it's settled? Tomorrow at 2 PM? I'll be waiting for you! Remember to get some good rest before you come!" His tone sounded very "considerate."

Jang Wonyoung wanted to say something more, but Jiang Zhiyu seemed already immersed in the excitement of his design. He quickly said "See you tomorrow!" and hung up.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

The busy tone sounded.

Jang Wonyoung remained frozen in bed, holding the phone, her large eyes blinking blankly in the darkness.

The room became quiet again, with only the sound of her slightly hurried breathing.

Just now... what happened?

Jiang Zhiyu... called... in the middle of the night... to talk about my plot... told me to go to TG tomorrow...?

A chill crawled up the back of her neck along her spine.

Jang Wonyoung shook her head violently, trying to shake that "terrible" voice and conversation out of her mind.

"It must be... a dream..." she muttered to herself, her voice carrying the muddle of someone who hadn't woken up and the luck of a survivor. "Right... I must be under too much pressure lately and had a nightmare... To actually dream of Producer Jiang Zhi Yu calling in the middle of the night to scare me..."

She comforted herself like this and then threw the phone that "brought the nightmare" far toward the foot of the bed like a hot potato!

*Thud.* The phone landed in the pile of soft quilts, and the screen went dark.

Jang Wonyoung pulled the quilt over her, wrapping herself tightly from head to toe, curling into a ball and closing her eyes tightly.

"Sleep, sleep... it's all a dream... it'll be fine when I wake up tomorrow... nothing happened..."

She repeated it in her heart like an incantation, trying hard to dispel the sense of reality brought by that phone call.

However, the phone she had thrown to the foot of the bed lit up weakly again—it was a text message from the same number:

[Jiang Zhiyu]: Ah, forgot to say, remember to bring a sample of the mineral water you usually like to drink tomorrow! It'll help with the collision of inspirations! Goodnight, Wonyoung! ( ^_^ )/~~

Jang Wonyoung couldn't see this text message for the time being. She was trying hard to stuff herself back into the safe fantasy that "this was just a nightmare."

But tomorrow at 2 PM, when she sees Jiang Zhiyu's enthusiastic smile and the possibly real "brilliant idea" concept art at TG Entertainment, she will probably truly realize—that late-night call was no dream.

It was the prelude to Jiang Zhiyu's workaholic nature and exclusive "care."

This night in the IZ*ONE dorm was destined to be difficult for Jang Wonyoung to sleep peacefully again. Meanwhile, at TG Entertainment, Jiang Zhiyu might be facing a drawing board or computer, eyes shining with excitement over his new idea for the "star spring messenger," completely unaware of how much "damage" he had just caused to a certain maknae's sleep quality and mental health.

Jang Wonyoung woke up in a state of unease. Last night's "dream" felt too real; Jiang Zhiyu's voice seemed to still echo in her ears. She fumbled around groggily and found the phone she had tossed to the foot of the bed.

Unlocking the screen, the first thing that caught her eye was the preview of that unread text message:

[Jiang Zhiyu]: Ah, forgot to say, remember to bring a sample of the mineral water you usually like to drink tomorrow! It'll help with the collision of inspirations! Goodnight, Wonyoung! ( ^_^ )/~~

"Tomorrow"... "mineral water sample"... "collision of inspirations"...

And that familiar, seemingly harmless emoticon...

Jang Wonyoung stared at the text message, her sleepiness vanishing in an instant. It was as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her from head to toe. After the bone-chilling cold came a rush of shame, panic, and a soul-crushing sense of "I knew it!"

It wasn't a dream! It was real!!

That devil PD really called in the middle of the night! And he really wants me to go to TG today! And bring mineral water?! What "collision of inspirations"? It's definitely a new conspiracy! A new scheduled "social death"!

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"

A highly piercing scream, a mix of despair, horror, and madness, erupted from Jang Wonyoung's room without warning, instantly shattering the morning silence of the dorm.

"What's wrong?!"

"Wonyoung?!"

"What happened?!"

Kwon Eunbi, who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, Choi Yena, who was stretching in the living room, Miyawaki Sakura, who had just finished washing up, and the other members who were still groggy in their rooms were all startled and rushed toward the source of the sound—Jang Wonyoung's room.

"Wonyoung-ah! What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" Kwon Eunbi was the first to rush in. She saw Jang Wonyoung clutching her phone, her face flushing red and white, her hair a bit messy, and her eyes wide open with an expression like she had seen a ghost (or something even scarier than a ghost).

"Is there a bug? Where is it?!" Choi Yena also looked around nervously.

Seeing the concerned (and slightly confused) faces of her Unnies, Jang Wonyoung seemed to find an outlet. She held up her phone, her voice trembling: "Unnies! It wasn't a dream! It's real! Producer Jiang Zhi Yu! He! Last night! Really! Called me! And sent a message! He wants me to go to TG this afternoon! And bring mineral water! Something about a new idea!"

She spoke rapidly, almost on the verge of tears: "I knew it! He definitely won't let me off! 'star spring messenger' sounds nice, but it's definitely some shameful setting again! Maybe he wants me to wear clothes that look like a mineral water bottle and dance! Or make me look for clues in a fountain! Or maybe... maybe..." Her rich "persecution complex" had already begun to automatically generate various ridiculous scenarios.

The Unnies looked at each other, not knowing for a moment whether they should comfort her or laugh. Jiang Zhiyu calling in the middle of the night to talk about work was indeed a bit... informal, but Wonyoung's reaction was also a bit too exaggerated.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

"Wonyoung, calm down," Miyawaki Sakura tried to soothe her, "Maybe President Jiang just had a sudden burst of inspiration and was in a hurry. Meeting at TG Entertainment to discuss work is perfectly normal. Bringing along the mineral water sample—maybe he just wants to understand your preferences to make the advertisement better suited for you?"

"Exactly, exactly," An Yujin squeezed in as well, "Maybe it's a good thing? A segment designed specifically for you—it's bound to be a highlight!"

"I don't want a highlight! I just want to be left alone!" Jang Wonyoung covered her face in grief and indignation, shoving her phone to Kwon Eunbi, who was closest to her, "Unnie, look! He even sent a 'good night'! He must think this is friendly! But this is 'The Ring'! It's the devil's whisper!"

Kwon Eunbi took the phone and looked at the text, feeling a bit amused yet helpless. The content... apart from the late hour, the tone was actually quite normal, perhaps even a bit too "lively." But seeing the maknae in such a state of collapse, she didn't know what else to say.

To distract Jang Wonyoung and help everyone recover from this early morning "screaming incident," Kwon Eunbi casually picked up the remote and turned on the living room TV, hoping for some background noise, "Alright, alright, stop thinking about it for now. Come out and have breakfast, watch some TV and relax."

A morning commercial was playing on the TV.

At first, there was soft music and scenery; it looked like the prelude to some food commercial. Jang Wonyoung had been half-pushed, half-coaxed by her Unnies to sit on the living room sofa, where she was still clutching her head, muttering, "It's over, I'm going to get scammed again," and "I knew I couldn't let my guard down"...

Then, the TV screen changed.

A familiar, golden, and sky-blocking orion pie filled the entire 75-inch TV screen!

That huge pie crust with its grid pattern, that plump filling... it was an exact, life-sized close-up of the three-meter prop that had forced her into that "tragic chewing" deep in her memories!

The commercial's background music turned passionate and dramatic.

Immediately after, the scene switched. A chibi version of an angel appeared in the corner of the screen, wearing a cute, pristine white little angel dress (obviously the one from the show), with a pair of mini wings on its back and a crooked halo on its head—even though it was stylized as a cartoon, those lively eyes, the slender figure, and that signature, slightly chubby, yet exceptionally beautiful face...

It was clearly Jang Wonyoung!

The chibi little angel Jang Wonyoung was seen looking up at the massive orion pie that occupied the entire screen. Her face displayed a complex expression mixed with "resignation to fate," "going all out," and "actually, it looks kind of good" (the cartoon captured it perfectly). Then, she took a deep breath (the cartoon character's chest puffed up), and toward the sky (actually toward the pie), she used every ounce of her strength (subtitles appeared simultaneously) to let out that scream, which was worthy of being recorded in the history of Korean commercials (or at least in Jang Wonyoung's personal history):

"I—LOVE—EATING—ORION—PIES—THE—MOST——————!!!"

The voice was clear and bright, with a sincere sense of "tragedy" where her voice cracked. The drawn-out ending, amplified by the commercial's sound effects, echoed throughout the entire IZ*ONE dormitory living room.

The commercial wasn't over yet; the rest likely featured the deliciousness of the orion pie and promotional information.

But Jang Wonyoung couldn't hear anything anymore.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Jang Wonyoung's hands, which had been covering her head, slowly slid down. She stared wide-eyed, fixated on the chibi version of herself on the TV screen still "screaming" at the giant pie, and that line which seemed to have built-in stereo surround sound, playing on a loop in her mind.

The Unnies were also stunned. They looked at the TV, then at the petrified Jang Wonyoung. They wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, their expressions quite colorful.

After a few seconds of dead silence.

"YA——————!!!"

A scream, sharper and more devastated than the one in the room just moments ago, filled with shame, indignation, and the feeling of a "dark history being publicly executed," erupted from Jang Wonyoung's throat!

She sprang up from the sofa, grabbed a cushion from nearby (the innocent cushion), and threw it fiercely at the TV (of course, she didn't hit it, nor did she dare to really hit it). Then, she threw herself into An Yujin's arms, burying her face tightly, her shoulders shaking violently as she let out muffled, almost sobbing sounds:

"Turn it off! Turn off the TV! Unnie, turn it off quickly!!!"

"How could he! How could he use that for an advertisement! And make it a chibi version! And have it playing on a loop all day!"

"I'm finished! I can't face anyone! Everyone in Korea is going to see me shouting 'I love eating orion pies the most'!"

"Jiang Zhiyu!!! I'm not done with you!!!"

The living room was in chaos. Kwon Eunbi scrambled to find the remote and turned off the TV. Miyawaki Sakura and Choi Yena tried their best to stifle their laughter while comforting (or rather, watching) the collapsed maknae. Other members also gathered around, looking at this chaotic scene with a mix of curiosity and amusement.

An Yujin held the trembling, mortified Jang Wonyoung, patting her back while whispering:

"Um... Wonyoung..."

"Actually... the commercial... it's kind of cute?"

"And, 'I love eating orion pies the most'... it seems like your new catchphrase now, right?"

Jang Wonyoung: "...Woo!!!" (Collapse intensifies)

For Jang Wonyoung, this morning was undoubtedly adding insult to injury. Jiang Zhiyu's "midnight ring" combined with the public execution of the "orion pie commercial" filled her with an unprecedented sense of tragic determination, as if she were heading to her death, regarding the trip to TG Entertainment in the afternoon.

And the culprit behind all of this, Jiang Zhiyu, was likely at TG Entertainment at this very moment, happily reminiscing about the broadcast effect of the orion pie commercial and the anticipated advertising revenue, while enthusiastically preparing a surprise project for the "star spring messenger," looking forward to a "clash of inspiration" with his "inspiration muse," Jang Wonyoung, in the afternoon.

He had no idea that he had successfully "slain" the IZ*ONE maknae twice in both spirit and public opinion within a mere twelve hours.

Despite having ten thousand reasons to refuse, and despite the double psychological trauma of the "commercial critical hit" and the "midnight ring" from the morning, Jang Wonyoung still appeared in front of the TG Entertainment building at 2:00 PM, on time (or rather, forced to be on time), under the "gentle persuasion" of her Manager ("This is important work, it concerns a big project for the whole of IZ*ONE") and the company's schedule arrangements.

But she didn't come alone. At Jang Wonyoung's strong insistence (or rather, clinging to the arms of Kwon Eunbi and Choi Yena and refusing to let go), the leader Kwon Eunbi and the "vitamin" Choi Yena were also "forcibly conscripted" to come along as her "bodyguards" and "witnesses." The excuse was: "I need leader Unnie to grasp the overall direction, and I need Yena Unnie to provide energetic suggestions." In reality, Jang Wonyoung simply didn't dare to face Jiang Zhiyu alone, terrified that she might accidentally get tricked into some new "social death trap."

The group of four (including the Manager) stood at the entrance of the TG office building, which looked slightly low-key from the outside but had been renovated to look brand new inside. Jang Wonyoung took a deep breath, her little face tense, her eyes full of vigilance, as if she weren't here for a meeting, but to penetrate deep into enemy territory to carry out a high-risk mission. She even unconsciously gripped the bag in her hand, which contained a sample of a certain brand of mineral water (which the Manager had reminded her to bring), as if it were her amulet... or a hand grenade.

Kwon Eunbi looked at the maknae, who was acting as if she were facing a formidable enemy. Feeling both amused and a little heartbroken, she patted her shoulder: "Wonyoung, relax. It's just a normal work meeting."

Choi Yena, on the other hand, was quite excited, looking around: "TG's environment is pretty good now! I wonder what fun things President Jiang will show us?"

The Manager also chimed in to encourage her: "Wonyoung, cheer up. President Jiang is a very professional producer, and this is such a big project collaboration, so it will definitely go smoothly."

Hearing this, Jang Wonyoung silently looked up at her Manager. Those beautiful, large eyes were filled with the depth of "you don't understand." She spoke in an unusually calm, almost world-weary tone:

"Oppa."

"If... you are willing to go to the center of the busiest pedestrian street in Myeong-dong tonight..."

She paused, then said clearly, word for word:

"Shout at the top of your lungs—'I love eating orion pies the most—!!!'"

"The voice must be loud, the expression must be 'tragic,' and it would be best to attract passersby to watch and take photos."

"If you can do that..."

Jang Wonyoung's gaze was incredibly serious:

"I will give you 100,000 won on the spot. In cash."

Manager: "..."

Kwon Eunbi: "Pfft!"

Choi Yena: "Hahahaha!! Wonyoung!!"

The professional smile on the Manager's face instantly froze, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Go to the streets of Myeong-dong... and shout like you did in the commercial? And pay 100,000 won? Had the maknae been so stimulated that she started talking nonsense? Or... was this actually her way of quantifying her level of fear toward Producer Jiang Zhi Yu?!

Kwon Eunbi quickly held back her laughter and pushed Jang Wonyoung toward the door: "Alright, alright, let's go in. Don't keep President Jiang waiting." She finally understood that in Wonyoung's heart, the "level of terror" of Producer Jiang Zhi Yu was now equivalent to "public social death" and was worth 100,000 won.

Choi Yena laughed even harder, imitating her as they walked: "'I love eating—' Wonyoung, actually, you shouted it with a lot of emotion!"

Pushed by her Unnies, Jang Wonyoung reluctantly stepped into the TG entrance, her little face still wearing that "resigned to fate" expression. She lifted her chin slightly, her eyes "determined" (though actually nervous), her lips pressed into a thin line, as if she weren't going to a meeting, but about to step onto an unknown battlefield filled with "Jiang-style traps." She held the mineral water bag straight, like a little soldier's rifle.

This "threat," which had absolutely no deterrent power but was full of a desire for survival, made Jang Wonyoung barely twitch the corner of her mouth, but the vigilance in her eyes did not diminish in the slightest.