Zheng Enji was shocked by his tone and cursed fiercely.
Just when Chi Jingyuan was about to reply, the elevator door opened not far ahead and five members of fx walked out.
After seeing them, Chi Jingyuan, who was holding the phone, quickly stepped aside and saluted. Several people from fx also saw that he didn't bother him after making the call, so they smiled and waved.
Zheng Xiujing, who was walking in third place, had been locking her eyes with Chi Jingyuan ever since she saw him. Her eyes were filled with joy and evil, but because she didn't say anything on the phone, she glared at him and quickly left with a flick of her hair.
Cui Xueli smiled and made a 'phone' gesture to Chi Jingyuan. After receiving a nod from Chi Jingyuan, she happily shook her hand and gave him a wink before following her teammates away.
"What's wrong?" Zheng Enji asked when Chi Jingyuan didn't speak on the phone.
"Nothing, I met a few seniors in the company and said hello...what did you say just now?"
"Forget it, it's nothing."
Based on Zheng Enji's understanding of Chi Jingyuan, he guessed that he had no intention of getting back together, so he didn't bother to say more and turned to another topic: "Has your return been postponed?"
"Yes, the specific time has not been determined, but I estimate it will be postponed for one to two weeks."
Chi Jingyuan walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor: "If I had known that Apink, you guys, would be coming back soon, we wouldn't have postponed it. We would have bumped you off when the time came. I wonder if you are still arrogant."
"Aisi, you are really... If you have the ability, come here and let's see who knocks whom away, hahaha..."
Zheng Eunji squirted back without showing any signs of weakness, and after a while, her hearty laughter came from the phone. You didn't need to look at Chi Jingyuan to imagine how big her mouth was.
"Okay, I'll start working right away when I get to the practice room. I won't talk about it for now."
Chi Jingyuan walked out of the elevator and came to the door of the practice room. He gave a final explanation to the phone: "By the way, aren't you about to join the team to film a TV series? It seems to be a KBS drama. I remember... Oppa will send it to you when the time comes.
The rescue vehicle will make you blush."
"Tsk, you're the only one who's 94 and still oppa, who cares?"
Zheng En spoke with disdain, but his tone sounded cheerful. He was obviously happy because Chi Jingyuan paid attention to his schedule.
"Goodbye then."
"goodbye."
After hanging up the phone, Chi Jingyuan smiled and shook his head, opened the door to the practice room and walked in.
After finally resting for a few days, EXO started working overtime again every day.
But as long as he doesn't get sick, Chi Jingyuan doesn't care. It's the same for idols.
…………
Because there are a lot of things going on recently, in addition to the final progress of the album, there are also various preparations for the neon fan meeting and the concert, and the entire EXO has started working hard again as if it has been wound up again.
In order to prepare them wholeheartedly, the company has basically stopped accepting any team schedules and variety shows during this period, not even commercial performances. There are only some new members who have received personal information, such as Park Chanyeol and Byun Bo.
Yin these.
However, they are also very hard-working and conscious, and they will make up for all the practice progress that was delayed due to their own schedules in the early hours of the night. Just like Chi Jingyuan in the past, he would not get off work before three o'clock in the middle of the night.
Chi Jingyuan, on the other hand, has no other schedule except some personal advertisements, and devotes himself wholeheartedly to work and practice.
In the past few days, they have completed shooting the MV for "overdose". They have also completed the re-recording of "dope" and are halfway through shooting the MV. The progress is quite fast.
Time flies and March 29th arrives.
"Here, bring it to Zhu Hyunxi for me tonight."
In the stairwell on the second and third floors of the SM company building, Chi Kyung-won handed Jiang Seulqi a wrapped gift box and gave instructions.
“It’s Joohyun Unnie’s birthday tonight, Jingyuan, you really can’t spare the time?”
Jiang Seulqi took the gift and looked at him with some regret.
Today is Pei Zhuxuan's birthday. She called and invited Chi Jingyuan the day before yesterday. It's a pity...
"I even took the time to ask you to bring gifts now. You know how busy we are these days."
Chi Jingyuan sighed.
Preparing the album itself is already busy enough, but now we have added concerts to the mix.
He really underestimated the intensity of the concert rehearsal work, including stage placement and rehearsal for nearly twenty songs, as well as a lot of personal stage preparations, and shooting a dedicated VCR for the concert. It can be said that it is really life-threatening.
.
In the past, Kang Seulgi and Son Seungwan's birthdays were more important because it was their coming-of-age birthday on 94line, so Ji Kyungwon took the time to go there.
Bae Zhuhyun has been an adult for who knows how long, and she is not a boyfriend or girlfriend, so there is no need to take her birthday too seriously.
However, since no one could come, he specially prepared a Pokémon figure. It was very exquisite and he thought Pei Zhuhyun might like it better.
"It must have been past midnight when I finished my work today, and Zhu Hyunxi's birthday would have been celebrated by then, so forget it today and let's do it next time."
"Oh well."
Jiang Seqi nodded, pouted slightly, thought for a while and said, "I was planning to tell you some good news tonight, but I guess you already know it..."
"What good news?" Chi Jingyuan looked at her.
"…………"
When Jiang Seulqi mentioned this, a burst of joy appeared on her face, and it became more and more obvious. Her whole body seemed to be tightly surrounded by happiness. She waved her hands vigorously as if she wanted to express the emotions in her heart, and held it in for a few seconds.
Zhong couldn't help laughing and told him with great joy:
"The company has launched a new girl group project and has selected many trainees to be included in the candidate list. I, Seungwan, Joo Hyun, Unnie, and several of us were selected."
Jiang Seulqi's whole face turned into a flower with a smile, her eyes were like crescent moons, her cheekbones were bulging, her mouth was wide open, and the unparalleled excitement bloomed on her face, and the cold stairs seemed to be covered by her
The enthusiasm raised the temperature of the infection a bit.
"jinjia?"
Chi Jingyuan's eyes widened a bit, and he was very surprised.
"Inside, it was made public during the meeting a few days ago, and the list of selected candidates was announced at that time."
She nodded vigorously to confirm, and then asked doubtfully: "Jingyuan, don't you know?"
"I've been so busy these days that I haven't paid attention to this news."
Chi Jingyuan shook his head, bluntly smiled knowingly, looked at Jiang Seqi and congratulated seriously: "Congratulations to you all."
Debut is the most coveted thing for any trainee. These trainees have entered the company and practiced hard for so many years just for such an opportunity.
And suddenly this opportunity appeared in front of him. Chi Jingyuan could completely imagine how excited they were when they heard the news. It was a trembling and unbelievable feeling.
It's probably hard to control your emotions.
"Hehe..." Facing Chi Jingyuan's blessing, Jiang Seqi smiled happily. Her innocent smile was really contagious, and Chi Jingyuan couldn't help laughing.
"You didn't cry when you heard the news that day, right?" he asked curiously.
"Of course I cried. How could I not cry about something like this? Seungwan hugged me and cried for a long time, and Joohyun Unnie also cried. It was ugly."
After thinking about it for a while, Jiang Seqi looked at him and retorted.
"Then if you are crying now, what will you do if you actually make your debut?"
"I'll cry again then."
"Haha, that makes sense."
Chi Jingyuan looked at her natural look and smiled, shook his head, gave her a thumbs up, and then said: "Come on."
"Call me if you have anything."
"Yes!" Jiang Seulqi responded with a smile.
"Then I'll leave first. Don't forget to give me gifts."
"Don't worry, you should also take care of your health. The news two days ago was really scary."
"Haha, got it."
Chi Jingyuan and Jiang Seulqi waved goodbye and turned to go up the stairs.
The fact that SM Entertainment has a new girl group project really surprised him. Based on his judgment, he originally thought it would be a little later, but he didn't expect it to be brought up so soon.
For some reason, he suddenly thought of Girlhood.
At the end of March, Girls' Generation ended their comeback to play music.
After the release of "Some", she was very popular for a week and fell into the stranglehold of various girl groups. Until the end, she won a total of 5 first place trophies.
This achievement is considered very successful for other girl groups, but for Girls' Generation it can only be said that they have barely saved face.
As of today, the results of this comeback can be concluded. Sales have been cut in half, music sources have declined seriously, and the overall situation is obviously going downhill.
Most of the popularity of Peninsula idols is due to the music source exploding first, and then the sales volume follows suit.
The same goes for recession. The music source also declines, and then the sales volume decreases.
It shouldn't have declined so fast, but last year's "I Got a Boy" really did a lot of damage to their music reputation and popularity among the public, and this year's serial love exposures made it even worse. Fans don't know how many fans left.
There have been a lot of problems with this album, and it's obvious that the company didn't pay much attention to it. Moreover, this year is Girls' Generation's contract year. It's probably the time when negotiations are intense. Can all 9 members renew their contracts?
Still a question mark.
When Girls' Generation had just come back, it was considered unfavorable, and they suddenly started planning a new girl group at this time. I don't know if there is a certain relationship between them.
Alas, I hope everything goes well for these ladies.
Chi Jingyuan gave a blessing in his heart and returned to the practice room to start the heavy work again.
…………
"Haven't you celebrated already? Why are you waiting for me for so long?"
Chi Jingyuan sat across from Cui Xueli, looking at her with a red face, looking like she had drunk a lot of wine, and leaned back on the chair tiredly.
It was already early in the morning on the 30th. The two of them were in a small bar in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam District. The area was small but the decoration was pretty good. The lights were dim but not dim. The soothing music volume was just right, filling the whole room.
The atmosphere of the store is quite warm.
At this time, there were not many customers around. There were only one or two people sitting far away. There were only two people in this area, Chi Jingyuan and Cui Xueli.
What a coincidence, Cui Shirley’s birthday is also March 29th.
She had called Chi Jingyuan in advance to invite Chi Jingyuan out to celebrate. Knowing that it would be difficult to spare time, she asked him when he would finish practice, and then agreed to wait for him here.
Chi Jingyuan, a relative of the same age, naturally didn't say anything. When he got off work today, it was already past one o'clock and almost two o'clock. After talking to his agent, he rushed here in Park Jae-hyun's car.
"Of course I have to celebrate my birthday. Why don't you let me celebrate if you don't come?"
Cui Xueli glanced at him, a little dissatisfied that Chi Jingyuan couldn't come before, but she quickly laughed out loud: "Don't worry, it's just a small amount of wine, there's nothing wrong with it."
She obviously only came of age this year, but her tone was as cheerful as a hero in wine.
"You don't have to wait for me after the celebration. I've already given you the gift."
"Who asked you to come to celebrate? I just want to chat with you and talk."
"Weren't those friends from the party just now? Do you have to tell me? It's so late." Chi Jingyuan was a little helpless. He was actually quite tired after practicing all night and was just waiting to go back to sleep.
Moreover, Cui Xueli had held a birthday party with her friends before. Chi Jingyuan didn't ask who it was. Everyone has their own social circle, so there is nothing strange about it.
"Of course, do you think I can't tell who is a friend we can only play with and who is a friend we can really talk about our concerns?"
Cui Xueli looked at Chi Jingyuan seriously: "You are my most important relative of the same age, so of course I can only talk to you... It's my birthday today, so you shouldn't be disrespectful."
Feeling that although she was a little drunk, her eyes were unusually clear. Chi Jingyuan shook his head angrily and glanced at her sideways: "Don't make any mistake, it's two o'clock in the morning, and your birthday was yesterday.
.”
As he spoke, he poured a glass of warm water from the kettle on the table and handed it to her.
Although the tone was not very good, this action and demeanor made Cui Shirley smile, took the glass of water and took a sip happily.
The table suddenly fell into silence. Cui Shirley seemed to be organizing her words, while Chi Jingyuan was quietly waiting for her to speak.
"I don't want to be an idol anymore."
After a minute of silence, she suddenly spoke, holding the water glass and speaking softly.
"..." Chi Jingyuan did not show any surprise, but nodded silently to indicate that he was listening.
"Every day is very tiring, and there are endless schedules to run. Our group has now reached a bottleneck. We can't get up or down, and there is no hope for further progress."
"Although the relationship between the members is good and there are no conflicts, sometimes I always feel a little awkward, and Xiujing and I are always in competition."
"The most important thing is that people scold me every day on the Internet, and the scoldings can be very unpleasant. It feels like no matter what I do, it is wrong. Do they really hate me that much?"
"besides…………"
Cui Shirley began to vent her complaints in a nonchalant manner. She felt as if she had been holding back a lot of resentment in her heart recently and wanted to vent it all out.
After waiting for her to finish speaking, Chi Jingyuan pondered for a moment, looked at her and said, "Then have you decided what to do as an idol?"
"I want to be an actor." Cui Xueli seemed to have already considered it.
"Actor? What are you playing? "To the Beautiful You"?" Chi Jingyuan blinked.
"Ah, why are you mentioning this again?"
Cui Xueli slapped him dissatisfied and glared at him angrily.
"hehe……"
Chi Jingyuan chuckled, and his expression returned to seriousness: "Have you thought about it?"
"Not yet. Actually, I don't want to be an idol... but I really can't let it go and I'm very confused."
Cui Xueli frowned and pursed her lips, looking like she couldn't make a decision.
"Well...have you saved enough money?" Chi Jingyuan asked.
"No, my expenses are not low, and I am planning to buy a property recently."
"Then will SM support your withdrawal from fx?"
"…………"
"Then do you think SM will continue to provide you with film and television resources after you quit the group?"
"Probably not, maybe."
"Then you want to change the agency? Have you contacted me?"
"No……"
"Um, do you have any connections with TV stations or film and television production companies?"
"…………"
Her voice became quieter and quieter until she was barely audible.
"Hey, you didn't have any preparation, did you just think about it and become an idol? There is no way out?" Chi Jingyuan looked at Cui Xueli in disbelief.
"Isn't this...isn't this something that hasn't been decided yet, so I came to have a heart-to-heart talk with you."
Cui Xueli smiled coquettishly at him and poured a glass of water for Chi Jingyuan in a flattering manner.
Glancing at her sideways, Chi Jingyuan took the water glass and took a sip. He thought for a while and said, "Look, you are not prepared for anything. In this situation, you will have to go all out, and it also depends on luck."
"Although many people criticize you, there are also many people who like you, and the number of fans of fx cannot be underestimated, right. If you personally withdraw, you will actively give up the fans who support you in this aspect, which is a bit more gain than loss."
"I think you have to wait at least until you have a relatively popular TV series or movie masterpiece before you have the confidence to communicate with the company and join an actor who has officially changed careers. Otherwise, even if you are no longer an idol, your development will be very difficult."
"fx debuted in 2009, and it's already been five years this year. There are still two years until the contract year. The time is neither long nor short. It's enough for you to prepare slowly."
Chi Jingyuan gave his own opinion.
He can understand Cui Xueli's thoughts. Not everyone has a family like him as a source of support. He ignores all levels of the entertainment industry. It is a normal idea for idols to want to change careers and become actors. Hasn't YoonA senior also been trying?
Walking on the road.
Although it's not very smooth.
Just quitting the combination would be a bit of a gamble. Unless he is well prepared, he is not very optimistic about it.
"Um……"
After hearing the words, Cui Xueli held the water glass and thought seriously for a while, nodded slightly, looked at Chi Jingyuan, and said sincerely: "Thank you."
She can tell who is being perfunctory and who is really thinking about herself.
She had never thought about it that much before, nor had she made a decision. She just kept the idea in her heart and felt depressed. It not only affected her mood, but also made her daily practice and schedule a little absent-minded.
Now she felt a little clearer.
"Thank you early..."
Chi Jingyuan pouted, tilted his head and looked at Chi Jingyuan: "And I don't like your acting style very well."
"Why?" Cui Xueli was a little moved just now, but now she couldn't help but wrinkled her nose and stared at Chi Jingyuan.