[E-Daily Starin, Reporter KIM HYUNSIK ] Girl group Bestie’s “Love Options,” released in 2013, has soared up the music charts 13 years later. After maintaining its momentum for several months, the song has even entered the Top 100 on Melon, South Korea’s largest music streaming platform. Steady re-exposure through short-form content and the influx of new listeners are cited as the reasons behind this long-term resurgence.

According to the music industry on the 29th, “Love Options” ranked 64th on Melon’s Top 100 at 9 a.m. the previous day. Previously, it had climbed to No. 7 on Apple Music’s Korea Top 100 and No. 20 on YouTube Music’s Weekly Top 100. On the music search platform Shazam, it topped the charts not only in Korea but also in Thailand and Vietnam.
◇Riding the Short-Form Wave to Attract a New Audience After 13 Years
“The Conditions of Love” began to garner renewed attention last May. After the music video entered YouTube’s Daily Trending Music Videos chart, past performance videos and the song itself began circulating on social media and online communities.
A Bestie representative explained to E-Daily, “The starting point was that the ‘Conditions of Love’ dance challenge and the song itself naturally began to be consumed again, primarily through short-form videos. The response spread as the audience expanded to include not only the older generation reminiscing about those days but also a generation encountering the song for the first time.”
In July, the resurgence gained even more momentum as content combining the performance video for “Lemon Tang”—a new song by the popular fifth-generation girl group Hearts to Hearts—with “Conditions of Love” garnered attention online.
Subsequently, similar types of content proliferated rapidly. Videos featuring “The Conditions of Love” overlaid on clips of other idol singers and actors were produced one after another. As this diverse array of short-form content emerged, interest in girl groups that had ceased promotional activities and their songs continued to grow.
A representative from BESTIE stated, “Thanks to the fact that this didn’t end as a temporary ‘meme’ (trending online content) and new listeners continued to come in, we were able to achieve a gradual rise in the charts over the course of four months.”

◇Straightforward Lyrics and a Powerful Chorus… Key Differentiators
“Conditions for Love” is a dance track that candidly and playfully expresses desires regarding an ideal partner. The lyrics, which bluntly list the qualities the singer seeks in a partner—such as “a little taller” and “looks a bit like Kang Dong-won”—are a highlight of the song.
The song was written and composed by Brave Brothers, the “hit-makers” who dominated the K-pop scene in the 2010s. Brave Brothers’ songs, which leave a strong impression through the repetition of their core melodies, are once again gaining attention for their unique charm—distinct from recent idol music, which often features complex genre shifts and a pop-oriented style. Previously, Brave Brothers’ tracks “Rollin’” by Brave Girls and “Short Skirt” by AOA also experienced a resurgence on the charts.
As the song’s popularity endures, attention is also turning to the members of Bestie. BESTIE, a group consisting of Hye-yeon, Yu-ji, Da-hye, and Hae-ryeong, debuted in 2013 with “Heartbeat” and promoted with songs such as “Conditions of Love,” “THANK U VERY MUCH,” “Hot Baby,” and “Excuse Me.”
The BESTIE members, who have been pursuing their own paths since 2018, welcomed this resurgence in popularity and personally participated in the “Conditions of Love” dance challenge. For fans who remember the original song, it brought back memories of the group’s past activities, while for those encountering the song for the first time, it served as an opportunity to discover BESTIE as a group.
Among fans, calls for the four members to reunite as a full group are growing louder. All eyes are on whether this resurgence will lead to a BESTIE reunion.
A Bestie representative stated, “The members are grateful for the unexpected love that has continued for so long. While nothing has been concretely confirmed yet, if the right opportunity and conditions arise, there is a possibility that we could show fans the group performing together again.”