Chapter 8: Survival Selection

is evaluation softly, unable to help but chuckle.He took advantage of his break to browse through the top-rated comments under his debut video. Many praised him, which made him feel good. Being liked...Even though the individual's planned progress for filming was quite fast, time was a bit tight. Until they boarded a plane to Seoul in the early morning hours of the 21st, there was still a portion of the shooting that needed to be completed in Europe. After attending the awards ceremony, it is estimated that another trip will be required.

However, members like Ji Jingyuan and Kim Jinseok who have already filmed their individual trailers won't have to participate in the group filming afterwards. They only need to wait until later to join the other eight members for the final group video shoot in Yunnan, China.

While EXO was busy preparing for their album teaser video shooting, a piece of exciting news came from the peninsula over the past two and a half days. The government of the peninsula officially released the 'Non-Regular Workforce Comprehensive Countermeasures' a few days ago.

This ‘countermeasure’ is intended to improve the working conditions of contract workers, similar to the protagonist Zhang Kelai in which recently finished airing but caused a huge stir on the peninsula.

The include provisions that allow employees who have worked for more than three months to receive severance pay, extend the contracts of non-regular employees aged 35 and above from two years to four years, provide a certain amount of severance pay to employees who cannot be regularized, limit contract renewals to three times within two years; extending unemployment benefits to four months, etc., and various provisions that are closely related to the vital interests of workers.

"The Untamed" finished airing its last episode on December 20th of last year. The finale's viewership broke through 12%, with an average viewership for the entire series approaching 8%. This is a remarkable achievement among cable TV channels, even exceeding expectations. Such ratings would be considered decent even compared to those of free-to-air television stations."

Moreover, and most importantly, the drama "Misaeng" has generated a huge social impact since its broadcast and continues to do so even now. It's far more than just an ordinary TV series; this tvN 8th anniversary special project can be said to have been a tremendous success.

Although the show had ended and its popularity had waned, the news sparked a resurgence. The completed series "Unborn" climbed back onto the trending list alongside the new regulations, reentering the view of many.

This is another example where a TV show, following the successes of films like "The Furnace" and "The Advocate," brought real-world social issues to light, prompting the government to revise laws or regulations and ultimately benefitting vulnerable groups. Fans excitedly dubbed this phenomenon the "Unborn" effect, reigniting online discussions and fervor surrounding the show. The internet buzzes with passionate debates about it.

However, on the largest film and television website, the top comment on "My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU" references a news article about the introduction of a "non-regular worker comprehensive strategy", with the caption "This is the greatest value of "My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU", surpassing all reviews," which received countless nods of approval from netizens.

This groundbreaking television series, which pioneered the genre of Korean Peninsula film and television workplace dramas, generated a huge response. It brought great honor and substantial profits to the creators and many starring actors. Although it has concluded, its influence continues to spread.

For Park Ji-won, participating in this drama brought him the greatest gain besides those tangible benefits - a significant increase in his popularity among white-collar workers in their twenties and thirties on the peninsula. This demographic group basically doesn't pay attention to idol groups at all. It's very difficult for ordinary idols or actors to gain popularity among them, but this time Park Ji-won achieved it through his role as Jang Keu-ri in "The Uncanny Counter."

Although these passersby fans might not be too invested in EXO, nor would they buy albums, the influence of Park Seo-joon is truly palpable. It's evident in his overall image upgrade and the significant boost he's received in terms of landing advertisements and endorsements. The numerous brand deals he received during and after the airing of his drama serve as the best testament to this.

This time, although he was in Europe, he was still talked about for a few days because of the already finished TV series. It can be considered good luck. For them who are closely preparing for their comeback, it is a good sign.

After returning to Seoul and resting for a night, the next morning, all members of EXO went to the S Building conference room for a meeting. The company announced news of EXO's second world tour this year and the overall plan.

Originally, EXO's second tour was already within the company's discussion scope. It is said that it was initially considered as early as last year's end to confirm the plan. However, after the company officially confirmed the regular comeback mode for EXO's second album, the concert plans were postponed for a while. After all, EXO's new songs will be released over four months. If the concert date was set too early and there were no performances of the new songs, it would not be significantly different from last year's first tour.

The company stated in the meeting that the expected timeframe for this round of concerts is April to May. Currently, the overall performance flow of the concert has not been finalized and requires multiple production meetings with the stage effect planning company for discussion. All members of EXO will participate and contribute their opinions.

Concert events are the most beloved schedules for idol groups on the peninsula, as a large portion of their income comes from overseas concerts. Being able to embark on a second tour like EXO has made every member very happy and enthusiastically participated in many discussions.

But before they could enjoy it for long, after the meeting, they went back to the practice room in the afternoon to rehearse. They didn't practice for long before their teacher gave them a harsh reprimand again.

"Yuan, and D.O., why don't you guys keep your hands in the right position during that move Why are you always holding your fists on your legs Do you feel embarrassed doing this kind of move How will you do a more mature and sexy dance later"

In the practice room, EXO were all sitting on the floor against the wall, catching their breath after just finishing practicing the main song's choreography. The dance teacher and manager stood in the middle, frowning and getting angry.

After being named, Chi Jingyuan did not lower his head to look at the floor. He just lightly pursed his lips and remained silent.

The choreography for is very characteristic and cool. There aren't any other major issues, but the hip-thrusting move is a bit overused. It happens every time the beat or formation changes.

Chi Jingyuan was a bit indifferent to this action. Once or twice was fine, but after doing it the whole time, he felt a little awkward. Later, while dancing, he simply clenched his fist and put his hand aside instead.

Do Kyung-Soo, who has always felt uncomfortable with it, immediately followed suit. The two of them do this action differently from everyone else every time.

But to be honest, Ji Jingyuan thought that after this small change, the move was still quite cool, not inferior to the previous crossover.

The dance teacher saw the two people not speaking, and didn't criticize too much. The hip lift move was a small problem, even if it wasn't standard, it actually didn't look too awkward. He quickly focused his gaze on the two members sitting in the middle, his expression and tone suddenly became severe:

“Suho, and also Baekhyun, this crab step choreography, you guys still can’t do it well, Aish, I’ve told you guys so many times to change but nothing works The V shoot is coming up soon and you're still like this. Are you just going to coast through by starting to practice the new song's dance”

"After all this time, you're still like this Are you doing this on purpose Have you even practiced seriously"

Both the dance teacher and the manager looked quite angry. This period of time, EXO has been practicing more than just "Call Baby." The rest of "Spring Day" and "LHT," as well as several choreographed non-title tracks, have also started rehearsals.

"《callbaby》's preparations are almost complete. I expect to start shooting the music video and doing makeup and photo shoots right after it ends, and then during practice for other songs, I will finalize my comeback preparations."

However, even now, the "Callbaby" part remains a problem. The other parts are already very well-practiced and good. It's just that the last crab dance section is still not done well, especially Jinyoung and Baekhyun. They practically seem like they're deliberately going against the teacher. We've trained them several times from the beginning until now, but they still stubbornly refuse to change.

"We're filming the V next week, so what do you guys actually want to do" Lee Seong Hwan also got unexpectedly angry, scolding their usually reliable captain.

The entire practice room was eerily silent. Even the faintest breaths from before had disappeared, leaving only the harsh reprimands lingering in the air. The atmosphere in the room felt heavy and tense.

And Kim Jun-myeon and Beomgyeong were both looking at the floor pattern, one was playing with his fingers, no reply but their faces weren't looking good either.

After scolding each other for a while, the two left behind two harsh words and walked out first, leaving exo to practice alone in the practice room.

“Is this move that hard” After the dance instructor and manager left, it took a while for Park Chan-le to speak up and break the tense atmosphere. However, his tone was slightly complaining, which lingered in their ears and made everyone's emotions somewhat complex.

Pool scenery source remaining light glanced at this guy one eye, felt quite interesting in the heart.

The last crab dance part, actually Park Chan-wook did not do it very well either. His movements were stiff. It's just that Kim Jun-myeon and Byun Baek-hyun were too bad, overshadowing him.

Actually, Chi Jingyuan thought this dance move wasn't too difficult, it just required a higher level of balance and rhythm from the body. He didn't know why these guys had always struggled with it.

"...Then keep practicing." Everyone remained silent for a while, but Kim Jun Myeon stood up and spoke first. Seeing that the other members were also getting up, he walked to the sound system to play the music. The nine of them got into formation and started dancing again.

The muffled thump of shoes on the floor, the gasps of exertion during intense jumps, and the pulsating music intertwined, thickening the air in the practice room.

Recently, EXO has been incredibly busy. They're not only swamped with work for their new album, including practicing dance, recording, and filming teasers, but they also have to run some ad promotions and shoots. Even actors like Park Chan-yeol, Do Kyung-Soo, and Kim Min-Seok have to balance filming the web drama "My Neighbor Is EXO" on top of everything else. They're all extremely tired and can only rest very late at night.

As the date of their comeback draws closer, however, there have been some unexpected setbacks lately. This has made EXO, who were already feeling some pressure due to the significance of this comeback for the group, even more anxious and on edge.

They practiced until dinner time before finally stopping. Everyone wiped their sweat, drank some water, and prepared to eat. When Kyungsoo and the others were about to leave, Doyoung turned back and saw Jinwoo and Beomgyu standing in the middle of the practice room after finishing their water, ready to keep practicing. Curiously, he asked, "Hyung, aren't you going to eat"

“You guys go ahead, we’ll keep practicing for a while.” Bian Baekhyun lowered his head without speaking. Kim Junmyeon squeezed out a smile and waved at them.

They all knew that the two brothers were in a bad mood. Firstly, being publicly humiliated was really embarrassing. Secondly, this return was too important for them, and they didn't want to hold anyone back.

Chi Jingyuan glanced at the two of them, didn't say much, just nodded and said, "Then we'll bring some back for you later."

Facing Kim Junmyeon, Choi Beomgyu gave them a gesture, and then the rest left to eat. Only Kim Junmyeon and Baekhyun were left in the practice room, pacing back and forth, repeating that crab walk over and over again from left to right endlessly.

Because they still had things to do in the evening, Ji-yeong, Chi-geun, and Won made do with a meal at a nearby restaurant they frequented. After a short while, they finished eating and returned. Wu Shixun carried their takeaway jjajangmyeon, bibimbap, and japchae and led the way into the room. Seeing that the two were still practicing and showing no intention of eating, he pursed his lips, placed the food on the floor beside him, glanced at Chi-geun behind him without saying a word, walked in and sat down on the floor, picking up his phone to reply to a message. He had received a text from Zhou Tzuyu just as he returned:

"Our company is apparently going to launch a new girl group!"

Seeing this news, I'm not surprised at all. JYP is in such a struggling state right now. Last year's girl group project was shelved due to various reasons, and the performance of GOT7, who debuted, is far from successful. If there are no movements this year, it's estimated that they will soon fall out of the "top three" in the K-pop scene.

I see Zhou Tzuyu's face appearing before my eyes. After thinking for a moment, he tapped the screen and replied with a smile: "What does that have to do with you"

Ji Jingyuan could imagine that Zhou Tzuyu would definitely be a little unhappy after seeing this reply, maybe even frowning and staring at the screen right now.

A friend I've known for ten years recommended this app for finding books, Huanyuan! It's so good, I use it to listen to audiobooks while driving or before bed. You can download it here:

Indeed, she soon replied back-to-back:

" (Angry!)"

"How could you be like this How can you say it's no big deal! I've been practicing for so long!"

“I heard it from a friend, our company seems to be holding a survival audition show for female trainees. Some seniors from the previous girl group project in 6ix seem to have already received the news and are practicing hard recently… However, none of us others have received official notification yet.”

‘Survival audition program’

Chi Jingyuan looked at this and muttered it over in his heart, understanding instantly.

Although quite innovative, this isn't the first time a program like this has been used to debut new artists. Last year, YG's new boy group, nEr, debuted through their company's self-produced survival competition show, ":whois".

This method allows newcomers to gain a set of loyal fans and exposure even before their official debut if the show performs well. This is a very beneficial approach for newcomers.

However, Chi Jingyuan remembers that Zhou Tzuyu came to the Peninsula as a trainee at the end of 2012 or early 2013. This means she has been training for over two years now, so there shouldn't be any problem with her debuting.

I just don't know how good she really is. Whenever I chat with her, I always hear Zhou Tzuyu bragging to him, saying things like "I've made great progress" and "My teacher praised me." She must be pretty good, right

Unless it's all her bragging.

This way of thinking, Tzuyu is also at the age where she can debut. But in Ji-yeong's impression, she has always been a bit of a little brat. Suddenly realizing this fact, he was taken aback and couldn't immediately connect Tzuyu with a debuted idol.

"When will your company choose someone for that program" He thought about it for a moment before replying.

"I don't know yet, it should be soon."

"I will do my best!"

It's another two in a row. It looks like Zhou Tzuyu is pretty excited about this news.

With a light chuckle, Chi Jingyuan also gave the little girl a thumbs up:

"Then go for it! If you get in, I'll treat you to a meal."

"Hee hee, alright then! I'm looking forward to some delicious food!"

"You'll die of fatness, one try and you're exposed, with this you still want to debut..."

…………

The 24th Seoul Music Awards was officially held at the Gymnastics Stadium in Seoul Olympic Park on the evening of January 22nd. EXO interrupted their European filming schedule to return in advance and participate in this awards ceremony.

The ceremony has begun now, all the attending idol artists are seated in the artist's seats right below the stage. This time, the artist's seats are designed with round tables, each table sits a group or several groups of idol combinations as well as solo singers.

Ji Jingyuan is wearing a navy blue suit and sitting at the second table in the middle with EXO. Since the opening, the camera has cut to them many times. The PD and director on site obviously understand the essence of hosting a gala: whenever there's a lull, just cut the camera to EXO.

On their left, at the very outermost table sat this year's rookies GOT7. The table in front of them was occupied by seniors from the same company: Silver and Donghae from SJ, and Taemin from SHINee. These three guys are really high up in seniority! They took over an entire table all for themselves.

On the right are Girls' Generation TTS and Red Velvet's four members, while artists like API are further away.

Today's guest lineup is quite luxurious. The seats were packed with fans who cheered and screamed tirelessly. Both the stage and artist seating design, as well as the overall atmosphere in the venue, are more polished than a few days ago at the Golden Disc Awards, making this award ceremony feel much more formal.

And the number of fans present who supported AI was significantly higher. As soon as the big screen cut to a member of EXO, ear-pleasing screams would erupt, instantly igniting the atmosphere in the venue.

As luck would have it, today's MC is still an old acquaintance, Hwanwoong and L.joe from Highlight paired with SISTAR's Soyou. The two guys in the front don't know why they are so favored by the organizers of major award ceremonies. From late 2014 to early 2015, Park Kyung has already taken photos with them many times at these events.

At this moment, the award presenter on stage is presenting the Newcomer Award. This year, there are three groups of artists who have won the Newcomer Award. The first two groups, GOT7 and Eddy Ki, have already received their awards. Now, they are presenting the last one.

The best-performing member from their debut hasn't come for some reason, it's obviously not because of them.

According to the norm, with NER's performance, they should definitely win the newcomer award. I wonder how their company YG and the organizers communicated.

Ji Chang-wook rested his elbows on the table, propping his chin up with his palms. He was gazing at the large screen with a languid expression, seemingly unconcerned. However, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Kim Jun-myeon and Park Chan-yeol at the same table were looking very tense. They had their hands clasped together by their mouths, eyes closed slightly as if praying. Their anxious and worried expressions seemed even more intense than those of the Red Velvet members themselves. Ji Chang-wook didn't know what to say for a moment.

Hey, did the family drama get a little over-the-top Or did you guys just sit at the wrong table

The last newcomer award is...

"Red Velvet's coarse camilla!"

As the presenter loudly announced the award, the audience enthusiastically cheered in response. Kim Jun-myeon and Park Chan-yeol jumped up and cheered with laughter, clapping excitedly non-stop. This made Ji Chang-wook think that the two were about to walk up and receive the award themselves.

Speechless, he too stood up and smiled lightly, clapping. He watched as the members of Red Velvet were surprised to stand up, constantly bowing and greeting their seniors next to them. During the bow, Irene briefly met eyes with J-Hope who was clapping and winked before looking away. Following the MC's introduction, she walked onto the stage with her members, taking light, quick steps.

"Thank you to Teacher Li Xiuman, our staff members, and all the seniors who have been cheering us on and giving us advice. Also, to our parents watching on TV..."

As the captain, Bae Joo-hyun had obviously prepared beforehand and smoothly delivered a speech of thanks. However, when she got to the latter part, she suddenly paused, seeming somewhat hesitant.

Less than a second passed before she quickly continued her thanks, while her gaze discreetly swept across the direction of the artist seats: "And... someone who's always by my side... always with us, letting me, us, feel that we are loved... to Red Velvet's fans, thank you very much."

This heartfelt message seemed unprepared, her words stumbling slightly. The subject matter shifted mid-sentence, perhaps to avoid giving too much away or to sound more natural, deliberately changing from "I" to "we".

However, the audience didn't find anything unusual about it; at most, they thought she might be a little nervous.

But it seemed that Chi Jingyuan had sensed something. He leaned back in his chair, smiling with pursed lips as he watched the girls on stage. While feeling a sense of understanding, he couldn't help but mutter a sarcastic remark.

Although what Jennie said was sincere and touching, her makeup today is honestly a bit average. The black long hair that sticks to the scalp looks weird, and it's not as good-looking as her own private outfit hairstyle.

Full responsibility.

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