Chapter 29: The Squad Lost, But I Didn't

ple a little further away, to a small conference room. He reined in some of his smile, but didn't take it all back. He instructed the three agents, "Because of the new member joining, you must maintai...Since every company has limited resources, if you get more, others will have less. 。Although they are both groups under ** Entertainment, senior group fans wouldn't care about that. As long as their group's resources decrease and they can't see their idols often, they will scold EXO, who just debuted and is dividing the resources. 。Fans of groups like SJ, Girls' Generation, SHINee and so on are all like that. 。And ** company has no way to deal with this. 。On the other hand, compared to EXO-K who focused on the Korean peninsula, EXO-M who aimed for the Chinese market exploded with astonishing heat. They already garnered a considerable amount of attention before their debut, and after officially launching, they directly ignited the fandom. Among Chinese students, their popularity was extremely high, their fan base grew rapidly and fiercely loyal. The promoted member LUHAN stood out, being crazily pursued by many students. 。

EXO-M is so busy with various schedules that they can't keep up. Many music platforms, including television stations, have invited them to appear on their shows, which has surprised and delighted ** Entertainment.

On the other hand, EXO-K is not doing well. 。EXO-K's several months of groundwork prior to their debut seemed to be paying off, but the situation quickly changed after their debut. Their popularity plummeted almost immediately due to issues surrounding their title track "MAMA," including an unpopular music style and difficult-to-accept styling. This resulted in them failing to achieve the instant success predicted by their agency before their debut. 。

At the same time, problems with the insufficient strength of some members also surfaced. Their debut stage's muted videos were posted on various forums and ridiculed.

Of course, even though EXO-K has a flop vibe, it's not all bad news. 。Because during the time when EXO-K was being cyberbullied, although Ji Chang Wook was also affected, he didn't suffer too much. 。He has an outstanding face that naturally gives people a feeling of wanting to get close. His signature smile is very attractive to fans. 。...because of the style of the song "MAMA", during stage performances on music shows, Ji Kyeong-won couldn't smile throughout. Many parts saw him with a blank expression and a cold face... 。By contrast, the difference only serves to enhance his charm, keeping him at the top of his popularity. 。His debut video still gets a considerable number of views every day, keeping him relevant. 。And no one knows who uploaded it online. In their debut stage's muted video, several members performed disastrously. Several members' microphones were filled with breathing sounds, and many parts were out of tune. D.O. even broke his voice several times. After watching the entire video, the only one who maintained a consistent level without mistakes was Ji-sung. This has given his fans a lot of confidence. 。In many forums, if someone says something negative about EXO-K, there isn't much pushback and many people even join in. 。But if it's about Black Yuan, many times his fans will immediately jump in and start tearing each other apart to defend him. 。To put it in classic sports terms, 'EXO-K lost, but Yuan didn't.' 。Even though he was doing well, the growth rate of Ji Jingyuan's fans slowed down significantly. Without good songs or other works as a carrier to support him, even with his excellent qualities, it would be difficult to turn things around against the current. Even if he could maintain a good level of popularity, without works, it definitely wouldn't last long. Once the heat fades after a while, there will be a large-scale unfollowing. 。But because other members' fanbases didn't increase, and even saw a decline in fans during this wave of negativity, Ji-won stood out as the only one thriving within the group. 。According to ** Entertainment's internal statistics, Yuan currently has more fans than the other five members combined, leaving them in the dust. 。In recent days, on forums, there have already been discussions about "EXO-K being a unit consisting of Yuan and his five backup dancers" 。He also received a lot of praise for it, even his own fans liked and supported this opinion. 。Recently, due to his outstanding personal image, numerous and loyal fans, he has received some opportunities for advertising shoots. Although they are not major endorsements, the excellent results of his shooting have earned him a lot of praise from advertising companies. The opportunities he receives are increasing at an observable rate. 。

However, besides his personal schedule, EXO-K's group activities are very few, almost none. At the beginning of their debut, due to the company's support, they had quite a few appearances. But after their popularity plummeted and there was no further investment in resources, they couldn't get any more appearances.

If there were no pre-arranged singing programs due to resource allocation, the other members would either be sleeping in their dormitory or practicing in the company's practice room. It looks much like before they debuted.

Speaking of this, the manager Lee Seong-hwan got a headache. 。As a member of EXO-K and with his career directly tied to the team's success, he feels frustrated that the K unit is in this state. His promotion and achievements were all linked to EXO as a whole. 。"You know the signing event at Clear Cool tomorrow, April 27th you'll be on KBS Music Bank, and after that we go to SBS for MTV The Show " 。On the 28th, they performed on MBC and SBS stages each. Since then, there haven't been any other recent performances. 。Li Chenghuan flipped through his notepad and said: 。

"Another signing event… "

Chi Jingyuan heard the words 'signing event' and his head immediately ached.

Their first fan signing event as EXO-K was held in the Gangnam district on April 20th. The number of fans who came wasn't too many or too few, with most being fans of Ji-seong, whose line had quite a few people waiting. In front of the other members, there were only a few scattered fans, making it look particularly desolate.

And in front of fans, he absolutely couldn't put on a grumpy face. No matter how awkward it was, he had to keep a happy expression. At the time, the expressions of several teammates made Ji Jingyuan feel sorry for them. 。While Chi Jingyuan is quite popular, it's tiring for him to be the only one signing and shaking hands. Moreover, his individual popularity hasn't reached the level to carry an entire meet-and-greet. When the number of fans dwindles and there aren't many people around, he also feels extremely awkward. His long-standing pride has taken a considerable blow as well. 。On the 21st, there was another signing event held at Ri Shan. The scene was basically the same as before, and even fewer people came than last time. 。Overall, it's really agonizing for an artist who isn't very popular to hold a signing event like this and see that there aren't many people there. 。"

“What about the other announcements”

"It's still the same. We haven't received any schedules lately, you know how the group's situation is not good recently. The company has been hesitant these days whether to continue investing resources…"

Lee Seung-hwan shook his head, clearly looking worried." 。“If it weren't for you, I really have no idea what our K-team would be like now…”Lee Seung Hwan sighed, then looked at the rearview mirror with admiration and said in a tone of relief: “Before, I didn’t quite understand why Director Lee Soo Man suddenly chose you to join the group. Now I see that this decision was truly perfect.” 。Jingyuan, you were born to be an artist. You radiate even in these circumstances. 。Lee Seung Hwan had thought about what K-Team would be like if Park Ji-young didn't exist. Maybe the team's popularity and fanbase would be cut in half. After every music show, it would just be a few managers with assistants and 6 members hanging out in the practice room. 。It's terrifying. 。"

“This can’t go on, can it…” Chi Jingyuan looked out the window, somewhat helpless.

" 。"From the current situation, your debut song has indeed caused a negative impact. The whole EXO-K team hasn't reached expectations, and the company is quite troubled now." 。Lee Seung-hwan relayed the news he had heard: “The higher-ups have been arguing quite intensely lately, but M Team has shown really good results. They'll probably be having a meeting to discuss it in the next couple of days.” 。

"This novel is first published by the Traditional Chinese Novel Network.ome boys in school uniforms, accompanied by the addictive melody of "Roar," danced a synchronized knife choreography on stage. Every part and k was mesmerizing, making it impossible to tear oneself aw...