For any K-pop group that even flirts with a cute concept, it is a time-honored rite of passage to sing a song (or many, many songs) about the heart-fluttering, earth-shattering excitement of first love. In their current rookie era, NCT Wish have aggressively adopted ‘adorable’ as their aesthetic, so it’s no surprise that first love has popped up more than once in their lyrical content. It’s most prominent feature yet comes in “Steady,” the title track from their same-named first EP.
“Let’s go steady,” declare NCT Wish in the opening line of the song, and that sweet but old-fashioned pickup line pretty much sums up the track’s message. “Steady” is cute and catchy, with excellent choreography that calls to mind the cheerful and deceptively athletic likes of Seventeen’s “Adore U” and TXT’s “Crown.” However, if that was all “Steady” had to offer, it would still run the risk of blending into all the K-pop tales of first love that came before it. Thanks to its inventive MV, “Steady” avoids that trap, instead putting a fresh spin on its well-worn concept.
The MV opens, music-less, on the NCT Wish members passing time in a school. Some explore a rundown storage closet, while others compete to stab a pencil as fast as they can between their fingers (a game known as chicken, the knife game, bishop, five finger fillet, and by various other names that also all sound like the hobbies of pirates in a folk tale). The atmosphere is friendly, yet slightly eerie. When maknae Sakuya stabs himself with his pencil while engaging in the aforementioned pirate activities, it’s actually a bit scary. Then, Sakuya comes face-to-face with the source of the MV’s whimsical foreboding: A petite, white sheet-clad ghost.
As the song kicks off in earnest, so do NCT Wish’s adventures with their new paranormal friend. Running around a thrift store, school hallways, fields, and beaches with all the energy and playfulness of youth, NCT Wish welcome the ghost with open arms. All the while, the ghost and Sakuya stay stuck to each other like glue: They’re going steady!
Despite being wordless and expressionless, the ghost is a marvel of lovability. Their body language exudes a sweet, shy vulnerability, whether bashfully peeking out from behind Sakuya’s shoulder, or adorably waddling along a path with all the members. This endearing quality makes their eventual, inevitable goodbye genuinely affecting. As the members gather to perform for the ghost on a rooftop, the ghost is whisked up into the sky and transforms into a bright green star in a brief but beautiful animated sequence. While “Steady” is sonically very upbeat, the bittersweet end of NCT Wish and the ghost’s time together casts a poignant light on some of the song’s lyrics:
Day by (on and on), Day by (on and on)
Day yeah (We go on), Stay like this and carry on
From strangers locking eyes for the first time
Gon’ go on and on and on
Back to back, side by side, we gon’ have it all
Don’t let me be alone no more
The closing seconds of the MV see the members’ time with the ghost replayed, but with the ghost missing. Did they imagine their otherworldly companion? A small easter egg says no: hovering above these rewritten memories is a bright green star. It’s a motif that can also be spotted in the early scenes of the MV, as the band-aid Sakuya wears post pencil-stabbing is, you guessed it, a green star.
This attention to detail is one of the MV’s great strengths. “Steady” thrives not only because of the novelty of its story, but also because of the care with which it is told.
From the atmospheric sound design of its opening pre-music moments, to the integration of its many dance sequences, which could have been jarring in a narrative-centric MV, into said narrative through the climactic rooftop performance and its rehearsals, “Steady” is a meticulous creation. It seems to see every moment of screentime as an opportunity, packing in blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shots that foreshadow key story twists and subtly telegraph nuanced relationship dynamics. These strictly speaking unnecessary yet enriching details make “Steady” almost feel like a labor of love; In the relentless K-pop churn, that’s a perhaps unrealistic, but rather lovely thought.
Thanks to its creativity and thoughtful construction, “Steady” is a delightful watch, and a textbook example of how a stellar MV can elevate a song. As yet another track about first love, “Steady” could have felt repetitive and mawkish. Instead, its unique MV helps a familiar story bloom into something fresh, memorable, and surprisingly moving. As NCT Wish work to carve out a distinctive role in the sprawling network of NCT groups, sub-units, and soloists, and in K-pop’s fifth generation as a whole, “Steady” makes a strong case that these cheerful rookies should not be underestimated.
(YouTube[1][2]. Lyrics via YouTube. Images via SM Entertainment.)
