As mentioned before, BKL has multiple idol labels under it. The “seventh-generation boy groups” often mentioned online are just a general reference to the boy groups that debuted between 2024 and 2027.
Last year, BKL’s operations were mainly focused on the girl group sector. Some second-tier entertainment companies, whose resources and scale couldn’t match BKL’s, were the first to tentatively venture into the increasingly competitive boy group sector.
They carefully arranged for their artists to release new songs, perform on shows, and go on variety programs. Unfortunately, although they spent the money, it didn’t create much of a splash.
Although fan groups are known for their fervor, they aren’t fools with money to burn; why wouldn’t willingly pay for just any crudely produced boy group.
Thus, 2024 passed by uneventfully, and the fan circle’s expectations for seventh-generation boy groups were all pinned on BKL, which was poised and ready for action.
And Inferno was the first new-generation boy group BKL launched in 2025.
Quentin had specifically looked into famous domestic entertainment companies, with BKL Entertainment being a primary focus of his attention.
Apart from receiving considerable attention from netizens, entertainment companies aren’t much different from ordinary companies; their essence is that of profit-driven machines.
Moreover, influenced by industry habits, their level of humanity might even be lower than that of average companies. This is particularly evident within BKL, which has a mature idol industry chain.
As everyone knows, being an idol is a youth-oriented career, and idol groups also have a certain lifecycle.
For BKL’s artists, once a group’s peak profit period passes, the company gradually reduces its attention and investment in them. When a new generation group debuts, the past ones will have their value as “seniors” squeezed dry before being ruthlessly discarded.
The cruel part is, they still have to sign 15-year contracts with the company. This means that even if abandoned by the company, they cannot switch to another label; otherwise, they face astronomical penalty fees and various restrictive clauses.
Yet, despite this, a continuous stream of youth still eagerly compete to participate in BKL’s auditions, hoping to sign with the top-tier company of their dreams.
On one hand, it’s because BKL is a massive conglomerate, its achievements in the idol group field are something smaller companies can’t hope to match.
On the other hand, BKL is very willing to invest in new groups. Every group during its active period is treated like the company’s crown prince or princess; it’s no exaggeration to say they are held up to the skies.
Given BKL’s current status and scale, there isn’t an idol they couldn’t make popular.
Besides promoting their own groups, BKL also spares no effort to suppress any competitors that could threaten a new group’s status.
Their suppression tactics are endless and hard to defend against.
They either dig up scandals, scheme, spread rumors, or directly take action at the company level, such as acquiring the small company of a competing group and then shelving the opposing artists.
Over the years, BKL has hardly ever failed. Otherwise, given the vast size of the idol market, it would be impossible for this one company to devour up the vast majority of the share.
Thinking back to last year’s promising Aurora, who was clearly signed under BKL but wasn’t treated as family because of their two-year limited group contract. Aurora was exploited as soon as they debuted, and within just a few months, they were already severely depleted. So it’s easy to see that the upcoming “Next Stage” boy group will be regarded as a thorn in BKL’s side, an eyesore.
Although Quentin doesn’t have the novel’s script, the antagonism between the protagonist group and BKL is clear enough. So, he had regarded BKL as the villain boss from the start.
However, he never thought about targeting Inferno. His understanding of this group only went as far as matching their faces to their names.
As for Inferno’s debut album? Not a single song made it onto the Light Music app’s daily chart, so none were pushed to Quentin.
But he didn’t expect to hear Inferno’s name again from Yan Qiao.
“Last week, the four of us went to record a show and ran into Inferno… Oh, you guys probably don’t know what Inferno is either. They’re BKL’s new boy group. They debuted not long ago, right around the time our show started airing.”
Yan Qiao looked around by the moonlight. After his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could roughly make out everyone else’s expressions.
Having started, and facing everyone’s curious gazes, he didn’t intend to keep them in suspense: “If nothing unexpected had happened, I should have debuted in this group.”
Xue Mingzhu had an “I see” expression, resting his chin on his hand and shaking his head: “Tsk tsk, ‘if nothing unexpected had happened’…so something unexpected did happen. Was it your company’s fault or someone else’s scheme? Hey, you weren’t harmed by a roommate too, were you?”
Wen Xinyi didn’t quite agree: “I’ve heard BKL’s selection process for debut spots is very strict, and the company’s management of trainees is strict. They say the more outstanding the candidate, the stricter the control, like being in an experimental class in a boarding high school?”
Cui Yan nodded in agreement: “Yeah, I’ve heard that too. The boss of our company and the training supervisor even went to BKL for a visit and study; I guess they wanted to imitate BKL’s process for training trainees.”
Fang Xu, who was in the same company as him, complained: “They should take a look at how many trainees their own company has. They’re trying to run before they can walk.”
“Yeah, that’s true. But the boss and them are having a pretty tough time too.” Cui Yan laughed, but the laughter sounded a bit helpless: “The two of us were the strongest, but now we have been sent to participate in the show. The group that was originally going to debut has suddenly lost us, which means their debut plans are probably going to be postponed for who knows how long.”
The more talented a trainee, the more valued they are within the company.
Cui Yan and Fang Xu were arranged to participate in “NS” because the exposure from a survival show far exceeded what their original company could provide.
But Yan Qiao was different. He was a BKL super A-grade trainee. Although he hadn’t formally debuted before, he had participated in many international dance competitions. He was undoubtedly valued by the company.
“Don’t overthink it.” Yan Qiao smiled. “No one harmed me, and the company didn’t force me. I voluntarily withdrew from this debut selection myself.”
“It’s a bit complicated to explain, and I haven’t told anyone else. It mainly has to do with the company’s development plan for Inferno.”
“You guys don’t know Inferno, but Quentin and the others have met them.”
Yan Qiao turned to look at the young man sitting next to him: “Last time we recorded a show, we interacted with Ji Xu and them. So, what was your impression of Inferno?”
Quentin didn’t overthink it and answered: “Young, quite cute, very outgoing… and also… a lot of them?”
Wen Xinyi sighed at this: “You say they’re young, which sounds a bit strange. I remember the youngest in their group is Ji Xu, and he’s two months older than you.”
Qi Yang understood what Quentin meant though: “It’s not just that they’re young. The members of that group generally look younger than their age.”
Yan Qiao suddenly snapped his fingers, raising an eyebrow: “Exactly! You’ve hit the nail on the head. Think back carefully, aren’t they fair-skinned, small-framed, and look young? Simply put, the typical ‘white, young, thin’ type?”
Xue Mingzhu rubbed his arms: “Are you kidding me? Are you sure you’re talking about a boy group? A ‘white, young, thin’ boy group?”
Unlike Xue Mingzhu, a rapper who hadn’t been exposed to the idol circle, Cui Yan and Fang Xu quickly understood Yan Qiao’s description.
On the surface, it’s about being fair skinned, young, and thin, but it actually refers to male idols being pretty, with a soft and harmless demeanor, developing towards an “degendered” direction. Such idols aren’t rare nowadays.
With the evolving idol culture, the phenomenon of “boy groups getting more beautiful, girl groups getting more handsome” is no longer an exception. More and more fans like to call male idols “wife” and female idols “husband.”
It’s hard to say if this change is good or bad. A temporary trend doesn’t necessarily mean the future will definitely develop in that direction. It just means idol styles are more diverse now, and fan aesthetics are more inclusive.
Consequently, within the fandom of boy groups, the “feminization” fan group has gradually grown. Of course, specific conditions require specific analysis, most male idols still rely on “girlfriend fans” for their livelihood.
However, having one or two “white, young, thin” idols in a boy group is considered normal, but an entire group leaning that way is a bit off.
Cui Yan asked, confused: “What style are they planning to go for? Doesn’t BKL like playing with concepts? A ‘white, young, thin’ boy group… that’s a bit niche, right?”
If Inferno was truly as Yan Qiao described… Cui Yan really couldn’t understand BKL’s move this time.
It couldn’t be that “white, young, thin” is the general trend for future boy group development, right? Have times changed that much? How is he supposed to fit in then?
“Their current style is still about youth. The concept seems to be something like ‘boys who turn into stars’?” Yan Qiao shrugged indifferently. “None of that matters.”
Even if BKL really wanted to capitalize on the feminization angle, they wouldn’t blatantly put it in the group’s concept. Wouldn’t that be the same as giving up on the mainstream market?
Not many people in the country would go along with their gender freedom games, and this path wouldn’t appeal to the LGBT community either. After all, no matter how fair-skinned, young, and thin a boy group is, they are still a boy group. Just because they look pretty and dress pretty doesn’t mean they can ride on the coattails of the transgender community. This approach wouldn’t even work in the US. So what would be the point of engaging in this political correcting?
Of course, BKL wouldn’t ruin its own future. So, their focus from beginning to end has been on the word “youth.”
Youths are slender, fresh, delicate, melancholic, bright, androgynous…
Just listen to these adjectives, and BKL’s intention is very clear. They want to create a gender-neutral boy group.
As for girlfriend fans?
Well, maybe you’ve heard a phrase… “Falling for a 0 is my destiny.”
Clean, handsome, beautiful boys are the direct hit for countless girls. Degendered ≠ feminized. If they play this path right, they definitely won’t lack girlfriend fans, ok?
Yan Qiao briefly described BKL’s vision, and everyone suddenly understood, and immediately realized why Yan Qiao voluntarily withdrew from Inferno’s debut project.
Wen Xinyi recalled the six boys he met during the recording of “Cat and Mouse Game” a few days ago, compared them in his mind, and sighed: “Indeed, your looks are very different from this group’s style. No wonder you voluntarily withdrew.”
Although Yan Qiao is only 19 this year, making him one of the younger members within Inferno, his face has nothing to do with white, young, and thin. He looks more like the playboy who corrupts the white, young, and thin ones.
Put him together with those boys, and it’s like a wolf that puts everyone on alert mixed into a flock of sheep.
Hearing this, Yan Qiao seemed to think of something, and his expression gradually became subtle.
“No,” he shook his head. “My voluntary withdrawal isn’t just because of this reason.”
If it were only a style difference, Yan Qiao wouldn’t have easily made up his mind.
After all, 12 years of trainee life, the ultimate goal was just a debut opportunity. When that long-awaited opportunity was placed before him, how could a mere style difference stop him?
It’s just that, after learning about BKL’s planned persona for him within the group, Yan Qiao had to start seriously considering the pros and cons of debuting in this group.
As everyone knows, a boy group cannot avoid selling male-male relationships and hyping CPs. Since a bunch of 0s have no future, the planning team deliberately left an empty spot for the last member.
This member needs to bear all the responsibilities of a “gold miner,” possessing inherent sexual tension, but also can’t be too handsome or too perfect. After all, what the company wants is a hundred flowers blooming with CPs, not a handsome, all-powerful top and his harem…
So, the company ultimately settled on Yan Qiao. The reason lies in the deceitfulness of Yan Qiao’s appearance. This kind of bad and playboy-ish look is not only suitable for hyping CPs but also very suitable for the purification of later-stage CP fans. He is the best candidate for a CP tool.
Bullshit tool person!
Yan Qiao just wanted to curse when he found out about this. He thought it over for many days but ultimately decided to bear the humiliation and swallow his pride, because this was the debut opportunity he had waited 12 years for, and he didn’t want to give up.
But heaven doesn’t fulfill man’s wishes. Bad things always happen one after another.
On hearing all this, the expressions of everyone in Room 303 were already somewhat collapsing. Is this kind of shady operation something a big company would do? Just directly treating a member as a tool person for CP promotion? On what basis!
The key point is that Yan Qiao is very talented! To ensure he stays securely in the tool person position, the company would definitely use some unscrupulous methods.
Reducing lyric distribution, editing MV screentime… these basic anti-popularity measures are just the foundation. Who knows what other crazy things they might pull later.
Just listening to this made Xue Mingzhu feel stifled. This is why he didn’t want to sign with a company before.
He hesitated to speak, held back for a few seconds, but ultimately couldn’t help but complain: “You could tolerate all that? What good end can there be debuting as a tool person?”
Yan Qiao glanced at him and said indifferently: “Just debuting is enough. Once I debut, I’ll deal with future problems when they come.”
Hearing him say that, Wen Xinyi couldn’t help but ask curiously: “If you were still determined to debut even with that, then what happened afterwards that made you finally decide to give up?”
Yan Qiao closed his eyes. He originally didn’t plan to talk about this, but considering that they had provoked him first, he didn’t need to keep secrets for others.
He smiled self-deprecatingly and said, “To be honest, if it weren’t for the ‘Next Stage’ openly inviting trainees, I probably would have endured what happened next as well.”
Yan Qiao took a deep breath: “Actually, it’s not a big deal. It’s a private matter among Inferno’s members. There’s a couple in this group who have been dating for many years. I don’t know if it’s because of the debut or some other reason, but they’ve been in a cold war recently.”
“A couple?!”
Xue Mingzhu sat up in shock, turning his head abruptly: “Fuck, for real? Isn’t this a boy group??”
The others also widened their eyes, none of them expecting to hear such an explosive piece of gossip after listening to BKL’s gossip.
Yan Qiao didn’t specify who, and continued: “They knew each other before entering BKL. Their relationship is good, and they look like good brothers. Not many people in the company know their real relationship.”
Fang Xu narrowed his eyes, as if guessing something: “Then how did you find out?”
“…” Yan Qiao looked at him. “Don’t misunderstand. We were in the same practice room for class, and ate together often. After spending time together, you naturally notice.”
Wen Xinyi asked: “So this is what finally made you make up your mind?”
Complicated relationships within a boy group is like burying landmines that could explode at any moment. The consequences are unpredictable once triggered.
Regardless of how much fun fans have shipping CPs, if a CP becomes real, the fandom would definitely explode, and all the other members of the group would suffer.
Yan Qiao paused, then slowly shook his head: “…No.”
Xue Mingzhu blurted out: “There’s more?!”
Yan Qiao didn’t want it either, but the facts were just that absurd.
He said succinctly: “I was dragged into their quarrels and cold war. Based on my understanding of them, I suspect that if I debuted in the same group as them, more things would involve me in the future.”
“Coincidentally, a few days after this happened, news of the ‘Next Stage’ project started spreading within the company. After careful consideration, I decided to give up the opportunity to debut in BKL’s boy group and come try my luck on a survival show… That’s how it happened.”
“Clap, clap, clap.”
Xue Mingzhu shook his head while applauding, his expression complex: “You… you’ve had it pretty tough too.”
Yan Qiao raised an eyebrow: “That’s enough. When it comes down to it, nothing too serious happened on my side. It’s all within acceptable limits. Much better than your mess.”
Xue Mingzhu: “…Damn it, that was two years ago! Who’s so sick as to dig up old accounts!”
Cui Yan: “Although nothing particularly serious happened, it’s still a pity…”
Fang Xu: “What’s a pity? Are you saying our final debut group won’t be as good as that Infer-something? Tch, who knows how many mines are buried in their group.”
Qi Yang: “No need to pity them. They aren’t as handsome as us.”
While the others were chatting, Wen Xinyi was leaning against the wall, deep in thought.
He hadn’t expected tonight’s heart-to-heart to be so effective. Everyone was being so honest, so he wouldn’t hold back either.
It’s just… after listening to everyone else’s experiences, he suddenly felt his own story wasn’t exciting enough. What late-night heart-to-heart? This was clearly a whistle blowing conference!
Compared to Qi Yang’s salted fish life, Xue Mingzhu’s roller-coaster past, Yan Qiao’s colorful debut struggle, Wen Xinyi sincerely felt his own business wasn’t worth mentioning. It could be summed up in one sentence.
So when the topic came to him, he sighed and said, “My situation… simply put, I was originally supposed to participate in the latest season of ‘Sing If You Want,’ but due to some changes in the company’s upper management, a resource swap happened between me and other artists in the company… Ultimately, I was arranged to come participate in our survival show.”
Everyone: “…Ah.”
Wen Xinyi: “What’s with the regretful look? Don’t make it so obvious!”
Fang Xu looked away: “Ahem, don’t misunderstand. Only you and Qi Yang clearly had better options. Resource swap… that makes sense.”
“So, before coming to the show, everyone must have checked out the backgrounds of the other trainees in advance, right?”
Wen Xinyi raised a hand to cover his face, his tone helpless: “Even if they didn’t search everyone up, they’d at least recognize the more popular ones. Yet after arriving, everyone pretended not to know each other.”
“We weren’t familiar to begin with. What can you find online anyway? Fans’ rainbow farts? Or bizzare rumors and slander?”
Xue Mingzhu emphasized: “I didn’t search you guys. I only searched Quentin, and didn’t find anything!”
He turned his head, raised a hand and placed it on Quentin’s shoulder: “Hey, the four of us have spoken. It’s your turn, you three. Who’s going first? ‘Confession leads to leniency, resistance leads to severity!’”
Quentin actually hadn’t figured out what he should say. The “Quentin” in this world is an empty shell without a past. Apart from the experiences recorded in his file, there was nothing else.
And his real past has even less to do with a boy group survival show. But he couldn’t exactly tell them he was forced to participate. Could he say he was sent by the system to save everyone present?
To help everyone escape their bad endings and head towards a happy ending together, that’s why he, from another world, parachuted into “Next Stage”?
Perhaps his silence made the others misunderstand. Cui Yan voluntarily raised his hand: “Let me go.”
“But I don’t have much to say either. My experience isn’t as rich as yours. I’m just an ordinary trainee. Our company doesn’t have any famous artists, and can’t afford to keep many trainees. Every year, many people who can’t hang on terminate their contracts and leave.”
He admitted openly: “Actually, even if I didn’t say it, you could probably guess. Most of the trainees in the show are probably like me. If we didn’t come to participate in our show, we’d just be waiting for a debut opportunity in a small company. And no matter how you compare, it’s better to try Youth TV’s survival show. If we can debut here, it’s definitely better than staying with our own company.”
“Xiao Fang is the same as me. We were schoolmates in middle school and share a dorm room at the company. Our experiences are pretty similar.”
Fang Xu didn’t speak, which was considered tacit agreement.
Cui Yan scratched the back of his head: “I’m done. How about we change the subject? Didn’t our senior sister ask us to talk about the emotional connection to love songs? Xiao Fang, you go. What problems do you have? Feel free to ask. We’ll solve them together!”
Fang Xu was speechless: “If I knew where my problem was, would I have waited until now…”
Xue Mingzhu muttered: “What problem? It’s just that you’ve never been in a relationship and can’t imagine it, that’s all.”
The topic seemed to have naturally been glossed over. Perhaps because they were too considerate, Quentin felt a bit embarrassed instead.
Everyone had confessed, but he hadn’t said anything…
Quentin thought for a moment, then simply started with this topic: “I didn’t have many friends before, and due to family reasons, I never considered the matter of dating. Maybe that’s why today’s rehearsal didn’t go well. I’ll adjust by tomorrow.”
After he finished speaking, everyone’s attention was completely drawn by the first half of his sentence.
“Family reasons…”
“Never considered dating? How old are you? You were focused on studying before, you simply didn’t have time to think about it. Who knows about the future.”
“You didn’t have friends? Really? How is that possible?”
Xue Mingzhu found it hard to believe.
Quentin was in the same batch of college entrance exam takers as him, both having gone through high school. Surely he must have had some collective living experiences. Even if he was a day student, he should have had good relationships with his classmates. How could he end up with no friends?
Could it be… school bullying?
No, impossible. Not to mention that with Quentin’s personality, it’s impossible for him to be a victim of bullying. Just looking at his college entrance exam scores, which teacher would let such a good student be bullied?
Besides, with Quentin’s looks, others would like him before they could even think of bullying him. How could they bring themselves to bully him!
Just as Quentin was thinking about how to explain, he suddenly heard the system’s voice.
[Host, feel free to say whatever. As long as you say it, it will be the truth. Don’t worry about being exposed!]
Quentin was stunned for a moment, then without much thought, naturally fabricated a story: “I wasn’t in good health before, so it wasn’t convenient for me to go to school. I had tutors or took online classes. I only went to school for important exams…”
Strangely enough, as he spoke, images related to his words sporadically appeared in his mind, as if he had personally experienced them.
