Chapter 26: Kin >

nd 1970s, with hairstyles from that era. They act rudely while eating, speaking in dialect with each mouthful. Their whole image is completely different from their idol status, and it's quite funny to...But I don't want to do that.

Nanami's voice was soft and she didn't seem imposing at all, but her tone was surprisingly resolute.

Two neon friends looked at each other, without speaking. After more than a year of getting along, they had almost understood that this old鄉 (hometown person), although he didn't look like it on the outside, was actually very opinionated inside.

Once you make a decision for something or someone you love, it's very hard to change. A good example is a person who, in their teens, convinced their family to let them come to the peninsula alone to be a trainee.

After dinner, a few people stood up and walked towards the direction of the company. It seemed that they felt the atmosphere had become somewhat silent because of them. Minami Nam井, however, put away her slightly dejected look from earlier. She reached out from her sleeve to tuck the hair that was hanging down by her temples behind her ear, a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, revealing a bit of gum on her white teeth. She naturally waved to the two friends beside her.

"Don't be silent, don't worry about me, let's not talk about this for now..."

“Let’s focus on this survival show the company is holding first. Whether or not I can debut will depend on this, these past two days of practicing the opening dance nearly killed me…”

As she proactively adjusted her emotions, the somewhat heavy atmosphere eased. The two friends glanced at each other and began discussing the competition.

The back gradually disappeared, but the voice was hard to hear.

…………

On March 11th, s Entertainment officially announced through social media that their girl group Red Velvet will be releasing their first mini album "Ice Cream Cake" on the 18th of this month, and revealed the addition of new member Yeri.

>After the announcement was released, it did garner quite a bit of attention. Time can smooth over everything, and after so long since Red Velvet's debut last year, the fans from various senior groups who had once fiercely attacked them have now calmed down and lost the initial fervor. After all, there were never any real conflicts or confrontations between the groups before.

Now, besides fans of fx who still dislike debbie because of what their idol did in the past and her current situation, most fans from other groups have basically calmed down. The overwhelming online hate campaign isn't as prevalent anymore.

Even though it's not true, Exo’s fans still occasionally bring up the rumors about Yuan and Irene from back then with a sarcastic and condescending tone. They scoff at this "lake team leader" with a superior attitude, mocking her audacity and claiming she's trying to gain fame by latching onto the moon landing.

There are fewer people who are being criticized, and many people are also expressing high expectations for Red Velvet's comeback. After all, it is a new girl group launched by ** Entertainment, and the company's brand and reputation speak for themselves, so Red Velvet has inherent popularity.

Even though their previous debut and comeback didn't make much of a splash, they could be considered flops. But in reality, both fans and the general public are quite interested in the development of this new girl group. Even black fans are curious about when they might disband, or if this is their last album, their survival issues, you know

But interestingly, besides those who were looking forward to the album, a lot of self-proclaimed long-time Red Velvet fans suddenly appeared online, strongly opposing the addition of the fifth member, Yeri. They were very unhappy with **'s decision to add a new member, expressing their dissatisfaction in an agitated manner with harsh and vulgar language.

Even Chi Jingyuan was surprised when he saw it. He didn't expect Red Velvet to have so many old fans before. Although the number was far less than that of Ai Li, it was comparable to some second- and third-tier groups.

Who knew they were hiding this deeply I thought they were quite shallow before, underestimated them for sure.

Meanwhile, after two weeks of accumulating momentum, EXO, who has returned with full force, is continuously undertaking various schedules while relentlessly reaping all the music program first-place trophies they can obtain.

This week's honoree is… exo!

"Congratulations to EXO! They won first place on this week's Music Bank!"

Today on "Music Center", the trophy goes to... EXO! Cam-i da!

"EXO! "Cream Soda," has achieved first place on "Inkigayo" for the third week of March."

This week, besides *The Show*, EXO still didn't go on leading to the show not giving out a trophy. Outside of that, all one spots on the five other music shows were completely swept by EXO, and the score comparison was extremely dominant. Every single vote felt like there was no suspense at all, especially on *Music Bank* where album sales points hold more weight. Just from album sales alone, EXO's score already exceeded their opponents' total scores.

As for this week, last week's main rival VIXX has already started to fall behind. Pool Kyung-won and their rivals have also switched to the group Shinhwa who made a comeback this year. This senior male group's comeback this time around has been really impressive with both the response and the songs. It can be considered a very exciting and sincere return, and the results in all aspects have actually exceeded expectations.

It's a pity that they happened to clash with EXO on music shows, which are very important for idols. As a result, they haven't had any wins since their comeback.

Although a trophy can't fully represent a group's overall performance, it still holds significant weight these days to achieve a number one ranking for a song. The number of times a group reaches number one can very clearly demonstrate their success or failure. Many fans and even casual listeners can easily see how well a group is doing based on this.

I guess even EXO themselves didn't expect "Call Baby" to be this strong.

……

"Snowflakes are falling."

"It's fading away little by little."

I miss you.

"I miss you."

Today is March 16th. EXO just finished a week of promotions and activities, and at this moment, in the practice room of S company, the title track "Spring Day" from their unreleased single album "X" is playing. The nine members of EXO are sweating profusely as they rehearse the dance for this song.

As the lead single, even though it's a ballad, the company and Ji-Seong Park still choreographed this song for stage performance. Although the movement frequency isn't as complex and intense as "callbaby," it has its own level of difficulty and characteristics.

Compared to the fragmented, crisp movements and larger body waves in "callbaby," the choreography in "Chunri" features a smaller overall range of motion. The dancing is less intense and more flowing and delicate, aligning with the characteristics of a lyrical song. It also places significant emphasis on footwork rhythm, frequency, and precision, especially during the chorus.

Nine people huddled together in a circle, gasping for breath after several rounds of continuous jumps. At the dance instructor's cue, they stopped and glanced discreetly at the VJ filming them from the corner before refocusing their attention on the instructor's instructions.

Just like what Ji-seong said to a fan during the surprise visit at Hanlim Multi Art School, because the behind-the-scenes footage of their first regular album "xoxo" was released and received a great response. It not only attracted a lot of viewers from outside the fandom but also helped solidify EXO's fanbase which had just exploded in popularity. So this time for their second regular album, they're using the same trick again. From the initial planning stages to everything else - recording, practicing dance moves, private rest, being criticized, even meetings - there are VJs filming the whole thing.

They have long been accustomed to it.

I just emphasized the key points of the stage, the choreography isn't too difficult, the most important thing is still the rhythm of the steps.

The dance teacher stood in the middle, critiquing their recent practice: "Especially the chorus part, in the second chorus there are two consecutive large-scale movements on stage from left to right and then right to left. Whether the movements here are neat or not greatly affects the overall effect of the stage."

“As I said before, when doing a large group formation movement in a circle, use the member in the center as your reference point to determine if your rhythm is correct. The first round goes back and forth with Yuan, the second with Suho, and the third with Yuan again. Make sure your formation is neat and tidy, neither too fast nor too slow, follow the beat, don't be the fastest or the last one.”

The teacher pointed out EXO's current problems very sharply, and the members were listening attentively.

Actually, the dance moves for "Spring Day" have been practiced for a long time. In fact, they've even been practicing longer than for "callbaby." However, because it wasn't the title track of their debut single album and was the main song of their second single album release, plus they were incredibly busy after their comeback, the dance performance still has some minor imperfections.

However, they are just some minor details that need to be addressed. Overall, things are pretty much fine.

"Take a break." After that, EXO practiced several more times, focusing on the chorus choreography and group movements. They were exhausted, but finally entered their break time at the instructor's signal. The VJ next to them also appropriately turned off the camera and stopped filming the behind-the-scenes footage.

"Hmm~"

As the busy members, Park Ji-won and Kim Se-hoon proactively went to the mini fridge and grabbed drinks and mineral water for the other members. Each holding a bottle, they returned to their positions and plopped down on the floor, gulping down a few mouthfuls before Park Ji-won let out a contented sigh.

Where shall we have lunch

There are still activities this afternoon, it's not long now. Just find a place nearby...

But I want to eat barbecue...

Hearing that the people around him were already discussing lunch, and having nothing to do at the moment, Ji Jingyuan took out his phone and opened a web page, taking a look at Red Velvet's comeback updates.

Coming back on the 18th, Ledebebe has already started frequent preheating and promotion. She uploaded a live broadcast preview video on the 13th, and on the 14th, she released the music video for one of the double title tracks of this mini album, "autoatic". Today at noon, she will release the music video for the other title track, "icecreacake". Tomorrow is the day all the songs from the album will be released.

To be honest, given the unsatisfactory results of the previous two comebacks, the first mini album adopted a dual title track format. The company still values Red Velvet quite highly.

But for one of the main songs, "automatic," Ziyuan Chi Jingyuan already saw it the day before yesterday. How should I say...

The song and choreography style are somewhat similar to their cover of "benature" last October, but the genre is softer and more urban.

Overall, he thought it was pretty average.

However, there are bright spots, at least some of IU's looks in it are very eye-catching. One is the blonde big wave hairstyle at the beginning, which gives a stunning feeling. Then there's the shot in the middle where she's sitting in the driver's seat with her hands on the steering wheel in a pink outfit with golden hair, which is also quite beautiful.

Besides, Ginger's makeup and the styling of Sun Seungwan and the other members are also okay. At least compared to "Benature," which sounds somewhat similar, this comeback in terms of styling, DY has indeed put in effort.

Although this title track, "Chi Jing Yuan" feels ordinary and not popular enough, there's another title track in the album called "icecreacake". Since it shares the same name as the album, this song should be the main push. Speaking of which, he's quite excited about the upcoming release of the music video.

After thinking for a moment, Ji Jingyuan took out his earphones and put them on. In the video list, he clicked on a live broadcast preview of Red Velvet.

This video is about how a few members of Le De Bebe got a notice from their manager, informing them that they would be having a comeback live stream promotion on the 18th. So a few people started thinking about what to say during the livestream and how to introduce themselves.

This video from the 13th upload, which features a pool scene, has already been viewed once. At the end of the video, the last few people gave birthday cake to guest star Kim Taeyeon and asked some senior advice and tips from her.

Speaking of the birthday party on the 9th, Taeyeon mentioned that she had just met Seulgi, which should be referring to the video being shot here.

The whole video wasn't really that interesting to watch. Besides Son Seung Wan, the other Red Velvet members' comedic skills weren't particularly impressive. The reason why Ji-yeong came back to rewatch it...

He clicked on it and directly pulled the video progress to one-third of the way through. Pei Zhuxuan was showcasing her personal skills - imitating the voice of Doraemon saying...

"Dear [Name],"

A hoarse voice came through the headphones, filtering into his mind. Ji Jingyuan looked at the screen where Pei Zhuxuan appeared and couldn't help but smile.

Doraemon's voice itself is quite distinctive, a raspy and low tone. When Red Velvet's Seulgi deliberately mimics it, there's a touch of comedy. Coupled with her oddly designed golden thick bangs, she appears silly and naive, making you want to laugh.

She giggled shyly after imitating herself, clearly aware of how silly she looked.

You're actually pretty good at imitating.

Heaven knows how she came to consider this thing as her personal skill. She didn't know if it was something she thought up herself or something specified by the company. This personal skill and her own appearance, with her gentle temperament, were completely different styles. However, Ji Jingyuan found it strangely captivating.

It's possible that he really likes Doraemon.

It could be due to other reasons as well....

Since he had nothing to do anyway, he just sat there drinking water, constantly pulling back on the progress bar to look again. Pei Zhuxuan's voice kept repeating in his ear:

"My dear ones."

"Dear family,"

"..."

……

"We agreed to have barbecue, but in the end it's still bibimbap."

Park Chan-wook dug a few spoonfuls of bibimbap and complained in disappointment.

“Everyone said to wait a bit because there were other things to do, who has time to let you go eat barbecue Let’s talk about it after work tonight.” Sitting opposite him, Bian Baekhyun glanced at him, rolled his eyes and said in an irritated tone: “If you don’t want to eat bibimbap, why don't you go with Jinwoo and the others to eat pizza”

"Forget it," Park Chan-hyeok sighed, remembering that he was going to be busy until late this evening. He picked up his spoon and started eating obediently.

Because time was tight, we just grabbed something quick near the office today. Lunch was split into two groups - some chose bibimbap and others chose pizza.

They've long since figured out the shops around their company, many of which are frequented by idols and trainees from nearby agencies during lunchtime. It's no surprise to run into EXO every now and then, and sometimes fans even come specifically to stake out hopes for a chance encounter.

Instead, the most interesting thing is that they would rather go out to eat bibimbap than eat in the company cafeteria.

"Jeong-won, are you full" After eating a few bites, Park Chan-hyeok's eyes swept over to see Ji Jeong-won put down his spoon and pick up his phone, looking at something.

"Well, that's about it."

Pool Jingyuan wiped his mouth with a tissue while operating his phone.

To be honest, he doesn't really feel like eating bibimbap. He'll just have some to fill his stomach.

He opened the mobile webpage and went straight to Red Velvet's official YouTube channel. At this moment, the music video for Red Velvet's second title song, "Ice Cream Cake," had been officially released. Ji-sung put on his earphones and directly clicked on it to start watching.

Before, basically every time EXO came back with a title song MV, close friends like Seulgi and Irene would be the first to watch it and give him some feedback and encouragement. Today at noon, EXO had some free time, so he returned the favor.

Moreover, Ji-yeong is aware that this comeback is equally crucial for Red Velvet. It hinges on whether the group can continue its journey. In terms of importance, it's no less significant than EXO's current comeback. As a close friend, he genuinely cares about their success.

~ "

"

"Please give me that sweet taste."

"ice cream cake"

After a listen through, the final string of consecutive English rap still echoed in his ears. Ji Jingyuan blinked, surprisingly finding it quite good.

Whether it's the makeup of five people, the overall style and melody of the song, or even the choreography, the camera work, and the set design, everything is okay.

It's at least a lot better than what *automatic* gave him.

“The Icecream Cake V-shoot was really good, there are a lot of highlights.” Looking up at the members who were still eating, Ji Sung looked back to give Joohyun a message.

Within a minute, the other person replied, obviously Pei Zhuxuan was also holding her phone and watching V's public message: "Jia It's really good"

A few short words seemed to reveal Bae Joo-hyeon's anxiety, as well as the joy and excitement in her heart after learning about Ji Kyeong-won's evaluation.

In their private text conversations, the two often talked about their own group and songs by other groups. Ji Kyeong-won has a very accurate sensitivity to this aspect, and his judgments about a song are rarely too far off.

"Well, all of your outfits and styling look great, the choreography is very characteristic, and the song's melody is pretty catchy. It's definitely much better than your last comeback, a lot of people will like it for sure." Ji-sung could see that Park Soo-hyeon was a little nervous, so he specifically wrote a lot to praise 《icecreacake》's v and encourage her.

This could be Bae Suzy, replying very quickly: "kkkk To receive praise from Jingyuan xi, it's worth the hard work we put in despite the cold weather (smiling face)"

The filming of 《icecreacake》 took place in the United States, and at the time, Bae Joo-hyun complained to him that the temperature there was particularly low, and V's clothing was particularly thin. It was really cold during the shoot, and everyone was shivering from the cold.

I remembered seeing two V clips, and Ji-yeong went on to say: "I see that both of your title song V clips have driving scenes. Do you like driving very much, Joohyun xi"

“《autoatic》I'm just sitting in the driver's seat holding the steering wheel, not driving. 《icecreacake》's words kkkkk... ...It looks like I'm driving, but actually it's just an illusion created by the camera. In reality, a foreigner wearing a wig is pretending to be me driving....I can only watch from outside (sad).”

But actually, I quite enjoy driving (laughing).

Seeing the emotions expressed in the text, he seemed much more cheerful. Chi Jingyuan smiled and sent back: "The footage from the swimming pool was pretty good too."

He said that there was a shot of Jennie wearing a one-piece swimsuit, lying on an inflatable mattress floating in the pool. Although it was fleeting, it left a deep impression on him.

"The pool scene was the most annoying to film, that inflatable pad was too small. As soon as I lay on it, I kept sinking. We filmed it several times and it just didn't work. In the end, a female staff member had to scuba dive down and

..."

"...Don't say I'm heavy, you know how much I weigh yourself (glares)."

Ji-hyo's encouragement and recognition of the title song v seemed to have eased Pei Ju-hyeon's anxieties. She was clearly in high spirits at this moment, sending several consecutive messages. She excitedly shared details about the v shooting process through her words, revealing that she wanted to distract herself from her worries about the album's performance while also sharing her excitement and joy at finally being able to make a comeback.

Given the current circumstances, this site may be shut down at any time. Please move to huanyuanapp, a permanently operating alternative app, as soon as possible.

As for whether she is heavy or not...

Chi Jingyuan recalled the feeling of holding her at that time, nodding in affirmation, it was indeed not heavy.

While the other side, Bae Joohyun was currently sitting on the edge of the sofa in the dressing room, leaning against the armrest with both hands holding her phone seriously looking at the text on the screen. She pursed her lips and a thick, light smile bloomed on her face, revealing her joyful mood. Her legs changed their posture, crossed together, and the corner of her mouth twitched as she started typing: "You just said that our styling is all very good-looking kkkk. Who do you think has the best styling"

"She Qi."

Chi Jingyuan replied very quickly, but unfortunately it wasn't the name she wanted to see.

Before Tzuyu could reply, the other person sent another message: "And there's also Kim Yerim."

She rolled her eyes and let out a soft hum, sitting up as she quickly tapped away at the screen. She hadn't even finished typing out a string of words before she received a message from the other person right after:

"No more talk, get to work now."

Peninsula asteroid

This novel is first published on the Traditional Chinese Novel Network.miliar with Ji Jingyuan, and there was a sense of identity. During practice breaks, they often chatted and joked around.Due to his childhood experiences, Ji Jingyuan also has a natural fondness for Ko...