74: First return

“You said that last time too, and what happened?” Kim Yerim pouted.

“Uh! It was an accident, last time was an accident, who knew they’d debut so fiercely.”

“You know that was their debut, but this time it’s a proper comeback. Are you sure we can do it?”

Kim Yerim was traumatized by it. Getting first place was like eating and drinking for them; it was too impressive to bear.

“We also made it onto the year-end chart, that’s good enough. Why do we have to fight for first place? This is fine.” Who told them they weren't a creative girl group?

Creative girl groups are naturally very good at attracting fans, and what’s more, all five of them are top-tier beauties with very recognizable looks.

“We can do it. Even if we can’t, we have to. That’s how it is.” Bae Joo-hyun made the decision on the spot. At the end of the year, every industry is competitive.

“Irene, you don’t sound very confident when you say that!”

“Kang Seul-gi, are you deliberately trying to get attention?”

“Mianhae, Irene, I won’t do it again.” Kang Seul-gi immediately backed down when she saw Bae Joo-hyun, who looked like she wanted to kill her.

“Hahaha!”

“Yeri, are you trying to die? No laughing!”

...

Soon it was time for their comeback, and a large number of fans online were watching their MV videos.

“Ji-soo, as soon as it started, I was hit with a beauty attack. After Ji-soo, it’s Zoe. This wave is not a loss.”

“Wow, is Lisa’s fire real? It’s so explosive! Still that same vibe!”

“Jennie, it still has to be my Jennie, but who is this person she’s hugging? How dare she take advantage of our Jennie.”

“Our Rose was also hugged by someone. I swear I’m going to kill him. Why should he get to, when I can only watch?”

“Don’t be delusional. The theme of this comeback is love. What’s wrong with a hug?”

“Is our Floor-Mopping Meat not mopping the floor this time? A bit of a shame!”

“You’re the Floor-Mopping Meat! It’s called Australian Floor King, okay? Don’t ask me why, just ask Zoe, who gave her the title.”

“I love this piano intro, it’s so good to listen to, and the people are so beautiful!!!”

“It’s good, really good. Zoe, I love you!!!”

“You guys should go watch ‘Stay’! That song is absolutely amazing. I never thought BLACKPINK would have this style of song.”

“I thought no one would mention ‘Stay’. Close-up shots appear frequently, but the song sounds a bit sad. As soon as the intro plays, I start to cry.”

“It’s beautiful, really. Please make more songs like ‘Stay’. Our Ji-soo is perfect for this kind of song. It’s so good.”

“Let’s all go to Zoe’s Instagram and leave comments, asking her to release more ballads. Who’s coming with me?”

“I’m +1.”

...

“+10086.”

...

“Rainie, Zoe is so talented! It’s so good to listen to!”

“Don’t wipe your snot on me!” Song Yuqi was utterly disgusted. What was going on? She hadn’t realized Minnie was so sensitive.

“Don’t you think so?”

“Isn’t this how it should be? What’s so strange about it?”

“You have no heart, boo hoo!”

“Uh, why do I have no heart?” Song Yuqi was completely bewildered. What was all this about?

“How well written ‘Stay’ is, and they sing it so beautifully, and you have no reaction!”

“What kind of reaction should I have? Wipe snot on others like you?”

“Yah!”

Minnie might have been too excited, plus she had just cried, and a snot bubble even came out, which made Song Yuqi laugh uncontrollably.

“Hahaha! How old are you, still blowing snot bubbles?”

“Don’t look at me, yah! You’re still looking.” Minnie’s little face instantly turned red.

“Wipe it, I won’t look at you! Hahaha!”

She looked up and saw Song Yuqi still staring at her. “Yah! I told you not to look at me.”

...

“Sigh! No chance, we’re going to get crushed again.” Kang Seul-gi gave up completely. Their songs weren’t even in the same league, and most importantly, Xu Zhiyou was just too good at filming.

“You know it, so why say it?” Kim Yerim looked at Kang Seul-gi unhappily. What she said was too embarrassing.

“Just a sigh, but Ji-soo is so suitable for this style! Tsk tsk tsk, it’s beautiful.”

“Aren’t you all going to talk about the group’s producer? Two more hit songs. Aren’t you shocked?”

Park Soo-young was wondering what kind of monster Xu Zhiyou was. This was already four consecutive hit songs, and it looked like another hundred-million-view masterpiece.

“The producer level isn’t something we should worry about. Besides, we can’t write songs, so why are you worrying about this?”

“But she… sigh! Never mind.”

Indeed, they didn’t understand songwriting. This was something the company should worry about, not them.

“Right, it’s good that you’ve understood. But I really envy her songwriting ability. I wish I had that ability.”

“Come here, Seulgi Unnie, you can lean on my lap.” Kim Yerim sat down and positioned herself for Seulgi to lie down.

“Yeri, are you crazy? I’m not tired!”

“Who said you were tired? It’s broad daylight, you can lie down and maybe even have a daydream.”

“Yah!”

“I love this song so much. I wish I could sing it. After their comeback ends, I’ll get the copyright and cover it.”

Son Seung-wan really liked the style of ‘Stay’. It was a genre she excelled in.

All four of them stared at her. This must be the definition of being open-minded. They were on a different dimension.

“What are you looking at? The song is good, so what if I like it?”

“It’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with it, no problem!”

Bae Joo-hyun felt that her team members were, how should she put it, some were childish, some were crazy, not a single one was normal.

...

“Zoe is too good, making Ji-soo look so beautiful.” Lim Nayeon watched it over and over again, always struck by Ji-soo’s beauty.

If they hadn’t grown up together, she would have felt like she didn’t know Kim Ji-soo; she was too pure.

“There are so many close-up shots. How about, Nayeon-onni, you go talk to the CEO and suggest we also adopt this filming method to highlight our individual characteristics.”

“Dahyun, they painstakingly went through every single shot. Ji-soo told me that their two MVs combined were a little over eight minutes, but they filmed for more than two weeks. Is that possible for us?”

Lim Nayeon didn’t mention one more thing: who would film it? They wouldn’t know how. The parts were divided to perfectly suit their individual characteristics.

This wasn’t something that could be decided by a single shot. No wonder Kim Ji-soo always boasted to her about their leader; they really weren’t on the same level.

“Ziyu, how about you ask Zoe to write a song for us?” Park Ji-hyo suddenly suggested.

“Uh!” Chou Tzuyu was completely bewildered. What was she supposed to say?

“Don’t be silly. Zoe doesn’t even give face to YG’s CEO Yang. How can you ask Ziyu to say that? They’ve only known each other for a short time. It’s not realistic.”

Jeongyeon quickly came to Chou Tzuyu’s rescue. It really wasn’t appropriate!