Chapter 317: Summer Maknae
In the summer of 2020, Jiang Shu, the godfather of girl groups, proposed the concept of a ‘Summer Battle’ and initiated a grand summer war that year, involving over seventy girl groups.
DM Entertainment’s girl groups were busy with the ‘Dual i Century War’ and did not participate, but in the summer of the following year, the first-generation concept girl group Red Velvet announced their comeback on July 12th with their fourth mini-album “Red Flavor”, and then the first-generation queens IZONE also announced their comeback after half a year, after completing their first round of tours.
On August 4th, they made their comeback with their third mini-album “Party” on their second debut anniversary.
IZONE’s comeback frequency was undoubtedly very low compared to other groups under DM Entertainment, but unlike the number of songs in other groups’ comeback albums, IZONE’s mini-albums had at least three songs, usually around five.
In some small and medium-sized entertainment companies, this would already be the configuration of a full album, so IZONE’s song count was not small.
With the addition of IZONE and Red Velvet, the 2021 Summer Girl Group Battle had already gained immense exposure before it even began.
...
Incheon International Airport, First Class Lounge.
Ahn Yujin looked at the figure slurping noodles in the restaurant, then slyly sat down next to Kim Minju.
“I say, Ouni, why is the Chairman coming with us to Maldives?”
Kim Minju pursed her lips upon hearing this. Instead, Zhang Yuanying, who was sitting next to Kim Minju, glanced at her. As the maknae in the same room, Zhang Yuanying knew what Ahn Yujin wanted to ask as soon as she opened her mouth.
“Ouni, don’t mind her. Let her say it herself.”
“Hey! Ouni, you can’t listen to Yuan Ying!” Ahn Yujin immediately became anxious when she heard Zhang Yuanying say that.
If she didn't pay attention to her, how could she gossip if she kept asking?
“If you make trouble again, I’ll tell the Chairman,” Zhang Yuanying threatened with wide eyes.
“What trouble am I making!” Ahn Yujin pouted and said, “And what does this have to do with you?”
“Why does it not concern me? Minju Ouni is my dearest friend and family!”
“Do you think I don’t know what you’re trying to say?” Ahn Yujin looked at her speechlessly and said.
“What am I thinking?”
“You—”
“Alright,” Kim Minju helplessly stopped her two noisy maknaes, one on each side. “The Chairman is just passing by. Unlike us and the teachers from the MV shooting team, the Chairman is going on a trip.”
Though she said that, Kim Minju was actually skeptical about Jiang Shu’s motives, but she couldn’t tell Ahn Yujin, otherwise, this ‘people-pleaser’ would start acting up.
The best option was to ignore her.
Seeing that Kim Minju was unwilling to talk more, Ahn Yujin stopped pestering her and turned her head to continue her ‘great battle’ with Zhang Yuanying.
Freed from Ahn Yujin’s entanglement, Kim Minju looked up at Jiang Shu, who was slurping noodles loudly.
Their song MV was to be filmed in Maldives, and they had already arrived at the airport when they received news that the Chairman would be going to Maldives with them, except they were for filming, and Jiang Shu was purely for travel.
Although that's what was said, Kim Minju was also wondering in her heart if the Chairman couldn't possibly be coming for her.
Jiang Shu, who was slurping noodles, could naturally feel the gaze from behind him. Once he sat down, it was impossible for the IZONE members and the MV shooting team to ignore such a large living person.
So why would the Chairman come here?
Of course, he came to play!
Hmm...
And by the way, to connect with his IZONE girls.
Jiang Shu hadn't met the IZONE members much recently, and he still missed these girls a bit.
Though he said he treated everyone equally, there were ultimately some differences.
Slurp.
He finished the last mouthful of noodles and picked up a tissue from the table to wipe his mouth.
Then he stood up and turned to look at the IZONE members scattered throughout the first-class lounge.
The first-class lounge at Incheon Airport has private rooms, but also a common hall. There were too many IZONE members, so they simply stayed in the common hall next to the restaurant. They didn’t really care about using these first-class lounge facilities.
Only DM Entertainment is so wealthy and generous. Other entertainment companies generally prepare business class tickets for their artists. First class is out of the question and only available to pillar-level artists, while some smaller entertainment companies even book economy class for their artists.
However, DM Entertainment, regardless of fame, always provides first-class tickets for travel itineraries. If first class is unavailable, then business class.
However, IZONE this time was not entirely in first class. Although all members were currently in the first-class lounge, only seven people actually had first-class tickets, while the remaining five went to the next-level business class.
The reason?
No tickets.
Narrow-body aircraft usually have a maximum of twelve first-class seats. This flight to Maldives, however, used a wide-body aircraft, which could have up to thirty first-class seats.
But the flight they were on only had twenty-four first-class seats. After accounting for other passengers, only seven seats remained for IZONE.
In the end, it was a random draw; whoever got it, got it.
As for Jiang Shu...
Although he bought his ticket the latest, his seat was still in first class.
He scanned around, finally fixing his gaze on Sakura, who was ‘working hard’ with a game console, and walked over.
Sakura was sitting on the very edge. She was playing a game, and no one else came over to disturb her. She was alone, and Jiang Shu didn’t notice her when he came over.
He stood beside Sakura and looked down at her playing the game. The scene of catching Pokémon seemed to be a game related to a certain Pokémon IP.
“Sakura.”
After seeing Sakura stop pressing buttons, Jiang Shu called out to her.
Sakura instinctively looked up when she heard the voice. Her pupils constricted when she saw Jiang Shu, and she immediately tried to get up, but Jiang Shu reached out and held her down.
“You play your game. I’m bored, so I came to watch.”
“Yes,” Sakura blinked and nodded in response, then lowered her head to play the game, somewhat distracted.
Her movements were noticeably slower. Jiang Shu saw this and knew that his presence was still affecting her.
When Jiang Shu first came over, no one noticed him, but after sitting and watching for a while, someone finally noticed him.
Soon after, a familiar fragrance suddenly appeared. Jiang Shu, who was looking down at Sakura playing the game, looked up, and what met his eyes was Zhang Yuanying, wearing a sports vest and revealing her long limbs.
“Chairman Oppa~~”
“Xiao Yuan,” Jiang Shu smiled at Zhang Yuanying.
“Chairman!” Ahn Yujin also darted out from behind Zhang Yuanying.
The young Ahn Yujin did not yet possess the mature aura she would later have, but with a height comparable to Zhang Yuanying’s, her more rounded figure was quite attractive to those with certain preferences.
No matter how much Zhang Yuanying gained weight, she only appeared less thin, while Ahn Yujin was genuinely healthy and rounded.
The only pity was that her aura was still that of a youthful girl, far from the mature, ‘auntie’ vibe she would have in the future.