Chapter 182 IU Concert
While Kim Ki-hyeon was on his way to Jamsil's concert, Lee Hye-ri called him back.
"Hello? You called me just now? I was taking a shower just now, and Yarong answered the phone. I asked her what you said, and she just said nothing. That's why I called back out of curiosity."
Jin Qixuan was startled and said, "It was Yarong who coughed, and Jin Yarong answered it...?"
"Yeah, so what did you say?"
"Borrow money... She won't lend it..."
Hearing this, Lee Hye-ri instantly recalled the scene just now and laughed out loud:
"Hahaha... Eh? Wait, why are you borrowing money? You don't spend money, do you?"
Jin Qixuan said helplessly: "It's a test for the show!"
"Oh, so how did it end? Was it a success or a failure?"
"Of course it succeeded."
"Who did you borrow it from? Baojian Oppa?"
Recalling Li Zhien's words, Jin Qixuan curled his lips and said, "I won't tell you. I'm hanging up. Oh, yes, Merry Christmas."
"Ah... Merry Christmas, who are you spending Christmas with? Do you want to come and watch with us... Hello? Hello??"
“Beep, beep, beep…”
Lee Hye-ri looked at the busy tone on her phone and tapped the screen with her knuckles, cursing as if she could hit Kim Ki-hyeon.
“Ding ding…”
Two car horns interrupted Lee Hye-ri's movements. Seeing Yoo Jun-yeol in the car, Lee Hye-ri's expression changed. She smiled sweetly and waved at him, saying, "Oppa!" —— "That was Lee Hye-ri, the first person I called to borrow money. She just called me back to explain why she didn't lend me the money."
"Oh? Why?"
Liu Inna asked curiously.
Jin Qixuan really didn't expect Liu Renna to respond, so he said casually: "She thought I was teasing her."
"Oh, so you two really have a good relationship as you say on the Internet."
"Um……"
The conversation ended.
Half an hour later, accompanied by Lee Ji-eun's singing in the car, the two arrived at the Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.
The concert started at 8pm, but at 5am the entrance to the venue was already open.
The fans who had lined up in a long queue early in the morning rushed in.
Although you still have to wait for a while after entering the stadium, the feeling of waiting inside and outside the stadium is different.
The crowd gathered towards the entrance of the passage, and only a few people stood where they were, looking enviously at the people who walked into the passage talking and laughing, and finally disappeared.
These people were not lucky enough to get tickets for the concert, but they really wanted to come, so they wandered outside the venue with a glimmer of hope that they might meet an audience member who had bought tickets at the last minute.
Most of them hold a sign or cardboard with a high-priced ticket request written on it. They go around, ask everywhere, and display their tickets everywhere, while also competing with scalpers.
But the effect was minimal, tickets were hard to come by, and even scalpers didn’t get much.
The ticket price for Lee Ji-eun's concert is between 85,000 and 165,000 (equivalent to about RMB 400 to 800).
At first glance, it doesn’t seem cheap, but here’s a comparison:
The ticket price for Blackpink's concert is 155,000 to 265,000 won; the ticket price for Seventeen's concert is 198,000 won.
BTS concert tickets are priced between 165,000 and 220,000 won.
Tickets for aespa's debut concert cost 154,000 won.
(The above data is from 2022, including IU's concert ticket price.) The price of tickets for Lee Ji-eun's concert has not increased in eight years, which is really a conscience of the industry. To be honest, it is not as expensive as a CBA ticket.
So there is a reason why she has remained popular till now, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of her shining points.
Liu Inna parked the car in the internal parking lot, and the two followed Songshute who came to greet them to the backstage of the concert.
On the way, Jin Qixuan looked at the environment of the stadium curiously.
To be honest, Jin Qixuan has never been to this landmark building on the peninsula...
Although the crew of 1988 filmed here, that scene had nothing to do with Jin Qixuan.
The 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympic Games were held here, and Michael Jackson also held a concert here.
Speaking of which, it is really impressive that Lee Ji-eun can hold a concert here.
There are only a handful of singers who have held concerts at the Olympic Stadium today.
The first local singer to hold a concert here was the band HOT, and that was thirteen or fourteen years ago.
As it had been thirteen or fourteen years since a local singer held a concert here, the sensation in public opinion can be imagined.
Therefore, not everyone is a fan of IU. Many people come just to see the big scene so that they can brag about it when they meet and chat with friends later.
"Did you know about IU's 2016 Christmas Jamsil concert? That scene was so spectacular!"
This is why so many people have been asking for tickets at the door since early morning.
After a while, Kim Ki-hyeon and Liu Inna followed Song Squirrel into the backstage of the concert waiting room.
As soon as I pushed the door open, I saw Lee Ji-eun sitting in front of the makeup mirror, holding chocolate beans and chatting with the stylist.
Unlike the long straight black hair that Jin Qixuan had seen her with two months ago, she changed to short pear blossom hair as the concept style of the new album.
Simply put, she has changed from the cute girl-next-door style to a mature style, and the red dress she wore for the performance made her look very feminine.
"Ouni!!!"
As soon as she saw Liu Inna, Li Zhien put down the chocolate box and jumped over in two steps.
The two of them put their hands together, interlocked their fingers, and shook them in the air, making synchronous sounds that women make when they see their besties.
"Jie Eun, you've become more beautiful again!
"Hey, unnie, you've lost weight!"
…
Jin Qixuan didn't consider himself an outsider either.
After greeting the members of Lee Ji-eun's team, he sat on the sofa, crossed his legs, supported his chin with one hand, curled the corners of his mouth, and watched with interest the two women's bodies that were almost twisted into a knot.
The two women chatted for nearly three minutes before temporarily letting go of each other.
Then, Li Zhien walked towards Jin Qixuan in her high heels, stretched out her hand to him and asked: "Where is my Christmas present?"
Jin Qixuan thought that the first words she would say to him would be "I'm here" or "Long time no see".
But I never expected that her first sentence would be this.
As for Christmas gifts, they are usually given by boyfriends and girlfriends or by couples who are in a romantic relationship. After all, Christmas is a romantic holiday.
Therefore, Lee Ji-eun's behavior of asking for gifts is somewhat infuriating.
Jin Qixuan looked at Li Zhien's smiling face and her white and tender hand in front of him. His mind suddenly jumped and he held her hand for some unknown reason.
Lee Ji-eun was overwhelmed by Kim Ki-hyeon's sudden initiative.
Usually, whenever Lee Ji-eun flirted with him, Kim Ki-hyeon would shrink back, and no one knew what he was afraid of.
So later on, Lee Ji-eun would stop at the right time. She would definitely tease a few times, but not too much.
Kim Ki-hyun's abnormal behavior this time surprised Lee Ji-eun. Could it be that he was so amazed by my new look that he couldn't control himself?
"Why, since you didn't prepare a gift, are you going to give yourself to me?"
"No, I just learned how to feel a pulse. Your hands are a little cold. Are you suffering from kidney deficiency?"
I knew it!
It's like this every time!
Li Zhien slapped Jin Qixuan's hand away in annoyance, clenched her fist and threatened: "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll knock your glasses crooked!"
"Good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the disease; honest advice is unpleasant to the ear but is good for conduct. If you don't cough..."
Liu Inna was stunned by the scene of Li Zhien punching Jin Qixuan. Is this still the steady and introverted Li Zhien she knows? And when she saw that everyone around her was doing their own thing as if they didn't see anything, she was even more confused.
"Hantxi."
Liu Renna pointed at the two people and asked Hunter.
Hunter's eyes moved from the camera to the direction of Liu Renna's finger, and asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"
“Jie Eun…?”
"Oh, they are always like this. They can't say more than three words when they meet, and Ji Eun will definitely get angry."
"ah……"
What made Liu Inna even more confused was that after Lee Ji-eun hit Kim Ki-hyeon, the two of them were sitting on the sofa and talking as if nothing had happened.
So, is this how young people communicate now? Fighting first? Am I too old to keep up with the times?
Just as Liu Inna was daydreaming, Hunt was called over by Lee Ji-eun.
"Hant Oppa, do you want to learn cameramanship?"
Hunter saw the answer from Li Zhien's eyes, glanced at the camera in his hand, and said insincerely:
"I'm very busy and don't have time to learn."
Seeing Han Te's reluctant look, Jin Qixuan was surprised that he could believe it. Since he entered the room, Han Te has been fiddling with the camera! "See, just because he didn't take a good picture of me, IUTV hasn't updated for three months!"
Then, Li Zhien reached out to take the camera from Hunter, handed it to Jin Qixuan, and smiled sweetly: "So, IUTV will trouble you~"
"All right……"
Jin Qixuan turned on the camera, adjusted the settings, and asked:
"Still transforming?"
"Of course~"
Having said that, Lee Ji-eun stood up and waited for Kim Ki-hyeon's instructions.
"Ready, 1.2.3!"
After the music ended, Lee Ji-eun turned around on the spot, added sound effects to her own mouth, smiled sweetly and waved at the camera.
It must be said that the sight of her red skirt fluttering as she turned was indeed very beautiful.
"Long time no see, how do you see my bangs?"
As she spoke, Lee Ji-eun shook her head cutely, showing off her air bangs.
To be honest, the way she shook her head was so adorable that Jin Qixuan's mouth corners unconsciously curled up.
Looking at the camera and seeing Kim Ki-hyun's mouth corners raised, Lee Ji-eun smiled proudly in her heart.
After recording for a while, the staff notified Lee Ji-eun to get ready to go on stage, and Kim Ki-hyun also followed Liu Inna to the audience seats to wait for the show to start.
Ten minutes before eight o'clock in the evening, the open seats in the venue were already full.
Looking around, there were densely packed crowds of people, and the entire venue was filled with a sea of fluorescent yellow.
At this moment, a dazzling spotlight suddenly lit up on the stage, like a meteor across the night sky, illuminating the entire stage.
Chaotic beams of colored light shot towards the stage from all directions, forming a gorgeous tunnel of light, like a door to another world.
As the rhythm quickens, the lights change into various shapes and colors, jumping, spinning and interlacing like lightning.
From soft pink to dazzling purple-blue, from warm orange-yellow to neon green, the stage instantly turned into a huge, brilliant universe.
The lights danced like fairies, shuttling across the stage, casting flowing patterns and gorgeous light and shadows.
As the cool electronic music reached its climax, the lights also reached their peak.
Thousands of lights danced on the stage, creating countless gorgeous light and shadow effects. Rainbow-colored beams crisscrossed and danced like elves, livening up the atmosphere for Lee Ji-eun who was about to appear on stage.
Soon, the cool and colorful light show ended and the stage fell into darkness again.
But the atmosphere at the scene was indeed extremely lively, and the cheers were getting louder and louder, because they knew that Lee Ji-eun was about to take the stage!
It was one minute before eight o'clock when the three huge screens behind the stage simultaneously displayed the numbers [60] and then [59].
This is the start of the one minute countdown.
The audience counted along, and the voices became louder and louder:
"Fifty-nine!"
"Fifty-eight!"
…
…
"three!"
"two!"
"one!"
After reading the last second, the audience cheered loudly.
Accompanied by cheers, three giant screens suddenly flashed, reflecting the vague outline of Lee Ji-eun.
The rhythm of the music gradually rises, followed by extremely strong drum beats, like a pounding heartbeat, shaking the soul.
The lights suddenly lit up, gathering into a dazzling beam of light, illuminating the entire stage and revealing Lee Ji-eun standing in the shadows.
“I’m twenty four”
"I am the riddle question"
"Is it okay if there is no law above you?"
The opening song is "24", an adaptation of "23" by Lee Ji-eun.
Her clean and ethereal voice is like the sound of nature, passing through the air and striking the hearts of every listener. Her singing surges like a tide, igniting the atmosphere on the scene.
As the saying goes, when there are tens of thousands of people, there is no limit.
When there are more than 50,000 people, the sky and the earth are connected.
After the song was over, the audience's cheers lasted for a long time.
Li Zhien listened on the stage for nearly two minutes before she smiled and said: "Good evening everyone, I am IU!"
“Ahhhh!!!”
Fans responded to their love for Lee Ji-eun with the craziest screams.
"It is my great honor to hold a concert here. Thank you very much for your support. Without you, there would be no IU. Thank you everyone."
After saying this, Lee Ji-eun bowed deeply to the audience.
“Ahhhh!!!”
The fans in the audience cheered wildly. Not only IU, they also felt very honored.
To some extent, fans’ joy for their idols’ achievements is stronger than that of the artists themselves.
When an actor breaks box office records, a singer breaks album sales records, wins some important award, or makes some breakthrough achievement, fans will be excited and praise him/her greatly.
As expected of my favorite artist, keep going!!! This feeling of pride is easy to understand, just like an athlete winning a gold medal in the Olympics, which makes the whole nation proud.
"So for the rest of the time, should I sing for two hours? Three hours? Or... the whole night?"
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!”
Hearing this, the fans screamed and yelled. The atmosphere at the scene could no longer be described as warm, it was almost exploding.
Jin Qixuan had been to Lee Ji-eun's concert with 20,000 people, and that scene was enough to shock him, not to mention this scene with 50,000 people! The security personnel and police on duty were also suddenly under great pressure, fearing that Lee Ji-eun would say something to encourage the atmosphere, and then they really couldn't hold it back.
Fortunately, Lee Ji-eun didn't. After saying this, the official performance of tonight's concert began.
As Lee Ji-eun sang, the excited fans gradually calmed down, following the melody and gently shaking the glow sticks in their hands.
Of course, not everyone was calm.
For example, Liu Inna next to Jin Qixuan no longer had her usual dignified and gentle appearance. Her face was a little red because of screaming loudly, as if she had been injected with adrenaline.
Jin Qixuan was afraid that this sister would be so excited that she couldn't catch her breath and would pass out...
(End of this chapter)
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