Chapter 207: Jiang Zhuxuan? Interesting.
On November 30th, the highly anticipated Red Velvet sub-unit of Bae Joo-hyun and Kang Seul-gi officially debuted.
One is widely recognized as the weakest member among second-generation girl groups, and the other is recognized as the strongest ACE among second-generation girl groups. Even Red Velvet fans themselves felt like DM Entertainment was playing a prank by forming a sub-unit with these two.
Putting these two sisters together for a sub-unit, isn't that just pure pranking?
The reason for such high attention was mostly that people came to watch the show.
A sub-unit of the second-generation's top ACE and the second-generation's top "useless idol"? What can you say? It's all highlights!
Even after it was announced that the sub-unit would perform on Inkigayo, the scalped tickets for Inkigayo that day were resold at four or five times their original price.
People who enjoy watching others' misfortunes are not divided by nationality. Facts proved that everyone wanted to see the first-hand spectacle.
At 9 AM, as per usual, an album distribution event was held punctually at the DM Entertainment building. Besides the first 100 lucky individuals, a large number of Red Velvet fans and people looking for entertainment gathered. In addition, a large crowd of onlookers also gathered online, just waiting for the audio to be released at 9 AM to watch the spectacle from DM Entertainment.
As Jiang Shu's archenemy, Yang Hyun-suk certainly wouldn't miss such a big spectacle from DM Entertainment.
YG Entertainment, CEO's Office.
Yang Hyun-suk sat in front of his computer, watching the time in the bottom right corner of the screen tick by. When the time reached "9:00", he decisively refreshed the page, and an album titled "Monster" appeared below the previously empty "Irene & Seulgi" section.
Yang Hyun-suk clicked on the album and purchased this mini-album, which contained six songs.
He didn't rush to listen to it. Following his professional habit, he first clicked on the album details and, as expected, saw Jiang Shu's name in the producer's section.
Yang Hyun-suk pouted.
"He really does everything himself, isn't he afraid of dying from exhaustion?" Although he said that, Yang Hyun-suk was actually extremely envious.
How useful is this ability to write songs without spending money?
Jiang Shu and Park Jin-young, oh right, and also Fang Shihe, who just started his own agency not long ago. These three are all top-notch talents, especially Jiang Shu. Park Jin-young and Fang Shihe both have obvious weaknesses, but Jiang Shu not only writes songs but is also excellent at managing girl groups. He's truly...
As a collaborator, the more capable Jiang Shu is, the better. But the problem is, they clearly cannot be allies.
Youth not only means that DM Entertainment has infinite possibilities, but it also means that he will not truly prioritize profit. Given his relationship with Jiang Shu, the possibility of the two companies collaborating is even lower than a sow climbing a tree.
Yang Hyun-suk sighed. After trying to destroy IVE and then seeing the rise of IZONE, he actually regretted it. Especially seeing the girl groups DM Entertainment collaborated on, Red Velvet and aespa, both becoming more popular than the last, while his ambitious project, Blackpink, was now struggling in the second tier. Not to mention competing with IZONE, even ITZY could easily defeat them.
Frankly, Yang Hyun-suk regretted it.
Sighing softly, Yang Hyun-suk clicked on the music video for the title track, "Monster."
Eerie background music began to play.
More than three minutes later...
Yang Hyun-suk silently closed the "Monster" music video with a dark expression and opened "Naughty," which also had a music video.
Another three minutes passed, and Yang Hyun-suk's face grew even darker.
Looking at Bae Joo-hyun's face on the album cover, he was filled with frustration.
The "Monster" music video was fine. Although it seemed that Bae Joo-hyun wasn't as bad as she was made out to be, there wasn't a direct impact. He just felt that her "second-tier waste" label was a bit harsh. But after watching the "Naughty" music video, Yang Hyun-suk realized something was wrong. The "Naughty" music video wasn't a story version; it was a practice room version.
A practice room version is truly a tool for judging skill, especially when it's just the two of them.
And what did Yang Hyun-suk see?
Bae Joo-hyun's dance rhythm was actually perfectly integrated with Kang Seul-gi's. This kind of harmonious scene usually only happens in two situations.
One, one party is extremely strong and can stand in a high position to accommodate the other to complete the performance.
Two, both parties have similar strength and possess a high degree of chemistry.
In both cases, there's a big prerequisite: neither person can be incompetent.
If even one person is incompetent, such a scene cannot be created.
The experienced Yang Hyun-suk naturally saw that it was the second case, meaning their strengths were similar.
Is this right?
To create such a spectacle, she was criticized for poor skills since her debut, for several months?
Is she sick?
Many viewers who came to watch the show had the same thoughts as Yang Hyun-suk.
Their thoughts were similar to Yang Hyun-suk's: Are DM Entertainment and Bae Joo-hyun sick?
They didn't believe that Bae Joo-hyun's skills had improved during this period. This isn't a wuxia novel where you can instantly gain enlightenment and use some cheat codes.
How can you cheat on a real stage like this?
So there's only one answer.
Bae Joo-hyun isn't truly incompetent; she's just pretending to be.
Damn it!
They didn't get to watch a show; they became the show themselves!
This was undoubtedly the most frustrating thing for those who enjoyed watching others' misfortunes.
While the spectators and haters were frustrated, the fans were excited!
Sister, if you were so amazing, why didn't you say so earlier?
With the broadcast of the second episode of "We Became a Family," the nicknames Yuan Shen for Zhang Yuanying and Pei Jie for Bae Joo-hyun, given by Jiang Shu, also became well-known. Bae Joo-hyun, having debuted with "Bad Boy," already had a strong "unnie" vibe, and with Jiang Shu's mention, herd mentality kicked in, and everyone started calling her that.
Originally, fans only praised her visuals, because they knew very well what their idol's actual skills were like. Any rational fan wouldn't praise her skills.
But now it's different.
So, sister, you were just pretending?
The fans' mouths were practically splitting from smiling.
Although the stage hadn't started yet and Bae Joo-hyun's vocal level was still questionable, just looking at her dance level in the music video, it was perfectly fine to call her Jiang Zhuxuan and Pei Seulgi!
To an outsider, the two sisters' dance skills looked similar; to an insider... they also looked damn similar!
That's Kang Seul-gi, the widely recognized ACE among second-generation girl groups, an ACE who excels in both singing and dancing.
Bae Joo-hyun's skill level is actually similar to hers?
Bae Joo-hyun, whose popularity was already at the top within Red Velvet, saw her popularity significantly increase due to the release of this music video, showing signs of a rapid rise to the next level.
Conversely, Kang Seul-gi, the other member of the sub-unit, saw her attention significantly diminished, with most of the focus falling on Bae Joo-hyun.
After all, Jiang Zhuxuan and the like... it was too impactful!
Although the music video was released in the morning, the Inkigayo performance stage in the afternoon had already gained another level of attention.
For this Bae Joo-hyun and Kang Seul-gi sub-unit stage, with Bae Joo-hyun's "true strength" exposed, countless people wanted to watch the live broadcast to see Bae Joo-hyun's true level.
Front row seats to the gossip!