It was already three or four o'clock when Chi Jingyuan returned to the dormitory. In the silence, his movements of changing shoes became much lighter. After washing and washing quietly, he walked in and found that Wu Shixun was not asleep yet. He was lying on the bed with this dark circle under his eyes. He was tapping his cell phone quickly. Looking at his brows illuminated by the phone's light, he must be in a bad mood.
Judging from his appearance, if he guessed correctly, his father must be having a conflict.
However, he has been dating this girlfriend for several months now. Based on Chi Jingyuan's understanding of him, it's almost time for the passion to dissipate.
After Chi Jingyuan walked into the room, he glanced at him without communicating. He lay down on the bed and flipped through his phone. Just as he was about to go to bed, his hand suddenly shook. He received another text message so late.
The light in the dark night was a bit dazzling. Chi Jingyuan squinted and looked at the sender. It was from Najing Nan.
"Thank you (smiley face)."
Just now, Zhou Ziyu said she was going back to the dormitory after get off work and she stopped sending text messages. Based on the time, it was estimated that twice had just returned to the dormitory not long ago.
I actually had time when I was in the practice room before get off work, but Ming Jingnan specifically chose this time to send a text message. I don't know if he noticed Zhou Ziyu's movements before and deliberately staggered the time.
Chi Jingyuan typed a few words and replied to her: "Why don't you go to bed so late?"
In fact, he could probably guess what Najing Nan was thanking for. It was probably because he had added a lot of parts to her just now, which made her who was originally ranked last jump to third place in terms of the length of the part.
Maybe it was because Chi Jingyuan praised her and designed exclusive actions for her bridge.
Although I know it, it would be meaningless to say it directly.
"You know (wink)..."
Mingjing Nan was also very smart and did not continue Chi Jingyuan's words, but rather playfully exposed him.
"Mina xi, are you talking about the part assignment and the compliment you just had on your bridge singing?"
Chi Jingyuan didn't feel embarrassed at all, but asked instead.
"Yeah (purses lips)."
"Actually, it's not a compliment, it's just telling the truth. One of the parts in "Like OOH-AHH" that impressed me the most was your two bridge sentences."
"Really?"
"I gave it to you because I thought you were really suitable for singing bridge. Do you think it's because you have a nice smile?"
Naijing Nan, half lying on the bed, covered with a quilt, looked at the news on the screen, grinned, and his teeth were exposed, and his glasses were curved very nicely.
She read the text message twice again. The noise coming from the side disturbed her train of thought. Najing Nan glanced to the side, then looked away, smiled and replied quickly:
"Hehe... now I suddenly feel a little hopeful that it is because of the reasons behind."
"That's such a pity... Okay, don't think about it so much, go to sleep."
"Good night."
…
On February 1st, Chi Jingyuan returned to work on the set as usual.
The crew of "Signal" is on the right track. Both the staff and the actors have gotten along well with each other. In addition, the results of the two weeks of broadcasting are gratifying. Although it will be a little tiring during filming, the atmosphere of the entire crew is very good. Most of them Everyone is talking and laughing.
After just two days of filming, Chi Jingyuan got off work a little early on the 2nd, but this time he didn't go to JYP, but went directly back to the dormitory.
"Finally, let's discuss the situation of the songs in this album. If you have any opinions, please confirm them as soon as possible. I will report them to the company tomorrow. The songs included in the third album will be finalized soon."
When Chi Jingyuan came back, others were already waiting for him in the dormitory. After a little tidying up, all nine EXO members gathered in the living room of the dormitory and sat huddled on the sofa. A few people simply sat cross-legged on the floor. , and manager Li Chenghuan clapped his hands after seeing everyone gathered, and presided over the private meeting of the members.
As EXO debuted for a longer period of time, and their popularity exploded, and they became the new pillars of SM, they have gradually had more say in their own activities and comebacks. The company now refers to the members' own suggestions in many aspects.
For example, for this time's official third album song selection, the company has given up the right to choose some songs. The opinions of EXO's own team will play a very critical role.
This time we got together to discuss this matter, but the people present were all very familiar members, and it was far less formal than when meeting in the company. They all sat loosely in slippers, and some people just opened two bags of snacks and took them out. Talk while eating.
""Heaven" must be included, my brain is about to explode because of writing lyrics." Park Chanyeol said with a somewhat eager attitude.
In addition to Ji Kyung-won, several members of XO have been trying to create songs. However, some of the things they produced before were looked down upon by ordinary companies. This time, out of consideration for the market, Park Chanyeol and Kim Jong-dae Several songs that several people participated in writing lyrics were shortlisted for inclusion.
"There should be no problem with your song... Put the included songs aside first, and let's agree on the title song first." Li Chenghuan frowned and interrupted him, bringing the focus of the discussion to the title song.
Jin Junmian held a cup of coffee, lowered his head and flipped through the information and said: "This time it will be a double hit. "Monster" has been confirmed to be the first hit. Which of the other songs do you think is more suitable?"
After the third album's comeback plan was proposed, many production meetings have been held. The format of this review has been determined before. This time EXO's third album will not be divided into four months like last year's second album. The monthly release has achieved such amazing momentum, but it will return to SM's usual routine of releasing two albums every two months in the form of original version and reissue.
However, SM Company did not mess up. This time, both the original version and the reissue will adopt the form of double hits. In terms of song selection, they purchased hundreds of songs that fit the style from the music library and from outside.
"We have pretty much discussed it last time. Among the remaining candidate songs, there are only a few that are of high quality and are relatively good."
""Fire", "Lucky One", "Missing", "Lotto"..." Bian Baekhyun also flipped through the information and read out several candidate names in sequence.
In fact, they didn't even need to look at the information. They had listened to these songs many times when choosing them, and many of them could actually sing them.
"I think "Lucky One" is good. The style is great." Do Kyung-soo raised his hand and expressed his opinion directly.
Baekhyun's eyes lit up and he echoed, "I also think "lucky one"."
"I think "Lucky One" is average... I like "Miss You" the most. The sound source of this song must be very good, it really sounds good." Jin Jongdae is a loyal fan of ballads, and he couldn't help himself after saying it. He hummed a few words: "I miss you, I miss you..."
"I like "fire"..."
They have actually discussed this topic many times in private, but everyone likes different styles and they have never been able to reach a unified opinion.
"Jingyuan, what do you think?" Jin Junmian looked at Chi Jingyuan.
Regarding music, EXO members still believe in Chi Jingyuan's professional ability and vision. In this regard, Chi Jingyuan's advice is very important.
"Me? I can do whatever I want."
Just as he put a potato chip into his mouth, his name was called. Chi Jingyuan swallowed something and answered vaguely.
"Don't be casual. "Monster" is the title song that has been confirmed. Among the other candidates, "Fire" and "Missing You" are both your own compositions. Among them, "Fire" and "Fire" were the songs you proposed to add to the collection. Give me some advice."
Seeing Chi Jingyuan looking so lazy and immodest, Bian Baekhyun complained a little dissatisfiedly. After speaking, he glanced here twice, then stood up, walked over and took a pack from his feet politely. The unopened potato chips sat back.
"'Fire' is not my own composition."
Hearing this, Chi Jingyuan quickly swallowed the snack, coughed and emphasized seriously: ""Fire" is a song written by producer Jiang Xiaoyuan. I only participated in the arrangement and lyrics. It is considered a second song at most... …”
Last year's regular second album Chi Jingyuan not only provided a return model, designed some promotional plans and participated in determining the overall style, but also included several self-composed songs, including "Spring Day" and "Boy with Luv", which are of high quality. Big bang song.
However, in this year’s third album, he was not as deeply involved as last year.
First, because last year's second album somewhat emptied his music library.
Ordinary songs are easy to come up with, but high-quality songs are not unlimited. He has only had so many inspirations in the past two years, and there are only two songs like "Boy with Luv".
The second reason is because Lee Soo Man has already communicated with him. His solo project should be officially launched in the second half of this year, or at the end of the year, so he has to leave a few songs for inclusion. It’s just that the title song hasn’t been decided yet, so that’s okay with him. inspiration.
Even so, Chi Jingyuan still put a lot of effort into selecting songs this time. In addition to recommending "fire" with a relatively unique style, he also came up with three self-titled songs including "Missing You". Composed, but the other two songs may be of average quality and were not selected by the company.
"Then "Missing" was written by you, right?"
"Well..." Chi Jingyuan was asked. He put down the potato chips in his hand, raised his eyes and thought about it seriously before saying: "Actually, among the several title songs, I am most optimistic about "Missing You", but this song is too It's more lyrical, and the style doesn't match the theme of our comeback this time. It's not very suitable to be the main album, and the company intends for us to test the overseas market this time. Kpop ballads are not popular in the English-speaking area..."
"Actually, this song is particularly suitable to be the title song of our winter album. However, the styles of the songs included in the third album this time are too strong, so I recommend that you come in to moderate it a bit, to take care of fans who don't like overly explosive styles. And Being all dance music will affect the sound source performance, I think at least the sound source performance of "Miss You" should be good."
"I recommend "Fire" because the style is relatively unique. If it is paired with excellent choreography, it will appeal to European and American fans... In addition, "Monster" is actually very good as the main song, and its style is among the Kpop dance music. It’s groundbreaking and of very high quality, so I don’t care if the other hit song is “Fire” or “Lucky One”, but if I really had to choose…”
At this point, he felt that all the members around him were looking at him, but Chi Jingyuan didn't show any signs of nervousness. He picked up another potato chip and put it into his mouth: ""Fire", "lucky one"...it's a bit ordinary, After listening to the whole song, I think there are only two lines that stand out, which are not as good as "lotto"."
Hearing his words, several members around him nodded slightly. They were obviously affected by him. Even Kyungsoo, who liked the song very much, was not so insistent.
"That's right." At this moment, Do Kyung-soo remembered something, poked him and asked, "What was the name of the song you asked me to record the demo last time?"
""answer"" Chi Jingyuan gave the answer after briefly recalling it.
"I think this song is pretty good. It's also a dance song for a boy band."
"It's too late now, we've already reached this point." Chi Jingyuan thought about it and shrugged.
"Actually, I think the song we wrote the lyrics for is actually quite suitable for the title track." Kim Min-seok offered an opinion from the side.
"Oh?" Hearing this, Chi Jingyuan became interested. He looked over and asked, "Brother, how is the progress of your song?"
This was a task given to them by the company and Kenzie, to write lyrics for a song provided by PDOGG, a new musician to the company. However, due to limitations in style, Chi Jingyuan did not participate much and left the work to other members. After that, he did not do much. Attention.
However, this song is very good. Although he did not participate much in the lyrics, he played a part in the arrangement. The quality of the final product must be checked by him.
"I was just about to tell you. It's basically completed."
"That's good. I'll take a look at it later." Chi Jingyuan nodded and asked casually: "What's your name?"
""Blood and Sweat", we thought about the name for a long time, what do you think?
"Well, isn't that a little exaggerated? Even if the debut is not smooth, it won't be 'blood and sweat', right?"
"It's an artistic technique, as long as fans like it..."
"Okay... let's just say that."
In the end, everyone in EXO unified their opinions in a friendly atmosphere.
The quality of last year's second album was too high. Except for a few hit title songs, all the songs in the album were excellent. Huge resources were invested in promotion, and a new and special return model was adopted. In addition, The gimmick of competing with Big Bang for the top spot, under various conditions, created an album that is difficult to surpass in the history of Kpop and is almost a milestone.
This year, although SM has also given a lot of resources, including hundreds of song selections in the music library, it is already very supportive, but it seems that whether it is the mode or the songs, they always pale in comparison to last year. , both the company and the members of XO vaguely feel this way.
But this is reality. High-quality hit songs are not so easy to appear. Songs like "Roar" and "Boy with Luv" only appear every few years in kpop.
If it's a little weaker, just be a little weaker. Chi Jingyuan thinks it won't have any impact.
Today's EXO has long passed the period where they can't play if they can't sing well.
At this time, they could really do whatever they wanted to do, and no matter what song they released, it would become popular. If their debut song "MAMA", which was extremely disliked at the time, had been released now, it would have won more than a dozen first place awards, at least It has also been able to sweep the music industry for a while.
Even now, "MAMA", a song with extremely poor reviews at the time, has been regarded by fans as one of the "greatest debut songs". If listeners who have been listening for 12 years look at today's evaluation, he will have a kind of It’s an illusion that it’s not a song.
And in fact, the quality of the songs in the third album this time is already very high. There are several songs of the title song level alone, especially the two songs "Monster" and "Missing You". Chi Jingyuan feels that the quality is very high, not to mention others. Small companies will be jealous after seeing this kind of song resources, and even other groups within SM are very jealous of EXO's treatment.
Anyway, he is quite looking forward to this comeback...it should be much better than Twice's "Cheer Up".
…
It was another two days of filming schedule, and on the afternoon of the 4th, Chi Jingyuan took half a day off, left the crew, and returned to the company.
But this time I’m not going back to the old building in Cheongdam-dong. Starting yesterday, the offices of most SM employees and the offices of all its debut artists have been officially moved to the new building in Samseong-dong. Chi Kyung-won today I want to see the new building and the environment of their new EXO practice room, and also attend the final production meeting of the third album.
The location of the new SM building is very good, and the transportation in Gangnam District is also very convenient. After exiting Exit 6 of Samseong Subway, turn left and you will find SM COEX, where they often hold some activities. Then walk for ten minutes to the new SM building. communication, and coincidentally, the new building and the old building are actually very close to each other, and it only takes less than ten minutes to walk.
The three main event venues are all very close to each other, and they are all located in Gangnam District, where land is at a premium. SM's wealth is clearly revealed.
After Chi Jingyuan got off the parking lot, he looked up at the new building. He couldn't count how many floors it had, but the decoration of the exterior walls looked very good. The whole body was still the same sea-blue glass wall as the old building. On the front, the bottom two floors are made of floor-to-ceiling windows specially made of tempered glass, and you can vaguely see some decorations and figures inside.
"The first floor is a cafe and restaurant. Currently, it is only for employees and artists within the company." The assistant waiting for him at the door welcomed Chi Jingyuan in. When he saw him looking aside, he introduced him very enthusiastically. Qi Qi: "However, the company plans to open the restaurant on the first floor to the public in the future, and the underground floor will be opened as a gift shop, which will also be open to tourists and fans in the future, but the first floor will be the internal area.
"Isn't it easy for fans to squat down?" Chi Jingyuan looked at the interior decoration and asked casually.
"Artists and staff will have special access, and they are not the same as tourists." The assistant replied, and then said with a smile: "But for celebrities like Jingyuan who are too popular and have too many fans, it is indeed possible You’ll get more food if you squat.”
Without hurrying up, Chi Jingyuan smiled and walked around with his assistant.
The decoration is fashionable and exquisite, the bright and warm-toned walls are very comfortable to look at, and the bright lighting makes the entire floor comfortable and dazzling.
There are also various SM artists' peripherals, pictorials, wallpapers and other things that represent the culture of the entertainment company placed in many places. Chi Jingyuan also saw his own peripheral dolls and the large posters of him and EXO hanging on the wall.
When you passed the restroom, did you go in and take a look? Even the restroom is decorated with marble and gold edges, full of strong Instagram style.
No matter where it is, the decoration, lighting, lining, or even the atmosphere, the new building is different from the old building. Changing from the old building to working here is like EXO changing from the cramped and cramped dormitory of the trainees to the one they have now. Like a very large apartment of several hundred square meters, it is a kind of spiritual sublimation.
Finally, we say goodbye to the blue sky and white clouds practice room where the air conditioner breaks down from time to time.
After walking around Chi Jingyuan, he couldn't help but feel better. With a feeling of relief, he followed the assistant into the elevator.
Although the decoration of this building is good, it actually doesn't make Chi Jingyuan feel amazing. After all, he has seen too many good places. If nothing else, this place is much worse than his home.
But no matter what, it is really a happy thing to be able to improve the working environment and say goodbye to the old building where the elevators often squeak.
"Our XO practice room is on the fifth floor, and other artist practice rooms are also concentrated on the 5th and 6th floors."
"Each group of artists has a different practice room area. Ours should be the largest one... In addition to the exclusive practice rooms, there are also large public practice rooms specially used for external work such as filming..."
During the assistant's introduction, the elevator stopped on the fifth floor. After Chi Jingyuan walked out, he looked to the left under the guidance of the assistant. From a long distance away, he saw the door of the practice room with the EXO nameplate in white letters on a black background.
However, when I got closer, I saw that the door was not closed, and there was a sound of laughter and laughter coming from inside.
Chi Jingyuan walked to the door and was about to go in. He seemed to hear his footsteps. A figure leaned out from inside. He saw him at a glance, then his eyes lit up and he laughed.
Father!
