"Look! Irina and Cecilia's song is in the first position on MeloPlay."
I heard Orion say this while he was stuffing his phone in front of Holden and me.
( This guy is too excited! )
I don't know what to say about Orion who seemed so excited that people might mistake him for the composer of the song. However, it is just to show that Orion was happy about Irina and Cecilia doing good.
"It is their first time releasing any songs and they have already gotten to number one on the Music Chart. Their popularity is also increasing rapidly. I feel so blessed to be in the same school as them."
Orion continued. He was acting as though he was a die-hard fan of theirs. Maybe he was? Even if he was not a die-hard fan, he was indeed their fan.
I had given them the ticket to Irina and Cecilia's debut and since then Orion had been praising them. Even Holden, who doesn't speak much, said that Irina and Cecilia might become Top-Idols.
"Irina and Cecilia crush all other singers with their songs. They were nothing but side characters to showcase the prowess of Irina and Cecilia."
Orion said excitedly.
I can see why he is so excited. In the weekly ranking, 'STAY' has gotten the first position with 'Rising Star' and 'Shine' getting second and third place respectively. The other two were ranked 5th and 6th.
The initial number one song was pushed back to 4th position. With the weekly competition over, 'STAY' got number 1 place and MeloPlay advertised the song on their platform.
The number of listeners kept on increasing and the songs were also competing for the Monthly Music Chart. 'STAY' seemed to also be able to get the first position in the Monthly Music Chart, though at the moment it was ranked 17th.
Considering that the song was released in less than a week, the data was very scary. It could enter the Top-10 in 5-7 days. And if it did, then it was certain that 'STAY' would get first prize in the Month Music Chart as well.
Anyway, because of that, many people have become aware of Irina and Cecilia, and are hailed as one of the most popular upcoming Idols. There were many rookies debuting but their popularity was nowhere as much as Irina and Cecilia's.
Among the rookies, there were golden flowers. Although with love comes hate. While many are praising and seeing prospects in them, there are also certain people who seem skeptical about their future.
Some called it luck and that it was thanks to having good songs that they had won. Anyway, the number of such people was very small compared to the ones who were praising them.
So, how do I know all this?
As their manager, I had to be on the lookout for things like this. If many people are criticizing them, then I have to be prepared to handle any potential backlash or negative comments. It's part of my job to keep track of their progress, monitor their popularity, and manage their public image.
Honestly, it was a very tiring job, much more so than preparing them for their debut. Dumb die-hard fans of the singer competing with Irina and Cecilia would come to their social media account to curse every day. I don't understand why they waste their time doing so.
Anyway, it was tiring for me and I had come to ignore such people.
"But damn, I am jealous of you Alan."
"Huh?"
I was startled when Orion called my name. I was not really paying attention to his talk and was thinking about what I had to do for Irina and Cecilia as their manager when Orion called my name.
"You get to walk with two of the most popular idols. And one of them is even your childhood friend. Damn, you must have done a lot of good work in your previous life to get this good luck."
Orion said in frustration.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his comment.
( If he found out that I am their manager, he might even cry out of jealousy. )
I thought.
He already seemed quite jealous that I get to walk with them in the morning and if by chance he finds out that I also spend time with them as their manager, he would surely make a big mess.
*SIGH!
I am also happy that I get to spend time with Cecilia but the amount of work is really bad. I never liked dealing with other people. Now I have to constantly contact a lot of people because that is my job as their manager.
However, as long as I could help Cecilia and Irina, I thought it was not that bad.
*******
At the same time, the news about Irina and Cecilia's new song getting first place in the Weekly Ranking was spread to the whole school.
Three girls from Starfire High School were sitting in the cafe and talking to each other. Their school had ended and they were hanging out in the cafe.
If one saw them, he/she would definitely know that they were not ordinary students. From their appearance to their vibe, they gave off the aura of an idol. And indeed, those three were idol trainees just like Irina and Cecilia were before their debut.
And they were also the juniors of Irina and Cecilia.
"The Maths class is pretty boring."
Eida complained. She was in her second year of high school and her most difficult subject was math. While she certainly didn't like any of the subjects in class, Math was her least favorite.
"I like them, though. You just need to play with the numbers and you will get the answer. It is not like other subjects where you have to memorize everything."
The other girl, Lucy said. Unlike her friend Eida, she seemed to be smart. She seemed like the girl who would be class president.
"Math can be fun if you approach it with the right mindset."
Eida rolled her eyes playfully at her friends' enthusiasm for math.
"I'm just glad it's over for today."
Eida said with a relieved smile. Then she remembered something and looked around.
"What's with Mia? She is being too quiet."
Eida said as she looked at Mia. Mia was known for her cheerful and optimistic personality, which made her popular among her classmates. But strangely, today she seemed to be lost and not really listening to their conversation.
Lucy also turned towards her friend, Mia, who was too engrossed in her phone. There were headphones on her ears, so they knew that she was listening to something.
Frowning, Eida nudged her shoulder and asked.
"What are you listening to?"
Mia looked up from her phone, startled by the nudging. She quickly took off her headphones and smiled sheepishly at her friends.
"Sorry, I was just listening to some new music."
She said, blushing slightly. She was so immersed in the music that she even forgot that she had come to the cafe with her friend.
"New song?"
"Yeah, it's called 'STAY' by seniors Irina and Cecilia. It got number 1 on the Weekly ranking and I was just listening to check how it was."
Mia said.
"Oh, yes they did manage to do that. I was surprised when others were talking about it during training. Their songs managed to pull Umi's song from first place to fourth place. The company was pretty upset about that."
Eida said. Even though she was in the same company as Umi, she didn't think much about the whole situation as it was not her who got affected. But the people in the company were talking about that every time, so she happens to know about that.
Eida also kind of admired Irina and Cecilia. Irina and Cecilia just debuted and won against a popular singer from her company. She knew how popular Umi was, with millions of followers on TwitFlick.
"Our company tried everything to push her song back to the first position but unfortunately, not only did it get pushed out of the first position, it was pulled down to 4th position. I wanted to check out their songs but forgot."
Eida said while glancing at Mia's phone.
"Oh yeah, I also forgot that our seniors have released their songs. I was so tired of training every day that only today, I got some free time. So, Mia, how are their songs?"
Lucy asked.
"It's really good! Especially the song 'STAY' which got first place. I think this song might be nominated for the Song of the Year award."
Mia said.
"It's that good?"
Eida asked with a surprised expression. Mia seldom praises songs as she is both a talented composer and singer. For her to say that 'STAY' might win the song of the year meant that it was very good.
"Let me listen to it."
Eida said, taking over the phone. She also wants to see whether it is as good as Mia claims it to be.