Thousands brave snow to get their hands on NCT Dream’s latest EP 'Candy'

Fans of NCT Dream line up in front of Candy Shop, a pop-up store in Hongdae for the boy band's latest winter-themed EP ″Candy″ on Wednesday to get their hands on the physical album. [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

NCT Dream’s latest winter-themed EP “Candy” is seeing success.

On Wednesday morning, the K-pop boy band’s fans were lined up to get their hands on the physical album that became available on the same day. The heavy snow in front of the boy band’s Candy Shops, pop-up stores that opened up in Seongsu-dong in eastern Seoul, Hongdae and Yeonhee-dong in western Seoul on Tuesday to promote NCT Dream’s latest EP, didn't stop thousands from lining up.

Prior to opening at 10 a.m., about 3,000 people were lined up in front of each store, SM Entertainment, the boy band's label said.

The EP has sold over 2 million copies in preorders, SM Entertainment said Monday. Prior to the release of the physical album, "Candy" dropped on various streaming platforms on Dec. 16.

The title track is a remake of boy band H.O.T.'s hit 1996 song of the same name. The remake was rearranged by Kenzie, a prominent producer and songwriter signed under SM Entertainment. The band first performed the song at the 2022 KBS Song Festival, which was aired live on KBS. The EP contains five more songs: "Graduation," "Tangerine Love (Favorite)," "Take My Breath," "Moon" and "Walk With You."

NCT Dream debuted in 2016 as a subunit of the boy band NCT with its song "Chewing Gum." The group consists of seven members: Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Chenle, Jaemin and Jisung. Mark is Korean-Canadian, Renjun and Chenle are Chinese, and the rest of the members are Korean. The band is best known for songs including "My First and Last" (2017), "Boom" (2019), "Hello Future" (2021) and “Glitch Mode” (2022).

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]