JYJ's Junsu rises to the top of the charts after releasing the new ballad '11 o'clock'.

Since male idol singers don't tend to do well in charts, especially not with a standard ballad, the success also raises expectations ahead of the release of the official second album on the 15th.

On midday of the 2nd, Junsu released '11 o'clock' and is currently in 5th place in Melon and Bugs. The progress is especially surprising in the wake of a hip hop craze with Dyanmic Duo at its head.

The company was also taken by surprise. Though they had agreed to go with a regular ballad in order to showcase Junsu's vocal abilities, they hadn't expected it to be a hit in the charts. It is not part of a soundtrack, and what's more, it's a ballad, which seems to have disappeared entirely from the ranks.

The expectations are high for the official second album slated for release on the 15th. Unlike the solo first album 'Tarantallegra,' which didn't do well with the public, this album has the benefit of public awareness. The genre itself is a fresh contrast to the popular hip hop, which is currently sweeping the charts, and will provide a wider accessibility to the public as well as fans. Added to the fact that there have been recent cases where songs do well in charts even without promotional appearances, it's a bigger green light for Junsu, who is set to go off on tour in Asia with the release of the album.

An associate of the company remarked, "We focused on increasing popularity for this album, so the song doing well in the charts makes the atmosphere here very encouraging."

'11 o'clock' is a song that deals with the grieving process the day after a break-up, and targets mass appeal. The piano accompaniment evokes a dramatic mood that matches the emotional vocals as the theme follows the person through spring-summer-fall-winter.

Recorded all on one go, the song has acoustic instruments at its basis. Junsu previously created a stir when he released a special clip where he records the song live, entirely without accompaniment.