After nearly five years of obscurity, NU’EST’s subunit NU’EST W has finally claimed the spotlight by taking the top spot on the K-pop show “Mnet Countdown.”

The boy band took the No. 1 spot Thursday with its song “Where You At” for the first time since its debut in March 2012.

Member Ren posted a thank-you message to the fans on his Instagram account.

(Arena Homme+)

“I was too confounded to say anything, but I wanted to thank our Love (the name of NU’EST’s fan club). ... They cheered so loud during the prerecording, so I knew they would pull it off,” he wrote.

NU’EST is widely referred to here as “old rookie,” as it debuted five years ago but rose to stardom just this year.

Earlier this year, JR, Minhyun, Baekho and Ren of the five-member team took part in the audition program “Produce 101.”

Minhyun finished ninth on the show and is required to participate in the project group Wanna One. The remaining four members regrouped to form NU’EST W, with “W” referring to “wait.”


(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)