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Join the ServerThe day of the pictorial release for Pantheon and EXI.
In Izm’s underground practice room, Director Jang Young-bae was looking back and forth between EXI’s practice and his phone.
Inside the phone, the viral marketing companies hired by Jang Young-bae were actively working.
`[No comparison with other idols, but… since the pictorials are released simultaneously, it’s hard not to compare]`
`[Still, wouldn’t Kang-yul be better in the pictorial?]`
`[Most likely? Because Kang-yul is much better at expressing emotions]`
`[S.W’s expression is stiff to begin with lolol Though that’s his charm, indeed lol]`
They avoid getting caught by ending with words that seem like praise but aren’t.
Nonetheless, they steadily spread the conclusion that Kang-yul’s emotional acting is superior.
“Hmm.”
Jang Young-bae stroked his chin, satisfied with the company’s skill.
‘I wonder if I really have to go this far, but I can’t just pass over it either.’
Pantheon and EXI had a rivalry structure formed once, which ended with EXI’s defeat.
Even Jang Young-bae thought EXI would hit rock bottom at this rate.
– Leave the public opinion and fandom to me. Director Jang, you just focus on supporting their activities.
The CEO spoke with a smile.
Surprisingly, it turned out exactly as he said.
EXI’s fandom was steadily rising, far from dropping.
Even their brand reputation did not plummet.
‘Tsk, amazing. I can’t even guess what on earth they did. If even I can’t guess, it means no one knows. Are they using some magic or something?’
After having such thoughts, Jang Young-bae shook his head and returned his thoughts to reality.
In any case, EXI must wash away the image of having been pushed back by Pantheon once. Only then would things be settled cleanly.
Using a viral marketing company was for that reason.
Looking down at his phone again, counter-arguments from Pantheon’s fans entered his eyes.
`[No comparisons, please. You say no comparison and yet you compare]`
`[Exactly. Isn’t it too obvious? The intention is clear]`
`[Sun-woo is the type who pulls off whatever he sets his mind to. Did you not see the teaser released this time? The atmosphere is killer?]`
Jang Young-bae had also watched the teaser.
There certainly seemed to be a change compared to before.
Originally, while his digestion ability for specific concepts was abnormally high, there were doubts regarding the rest.
However, Pantheon’s Sun-woo in the teaser was clearly pulling off the emotional acting.
“Even so.”
Jang Young-bae muttered to himself and raised his head from his phone.
“He cannot defeat Kang-yul, though.”
Before the practice room wall mirror, EXI was visible.
In particular, Kang-yul, who would be the center in the pictorial, caught his eye.
“Now, everyone once again!”
Clapping his hands, he encourages the members.
Sweat droplets forming on the forehead and flowing down.
The choreography continued with a smiling face even though they were out of breath.
It was beautiful enough to remind anyone of a scene from a youth film.
To that extent, Kang-yul’s smile was bright and intense.
It was like looking directly at the sunlight rising over the hill.
This wasn’t Jang Young-bae’s impression alone.
As he looked around, the trainers and staff alike couldn’t take their eyes off Kang-yul. At the same time, smiles had surfaced on everyone’s faces.
Jang Young-bae was rather on the side of maintaining objectivity. Even in his eyes, Kang-yul shone to an amazing extent.
And, that kind of Kang-yul was captured in the pictorial.
“Right, that’s what is important.”
Jang Young-bae lowered his phone and approached EXI’s side.
“Now, everyone stop for a moment. It is the time for the pictorial to be released.”
Kang-yul glanced this way.
“Is that why you were here? Couldn’t you just check it, Director?”
Although he had done his best during the shoot, he held an indifferent attitude toward the result.
“I told you, Pantheon is also coming out together today.”
At that, the other members’ expressions stiffened slightly.
“Kang-yul, shouldn’t we check this?”
Lee Hee-woo, the dancer member, asked Kang-yul—
“No.”
“Ah, no. Director, we don’t have to watch.”
At Kang-yul’s immediate answer, Hee-woo immediately changed his opinion.
The other members also nodded.
To the level of almost blindly trusting Kang-yul’s opinion.
It reached a point where the words of Director Jang Young-bae did not work.
To them, Kang-yul was above Jang Young-bae.
Kang-yul knew that.
“Well, since the Director went out of his way to come. Shall we watch just once?”
That tone of speech, as if he were giving permission.
Actually, if Kang-yul hadn’t permitted it, they might not have watched until the end.
“Y-Yes. Let’s watch. Even if you are perfect, Kang-yul, we must monitor the other members.”
Jang Young-bae swallowed his resentment and lifted the tablet.
After twists and turns, Jang Young-bae and EXI set out to check the pictorial.
“Wow, as expected! Director, look at Kang-yul.”
“Yoo Kang-yul really shines.”
NEXT’s W season held a sporty feel.
A pictorial where the EXI members moved actively within settings of winter camping as well as skiing, which was a traditional winter leisure.
Even in the video released on Nutube, the members were laughing and chatting.
Kang-yul also giggled while throwing snowballs or running over to be hugged.
In all those scenes, Kang-yul was boasting tremendous liveliness and brightness.
“Good.”
Jang Young-bae smiled broadly.
They say the CEO gives Kang-yul separate, secret training. Although he didn’t know what that was either, it clearly had an effect.
Kang-yul was not ordinary from the start, but after meeting the CEO, brightness was being added day by day.
‘Unless Sun-woo achieved a growth beyond this, it is absolutely impossible.’
“Now, shall we watch Pantheon’s pictorial.”
Since he had told the viral marketing companies to stand by.
Now he only had to tell them to upload posts after checking—
“!”
Jang Young-bae’s hand, which clicked the first photo of the pictorial, froze.
“…Oh.”
“Huh?”
The EXI members also let out strange sounds.
Just, simply, a photo containing Sun-woo walking out from an alley.
However—
A calm atmosphere.
His gaze cast diagonally downward was filled with melancholy.
His eyes kept drawing to that expression, which did not seem intense at first glance.
Even so, it wasn’t that only the model stood out.
What the Demon God expressed was not the desperate emotion of an individual, but the melancholy anyone in the age group wearing URBAN CODE’s clothes could have.
Once empathy was formed with the model’s emotional line, the attire also drew closer.
‘How can this be?’
Jang Young-bae surged with a shiver.
He had considered it impossible unless he achieved a growth beyond Kang-yul.
“Heh—”
An exclamation actually flowed out from Kang-yul’s mouth too.
Although the EXI members read Kang-yul’s countenance, Kang-yul was staring at the pictorial with shining eyes.
Following the first photo, he searched all the photos including Pantheon’s other members, and even the Nutube video.
After quite a while, a word flowed out of Kang-yul’s mouth.
“Truly amazing.”
Just as Jang Young-bae wondered at the CEO and Kang-yul, Kang-yul wondered at the Demon God.
****
After the pictorial and video were released, there were reactions from the fans.
`[Those who said Sun-woo cannot do emotional acting, step out for a moment?]`
`[They said it’s hard not to compare since they are released simultaneously? Try comparing!!!!]`
`[Kang-yul did well too. He did do well… but if we must compare, if we absolutely must compare like the words picking fights said?]`
`[Where did they go lolololol]`
Actually, after the release, posts speaking comparatively were not seen.
Already, from that point, the result was decided.
Clearly, Kang-yul’s pictorial was also overwhelming.
However, the rivalry of overwhelming Kang-yul versus Sun-woo, who was unskilled in emotional acting, did not exist.
There was the overwhelming Kang-yul versus the even more overwhelming Sun-woo.
Furthermore.
`[For Pantheon, every single member has an atmosphere]`
`[Yeah yeah Tae-young, Yoon-seo, Ha-gyeom, Ji-ho… everyone is bringing out their own feel]`
`[Exactly. Since they are a group, everyone must do well rather than just one person standing out]`
For Pantheon, it wasn’t only Sun-woo’s pictorial that caught the eye.
Once sucked into Sun-woo, the charms of the other members could also be tasted fully.
Tae-young wearing a turtleneck and looking at the snowflake falling on his hand.
Yoon-seo walking somewhere, glancing back, and sticking his tongue out—bleh.
Ha-gyeom looking up with moist eyes.
Ji-ho standing, leaning against a building with a devastated feeling.
`[Is this really the way to digest basic & street fashion]`
`[Because of this, it feels like the vibe comes alive even more?]`
On the other hand, the taste of EXI was different.
`[It’s a bit… feeling buried…]`
`[Right? Since Kang-yul shines too much, the gaze doesn’t really go to the other members, does it?]`
`[Is it because of the composition? What is the reason?]`
`[Is it because Kang-yul’s visual is too outstanding…]`
They did not believe it at all.
The common factor of the two communities was that they did not believe the visible truth and considered it the fans’ composites and manipulations.
Pantheon’s fans didn’t say anything, but due to the aggro drawn, EXI was bound to be mentioned by other idol fans as well.
`[The talk of comparison must have been work done by Izm lol]`
`[But it failed, didn’t it lol?]`
`[They probably didn’t know the result would come out like this. They drew aggro relying on Kang-yul, but because it came out crazily well including Sun-woo]`
`[By now all work is probably stopped. Even if they do something more here, there’s no effect.]`
And, all of this flow was being monitored at Origin as well.
****
“Kwahahaha! Guys, you did it!”
The CEO leaped and rushed toward Pantheon.
When the Demon God lightly pushed him aside, Tae-young pushed him aside and Ha-gyeom pushed him aside too. Ji-ho was stuck tightly to the wall, in a position where the CEO would easily bump his head if he rushed.
“Yoon-seo!”
“Ugh—”
In the end, Yoon-seo became the victim again today, rubbing cheeks with the CEO.
“Ugh—Sun-woo Hyung worked the hardest, so do it to Sun-woo Hyung.”
“I want to do so, but there is no opportunity.”
The Demon God leisurely enjoyed comparing the pictorial and the video.
“Is it victory this time too.”
Defeating their nemesis was always a pleasant thing, but.
“But…, what on earth is Kang-yul?”
The Demon God also focused only on Kang-yul.
Setting aside the other members of EXI, Kang-yul’s existence itself was a mystery.
‘I confirmed he was human when we met directly. But can he be strengthened this quickly?‘
The light spewing out even more intensely than when the Demon God had seen him.
If it were an ordinary human, they would have reached the point of entering the fandom just by looking at him up close.
For an ordinary human to possess such an Aura.
“We shall continue to clash with them in the future too. Today’s victory must be viewed as a small battle.”
At the Demon God’s words, the CEO nodded.
“Of course. I heard they are already preparing for their next activities.”
They must not be pushed back in promotional volume.
Since it is an idol world where competition is fierce, if the promotional volume drops, they are bound to lose momentum soon.
“Then? CEO, how is the sourcing of songs going? The songs you played back then did not satisfy me, regardless of whether the concept was digested or not.”
“Ah, naturally we are continuing to source them.”
They were receiving songs from several composers, of course, including the CEO and composer Lucio.
It seemed Izm was more anxious than before to consume Origin, but strangely, their underhanded work against composers had weakened.
He couldn’t figure out the mind of the CEO over there, but in any case, it was a good thing that the song supply wasn’t blocked.
In the end, the emotional line practice was started to digest various songs.
Origin’s CEO went ahead and took out a tablet.
He seemed about to play a song right here.
– ♬♪♪♩
Slightly bright songs flowed out, while not suddenly departing from the atmosphere of the regular album.
“I think the concept this time should be ‘Hope’.”
“Hope?”
“You guys, who crash-landed in the desert, set out to find the fans, didn’t you? It’s like the hope that you will be able to meet soon.”
The connection with the overall narrative goes like this.
“Hope itself gives a different feel depending on how it is handled. It can give a completely bright feeling, and can also bring out a feeling of small hope.”
It was an excellent choice as an individual promotional track too.
“A moment where you are competent, quite unlike a CEO.”
“No, I told you I am basically a capable producer.”
The Demon God stroked his chin, focusing on the songs.
Emotions are connected.
When one emotion is suppressed, the ability to feel other emotions also drops. On the other hand, once one opens their eyes to one emotion, the understanding of other emotions also rises.
The Demon God was exactly like that right now. Following Lively, even Sorrow.
As a result of conducting the emotional line practice, confidence welled up regarding the songs containing hope too.
“Hmm.”
The problem was that among the songs, there was none that pleased him.
“CEO? Did you not say they were sourced?”
“Ah, no. I said we are doing it….”
“A moment where you are incompetent, quite like a CEO.”
“Ugh.”
Pantheon fell into silence.
The Demon God thought for a moment and opened his mouth.
“Is there no such thing?”
“Such a thing? I feel like something absurd will come out.”
“Is there not about one composing member in the group? I have been wondering since before why we do not have one.”
“An absurd statement indeed. Such cases are rare.”
Composing also requires talent and effort.
No matter how well one sings, becoming a capable composer was a completely different story.
Just because they are an idol group doesn’t mean they all possess a composing member.
“Really?”
The Demon God had a sullen face.
“Is there not even a member who has been cautiously putting effort, avoiding my eyes all this while?”
A question thrown naturally, as if demanding he hand over an item he had left in safekeeping.
The dumbfounded members stared intently at the Demon God, but.
“U-Um—”
A hand rose smoothly. The Demon God pointed at him and smiled.
“Look! Is there not!”
The members, even more dumbfounded, stared at Yoon-seo, who had raised his hand.
“Yoon-seo, are you perhaps?”
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