Chapter Ninety-Nine: No Time

gyuan followed the crowd in the middle, slowly moving forward.Suddenly, he felt someone lightly poking his back with their finger.It felt very obvious, itchy. But he didn't react much.In less than two..."Hey, Jingyuan, there's a collaborative stage that needs K team members. Are you free recently"

Li Chenghuan got straight to the point and asked a question.

He is EXO's main manager. He used to manage Park Kyung-won for a while, but after Park Jae-hyun joined the team, he no longer manages Park Kyung-won and focuses on managing the entire EXO group.

Now, Ji Chang Wook's personal schedule is directly handled by the company and Park Jae Hyun. Lee Seung Hwan doesn't have a clear understanding of Ji Chang Wook's schedule; he might be able to find out by asking at the company, but it's faster to just call him directly.

"Hmm... sigh..."

Chi Jingyuan munched a few times, swallowed the hamburger forcefully, and after letting out a long sigh, asked: "What kind of collaboration stage"

“It’s MBC’s New Year Special on January 1st next year, the theme is roantitasy, there will be a special stage for Girls' Generation’s comeback, they want to collaborate with K-Team, with three people from each side pairing up, the song has already been chosen as《Marryyou》, Girls’ Generation’s manager contacted me, their first choice is you, the other two don’t really matter who they are.”

Lee Seunghwan briefly explained and then continued, "This stage will take about three to four evenings to practice, because everyone is very busy at the end of the year. There won't be time then, and there are only these few days available to practice. Can you make some time recently"

As soon as Lee Seung-hwan finished his first sentence, Ji Chang-wook put the speaker on. Park Bo-gum, who had been listening, also put down his hamburger, wiped his hands, and picked up Ji Chang-wook's recent schedule. After looking it over carefully, he shook his head at him.

"Mia, Cheng Huan ge, I've got my schedule packed these few days. My evenings are all filled with photoshoot and ad shoots, so practice time might be limited."

Chi Jingyuan sighed and refused.

It's fine, no worries if you can't make it. I'll let the others know and have the other three kids go instead.

Li Chenghuan didn't mind either, and finally asked with concern: "Jingyuan, even if you are busy, remember to take a rest."

"Okay, I understand Brother Cheng Huan, thank you for the information."

After a few casual pleasantries, the two hung up. Ji Jingyuan then grabbed another hamburger and ate it, as if he hadn't heard the message just moments ago.

He didn't have time, of course, was the main reason. On the other hand, he wasn't very interested in the collaboration stage with Girls' Generation either. Considering the current popularity and status of both sides, if it were a collaboration stage, EXO members would probably just be background dancers.

When he was young, his agent wanted him to go there because he was very popular recently and could increase the buzz.

It's a pity that I don't have the chance this time, but I will definitely next time.

…………

December 14th is the time for the Melon Music Awards, also known as MMA.

The MMA is considered one of the four major awards ceremonies in the music industry, and its awards are also quite prestigious. It is valued by many people in the music industry.

However, this time besides Ji-seong, the other EXO members didn't come. The company knew in advance that EXO wouldn't win, not even a newcomer award, so they didn't have them attend.

While Park Ji-won was nominated for 'Best OST', he attended the awards ceremony with Jeong Eunji.

I have to say, "All For You" is really popular. The song has become very popular with young people after being rearranged, and it has also become the hottest OST and duet song of the year thanks to the popularity of "Reply".

Basically, in the recent award ceremonies, whenever there is an award category for television drama OSTs, 《All For You》is definitely nominated, and the nomination inevitably leads to a win.

This song has remained at the top of major music charts since its release, never falling out of the top ten on the lon chart. Following this trend, when it comes to the year-end chart ranking, it is certain to be in the top five, and there is even a possibility of entering the top three.

There's no hope for anyone this year, nobody can beat Psy's "Gangnam Style".

As expected, the 'Best OST Award' was once again taken home by Park Jeong-won and Jung Eun-ji.

The acceptance speech is still the same one, which Chi Jingyuan has said many times in the past half month, changing the soup but not the medicine each time.

After receiving his award, Chi Jingyuan left the stage. This time, he didn't have a spot on stage and watched the entire awards ceremony from the sidelines.

One of the last awards, the Song of the Year, went to PSY, as expected. "Gangnam Style" was truly a hit this year, especially in Europe and America, leading a trend for quite some time. Since the Korean Peninsula is a country that admires American culture, it wouldn't be surprising if PSY didn't win this award.

The annual artist award went to the male group BEAST. They have won MMA's Annual Artist Award for two consecutive years, making them one of the hottest male groups in recent years with a large fan base.

But there's an issue that has to be mentioned, BEAST as the two-time MMA Grand Prize winners, the hottest top-tier male group these past two years, their album sales still can't surpass EXO.

Whether it was last year's debut album "FiandFact" with its hit song "fi" or this year's July release of their fifth mini-album "MidnightSun", all sales were beaten by the newly debuted group EXO.

Up to December 12th, beast's two albums sold 150,000 and 140,000 copies respectively, while EXO's debut album "MAMA" has already exceeded 230,000 copies.

Although the status of the two male groups is quite different now, their sales figures tell a contrasting story, reflecting some interesting issues.

It also showed that the percentage of hardcore fans among EXO's fanbase who are willing to spend real money on idols, such as buying albums for support, is much higher than other boy groups.

These die-hard fans have incredible purchasing power.

It is worth mentioning that this year's MMA Rookie Award went to Ailee and B.A.P. The former is a solo female singer, while the latter is a rookie boy group that debuted in January of this year. They are considered contemporaries with EXO, who debuted in April.

Ji Changwook remembered clearly that during the first few months after EXO's debut, when they were facing much hardship and criticism, the most vicious attacks came from online forums. Apart from fans of their own company's senior groups, the majority of the hate comments were from B.A.P fans and fans of other groups who debuted in March alongside them.

During that time, fans of several other male groups at the same time directly treated EXO as a soft target, constantly mocking and ridiculing them with comments like "the ugliest group," "the most unprofitable boy band," "disband quickly," seeming very pleased with themselves.

But as P.O's recent popularity has surged, EXO has also gradually gained momentum and there are fewer people who criticize them.

By now, the situation for several boy groups that debuted this year is almost set. We'll see who wins and who loses next year.

First release on the Traditional Chinese Novel Websitend connected, it's actually been a while since we've met in person."You're still asking Who would do makeup this early for a dress rehearsal"Jung Eun Ji put on a baseball cap and wore casual clothes....