Chapter 17: No Problem, Our Dual Cs
“IVE, prepare for stage rehearsal.” The staff member’s voice cut through the noise at the door, accurately reaching IVE’s team.
The manager immediately responded, and Jiang Shu, who was giving the members a pep talk, also stood up with a swish.
At this moment, DM Entertainment’s accompanying photographer also came over with a camera. These were all materials needed for IVE’s future reality show, not to mention their own chairman was present.
“Girls, come!” Jiang Shu extended his right hand, “Let’s cheer together!”
Liu Zhimin was the first to place her hand on Jiang Shu’s back, followed by Zhang Yuanying, Lily…
“Up we go.” Jiang Shu said, and then,
“Fighting!!!”
Seven hands lifted high, the girls were about to open a new door and step onto that dazzling stage.
After the rehearsal, the broadcast immediately followed. Time was tight and the task was heavy, which was also a kind of characteristic.
Jiang Shu sat on a chair, looking at the only TV in the public lounge. The seat under his butt was voluntarily given to him by the artist team of another group.
No matter what, Jiang Shu was a chairman. As long as DM Entertainment had not completely collapsed, it was still a member of this industry.
Yang Hyun-suk could look down on Jiang Shu, but artists absolutely could not.
Chairmen looking down on chairmen was a matter for the chairman class. If a small artist looked down on a chairman, and it got out, that artist would lose their standing in the industry, unless they were incredibly popular.
Secretary Li was Yang Hyun-suk’s secretary. His arrogant treatment of Jiang Shu inherently conveyed Yang Hyun-suk’s extended meaning, not his own. The essence was still the disdain between chairmen.
Jiang Shu looked up at the screen, where IVE had been rehearsing for a few minutes. Their performance wasn't great; the members were more or less nervous. But they were already on stage, and all Jiang Shu could do now was trust these girls.
Even the Dark Three Kings, he trusted them. After all, their problems were only external factors; their performance on stage was fine.
Besides that, another point of Jiang Shu’s nervousness was…
【Come on! Let me see if the power of bond truly exists…】
On the big screen in the studio, the debut concept photos of IVE’s six members appeared one by one, with Liu Zhimin leading and Zhang Yuanying concluding, the dual queens at the beginning and end.
The scene shifted, and on stage, the six members of IVE stood in position. Unlike the original five-person choreography, this design was for six people, further highlighting the positions of the Dual Cs.
The four ‘pendants’ were two on the left and two on the right, with Zhang Yuanying standing at the very front and Liu Zhimin behind Zhang Yuanying, which made their movements more convenient.
Dynamic music began, and the next moment, the camera instantly zoomed in.
“Open another door~~”
Jiang Shu’s pupils contracted, and he turned to look at the manager standing behind him.
“Did you see that?”
The manager was also bewildered at this moment, and instinctively nodded after hearing Jiang Shu’s question.
“This isn’t right, is it?”
How did the loose and casual Liu Zhimin and Zhang Yuanying during rehearsal change as if they were different people once the official broadcast started?
The two Dual Cs of IVE usually performed ordinarily, or rather, besides being beautiful, there was nothing particularly outstanding about them, even during rehearsals. But now, the two on stage…
“Chairman?!” The manager seemed to realize something and looked at Jiang Shu in shock, “Did you, Chairman, notice Karina and Yuan Ying’s stage presence early on?”
Stage presence is a very mysterious yet real thing.
Some idols, you might think their skills are ordinary, nothing outstanding, but when they stand on stage, they can always naturally attract everyone’s attention to themselves.
This ability is stage presence.
This kind of thing cannot be seen during regular training; it can only be discovered when truly standing on stage.
Liu Zhimin and Zhang Yuanying were examples of this right now.
Besides being bewildered, the manager also had infinite admiration for Jiang Shu.
Such idols with extremely strong stage presence are rare, and their chairman managed to find two of them? And they happened to be the Dual Cs of their new group!
Jiang Shu ignored the manager, who was overthinking, and stared intently at the six people dancing to the song on the screen.
Even though he deliberately focused on Lily during the high note of the chorus, his attention uncontrollably fell on Liu Zhimin and Zhang Yuanying, somewhat overlooking the lead singer who almost blew the roof off the studio with that one note.
Even he was like this, let alone others who saw IVE for the first time.
If Lily was like this, the other three were not much better.
“The two new members of this new group are so amazing!”
“They seem to be a Dual C setup?”
“This stage presence is too terrifying…”
“They’re called Karina and Yuan Ying, right? Must remember them.”
…
Listening to the exclamations around him, Jiang Shu looked at the stage on the TV and could basically confirm it.
The bond, it truly exists.
This Dual C bond is already activated, so the top-tier popularity will probably be achieved by the end of this stage… No! Not necessarily!
Jiang Shu took out his phone from his pocket and logged onto the Melon daily chart.
Daily Chart First Place:
“I AM” IVE.
He then checked other music charts; without exception, they all topped the charts.
Jiang Shu exhaled a breath, turned off his phone screen, and looked up at Liu Zhimin and Zhang Yuanying, who had finished their performance and were in the ending shot, a wild smile spreading across his face.
No problem, our Dual Cs!
IVE’s appearance was relatively early, so they returned to the public lounge after their performance.
Jiang Shu and the rest of the team were already waiting at the door.
As leader Liu Zhimin led the members over, Jiang Shu was the first to applaud, and the rest of the IVE team behind him also followed suit.
Even some other groups who came to promote their songs were infected and couldn’t help but applaud.
Although the first-place selection had not yet begun, many people present had already determined that IVE would be today’s winner.
Why?
The first-place selection rules before the reform consisted of three parts: digital sales (65%) + audience votes (15%) + album sales (20%).
With digital sales making up the majority, given their stage presence and first place on all digital charts today, if they didn’t get first place, it wouldn’t be IVE’s problem, it would be the show’s problem.
Jiang Shu extended his hands towards the girls.
The girls were startled, but Liu Zhimin, who was closest to Jiang Shu, had already stepped forward and shared a warm hug with Jiang Shu.
Then Jiang Shu looked at the others. Seeing this, Zhang Yuanying also stepped forward and hugged Jiang Shu, and he hugged all the members in turn, even the Dark Three Kings whom he had not thought highly of.
At least at this moment, before they were exposed, they were all members of DM Entertainment’s IVE, members who worked hard today for themselves, for IVE, and for DM Entertainment.
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