I desperately want to win on the peninsula

2015 6 Month 2 Day.

Seoul, Mapo-gu, Sangam-dong.

SBS MTV, a performance stage for the show "The Show".

The show's MC, Park Ji-yeon, announced the winner of today's music show performance while fluently reading from her prepared script.

"Today's star of The Show stage is—Kara!!"

"Chukamida!"

Boom!

As the MC announced the winner, bright glitter fluttered down from all around the stage.

Kara made their comeback on May 26 with their mini-album title track "Cupid". As a group that was once compared to Girls' Generation, although their popularity in the Korean Peninsula has gradually declined and they are no longer as popular as they used to be, they can still easily win a number one spot on a smaller TV station.

This spot was easy for Kara, but it was a bit cruel for the two alternates, Monstax.

Monstax is a boy group launched by STARSHIP Entertainment through the trainee survival program "NO.MERCY".

Composed of 7 members, the current members include leader SHOWNU, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Jooheon, LM, and Lim Gan-chiao. They debuted on May 14, 2015.

Riding on the popularity of the early audition, fans have been quite enthusiastic in voting. The album sold 17000 copies in its first week and debuted at number 73 on the Melon music chart.

Monstax led in the peninsula vote and was neck and neck with Kara in overall performance, but Kara's live vote at the University of Tokyo was extremely strong, nearly doubling their score and overwhelming Monstax.

From this perspective, Kara has consistently maintained a certain level of popularity at Tokyo University.

Therefore, the final total scores differed by less than two hundred points.

After missing out on someone so close, several members of Monstax couldn't help but show disappointment in their eyes, though they still maintained smiles. What they were truly thinking remains unknown.

Moreover, not many people paid attention to these things; instead, the focus was on Lin Qianqiao, a member of Monstax.

He is about 1.8 meters tall, with a great physique, broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs.

Her black, shoulder-length hair was styled into neat, layered strands, and beneath the slightly messy bangs was a face with delicate, harmonious features and very smooth lines, like she had stepped out of a comic book, possessing a face with a strong visual impact.

However, all of this was somewhat diluted by the smile in his eyes, adding a touch of approachability.

At first glance, it gives one a sense of tangible reality, as if it could be touched.

At that moment, he was clapping towards Kara, and the audience below the stage could not see any disappointment or dejection on his face after missing out on a spot. His eyes were clear and pure, and there was a faint smile on his lips, showing his sincerity.

Monstax's debut song, "Martial Arts Invasion," is in the EDMTarp style.

He wore a spray-painted distressed shirt over a printed white T-shirt, paired with simple logo cargo pants and black and white sneakers. His minimalist style, with no unnecessary accessories, looked both fashionable and chill on him.

Unlike the popular pretty boy style on the peninsula, he has a brighter aura, giving off a cheerful and handsome vibe.

The stage lights shone on Lin Qianqiao, as if adding a filter to him, and just by standing there, he could firmly attract the attention of most people.

Immediately, the audience below the stage were engaged in heated discussions and sharing information about him. Some fans even quietly turned off the lights on their light sticks and listened intently for any information about him.

"Ahhh! Does this face even exist?"

"Insane! This kind of face just appeared out of nowhere, how could that company hide it so well? He's so handsome I wasn't prepared at all."

"Who is he?"

"He is Lin Qianqiao of Monstax, whose stage name is derived from the Romanized pronunciation of 'Qiao' (巧).

Lin Qianqiao and his teammates stood next to Kara. Actually, when he heard that he wasn't in the top spot in his group, he felt a little relieved.

You could say you expected it, or you could say you got used to it.

The candidate had actually been nominated several times, mostly by Bigbang or Shinee from the same period. It was a bit wishful thinking for a rookie boy group that had only debuted for half a month to think they could put up a fight. Naturally, they were easily defeated by these two groups.

This time it's just Kara instead, and Lin Qianqiao doesn't find it hard to accept.

If they can maintain this performance in a few days, and if they're even a little luckier, they might be crushed by EXO, who announced their comeback today.

Yes, Monstax's debut as a rookie group was truly magical and amazing.

The company's choice of debut date is baffling. I wonder if the management went to Hongdae to find a shaman with a stall and do some tarot readings or something.

The two most popular K-pop groups right now, Bigbang and EXO, have both been clashed with them.

Not to mention top-tier groups like SHINee, Beast's Jang Hyun-seung's solo comeback, NFL's Kim Sung-kyu's solo, and Jeon Hyo-sung's solo. This female soloist's stage performance was absolutely amazing, but she just had some bad luck.

There's also BTS, who returned after the school trilogy ended, starting a new chapter and achieving considerable success, thus officially breaking into the mainstream. By this time, they had already finished airing.

However, Monstax wasn't the only one to bear these hardships; other artists who debuted around the same time included Seventeen, Shinbyou, Romeo, Sonamoo, and others.

They are good colleagues who share both good times and bad, and I guess they will complain about this feeling when they meet again in the future.

……

After gradually clearing her mind of distractions, Lin Qianqiao began to listen to one of Kara's reflections.

Kara's leader, Park Gyu-ri, spoke her acceptance speech calmly and efficiently into the microphone.

Kara, who have had their glorious moments, don't need to prove anything by winning first place. Perhaps for them, this first place is more like an explanation to their fans, and they don't want to disappoint them.

Unlike Kara, the rookie group Seventeen standing behind them seemed very excited. Several members who managed to get a shot of them jumped and waved excitedly, just like children.

Kara's leader, Park Gyu-ri, quickly finished her acceptance speech and went to their encore stage, the exclusive stage for the winner of the music show, which also marked the end of today's program.

Other artists and groups waved goodbye to the fans who had followed them as they walked back to the backstage area.

On stage, the music of their title track "Cupid" gradually began, and they held microphones for an encore performance, their sweet vocals rising with the music.

Perhaps related to the concept of a comeback, Kara's outfit today featured a candy-colored top and a matching silver-colored mini skirt.

This makeup and styling creates a look that is sweet yet sexy and charming, and I wonder how many people's hearts it will capture.

"Draw back the bow of fate"

"Now"

"Shoot it out shoot it out right now"

"I'll never give it up give it up tonight"

……

Monstax was the quickest to leave the stage. It wasn't that they couldn't accept defeat and ran away, but rather that their position was right next to the backstage area, just a short walk away.

Kara's background music could be heard coming from the stage in the corridor.

咻利嗷～幻利嗷～

Just hearing it makes me feel sweet.

Lin Qianqiao listened and hummed along, and surprisingly found it quite pleasant to listen to; no wonder so many fans liked it.

Being defeated by them was only natural, which made me feel even better.