The Black Stars and Jin Chonglin’s army of fans chattered among themselves online. Of course, the LinRis shippers continued gushing about what they called the “music collaboration of the year”.
“I wish it’s midnight already! Why is it taking so long? I’m already warming up my hands so that I can click lightning-fast on the download button for ‘Shining Eyes’. Both Boss Iris and Prince Lin Lin announced that the first 100 verified people to purchase and download the song will receive special prizes!”
“Me too! Even though I have to get up very early tomorrow for work, I’m staying up late until midnight just to buy and download the song. I’m so excited!”
“Oh, Boss Iris! Oh, Prince Lin Lin! Why did you decide to release your song at midnight?! I’m already feeling very sleepy. I’m afraid I’ll fall asleep before midnight. Sob sob.”
“I don’t think it was Boss Iris and Prince Lin Lin who decided it. I bet it was JJ—that evil ogre—who made the decision to release the song at midnight. We already know that man is a sadist!”
Of course, CaptainBlackStar and LittlePhoenix also joined in the discussions. They hyped their fellow Black Stars and encouraged them to help boost the streaming views once the song was released. Even MrsLovePhantom and her three friends JJNumber1Fan, JJNumber2Fan and JJNumber3Fan were online and showed their support.
An hour before midnight, both Monkeyface and iEatSlippers surprisingly came online as well and joined their fellow Black Star members after a long time of absence. Their status within the Black Stars fandom had risen after they appeared on TV and was introduced as the CEO and CFO of Planet Monkey. They were treated like celebrities, especially among the hardcore gamers. These gamers almost worshipped the two of them for creating such an awesome game, “Supreme Ascension”, which was still continuing to gain popularity in the gaming community.
iEatSlippers: “I know that I’m amazing but forget that I Am Slipperlord for tonight. Right now, I’m just your bro iEatSlippers supporting our Boss Iris with my mighty slippers!”
Similarly, Jin Chonglin’s army of fans didn’t lose to the Black Stars in terms of supporting their Prince Lin Lin. In fact, they were certainly more experienced than the Black Stars in mobilizing their troops. They even organized slumber parties, just so they could all wait together for the midnight release of the song as a group.
Midnight.
Just a few minutes later, the 100 people received e-mails informing them about the prizes they won. They received a special invitation to attend Iris Long and Jin Chonglin’s exclusive meet-and-greet buffet dinner where they could interact with the two celebrities together in a “relaxed and casual” setting. They would also receive a lot of freebies personally signed by their Boss Iris and Prince Lin Lin. But most importantly, the two would serenade them with “Shining Eyes” and other songs.
Once the details of the prizes were known, the others couldn’t help but feel envious of the 100 people. As for the lucky winners, they couldn’t contain their excitement. They bragged and boasted. With the way they were reacting, it was as if they won the lottery for 100 million instead of a dinner invitation.
However, these reactions about the prizes only lasted for about a minute or two. Everyone quickly became engrossed in listening to the full song.
Within just an hour, “Shining Eyes” by Iris Long and Jin Chonglin quickly became the daily top trending and the #1 single with the most streams. And within 24 hours after its official release, it became the daily best-selling single in all the major online music stores and streaming services.
The Black Stars and Jin Chonglin’s army of fans celebrated their Boss Iris and Prince Lin Lin’s triumph, especially after their song debuted at the #1 spot in the music charts.
Then it was announced that the two would be performing “Shining Eyes” live for the first time at “MusicFest Tonight” this coming Friday.
The other artists who were also scheduled to perform in the same episode were already starting to surrender themselves to the inevitability that they would be completely outshined by Iris Long and Jin Chonglin. Just either Iris Long or Jin Chonglin alone was already enough to overshadow most of these artists, but now the two would be performing together?
This upcoming episode should be called as “Iris Long and Jin Chonglin’s MusicFest Tonight” instead because everyone was sure that the entire audience would be filled by their fans. There would probably be no room for the other artists’ supporters.
But just as these other artists were thinking of ways to make their performances catchier and more memorable so that they would at least be remembered even just a little, Jin Chonglin posted something very intriguing on his blog.
His “Junior Iris” immediately re-posted it and commented.
IrisLong: “We’ve kept this a secret for quite some time, just so we can surprise all of our beloved fans. Now we’re ready to reveal it and make the announcement. We hope that you’ll be as excited as we are.”
Their fans immediately started speculating about what could possibly be their “very special announcement”.
“What is it?! @IrisLong and @JinChonglin, please tell us!! We need to know NOW!!!”
But then the LinRis shippers took over.
“OMG!!! Is this the long-awaited engagement announcement? Will they finally admit to everyone that they’re engaged?!”
“Kyaaaah! I knew it! Boss Iris was just playing coy when she repeatedly denied their engagement in the past. Now they’re finally willing to reveal their undying love for each other! #LinRisForever”
“I told you so! I just knew it deep inside that Boss Iris wrote this love song ‘Shining Eyes’ as a love letter to her beloved Prince Lin Lin! They will perform it live for the first time this Friday. I’m sure they know that they won’t be able to hide their passionate feelings for each other while performing so they’re going to reveal the truth afterwards. Don’t you think I’m right?”
“I agree with you! #CountdownToTheBigReveal #WeHeartLinRis”
A verified account commented on Jin Chonglin’s post. It had no profile photo, zero posts, following zero users, but still had over 5 million followers. The account had been created a few years ago but remained inactive…until now.
It was Jin Liwei, President-CEO of Jin Corporation and elder brother of Jin Chonglin.
