Chapter Thirty-Seven A

to the bullseye, obliterating whatever was inside the camera.A deafening roar of cheers rose, and in close-up, Ji Jingyuan turned his head. He held a bow in his left hand, resting it by his side, shru..."Aixi, just a little bit more..."

Back in the waiting room, after the door closed, Park Chan-lyeol’s radiant smile from the stage disappeared. He scowled and slammed his fist on the table, muttering angrily.

The members' faces were also very grim. A few of them came in and sat down, covering their faces, looking dejected. The atmosphere in the waiting room was very bad.

Chi Jingyuan was the same, sitting in a corner, rubbing his temples with his hands, his face also looking rather unpleasant.

They just finished recording at the music center and came off stage.

In this week's Music Bank first place battle, they lost to the mythical group who returned almost a month ago by less than one hundred points.

Today is June 8th, their second week of promotions, and also the closest they've been to winning recently. It is also the first time EXO has stood in the front row during the final award ceremony of a music show since their debut.

It really feels good to be watched by everyone and constantly filmed. It's a pity that the result wasn't as expected.

Yesterday's M! Countdown didn't have a performance, and yesterday's Music Center they didn't even make it as a standby. Today they were originally scheduled to perform against the mythical "God" song that has been on air for almost a month. EXO was quite confident at first, but in the end, they fell short.

"We're only in our second week, there's still plenty of opportunity, don't give up."

Kim Jun-myeon pursed his lips and encouraged everyone.

Actually, he was the most disappointing one among everyone. Just now on stage, his expression almost got out of control.

"Junmian ge, our source ranking is dropping a bit too fast. This two weeks is our best chance to get to the top spot, otherwise…"

Do Kyung-soo said something in a low voice, but he stopped himself halfway through.

Everyone actually knows what's going on here, and under this kind of atmosphere he didn't continue talking.

"Don't give up, guys! There's still Uta no Prince-sama tomorrow. If we keep trying next week, there's still hope."

"And our sales are very good, and we also have a significant advantage in terms of ratings."

Brother Jin Xingxi looked at the crowd and spoke a comforting word.

"Inside, hope so..."

…………

Today's highlight on Inkigayo is... CL, the charisma queen!

Seeing MC holding up the trophy and cheering loudly, EXO's members stood behind smiling and clapping.

Even if you are not happy inside, you still need to control your facial expressions.

After a few polite claps, the members walked off stage and into the backstage area. The smiles on their faces gradually faded, and they walked stiffly into the waiting room.

The official K-Pop music show stage for the second week has ended, and they still haven't achieved their first number one win.

This comeback's results are already pretty good, both in terms of sales and chart performance. They stand out among male groups.

Being a top performer, especially on major television music programs, still holds significant weight today. It's a symbol of an artist's popularity.

None of them have won a solo or group award, and they aren't considered first-line or popular artists.

And EXO they're just one music show win away from proving themselves, but they always fall a little short.

But as 《Wolf》's ranking on the music charts continues to drop, the difficulty will also increase a lot.

…………

On June 13th, in the waiting room of M!C, the members were each sitting in their places, some playing on their phones, others lost in thought. However, few spoke, and it seemed like no one was particularly interested in chatting.

The sound source of 《Wolf》 has been met with some resistance these days, and it hasn't been consistently dropping. As of today, it ranks 37th on Melon, which is considered pretty good among boy groups.

It's only the third week of promotions, but yesterday for "Shoion" they once again encountered a missed opportunity.

Since last week, the members have been looking forward to it with anticipation, but they haven't gotten their first win yet. Their recent comeback schedule is very busy, and on top of that, they have to go back to the company for practice at night, so everyone's mood isn't very good.

"Knock, knock..."

A knock on the door sounded.

Come in.

The sound captured the attention of everyone in the room, and Captain Kim Jun-myeon immediately responded.

After the door opened, seven male idols dressed in hip-hop style stage outfits walked in and lined up at the entrance. They bowed to EXO inside the room and greeted them loudly: "Senior annyeonghaseyo, we are BTS, the boy group that debuted today."

"Annyeonghaseyo, we are EXO."

Seeing someone come to greet them, the EXO members all stood up to return the greeting. After returning the courtesy, Ji Kyoung-won glanced at the new boy group and suddenly his eyes narrowed.

Beside Wu Shixun, a few other people were also looking at each other with strange expressions. They glanced at one of the BTS members in the middle and then looked at Ji Kyung-won again.

They found a familiar face among the other's members.

The scene was somewhat awkward for a moment.

"Seniors' stage was really cool. This is our debut album, please take it."

The captain of BTS is a boy with small eyes and a very charming face.

Listening to his introduction, his stage name is 'Rap Monster'.

This stage name is really quite arrogant.

"Inside, we'll listen seriously. This is our EXO comeback album, please receive it."

Kim Jun Myeon exchanged albums with the other person, introduced themselves, chatted briefly, and then said goodbye.

As soon as the door shut, the members who had shown little interest in talking before immediately became very animated:

"Oh my, didn't expect to see him again. He actually joined another company and debuted there. So he's our competitor now, huh"

"Wow, I almost forgot about him! I can't believe he's actually debuting."

After all, they are trainees from our **. They are good-looking and it's relatively easy for them to debut in a smaller company.

"Jingyuan, how does it feel to see an old friend"

"I feel great, I wish them success in their debut and fair winds. " Chi Jingyuan tilted his head and smiled happily, giving his blessings with sincerity.

…………

"The second week of June, M! Countdown, will Lee Hyori reveal who the rightful owner of the No. 1 trophy is between EXO"

"Please announce the results!"

At this moment, on the M! Countdown stage, MC Lee Jun-ki and Taemin are holding microphones, laughing and hosting.

To his right, today twelve members of EXO stood in two rows as stand-ins.

They made an effort to manage their expressions, keeping smiles plastered on their faces, but in the eyes of a few, anticipation and anxiety were impossible to conceal.

Chi Jingyuan stood in the second row, his lips slightly pursed, also nervously watching the display screen on the side of the stage.

This is their third week of performances, the second stage. From this week on, the chance of each stage getting first place will decrease.

Besides the source of the sound, it is also largely related to the competition from several popular groups that will be returning next week.

Under the tense gazes of the crowd, the scoreboard began to calculate the scores.

"Lee Hyori VS EXO."

"Audio source sales score......"

"Record sales score..."

"Age preference for 19-39 years old..."

"M program play score…"

"Global music fans voting score..."

"Final total, Lee Hyori 6751, EXO 7259."

"This week's honoree is..."

"EXO, Kahmida!"

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First published on Chinese Traditional Novels Networkion and agreed on several key matters, such as salary, publicity cooperation, shooting schedule, and coordinating shooting time to conduct EXO activities, etc. Then they were ready to sign the contrac...