Chapter 9: The Album Goes Public (Part 1)
Sent too late, still not feeling well...
Thank you for the rewards from Beifeng Qianqi, Zhǎo Gèrén Guòguò, Wúyǔ de Mēn Sāo, Líng Hóng Yán Wèi Lǎo Jūn Xiān Sǐ, Xī Fēng Rén, Jiàn Miè Shén Fēng, Zhàn Hún Cì Qīng, and Guī Yuán Tián Jī eight classmates.
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Hwang Byung-won is a 17-year-old high school student, an age when one's eyes are filled with youthful worries. He views the world as if it were a twilight sky with fading sunset glow, dim and colorless, like a yellowed, faded, and time-eroded film. Amidst this dullness, he still retains a hint of pure and sentimental melancholy.
Such melancholy is not so heavy, but rather the thoughts that slowly move towards maturity in an instant of sentimentality, such as when lost in thought gazing up at the sky, imagining the loneliness of a cloud drifting across the blue sky, or when autumn winds sweep through the branches, imagining the desolation of the leaves falling reluctantly.
At this age, there will be many romantic and melancholic reveries and sighs, especially after a breakup. Without the heart-wrenching tears of youth or the calmness of adulthood, one is left with a faint sense of confusion and distress. Later, thinking they understand emotions, they become sorrowful and start to like listening to songs alone, specifically ballads.
He only likes lyrical songs and rarely pays attention to other types of songs, let alone HIPHOP music. The impression that HIPHOP has given him in the past is a kind of decadent, angry and negative music that constantly promotes sex, violence and anti-social ideas in its lyrics. Maybe it's an art form, but for him as a high school student at the time, he couldn't appreciate that kind of art, and even felt repulsed by it.
But all these impressions were completely overturned 2 days ago.
It was on Saturday that he went to the nearby shopping mall to buy Tei's newly released album. As he passed by the home appliances and audio-visual equipment section, the images constantly playing on TV screens and the soft rap coming from the speakers caught his attention.
No matter where you go
In a quiet corner by the window
Hands clasped together when sitting on the left leg
Tired, yawning, wiping away tears and complaining at the same time
Still with a silly-looking smile and dimples
The little finger often raised when drinking water
Lustrous black hair... those trivial memories
……
A small narrative poem with a faintly nostalgic tone, the rap fell into his ears at that moment, but it was like thunder that stirred up waves in his heart.
Even without watching TV, just listening to the sound, it's as if he can sketch out a sorrowful figure nostalgic for past emotions in his mind. The strong sense of presence makes him feel a kind of illusion, as if the lyrics are describing him. Just like last summer, under the streetlights, she said goodbye and left, leaving behind his lonely shadow reminiscing in the glow.
His heart suddenly racing violently, an inexplicable impulse drove him to ask the salesperson who sang this song, and then, without hesitation, he gave up buying Tei's new album and pre-ordered this album called "Memory".
He isn't a fan of anyone, nor does he know who An Jun He is. He just likes this song and can't wait to hear it over and over again, quietly sensing the emotions in the song that resonate with him.
He was so eager that he couldn't even wait for the album to arrive, and on the 28th, late at night, he rarely didn't go to bed early for school the next day, and stayed in front of the computer, refreshing Melon's music source website over and over again.
After 0 o'clock, when a familiar poster with the word "Memory" finally appeared on MelOn's homepage, he suppressed his excitement and immediately clicked in. Among the six songs, he found "1 Minute 1 Second", paid for it and listened to it.
The soft sound of the tide, accompanied by gentle and peaceful music, vibrated through the earphones and into his eardrums, entering his mind. From the beginning, he slowly closed his eyes, quickly becoming immersed in the brewing sorrow...
The song's style is calm, but its rise was extremely fierce.
On March 1st at midnight, "Memory" topped MelOn, soribada, BUGS, and naver music sites. Like Hwang Byung-wan, many fans stayed up all night to be the first to listen. According to real-time statistics from these major music sites, within an hour, the title track "1 Minute 1 Second" pushed down TVXQ's year-end release "Triangle" to take the number 10 spot on the daily chart, successfully entering the TOP10 ranks. Its play count continued to soar as people repeatedly looped the song.
By 6 am, "1 Minute 1 Second" had already defeated he.Max's "Don't Be Happy", which was released at the beginning of the month, and climbed to the top five on the chart, threatening GOD in second place and Tei in first place.
It seems like it's about to stage a full kill play.
Even with a strong pre-sale data of 160,000, people were prepared for an All-Kill, but at this speed, it still exceeded everyone's expectations.
But this is just the beginning of the shock.
At 7 o'clock in the morning, the dawn gradually unfolded from the eastern horizon, and the dark sky was slowly fading away. When the first ray of sunlight jumped out of the outline of the horizon and shone over from the fiery sky, the city, still with residual snow, slowly woke up in the midst of a thousand feet of golden light. One by one, the doors of shops opened to welcome the arrival of the new month. Then many people were surprised to find that this morning was unexpectedly lively.
In the city, in front of audio and video stores, crowds of people waiting in line, mostly young men and women rushing to work or school, wearing thick down jackets, stomping their feet or rubbing their hands to warm up in the cold wind, each person's face was slightly red, but it didn't affect the excited expression on their faces.
Kim Yoo-jin is one of them, a former member of Cassiopeia, who has long abandoned the group and now only worships Ahn Jun-hee, not admiring anyone else. She fanatically supports Ahn Jun-hee, for which she can sacrifice everything.
Because she had gone through the period when Ahn Jun-hee was crazily ostracized and slandered, although it has been several months now, she couldn't forget what happened on the night of last year's Mid-Autumn Festival outside the S.M building.
It seems that the mocking voices of Cassiopeia still linger in her ears, their contemptuous words cutting into her heart like a knife. They said her brother Junhe was "a small-time artist nobody's ever heard of", they slandered him for taking drugs. Innumerable midnight awakenings, she screamed hoarsely:
"You will regret it!"
Yes, they will definitely regret it!
Many times, looking at the pearl that was smashed, when she wanted to put it on her bedside camera, she kept telling herself that her brother Junhe would not disappoint her. After the TV series he starred in was broadcast, the response was extremely enthusiastic, and he rose from an unknown newcomer to a popular idol overnight. Now he has also released an album, officially debuting as a singer, and caused a huge sensation as soon as he debuted.
Looking back at the music charts that were opened in the morning, "1 minute 1 second" was steadily climbing towards the top spot. Kim Yoo-jin looked around at the crowd of over a hundred people in front and behind him, listening to them excitedly or lovingly talk about his brother Jun-hyuk, hearing the repeated calls of "Uncle", feeling warm inside, filled with pride and excitement.
She has seen his troughs and witnessed his vicissitudes, so she is especially proud of what he has achieved today.
At this time, the audio-visual store that had been waiting finally opened its doors. From Kim Yu-jin's point of view, the audio-visual store owner who had just rolled up the curtains was clearly startled when he saw the crowd outside. Before he could even ask in a daze, someone already shouted: "Boss, has Ahn Jun-hee's album arrived?"
The old boss was stunned for a while, then nodded hastily: "It's coming, it's coming, the goods will arrive tonight!"
"Hurray!"
"It wasn't a waste of half an hour after all."
"It's been less than half an hour, I arrived before 6 o'clock, and in order to support Uncle, I didn't even eat breakfast."
"Haha, me too."
Upon hearing the boss's response, the crowd that was worried about not getting the album put their hearts at ease and started chatting while waiting in line. The morning of the first day of March began with excitement. The boss, who was startled by the long queue, became excited soon after - more people means better business! He quickly opened the door, posted up posters outside, and without even wiping off his sweat, returned to the counter to start the first day's sales.
Pay the money, get the album, and the simple process makes the team move slowly. Those who arrived late were lined up in the middle section, Kim Yoo-jin also got his own pre-ordered album soon.
She stroked the hard-shell CD case in her hand, the album cover with a gray and black tone, the figure she had only seen once but seemed to have known for a long time, sitting on the sofa, looking up at the ceiling with a mixture of laziness and melancholy. She carefully put the box into her backpack, under the envious gaze of the people waiting in line behind her, left the music store, and hadn't walked out a few steps before hearing a sudden commotion from behind.
"Sold out? What do you mean, don't you still have some over there?" someone loudly questioned in the store.
The boss explained anxiously: "This is a pre-sale version... I'm really sorry, because the sales of this album are not clear, I have more pre-sales with DVDs, and ordinary A versions are not many, who knows..."
"What's wrong with him? He actually suspects Uncle's album won't sell well."
"Never mind, I'll take advantage of the time and go check out other stores."
“……”
Among the discontented people in the team who had not made a reservation, Jin Youzhen turned back to see that the boss of the store was apologizing to the angry girl in front of him while nervously wiping away sweat.
He must be regretting his unnecessary caution now!
Facing the sunlight shining from behind the high-rise buildings in the distance, she smiled slightly, patted the backpack behind her, and felt the hard edges of the CD case, with a faint sense of satisfaction in her heart.
Anyone who looks down on him will regret it!
……
Such scenes are being staged in many cities, some audio-visual store owners, due to An Jun-he's pre-sale of 160,000 data, boldly stocked up on a large batch of albums, while others were more cautious and only ordered a portion of the pre-sale version based on the store's past few days' reservation situation. The bold ones made a fortune in the morning, while those who were overly cautious also contacted SM company to place an order after regretting it.
Similar situations occur at noon and late afternoon, when the rest time is most relaxed, and continue towards the peak.
