The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 174



Only Noblemtl

The Malicious Member Returns! Episode 174

* * *

The time when an idol releases an album and prepares to release the next album.

The so-called ‘blank period’.

For idols who live off of their fans’ reactions, managing that hiatus well was essential.

If the period of time when you are not exposed to the public is long, there is no guarantee that your next album will be successful.

It must not be forgotten.

No matter how busy you are preparing an album, you have to constantly stay in the fans’ minds.

During the Rex Trash era, it was remembered as Trash, so this time, I’ll give it the best name possible.

So, after I came back and faced my first hiatus since my debut, I was deeply engraving this truth in my head and heart.

The members, including me, encountered an unexpected problem.

“Oh, Jaeha hyung. You came back from work, right? So… We still haven’t talked about our own? I think this should have come out a long time ago.”

“Yeah, Hobin hyung keeps telling me… He said that they’re short on manpower these days. Looking at the situation, I think we’ll probably do our first shoot around the time the repackaged album comes out.”

“Huh? Are you short on manpower?”

“Ugh. They’re short on manpower. They say there’s no one else besides the people who work part-time for a short while.”

… Regarding the lack of personnel to produce our own T.O.J.-only content.

When I first heard this from Jaeha hyung, I couldn’t hide my shock.

No, during Arrows, the content team was doing their job just fine, so why is they suddenly short on manpower?

Even though it wasn’t that fun, we did a good job filming it, right?

The content team and I had a good relationship!

However, when I learned about the background of the manpower shortage, I couldn’t help but let out a loud noise.

“… Our company has a pretty large content team because we film a lot of things like recording diaries and choreography videos. So why would there suddenly be no one there…?”

“Um, that’s… I heard that Gao Yan went on overseas location shoots.”

“…ah.”

… It was a snowball that rolled because of me coming back like this.

With that one word, the puzzle fell into place in an instant.

If I hadn’t come back, Gao Yan would never have come to AG, and if he had, the content team would have just filmed our own content.

“… Sigh.”

Even now that it’s all over, thinking back on it was quite painful.

What should I say, I feel like I need to be more prepared for things I don’t expect?

Anyway, this was a pretty big deal.

Because these days, self-produced content is the biggest part of managing idols’ hiatus.

[ Regular Album Commemorative Group ‘Scream in the Silence!’]

[ Is there a witch among Serenia? Find the witch Part 1]

[Secret in the Mountain Lodge Ep.2]

The agency-produced content that is uploaded when the idols are not promoting on music shows is like a rain shower to the fans, and is also the best way for the idols to maintain their fans.

[Did you see the final episode of the Touocidi Mountain Lodge episode? Wow, I got goosebumps watching it. So what the members saw was all a illusion?]

[⎿Ah, my friend’s meal was spoiled. Are you crazy? Write it down]

[⎿It’s been a week since the episode came out and you’re saying this was spoiled? You’re slow ㅡㅡ]

[⎿Don’t fight, just go find the Serenia witch. This looks like it’s based on a medieval witch hunt, it’s really fun.]

[⎿ㅁㅈㅁㅈ I also recommend this. You can guess who the witch is by looking at the clothes the kids are wearing. The ones wearing white are witches.]

[⎿No, this guy gives spoilers as if he’s breathing. Just don’t write.]

In particular, if it’s well-made, not only the original fans but also fans of other groups often call it ‘rice friend’.

But, unfortunately, there is no content to provide to the fans during the first hiatus.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that our Tiozae’s YouTube channel was empty.

As expected from AG, which emphasizes skills first and foremost, videos of choreography, recording diaries, and waiting room videos are being uploaded.

However, the fact that there was no self-produced content that could properly show the chemistry between the members was fatal.

And what’s worse, like adding insult to injury? And what’s worse, like adding insult to injury?

“Oh, T.O.J. you guys? I had a meeting with the A&R team, and the song you sent was finally confirmed as the title. Isn’t that great?”

“Wow, really?! Logan, Logan! Did you hear that? That went really well…”

“But, we have a tight schedule. I’d like you to finish recording this week. It won’t overlap with the shooting schedule.”

“…omg.”

“What? Wait, wait. That’s too busy! Director, please, please. I need more time. I need to get the vocal tone right, and I need to work on Mars’ rap part too…”

“Are you guys the only ones busy? The directing team is busy, too. The A&R team is busy, too. And how many times do I have to tell you? I’m a cat person.”

An incredibly busy album preparation schedule to match the short repackage album production period.

This is something that companies usually do when preparing for an idol’s debut, but it was something that couldn’t be helped because our team debuted in a hurry after the survival show.

“… After asking a few more times, they said that if we filmed something, editing is possible through the part-time content team members.”

“Um, but I’m so busy preparing the album that I don’t have time to film my own content.”

“This is a total dilemma… .”

“… I think I need to think about it.”

We all couldn’t help but be troubled.

How to overcome the absence of original content.

And, how can we prepare well for the repackaged album at the same time?

And in the midst of all that, I, the main culprit who caused our self-produced content to disappear, had to think harder.

I swore to myself that I wouldn’t cause trouble, and now this is what happened.

Then what should I do?

We need to solve this.

And, fortunately… .

“…Hobin hyung. If we just film, you’ll edit it, right?”

“Oh, yes. But it won’t be edited in a proper format. I think it’ll just have simple subtitles and sound effects.”

“Well, do you have anything in mind, hyung?”

“I think the T.O.Z members are busy preparing their albums… How about filming something simple that doesn’t require much editing, like a game or a cooking video?”

“Uh, if it’s okay with the members and Hobin hyung, I have a suggestion. I think this will definitely get a good response. It could overlap with the album preparations, and we could also do it as a follow-up to the next content…”

“Yes? Preparing the album and producing your own content together? … Tell me first!”

There was one card I could use to break this situation.

“Okay… It’s okay. No, it’s good. In this situation, it couldn’t be better. But, this is really… .”

“I sent you a message earlier, and you said it was okay if I came right now. You said you had cameras with you, so just bring your body.”

“… Are the other members okay?”

“Hey, honestly I’m a little nervous… It’s not that I don’t think we can do it! You know, Hobin hyung, right?!”

“Oh, Mars. I think so too. It’s a good opportunity. It’s good! If we’re not careful, they might… just because we lost.”

“Still, I think it’d be better to… give it a try… There’s no guarantee… that we’ll win.”

“… Brother Hobin, it seems like everyone has the same opinion. For now, shall we go? If not today, I don’t think we’ll have time. I’ll take good care of Chun-yong.”

It was a bit ambivalent, but anyway.

“Is everyone ready? Well, let’s all go. Since it’s nearby, I think it’ll be fine to just go to the shop and then go.”

“…yes!”

And so, the snowball of our journey towards our first self-produced content for TIOZE has begun to roll, small but steadily.

* * *

It wasn’t just the Tiozae parties who felt the absence of self-produced content and the resulting sense of crisis.

No, actually, there were some who felt it more desperately.

That’s right, the fans who watch the video until it’s over, tear it apart, chew it up, and interpret each member’s character.

This is Tiozae’s partner, Xenia.

Among them, Neulbom Mir, who prides herself on being the best partner of T.O.J’s main dancer Kim Chun-yong, was on the verge of going crazy at the company.

This should be out by now.

I have to come and say something.

‘No, why aren’t they coming out! Aren’t there any AG people? There’s no way they aren’t! They’ve just debuted, so shouldn’t they have a dedicated content team?’

Neulbommir, who had been suppressing the screams that were bursting out of her, continued typing nervously.

If it weren’t for the company, she would have just screamed, but I guess she had some kind of social status to protect her.

Anyway, the important thing was that she was once again feeling a huge sense of crisis regarding Tioje.

Her face was full of worry as she almost buried her face in the screen.

‘No, seriously, now is the time for Jakon to come out. Don’t fans need bait to survive? Am I being punished for only filming survival show kids?’

Her worries were not entirely unfounded.

After wrapping up their ‘Hide and Seek’ promotions, T.O.J’s official SNS became incredibly quiet, and the last upload to their YouTube channel was a video of their waiting room last week.

All of this added to the sense of crisis in Neulbommir.

Perhaps, it is a sense of crisis that she may continue to suffer from a lack of content in the future.

People were vulnerable to immediate dopamine and easily forgot about objects if they were out of sight.

So, if T.O.J. is out of sight, people will easily pay attention to other idols who are newly appearing.

“after….”

Neulbommir let out a deep sigh, pulling up his lower abdomen, without even realizing that the junior sitting next to him was watching him closely.

The SNS tab that would normally be displayed in the corner of her screen was not there today.

The reason she wasn’t on social media today was simple.

Going in won’t help.

[I like British men @logaaaanUKUK

(picture)

Is this the end for curly-haired Roholi? Seriously? Oh, f*ck, I should have let her win first place at least once… I should have seen her receive an award and enjoy it at least once ㅠㅠ]

[⎿ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Logan is the only one receiving the award. He’s really good at deleting the other members]

[⎿Go to Buntang]

[Trust Bang Yoo-chan and go to college @BangbangYourchan

Haha, I thought our Yoochan would appear on a variety show or something during his active period, but he didn’t appear on one, lol

If AG had eyes, he should have put on at least one vocal-related survival show ;;]

[⎿(This account has been blocked by the publisher) You’re at the level of a Yoochan fan who wants your brother, who debuted through a survival show, to be sent on another survival show. Do you like suffering that much?]

[It seems like Son Jae-ha and Logan aren’t close… In the fancam, Son Jae-ha doesn’t react even when Logan gets close to him ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Logan is pitiful…]

[⎿ In the first place, Logan is only close with Kim Chun-yong… Just T.O.J. < It’s obvious that these guys were originally divided into those who were AG and those who weren’t]

[⎿Why are you cutting and uploading other people's videos? Right after this, Jaeha is smiling and giving Logan water ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Please stop saying nonsense about the members not being close with each other. How is that going to benefit you??]

It's only been a short while since the hiatus began, and now there's division and fighting going on in an instant.

In fact, someone who didn't know could have thought that T.O.J had an advantage over other rookie idols.

Because they debuted after building their own fandoms in advance through survival shows.

But while that may help with immediate, visible results, it will cause problems in the long run.

'Because the kids rarely show themselves as a group, there's no unity among the fans. So they fight like crazy, and try to make their kid a Cinderella by putting down other members. They also have a really dirty amount of time…'

That's why Neulbommir decided to do a SNS detox.

Let's just wait until Jakon comes up.

Whether it's SNS, a community, or outgram.

Until the official YouTube 'Self-produced content' playlist of T.O.J. is updated, don't watch anything and just edit Chun Yong's old fan sign photos!

'Instead of just crawling SNS and looking at other idols, it's better to protect my innocence like this. Chun-yong, I'll definitely hold a personal photo shoot for you.'

Because of that, Neulbommir couldn't tell what had arrived in the Outgram notifications that he had turned off.

[Outgram Live Notification ▷ JDS: A guest who came unexpectedly]

Clearly, if I had known, it would have been a social embarrassment and a warning that would have made me scream.