Peninsula Asteroid

On February 8, in the backstage of Music Bank at the KBS building, the Red Velvet lounge was very lively.

Today, they came to KBS in advance to prepare to pre-record their own stage and some interviews for Music Bank the day after tomorrow.

"By the way, the girl in the preview of Jingyuan Oppa is our company's trainee?"

"Yes, she was selected some time ago, and we discussed it at that time..."

Park Soo-young and the assistant sister she knew were discussing Liu Zhimin's affairs there. After the preview was released yesterday, in addition to discussing the last sentence of the beautiful singing voice, they speculated that this sentence was the essence of the chorus, and they were also interested in the girl who appeared in few shots but left a deep impression on people.

Of course... there are also many extreme fans who can't bear to see their own Oppa with the opposite sex besides themselves, and have already scolded him.

"I seem to have heard of her before... How was she chosen? I saw a lot of discussion about her online, but I've never heard of her before."

"I know, I know!"

Kim Ye-rin raised her hand mysteriously, and said what she knew, "The junior is Liu Zhimin... We didn't know each other before because the junior just joined the company recently, it seems like only a few months, and was an ordinary student before... It seems he was also a small internet celebrity..."

The reason why she knows a lot is that after her friend Li Kaichan heard about Ji Jingyuan's MV, he went back to the old building with a few people from NCT out of boredom to see what the girl Ji Jingyuan liked looked like and what characteristics she had...

If she is really good-looking... It's easy for them, the artists who have already debuted, to pick up a female trainee.

"You can work with Jingyuan Oppa right after joining the company? Tsk tsk, the trailer only shows her profile and it's hard to see clearly... How does she look?" Park Soo-young clicked her tongue and asked curiously.

"It's OK. There are not many ugly people who can enter the company... But I can only say it's OK after looking at the photos."

Kim Ye-rin first said her own evaluation, and then remembered something and curled her lips: "But Kaichan and Taiyi oppa think they are pretty good-looking."

Mainly because of their good figure... She was deeply impressed by the expression and eyes of Li Kaichan and others when they talked about this.

Although Kim Ye-rin is young in the team and looks lively and likable, she actually knows everything in her heart... Who doesn't know who?

A few people were chatting over there, but Bae Joo-hyun, who was sitting not far away, seemed a little absent-minded, and didn't seem to be very interested in the topic they were discussing.

She was swiping something on her mobile phone in her hand, but she raised her head from time to time and glanced at the corridor outside the door through the half-open door.

"Ouni..."

Bae Joo Hyun's movements of looking up from time to time caught the attention of Kang Seulgi who was texting happily next to her. After glancing at her several times, she couldn't help but ask, "Are you waiting for someone? Are there any relatives coming to visit?"

"No." Bae Joo Hyun waved her hand after hearing this, and then hesitated for a moment, without hiding anything. She glanced at the people who were discussing enthusiastically next to her and asked in a low voice, "Isn't he going to perform on the first stage of Music Bank the day after tomorrow? Why hasn't he come to pre-record today?"

From a long time ago, after hearing something about Ji Jingyuan's solo song from Kang Seulgi, she has been paying more attention to and curious about this song. A few days ago, she watched the last interview of that personal variety show, and she has been very concerned about it.

But of course she couldn't call Ji Jingyuan to say that she wanted to listen to the song... But now there are still two or three days before the release of the audio source on the 10th. Although it's not long, I don't know why, when she thinks of this, she always has a very inexplicable feeling of anxiety in her heart.

But if you really want to listen, you don't have to wait until the audio source is released on the 10th... The first stage must be pre-recorded by yourself, and when Chi Jingyuan was pre-recording today, she sneaked to the side to see if she heard it.

Bae Joo-hyun praised her own wit.

But she waited for a long time and there was no movement.

Although it was "him", Jiang Seul-ki certainly knew who this sister was talking about.

She glanced at the captain in front of her who looked very beautiful after putting on makeup. She understood and blinked, and told him what she knew: "Jingyuan is not coming today."

"Ah?"

"Although the first stage is to be pre-recorded, the on-site construction is too troublesome and cannot meet the requirements... The company has already selected a venue in COEX to set up the scene for pre-recording, and also selected 100 of his fans to watch on-site, so he will come back for the live broadcast the day after tomorrow... He said in the group yesterday."

He looked at his phone: "Looking at the time, it should have started recording now..."

"Uh, hehe."

Bae Joo-hyun was stunned for a second after hearing this, and smiled twice when she remembered her actions and thoughts just now: "That's right."

With Chi Jingyuan's treatment and status in the company, the first stage of his solo comeback must be very important. The stage, lighting, effects, support, etc. must be considered very well. How could he be like them and come to the music show to pre-record directly?

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little sour in her heart, but in addition to that, she couldn't help but feel a little proud.

After the brief conversation, Bae Joo Hyun seemed to be thinking about something, and Jiang Seulgi stopped talking. She just kept glancing at Bae Joo Hyun from time to time while browsing her phone.

"Ouni."

After being quiet for a while, Jiang Seulqi suddenly broke the silence again, blinked at Bae Zhuhyun, and asked with a hint of meaning: "Are you interested in Jingyuan's new song?"

Bae Zhuhyun didn't know if she felt Jiang Seulqi's intention, but she seemed to have changed a little during this time, and she was not as entangled and hesitant as before, avoiding similar topics.

She looked into the other person's eyes, paused for a moment, and then smiled, a very beautiful smile:

"Yes, I'm very interested."

…………

"The stage is really cool, and the action of squatting on the stool and playing the piano is really very sense."

"It sounds really great."

"Oppa will definitely make a big splash in his solo this time."

"Oppa please participate in more activities during this solo."

"There will be more autograph sessions, bye. No matter where it opens, I will definitely follow it."

In the small theater of SM COEX, Chi Jingyuan, who had just finished the stage pre-recording, did not leave directly. He squatted on the edge of the stage and was talking and interacting with the more than 100 fans present.

Of course, most of the fans were talking and screaming, and he didn't have much chance to say anything else.

Perhaps because of his solo debut, Chi Jingyuan, who stood on the stage to perform as an individual for the first time, had a very strange feeling in his heart after not having the EXO members he had worked with for many years. I am a choreographer but I am still a little lonely and nervous at the same time. Just the pre-recording of the stage went back and forth five or six times.

However, the fans present were very excited, especially when they heard the title song "Love Scenario", the long and heated atmosphere could no longer be concealed. Because during the official recording, they were required not to sing in chorus, but they could not contain their excitement. , but they couldn't help but sing along loudly during each recording break.

This pre-recording of his song should also be the first time that the sound source of "Love Scenario" has been heard by outsiders.

However, the fans at the scene are all die-hard fans, and they have also checked that there is no recording equipment. The mobile phones have been turned off when entering, so there is no risk of the sound source being leaked... At most, they will brag about it with other people online after they go back. ox.

"Thank you very much for coming. Please pay attention to safety when leaving...remember to take a small gift."

Finally, he chatted with the fans for a few words, listened to the praises and appeals of some fans, and collected the gifts and letters they brought specially. After that, Chi Jingyuan said goodbye to the reluctant Allies, waved his hands and left the stage first.

If he doesn't leave, it's impossible for the people at the scene to leave.

In the corridor returning to the COEX backstage, Chi Jingyuan handed over the letters and gifts that fans had just given him to his manager for safekeeping, and then wiped the sweat on his head with a tissue. After debuting for more than five years, he had not been interested in stage performances for a long time. I felt nervous, anxious, and sweating profusely.

But this pre-recording made him experience this feeling for the first time in a long time, which was very similar to the feeling when EXO first debuted in 2012...

"Have you arranged your schedule for the next two days and after the song is released?" He asked the manager next to him while wiping his sweat.

"Everything has been arranged." The manager said, "Tomorrow there will be a photo shoot, an interview with a magazine, and in the evening there will be a joint training with the choreographer, and a rehearsal for the solo concert."

"After the sound source is released on the 10th, the first stage of "Music Bank" will be released. At the same time, there will be a recording of a program... There will be a recording of a personal variety show on the 12th."

"The plan to play songs has also been determined. There will be three days of playing songs in the first week, three days of playing songs in the second week, and one time of playing songs in the third weekend. There are only seven songs playing in total."

"Itineraries such as book signings and meet-and-greets will start the next week, and then..."

After listening to the manager's report, they quickly returned to the lounge. Chi Jingyuan took a sip of water and smacked his lips: "Why do you feel that even though you have made a solo debut, your schedule is not as busy as when the big group comes back?"

He originally thought that his solo debut would be a busy one, but after hearing what his manager said, he felt that it was not as busy as he thought.

"Because your variety show performance has always been mediocre, and due to personal preferences, the company has not arranged too many variety shows for you, so the time-consuming part of your comeback is gone."

The manager couldn't help but laugh when he heard this: "At the same time, because of your current popularity and celebrity status, there is no need to go to small stations to play songs, and some low-end entertainment companies have not accepted any of them..."

"After all, Jingyuan, you are now the top idol among idols. Many idols who have been soloing for many years, such as GD, have stopped participating in singing in the later years... But Jingyuan is okay, he has been debuting for five years."

"Yes." Chi Jingyuan nodded: "If we have this time, why not hold more autograph sessions..."

In fact, he didn't want to participate in various ugly and funny variety shows or some acupoint performances... Although it felt strange for him to debut for the first time, he didn't want to experience all the acupoints again when EXO first debuted, even if the reward was one The business performance of bags of rice was in embarrassment.

"Uh..." After hearing what he said, the agent hesitated for a moment: "Actually, the company didn't arrange too many signings... because the pre-sale results were already so good, the company felt there was no need to hold too many signings. Sale."

The main purpose of the autograph session is to promote sales, and Chi Jingyuan's pre-sales have completely exceeded SM's expectations. Chi Jingyuan also understands SM's idea that there is no need to avoid the autograph session.

He couldn't help but laugh: "So, Zhao Ge said that, won't I have a lot of free time after my solo?"

"Not too much, after all, your popularity is here, and there will definitely be activities and invitations..."

"Hmm..."

After taking another sip of water, Chi Jingyuan thought about it and said, "If there is extra time, I'd better hold a few more autograph sessions or fan meetings."

Compared to those TV recordings, Chi Jingyuan actually prefers this kind of offline face-to-face interaction with fans.

After the agent agreed to communicate with the company, Chi Jingyuan remembered something and looked at him and asked, "How much is the pre-sale today? When will the company announce the pre-sale sales?"

"Yesterday's trailer was very effective, and the growth rate doubled. As of today, there are already 2.9 million copies. According to our prediction, it should be able to reach 3 million copies before the official release."

"Three million copies..."

Chi Jingyuan was deeply moved when he heard this number.

No wonder SM felt that it was unnecessary to hold a signing event. This pre-sale number even exceeded the average sales of Kpop idols by one or two major versions. It is completely different from those boy and girl groups that can send big-character posters to announce good news with 100,000 or 200,000. Even in Europe and the United States, it is a very impressive number.

And the sales contributed by the Peninsula is only half, and the sales contributed by the Japanese market, especially the mainland, are jaw-dropping... It is estimated that after this time, there should be many brokerage companies that will be jealous of Chi Jingyuan's overseas popularity and imitate the various settings in his album this time.

Maybe Chi Jingyuan has been desensitized to these big numbers because he has listened too much in recent days.

"Sold so many... the company is happy, but..."

He didn't have any extra thoughts, but the agent and the company seemed to have some extra pressure because of this amazing sales figure.

The agent took out his mobile phone and logged into the Melon music chart. Thinking about the recent situation in the music industry, he couldn't help but say with some concern:

"Zion.t's current songs are dominating the music charts. The OST of "Goblin" is still strong. Red Velvet was directly squeezed out by them. "

"Not to mention NCT, Baekhyun's collaboration with Soyou is about to be released? The collaboration between these two people is also very popular, and there are many competitors at the level of Dafo.

"Although the sales are unexpectedly good now, if the official release is not favorable to those Dafo, or even if something unexpected happens and it directly drops off the charts, I am worried..."

The agent's tone sounded a little worried at the end.

Such a high pre-sale is an honor, but it is also a pressure. Chi Jingyuan is a big tree that attracts the wind, and there are many people who support him, and there are also many people who want to have fun.

Under pressure, you will naturally think more, thinking that you may be ridiculed by the public for poor performance. , even the manager who knows the quality of the album and the resources invested by the company can't help but start to worry.

Although he is very confident about the songs and the album... but what if the results are not good.

Yuan is very face-saving... and if his solo fails, it will be a big blow to the company's entire plan for EXO.

However, after listening to the manager's words, Chi Jingyuan didn't react. He sat on the sofa, picked up the schedule next to him, took it in his hand and read it in a hurry, and said casually:

"... I heard from Mr. Li of the company a few days ago that there are already four or five idol groups that have changed their plans and postponed their return time because of my solo debut, and they are all popular groups with good popularity."

"At the same time, the recent Kpop album sales market has not performed very well. My sales alone have accounted for more than 80% of the market... Hehe, doesn't it sound exaggerated?"

"Okay, don't be so bitter, brother. "

Looking at his agent, Chi Jingyuan cursed with a smile, then crossed his legs, looked at the table in front of him, and said casually: "What's the big fog or not..."

"For other artists of the same period, now..."

His eyes were calm, half-closed and flashing a polite smile, but his tone was full of extreme and unquestionable confidence:

"I am the big fog."

………

As February 10th approached, in addition to the news of Chi Jingyuan's solo being revealed bit by bit, many other artists and companies who did not believe in it or could not avoid it also announced their plans and news.

It's just that most of the attention and heat of the news were overshadowed by Chi Jingyuan's debut.

In February, AM released the first single album "THE FIRST" since his debut, with a total sales of 50,000 from pre-sales and the first day, which was the same track as Red Velvet. The title song "The Last First Love" landed at 89 and then flew on the charts for two hours.

No one cared

Although they knew that this schedule would definitely become cannon fodder, seeing their own children's first album after debuting fall into such a state, many NCT ​​fans were angry, lamenting, resentful, helpless... or climbing the wall, and they couldn't help but feel unhappy with SM, especially Chi Jingyuan, and cursed madly on the Internet.

At the same time, JYP announced that the contract of its girl group Wonder Girls will expire in January. Yien and Sunmi decided to leave JYP Entertainment. Wonder Girls, which debuted for 10 years, announced its official disbandment on January 26, and released the last farewell song "DRAW ME" on February 10.

The end of such a legendary girl group that once competed with Girls' Generation did make many fans and passers-by feel lost. After all, who hasn't heard the national hit song "tell me"? If it was placed at other times, people would definitely pay attention to it because of sentiment.

But it has to be said that the release date of this farewell song was not arranged very well. It was on the same day as Ji Jingyuan's solo, and the popularity and topic were immediately covered up.

So... no one cares.

SM announced on February 9 that last year's "STATION" project received a lot of praise, and this year's "STATION Subway" project will start the second season in March.

This has attracted a lot of discussion. Last year's subway project had a total of 52 songs. Although there were many songs of varying quality and filler, there were also excellent songs such as Kim Taeyeon's "Rain", EXO's "Dancing King", Ji Jingyuan's "Really Really"

and "Spring on the Stone Wall Road of Deoksugung"...

, so this project is still very attractive. As soon as the news came out, many people discussed and expressed their expectations.

It can be regarded as effective news.

At the same time, SM also announced that the MV of "The Star That Rises in the Daytime" sung by EXO's captain Kim Junmyeon for the TV series "Star of the Universe" will be officially released on February 10.

No one cares.

SM and Starship announced that the new song "It's Raining" by EXO's Baekhyun and Soyou will be officially released on February 14.

No one... Well, many people are looking forward to this. Soyou is the queen of collaborations. Her personal sound source has a good reputation and the performance of each song is also good. Baekhyun is a member of EXO's popular circle. The collaboration song between these two people can be called a big fog collaboration.

In just one week, the busy and crowded music industry has produced countless cannon fodders except for a few effective and valuable news and comebacks.

And these fallen cannon fodders, like NCT... used their own bodies and blood and tears to accuse the solo rookie who relied on popularity and was domineering.

This time, Ji Jingyuan's solo received a lot of attention. There was a big response after the news was made public, and there was a lot of discussion even if no material was released.

And it's not just EXO's own fans, the entire fan circle is paying attention and discussing.

Everyone in the fan circle can deeply feel the heat and expectations of the entire circle this time. It has been a long time since such an idol or comeback that everyone can't help but pay attention to was born while everyone is arguing, scolding and praising.

Everyone, including passers-by, and even black fans actually agree that Chi Jingyuan is now the top in the idol industry, so unlike the previous EXO comebacks, there are always some people who jump out to look down on him.

This time, especially after the nearly 3 million pre-sales broke out, there were very few people who looked down on him. It was really that everyone thought that Chi Jingyuan's solo should perform very well... After all, even black fans recognize his popularity and fan base.

It's just that I don't know how good it will be.

Is it really up to expectations... or just so-so, and fans can only praise it with their eyes closed.

But in fact, apart from fans, most black fans and even passers-by actually subconsciously hope that it is the latter, and hope that Chi Jingyuan's performance will be as bad as possible... After all, watching a person with a halo fall from the clouds is much more interesting than watching another person build a golden body again.

…CBX is still being talked about.

And as a group of cannon fodders were born, countless people were either hoping or expecting maliciously, the clock reached midnight on February 10th on time.

In an instant, the music source website began to freeze and almost collapsed.

At the same time, in Seoul, Busan, the entire peninsula, and even in Asia, countless people’s computers, speakers, and headphones heard a brisk song:

“Salangheheida, wuligamana~”