The Malicious Member Has Returned! Chapter 171
* * *
It was around the time Kim Chunyong was struggling to prepare for the repackage album while wrapping up his successful debut album promotions.
He wasn’t the only busy one.
[Neulbommir @NBML__0412 (Video)
Please watch our #Chunyong's performance before you go♡ I can't believe a rough-and-tumble pretty boy suits special forces gear too ㅠ #CatchMeCatchYou #T_O_J #KimChunyong]
[⎿A rough pretty boy has come, 4th generation]
The fans.
Among them, the named fans who had banded together with the mindset that “I have to work hard to promote my idol on SNS” were even busier.
AG Mulsan Hoesa, a named fan of Son Jaeha who sat huddled with her roommate in front of a tablet to watch the final broadcast of “Hide and Seek” on Music Music Days in its third week, was no exception.
“Ugh, damn….”
As songs from groups she didn’t particularly care for played, a low sigh slipped from her mouth as she busily focused on SNS on her phone.
“What is it. What now? You said you were clipping ‘Catch Me, Catch You’ earlier. Did the video get deleted?”
“No, it’s because of Catch Me, Catch You. It’s 2 hours long, but Jaeha only gets 7 minutes of screen time. How does that make sense? And the parts overlapping with other kids feel off to post on the timeline…!”
“Just post it and tag them too. What’s so hard about that.”
“No. If it were T/O/J members it’d be fine, but it’s the Wiz kids, you know? Do you know what happens then?”
“What could possibly happen…?”
“Of course it happens. ‘Why did you post our kid’s distorted face,’ ‘You posted it tagging them to get clout,’ and the Wiz fans’ replies come flooding in.”
“Wow, idol fans are really exhausting!”
They sure are.
If it was tiring enough to exhaust those listening from the side, how must the people actually doing it feel?
They had to clip music show performances, watch variety shows with burdensome runtimes on weekdays, and find and cut out only their idol’s screen time.
[AG Mulsan Hoesa @HARDWARE_store (Photo) (Photo)
Our #Jaeha, sparkling and handsome even in week 2 of MumuDe ㅠㅠ Truly worthy of being a 4th gen boy group visual]
[⎿Who decided he’s the face of 4th gen? LOL Ahn Taei exists though? Ahn Taei exists though?]
[TheodorTAE @TeodorTAEiii (Video)
Why does #T_O_J member #Chunyong use other people’s precious idols as bait?;; Shouldn’t he be the one to volunteer in this situation? I was shocked by how rude he was. You should be thankful our Taei is kind.]
[⎿1. Ahn Taei was told to do it because he’s good at acting 2. They didn’t only tell T/O/J to do it, an SLDS YY sunbaenim was told to do it too 3. But you deliberately left out the hard-to-touch sunbae and only mentioned the T/O/J member, that’s really cowardly 4. That’s why Wiz fans still don’t have a fandom name]
On top of that, they had to fight like dogs with other groups’ fans tangled up in the same variety show.
“Wow… Neulbom-nim must be really tired too. Of all things, Chunyong got put on the same team as a Wiz popular member, so she’s seeing all kinds of things she’d rather not see.”
“I just thought they looked close. If you think of them as guys that age, isn’t that normal?”
“It’s because in these people’s eyes, their idol isn’t some guy that age but a son they gave birth to with their hearts and bank accounts. Ugh, seriously. It’s not like they went through a survival show like us….”
The rumor that “appearing on Catch Me, Catch You worsens fandom relations due to the chemistry between cast members” wasn’t entirely wrong.
Clearly, reactions like [Wiz and T/O/J crossing paths is fine? Bought albums from both bb2] did exist.
But if there was one thing people overlooked, it was that while other groups who had appeared before also had good reactions that stood out, beneath the surface they were fighting like crazy.
- Deep, Deep, Deep
inside of Your MONOCHROME
Your smile at the end, I
Finally Hoding it!
And just then, the performance of Wiz’s “Monochrome” played from the tablet.
“Hey, turn the volume down. I get pissed just hearing the song.”
“That’s just transferred anger. What did they even do wrong?”
“Are you seriously asking? Why did they have to debut at the same time as our kids…!”
Her roommate clicked her tongue at AG Mulsan Hoesa and slowly continued.
Her pupils were fixed on Ahn Taei, smiling with a face that sparkled like white porcelain from the center position.
“…But they do seem to be getting good reactions. I only ever hear about T/O/J because of you, but… what was it. My younger sibling seems to like Wiz too.”
“Are they out of their mind? Our Jaeha’s face came down from heaven and you’re talking about Wiz? Hey, they have nothing besides Ahn Taei.”
“Well, normal people like it when there are several handsome people… They don’t wail that their kid is the most handsome like you do.”
“Argh! Don’t crush an idol fan’s heart like that!”
Seniors and juniors who debuted a week apart, same number of members, and roughly similar results even if T/O/J was slightly ahead.
In this case, it would have been stranger if comparisons between the two didn’t stand out.
Whether or not the relationship between Kim Chunyong, Ahn Taei, and Han Danwoo had progressed beneath that surface.
And surely, that wasn’t the only thing.
“Ha, they say it’s mountain after mountain….”
AG Mulsan Hoesa hurriedly lowered the tablet volume, and the moment she entered her account for checking idol issues, she finally pressed her hand to her forehead at the flood of SNS posts pouring down.
[Always Yeonwoo @Yeonwoojung___ (Photo) (Photo)
#DreamWithinADream #JeongYeonwoo]
[⎿This Yeonwoo teaser is really so beautiful… I wondered if it’d be hanbok since the title sounds Eastern-style, but to think it talks more about dreams ㅠ I’m curious about Yeonwoo’s dream, what did he dream about??]
[⎿(Blocked Account) Yunan are really crazy, an idol on Jeong Yeonwoo’s level what more dreams could he have, he’ll just take it easy now, go to the army and come back and get married LOL]
[Serenia’s Choo Siyeon tearing up today’s teaser too_jpg]
[⎿Was this the reason she kept wearing a hat during Serenia’s live? Short cut? Seriously incredible, boy groups move aside]
[⎿Yein hummed the first verse on live and the song is no joke too, as expected it’s girl groups for digital music, the music show digital score is overwhelming]
[⎿Sladix is coming out at the same time, aren’t you too relaxed? LOL Everyone knows Sladix’s promotion period is longer than other idols’ ㅠ You win the mental victory index!]
Seniors backed by tremendous achievements and fandoms.
Even if they barely didn’t overlap with T/O/J’s debut album promotion period, it was practically certain that the repackage album promotions would overlap with them.
“This isn’t good, I’m telling you it’s not good.”
[Music Music Days Performer Calendar]
Checking the dates on her phone screen displaying the [Music Music Days Performer Calendar], AG Mulsan Hoesa chewed her nails with a clack, vomiting out her anxiety.
“…If I had to guess, the kids’ repackage album will come out around Serenia’s late promotions or Sladix’s mid-promotions. Will it be okay? No, digital music is stronger near the end! I’m worried!”
“There’s no such thing as okay or not okay. It just comes out when it comes out. Why do you as a fan think so much….”
“‘It just comes out when it comes out’? Hey, that’s not how the idol world works. Every album that comes out needs to do well so the next album can gain strength from it and do well too. Even if things are going well, if you stumble once, you never know what will happen….”
“Shh, shh. Your idol is coming out now.”
AG Mulsan Hoesa’s roommate quickly covered her mouth to stop her long speech and fixed her gaze on the screen.
There, as if to prove their current popularity, T/O/J appeared with a slot near the ending sequence, slowly revealing themselves.
- Close Your Eyes
And Counting Stars
Count stars, not numbers
And Son Jaeha, performing on stage wearing a pure white Boy Scout uniform as if to show it was MumuDe’s final broadcast, was devastatingly handsome.
“Jaehaaa…!”
“Damn, what is it about him that makes his face shine like that….”
“Right? Our Jaeha sings well too, and always works hard on stage….”
AG Mulsan Hoesa, listing each of Son Jaeha’s strengths she knew, soon displayed worry on her face, unbefitting the situation of watching her bias.
‘…Since the debut album did well like this, the next album needs to do well too!’
T/O/J was an idol group that had only just debuted; you couldn’t just clap your hands and sit back just because one album had done well.
So in this entertainment industry where new idols poured out like a flood every quarter, thinking that her idol would continue to receive good reactions was a naive notion.
‘I wanted to get them first place at least once, but it doesn’t look like it’ll happen this final broadcast either since the digital score was slightly pushed back….’
Therefore, none of AG Mulsan Hoesa’s actions could be seen as excessive.
The partner of such an idol is the fan.
Therefore, it was an obvious fact that T/O/J’s partner was Xenya.
I want my partner to do well.
I want to smile too as I watch the person I like laughing happily!
“…I wish Jaeha could do even better.”
“…….”
At AG Mulsan Hoesa’s muttered words she hadn’t realized she’d spoken aloud, her roommate looked at her with an indescribable expression and clicked her tongue.
It was only natural for someone not in love to have difficulty understanding someone who was.
So instead of saying something careless like ‘worry about your own life, not your idol’ to her precious roommate, she chose to give vague, different advice.
“…The next album will do better. Don’t worry.”
“Will it really…?”
“Yeah. They say first place, being number one, and winning lotteries are all divine revelations. If that kind of luck follows them, it’ll work out somehow.”
And such words from her roommate were destined to become a prophecy.
- Hi, Hi. Hide and Seek
See, See. I only see you in my eyes
Hi, How was your day?
At the end of this curiosity
I found you, I saw you!
And it was all thanks to a certain red-haired member who had just taken the center position for the dance break.
* * *
“—Everyone, thank you for your hard work on ‘Hide and Seek’!”
Originally, after music show promotions end, singers hold large-scale company dinners with the directing team, styling team, and other support teams.
Regardless of the results, it was to celebrate wrapping up well and to acknowledge their hard work.
“So, what’s the final album sales figure?”
“It’s really good. At this level, it should be enough to enter the all-time rookie sales rankings.”
“…No, I just checked and they’re already on it! Crazy, seriously. CEO Do will be so happy he’ll pop champagne.”
Moreover, even without considering that this was a debut album, T/O/J’s current album results were sufficiently good.
They had gained more time to prepare the repackage album, and the results had come out well too.
Ah, it’s not strange to have a company dinner.
However….
“We’ll head in first, thank you!”
“Oh. You’re leaving now?”
“Yes. If we don’t want to be any later, we have to go now….”
“Well, if that’s the case, it can’t be helped.”
With an entire Korean BBQ restaurant rented out for the company dinner.
The T/O/J members quickly scarfed down eight servings of meat, mixed rice into stew, and promptly bid farewell to the other production teams to head home.
As if this was more a part of their schedule than an actual company dinner.
The stars of the company dinner leaving first?
Even though it was clearly a somewhat strange occurrence, the expressions of both the members saying goodbye and the others accepting it were unperturbed.
“Get home safely, and don’t overdo it.”
“Haha, thank you for your consideration….”
“What consideration. We’re eating all the meat meant for you. Hurry up and go. Your manager must be waiting.”
As if this had been planned from the beginning.
“…Whew.”
Watching T/O/J’s backs as they left before the smell of BBQ could even seep into their clothes, Moon Yoonha elegantly and composedly let out a derisive whistle.
“…What was that?”
“Within a week, I’ll completely polish up Logan’s song. And I hope we can use it as the title track.”
“Really. A week is enough. Please, just once!”
Recalling the words Kim Chunyong and Logan had come to her with, faces filled with determination.