"Rough Kamida ......"

After saying the testimonial, EXO turned around and saluted the other idols, even though they were actually a little disappointed in their hearts, but Redvelvet quickly smiled brightly and congratulated their seniors on getting one, and bowed in the face of EXO non-stop, whether it was expression management or etiquette, they did a very good job.

This is also a point that the SM family has always been more praised.

Yesterday's shooting of the advertisement was the follow-up, obviously because of the height problem, Pei Zhuhyun, who was a little uncomfortable in his heart, kept bowing with a smile on his face at this time, and deliberately looked at it when he was facing Ji Jingyuan, and after taking a look, while the front camera was blocked, a pair of eyes under the blonde hair were slightly condensed, and after glaring at him lightly, he immediately took the initiative to turn away, and then followed the large army towards the bottom of the stage.

Chi Jingyuan glanced at her upper body and walked with her hips twisting and twisting, and secretly pouted.

Today's bangs are so thick, and the sides of her hair are still turned out of her cheeks, looking as ugly as a pile of weeds. Why don't you hurry up and think about how to please Cody and still twist there, what does it stink?

I don't know which cody of the company made Bae Joo-hyun's style today, and he can make a person who was originally quite beautiful look so popular, he feels that he needs to avoid lightning.

At the same time, Ji Jingyuan also noticed that the choreography of the four people on the floor sit-ups in the rap part of the redvelvet stage was very strange, maybe SM also noticed that the effect of the choreography here looks strange.

When he turned around, the smile instantly returned to his face, and he put down the headset and started today's encore stage with the members.

After finishing the broadcast of "M!", EXO left M without staying or staying, first went back to the dormitory to remove his makeup and change into his private clothes, and after a short period of trimming, the nine members took two nanny cars and drove towards the nearby Cheongdam-dong.

Today is the 26th, it is the birthday of the group's eldest brother Kim Min-seok, and when I looked at the schedule before, I found that there was no extra arrangement for tonight, and I was busy for more than 20 days before, and now it is close to the end of the singing period, and some activities are less and I began to prepare for the return of the upcoming new album, and several members decided to celebrate together after discussing two sentences.

Originally, I was going to eat a more famous barbecue nearby, but Jin Junmian said that a very good hot pot restaurant had opened nearby, and after eating it with his friends, he felt that the taste was not much worse than what they ate when they were in Xia Guo's activities, and I strongly recommend trying it together.

With Chi Jingyuan's timely support, the venue for the evening dinner was finally set here.

"Thanks, brother."

The nanny car drove to the underground parking lot, and Chi Jingyuan and several people thanked the assistant driver who was driving and walked out.

They came together in two nanny cars, but they didn't arrive together because of the red light and traffic jam in the middle, and the four people in Chi Jingyuan's car were nearly ten minutes later than the one in front.

The hot pot restaurant, which translates to Sang-kwan, is on the upper floors of a shopping mall in Cheongdam-dong, where four people stand wearing hats and waiting for the elevator.

Because there are a lot of people, it is better not to wear a mask if it is very conspicuous, so when you are generally doing group activities, you are wearing your own hat, baseball cap, knitted hat and the like, keep your head down and keep a low profile, if you don't meet those super die-hard fans who can recognize who is EXO just by looking at their necks, it can still play some hidden role.

"It's really luxuriously decorated here, I haven't been here much since it's so close."

"It's normal to have Qingtan Cave, there are a lot of big brands in this mall, all of which are relatively high-end brands, and I have visited with friends a few times before."

Cheongdam-dong is one of the most affluent areas in Seoul, home to many international luxury, fashion brands and department stores, as well as its unique decoration and price tags.

A few years ago, among the EXO members who had just debuted, except for Ji Jingyuan, Jin Junmian, and Tao, who had a good family background, most of the other consumption levels and family conditions were very average.

Even when Ji Jingyuan filmed "Please Answer 1997" for the first time, the other members needed to raise funds within the team if they wanted to send a support car to support it.

But with the popularity of EXO, especially after last year's concert tour, the settlement that each member received from the company was very rich, plus their respective personal information and endorsement income, today's EXO members are already considered a high-income group in most industries on the peninsula, and many people have bought a lot of various brand-name clothes and watches in private, and even those who are ready to buy luxury cars and properties directly, and can easily afford some high-consumption food and entertainment.

The young newcomers who used to have little money have long been reborn, and now they all look like young hipsters and successful people.

With such a high income at their age, it is no wonder that so many people yearn for the entertainment industry so much.

"How many floors?"

"Didn't you say it before, the seventh floor, where the whole floor is full of all kinds of eating places."

"Actually, compared to hot pot, I prefer to eat Sichuan food from Xia Guo, do you remember the spicy tang that Jingyuan brought back last time? It's really delicious. ”

"Remember, it's okay...... But now you're saying it's a fart? ”

At this time, there were only four of them waiting in front of the elevator, and after glancing at the elevator slowly rising from the second floor, Ji Jingyuan's eyes also swept around with interest, and at the same time listened to the conversation between Park Chanyeol and Oh Se-hoon next to him, as well as Do Hyun-so, who interjected from time to time.

It may be because the location and brand are relatively high-end, the consumption is a little expensive, or it may be the wrong time, there is not much traffic here, and the surroundings seem a little deserted.

Chi Jingyuan doesn't have any special preferences for shopping malls, and he doesn't have an aversion to it, but because he is lazy, he rarely comes.

He is a little more interested in food, games, and even anime than shopping.

"It's here".

With the sound of Park Chanyeol's reminder, the elevator door opened with a "ding", Ji Jingyuan raised his head and glanced inside casually, and then naturally opened his legs and was about to go inside, but while his eyes swept over, he suddenly saw a face in the elevator that seemed to be somewhat familiar, and the whole person stopped slightly.

I saw that there were only two women in the elevator at this time, both carrying bags, the height looked similar, one younger and one older, the younger one was still carrying a few shopping bags, it seemed that they had just shopped here, from their somewhat consistent temperament and holding hands together, it seemed like a mother and daughter.

And all the pauses were because he had seen the long-haired young girl standing directly opposite Chi Jingyuan, dressed in a black dress.

I've seen it more than once.,It's the JYP female trainee named Mina.。

The middle-aged woman who looked like her mother was obviously very literate, and when she saw that there were three tall horses and a shorter boy after the elevator door opened, she took the initiative to pull Mina to stand two steps behind and give up the space.

Although he was a little surprised to meet someone he had met so coincidentally in this place, but after all, he was not an acquaintance, Chi Jingyuan returned to normal in an instant, and walked into the elevator with the members, and glanced at Mingjing Nan, who didn't seem to have returned to his senses at this time, and pursed his mouth very lightly, and didn't care if the other party saw it, even if he had said hello, and then he didn't pay attention but turned around and was about to press the floor, but found that the 7th floor had been pressed, and he blinked his eyes and knew it in his heart, so he stood directly behind them.

And Mingjing Nan obviously recognized Chi Jingyuan and EXO members who were not wearing masks in an instant, first Tong Kong stared at his face in shock for a second, and after the eye contacted, he flinched a little and quickly swept over the other three people next to him, and then retracted his gaze and lowered his head slightly unnaturally, clearly feeling that his heartbeat began to accelerate.

"I just looked at the sign, and the negative floor seems to be a large food court, which looks pretty good......"

"Interested in taking you a female ticket next time......"

Except for Ji Jingyuan, the other members did not have any abnormalities at all, and they were still chatting casually after entering the elevator, but when they said the topic of 'female ticket', Park Chanyeol suddenly reacted that there were outsiders next to him, and he stopped abruptly halfway through speaking, and several other people also knew in their hearts that they all closed their mouths tacitly, and for a while, there was only a slightly dull silence left in the elevator, and only the sound of the elevator rising engine could be heard.

The lighting of the elevator was somewhat obscured by the figure standing in front of her, and the remaining shadow was covered on Najing Nan's head, making her face look a little moldy at this time, and after the elevator began to rise, she couldn't help but look up at Chi Jingyuan and several other members of EXO who were close to Chi Jingyuan, and swept back and forth a few times, and finally fixed on the back of the person in front of her.

Light-colored hooded jacket and jeans, a very ordinary outfit looks at him but makes people feel very comfortable, with a white baseball cap on his head, when he just looked at each other, Nai Nan saw that the picture printed in the center of the hat was Jenny Turtle, a member of "Pokémon" that she was very familiar with, and the black hair that had been dyed back to its original color was exposed from the brim of the hat, and the neck could be clearly seen under the not very long hair.

After staring at it for a while, as if worried about being sensed by Chi Jingyuan, Najing Nan retracted his gaze and pretended to be casual and looked at the lines on the elevator floor.

The appearance of this occasion was really too sudden, so she was a little surprised, and the joy and cheerfulness of shopping with her mother just now suddenly became a little mixed.

However, Chi Jingyuan didn't think so much, standing there quietly waiting for the elevator to go up, there were no other guests in the middle, so there was no pause, and it didn't take long for the ladder door to reopen on the seventh floor, he pulled the brim of the baseball cap down a little, and gently sniffed the faint fragrance behind him, and then followed the members out of the elevator without pause, and there was a sound of gentle footsteps behind him.

"Didn't we set off together, why are we so slow?"

was guided into the box of the hot pot restaurant by the waiter, and as soon as he entered the door, he heard Bian Boxian's loud complaints.

Park Chanyeol was not used to him, so he directly opened his mouth and went back: "What are you urging, we can be a little slower, do you want to watch it?" ”

"Assi ......"

"I ordered some dishes, you can see what you want to eat, and then order a little more yourself." As tonight's protagonist Kim Min-seok is dressed very handsomely, Ji Jingyuan feels that he doesn't have much makeup off. He beckoned a few people with a childish smile to take their seats quickly, then picked up the menu and handed it over.

"Brother, just come and do it, you pay for it anyway, you are the protagonist today." The air conditioner was turned on a little big, Ji Jingyuan took off his coat and hung it on the back of the chair, took the menu but didn't look at it, smiled and waved his hand and joked.

"Hahaha......"

"Let's take a certified photo first......

……

On the other side, Minami Nakai and her mother Sachiko Nai are sitting in a Western restaurant and eating, but she seems to be a little worried, although she tries her best to make a natural appearance, she still wanders a little from time to time.

In fact, I am more worried that my daughter is alone on the peninsula as a trainee, so after coming to JYP at the beginning of the year, my mother often visits her from time to time and cares about her practice and life.

Because she knew that she was recently selected for the survival talent show held by the company for her debut, and it was her birthday the day before yesterday, Mingjing Nan's mother also came to Seoul to visit her daughter this time, and helped her have a warm birthday the day before yesterday, and because she was ready to return to Neon tomorrow, she specially asked her daughter to take some time out of her busy practice today to take her to buy some clothes, and at the same time have a meal to say goodbye.

"Do you know that boy?"

Feeling that the atmosphere was a little wrong, the mother had been taking her daughter's appearance into her eyes since just now, and at this time she wiped her mouth lightly and took the initiative to ask.

"Well, that's one of the most popular boy bands on the peninsula right now, and they're very famous here."

Minami Nai put down the knife and fork, nodded and did not deny it and introduced it to his mother.

"That's not what I'm asking about......"

Sachiko laughed, and when she looked at her daughter, the wrinkles on her face were very gentle: "I mean the boy who walked into the elevator first, the one who wore the white hat, you should know him privately, not the kind that knows celebrities." ”

She felt this from just now, especially when she got on the elevator, her daughter held her hand obviously a little harder, and then she kept looking a little unnatural, absent-mindedly obviously having something on her mind.

"Kind of acquaintance......

After hesitating for a few seconds and thinking about it many times, the memory that was still fresh flooded in his heart, his feet under the dining table gently rubbed the floor, and Nai Nan pursed his lips and nodded: "He helped me by accident before." ”

She paused for a few seconds, and then opened her mouth to briefly introduce it, but she didn't reveal the details of the club that night, although she was very close to her mother, most of her heart could be confided, but this kind of thing would be very troublesome to say and worry her family, and Mingjing Nan still didn't want her family to know.

After all, it's been so long.

"yes......"

Seeing her daughter's tone and expression when she spoke, as well as her eyes with some memories, the mother looked at her child and echoed it, but she had some understanding in her heart.

However, she didn't carefully explore the cause and effect, but naturally asked curiously: "That person helped you, did you formally thank him?" ”

“…… yes, I don't know if it's official. ”

Speaking of this, the picture of being rejected at that time seemed to appear in front of him again, and Mingjing Nan couldn't help but pouted slightly, with a little complaint, and looked at his mother in a somewhat coquettish tone: "And it was a coincidence at the time, people probably forgot it a long time ago." ”

Feeling her daughter's intimacy and a little melancholy, her mother laughed happily, and at the same time she recalled that when she entered the elevator just now, Chi Jingyuan paused vaguely when she saw the famous Jing Nan inside, but she didn't say what she observed, but nodded and agreed:

"Maybe it'......"

…………

There was still time left after the birthday party, but after a brief discussion, the members rejected Park Chanyeol's suggestion to sing on the grounds that "nine people are too much" and "it's too boring to be all men".

To be honest, this time because of the return of "E", the results have been very good, whether it is various data, popularity and popularity, there has been a significant rebound, so that the EXO who previously retired from the team because of the continuous withdrawal of members seems to have come out of the haze, but at the same time, it actually made the members grit their teeth and insist on it a lot before their return.

But it's also a normal thing, Ji Jingyuan has been a little slack in the past few days, after all, it has been so hard to prepare the album for so long, because the outside world has been depressed for so long, and he always has to relax.

And the results of this return are indeed somewhat unexpected.

After ruthlessly defeating the sister group Redvelvet twice, getting the 27th and 28th for two days, no graduation mechanism, and even if the three consecutive championships can still participate in the "Music Bank" and "Music Center", EXO officially ended this "callmebaby" singing activity.

From March 1st to 28th, starting with the second Saturday issue of "Music Bank", EXO has won all the trophies of all mainstream singing shows except "Theshow".

《shoion》，《m！ "Popular Ballads" graduated from all three consecutive championships.

"Music Bank" and "Popular Ballads" took the initiative to end their songs after they each won the fourth crown.

There are a total of seventeen hits, tying the record of the second most male artists in the history of EXO in 2013 with "Roaring Filial Piety".

"callmebaby" and "Roaring Filial Piety" are also tied for second place with 17 crowns, second only to "Gangnam Style" with 19 titles

In fact, with the popularity of "Callemebaby" and the current momentum of EXO, there is a great possibility that they can continue to win the song, or they can also brush up better song data by participating in "Theshow" a few times, but to be honest, it really doesn't mean much to them, and now it's just a proof of their own achievements and status.

Jin Junmian was almost unable to say his acceptance speech this week, and Li Xiuman didn't know how many times he was thanked this month, and even fans were a little tired of hearing those words over and over again, and in recent days, his acceptance speech session would basically end within ten seconds at the speed of light.

In addition to the songs, the other data are also very gratifying, although the original pre-sale was not satisfactory, but after the official return, the sales have been growing against the trend for two consecutive weeks, even if it may be because of the single album did not reach the million height of the previous two years, but it is still a terrifying number that other groups are difficult to touch.

In terms of sound sources, the momentum did not disappoint after the amazing explosion of all the top charts on the first day, although it quickly fell from the first position, but even after a month, the two songs of "E" are still hovering in the inner ring of the list.

Sales have dropped slightly, the sound source has steadily improved, the passerby has increased significantly, and the YouTube MV hits have improved.

As for whether it can go further, it still depends on the response of the subsequent single albums to see if it can play a greater role in promoting.

After finishing the song, Ji Jingyuan and the others also put all their energy and work focus on the second wave of comebacks that will come in April, the single album "X".

At 12 noon on March 29, SM also released a teaser video of "Springday", the title song of "X", on its official account.

……

"Lyrical?"

In YG's president's office, Yang Hyun Suk opened his laptop in surprise after hearing his assistant's announcement, then clicked on the page and played, and a slightly strange smile appeared on his face when he heard that it was obviously not a dance music but a lyrical melody in the trailer.

There seems to be some disdain and some surprise.

Idol groups, especially male idol groups, rarely release lyrical songs, and even if they release most of them, the results will be very average, and it is difficult to make too much splash.

Because in the hearts of many people on the peninsula, there is an instinctive prejudice against idol groups, they subconsciously don't think that idol can sing lyrical songs, this kind of song should be performed by those essential singers, idol just sing and dance well, and it is OK to show the stage.

This kind of prejudice is prevalent among most ordinary passers-by and listeners, which also leads to the fact that even if there is an idol group that publishes lyrical songs, no passers-by will take the initiative to listen to them except their fans.

So now it's rare to see a boy group release lyrical songs, and in the entire peninsula ballad industry, people listen to any song, whether it's kpop, hip-hop or even lyrical word-of-mouth, there is only one boy group with a good reputation, and that is bigbang.

However, because of the winter specials and winter singles in 13 and 14, the results of EXO are not bad, plus the vocal strength is outstanding and the lead singer is active in the OST of many TV series, it can barely be regarded as a small half.

"The momentum of their return this time is so good, if the next few singles can have this kind of results, it really can't be stopped, and they actually released a lyric, or the title song...... SM is so confident? ”

Yang Hyun-seok took one last look at the SM logo on the laptop screen, shook his head and smiled.

Because the return method is similar and the return date coincides with half of them, the company is not very good at dealing with it in the first place, and YG has been paying close attention to the data and results of EXO as the main opponent of BIGBANG this time since a month ago.

"Although I have won a lot of songs, it seems that the momentum is good, but in fact, according to the analysis of the marketing department, the return of EXO this time is actually not as good as it seems."

"For their return this time, SM has invested a lot of resources, and we can clearly see through channels and contacts that there are traces of artificial operation in many aspects such as publicity, rankings, broadcasting, clicks, etc., and the substantive gains they have made are not so much."

Under the signal of Yang Hyun-suk, an intermediate director opened his mouth and began to report: "The most intuitive thing is the sales aspect, this is the official return of EXO after ten months and nearly a year, according to market logic, with the expectation of their fans, there should be a very obvious explosion in sales in terms of purchasing power that has been held back for so long." ”

"However, the single album "E" still did not exceed one million sales a month after its release, and it is still far from their average, which reflects the phenomenon of running fans and the decline in public perception due to the departure of the members, and in general, I think the decline of EXO is actually quite obvious."

"After SM opened the pre-sale channel for the second single "X" a week ago, although the pre-sale has increased compared to "E", the magnitude is not as high as expected, and it is lower than the expected increase in their popularity."

"So according to our analysis, we carried out the promotion, warm-up and return of BIGBANG according to the original plan, and EXO will not have much impact on us, and even if everything goes well, their popularity and attention will be transferred to us to some extent, which will act as a stepping stone."

“……”

Yang Hyun-seok sat in the boss's chair wearing a baseball cap, holding a steel lighter in his hand and gently tapping on the table to make a muffled sound, thinking about the staff's report.

Originally, he was still very worried, whether it was true or not, whether it was the company's water injection and operation, the momentum of this month's "callmebaby" was visible to everyone, and the results on the surface completely exceeded their company's expectations.

It's just that after watching the trailer of "Spring Day" and finding out that it was a lyrical song, the whole person suddenly became a lot more relaxed.

This is true not only of him, but also of many of YG's staff in charge of this area.

Only those working in the industry know how terrible the prejudice of the masses really is.

Just when Yang Hyun-seok nodded lightly and the atmosphere in the room was relaxed, Choi Seung-hyun, who was sitting on the side, listened for a long time, and suddenly asked curiously: "Sales are far below average?" So how much are they selling now? ”

He hates Chi Jingyuan a little, although the sales data is hung on several lists, but he will not take the initiative to check it.

And Choi Seung-hyun actually treats this junior group as a competitor, but when he heard the word 'far below', he suddenly became interested and wanted to know how low it was.

"Hmm...... As of yesterday, G-chart data shows that the sales of EXO's debut single album "E" are ...... Zhang, which is far below last year's mini-second series "Overdose", is also well below their average. ”

Not counting this time, EXO has released three mini albums and one regular album since its debut, because the regular one and mini three have reached the level of one million sales twice in a row, so even if the debut album "MAMA" and the winter special "December Miracle" are a little sluggish, but the average is still a high number.

And the 650,000 of "E" is dwarfed by comparison.

It's just that after hearing this data, the voice in the office is strangely quiet.

The last time BIGBANG made a big comeback was in 2012's "Alive", the album sold only 260,000 copies.

Cui Sheng blinked, chewed the word 'far below' fiercely in his heart, and suddenly felt a little awkward.

As the pillar of YG, although BIGBANG is famous, from the second generation to the present, whether it is the music source, popularity or even income, all the achievements are extremely good, but the sales that are very important for the boy group have always been their biggest shortcoming.

can't say it's bad, after all, 200,000 is already very powerful for a men's team, and it is a number that can only be achieved by first-line or even top-level groups, but compared to their other data, it is obviously lagging behind.

After an eerie silence for a while, Yang Hyun Suk knocked on the table again to attract the attention of the surroundings, and he finally set the tone in a thin voice:

"In that case, the plan remains the same, and we will officially announce the return of BIGBANG on April 1st."

"Keep preparing to put ......"