Chapter 20: Don't call me Xiao Yuan!
The second day of IVE's debut.
As a full day of buzz fermented, IVE burst onto the scene, outperforming Rainbow Girls, surpassing senior girl groups, firmly occupying the top spot on various music charts, and achieving the historic feat of winning first place immediately upon debut. News of their success spread like a plague throughout the K-Pop scene.
As the most precise embodiment of the term 'vanity fair,' the most intuitive feeling of IVE's explosion in popularity was their schedule.
Various invitations poured in like snowflakes. Previously, after launching the group, they couldn't get any schedules even after begging, but now, everyone was rushing to offer them money.
This situation stunned the employees of DM Entertainment, who had never experienced such a scene, especially the administrative department responsible for accepting invitations. They were so overwhelmed that they had to borrow staff from other departments to handle the exorbitant number of schedule invitations.
Along with IVE's explosive debut, DM Entertainment, this once penniless entertainment company, also entered the vast K-Pop audience's sight for the first time.
To be honest, K-Pop audiences mostly pay attention to idols. Among behind-the-scenes companies, only the Three Greats are truly well-known. Slightly less prominent ones like Loen and Cube are not very famous. While DM Entertainment gained some attention from a portion of the audience due to IVE's popularity, that was the extent of it.
Even with the 'betting everything for IVE' buff, not many people paid attention to an entertainment company.
Compared to the company, these tangible idols were more real.
IVE and Rainbow Girls, a group launched by S.M. with concentrated resources, formed a stark contrast. The 'noble son from a humble family' and 'son of a wealthy family' presented a dreamlike contrast at this moment.
Such a dramatic and huge gap appeared just as girl groups entered their second generation, which caused many fans of Rainbow Girls to feel a great sense of disappointment.
Before IVE's debut, as the first second-generation girl group, their idols were the 'great princesses' who enjoyed immense favor. But with IVE's debut, the 'great princesses' seemed to have been demoted to the mortal world.
Who could bear this?
However, IVE's achievements were undeniable. Even boy group music was suppressed. The only way to criticize them was to call them a 'rigged group.'
After much thought...
It's better to blame S.M.
It's all the company's fault!
Online public opinion fermented quickly. 2018 was already an era of extremely developed internet, and IVE's ability to explode in popularity upon debut also relied on the developed internet.
DM Entertainment did not have its own public relations team, but currently, online public opinion is still positive and favorable to IVE, so there is no need to manage it for now.
Jiang Shu also wanted to build his own public relations team and improve DM Entertainment, but he didn't have the money.
Although invitations increased, it takes time for them to materialize into cash. Jiang Shu had already arranged for the human resources department to recruit new employees and a public relations team immediately, but this also requires time and cannot be rushed.
IVE also began their busy schedule.
Whether an artist or group is popular can be seen from the density of their schedules. Artists who are constantly on the go may not necessarily be popular, but those who stay at home all day certainly won't become popular.
K-Pop idols iterate extremely quickly. If you don't appear in public for a long time, it's normal for the public to forget you and for fans to change their affections.
IVE's individual schedules far outnumbered their group schedules. These advertisers were not stupid; they could clearly see the thick wall between IVE's twin stars and the other four members.
Some who didn't care much issued group invitations, but more often, they specifically invited Liu Zhimin or Zhang Yuanying, or both, without inviting the other four members.
The reason is simple: one more person means one more korean won, sir.
However, although the company was short on money, they couldn't engage in such extreme 'individualism' right after debut. They prioritized group invitations, and individual invitations were only chosen if they offered a lot of money, roughly splitting the schedule count in half.
They also couldn't arrange too many schedules. IVE was still in their promotional period, and they couldn't neglect the essentials for the trivial.
Although music show stages are very expensive, costing tens of millions of korean won for each performance, the exposure they provide is substantial.
IVE participated in MBC's Music Core today, and without any suspense, they overwhelmingly secured their second first-place win, achieving a two-time consecutive victory.
Late at night, past midnight.
The girls, exhausted from a full day of work, were 'unconscious' in their van, being driven along an unknown road.
The IVE van stopped downstairs at a high-end riverside apartment complex.
"Girls, wake up." The manager pulled open the van door and called out to the girls.
As the door opened, the hot air from outside rushed into the cool interior, and the 'unconscious' girls were awakened from their brief sleep.
"Ajussi, are we at the dorm?" Lily rubbed her eyes and was the first to get out and ask.
"Yes, come on out."
Zhang Yuanying groggily stood up and followed Lily out of the car, but she didn't see where she was going and bumped into Lily in front of her.
"Mianhae, Lily Ouni." Zhang Yuanying quickly steadied Lily and apologized.
"It's fine." Lily steadied herself, casually said something, then turned to look at the manager. "Ajussi, did we come to the wrong place?"
Hearing Lily's words, the girls finally noticed that this was not the complex where their dorm was located.
This building, which looked very expensive just from its appearance, where was this?
"This is the new dorm the CEO prepared for everyone at his own expense. It's also a surprise from the CEO and Xiao Yuan's first place promise." The manager explained with a smile.
The girls were all excited upon hearing this.
This high-end looking complex was going to be their new dorm?
"Let's go, hurry up and take a look." The manager said with a cheerful smile, beckoning everyone.
"Yes!" Their voices were loud, echoing around.
"Shh!" The manager was startled and quickly made a shushing gesture.
The girls also realized it was late and all made a zipping-mouth gesture.
"Ajussi." Zhang Yuanying didn't follow the members forward. Instead, she lowered her voice and suddenly leaned closer to the manager.
"What's wrong?" The manager looked at Zhang Yuanying in confusion.
"Can you please not call me Xiao Yuan? Just call me by my name." Zhang Yuanying said softly.
"Why? Xiao Yuan sounds so intimate." The manager asked, puzzled.
"That's a title only the CEO can use!" Zhang Yuanying looked seriously at the manager and said.
Manager: "..."
He looked at Zhang Yuanying's youthful face, then thought of his CEO's extremely handsome face.
"Xiao... Hmm, Yuan Ying, the CEO was born in '94, a full ten years older than you." The manager said earnestly.
"Yes, but you still can't call me Xiao Yuan!"
Manager: "..."
Is that what I meant?
Their eyes met.
A moment later, the manager gave in.
"Alright, I understand."
Zhang Yuanying grinned.
"Thank you, Ajussi!"
After speaking, she skipped away happily.
The manager looked at Zhang Yuanying's cheerful retreating figure, reached up to touch his weathered face, and couldn't help but sigh.
This damned modeling economy, can you even play without nerfing it?
Thanks to Party Leader for the 500 Starting Point Coin character reward for Liu Zhimin!
Thanks to the Remaining Wind zb book friend 229 for the Starting Point Coin reward!
Thanks to the Old Six, I'm the only book friend 100 Starting Point Coin character reward for Zhang Yuanying!
To help everyone become more familiar with the characters, the current age in the book's timeline will be added after the artist's first appearance. The ages of the six new IVE members who have already appeared have also been added earlier. This will only be done upon their first appearance and not every time to avoid affecting readability.