277: Chapter 257 Heartbeat 135: The Standoff Behind the Door and the Cold Wall

The meeting ended in an atmosphere that was almost "harmonious."

Between the temptation of a new song, the allure of the Red Velvet Lemm, and Jiang Zhiyu's sincere explanation of the variety show's "sweat for prizes" format, the four members of Red Velvet (excluding the one who never arrived) developed a genuine interest in "the collapsed daily life." Even Joy, who was the most guarded at first, whispered to Wendy as they left the meeting room, "It seems... actually a bit interesting."

Jiang Zhiyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, his face still maintaining the gentle and composed look of a president. He checked the time; it was 4:30 PM, the delicate period between afternoon tea and dinner.

"You've all worked hard today, seniors," he stood up and naturally suggested, "Why don't I host and treat everyone to..."

Before he could say the words "a meal."

*Knock, knock.*

The sound of knocking rang out abruptly.

It wasn't heavy, yet it felt like a precise blow from a blunt club, hitting right at the moment Jiang Zhiyu's words were about to land, and striking his newly relaxed nerves.

The slightly nervous voice of Manager Xiao Zheng came from outside the door: "President, Senior Irene has arrived."

Senior Irene has arrived.

Six words.

Like six hailstones, they crackled into Jiang Zhiyu's ears and rolled all the way into his chest, freezing his breath for a moment.

She... didn't she go to Busan?

Did her personal schedule... end so quickly?

Or... did she not go at all?

Countless thoughts flashed by in an instant, finally condensing into a realization that made him almost grit his teeth—she did this on purpose.

She showed up at this exact time on purpose.

She appeared right when he thought he had avoided her, when the meeting was over, and even when he planned to use a meal to "make up" for her absence.

Jiang Zhiyu felt a wave of heat rise from the back of his neck, instantly spreading to the tips of his ears. Almost subconsciously, he reached out, picked up the glass of now-cold water in front of him, tilted his head back, and downed it in one go.

The ice-cold liquid slid down his throat, but instead of suppressing the sudden heat, it acted like oil poured on a hidden fire, making the chaotic emotions burn even brighter. His heartbeat began to accelerate uncontrollably.

In the meeting room, however, the reactions of the other four were completely different.

Seulgi, Wendy, Joy, and Yeri, who had already picked up their bags to say goodbye, stopped in unison the moment they heard the voice outside.

They looked at each other, and the fire of gossip instantly roared in their eyes.

Yeri went as far as to cover her mouth with her hand, but her crescent-shaped eyes and slightly trembling shoulders completely betrayed her excitement of "waiting for the movie to start."

Wendy cleared her throat and elegantly sat back down, smoothing her skirt as she adopted a composed posture of "I'm not in a hurry, I can sit a bit longer."

Seulgi blinked her innocent big eyes, looking at the door and then at Jiang Zhiyu with pure, innocent curiosity.

Joy leaned back slightly in her chair, arms crossed, her lips curling into a playful "Oh ho, here it comes" arc.

In an instant, the four of them switched from meeting participants about to leave to the best audience members, holding their breath and waiting for the show to begin.

A brief silence spread outside the door.

Manager Xiao Zheng was clearly a bit embarrassed; he could probably guess his president's current mood, and he could also feel the aura beneath the calm surface of the national goddess beside him... which was by no means friendly.

He was considering whether to announce her again.

Bae Joo-hyun spoke first.

Her voice came through the door panel—clear, calm, and devoid of any emotion, yet it made Jiang Zhiyu's heart skip another violent beat.

"I think President Jiang definitely heard me," she said, her tone so certain it was unsettling. "I'm coming in now."

As her voice fell, Jiang Zhiyu heard the sound of the doorknob being gently turned from the outside.

She was coming in.

This realization was like an electric current surging up his spine.

Almost as a physical instinct, before his brain could fully process how to handle this sudden "reunion," his legs were already moving, striding toward the door.

He couldn't let her just push the door open and enter.

He couldn't sit there passively and receive her scrutinizing gaze.

At the very least... he had to seize the initiative by being the one to walk toward her.

Outside the door, Bae Joo-hyun's fingers had just gripped the cold metal handle and were about to apply pressure—

*Click.*

The door was suddenly pulled open from the inside.

Caught off guard.

Bae Joo-hyun hadn't expected the door to open so suddenly. All her focus had been on how to enter the room with the most calm and dignified posture, and how to face the man who had taken it upon himself to "avoid her."

This abrupt opening caused her to flinch slightly. Her hand on the doorknob tightened instinctively, and her body leaned forward slightly due to momentum.

She snapped her head up.

Her gaze, without any buffer, crashed directly into a pair of eyes just inches away.

It was Jiang Zhiyu.

He stood inside the doorway, one hand still on the door, breathing slightly hard, clearly having walked over quickly.

The distance was too close.

Close enough that Bae Joo-hyun could clearly see the shock instantly expanding in his pupils, and see the complex emotions churning in his eyes that he hadn't had time to hide—

Nervousness. Like a rookie pushed onto a stage, at a loss for what to do.

Panic. Like a carefully hidden secret suddenly exposed.

And... a deeper emotion that made her scalp tingle and want to back away immediately after just one look.

It was a look that mixed heat, vulnerability, struggle, and a near-painful longing. It was too direct, too aggressive, and too... dangerous.

The closed wall Bae Joo-hyun had long since built to isolate herself from all unnecessary emotions and trouble sounded its highest-level alarm at this moment.

Almost by reflex, the shock in her eyes faded rapidly, replaced by a thick layer of ice and detachment capable of freezing the air. Her expression management kicked into high gear instantly; the corners of her lips even curled into a perfectly standard yet cold "Irene-style" polite smile, though her gaze was as cold as a Siberian wind.

Inside the room, Jiang Zhiyu's experience was entirely different.

The moment he pulled the door open and met Bae Joo-hyun's upward gaze, he felt as if an invisible hand had gripped his heart tightly and yanked it downward!

*Thump! Thump-thump-thump! Thump-thump-thump-thump—!*

From the steady rhythm after the meeting ended, to the acceleration when he heard her voice, to the moment they were face-to-face—

His heartbeat was completely out of control.

It hammered wildly against his chest, so fast he wondered if it would explode the next second. He could almost hear the roar of blood rushing in his eardrums.

135 beats per minute? No, maybe faster.

Every pulse was accompanied by a sharp pang of pain; it wasn't a physical illness, but a physiological manifestation of extreme emotional conflict. Baek Ji-xin's gentle, smiling gaze and the cold, detached look of Bae Joo-hyun before him overlapped and tore at his mind frantically.

He smelled the faint, cool scent of her perfume, mixed with a hint of travel-worn air.

He saw the slight quiver of her eyelashes and, deep within that cold gaze, a trace of... annoyance that she tried hard to hide but he still caught?

Time seemed to stretch infinitely at this moment.

Outside the door was an embarrassed assistant holding documents, head down, pretending not to exist.

Inside the door were four pairs of eyes filled with the excitement of "Fight! Fight!"

And within the small space of the doorway, a silent, surging, almost tangible undercurrent flowed between the two.

One with a heart beating like a drum and a panicked, struggling gaze.

One with high walls and eyes as cold as bone-chilling ice.

This "reunion" that Jiang Zhiyu had wanted to avoid had arrived in the most unexpected and pathetic way possible.

—

The suffocating silence in the doorway was broken by Bae Joo-hyun's cool and polite voice.

"President Jiang," she nodded slightly, her poise impeccable, though her eyes remained covered in a thin layer of ice. "My apologies, due to a conflict in my personal schedule, I've only just rushed back from the event location."

Her explanation sounded reasonable, but the words "rushed back" were like a fine needle, lightly pricking Jiang Zhiyu's tense nerves.

Rushed back? For what? For this meeting she had already been "arranged" to miss?

Jiang Zhiyu forced himself to twitch the corners of his mouth into a smile that even he felt was incredibly stiff. His voice was also a bit tight: "It's no problem, Bae... Irene-xi."

He almost blurted out that more intimate name again, catching himself halfway and switching back to the most formal "Irene-xi."

"The key points of today's meeting," he spoke faster, trying to end this agonizing eye contact as soon as possible, "will be organized by TG Entertainment and sent to your company's work email. I... still have some urgent matters to attend to, so please excuse me."

After saying that, he didn't even wait for Bae Joo-hyun's response before sidestepping to squeeze past her, his posture almost like he was fleeing in panic.

The show hasn't even started yet, how can the male lead be running away already?!

In the meeting room, the four "best audience members" nearly had their eyes pop out.

Yeri was so anxious she lightly stamped her feet under the table, Wendy silently mouthed an "Ya!", Seulgi blinked in confusion, and Joy raised an eyebrow slightly, seemingly feeling a bit... disappointed by Jiang Zhiyu's "cowardly retreat"?

Just as Jiang Zhiyu was about to brush past Bae Joo-hyun.

"President Jiang."

Bae Joo-hyun's voice rang out again. It wasn't loud, but it clearly cut off his path.

Jiang Zhiyu's footsteps paused.

Bae Joo-hyun turned around to face him. The cold yet standard smile on her face seemed to deepen slightly, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

"I rushed all the way back to Seoul from Busan," she said in a steady tone, even carrying a hint of a junior's request, "and haven't even had time for a sip of water. Why don't... President Jiang 'work overtime' and give me a brief explanation of the situation? How about it?"

"Work overtime."

These two words were spoken by her in such a calm tone, yet they carried an undeniable, even somewhat provocative, meaning.

Don't you have things to do?

Don't you want to hide?

Well, I insist that you "work overtime" for me right here, right now.

Jiang Zhiyu's body froze.

He could feel the four excited gazes behind him almost burning through his back.

He could smell the cool fragrance belonging to Bae Joo-hyun close at hand, intertwined with the increasingly rich, sweet scent of ripe fruit emanating uncontrollably from himself.

He could hear his own heart still drumming in his chest, though its rhythm seemed slightly disrupted by her sudden "attack."

*Thump, thump, thump...*

Fast, but slightly more relaxed than the frequency that was just on the verge of exploding. After the extreme tension and chaos, a strange, "nothing left to lose" kind of calm began to seep into his limbs.

He couldn't avoid it.

Since he couldn't avoid it...

Jiang Zhiyu slowly took a deep breath, as if the air was sinking into his dantian. When he looked up again, the panic and struggle on his face had been forcibly suppressed, replaced by the professional mask of "TG Entertainment's President Jiang."

Only at the edges of that mask could a trace of tension still be seen.

He stepped aside, clearing the doorway, and made a "please" gesture. His voice regained its stability, even taking on a hint of formulaic apology:

"My apologies, it was a lack of consideration on my part. It was indeed wrong to let Irene-xi come all this way for nothing. Please come in, let's communicate briefly."

He cleared the path, yet placed himself in a more passive position of observation.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

Bae Joo-hyun watched his rapidly shifting state, a trace of complex emotion flashing across her eyes—there was the coldness of "as expected," a fleeting moment of inquiry, but more than anything, it was still that thick layer of ice.

She didn't say anything more, just nodded politely and stepped into the conference room.

Her high heels clicked against the carpet, making a soft, rhythmic sound.

With her entry, the loose, "watching the show" atmosphere in the conference room instantly tightened.

Wendy subconsciously straightened her posture, Seulgi put away the curiosity on her face, Joy lowered her arms from across her chest, and Yeri hurriedly closed her grinning mouth, trying to put on a serious expression.

Jiang Zhiyu followed Bae Joo-hyun inside and returned to the head seat. He didn't sit down immediately, but instead instructed his assistant, Xiao Zheng: "Assistant Zheng, please pour a glass of warm water for Irene xi."

"Yes, President."

Xiao Zheng, as if granted amnesty, hurried off to prepare it.

Jiang Zhiyu sat down, opened his closed laptop, and clicked on the meeting minutes page. His movements were methodical, as if the silent, turbulent storm at the door just moments ago had never happened.

But only he knew that his left hand, hidden under the table, was tightly clenched, his nails almost digging into his palm. Beneath his seemingly calm exterior, his heart was still beating much faster than usual, pounding heavily against his sanity with every beat.

Bae Joo-hyun sat down in the empty seat next to Wendy, took the warm water handed to her by Xiao Zheng, and whispered a "Thank you." She took small sips of water, her gaze sweeping calmly over Jiang Zhiyu, then over the documents on the table, and finally exchanged a brief glance with Wendy.

Wendy nodded slightly, silently mouthing: "New song, Lemm, points."

Bae Joo-hyun's eyes flickered, understanding in her heart.

"Then," Jiang Zhiyu's voice rang out in the conference room as he turned his computer screen toward Bae Joo-hyun, "I will briefly repeat the core content of today's meeting for Irene xi..."

A meeting that had already ended reopened its curtains because of an "overtime" leader.

But this time, the air in the conference room seemed to have frozen into a layer of invisible thin ice.

On one side was the President, forcing himself to be calm, his heart pounding like a drum, yet presenting a professional facade.

On the other side was the leader, cold and distant, with high walls around her heart, yet pressing step by step.

And, the four "onlookers" who were struggling to suppress their excitement, their eyes shining like searchlights.

The good show, it seems, is only just beginning.

—Detailed explanation of "the collapsed daily life" point system, a counterattack from the leader.

Jiang Zhiyu's voice echoed in the conference room, where a subtle atmosphere had once again settled. It was steady and professional, as if the silent contest at the door just now had never happened. He operated the computer, projecting a more detailed conceptual diagram onto the screen.

"Repeating the core content for Irene xi." His gaze fell on the projection, deliberately avoiding Bae Joo-hyun's direction, "The core concept of this project, 'Red Velvet the collapsed daily life,' is highly relevant to the requests you all expressed during our previous communication."

He pulled up a comparison chart.

"On the left is the common model of traditional idol daily variety shows: clear, directive tasks—'the production team makes a plan, the members complete it'; regular game segments—personal Q&A, expressions about the current situation and future, photo recognition, acupressure mats, dormitory mukbang competitions, and so on."

His finger moved to the right, where there was a huge question mark icon, with countless dotted lines radiating out, connecting to various seemingly unrelated icons: a glass of water, a grimace, a book, a dance, or even a yawn.

"And on the right is our 'the collapsed daily life' model." A touch of a creator's certainty infused Jiang Zhiyu's tone, "We will abandon most fixed processes, turning instead to unknown and curiosity as the core drivers."

He clicked the question mark, and the interface expanded.

"Core segment: random event exploration and 'the collapsed daily life' point system."

Bae Joo-hyun's eyebrows twitched imperceptibly, her gaze focused on the screen.

"The so-called 'random events' are not truly completely random." Jiang Zhiyu explained, "Rather, they are hundreds of 'potential task libraries' designed and tailored for each member by the production team after conducting big data analysis and in-depth interviews with the members in advance."

He zoomed in on the conceptual diagram of the "task library," where one could see a long list of encrypted task entries under each member's name, with only short trigger keywords, such as [Seulgi - dazed smile trigger], [Wendy - high note cracking moment], [Joy - face mask collapse], [Yeri - shocking remarks], [Irene - failure of perfect expression management], and so on.

"These tasks will not be told to you in advance. They are implanted into your daily environment—whether in the dormitory or in the future recording apartment." Jiang Zhiyu continued, "The forms of the tasks are ever-changing, perhaps as simple as 'drinking a glass of water,' or perhaps requiring specific situational triggers, such as 'being the first to laugh when a member tells a dad joke,' or 'waking up hungry at 3 AM and successfully finding a snack.'"

Yeri couldn't help but interject in a low voice: "Then how do we know when we've completed a task?"

"That is the intelligent part of the system." Jiang Zhiyu looked at her, his expression softening slightly, "The production team will conduct multi-dimensional data collection through hidden cameras, environmental sensors, and wearable devices (with consent and ensuring privacy). When the system determines that a member's behavior meets the completion conditions of a 'potential task'—"

He simulated a crisp prompt sound: "Ding-dong~ Congratulations XXX, the collapsed daily life points +1."

"This prompt sound," he emphasized, "might play through hidden speakers the moment the task is completed, or it might be announced all at once during the 'point settlement segment' after the daily recording ends. The goal is to increase uncertainty and the sense of surprise."

Wendy pushed up her glasses, seizing the key point: "Points... what can they be exchanged for?" She glanced at Bae Joo-hyun and added, "Just now, President Jiang mentioned a new song and... Lemm."

"Yes." Jiang Zhiyu pulled up the point redemption page, which clearly listed four levels of rewards:

Primary Reward (10-30 points): Vouchers for partner brand products, high-quality daily necessity gift boxes (toiletries, snack boxes, etc.).

Intermediate Reward (50-100 points): Team dinner at a designated high-end restaurant (all expenses paid, no filming interruptions); tickets to popular concerts or performances.

Advanced Reward (150-300 points): Three-day trip for two to Shanghai Disney Resort (including airfare, hotel, and tickets, no follow-up photography, purely free itinerary). Note: Can bring one friend or family member (non-member).

Special Prize (requires completing specific hidden tasks or accumulating a very high amount of points):

[Gift of Music]: Priority conceptual suggestion rights and in-depth recording participation rights for Red Velvet's new single album—'The Best Today, The Best Tomorrow'—fully produced by Jiang Zhiyu (including composition, lyrics, arrangement, and production).

[Gift of Technology]: A Red Velvet exclusive custom version—'Red Velvet Slime (Red Velvet Lami)'—hand-crafted by Jiang Zhiyu, possessing a unique appearance and special functions that may differ from the aespa version.

When the words 'Shanghai Disney three-day trip (no follow-up photography)' and 'Red Velvet Lemm' clearly appeared, the eyes of the other four people in the conference room, except for Bae Joo-hyun, obviously lit up. Even Joy lowered her crossed arms and leaned forward slightly.

Bae Joo-hyun's gaze lingered on the two 'Special Prize' items for a moment, her eyes deep and unreadable.

Jiang Zhiyu noticed her gaze, but he didn't pause, continuing to the next topic:

"Regarding the filming location, we provide maximum respect and flexibility." He pulled up the 3D model of the apartment, "Option one: Filming in Red Velvet's actual dormitory, which will preserve the sense of 'daily' reality to the greatest extent. Option two: The production team rents a high-end apartment that matches your living habits for filming, completely simulating the dormitory environment, but able to protect the privacy and safety of your actual residences to the maximum extent. The specific choice will be decided by you and your company."

He concluded: "In short, the purpose of this project is: to remove industrialized variety show processes, use the unknown to stimulate real reactions; use points to encourage active participation; use task designs that fit your individual strengths to amplify personal charm; and ultimately, while protecting privacy as much as possible, present a more realistic, vivid, and diverse 'collapsed' (i.e., relaxed, real) side of Red Velvet."

After the explanation, Jiang Zhiyu turned off the projection and looked at Bae Joo-hyun, his tone returning to a business-like calmness:

"Irene xi, this is the core framework of the project. I wonder if you have any questions, or... regarding the design direction of the task library, is there any area you particularly do not wish to touch upon?"

He threw the question to her, which was also a subtle probe—are you willing to participate in this 'exploration' game? Where are your boundaries?

The conference room fell silent, and everyone's eyes turned to Bae Joo-hyun.

She put down her water glass, her fingertips lightly grazing the glass wall, making an almost inaudible, subtle sound. She lifted her eyes, and this time, her gaze finally met Jiang Zhiyu's in the air.

The ice layer still existed, but there seemed to be a crack of scrutiny and calculation.

"It sounds like," Bae Joo-hyun said slowly, her voice still cold, but lacking some of the absolute alienation from before, "a game that requires investing considerable trust and... 'luck'."

She didn't directly answer the question about boundaries, but instead raised another key point:

"President Jiang, how can you guarantee that the judgment criteria for 'random tasks' are fair? Especially those... that involve personal states or emotional reactions?"

This question was very sharp, pointing directly to the potential manipulability and subjectivity of the system.

Jiang Zhiyu met her gaze, and although his heartbeat was still unstable, he forced himself to respond with the most professional tone:

"The judgment algorithm will be communicated with your Managers and company in advance to set clear, quantifiable data thresholds. Furthermore, each member has a 'daily appeal right'; if there is any objection to the task judgment of the day, it can be raised, and the PD team will conduct a manual review. Our goal is not to manipulate, but to capture and amplify those natural, interesting moments."

Bae Joo-hyun looked at him quietly for a few seconds, her gaze seemingly wanting to pierce through his professional mask to scrutinize the true intentions behind his words.

A moment later, she nodded slightly.

"I understand." She didn't say she agreed, nor did she say she disagreed, just indicating that she understood the rules.

But for her, not refusing immediately might already be an attitude.

The meeting seemed to be able to end again. This time, it was really over.

Jiang Zhiyu breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, but also felt a trace of inexplicable disappointment.

And the four onlookers sensed from this brief Q&A a more complex atmosphere of a game involving trust, control, and cooperation.

What this 'overtime' briefing revealed was far more than just a variety show project.