In January this year, Redvlevet released the hit single "Bad Boy", and IKON also released the annual single "LOVE SCENARIO" during this period.
In March, BIGBANG released "Flower Road" without warning. The girl group MAMAMOO, which relied on music to achieve counterattack, and the talent show boy group WANNAONE completed their comebacks this month.
In April, JYP’s popular girl group TWICE released “What is Love”.
Next is May, which was dominated by BTS's "FAKE LOVE". The debut album of the rookie group (G)I-DLE, the hit "LATATA", made a name for the girl group in the music charts that dominated the boy group. AOA, which has been around for a long time, also took advantage of this opportunity to launch "Bingle Bangle".
June is a month dominated by BLACKPINK, but after a period of fermentation, the theme song "PICK ME" for the sequel to the PD series began to be loved by more people.
At the beginning of this month, TWICE announced their comeback to the world with a gorgeous night dance. At the same time, Redvelvet released the trailer for "Power Up".
For Koreans, one of the impacts of the increasingly mature idol industry is that the days when these singers or groups debut or come back cover most of their time in the year, so that those singles are enough to turn into a personality. Symbols form an annual calendar that is not complete but special enough.
In this mid-July, which is full of heat and there is no sign of cooler weather, Pei Yourong is destined to be unable to welcome Redvelvet's return wholeheartedly like other fans.
After a short period of practice, the Alices also ushered in the moment of inspection by the instructor.
It was Zhaoyou and Li Hongji who accepted their training results.
"I like the name 'Alice'. Who chose it?"
"Gui, it's me."
"It turns out it was the captain who picked it up. It's well done and sounds better than that of a relative."
Zhaoyou gave Jin Caiyuan a thumbs up and also teased Pei Yourong next to him.
"What, mine sounds better." Pei Yourong muttered softly.
"What are you talking about? Trainee Pei Yourong?" Zhaoyou caught Pei Yourong right away. At such a distance, it was very difficult not to notice the trainee's expression.
"No...nothing." Pei Yourong shook his head carefully.
"This time we have been given a very long practice time to get used to it, so I hope that the five of you can sing this song completely as a demonstration of the results. Can you do it?"
"Inside!"
"Then let's get started."
The first part of "The World Reunion" was given to Jin Caiyuan, who was followed by Pei Yourong. The two girls served as the leader and lead singer. Many of the outstanding parts of this song were sung by them.
Soon, the song was finished.
"Well, how should I put it? Let's talk about trainee Kim Caiyuan first." Zhaoyou started her classic pen-twirling motion on her hand again, "Trainer Caiyuan, you give me the feeling that you have no emotions."
"When I sing, I can't hear the emotional part in it. What should I do? This is "The World We Meet Again"."
Jin Caiyuan's first reaction when she heard the comment was to nod vigorously and pretend to understand, but in fact she was in a very confused state now.
"Do you understand? Then sing the part just now again." Zhaoyou said again.
So Jin Caiyuan sang again.
After singing, Zhaoyou stared at Jin Caiyuan for a few seconds before speaking: "Isn't this exactly the same as before?"
"By the way, I don't know if you have read the audience's comments." Zhaoyou suddenly changed the topic, "I have read it anyway."
"One of the very interesting parts is that fans say our trainee Pei Yourong looks like AI."
"Actually, the same goes for you, trainee Caiyuan."
"It's just that the program used to program trainee Pei is very advanced, so she sings very emotionally, just like a real person."
"But trainee Kim Caiyuan is more like an ordinary robot. He doesn't use many powerful intelligent technologies, so the sentences he sings have no ups and downs like just now."
"You have to find a way to become more 'advanced'!" Li Hongji, who was standing next to him, suddenly interjected.
"That's right." Zhaoyou nodded.
When the two instructors were communicating, Pei Yourong had an unnatural smile on his face. It didn't feel good to be compared as an example.
Although she often said that An You looked like a puppy.
After Kim Chae-won, Heo Yoon-jin and other group members were praised by Soyou, especially the two Neon trainees, who were greatly praised by her.
When leaving the practice room, Jin Caiyuan still looked down at the lyric book in his hand, looking worried, as if he was in a serious dilemma.
In the last part of the class just now, Soyou gave her advice: "Be more confident, Kim Caiyuan, you are not a very weak trainee."
But all the trainees except her in the class were praised, so how could she feel confident.
"What should we do?" Jin Caiyuan asked himself in his heart.
After walking a few steps in the corridor, Pei Yourong quickly noticed that their captain was falling behind.
She turned around and saw Jin Caiyuan in front of the door, looking like he was thinking.
"Caiyuan——" Pei Yourong put two of them near his mouth to make a trumpet.
The shouting broke into Jin Caiyuan's ears without permission. When she raised her head again, the next person who broke into her field of vision was Pei Yourong.
"What are you thinking about?"
When Pei Yourong walked up to her, the fog that trapped her in Jin Caiyuan's heart seemed to dissipate a little.
"Yourong, you always look very confident. How do you do that?" she blurted out, thinking of Pei Yourong's figure on the stage.
As if aware, Pei Yourong lowered her head and glanced at the lyric book in Jin Caiyuan's hand. She did not directly answer the question from her relative, who was the same age. Instead, she asked him.
"What is the reason why you stand on the stage Caiyuan?"
"Eh?" Jin Caiyuan was a little confused by Pei Yourong's sudden rhetorical question, but she had also asked herself similar questions in her mind, so her answer was not too slow.
"Maybe... you want to show off your charm to your fans?"
"Is that so?" Pei Yourong nodded, then shook his head, "That's not all what I said."
"It's not just that?"
"Um."
Seemingly sensing Jin Caiyuan's doubts, Pei Yourong organized her words in her heart. At this moment, many people's faces could not help but flash through her mind.
Mom and dad, Bae Zhuhyun, and the girl under the stage who was jumping around and couldn’t name her, but could call her Unnie...
Jin Caiyuan saw that a calm smile that could be described as very warm suddenly appeared on Pei Yourong's face.
"As for me, I have someone I like and care about very much."
"When I think about standing on stage, the people I like might see me underneath or in front of the screen—"
"I can't help but want to make myself better and better."
"Perhaps this is what Caiyuan calls 'confidence'."
