I desperately want to win on the peninsula

Starship Practice Room.

Monstax is covering Dong Shin's "Incantation," and we're practicing the dance to that song here today.

In fact, almost every Starship trainee knows this dance song; it's practically a must-sing song for trainee assessments, and the dance moves are so easy for them to perform.

After a period of practice, the members were all panting and sweating profusely. Shownu walked to the corner of the practice room and turned off the device playing the accompaniment, and the music stopped abruptly.

Lin Qianqiao chose to sit down nearby, burying his head in his arms and panting heavily. The soreness of exhaustion filled his entire body, and sweat slid from his temples to his chin and dripped onto the wooden board.

"Have some water." Zhou Xian, covered in sweat, sat down next to Lin Qianqiao and handed her a bottle of water.

Lin Qianqiao, whose mouth was parched, took the water, twisted open the bottle, and gulped it down. After replenishing her fluids, she felt better and her eyes became much brighter.

After finishing his drink, he put the water bottle aside and turned his head to look at Zhou Xian, who was covered in sweat.

Lin Qianqiao thought of the melody that had been stuck in his head lately. Zhou Xian also had creative talent and was quite capable. Wanting to hear his opinion, he asked directly, "By the way, Zhou Xian, can you write house music?"

Upon hearing such a simple question, Zhou Xian displayed all the knowledge he had acquired, answering immediately:

"Of course! H, U..."

"I didn't ask you to spell it, I meant EDM HOUSE." Lin Qianqiao rolled her eyes, directly interrupting his childish behavior.

"Isn't that easier than spelling letters?"

Zhou Xian glared at him, boasting and exaggerating, his fierce demeanor revealing his cowardice.

Hearing this, Lin Qianqiao glanced at him sideways and said, "That makes sense. Then I won't ask you anymore."

After he finished speaking, he turned his head and stared at the full-length mirror in the practice room in front of him. The mirror reflected several members scattered in several places, resting and drinking water. The atmosphere was quite good, with people chatting and laughing in twos and threes.

Zhou Xian took a sip of water, turned to Lin Qianqiao, and asked, "You want to compose music in this area?"

"Hmm... It's so popular lately, I definitely want to give it a try." Lin Qianqiao nodded upon hearing this, reached for the water bottle next to her, opened it, and took another sip of water. "But I might not be able to use it, so I'll just give it a try."

I'm not really a big fan of deep house, but it sounds good—deep, psychedelic, and very stylish.

But I always felt that it couldn't make a big splash, and it would be difficult to manage if it were released as a main track, mainly because the hook of this style of music wasn't exciting enough.

A comparison between BIGBANG's "BANG BANG BANG" and SHINEE's "View" reveals that contemporary listeners prefer upbeat EDM and TRAP tracks.

Hyuna is another beneficiary of this musical style, which is related to her own strength and ability to perfectly fit this style. It's like she's been blessed with natural talent.

SHINEE's "View" is more suitable for playing in a quiet café or a peaceful place. Although it has a certain style, it still has a lot of limitations, mainly because it's not cheesy or upbeat enough...

One option is to pursue commercial success by focusing on EDM, which appeals to a wider audience. The other option is to create an album with a sophisticated concept, such as deep house. "View" received a good rating on a UK music review website.

If you change your perspective, you'll understand what MONSTAX needs right now... it's nothing more than business results, so there's no need to overthink it.

"Then write it; leave the rap part to me."

Zhou Xian shrugged indifferently. Seeing that he nodded in response, he suddenly remembered something and changed the subject: "By the way, I'll introduce you to a friend later."

"Okay." Lin Qianqiao remembered that Zhou Xian had said at the audition that he would introduce him to a friend, and casually asked, "The rapper friend you mentioned?"

"Yes, she's a trainee at our company." Zhou Xian nodded. "She's quite talented."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qianqiao pondered for a moment: "Could it be a female trainee?"

"You...you guessed that?" Zhou Xian looked at Lin Qianqiao in surprise. Why was his maknae always so smart, guessing the correct answer so easily?

"I'm not stupid." Seeing this, Lin Qianqiao said helplessly, "Not all the talented male rappers in our company are here. You can't possibly have time to get to know the newly joined trainees, can you?"

Zhou Xian glanced at Ren Changjun in the corner, chuckled, and turned to Lin Qianqiao, saying, "You're right, she really is a female trainee from our company. She's a friend I met when I joined Starship as a trainee."

"I remember you've been with Starship for seven years, right? That's quite a relationship..." Lin Qianqiao glanced at Zhou Xian.

"More or less... Anyway, we have a good relationship; we've known each other since we were kids." Zhou Xian chuckled, not hiding their friendship.

"Okay, this is a good opportunity to get to know each other." Lin Qianqiao nodded slightly. He didn't know anyone on the starship except for his teammates, so this was a good chance to get acquainted.

Zhou Xian is different; he is the pure-blooded prince of Starship.

If we can trace the trainees' careers back to the early days of Starship Entertainment, when the company only had Kwill as a strong asset, then current mainstays like SISTAR were still in the planning stages.

Zhou Xian was also in the preparatory group for Boyfriend. He was quite young at the time and was probably just a sparring partner, so the fact that he was chosen was partly due to personal feelings.

MONSTAX's friendship with his boyfriend is basically due to his relationship with Lee Minhyuk; they all trained together as trainees.

The most obvious reason is that the two are roommates, and Zhou Xian is so bored that he will bring up his past days as a trainee.

The bravest thing this guy ever did was to "scold" the president of Jinshidai to his face, which could also be described as a rebellion, or more accurately, a complaint.

He called the company a cage, feeling trapped in Starship, training day and night for seven or eight years, yet never seeing the light of day before his debut, and he was in a daze.

When the management team in charge of the trainees saw that Zhou Xian even dared to talk back to the boss, they didn't dare to utter a sound.

Afterwards, this guy got a long vacation.

I was genuinely given two weeks off, not fired for lifting my right leg the moment I walked in the door.

In fact, the management was well aware that Zhou Xian was already under immense pressure and his emotions were gradually becoming uncontrollable, so they let him relax a bit. It was unrealistic to actually fire the Crown Prince.

The small company is quite humane; after all, they've been training their star trainee for seven years. Putting everything else aside, they still have a sense of loyalty to them.

This was something Lin Qianqiao had heard secondhand, because at the time he was still training alone in the Starship practice room and also training in the 1M dance studio near the company, basically ready to parachute in at any time.

After a short break, practice resumed.

After an unknown amount of time, the door to the practice room opened, a middle-aged man walked in, said a few words, and then turned and left.

Monstax, who had no scheduled activities, were told by their manager, Lee Young-jin, that they could disband and take a break, and cheers immediately erupted in the practice room.

The moment the manager left, the members dispersed and headed out the door.

"Let's go, I'll take you to eat."

"OK."

Seoul is a city with a fast pace of life. People walk in twos and threes on the streets after get off work, while others carry bags and make phone calls urging the person on the other end to hurry up and come over. They occasionally look up at the traffic lights that are still counting down.

Lin Qianqiao followed Zhou Xian and walked along the street with ease. There was a street near the company that specialized in food and beverage, and the variety of shops was quite extensive.

From noodles to rice rolls, bibimbap, and rice porridge, including ginseng chicken soup, hangover soup, barbecue, and Chinese cuisine, you won't go hungry there.

Lin Qianqiao looked with great interest at the blackboard signs hanging outside the shops, most of which advertised discounted meals that looked quite affordable. She had been in a rush when she came here before and hadn't had time to look at these signs closely, but now, slowing down, she found them particularly novel and interesting.

Upon arriving at the location, Zhou Xian casually pointed to the bibimbap shop that Lin Qianqiao had been studying for a while, saying, "This shop is pretty good; the stone pot bibimbap is delicious."

"Okay, let's go in and give it a try."

Before entering, Lin Qianqiao glanced at the small blackboard. Zhou Xian led the way into the store, seemingly familiar with the place, indicating that he had been there many times.

Sure enough, an aunt carrying a tray immediately greeted him with a familiar smile: "Aigoo, Zhou Xian's here! And you brought a friend?"

"Yes, Auntie." Zhou Xian smiled and scratched his head.

Lin Qianqiao, standing behind Zhou Xian, also bowed politely in greeting. Perhaps out of politeness, she warmly welcomed them and quickly led them to an empty table at the back, saying, "Please sit here, there's plenty of room!"

"Kamsamita!"

Zhou Xian thanked him and sat down, gesturing for Lin Qianqiao to sit with him. "Let's sit and wait. The dance class must have been postponed. She should arrive by herself soon."

"I'll go get a drink first. What would you like to drink?"

"Oolong tea, Kamsammida."

Zhou Xian nodded upon hearing this and got up to walk straight to the beverage refrigerator at the shop entrance, leaving Lin Qianqiao sitting alone at the table, who had nothing to do but browse her phone.

While the K-pop scene seems to be a fierce battle between BIGBANG and EXO lately, it's actually starting to feel a bit visually tiring.

We can only look forward to the summer comebacks in July, which should be quite dazzling. There will be countless girl groups making comebacks, such as Girls' Generation, Stellar, Mamammo, AoA, Girls' Day, Gfriend, Apink, and many more...

The music scene will truly be dazzling with stars at that time. At a glance, it will be filled with youthful and beautiful girl groups, making it dazzling and overwhelming.

Unfortunately, that's a story for another time.

Zhou Xian walked back and handed Lin Qianqiao, who was scrolling through her phone, a bottle of oolong tea. "What are you looking at?"

Lin Qianqiao casually took the oolong tea, the cap clicking softly as he unscrewed it. He tilted his head back and took a swig, the icy coolness sliding down his throat. Setting down the bottle, he glanced at Zhou Xian, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Let's see the comments criticizing you."

"Damn it! Give me back my drink." Zhou Xian pretended to take back the oolong tea, but couldn't help laughing. A light laugh immediately came from behind him.

Hearing the silvery laughter, Lin Qianqiao couldn't help but tilt her head to look. It turned out that two girls behind Zhou Xian were covering their mouths and laughing. They seemed to know each other quite well.

One of them had her hair in a cute bun. She wore a light yellow shirt jacket with straight-leg jeans, a very casual and simple outfit that suited her quite well. Her fair and cool face was adorned with light makeup, and she had a bright and sweet smile on her lips, but her eyes looked a little dazed... similar to the emoticon #dazed.

The other woman wore a greyish-white Nike hoodie and stonewashed blue jeans that made her legs look straight and long. She had her hair tied in a neat ponytail, and her features were quite attractive. She had a slightly heroic air about her, but when she smiled, shallow dimples appeared on her cheeks, adding a touch of approachability.

"Your friend?"

"Yes, this is EXY, and this is Seol-ah. We bumped into each other at the entrance when we were buying drinks, so we came together."

The two girls were also drawn to Lin Qianqiao. He was dressed casually, in a loose white shirt with a printed short-sleeved shirt. However, when the girl with the bun hairstyle looked up and her eyes fell on his handsome face, she couldn't help but be amazed.

His clean and crisp outfit, paired with his impeccable looks, makes him look just like Fujii Itsuki from "Love Letter," the boy who captivated everyone with a single glance in the library.

Since there are no specific requirements for clothing today and I'm not going to be on a music show, I can naturally choose to mix and match freely, focusing on comfort and casualness.

After hearing the introduction, Lin Qianqiao's gaze swept over Zhou Xian, then naturally swept over the two girls. Without the slightest hesitation, she stood up and took the initiative to speak: "Amahanaseyo, Lin Qianqiao yimida."

Having lived abroad since childhood, I'm no stranger to these kinds of occasions. Since I'll know everyone anyway, I might as well take the initiative to speak up and leave a good impression.

"Anan Haseyo, Kim Hyun-jung, ee-da." The girl with the bun hairstyle responded first, with a bright smile on her face, curiously looking at him.

"Aniang ha sai yo, Qiu Zhaozhen yi mi da." The girl with the ponytail also looked at Lin Qianqiao politely and replied.

"Zhaozhen, you can just call yourself Exy, it sounds cooler!" Zhou Xian gave Qiu Zhaozhen a second introduction.

"You don't need to tell me!" Exy seemed to really like her stage name, and then she didn't forget to introduce the people around her, "Hyun-jung's stage name is Seol-ah... hehe, it suits her skin tone very well."

"..." Xue'e blinked but didn't reply.

Zhao Zhen seems to have inexplicably veered into a strange place.

"Okay, now that we know each other, let's sit down and chat." Seeing that the conversation seemed to have gone on for a while, Zhou Xian and Xue'e and EXY behind him gestured for them to sit down first.

They weren't shy at all, but after sitting down, they would occasionally glance at the people opposite them.

Unaware of what was going on, Zhou Xian told Lin Qianqiao about the bibimbap set meals he usually ordered.

"Is there anything you'd like to eat?"

"Just get the set meal advertised on that little blackboard by the entrance."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qianqiao thought the combination on the small blackboard at the door looked quite good, and Zhou Xian nodded in understanding.

He's a regular at this restaurant, having tried almost everything, mainly because he's lived in Nonhyeon-dong for so many years.

I've tried almost everything that's available nearby, and this place is reasonably priced, has generous portions, and tastes pretty good, making it a good value for money.

They each chose their bibimbap flavor. Lin Qianqiao put the menu aside and naturally turned to the spirited girl sitting opposite him, asking with a hint of curiosity, "Are EXY and Xue'e both rappers?"

The main reason is that Zhou Xian mentioned his friend is a rapper, and EXY looks very clean and efficient, speaks with confidence, and seems quite capable.

But Xue'e on the other side is less of a picture. She was rather reserved during her self-introduction, and beneath her cool and aloof appearance, she seemed a bit frail. One punchline and... it's really hard to imagine the two of them battling it out.

Could it be a contrast? She appears to be a delicate and fragile little girl on the surface, but on stage she is a domineering queen rapper who can control thunder and lightning. She has an incredible verse with immense power, and her words can unleash the force of thunder. Her vocals explode like a storm. Her rap is so captivating that it leaves people breathless.

"Ani, Ani..." EXY quickly waved her hand upon hearing this, interrupting Lin Qianqiao's myriad thoughts. She continued, "I'm a rap trainee, and Xue'e is a vocal trainee."

"EXY and Xue'e have been friends since elementary school and have a very good relationship," Zhou Xian explained to Lin Qianqiao.

"So, that's how it is." EXY gave Zhou Xian an approving look. Xue'e, standing to the side, smiled gently, quietly withdrew her thunderous power, and curiously glanced at Lin Qianqiao opposite her.

He noticed the gazes he was being taken aback. He glanced at Xue'e and saw her gentle smile, her sharp features softened by the laughter, radiating a delicate, healthy glow, and her moist eyes like gems immersed in a clear spring.

Even in indoor lighting, that smile can instantly brighten the surroundings and dispel gloom. It exudes a non-threatening, pure, and warm attraction.

Without breaking a sweat, she could reach the softest spot in people's hearts. Lin Qianqiao smiled lightly and withdrew her gaze, turning it back to Zhou Xian beside her. He seemed to have something to say.

However, I didn't expect them to have this kind of relationship. But it's good that we have familiar friends in the same company, so we can take care of each other if something happens.

……