Chapter 181: Too Bad

rces in it. You guys must work hard and practice, seizing this chance to boost your popularity. 。Within this, we will definitely make an effort, thank you for the company's attention. 。“The members...:)

Every time they text each other, they start with an emoji. That's a little unspoken agreement between Nan and Jingyuan.

After Pool Jingyuan sent a (smiling face) emoji, the two of them started chatting casually.

After their chance encounter at the cinema, their relationship blossomed quickly. The two shared common interests, which led to numerous conversations. Especially since Namie Amuro's official debut, she had experienced various journeys, some novel, others awkward, and even exhausting. These experiences brought about a plethora of complex emotions: stress, disappointment, excitement, and more. This left her with a stronger desire to confide in someone compared to before.

After some idle chatter, Chi Jingyuan sensed that the young woman seemed to have something on her mind and was a little embarrassed to say it. He took the initiative to ask, "What's the matter"

After a while, Nami Minami replied somewhat belatedly: "Um... have you been watching our show recently"

"No."

"...(blinks)…" She was clearly taken aback: "After we debuted, we recorded a lot of variety shows, but…but when they aired, most of my shots were cut… Actually, sometimes I think I performed pretty well, but it had no effect. Last time the manager and teacher even criticized me, so today when we were recording the show, it was still like this…"

But I really, truly tried my best.

"You... when it comes to variety shows, are there any places I should pay attention to"

Ji Jingyuan looked at his phone and let out a sigh.

From these several, fragmented text messages that came in one after another, it can be seen that this girl must have been hit hard.

Because some situations after her debut weren't as good as she had imagined, her popularity wasn't as dazzling as before, she wasn't prominent enough in the team, and even though she tried her best, she didn't get any positive feedback. All these negative factors accumulated a lot of pressure on her, and she even began to have some self-doubt about herself.

Pool Jingyuan hasn't specifically studied TWICE's popularity, but through news and exposure, it's easy to see that currently Tzuyu stands out in the group. Besides, JYP is not only riding the wave of Tzuyu's popularity but also pushing Nayeon, the domestic center position.

As for Naomi, she's kind of lost in the shuffle within the team.

Through his interactions with her over this period, he also came to understand Minami. He felt that although this girl was gentle in personality, she was actually quite confident about herself deep down. However, the result after her debut was like this, which might have been a considerable blow to her.

Unfortunately, Chi Jingyuan is not good at this either.

"You ask me this...well, actually, when I'm on variety shows, the MC doesn't cue me in, so I usually don't speak much...And every time, I'll also actively find a spot far away from the MC or the camera. When nothing is happening, I just sit there quietly waiting for work to be over."

In the TV station's backstage, sitting in a chair waiting to be made up, Mei Nan looked at her phone's reply, blinked, and pursed her lips.

There was a sparkle in her eyes, because in fact, she also had that kind of personality and habit. She wasn't really fond of grabbing the spotlight or making a show on the program. If she could just sit quietly by and wait for work to be over every time, it would be great indeed.

Even though she was like that, she still had a strong heart inside. She didn't want to become an idol just for popularity. Who could stay calm and collected when everyone else in the group was so dazzling and she remained unnoticed

People who can have this kind of mindset are not very suitable to be idols.

She looked over the message again, tapping the screen to reply "Actually, I like it too, just..."

"Then just do it your way.... Although if you cue me, I can also do a pretty good job, but I'm not really good at variety shows. There are members who like this, so just leave it to them. Besides, I personally feel... don't tell anyone else... I think variety shows don't really help much in boosting an idol's popularity, and trying too hard to perform can even have the opposite effect."

"When it comes to idols, focusing on the essence is enough. What's important is that you figure out what your strengths are."

He saw the grand aspirations in Ming Nan's heart, and before his eyes seemed to appear the somewhat bewildered look of this gentle girl. Pool Jingyuan didn't comfort her, he just seriously imparted some of his own experiences.

He doesn't know if it's good or not, but he thinks it suits him quite well, as well as that of Naminori.

Because the two people really look alike.

“So, what do you think are my strengths” Minami asked, biting her lip with a hint of anticipation.

After sending the message, she kept holding her phone waiting for a reply. Soon, it vibrated and she picked it up. The **S only had a few words: “Take a look in the mirror yourself.”

"Pfft..."

She began by biting her lips and trying to hold back, but after reading those words several times she couldn't help letting out a light chuckle. A strange feeling welled up in her chest, softening the furrowed brows that had been creasing her forehead just moments before. Her dark eyes seemed to come alive with a newfound spark.

"Twice has just debuted and only released one album. Your group's style hasn't been fully established yet, so there's no need to worry about popularity. For variety shows, just be yourselves. Trying too hard will backfire. Idols in our genre don't need to try so hard on variety shows. Just sitting quietly is already a performance... Finally, I'll give Mina a piece of advice from my most admired senior: 'Popularity has seasons.' See, it's so well said..."

"I have something to attend to here, let's chat another time. By the way, the kids performed well, and they did a pretty good job dancing to "Call Me Baby" too."

Miki scanned the long string of replies, her smile growing brighter with each one. She read to the very end, her eyes twinkling, revealing a flash of white teeth.

Of course, she knew what Ji-seong was talking about. In their TWICE VLIVE broadcast two days ago, they played the roles of kindergarten children, dressed in children's clothing and wore child hats for an adorable live stream. Later, they also had a random stage game. She and Momo danced to EXO's "Call Me Baby" together, and she happened to dance Yuan's part.

I didn't expect Chi Jingyuan to have watched it either.

Didn't you say you didn't watch our show...

Nanami's eyes, twinkling with amusement, blinked a few times as she scrolled back through the messages Cheng Yuan had sent earlier. Her gaze seemed to wander off into thought as she read.

………………

Today, EXID who returned and one candidate VIXX need to record an interview.

"Then this episode's script, Yuan and Irene will meet to go over it, just like before, no need to follow the above completely. Intersperse a few improvised interactions in between."

After being busy for several days, it finally arrived on the 20th, which was another recording day for Music Bank. As usual, as soon as they came in the morning, the two MCs went to the meeting room with the program team to have a meeting. They received the script and understood today's guests and the flow of the program.

"Got it." Ji-yeong nodded, taking a stack of script materials from the PD's hand. Beside him, Joo-hyun responded with a sound and reached out to do the same. Xia Guo Peninsula. Basically, all their comeback albums were in both Chinese and Korean, with dual versions. M team even debuted directly in Xia Guo, which showed how much they valued it. Now that th...