Peninsula: The sharp-tongued producer is forced to work.

Chapter 8 They're being too ridiculous, please don't take it to heart.

"Next, Ahn Yoo-jin. Stop dawdling and get in."

Liu Yu tapped the control panel listlessly, his voice carrying a sense of world-weariness and disillusionment.

Yesterday, Liu Yu was in the recording studio controlling thunder and lightning; today, he's Wang Dama mediating neighborhood disputes at the neighborhood committee.

Tian Xiaojuan sat behind him, holding a sheet of music she'd somehow acquired, her eyes scanning Liu Yu's head like laser beams. Liu Yu could practically feel those gazes burning holes in his neck.

"Teacher, I'm coming in! Your voice sounds so gentle today. Is it because Senior Xiaojuan is here, and you want to show your fatherly radiance?" Ahn Yujin smiled brightly at the microphone and even made a heart shape with her hands towards Liu Yu outside the glass window.

"Screw you, An Youzhen! Is that singing? That's slaughtering a pig! Get your pitch right now, or I'll show you what a mace in a mother's hand really means!" Liu Yu instinctively wanted to roar, but as soon as he heard Tian Xiaojuan snort behind him, he reduced his "mace" to a "small ruler."

"Liu Yu, what did you just say was great?" Tian Xiaojuan asked quietly.

"I said... I said she sang really well." Liu Yu lied without batting an eye, his fingers flying across the clippers. "An Youzhen, start! Don't give me that nonsense!"

For the next two hours, the atmosphere in the recording studio was eerily similar to that of a heartwarming family drama being filmed.

When Choi Ye-na entered, she even tidied up Yoo Yu's messy, bird's nest-like hair, muttering, "Teacher, your hairstyle really has an artist's decadent feel. If you wore sunglasses, you could set up a fortune-telling stall in Myeongdong."

Liu Yu took a deep breath and gritted his teeth as he replied, "Cui Yena, if you dare touch my head again, I'll make a ripped video of your voice cracking during recording and send it to your manager so he can listen to it as his alarm clock every morning."

"Oh, Uncle, you're such a joker. You really can't bear to part with him." Choi Ye-na put on her headphones with a grin, even waving to Jeon So-yeon outside. "Senior, is Uncle always this cute?"

Tian Xiaojuan sneered and glanced at Liu Yu: "Him? He's like a vengeful ghost who hasn't eaten his fill. Anyone who gets close to him is doomed."

What frustrated Liu Yu the most was that even Kim Min-ju, who usually dreaded him like a mouse before a cat, dared to ask quietly during a recording break, "Teacher, are you still wearing this hoodie today because you didn't wash it yesterday?"

Liu Yu froze. He slowly turned his head to look at Jin Minzhou's innocent, even slightly embarrassed face, and after a long while, he managed to stammer out, "Jin Minzhou, you... who did you learn this from! Can't you learn something good?!"

"I learned it all from Yena unnie and Yujin." Kim Minju stuck out her tongue and quickly shrank back behind Choi Yena.

Kwon Eun-bi sat to the side, watching her younger sisters completely treat Liu Yu like some kind of docile large dog, teasing him. The veins on her forehead throbbed with excitement. She had to stand up again and again to act as the firefighter putting out the fire.

"Children! That's enough! Your teacher is very busy!"

"Teacher, I'm so sorry, they got a little too excited today."

Quan Enfei's apologies and Liu Yu's sighs intertwined, creating a harmonious picture of various scenes in the recording studio.

Finally, as the last chord faded, Liu Yu slumped back in his swivel chair with a sigh of relief. "Alright, recording's over. IZ*ONE's ancestors, please get out of here right now, my air quality is seriously off the charts." Liu Yu waved his hand, as if shooing away a flock of noisy sparrows.

The girls were packing their things while laughing and joking. Tian Xiaojuan also stood up and stretched, revealing a slender waist.

Looking at Liu Yu's half-dead state, she smiled secretly, then casually walked over and tried to sit on the armrest of Liu Yu's chair.

"Liu Yu, what are we having for dinner tonight? I found a place..."

"Get out of the way, don't push me."

Liu Yu didn't even glance at her, and simply reached out and shoved Tian Xiaojuan aside. Tian Xiaojuan almost threw out her back because she lost her balance, and she was so angry that she was about to explode on the spot.

"Hey! Liu Yu! Do you have a death wish?! I've spent the whole afternoon with you, and you won't even give me a seat?!"

"This is a workstation. How am I supposed to watch the screen if you sit here? There's a sofa over there. Sit wherever you like." Liu Yu stared at the audio track without looking up, his tone completely flat.

Kwon Eun-bi was leading her sisters out when she witnessed this scene of childhood sweethearts being rejected.

Her lips twitched slightly as she pretended to be severely nearsighted and hearing-impaired. Without looking to the side, she chased her sisters out of the control room and then returned herself.

"Um... Mr. Liu Yu, and Senior Xiao Juan." Quan Enfei stood awkwardly at the door, looking at Tian Xiao Juan, who was baring her teeth and claws at Liu Yu, trying to deliver a physical blow.

Tian Xiaojuan immediately withdrew her hand, which was about to strangle Liu Yu, and instantly transformed back into the aloof senior, elegantly straightening her clothes: "Consort En, is there anything else?"

"Yes, I would like to apologize to Teacher Liu Yu on behalf of the children." Quan Enbi stepped forward and bowed deeply to Liu Yu. "We are really sorry to have troubled you today. They were too naughty. Please don't take it to heart."

Liu Yu finally looked up from the screen at his captain, whose face was full of sincerity and even a little apprehensive. He took off his black-rimmed glasses and rubbed his nose. Although his tone was still flat, it exuded a reassuring calmness.

"Alright, Kwon Eunbi-ssi, no need for apologies. Although your sisters are indeed making a racket like a thousand ducks, to be fair, the recording quality today is much better than yesterday's."

Liu Yu paused, then turned around and looked directly into Quan Enfei's eyes.

"Don't worry about the post-production. I'm a professional. Since I took this job, even if they're singing a rap version of the Great Compassion Mantra in there, I can still edit it to look like it's from a Grammy. You guys just need to prepare the stage, and leave the rest to me."

Quan Enfei was stunned for a moment; she hadn't expected Liu Yu to say something so serious. Although the word "buddy" sounded a bit odd, the absolute confidence and professionalism he exuded instantly shattered all the unease she had accumulated over the past two days.

"Yes! Thank you, teacher! We'll head back now!" Kwon Eunbi bowed again, this time with a noticeably more relaxed smile.

After Quan Enfei left, only Liu Yu and Tian Xiaojuan remained in the control room.

"Hey, 'I'm a professional, buddy'? Liu Yu, when did you become so responsible? I thought you were going to say 'If you can't fix them, let them die'." Tian Xiaojuan leaned over and mimicked Liu Yu's tone in a sarcastic way.

"Get lost. Tian Xiaojuan, you're still here? What, you lost your dorm key? I'm telling you, you're not sleeping at my place this time!"

"Damn it... Liu Yu! If you don't treat me to meat today, I'm sleeping here!"

"Alright, alright, let's eat meat. Hurry up and get going, don't delay my preservation project."

Liu Yu muttered something in disgust as he deftly turned off all the equipment.

In a corner he couldn't see, a triumphant smile appeared on Tian Xiaojuan's face, a smile that concealed a stubbornness and tenderness that no one but herself could understand.

At the corner of the corridor, Zhang Yuanying leaned against the wall, listening to the laughter and curses coming from inside. She lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twirling a strand of her long hair, the shadows in her eyes growing deeper.

"Professional...? I really want to see just how professional the teacher is."

She chuckled softly, turned, and disappeared at the end of the dimly lit corridor.