The number one playboy on the Peninsula!

Chapter 235 Grammy Nominations

"Oh my, isn't this our genius Jisoo?"

On March 17th, Gong Cheng arrived at YG Entertainment to prepare for BLACKPINK's summer comeback. When he saw Kim Jisoo sitting alone on the sofa in the practice room, listening to music with headphones on, he patted her on the shoulder and teased her.

Upon hearing the noise, Kim Jisoo turned her bare face, visible beneath the brim of her baseball cap, her eyebrows slightly thin. "Why are you here?" she asked, feigning ignorance, her eyes holding the insincere smile of a certain arrogant man. Her tall figure was clad in a black leather jacket, the zipper open, revealing a black shirt underneath…

"Didn't Hyunseok hyung tell you? He's here today to talk to the planning team in charge of your comeback about the album's positioning." Gong Cheng pulled a few Asia tour concert tickets from his jacket pocket and handed them to her. "Here you go. If you can manage to get tickets yourself, then we Bombardment Meteor are really a failure..."

Kim Jisoo recalled her boastful words on the day the tickets went on sale and felt a little embarrassed. "Thanks..."

"Kenchana~ It's just a few tickets, where are Jennie and the others?" Gong Cheng sat on the sofa, took out his phone, and casually asked, "Is the producer late on his first day of work?"

He was idly scrolling through trending topics, even cracking jokes... but after seeing a report about a new drama starting filming, his expression turned to surprise—[Lim Yoona's new drama starts filming]

Good heavens, will this woman still be able to get scripts?

"They went downstairs to buy coffee."

As Jisoo explained, Jennie and two others came in a moment later carrying several cups of coffee. "Oppa, here's your orange juice."

"Thanks~" Upon seeing the four members of BLACKPINK gathered in the practice room, Gong Cheng took the orange juice without saying much. "Let's go to the meeting room." The group's tour was about to begin, and he was very busy. He had to rush back to the company later to record a new single with the members.

The group led Gong Cheng to the meeting room that Yang Hyun-suk had arranged in advance. Also seated were staff members from the BLACKPINK comeback department. Upon seeing Gong Cheng enter, they quickly stood up and greeted him, "Tarot, welcome to YG."

Gong Cheng nodded and sat in the producer's seat, looking up at the project content displayed on the screen by the staff. It was all about shaping the concept and style for BLACKPINK's comeback.

And the digestion of the styling and concept allocation for the four members' return...

"..."

Overall, BLACKPINK's concept is much simpler and clearer than EXO's more elaborate and flamboyant concepts. Their concept closely follows the group name "BLACKPINK," so for this comeback, they want to use duality as the main concept, "Black" & "Pink," to give fans and casual viewers a strong impression.

This comeback also marks BLACKPINK's first mini-album release in two years since their debut, whereas in the past two years, their comebacks have all been singles.

Gong Cheng leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, watching the content plan produced by the planning department. He pondered BLACKPINK's two-year journey since their debut. Like YG's previous groups such as iKON, they were instant hits upon debut, taking first place in just 13 days and breaking the record for K-pop girl groups.

In two years, five singles have surpassed 100 million views on YouTube. To be fair, this is a pretty good achievement for a K-pop group in the last two years. However, because they have always released single albums for comeback, on the one hand, although their digital music is strong, their sales are average. On the other hand, they release relatively few songs, which often leads to accusations and attacks from rival fans who suspect that their music is being inflated.

This may be related to YG CEO Yang Hyun-suk's advocacy of "hunger marketing," but in the current K-pop environment and market, it is no longer feasible after the emergence of "Tarot" and "Bombardment Meteor."

In the fast-paced world of K-pop, two years is a considerable amount of time. For a group that debuted around the same time as Twice, Bombardment Meteor, and others, if they don't make a splash in the next two years... who knows...?

"..."

A planning meeting about BLACKPINK's summer comeback lasted for nearly an hour and a half.

Finally, Gong Cheng nodded, understanding YG's thoughts and needs, and said, "I will come over to supervise the recording of the song when I have time. You can handle the MV yourselves."

“I roughly understand the overall concept and the message you want to convey—SQUARE UP, head-on confrontation, album title.”

He summarized YG's current project ideas and suggested an album title, which he had the authority to make. As the producer, he was responsible for the entire album content for BLACKPINK's summer comeback.

Yang Hyun-suk even wanted him to take charge of the project's concept and plan, but he refused. The quickest way was to run it according to YG's pre-determined concept and style, with him only responsible for supervising and producing the songs.

"As for the tracks, there will be four... but it's hard to say, it depends on the situation. I'll select a few that suit their current abilities from the tropical house and other styles you mentioned..."

"..."

Finally, Gong Cheng leaned back in his chair, stretched, and turned to look at the four members of BLACKPINK who were participating in the meeting, smiling. "Let's prepare seriously. I probably won't be here to supervise often anymore, I'm very busy..."

"But..." He thought for a moment and realized that apart from producing albums for Taylor Swift, the only girl groups he had produced for were TWICE and Red Velvet, the group of Daegu Women. TWICE, of course, needs no introduction. After the huge success of "TT", they reached the top.

But Red Velvet, he always felt there was something mysterious about them... Bae Joo-hyun's group, you can't say they're obscure, but they're not super popular either, they have a lot of resources. The title track "Bad Boy" and the original "Russian Roulette" that were produced for them.

After each Red Velvet release, they were very popular, but after their comeback, they quietly faded into obscurity... Their comebacks made quite a splash, but after the comeback period, they were always half-dead again...

I just don't know what will happen to BLACKPINK in the future.
Keep up the good work!

Gong Cheng smiled, said nothing more, and prepared to end the meeting. YG invited him only to help BLACKPINK achieve a more substantial breakthrough this summer than in the previous two years, whether in terms of popularity or other aspects…

Now that the collaboration has been agreed upon, everyone's short-term goal should be to work together as a team. Therefore, he will seriously produce a suitable album for them and hopes that they can truly achieve their desired success.

"I'll be going now. If I'm making a comeback in June, the songs will take some time, but I'll try my best."

Gong Cheng took a sip of orange juice, his tall figure standing up was seen by everyone in the conference room. He picked up the leather jacket draped over his chair, and then his phone rang on the table. It was Jin Dayu calling at just the right time, as the meeting had just ended.

He picked up his phone, answered the call with a smile, and waved to the BLACKPINK members who were about to get up and leave.

"Won't you go sit in the practice room for a while?" Kim Jisoo's plain face under the brim of her baseball cap extended an invitation.

She was quite grateful to this person for helping them produce their comeback album. Nowadays, not only K-pop, but the whole world, including singers who are frequently active on the Billboard charts, all want to invite him.

Sometimes, she couldn't understand this person either. He was like a hermit monk, hiding in Seoul, not caring much about the world stage in Europe and America, yet he came to produce an album for BLACKPINK.

Regardless, it's a good thing for them, and they should be grateful. Even though this person is bad, despicable, speaks rudely, and is a scumbag, he's not as utterly evil as this…

She has always been very clear about her likes and dislikes...

"Let's do it another day. I need to go back to the company to prepare for the tour stage. Oh, and I gave the tickets to Jisoo." Gong Cheng chuckled casually at Jennie and the others while holding the phone. "Let's go to Gangnam another day, apt, apt~"

He gestured two drinking game gestures, smiled at Park Chae-young and Kim Jennie, and the others. They seemed to be having a good time at the table and were quite good drinking buddies.

Park Chaeyoung excitedly returned two hand gestures, "Alas, isn't it oppa's birthday in a few days? Let's go out and play together again."

"We'll talk about it later, I might be free. I'm leaving now." Gong Cheng said, then left the conference room and walked down the corridor of the YG building. He pressed the exit button on the elevator and called out to Kim Daewoo, who was waiting on the other end of the phone, "What's wrong, hyung? Is something the matter?"

"Why don't you go back to the company and we talk about it? Marvel and Sony want to invite you to do a song for one of their movies that are expected to be released this year..."

Gong Cheng yawned, looking at the closing elevator doors. "Spider-Man?"

The upcoming Spider-Man movie series from the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been generating buzz worldwide since last year.

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, that animated movie that's been getting a lot of buzz these past couple of years..." Kim Dae-woo explained the details of the collaboration, "..."

……

"Wow~ PDnim, your hairstyle today looks a lot like DiCaprio~"

After Gong Cheng returned to JYP, Park Jin-young stood in the recording studio, with Lim Na-yeon following behind him. As soon as she entered, she covered her mouth and exclaimed in surprise. He was overjoyed to hear this.

The members of Bombardment Meteor stood in a huddle and let out suppressed, pig-like squeals of laughter.

Gong Cheng stiffened in surprise and turned to look at his rabbit-like mother—Mother, are you getting presbyopia?
Seeing Gong Cheng's strange expression, Park Jin-young couldn't help but laugh and scold, "You brat, do you have any doubts about what I said?" At the same time, he felt even more confident in his decision.

After deciding to release Twice's individual profiles, the company unanimously agreed that Nayeon, the member with the strongest individual skills, should be the first to have a solo performance, although the specific date has not yet been determined.

Looking back now, that decision was incredibly wise! If Lim Nayeon doesn't go solo, who will? Kim Dahyun?
After learning of Park Jin-young's idea, Gong Cheng, whose new single for Bombardment Meteor was missing a female vocalist, suggested bringing in his own daughter to sing the chorus of the group's upcoming single, "What Lovers Do".

If the big star really is going to be the first to debut solo, this can be considered a warm-up... Besides, there's no other member in TWICE who can cooperate with them for the single recording.

"Oh, I have a different opinion. You look a lot like Johnny Depp today..." Gong Cheng chuckled and said. Park Jin-young opened his mouth, pinched his nose, and smiled somewhat embarrassedly, "Aigoo..."

Jackson Wang, Jay Park, and the others exchanged bewildered glances. Holy crap! Now they finally understood how the maknae got the title of "JYP's heir"?! It's unbelievable…

“Like Beckham…” As an artist under JYP Entertainment, Jackson Wang quickly stopped laughing, because he finally understood why the company hadn’t given him any resources.

Park Jin-young smiled and patted Jackson Wang on the shoulder, "Jackson, prepare well for your solo single next month. The company will do its best to promote it when it's released!"

Jackson established his own company in China last year, but his contract with JYP has not yet expired. His main activities are still in Seoul. After joining Bombardment Meteor last year, he has been releasing solo singles starting with "Generation 2".

Next month, a new solo single, "Dawn of Us," will be released globally...

In short, the seven members of Bombardment Meteor are currently enjoying the peak of their individual and group careers. This year, apart from their tour, their individual activities, besides endorsement deals, include releasing solo singles or participating in variety shows.

This is why the four companies only decided to let them release albums during the tour, but not to have comeback activities – they were too busy.

Park Chanyeol, Oh Sehun, and Zhang Yixing exchanged glances several times. Could it be that Lee Soo-man really gave this PD-nim a big blow back in the day?
Gong Cheng watched the members chatting with a smile, then noticed the somewhat nervous Rabbit Girl and patted her on the back, "Don't be nervous, I'm here, big star."

He spoke softly, but Park Jin-young, who was basking in the glory of his peak good looks, couldn't stop smiling as he patted Jackson Wang on the shoulder, saying, "You're a little late to the solo scene, kid!"
However, the sharp-eyed Park Chanyeol and Lim Young-woong noticed their unusual behavior. They smiled at Lim Nayeon but didn't say anything.

Aside from the "DiCaprio & Depp & Beckham" combination, everyone present knew about the relationship between the maknae (youngest member) and the TWICE leader. Nayeon also understood that these male friends knew about their relationship and had often greeted each other in the past.

Her male friends are also very good at talking; sometimes when no one else is around, they even call her "sister-in-law."

……

In the recording studio, Gong Cheng wore headphones and listened to the song he produced last year, "What Lovers Do." The upbeat intro was like nimble fingers tapping out a fast-paced, languid melody, setting the tone for the song's energy and passion.

"Say say say, hey hey now baby~"

"Oh, come on, don't joke around, take this seriously~"

"Say say say, hey hey now baby~"

Let's get straight to the point, baby~

As the pace quickened, Gong Cheng closed his eyes, his languid voice carrying urgency and probing, as if repeatedly questioning his lover's feelings. His direct inquiry revealed his yearning for a clear response in the throes of love.

Lim Nayeon stood beside him, gazing at her boyfriend's face, feeling a strong connection to a certain night last year when he carried her on his back, singing "Yes or No" as he tested her feelings...

Tell me~ Tell me~

Do you love me?

You have to tell me~

Do you love me?

Lim Nayeon took a deep breath. Her part was almost consecutive to her boyfriend's, so the two of them walked into the recording studio together to record. The melodious electronic effects and percussion in the headphones blended seamlessly.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and sang a cheerful melody, "Say say say, hey hey now baby~"

"You gon' make me hit you with that lay down baby~"

"Go ahead and say it, now's the time, Baby!"

"..."

……

The following day, the recording studio was filled with the vocals of another lead single from Bombardment Meteor's "Star Wanderer"—"Memories." The song's contrasting rhythm and emotional tone with "What Lovers Do" made it one of the two lead singles from this mini-album.

"This toast is to everything we've ever shared~"

Let's raise a toast to that little wish in my heart—to having you in my life!

"..."

The recording and practice of the two title tracks required seamless coordination among the members, which was no easy task. They had been busy since the beginning of the month in Seoul, practicing and recording until March 21st.

……

"Aigoo, finally we're done!"

In the afternoon, Gong Cheng, as the producer, took off his headphones and announced the completion of the recording of the title track. His plan for this mini-album, "Interstellar Wandering," is to only include two English title tracks, for a total of five songs. The remaining three Korean songs are not in a hurry.

After performing the new single during the tour, the music will not be released online at the same time. Instead, it will be recorded all at once during the summer in June and released online along with the album.

The original plan was to release the audio along with the performance, but after thinking about it, they decided against it because the time was too short... Their Asia tour will be extended into the summer, so they need to put in more effort. As for the group's next comeback, it may be a year or two later.
Nobody can say for sure...

The group took a sip of water from their respective cups in the recording studio, and after a short rest, they went downstairs to the practice room to prepare for their stage performances on tour, including synchronized dances.

Even dances practiced hundreds or thousands of times require repeated practice. With the "Interstellar Wandering" Asia tour just around the corner, only a few days remain. Everyone wants to bring the best performance to their fans...

……

At 11 p.m., Gong Cheng lay panting on the practice room floor. The weather in Seoul in March was still quite cool, accompanied by light rain. But the sweat from practicing indoors had left the members of Bombardment Meteor completely exhausted.

Gong Cheng lay on the floor, picked up his phone, and glanced at the trending topics in Europe and America. It was bad news; a regular Billboard chart-topping artist had started releasing songs like crazy this month. He clicked on a few songs that had suddenly entered the Billboard top ten; the lively melodies sounded quite good, "ohohoh~~"

"So many rappers have started doing melodic rap this year?"

"It sounds really depressing..." Jay Park commented, lying not far away and panting heavily. The word "depressing" has become popular all over the world since the beginning of this year, and everyone present is paying close attention to the current music market.

However, these things were none of their concern. Wu Shixun straightened up and suggested, "Let's go, we're starving, let's get something to eat..."

Gong Cheng and the others nodded, immediately grabbed their coats, and prepared to leave work. Seeing the VJ still tirelessly filming, they said, "Let's go grab something to eat, Noona, you've worked hard..."

The VJ made the camera nod in agreement.

Bombardment Meteor's group variety show started filming as soon as the members gathered in Seoul. The content mainly covers the behind-the-scenes aspects of their Asia tour concerts, from practice and preparation to the subsequent stage performances.

According to Park Jin-young and Lee Soo-man, if these guys were to seriously film a group variety show, they would probably drag the production team to bars and nightclubs to film. What would be considered outrageous by other artists would be nothing out of the ordinary for them.

They withstood all the storms and hardships of last year, and the fans have developed hearts of "rock".

Moreover, before Bombardment Meteor's scandal broke, they were regulars at the club, and everyone in Seoul knew about their character. Furthermore, fans have calculated that the seven of them owned memberships to almost 90% of the clubs in Gangnam.

Would you believe this happened to any other celebrity? But while it's outrageous, it's not a huge deal. The global impact is different, and so is the public opinion. Some people are even trying to defend it, listing the behavior of popular international celebrities, saying that's how it should be…

……

Meanwhile, Tarot and Twice's latest collaboration single, "WE PRAY," was officially released globally tonight—and at noon in the US, the 2th Grammy Awards, after a delay of nearly two months, officially announced its nominations and the awards ceremony location.

The awards ceremony will be held on April 26th at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The four general Grammy nominations are: "Rockstar" for Record of the Year, "Tarot" for New Artist of the Year, "Peaches" for Song of the Year, and "Wheel of Fortune & X" for Album of the Year.

Popularity Awards – Tarot's "Shape of You" is nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance, Bombardment Meteor's "Thunder" is nominated for Best Pop Group/Group Performance, and Tarot's "Wheel of Fortune & X" is nominated for Best Pop Album.

【…】

Amidst the overwhelming trending topics, Gong Cheng and his friends sat in a private room at a barbecue restaurant, enjoying a delicious drink, completely ignoring the VJ's camera nearby.

As the VJ set up her camera and scrolled through the trending topics on the forum, she suddenly screamed, "Oh my god! The Grammy nominations are out?"

Her excited shouts were captured on camera as she pointed incredulously at the list of nominees!
Bombardment Meteor's "Thunder" is nominated for Best Pop Group/Group!

“Tarot nominated…”

The members all picked up their phones and saw the top trending topic: "Grammy nominations announced" and "Tarot nominated for six awards!"

"Aigoo, is this for real?!"

"Are we really going to the Grammys?" Park Chanyeol excitedly shouted, waving his arms and legs and hugging Oh Sehun.
"..."

Gong Cheng was also somewhat surprised. After taking a sip of his drink, he glanced at the list of nominees—six major awards. He gave a wry smile and sighed, "Oh well, I guess I'll be a runner-up for nothing..."

"What's wrong? Why are you saying such discouraging things?" Zhang Yixing asked, puzzled. Then, when he saw Gong Cheng pointing to the list of nominees for the four major awards, he was also taken aback.

Just then, Gong Cheng's phone rang. He glanced at it and saw it was Taylor Swift, whom he hadn't contacted in a long time. He took a sip of his drink, picked up his phone, and walked out of the private room to the outside of the barbecue restaurant. His tall figure stood under the eaves in the night.

A refreshing, damp drizzle was falling from the sky outside...

"Congratulations on six nominations! Wow, you've been nominated for all four major categories in just one year. That's quite impressive." Taylor's light laugh sounded very pleased. The Grammys had just been announced when she called.

"Half of them are just there to make up the numbers, aren't they?" Gong Cheng squatted by the roadside, scratching his stray hairs. Although he had been nominated for all four major awards, he was very confident about winning the Best Newcomer award.

As for Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Record of the Year, there are quite a few nominated artists, but there is one who, frankly speaking, couldn't compete with the others with his first full-length album "Wheel of Fortune & X" released last year.

His biggest rival for these three awards is Bruno Mars, whose album *24K Magic* was nominated for Album of the Year and Record of the Year, and whose song *That's What I Like* was nominated for Song of the Year.

Bruno Mars' album, released in November 2016, was quite a hit, performing well in both sales and digital music sales. Although "Wheel of Fortune & X" also had good sales and digital music sales and was certified as a diamond album early on, the quality of the songs, to be fair, still falls short of "24K Magic".

Moreover, the Grammy Awards consider more than just sales figures in their overall categories.

That's pretty good! At least he's quite confident in the pop music categories, with six nominations. He should definitely win Best New Artist, and Best Pop Album and Best Pop Vocal Performance are probably close to it too…

The outcome of Bombardment Meteor's "Thunder" nominations for Best Pop Group/Group is still uncertain...

"But you won't leave empty-handed. Do you expect to sweep all four major Grammy awards in a year?" Taylor chuckled jokingly. Gong Cheng was actually right; Bruno Mars' album was of very high quality.

But Gong Cheng has only been in the industry for two years, yet he has already achieved five number-one singles in just one year, making him the fastest artist in the history of the world music scene to achieve five number-one singles. His potential is limitless! Just like six months ago, everyone thought he would win a Grammy.

Moreover, the quality of his singles from the second half of last year to now has been ridiculously high. She just listened to "WE PRAY," which was released today, and the quality is as high as ever, with the production level seemingly having improved again.

"See you in New York. We can talk about the collaborative single then." Gong Cheng stood up and reached out to touch the raindrops falling from the eaves. He didn't feel anything about being nominated for an award but not winning.

It's not like we were unfairly awarded a prize. We just couldn't beat them. We'll try again next year!
"OK!" Taylor's voice came through, and the two chatted about other topics for a while before ending the call.

……

Gong Cheng stood under the eaves, about to return to the barbecue restaurant, when he noticed two or three girls in a group not far away, holding umbrellas and covering their mouths, watching him. Their voices drifted through the rain.

"It really is Oppa!"

"Let's not bother him, even though we really wanted his autograph..."

"..."

In Seoul, celebrities are everywhere, so it's easy to bump into them. But Gong Cheng is the kind who appears and disappears like a ghost, and his status is different from other celebrities. He brushed the raindrops from his palms, and after hearing their conversation, waved and greeted them, "Annyeonghaseyo..."

In the rain, Gong Cheng stood under the eaves in the lamplight, smiling and waving to the others.

The familiar voice coming through the headphones left the group of girls in disbelief. One of them, wearing a hoodie with "Tarot" merchandise, called out in Chinese, "May we bother you, Oppa...?"

Upon hearing the Chinese, Gong Cheng smiled and nodded, then waved for them to come over. Immediately, three girls carrying umbrellas ran over quickly. One of the girls was wearing headphones, and when she saw Gong Cheng's tall figure standing right in front of her, she was so excited that she couldn't speak.

Are you coming to Seoul for tourism?

Gong Cheng chatted with several fellow villagers.

"No~ I came to see Oppa's concert~" The girl took off her headphones, then took out her phone and asked cautiously, "Can I take a video, Oppa?" Many celebrities are very averse to being secretly filmed by fans, and they knew this, so they asked very carefully.

Gong Cheng waved his hand and took the pen handed to him by one of the girls. "Of course, but I still appreciate it if you asked for my opinion." As he spoke, he quickly signed the small card that the girl handed him.

His golden hair shone brightly under the dim streetlights in front of the barbecue restaurant, and his handsome yet gentle face beneath the wispy hair made several girls nervously clutch their phones. "Can we hug, Oppa?"

Gong Cheng paused, his arm still signing the business card. He looked up at the girl who had spoken, her small face flushed with nervousness beneath her bangs. He joked, "Will you get me into trouble? I didn't bring any bodyguards..."

Generally speaking, when celebrities encounter fans in private, they try to avoid physical contact. However, there are always some extreme obsessive fans who might pull out a knife or something...

The girl was a little embarrassed by the question, but she saw Gong Cheng open his arms and give her a light hug before separating and continuing to take another girl's card and sign it.

"Oppa, didn't you not bring any bodyguards? Why were you so impulsive?" The girl felt the hug that had just ended, and a faint, pleasant scent still lingered in her nostrils. She thought back to what the oppa had just said: "Would you hurt me? I didn't bring any bodyguards..."

The reason she felt awkward was because of her own intrusion. Like the oppa in front of her said, what if some bad person approached him? That's why she needed to be cautious and careful…

Gong Cheng handed the signed card to another girl, then turned and smiled at the girl who had spoken, her white earphones hanging around her neck. "It must have been difficult for you to come all the way from China to Seoul, right? Thank you for your appreciation."

Hearing this, the girl froze on the spot, letting Gong Cheng take the small card from his hand. Only when the boy's warm voice came did she come back to her senses, "What do you want to sign?"

The girl wearing headphones thought for a moment. The collaboration single "WE PRAY" released today by Gong Cheng and TWICE was still playing in the earphones under her earlobes. So, she calmed down and ended the video recording on her phone.

The wallpaper on the lock screen was displayed in front of Gong Cheng, and he said with red eyes, "Just write...just write..."

Gong Cheng stared at the phone wallpaper in front of him, glowing in the rainy night. Judging from the angle, it looked like a fan-taken photo taken on his way to work. He was yawning with his hands in his pockets, his eyes downcast and nonchalant, with white headphones weighing down his black, tousled hair.

"Just write..."

"I take off my headphones, and you step out of the screen..."

"Got it." Gong Cheng chuckled and wrote his signature. "You took a pretty good picture of me!"

"Oppa is handsome to begin with..."

After signing autographs and taking photos, Gong Cheng reminded him, "Go back and get some rest, bye..."

"Oppa, congratulations on your Grammy nomination!"

……

"From the Han River Bridge to the Grammys!"

On March 22, a headline went viral worldwide: Makoto Miyamoto, who, like Bruno Mars, was the artist with the most Grammy nominations this year, was even more popular.

The entire K-pop scene was in an uproar; K-pop had finally welcomed its first artist who was about to win a Grammy.

Regarding Tarot's six nominations, many media outlets did not blindly hype it up. Instead, they seriously analyzed his chances of winning, such as Best New Artist and Best Pop Artist. According to the data analysis of many media outlets, if there are no blacklisted Grammy Awards, then Makoto Miyamoto will win three Grammy Awards by the end of next month.

"..."

The entire JYP was in a frenzy. Park Jin-young arrived at the company early in the morning and went straight to the wall of honor in the lobby, which was not yet open to the public, wondering where the Grammy trophy should be placed.

Where should I put it?

Gong Cheng took a sip of water helplessly and stood aside, saying, "I haven't won an award yet, bro."

"Besides, it doesn't matter where you put them. Just put them in order. There's no need to pick a particularly eye-catching spot... When many songs are written, they're not written with the intention of winning awards."

……

On March 23, shortly after the Grammy nominations were announced, Akana fans around the world began to stir.

Gong Cheng's fan club "Tarot Club" has thousands of fan sites all over the world. At noon today, the big fans of each site released a unified announcement.

[Tarot0324's Birthday]

【——Happy Birthday "Tarot"——】

[Celebrating Birthday with LED Screens in 100 Cities]

[Seoul|Shanghai|Beijing|Shenzhen|Guangzhou|Nanjing|New York|Barcelona|London|Paris|Busan|Rome|Berlin|Los Angeles|Washington|……|]

[A total of 472 support screens in 100 cities worldwide will be illuminated tonight at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, along with a water show in Dubai.]

..............................

Every screen represents the blessings and heartfelt confessions of the Akanas.

The world will shine for "Tarot" tomorrow.

Happy 22nd birthday, Tarot! Thank you for coming into our world by taking up the microphone from the Han River Bridge.

..............................

Welcome, everyone! (Akana)

...............................

As dusk settles, the night winds of the Arabian Gulf carry sand gently across Dubai's skyline...

As the twelve chimes resound from the spire of the Jumeirah Temple, the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa stands like a "sword of the desert" on this land.

Amidst the texture of the 163-story building, a pixelated image began to flicker, slowly revealing Gong Cheng's eyebrows, eyes, and tall figure. Before the world, the Burj Khalifa lit up with birthday cheers prepared by the "Akkana" fans for Gong Cheng. Thousands of fireworks rose from the open ground, igniting the night sky and radiating brilliant light.

The pixelated LED screens cover almost the entire 163-story tower, with dazzling images and light shows piecing together Gong Cheng's personal and stage photos. The flowing, colorful pixel blocks, like shattered stars, flow and converge to create cyberpunk-style images...

As the light and shadow shifted, Gong Cheng crouched at the edge of the dark stage, holding a microphone. His black, tousled hair and slightly closed eyes conveyed gentleness amidst the pixelated style. Beneath the dark stage, hands raised their light sticks... The resonance of digital light and shadow pulsed out birthday wishes, word by word.

Happy 22nd birthday to Tarot—the best singer!

The pixels faded, then coalesced into a picture again—under the dim streetlights, Gong Cheng, still hungover, emerged from Gangnam, a jacket draped over his tall shoulders. The angle looked like a paparazzi shot, his shadow stretching long under the streetlights… This photo once trended on Seoul's social media, titled "Tarot and Kim Tae-yeon's Hangover Night."

Oppa, you're 22 now. Take care of yourself. I don't want to kiss you, I don't want to elope with you, I just want you to be healthy!

More and more photos flashed across the Burj Khalifa's giant screen. Messages of blessing written by fans were condensed into a beating heartbeat in the program's code, then vanished in an instant. Passersby in Dubai and many Akana members standing at the foot of the tower quietly watched the images floating on the tower.

A fleeting image from the era of "Fake Love" flashes by—Miyako Makoto stands by the railing of the Han River Bridge late at night, his profile unreadable, gazing at the dark river. In the still photograph, his ever-present black hair is disheveled by the night wind.

Oppa, are you finally over the hard times?

The flowing, pieced-together pixels created a scrolling video. The image quality wasn't very clear, but fans at the Burj Khalifa immediately recognized it as a meager clip of the boy from a variety show.

In a secret operation by the production team on "Running Man," a small fan meeting was held for Bombardment Meteor. Tarot stood on the stage holding the microphone, and Lee Kwang-soo asked the fans in the audience, "How long will you love Tarot?"

In the video of the Burj Khalifa, a loud, unified chant could be heard: "For a lifetime..."

But the boy standing on the stage, with a sore expression, chuckled softly and replied, "You're lying..."

A brief video flashed by, then disappeared into a pitch-black screen, where the pixels seemed to jump out one character at a time, like a heartbeat.

Oppa, a lifetime is indeed a long time, so let me love you until I'm in my thirties...

The support for the Burj Khalifa continues...

……

In the early hours of the morning, as hashtags related to "Tarot's birthday support" flooded the world... Tarot's Instagram account updated its status at 03:56 AM.

[Photos]

The updated post shows a dark room where Gong Cheng, with his golden hair adorned with a gold-leaf origami birthday crown from a birthday cake delivery, stands with his hands clasped tightly in front of his white hoodie. His closed eyes and sculpted features are illuminated by the flickering candlelight. The blue cake doesn't appear to be very large...

Below the picture, he typed his birthday wish: "May everyone be healthy and happy..."

……

On March 2th, two days after Gong Cheng's globally sensational birthday party, he received birthday gifts from the members and female friends. He didn't pay much attention to the little tiger's gift, which was said to be given to him in a few days.

The gifts from the Executive Department's Dragon and the Washboard Boy also arrived, and he accepted this year's gifts, unlike last year's.

Liu Zhimin brought a camouflage baseball cap, saying she had been choosing it for a long time, while Little "Washboard" brought a small bracelet.

My birthday has passed, and the Bombardment Meteor tour is about to begin. There's no time left, it starts tomorrow...

So, Gong Cheng and the others, along with the company staff, returned to the Jamsil Olympic Main Stadium for rehearsals...

Nayeon followed behind her with a smile, carrying the birthday gift she had given to her boyfriend a few days ago. At Bombardment Meteor's concert, she will also be a guest performer, singing the chorus of his new single.

The birthday present she was carrying was a small black suitcase containing a microphone that she had been ordering from a brand since last fall. It was silver-white and adorned with small diamonds, and her stage name, "Tarot," was written at the base of the microphone.

It's exclusive, one of a kind in the world, costing $8 and taking nearly 5 months to create. The price is a bit high, but it doesn't matter to Lim Na-yeon.

The best singers need the best microphones...

(End of this chapter)