Jay Chou might have made fans promise that they won't cry, but many tears were shed when his new single "Won't Cry" hit the air on Monday (Sept 16) night.

After a much anticipated three-year wait, the King of Mandopop returns and he's not alone. Halfway through the music video, he's joined by Chen Hsin-hung, better known as Mayday's vocalist, Ashin.

Despite Jay and Mayday's status as the Mandopop legends, this is the first time the two have collaborated on a song.

Needless to say, fans all over the world were absolutely delighted, and so were we.

The music video reached 300,000 views on YouTube in just half an hour and hit 1.93 million views within eight hours of its release.

While looping the song nonstop, some eagle-eyed fans were quick to realise that Ashin's appearance wasn't the only Easter egg waiting to be discovered within the video.

We break it down for you. 

Friday

Friday, or 周五 zhou wu, is a name Jay affectionately calls the group. The first time he mentioned the name was back in January 2018 when he made a guest appearance at Mayday's concert and suggested a zhou wu collaboration.

The video pays homage to that moment in its credit scene. At the 3.48 marker, their names are lined up vertically such as it reads as zhou wu when reading horizontally.

Throwbacks

If you felt an odd sense of deja-vu while watching the video, rest assured you're not the only one.

And chances are, you're probably around 30 years of age.

The music video features callbacks to some of Jay's most iconic songs, namely Sunny Day and Secret which were released in 2003 and 2007 respectively.

It's been 16 years since the release of Sunny Day, to say we're touched by this throwback is a vast understatement. 

We're not crying, you're crying.

That seemingly inconspicuous bubble tea sign

We're referring specifically to the orange star at the corner of the sign.

It's actually a tongue-in-cheek reference to the time Jay ranked as number one on Weibo's trending topics.

A young innocent Weibo user had asked why it was so difficult to buy Jay's concert tickets then.

"His Weibo topic doesn't even rank, he has no endorsement projects, and his posts don't even get over 10,000 reshares or comments. Does he really have that many fans?" she wrote in July this year. 

Jay's fans immediately rallied to boost his ranking. Just five days later, he took the number one spot on Weibo, well above the likes of popular and trending Chinese celebrities such as Zhu Yilong and Hua Chenyu.

It only goes to show that Jay's so popular, he doesn't even need to bother with Weibo ranking. 

The best part is? He doesn't even have a Weibo account himself.

Bubble tea

Much like the rest of us, Jay's kryptonite is his obsession with milk tea.

The shop the female lead works at is Machi Machi, Jay's favourite bubble tea shop. Just take a quick scroll through his Instagram and you'll definitely find many photos of the star patronising his favourite shop.

What's particularly interesting is that the video was shot at Laforet Harajuku's branch.

If that location sounds familiar, it's because he's previously posted a photo of him and JJ Lin enjoying a spot of tea at that particular branch.

What's even more interesting is the seemingly innocent reply Ashin left on that post then.

"? Aren't the Three Milk-eteers missing a person?" Ashin had commented. 

Jay simply replied: "We're waiting for a certain band's vocalist ?"

Could they have been filming then? Who's to say. After all, Jay believes the two did pretty well in staying undercover.

Grass Jelly

In the video, the female lead helps her beau register for a photography course under a prestigious school called Grass Jelly University of Art.

This isn't purely because of Jay's milk tea topping preference. It actually refers to Grass Jelly Studio, the company that directs most of Mayday's music videos.

Oddly familiar melodies

At the 1.38 marker, the music moves into interlude and the melody transitions into a tune any Mayday fan would recognise.

The soulful melody of Mayday's most iconic song, Suddenly Missing You So Bad, is the only warning anyone gets before Ashin steps into the video.

We can't tell if we screamed or burst into tears first.

The melody of the song is also based on the background music that can be heard in Jay's Atelier Cologne advertisement. The only difference is that it's been transposed into an A major key while the original was written in B.

Ending explained

While this isn't exactly an easter egg of sorts, we thought we'd break down the ending for you.

There are two main interpretations of the ending. Some viewers thought the male lead had returned after years of studying. Others thought he had given up on school for the sake of being with the female lead. Either way, most would assume that the video has a happy ending.

Except they're wrong.

At the start of the video, three people walk past the female lead — a guy in light blue, a guy in dark blue, and a lady in a dark blue. No one else approaches her for the rest of the scene.

We see the female lead giving out flyers once more at the end of the video, and guess who passes by?

The same three calefares.

Unlike the starting, the male lead appears almost immediately, still wearing the same clothes he wore when he left and carrying the same luggage.

The breakup and the reunion definitely happen on different days, so fans can only conclude that the start of the video is reality, while the ending is just a figment of the female lead's imagination. That would explain why her image of the male lead would be the same as the last time she saw him. 

This theory has also been confirmed by Mayday's and Jay's respective media Weibo accounts.

So much for a happy ending.

Then again, the song is called Won't Cry for a reason.

It's just that none of us have been able to fulfil that promise to him.

rainercheung@asiaone.com

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