Proving to be an unprecedented smash after their debut following the conclusion of “Produce 101: Season 2” earlier this year, Wanna One released their first album “1×1=1 (To Be One),” which immediately shot to number one on the Korea charts and peaked at number four on the Billboard World Album chart. They have numerous endorsement deals; attended fan meetings across Asia and the United States; appeared on a number of popular variety shows; and are currently nominated for five Mnet Asian Music Awards, which will be given out towards the end of this month. 

Through their first album, which released back in August of this year, fans enjoyed the dance tracks “Energetic” and “Burn It Up,” with the band relishing immediate success, taking top spot on all of South Korea’s weekly countdown shows.

Released Monday evening, the music video and short film for their latest single “Beautiful” went live and, based on the view count for the video posted by CJ E&M Music, between Mondayevening and Tuesday morning – a span of about 12 hours – it already had over 2.5 million views.

At just over eight minutes, the video provides audiences not only a pretty incredible ballad, but a great storyline to a short film, which focuses primarily on members Kang Daniel and Ong Seungwu.

A prologue video was earlier released, depicting the two as brothers separated when they were still kids. Their father, played by award-winning actor Cha Seungwon, packs the three of them up on a truck to leave, when a young Daniel hops off to retrieve a ball. The truck begins to drive away, inadvertently abandoning Daniel. Despite eventually stopping after the father notices a young Seungwu calling out from the bed of the truck, it is already too late. It ends with Daniel being brought to an orphanage, where he befriends a group, who are later played by the other members of Wanna One – minus Seungwu and Hwang Minhyun.

The music video opens with clips from the prologue and shifts to Seungwu eating with, presumably, his grandmother, offering shots of a picture frame showing Seungwon and the two young boys and a “missing” poster with a picture of a young Daniel. It then cuts to a scene at a boxing gym, where the other members of the group work, with Park Jihoon training to be a boxer and the rest serving as a carefree cleaning crew; complete with clips of Daniel showing some clumsiness and Yoon Jisung prodding a punching bag with a toilet plunger.

It cuts back to Seungwu, who is still putting up the missing posters, and entering a classroom, where his classmate, played by Minhyun, passes him notes. They are later shown sparring in a martial arts studio, ending with an exchange of smiles after they both fall to the mat.

Meanwhile, Ha Seungwoon brings a stack of missing posters for Daniel to find his long lost brother and, with Lee Daehwi and Lai Kuanlin in tow, the four go out and put up the posters. Unintentionally, Seungwoon is seen covering up a missing poster looking for Daniel with his notice.

As Daniel moves on in his life, working in a convenience store and practicing boxing, Seungwu is shown studying. The two are then out putting up posters on a rainy night when they both take refuge from the downpour at the same snack shop. They then take notice of each other’s posters and realize they have just been reunited.

The video proceeds to montage scenes of them bonding, along with bringing all 11 together. Audiences see the motorcycle Daniel has been admiring, along with learning Seungwu and Minhyun are studying to become police officers.

The story takes a turn when the guys from the orphanage, minus Daniel who is out enjoying his motorcycle, are hanging out at a local billiards hall and Jisung accidentally bumps into another patron. Despite apologizing, the guy tries to provoke Jisung, which results in Jihoon jumping in. A brawl breaks out and the guys are run out of the establishment. Daniel arrives seeing Jihoon taking on a number of the thugs and joins the fight. After the fight dies down, Jihoon and Daniel are left with, what appears to be, either an unconscious or dead gang member on the floor.

At the same time, with sirens heard blaring in the background, Seungwu shows up (with ice cream in hand) and takes in the scene before him. He encourages the guys to leave as the lights from police cars begin to illuminate his face.

While Daniel is seen speeding away on his motorcycle with Jihoon, Seungwu is behind bars. He is later visited by Daniel and Minhyun, who is dressed in his police uniform.

After the group at the boxing gym is scolded by their boss, a dejected Jihoon leaves the office, presumably leaving his boxing career. Daniel is then shown at the motorcycle dealership, where he sells his bike. The movie cuts between Daniel and Seungwu, Daniel is now formally training to be a boxer, while Seungwu is out of jail and trying to figure out his next move as his arrest may have impacted his future at the police academy. He later passes the motorcycle dealership where he sees what he believes to be Daniel’s coveted bike and realizing it was sold to bail him out of jail.

The two go their separate ways, with Daniel being trained by both the boxing gym owner and Jihoon, and Seungwu working as a day laborer.

The short film goes on to simultaneously show Daniel fighting in a boxing ring and Seungwu lugging around cement on a construction site (“spoilers” coming in the following sentences). At the same time, Daniel is knocked to the mat by his opponent while Seungwu falls from a flight of stairs. The camera then depicts the angle from their perspectives, a blurry boxing ring with yells heard from the sidelines and fuzzy sunlight streaming into a construction site.

A bloodied Daniel, still on the floor, flashes a smirk; then the scene flips to the two as children again, holding a cassette tape as they walk along railroad tracks – the same cassette Daniel is seen gazing at in the opening of the “Energetic” video.

The short film closes with the song ending and the word “Beautiful” written across the screen.

With such a production for their sophomore release, there is no doubt Wanna One will continue to blow up. The video has already been covered by Billboard Magazine and, according to K-Pop website soompi, their new album “1-1=0 (Nothing Without You),” which was released the same time as the music video/short film, was already number one on major Korean charts including Mnet, Naver, Genie, and Melon. At this kind of trajectory, with Wanna One scheduled to disband after a year and a half, perhaps their massive popularity will force YMC Entertainment to extend their longevity./WDJ