Chapter 138: Whatever Comes to Mind

veryone, I'm Yuan from EXO." Ji-sung bowed slightly towards the microphone.At this moment, the big screen switched to a close-up of Chi Jingyuan. He was half-smiling with a smirk on his lips, his sup...Chi Jingyuan took the lyrics and seriously browsed them from beginning to end.

The lyrics for this song "Leon" were given to them by Lee Know a few days ago when the song was finished. He had already read through them and basically memorized them, but they hadn't been assigned parts yet.

Ji-sung found IU's song really good. The theme and lyrics were based on the classic movie "Leon: The Professional", and the overall style of the song was a departure from IU's usual sweet and fresh style. The slightly jazzy tone had an unusual allure.

Chi Jingyuan looked at the song title at the top of the lyrics sheet, paused for two seconds, and felt a bit sentimental in his heart.

She is indeed very talented and worthy of being called the strongest female solo artist by many fans. Although there are a lot of rainbow farts and idol filters from fans, at least in terms of song creation, she has great ideas and skills. It's no wonder she could come out of the unfavorable situation from the past two years and develop even better.

Continuing down, each line of lyrics is labeled with who sings it. At a glance, most parts are sung by IU. As members, Ji Kyung-won and Jung Hyung-don got some rap verses and chorus parts, adding up to probably less than two-fifths of all the lyrics.

In other words, in this song, he's taking on the roles of Se-hoon and senior Yoona.

However, Chi Jingyuan didn't have any objections to this.

Because they had already communicated privately beforehand, the two songs in this group were individually created and led by Park Ji-won and Lee Ji-eun respectively. Naturally, the two songs also focused on these two individuals in terms of performance. "Lane" focuses on Lee Ji-eun, while "Rooftop" focuses on Park Ji-won.

Moreover, they are all aware that with the immense popularity of "Infinite Challenge Music Festival," any song performed on the festival stage is guaranteed to receive widespread attention and potentially sweep the music charts. After all, this has been the case for previous editions of the festival. With an even stronger lineup and higher heat this time around, it's bound to be even more successful. Therefore, these two songs are practically pre-destined to become "hot tracks" with immense potential.

Although it's a group collaboration song, the copyright belongs to neither the group but to Lee Ji-eun and Park Jeong-won individually. These two songs aren't just performed once on "Song Festival." After the program ends and the group disbands, they will definitely perform these songs frequently at commercial performances and concerts. Therefore, the level of effort they put into each other is different.

Therefore, it is natural for Lee Know to take on most of the parts in .

In the "House on the Mound," Chi Jingyuan is also like this.

As for Jung Hyung-don, he participated as an MC purely to fulfill his role in this program. He didn't have any particular aspirations regarding the music aspect and wasn't involved in the creation process, so he naturally had no opinions on it.

"That's great."

Let's split it up like that.

After watching, both Ji Chang Wook and Jung Hyung Don didn't hesitate much and nodded to indicate they had no objections. IU then chuckled with a smile that seemed a little embarrassed.

"...This song, besides singing, focuses on the dance moves and our interaction. We've already choreographed it and designed a general performance flow. I'll demonstrate it to you all in a bit. Oppa and Jingyuan, do you have any suggestions for the stage effect" When it came to work, although Li Zhien still had a youthful appearance and smile, her demeanor suddenly became confident and decisive.

“I think IUxi should go out first, and then Hyuntun hyung can make a quick entrance by elevator…” Ji-seong thought for a moment and casually offered a suggestion. But after he finished speaking, he hesitated: “But the performance area should have an elevator, right”

"Right " Lee Ji Eun wasn't too sure, blinking as she looked at Jung Hyung Don.

"Yes, I specifically asked the program crew, and this is definitely going to happen." Jung Hyung-don hurriedly waved his hands to reassure them: "Tomorrow we're recording, right That day's content will be about deciding the performance order and the rights to use stage effects."

"That works… We can have a quick elevator entrance for the highlight, that'll make it more impactful and give the audience some surprises…" Chi Jingyuan nodded, then suggested, "And since we’re using *Léon: The Professional* as our theme, we should naturally portray characters from it We could do some makeup and costume imitation…”

Several people discussed the performance of "Leon" seriously for a while, and then they began to talk about "The Attic Room".

Before the release of "House on the Cliff" part, Chi Jingyuan had already divided it and emailed it to them. They also confirmed with each other that there were no issues or opinions.

Like , in , it's Chi Jingyuan who takes up most of the part.

"A band naturally needs to divide up responsibilities, but with only three people, it's a little lacking..." Ji Jingyuan looked around, "There was still one more..."

"Guitar!" IU giggled, raising her hand. "Or an electric guitar."

"OK, then guitar."

Of course, the music girl is a guitarist. Ji Jingyuan made an OK gesture and then looked at Zheng Hengdun: "Brother, can you play the drums"

"Well, there might be some, but..." Zheng Hengdun's face showed a troubled expression.

"You don't need to be too specialized, just remember the beat and follow the rhythm. As long as you have that feeling of being immersed, that makes people think you're good at it, that feel, you know what I mean" Pool Jingyuan saw his expression and waved his hand to indicate that it didn't need to be too professional, then he gestured with both hands continuously, trying to describe that feeling.

Zheng Hengdun immediately understood what was meant and couldn't help but laugh. "No problem, that's my specialty."

"OK, that's settled then. I'll be the lead singer, IUXi will play guitar, and Brother Hendun will be on drums... Actually, I kind of want to be the drummer..."

Ji Jingyuan glanced at Zheng Hentun with a hint of envy. He could play the drums but wasn't very proficient. However, he had always thought playing the drums was cool, but he never had the opportunity to perform on stage. This was his first time seriously performing in a band on stage.

“As for the band's performance, there won't be much movement or stage effects. It'll mainly focus on the performance flow. My idea is that in the first part, we'll have a lyrical version with verses and choruses. The accompaniment will be softer, and I'll start by sitting on a stool and singing. Then, when we get to the second part, suddenly raise the key and speed up the tempo, that's when we stand up. And at that moment, let's have some fireworks, bro. There should definitely be fireworks, right”

"Well, there should be."

“OK, let's use fireworks to set the mood, and then for this section we can all be a bit more loose, energetic, and bright... As for the outfits, I have two ideas right now. One is a casual hip-hop style, overall conveying a kind of school band vibe. The other is casual suits, using a more formal outer layer to contrast the song's brightness...”

Here, Chi Jingyuan became more talkative. After finishing the song, he also devised a fairly complete stage performance plan, having thought through most of it, but some details were still undecided.

Lee Ji-eun and Jung Hyung-don also offered quite a few opinions, which were helpful additions.

Chi Jingyuan thought that their group's songs "Lion" and "Rooftop" were really high quality. Because he hadn't heard the other groups' songs, he didn't know which group wrote better songs, but compared to the songs of previous years in the music scene, he really felt they were ahead by a lot.

As for these two songs...

He still prefers "The Tower Room" a bit more.

After the discussion ended, they officially began practicing. Following the LOEN dance teacher who was already prepared beside them, the three of them started learning the choreography for the song "Leon," which had already been made.

Pool Jingyuan is an idol who usually still performs the most complex and intense male group dance. This level of choreography poses no difficulty for him; he probably watched it twice, followed along a few times, and almost mastered it.

They had been busy all morning and just finished walking through the entire choreography with the backup dancers. The three of them wiped their sweaty foreheads and sat down by the small tea table on the left side of the practice room for lunch break, starting to eat the takeout that IU's manager had just bought back.

And the VJ filmed by the Infinite Challenge production team has been faithfully recording everything while carrying a camera.

To be honest, even though VJ was filming today, you could still tell that Ji-sung had practiced all morning. The three of them didn't really have that specific "program" feeling, they were all pretty natural and it wasn't much different from hanging out privately.

“Hmm, I think Jingyuan should be fine, right” IU stirred her bibimbap with a spoon and swallowed before talking about their practice earlier. “As for Hyuntun oppa, this dance shouldn't be too difficult for you... I also participated in the choreography for this song and purposely didn't include any complicated moves or formations.”

Well, it's okay... I'll try my best.

Zheng Hengdun didn't say it was difficult, nor did he say it wasn't difficult, he just expressed an attitude.

"Pff..." Seeing his resolute and unwavering expression, Chi Jingyuan, who was in the middle of eating, couldn't help but chuckle.

"...Oh, by the way, when I got the lyrics a few days ago, I wanted to say, the lyrics for Kyung-won's 'Rooftop Room' are so good." After chatting for a bit, it seemed like Ji-eun had finished her meal and was just playing with her spoon without really eating. Suddenly, she remembered something, her eyes lit up, and she looked at Kyung-won who was still happily eating next to her."

"Well, I agree. It's really well written, very poetic. Just reading it, I can picture the scene." Hearing this, Jung Hyundun also put down his chopsticks and nodded in agreement, giving a thumbs up with his right hand: "Jingyuan's talent for writing lyrics is truly Zzang!"

"Especially this line, 'You said you wanted to look at the stars holding my hand, the moonlight suddenly reflected in my eyes, but there wasn't a single star in the sky.' It seems like Lee Ji-eun really likes these lyrics. She looked at Park Gyeong-won with some curiosity: 'Reading it gives one a feeling of bittersweet romance, the scene is very beautiful. Kyung-won xi, are these lyrics from a TV drama I'll go take a look.'"

"Yeah." Chi Jingyuan smiled and nodded. "From the show 'Producer'."

"Hahahahahaha…" Lee Ji-eun burst into laughter upon hearing it.

"The Producer" is a KBS weekend drama starring IU this year. She co-stars with Kim Soo Hyun, Choi Tae Joon, and Gong Hyo Jin. The show has been very popular with young viewers since its premiere.

This is also Lee Ji-eun's first TV drama appearance after her big flop in the 2013 drama "Pretty Man." Unexpectedly, she achieved success right away, largely washing away the black history of her last failure.

She immediately knew that Ji Jingyuan was joking with her, and she also subtly flattered him in front of the camera. Putting down her chopsticks and wiping her mouth, Lee Jienun glanced at Ji Jingyuan with a smile: "I'm serious!"

"If that's true…"

Chi Jingyuan's chewing slowed down, as if he was thinking about the lyrics, or the source of inspiration for this song.

I couldn't help but picture that night when Zhou Tzuyu was under a lot of pressure and in a bad mood. The two of them were taking a drive in the car outside, and our conversation when I finally stopped to look at the stars.

"Where are all the stars tonight"

In the city, it's already hard to see stars.

"You've been watching too much TV drama Why not find a rooftop and enjoy the moon"

"Just go!"

"The song 《House of Stairs》 came from this experience, or rather, conversation. The two lines that IU loves most are almost a direct description of the situation at the time."

Now that I think back, the scene from then is still quite clear in my mind.

Although the inspiration for the whole song came from this, this phrase is indeed something they said at the time. However, most of the other lyrics in the song, some more straightforward words and phrases, are all created by Park Ji-won's own artistic processing and creation, and have little to do with Zhou Tzuyu.

"Only, this girl won't misunderstand after seeing this..."

Ji Jingyuan's mind suddenly became a little scattered, he was stunned for two seconds before coming back to his senses. Facing Lee Ji-eun who was still looking at him, he shook his head: "Ani, it's not talking about the TV drama, it's..."

Speaking of which, Chi Jingyuan paused for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter: "It was just something I thought up randomly."

"So it's not a TV drama after all... But it's really romantic."

"Well, maybe."

……

Besides EXO's unavoidable team schedule, Park Kyung has been focusing all his energy on the two songs for Music Festival. Apart from practicing singing and dancing privately, he also goes to LOEN every day with Lee Ji-eun, Jung Hyung-don, and the backup dancers for joint rehearsals while trying recording.

Recording is very important, as with the final episode of "Sing Along Festival" airing on television, all the songs performed by each group will also be released as sound sources. Based on past experience, there's a high probability these songs will sweep the entire music charts, regardless of how mediocre or perfunctory the songs are. The popularity of "Infinite Challenge Sing Along Festival" combined with the effect of popular guest performances is truly terrifying.

And this sound source is what they are currently recording, so it definitely needs to be treated seriously.

It's not just that Pool Kyungwon is very dedicated and hardworking, the other two members are also like that. Jung Hyeong-don has many schedules every day, and it can be imagined how busy Lee Ji-eun is. Even so, the three still made time for practice and recording. Sometimes they would work late into the night before leaving work. Everyone is very serious and focused on what they're doing, not treating this collaboration and these two songs as just a casual variety show gig.

It's actually pretty good to have that feeling of everyone working together towards a common goal.

Besides, through this cooperation, Chi Jingyuan can also be considered to have made two more good friends.

……

By July 29th, Ji-yeong was still practicing on stage with the other two when a not-so-small piece of news broke in the music industry: EXO's title track "boywithv" released in June officially dropped off Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart.

From the record-breaking debut on October 10th to its exit from the charts on November 29th, spent seven weeks on the chart, peaking at number 19 in the top 100.

After reaching its peak position, it steadily declined until this week's chart update officially removed it from the list.

Although "Boy With Luv" lacked the staying power of some other hits, with its ranking dropping rapidly in the following weeks, the song's achievements remain unprecedented in the K-pop world.

The idol group has topped the charts for the first time.

Highest ranking achieved by the idol group.

The idol group has the highest number of weeks at the top of the charts.

Idol group……

The record after record listed by fans and media vividly demonstrates EXO's unprecedented feat this time. Each one is an achievement that no male or female group in the peninsula music scene has ever accomplished to date.

Although all these records are prefixed with the qualifier "idol group" due to PSY and "Gangnam Style," even without those factors, "boywithv"'s achievements this time would still be enough to intimidate many.

Whether it's ** company, EXO itself, fans (Ae-ri), or even the general public who are watching the excitement on the peninsula, everyone is feeling unexpectedly satisfied and surprised.

The big news last month about "EXO songs topping the B list" has cooled down after so many days. After all, everyone has their own life, and there are also many groups making a comeback every day, and everyone's attention is limited.

But as 《boywithv》 dropped from the charts, media coverage shifted focus back to EXO. Many fans and listeners realized at this point, with thoughts like "Wow, so EXO just left the charts I thought they'd already been off for a while! They really were on top for such a long time..." This naturally led them to view this different boy band in a new light.

Just as a breaking news item on the NAVER homepage today said:

In the birthplace of mainstream entertainment culture, America, audiences don't typically enjoy movies with subtitles or foreign language music. Nevertheless, the Korean song "boywithv" has crossed this barrier through its own charm and unique qualities, and EXO is continuously writing a new history.

……

As Chi Jingyuan diligently worked and participated in activities, amidst the surrounding commotion, time flew by until the end of July.

Originally published on the Traditional Chinese Novel Network. her eyes flickering with anticipation."It's obvious that Hyuna is very pretty.""Who asked that Let's talk about something else! What else do you see"Pei Zhuxuan glared at him playfully, saying someth...