wavenovel Chapter 1496 is here.
Chapter 1496 is here.
Chapter 1496 is here.
I recognized you at first glance.
"It was as if they had summoned each other."
On March 23, in Starship's practice room, upbeat and familiar music echoed in every corner. A casual listen revealed it to be the instrumental track for EXO's latest album's title track, "DNA."
In the practice room, several girls dressed in casual clothes were practicing the dance to this song with great concentration, keeping time with the beat.
It was clear that this wasn't their first time practicing; they performed the signature and challenging choreography in the middle of the chorus quite well.
The group of people, who were originally standing separately, quickly gathered together as the drumbeats changed. The moment their bodies aligned, they suddenly jumped and exploded apart, their movements swift and decisive.
Although the number of members is not enough, they do have some of the charm of EXO.
Ahn Yu-jin stood in the middle, her height and long legs making her stand out. Even wearing loose wide-leg pants, her excellent body proportions were still evident.
She danced with extraordinary energy, her bangs damp with sweat, clinging to her smooth forehead, her cheeks flushed slightly, and her breathing was a little rapid, but she didn't seem tired at all. Instead, her eyes were bright, as if she were completely immersed in the rhythm of the dance, enjoying the pleasure brought by each movement.
She was particularly engrossed in the most iconic gesture of linking hands with someone.
Standing in the middle, she turned slightly to the side, reached out and tightly held the hands of her companion beside her. Her slightly immature body made an exaggerated wave, the lines of her neck were smooth and graceful, and her waist and abdomen were steady and powerful. Every detail was made to be as close as possible to the original.
Having completed this part, the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up, and her eyes were full of pride.
He seemed to think he was incredibly handsome, and he even squinted his eyes in smug satisfaction.
As the melody faded and the last movement ended, the group stopped, bent over, panting, and their faces were covered in sweat.
"The dance to this song is really difficult. My knees are hurting from dancing."
A girl rubbed her aching knees, her voice tinged with helplessness: "I've been practicing for almost a week, but there are still some parts where I can't keep up with the pace."
"Yes, the second beat of the chorus requires a lot of strength and you have to dance in unison. I always feel like I can't do it right."
"Of course, EXO's dances are all quite difficult."
They sat casually on the floor of the practice room, picked up the bottled water next to them, unscrewed the caps and drank it in big gulps, chatting as they rested.
EXO's recent comeback is a huge trend, sweeping across the entire music industry, and the trainees are no exception.
EXO's songs and dances are basically the songs that all trainees in the industry, regardless of gender, must practice. This time, Ahn Yu-jin started the practice, and the group practiced "DNA" together, preparing to dance it together during the next judging session.
As the conversation progressed, the topic naturally shifted to the recent boy band battle that had been making headlines.
For female trainees, male idols are still more attractive.
“I watched M!Coutdwon yesterday, and EXO is another one.”
"I watched it too, I watched it too. Two weeks after the comeback, how many times has it gotten to number one?"
"If I win another award on Inkigayo today, I'll have six."
Ahn Yoo-jin put down her water bottle, looking quite knowledgeable: "But I heard that it won't be released until the end of this week."
"Speaking of which, Wanna One is really pitiful."
A girl sighed, her tone tinged with regret: "I used to really like them. I thought they were really popular and might even surpass EXO to reach the top. I never expected something like this to happen."
"Sigh, me too."
Another girl nodded, her voice filled with regret: "I saw that their comeback results on the first day were really good, the album sales were very high, I thought it would be a good result..."
"As a result, we've suffered a severe loss of fans. Many of our core fans have left, album sales have stagnated, and the digital music is performing terribly. This comeback is truly..."
"We can't compare to EXO anymore; it feels like we have to compete with GOT7 now."
"Haha, you have such a mean mouth."
"Actually, I don't think their incident was a big deal. They just made a few private comments. It's the people who exposed the really bad things, right?"
"That's what they say, but if it gets out, that's their problem... and even if they say it in private, those guys went too far."
"XO is quite lucky."
"Even without this incident, XO would definitely have won."
Upon hearing this, Ahn Yu-jin immediately frowned, her tone resolute and full of confidence: "Just look at the title tracks, they're not even in the same league. XO's two title tracks are both really cool, Wannone's is just so boring blah blah blah..."
Ahn Yoo-jin rambled on and on.
The people next to him listened, and the corners of their mouths twitched involuntarily.
When the news of EXO and Wanna One clashing was making headlines, they discussed it many times. There were people among the trainees who supported each other, but Ahn Yu-jin was a standard die-hard EXO supporter or a Yuan supporter.
"Yoojin, didn't you want to join PD48?" a girl asked curiously. "If you really debut, then Wanna One would be considered our senior group, right? Is it not a good way to say that?"
"Uh~"
Ahn Yoo-jin was instantly stumped by the question, stood there stunned, blinked, and the smugness and dissatisfaction on her face vanished instantly, replaced by a look of bewilderment.
A moment later, her nose turned slightly red, as if she had made up her mind. She swung her right hand forcefully, as if to break some shackles, and said firmly:
"No, that's just not true!"
After saying that, she seemed to think that her actions and words were particularly cool. She squeezed her long legs together slightly, using the force to jump up a few centimeters, and then proudly puffed out her chest.
Just then, a staff member's voice came from the practice room door: "Yoojin, Minister Lee wants to see you."
"They're here, they're here."
Upon hearing this, Ahn Yu-jin immediately suppressed her smugness, quickly grabbed a towel from the side, wiped the sweat from her face and neck, tidied her slightly messy hair, waved to the others, and strode towards the outside of the practice room.
When she reached Minister Lee Hyun's office, Ahn Yoo-jin gently knocked on the door. After hearing a "come in" from inside, she pushed the door open and went in.
Upon entering, she paused for a moment. In the office, besides Minister Li Xian, Zhang Yuanying and Zhao Jiaxian were also there, standing obediently to the side with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation on their faces.
Ahn Yu-jin's heart skipped a beat, and she instantly guessed what was going on. Her heart began to pound faster, and her palms became slightly sweaty.
She walked quickly to the two women and stood with them, her gaze unconsciously drifting towards Minister Li Xian.
"I called you three over because I have something important to tell you. After repeated discussions and selections within the company, we have finally decided to select the three of you to represent the company in this year's 'PD48'."
Minister Li Xian sat behind his desk, looking at the three girls in front of him, a gentle smile on his face, and slowly began to speak.
As soon as the words were spoken, the three girls' eyes widened instantly, their tension replaced by ecstatic joy. Ahn Yu-jin was so excited that her whole body trembled slightly, and she instinctively wanted to wave her arms and cheer.
She raised both hands to mid-air, then suddenly remembered she was still in the minister's office. She forced herself to hold back, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up, and her eyes sparkled.
"Thank you, Minister! Thank you, Company!" the three said in unison, their voices filled with gratitude and excitement.
Minister Li Xian waved his hand, signaling them to calm down, and continued, "You don't need to be too excited. Being selected is the company's recognition of your abilities, but this is just the beginning. The competition in PD48 is fierce, and whether you can debut depends on your own efforts..."
"Let me tell you some things you need to pay attention to. First, you need to sign a supplementary contract. Staff will contact you later to discuss the specific terms."
Filming for the show will officially begin in mid-April. After that, there will be intensive filming. During this time, you will need to be fully focused and cannot be distracted. The company will arrange professional instructors to provide you with targeted guidance. From now on, you will no longer need to practice with other trainees or participate in company judging; you can concentrate on preparing for the show.
"Okay, we understand, thank you, Minister!" The three nodded repeatedly, carefully remembering every word Minister Li Xian said, their excitement undiminished.
Ahn Yoo-jin secretly glanced at Jang Won-young and Jo Ga-hyun beside her out of the corner of her eye.
Zhang Yuanying was born in 2004, a year younger than her, but she has already grown into a very outstanding young woman; Zhao Jiaxian, like her, was born in 2003 and is also quite talented.
But she... is also very confident in herself!
"...The PD48 production team put a lot of effort into this project, but the process was actually quite complicated."
Seeing their earnest expressions, Li Xian smiled with satisfaction, and his tone became more serious:
“When the program was announced last year, the online response was not very good. The fact that the same talent show format has been used for three consecutive years has caused some audience fatigue. People feel that the program process is very similar, so the company was initially quite cautious and unsure whether to send trainees to participate.”
He paused for a moment, then continued, "However, after the production team discovered this problem, they immediately held an emergency meeting to make up for the shortcomings. In the end, they went to great lengths to invite a top-tier artist with immense influence to join as the show's producer and mentor."
The company was initially hesitant, but after learning that this artist was joining, they became very optimistic about the show.
Minister Li Xian's tone was full of confidence as he looked at the three trainees whom the company was focusing on developing and said earnestly:
"With his participation, regardless of how high the show's ratings will be, at least the buzz and hype will be excellent. This is a great opportunity for you, so be sure to seize it."
Upon hearing this, An Youzhen, Zhang Yuanying, and Zhao Jiaxian all widened their eyes, filled with curiosity and anticipation. They exchanged glances, each seeing doubt in the other's eyes.
Unable to contain her curiosity, Ahn Yoo-jin mustered her courage and tentatively asked:
"Minister-nim... excuse me, which senior are you?"
…………
Meanwhile, a black van was driving on its way to the set of "Spying".
Ji Kyung-won leaned back in the back seat, closing his eyes to rest, his face showing a hint of fatigue. With EXO's recent comeback, he has been busy with music shows, variety shows, and events, and also has to take care of filming "The Spy," leaving him with almost no time to rest.
However, the filming of "The Spy" is nearing its end, with only a few important scenes left before it wraps up.
Choi Ji-chang sat in the driver's seat, focused on driving, while Park Jae-hyun sat in the passenger seat, holding a document and reporting on recent work progress to Chi Kyung-won.
"...Then there's the matter of endorsements."
At this point, Park Jae-hyun laughed: "Recently, Wananone had that incident, and their image has been greatly affected... Your XO has been so active lately, and your popularity has recovered a lot. You've certainly made a fortune."
He flipped through the documents in his hand and continued:
"According to information I received from SM Entertainment, in the past two weeks, we have received many endorsement offers for you and EXO. Some are renewals of contracts with previous partners, and some are new brand collaborations."
"Among them, Lotte Duty Free Group renewed its endorsement contract for 28 billion won per year for two years, and Nature Republic Group renewed its endorsement contract for 25 billion won per year for three years."
"There's also a new group endorsement deal with MLB Korea, worth 22 billion won annually, on a 1+1 year contract. That is, a one-year contract is signed initially, and a decision on whether to renew for another year will be made based on the progress of the collaboration..."
Upon hearing this, Chi Jingyuan slowly opened his eyes, raised his eyebrows slightly, and showed a hint of surprise in his eyes.
He knew that this comeback was going well and that he would definitely receive more endorsement offers, but he didn't expect such a high increase. Previously, EXO's endorsement fees for domestic groups were mostly in the billions of won per year, but this time it has risen to more than two billion won.
He knew perfectly well that the so-called number one spot on music shows and the popularity and reputation were all superficial. What truly reflected the success of an artist or a group was their income and money.
The majority of their income comes from endorsements and tours.
The fact that EXO has secured so many high-priced endorsements is the real gain from their comeback and a decisive indicator of their growing popularity.
Park Jae-hyun didn't stop and continued reporting: "Besides the group endorsement, there's also a personal endorsement, which is an endorsement for a game by SK Telecom. They specifically approached you for a project worth 28 billion won."
"In addition, there is a KakaoTalk game collaboration group promotion, a project of 5 million won, which is also a solo collaboration."
He paused, then added:
"There's also the Jack & Jones Greater China group endorsement, worth 20 billion won annually. However, because you have a GUCCI contract, which conflicts with the brand's image, you won't be participating in the filming of this advertisement; the other members will be."
"In addition, we are in talks with SM Entertainment regarding offers from several food and clothing brands. I will let you know as soon as I have any updates."
"So many? They all came at once?"
Chi Jingyuan asked curiously, "Is it because Wananone terminated contracts with some brands?"
"Ani, so far this scandal has not triggered a large-scale commercial contract termination. This is mainly because Wanna One is a limited-time group, and the members' individual contracts are scattered among different agencies. If a brand wants to terminate a contract, it needs to communicate with each agency separately, which faces many legal obstacles and the procedures are quite complicated."
Park Jae-hyun shook his head and analyzed, "Moreover, Wanna One's limited contract is about to expire and they will disband soon. For the brand, even if they are dissatisfied with their image, continuing to fulfill the short-term contract is more cost-effective than terminating the contract midway and paying a penalty."
"The reason EXO was able to secure so many endorsements is mainly due to their strength both domestically and internationally... Of course, the contrast with Wanna One is also an important factor. Compared to these limited-time boy groups, senior groups from large companies are more trustworthy."
"Too……"
Chi Jingyuan nodded.
After finishing talking about the endorsement, Park Jae-hyun thought for a moment and said, "But to be honest, the results of this comeback are not much better than your last one."
"It looks like a big push, but in terms of both sales volume and online data, the growth is actually not that significant. Sales have even declined."
"The peninsula market is indeed saturated."
Upon hearing this, Jingyuan nodded calmly, already having this understanding in mind: "The domestic market is only so big. Being able to maintain the current performance and not decline is already quite good."
"So your upcoming solo 2 and that single are something that both we and the company are taking very seriously."
Park Jae-hyun earnestly advised, "I had another meeting with New Vision a few days ago, and they really think highly of your single."
Chi Jingyuan gave a soft "hmm".
Seeing that Ji Kyung-won understood, Park Jae-hyun didn't say much, and took out another tablet computer, handing it over:
"By the way, this is the information that the PD48 production team sent us yesterday. All the trainees participating in the program have been confirmed. This is the list of trainees and their detailed information."
"Oh?"
Chi Jingyuan's eyes lit up, and he instantly became interested. He reached out, took the tablet, and unlocked the screen.