Cicada, come on!

Chapter 94 Cicada, come back!

The conversation inside the car was discreetly concealed by the car's exterior, so no one could hear it.

Pei Xiyan couldn't hear it either.

His intuition was right; that awkward feeling was indeed someone secretly taking pictures.

However, the darkness of night can conceal too many things, and most of the paparazzi photos Pei Xiyan had experienced since childhood were just casual snapshots taken by passersby on a whim. A glance over there would reveal cameras pointed directly at her without any attempt to conceal their presence. Compared to these passersby, professional reporters like Dispatch are several levels higher in terms of both concealment and professionalism. The difference in level between the two sides is comparable to the difference between the Philippine diving team and the Chinese diving team.

In the rearview mirror, Sky Park was getting farther and farther away, and the awkward feeling was fading. Pei Xiyan simply treated it as a strange illusion.

He didn't think his intuition was like radar, capable of accurately capturing everything, and that radar can also malfunction when interfered with.

I must have made a mistake just now.

"Did you see anything?" Bae Joo-hyun asked with concern, looking at the receding street scene in the rearview mirror.

One instance of something unusual is fine, but two instances are a bit strange.

"It's nothing, maybe it's just my imagination." Pei Xiyan shook her head, not wanting her to overthink it.

"All right."

Seeing that he didn't want to say more, Bae Joo-hyun pursed her lips, then took off her mask and looked down at her phone.

The Red Velvet group chat has been flooded with messages since the first snowfall, and now there are a total of four or five hundred messages.

She scrolled all the way to the top, starting with Son Seungwan's excited exclamation, "[It's snowing for the first time!]" Most of the content consisted of Kim Yerin and her singing in response, interspersed with photos of fried chicken posted by Kang Seulgi and photos of the first snow taken by Park Sooyoung from the balcony of her new dormitory.

[Unnie must have seen the first snow too! Son Seungwan tagged her.]

[Inside, I went to Sky Park with Xiaoyan to see it.]

She had lost count of how many times she had watched the first snow with Pei Xiyan. From childhood to adulthood, Pei Xiyan had almost never missed a single one.

After posting a few photos of Sky Park, Bae Joo-hyun recalled her encounter there and teased everyone in the group chat, "[We ran into two unexpected people while we were walking there.]"

How unexpected was it? Son Seung-wan was easily intrigued.

[Who?! Unnie, tell me quickly!] Kim Ye-rin followed closely behind.

"[Is it someone we know?]" Park Soo-young appeared very rational.

The bear isn't inside; she's probably still dealing with her fried chicken delivery.

She ran into Jongin and Iennie. Bae Joo-hyun didn't try to keep them guessing; she simply and neatly revealed the answer.

She didn't specify their relationship, but the combination of being out late at night, alone with a man, and in a park could only point to one answer.

The group chat suddenly erupted like a swimming pool where the Philippine diving team had just finished diving, splashing high into the air.

[Oh my god?! When did they get together?]

[Great fortune! Great fortune! Great fortune! You really kept it a secret!]

I never imagined they'd end up together, but it's so romantic—they even went to see the first snow together!

The splash of water in the group chat was so intense that the car hadn't stopped even after entering the residential area.

Bae Joo-hyun looked out the window. The snow outside had stopped, and there was no trace of snow in the surroundings, as if it had never snowed.

The only proof that the first snow ever existed is the photos they took on their phones, or the trending topic "first snow" that has now become the number one trending topic on Naver.

Bae Joo-hyun clicked in and took a look. The comment section below the trending topic was very lively. Photos of the first snow taken in various places in Seoul were being shared. Some fans even took advantage of the situation and shared EX0's song of the same name, "First Snow."

It's time to listen to this song.

[The snow has stopped falling, and I can't even make a snowball! (crying)]

Back home, Pei Xiyan also saw Ding Enfei's message.

Today's snowfall was indeed insufficient for her to build a snowman.

At the same time, he began to sigh for Son Chae-young; it seemed her plan to build a snowman was going to fall through.

"[It won't just snow once; there will be other chances.]" he comforted him.

[So for now, I can only show you a snowman I made in the game (image).]

[It looks great.]

[I'll make you one just like this later!]

[Yes, I believe in you.]

Nothing much happened that evening. After washing up, Bae Joo-hyun went back to her bedroom, while Bae Hsi-yeon went into the recording studio to write down part of the song that had inspired her in the park.

"Because there are four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter can be used as metaphors for different stages of a relationship. Spring is the beginning of a relationship, the budding of all things beautiful..."

'

He muttered to himself while his hands were busy on the keyboard, making a series of clattering sounds.

When he was busy, Pei Xiyan lost track of time; he only remembered that Pei Zhuxuan had opened the door and come in once in the middle of the day.

After some time, she came in for the second time.

"Did you stay up all night?"

"Hmm?" Pei Xiyan turned around and saw Pei Zhuxuan frowning at the door.

"Is it already daytime?" He then looked at the computer screen, which showed that it was 07:21 in the lower right corner.

It's really daytime now.

As soon as her attention was diverted, her mind relaxed, and the accumulated fatigue surged in like a tide. Pei Xiyan couldn't help but rub her temples to relieve the overwhelming fatigue.

Bae Joo-hyun watched his actions and knew the answer in her heart without him having to answer yes.

"You really stayed up all night." She frowned and stepped forward, starting to massage his shoulders and neck with practiced ease.

After sitting at a desk for a long time, the shoulders and arms are often the areas that need the most attention.

"Go to sleep."

"I'll go in a bit; the lyrics and music are almost finished," Pei Xiyan replied softly.

After enjoying the massage for a few minutes with his eyes closed, he stopped his hands on his shoulders. "Nuna should still be going to the company today, right?"

"Yes, Shuyan will come pick me up later," Bae Joo-hyun said.

Today is the 25th, and there are still five days until their return.

But to be honest, she didn't have much confidence in this comeback, because the members all agreed that the title track they were preparing wouldn't suit the public's taste.

"Then let's cheer each other on." Pei Xiyan turned around and smiled.

"Ani, I don't want to cheer with you." Bae Joo-hyun shook her head, looking at him with a serious gaze.

"You should go to sleep now."

"Yes, right away." Bae Joo-hyun, now serious, was not one to be perfunctory. Bae Xi-yan suppressed his smile and continued to focus on the computer screen. After working for a few minutes, he closed the software on the screen and got up.

Goodnight, Nuna.

He passed by Bae Joo-hyun, yawning as he went out.

For the next few days, Pei Xiyan immersed himself in the recording studio, and the song he named "Four Seasons" progressed rapidly.

Quickly, he created the demo.

Time is like sand slipping through your fingers; if you can't hold on tight, it will always sneak away. In the blink of an eye, it's already the 30th of this month.

For most people, today is just another ordinary day. The only thing worth celebrating is that it's Friday, and tomorrow is the weekend.

But for ReVeLuv, today is the day Red Velvet officially returns, and they can't wait to celebrate and let the whole world know the news.

But there's no need for them to make a big fuss. Red Velvet is very popular on the Korean Peninsula right now. Just a few days ago, the teaser photos and makeup released by SM Entertainment went viral because they were so beautiful. This has made many people even more eager to see what they will look like when they make their comeback.

"Here it comes!"

In the Yonsei University student dormitory, seeing the time in the lower right corner of her laptop jump from 17:59 to 18:00, Lee Sun-ryung couldn't wait to click the mouse to refresh the current webpage. Then she saw a new video posted by SM's official YouTube account a few seconds earlier.

"redvelvet's "RBB (Really Bad Boy)" MV."

"They've finally arrived!"

He clicked on the video with great anticipation, zoomed in, and the music video began to play.

The scene begins from a very strange angle, seemingly from a corner, from which you can see Son Seung-wan sitting in front of a mirror, wearing earrings.

"Wendy is beautiful."

As the song's intro played, Son Seung-wan put on her earrings and saw a ferocious werewolf appear behind her in the mirror, which startled her so much that she screamed.

"Is it going to be a Halloween horror theme?" Li Shanliang's interest was piqued. As a music student, he also subconsciously started to comment on the music while watching the music video.

"The intro is pretty good... but Wendy's scream is a little ear-piercing."

As the music video progressed and the members appeared one by one, his attention gradually wandered.

"Wow, Joy has a great figure!"

"Irene's look is so beautiful! That big wave combined with her face is amazing! How can there be such a beautiful person in this world?" Lee Sun-ryun exclaimed with emotion. "Seulgi is so cool too, and Yeri has really grown up and matured."

"The arrangement uses a lot of vocals as background..." He also noticed the characteristics of the arrangement.

"Is this scene... a tribute to The Shining?" His eyes lit up.

"besides..

'

His mouth barely stopped moving throughout the entire process.

After watching the entire music video, Li Shanliang's feelings at the end were very complicated.

As a music student, he really liked this song.

The music is bold and innovative, with a high level of arrangement. The details are interesting and rich. Son Seungwan and Kang Seulgi's high notes in the background also demonstrate their strength. A unique feature of the whole song is that while one member's voice is the main track, there is at least one other person's voice in the background, which can be considered as using human voices as instruments.

In short, this is a song designed to showcase Red Velvet's technical skills.

However, the off-beat saxophone in the background is a point of contention, which can unconsciously lead many listeners astray when trying to sing the song. Also, from the perspective of a traditional listener...

"The whole song is too noisy," Li Shanliang sighed.

"Because of the excessive use of background vocals, the overall sound is very chaotic and noisy, with the two sound axes misaligned, as if the song is fighting against itself..."

"If a casual listener doesn't get it after the first listen, they won't want to listen to it a second time, while fans might be a little confused after the first listen."

After saying all that, Li Shanliang had only one thought in his mind.

"This return... feels like it's going to be fraught with danger."

The style of music this time doesn't seem like it would appeal to the general public.

He then turned off the video and went to the comments section under the music video to see what other fans or passersby thought.

Just as he expected, the top comment below was...

[It doesn't sound good.]

A very straightforward evaluation.

Most of the comments below are of this kind.

[It's so noisy, especially when I'm listening with headphones on. It feels like my left ear is fighting with my right!]

[The music video is pretty good, very high-end, and has the metaphorical style that Red Velvet is known for, while also incorporating a lot of horror movie footage. It's just that the song... it's hard to say.]

[I feel it's not as good as "PowerUp," is that something I can say? (Whispering)]

The person upstairs ordered it, and after listening, I was completely confused, not knowing what I was listening to...

[We'll see the results soon; it definitely won't be as good as "Power Up."]

Is SM Entertainment going bankrupt? This comeback feels like a complete mess!

Some fans tried to salvage the situation, saying, "I actually think it sounds pretty good. Our Ryder Baby wasn't going for a mainstream approach; they were going for a conceptual one."

[You'll find it sounds good after listening to it a few more times~]

[Yeah, the parts were well-balanced, this comeback was pretty good.]

But these comments, nestled among the rest, are merely a tiny ripple in the ocean.

As Li Shanliang continued reading, the online comments were almost unanimously in favor of him.

It was all mess and noise, and the music was unpleasant.

"It seems the odds are really against us." He shook his head.

Despite mostly negative online reviews, thanks to Red Velvet's current popularity, "RBB" still managed to drop to third place on the charts within an hour of its release.

However, the phrase "Red Velvet's new song is bad" then became a trending topic, and after a while, as if triggered by some related condition, the word "Cicada" once again became a trending topic.

"Cicada, come back!"

In the recording studio, looking at this trending topic, Pei Xiyan's smile revealed a sense of helplessness.

He was also paying attention to his own Noona's comeback, and like Lee So-sun, he quite liked the song, but he didn't expect that his second time trending this month would be because of this song.

I miss Cicada; none of his songs were bad.

[It would probably be much better if we switched to a Cicada this time.]

[I don't know what SM and Kenzie were thinking, why did they give our BeiBei such a song? Wouldn't it have been better to just let Cicada be the producer?]

[Kenzie is too old; only Cicada can do it.]

[The person upstairs is right.]

[Cicada, come back, Qinjia!]

[So, Red Velvet still can't live without Cicada?]...

Looking at the comments, Pei Xiyan always had the illusion that something bad had happened to her and that she was being mourned.

But he didn't think his Noona would be affected by these comments.

After all, Red Velvet's journey has honed their character to a high level.

After all, Pei Xiyan still can't understand why SM would follow up the success of "Dumb Dumb" with "July 7th".

Having gone through such a nonsensical return, the current situation is just a trivial matter for them.

After reading the comments for a while, he closed the webpage and went downstairs to watch Red Velvet's comeback debut.

Their debut performance was on Music Bank.

The TV station that Bae Joo-hyun is most familiar with.

[The lights in the KBS hallway are fixed.] Bae Joo-hyun still has time to send him messages like this.

It seems that it really hasn't been affected.

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