297: 2ah

Upon hearing this, Cho Mi-yeon burst out laughing and hugged her waist. "Right, Rainie? Tell me, am I... *hic*!"

She let out a hiccup, wiped away non-existent tears, and continued her lament, "Tell me, why am I so unlucky?"

"I'm so beautiful, I have a great personality, a striking aura, and my singing skills are beyond reproach..."

"Stop!" Song Yuqi couldn't listen anymore and spoke up to interrupt her.

Being interrupted, Cho Mi-yeon's brain stalled for a moment. Once she realized what happened, she looked at her with a face full of grievance. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think?" Song Yuqi gave her a massive eye-roll; she had never seen anyone so narcissistic.

Oh... wait, it seems she had seen one before, and a fellow compatriot at that. Come to think of it, the two of them had even shared a bed. Tsk tsk, what a deep fate.

Seeing her finish speaking and start chuckling to herself, Cho Mi-yeon held her breath and suddenly shouted loudly.

"Ya!"

Song Yuqi was spacing out and was startled by the sudden loud voice, patting her almost non-existent chest.

Looking at her, she spoke with feigned horror, "Oh my god, you scared me to death."

"Speak," Cho Mi-yeon pulled her arm, maintaining her aggrieved expression. "Are you looking down on me?"

Without even thinking, Song Yuqi blurted out, "No."

"Yes, you are."

"No."

"Yes."

"No..."

"Hey, hey, hey." Seeing the two stuck in a loop, Jeon Soyeon grabbed one in each hand and pulled them apart.

While their attention was on her, she said with a smile, "Meiyan Ouni and Rainie, iKON's title track has been released. Let's listen to the song first, okay?"

"Mm-hmm, let's listen to the song first. Song first."

Minnie chimed in. These two had really had enough; it was complete elementary school bickering. Watching too much of it would affect one's IQ.

"Then..." Cho Mi-yeon scanned the room, and seeing everyone nodding, she said softly, "Fine, then."

Hearing this, Minnie swiped the phone from Song Yuqi's hand and searched for iKON's song.

Jeon Soyeon, Ye Shuhua, and Seo Soojin were the first to gather around, followed by Cho Mi-yeon, leaving only a speechless Song Yuqi behind.

However, she didn't say anything. After giving a pretty eye-roll, she joined them as well.

The intro of "Love Scenario" began to play.

The six of them were instantly captivated by the addictive melody, bobbing their heads to the rhythm of the song.

After listening to the Peninsula version, the six of them looked at each other in silence.

After a while, Jeon Soyeon sighed, "Genius really is unreasonable. Sigh!"

Song Yuqi nodded in agreement. "In an era where dance music dominates and sad love songs are everywhere, she has created yet another new style."

Minnie scrolled through the song's comments, clicking her tongue in amazement. "Aigoo, another massive hit. A god-tier song maker, as expected of my idol."

TWICE.

Lim Nayeon looked at the song's play count, her expression one of utter disbelief until she eventually covered her face.

She lamented, "It was just released! Over 200,000 streams and over 900,000 MV views. How are others supposed to survive!?"

Hirai Momo took off her headphones and remarked, "Tsk tsk, it really lives up to the saying: 'A Zoe production is always a masterpiece.'"

"A fresh, healing break-up ballad. It's pleasant and brainwashing. It would be a crime if it didn't become popular," Myoui Mina praised succinctly.

Minatozaki Sana scrolled through the comments.

"Help! As soon as the piano intro of this song played, I knew I was done for. I'm not leaving the house today! It's too catchy!"

"I don't understand Korean at all, but I can't help humming 'la la la' along with it. The melody is toxic!"

"Listening on loop while slacking off at work... this song has a magical power. My mood somehow gets better and my stress decreases while listening."

"Heard it in a coffee shop. It's so perfect for spacing out."

"Zoe is still Zoe. Even though she's a bit of a slacker, the quality of her work really can't be criticized."

"Of course! Do you think the nickname 'Dinghai Shenyou' is for nothing? *Smug face.jpg*"

"Dinghai my foot! Give me back the solo songs for Jisoo and the other three, Chaeyoung's collab, and T-ARA's comeback song! *Angry face.jpg*"

"Exactly! Who ever heard of a singer like her? It's been so long since she released a song. Where's her professional ethics? *Picking nose.jpg*"

"The person above is right, but you've got the wrong target. It's clearly Old Yang who won't let Zoe release songs. Don't blame the wrong person."

"Is this iKON a new group? Having Zoe write a song for them, they must be quite capable!"

"They debuted before BLACKPINK, okay? *Facepalm.jpg*"

"This group really lucked out. I see a lot of international IPs coming in. Leveraging Zoe's popularity, they've basically entered the US market indirectly."

"While that's a fact, you should take it easy. It's an unspoken understanding, you know? *Smug picking nose.jpg*"

"That's so mean. Aren't you fans afraid Zoe will be marginalized in the company?"

"What are you thinking? For a god-tier producer like her, who knows how many companies are eyeing her. Who would dare to give her a hard time? *Proud face.jpg*"

"..."

After reading the comments, Minatozaki Sana put away her phone and whispered enviously, "If only it were us."

Kim Dahyun nodded in strong agreement. "A real-life case of one song carrying a whole group. You can't help but be envious."

YG Manager's Office.

Leah saw iKON's popularity abroad and was nearly driven to madness, constantly rubbing her temples.

She spoke through gritted teeth, "Becky, I really want to beat Zoe to death. What should I do? That girl is my nemesis! Sigh!"

"Pfft!"

Several people almost couldn't hold back their laughter. Xu Zhiyou was the first person they had ever seen break the composure of the usually steady Leah; she was truly one of a kind.

"Laughing? You're still in the mood to laugh?" Leah glared at them.

"Ani, we were wrong."

They all shook their heads in apology. It was best not to talk back to an irritable boss, or you'd likely get caught in the crossfire.

Leah ignored them and continued to complain to herself, "The company's original plan was for us to arrange the solo schedules freely."

"With iKON blowing up like this, our solo plans have been completely halted, and all resources have been diverted." She suddenly turned to look at them.

"We've been working ourselves to death these past few days, and all because she wrote some lousy song." She paused. "And it was for someone else."

Thinking of this, she felt even angrier, her breathing becoming heavy. The team members were worried she might suffocate herself.

Seeing the veins bulging on her forehead, Becky asked weakly, "Leah Unnie, are you okay?"

Leah didn't answer her. She had to get it out and continued her rant, "She says she's just throwing something together randomly."

"And the result? She throws away a song that would have suited her own members. She usually seems so smart."

"Why does she do such brain-dead things? What, does she really think the company will be grateful to her for writing a hit for them?"

"She's just a show-off, no ambition, really making a spectacle of herself..."

*Ring ring~*

While she was ranting, her phone rang. Without even looking, she pressed answer and said irritably, "Who is it?"

On the other end, Yang Hyun-suk was stunned. Thinking he had dialed the wrong number, he pulled the phone away to check and saw it was indeed her number.

"Leah, what's wrong with you? Why so much resentment?"

"President?" Her brain took control of her body again as she adjusted her tone. "President Nim, do you have any instructions?"

Yang Hyun-suk had business to attend to and didn't care about her tone, getting straight to the point. "Leah, work on Zoe."

"While iKON is trending, have her write another song to consolidate their popularity. The quality doesn't need to be too high; the most important thing is that she wrote it..."

She didn't listen to the rest and didn't care to. After Yang Hyun-suk finished, she casually brushed him off, "Understood, I will communicate with her."

She hung up the phone and tossed it aside, saying disdainfully, "One song is enough to make our hearts bleed, and he wants another? In his dreams."

"Eh???"