Celebrity Neighbor: My girlfriend is a big star?

"Hahaha, I told you we're really confident this time, how about that?"

"Totally awesome, I was originally planning to get the album from you for free, but this time I've decided to actually buy it!"

"???"

Since it was live-streaming, Liu Xin'an didn't chat much with Song Yuqi, instead continued to focus on the broadcast.

"It's really good, wow, if anyone's interested you can buy the album or digital version, anyway, I'm going to buy it, even though I was thinking of getting it for free."

[Get it for free? Understood! Anzi Ge is hinting that we should get it for free!]

[Does anyone knowledgeable want to answer, how's the quality of Yuqi and their new song this time?]

[Speaking as a longtime K-pop fan, it's top quality, incredibly catchy, it's the kind of song that could be a hit any time.]

[Ah this... Though I'm happy to see locals doing so well, if that's the case... won't Zhuzi Jie and them be in danger in two weeks?]

This glaring comment instantly cooled Liu Xin'an's excitement.

Then, he calmed himself down, at least right now he couldn't let emotions take over him.

However...

He had listened to Bae Juhyun and their new song.

It's hard to say whether Bae Juhyun and their song is better or worse than Song Yuqi and their song in terms of quality.

But purely in terms of how catchy it is...

That unsettling feeling kept growing.

Nothing should go wrong, right... He couldn't help but start worrying about Bae Juhyun and Kang Seulgi and them.

...

It wasn't just Liu Xin'an who listened to Song Yuqi and their new song the moment it came out.

Similarly, Bae Juhyun and others were also sitting together, listening to (G)I-dle's new song.

Understanding your competitors well before a competition is a very important thing.

But as the song finished playing, Bae Juhyun finally released the deep breath she had been holding in her throat.

Then, she instinctively looked at Kang Seulgi and others, unsurprisingly seeing embarrassed expressions on their faces.

After a long silence, Bae Juhyun stood up, clapping her hands loudly to draw everyone's attention to herself.

"Looks like we have a really strong opponent this time."

They're not like Liu Xin'an, who is a novice in music; they have a deeper understanding of this competitor's new song.

Without a doubt, this "Tomboy" is likely to become a big hit this year.

And it will be a song that helps (G)I-dle soar.

The leader's words also offered some reassurance to everyone.

Seeing the excited smile on Bae Juhyun's face, much of the pressure weighing on their shoulders instantly dissipated.

"The juniors nowadays just keep getting better, huh."

Just like Kang Seulgi's teasing, not counting BlackPink, since they're already not on the same track...

They barely withstood the intense pressure from Twice, thinking this year would be their year of harvest, but where did this emerging (G)I-dle come from...

"This song is really well written, did Jeon Soyeon write it herself? Really impressive."

"Phew, gotta work hard, kids!"

As they bantered with each other, Seong Taekyon pushed open the practice room door, looking at everyone who was back to normal.

"Did you listen?"

"We did, Taekyon oppa, what's your take?"

Seong Taekyon walked up to them, helplessly spreading his hands.

"What can I say, really impressive, to be able to write such an amazing song."

An opponent they had never taken seriously suddenly sprang up, giving them a solid surprise.

Fortunately, there's still a two-week gap before their comeback... If it were an actual head-to-head battle, honestly, Seong Taekyon didn't have much confidence in everyone.

But they still have an advantage, as a professional girl group from a big company, Red Velvet's live performance skills are significantly better than (G)I-dle's, who are from a small company.

Competitions always involve some underhanded tactics.

In this area, guiding some public opinion can more or less make up for the disadvantage in song quality.

It's kind of helpless to say, because in terms of song quality, actually there's not much difference.

But the problem is, this "Tomboy" clearly has a stronger catchiness and appeal than their "Feel My Rhythm."

This gives a very strong first impression, which is one of the reasons why many fans who don't understand music would come to such conclusions.

Besides all this, there's also the presence of Liu Xin'an, an external factor, who has brought them quite a bit of popularity this year; with all these factors combined, Seong Taekyon still has some confidence.

"Don't worry too much about the results, rest assured, your pre-sale numbers are much higher than last time, this time's results won't be bad, just do what you need to do."

Seong Taekyon definitely wouldn't say anything to boost others' morale and diminish their own.

Bae Juhyun and others nodded.

With the heavy pressure lifted, the usually playful Kim Yerin felt like joking around too.

She flipped through the recent schedule, then pointed to the day of April 5th.

"Oh? IVE is making a comeback that day too, they're also a monster rookie."

IVE was a rookie group with scary results at the end of last year, though calling them rookies isn't entirely accurate, as there are already debuted artists in the group.

"Are we going to get sandwiched between the juniors?"

"Hey, don't say such things!"

Bae Juhyun glared at a chuckling Kang Seulgi, took a deep breath.

"Alright, let's get back to practice, the juniors are coming up fierce, we need to show our senior strength too."

"Yes!"

"Practice, practice."

"Work, work~"

Seong Taekyon, watching the girls revitalized, showed a relieved expression on his face.

As for Kim Yerin's joking words just now...

It shouldn't be that bad, right?

Seong Taekyon couldn't help but mutter to himself.

---

This year is truly a year of intense competition, it's really tough for Red Velvet.