Thank you Rainrwain for the kofi!
Extra updates~
At 6 PM, the five members of FTM headed to the airport together with Manager Xu.
Upon arriving at the airport, Fang Yinnian looked through the car window and saw many fans holding banners. The dark green banners had “Tao Yizhou” written on them, obviously fans who came to see off Tao Yizhou.
Fang Yinnian felt somewhat envious: “Tao Yizhou has so many fans. They went to the stadium to support him during rehearsal, and now they’re here to see him off after the performance.”
Fu Fei said: “He has a nice voice, good looks, and he writes his own songs, so he has super loyal fans. A high-traffic singer with over a million comments on Weibo is rare in the music industry.”
Manager Xu in the passenger seat frowned, hesitating to speak.
Mo Xun noticed the change in the manager’s expression through the rearview mirror and asked: “Brother Xu, what’s wrong?”
Manager Xu cleared his throat and said: “It’s fine to gossip about other artists in private, but never mention them in public. Especially Tao Yizhou—you’d better not have any interaction with him. His fans are notoriously vicious.”
The five of them: “…”
Although they all belonged to Shengyao Media, having different managers meant they weren’t even really “colleagues.” Tao Yizhou’s popularity surely had a powerful marketing team behind it, and with his many die-hard fans, their small unknown group couldn’t afford to provoke him.
Fu Fei immediately assured: “I’ll absolutely never mention him in public.”
Mo Xun said: “Don’t worry, Brother Xu. Except for the company’s joint concerts, we don’t have any opportunity to interact with him anyway.”
Manager Xu nodded: “Good, it’s better to be cautious.”
The car drove past the group of fans seeing Tao Yizhou off and stopped at the departure hall.
For the return trip, Manager Xu had his assistant buy first-class tickets. After going through security, they walked through the VIP channel to board the plane. Mo Xun and Fang Yinnian’s seats were together, with Mo Xun by the window and Fang Yinnian by the aisle.
Mo Xun stored his luggage and sat down in the window seat. Just as Fang Yinnian was about to sit, he suddenly saw a tall man wearing sunglasses and a mask walking in.
A crowd of people followed behind him.
The man passed by Fang Yinnian, and the group following him swarmed forward like a hive of bees. Fang Yinnian was pushed so hard he stumbled and almost fell.
Mo Xun reacted swiftly—almost at the instant Fang Yinnian was bumped, he immediately stood up and pulled Fang Yinnian over, saying softly: “You sit inside.”
Before Fang Yinnian could understand what was happening, Mo Xun had seated him in the window seat.
He looked up in confusion, meeting Mo Xun’s calm eyes.
Mo Xun swiftly pulled the cabin curtain closed with a “whoosh” and sat down in the aisle seat, leaning over to whisper in Fang Yinnian’s ear: “Sasaeng fans.”
Sure enough, those people who had rushed onto the plane crowded in the aisle near the back rows, surrounding the celebrity with sunglasses, pointing cameras at his face to take videos while shouting: “Zhou Zhou, look here~” “Zhou Zhou, you’re so handsome!”
Fang Yinnian: “…”
Sasaeng fans? Fang Yinnian’s mind was full of question marks.
The group of people who had just rushed in had almost knocked him down, and if Mo Xun hadn’t reacted quickly, he wouldn’t have known what to do. It was just a flight, yet they created an atmosphere like a military campaign.
His mind was still in a daze, but fortunately the cabin curtain in first class isolated this small space. Fang Yinnian took a deep breath to adjust his emotions, then leaned over to Mo Xun’s ear and asked softly: “What are sasaeng fans?”
Mo Xun turned to look at him.
Fang Yinnian’s eyes were clear, as if saying “I don’t understand these terms.”
Apparently, he didn’t follow entertainment news at all, much less fan culture, so he was unfamiliar with these situations.
Mo Xun smiled slightly and leaned toward his ear, patiently explaining: “Sasaeng fans are those who purchase celebrities’ private itineraries through underground channels, following them onto planes, to hotels, having an intense desire to spy on celebrities, disregarding their personal privacy, and liking to invade celebrities’ private lives—they’re extremely obsessive people.”
Fang Yinnian was startled: “Following onto planes, and even to hotels?”
Mo Xun lowered his voice: “Recently, an actor was attending an event, and sasaeng fans followed him to his hotel, disguised themselves as service staff, and tried to deliver fruit to his room in the middle of the night. He was so scared that he immediately called the police and changed hotels that same night. The incident even became a trending topic. Some sasaeng fans are truly terrifying.”
Fang Yinnian: “…”
Well, that was… educational.
From nearby came the stern voice of security personnel: “Please return to your seats and maintain order, okay? Don’t disturb other passengers!” “Return to your seats now, or we’ll call the police!”
With the efforts of several security staff, the group was finally persuaded to return to their seats.
In FTM’s five-person group chat, Fu Fei exclaimed: “Damn, that scared me to death! A whole crowd suddenly rushed on board! Tao Yizhou actually boarded with all these sasaeng fans—what is his manager doing?”
Tan Junwen asked curiously: “Are sasaeng fans always this extreme?”
Fu Fei replied: “Tao Yizhou has some of the most rampant sasaeng fans. We’re just super unlucky to be on the same flight back to Jiangzhou with him.”
Tang Che sent two words: “Bad luck.”
Fang Yinnian: “…”
In his mind, the most fans would do was leave comments on Weibo, with more dedicated ones showing up at events to cheer. He never imagined there would be fans who would follow celebrities onto planes to take close-up photos, or to hotels to knock on doors at midnight to deliver fruit.
—This was truly his first time seeing real sasaeng fans.
The impact of it left Fang Yinnian shaken, and he was still feeling a bit of lingering fear.
Mo Xun noticed Fang Yinnian’s pale face and gently held the back of his hand, asking softly in his ear: “Scared?”
Fang Yinnian shook his head: “No, just a bit shocked.”
Mo Xun said with a grim expression: “Tao Yizhou’s team is really stupid. His flight information is leaking everywhere, like a sieve.”
Fang Yinnian hurriedly looked at Mo Xun, whispering in his ear: “Stop criticizing, keep your voice down.”
Mo Xun restrained himself and didn’t continue with his criticism.
In the group chat, Manager Xu’s message came through: “There are many sasaeng fans on this flight. When we arrive in Jiangzhou, let Tao Yizhou leave first, we’ll exit last.”
All five of them sent “received” emojis.
There were several flights from Ya’an to Jiangzhou every day, and Manager Xu hadn’t expected to be on the same flight as Tao Yizhou.
Guessing that the young ones were scared, Manager Xu comforted them: “All big celebrities have a certain number of sasaeng fans. These fans only stalk specific celebrities and generally won’t randomly post photos or videos of others. It doesn’t concern you, just ignore them.”
Seeing this, the five of them finally relaxed a bit.
The announcement that the plane was about to take off came through, and Fang Yinnian put on his noise-canceling headphones and silently closed his eyes.
He felt like a rookie just entering the martial arts world, gradually experiencing the complexity of the “entertainment circle.”
At 11 PM, the flight arrived on time at Jiangzhou International Airport.
Tao Yizhou was the first to disembark. The airport security team had received information in advance and quickly escorted him away, blocking the sasaeng fans on the plane. The five members of FTM waited until he had left before leaving the airport through the VIP channel.
At exactly midnight, the van dropped them off at the apartment building’s underground garage.
Everyone carried their luggage back to the dormitory.
As soon as they entered, Tan Junwen immediately sprawled out on the sofa with his limbs stretched wide, sighing: “Finally home, I’m so tired!”
Fu Fei laughed: “Home is still the best, right? Why do I suddenly feel so attached to this dormitory?”
Fang Yinnian had the same thought.
The manager had taken them to Ya’an on the 10th, and they had been away for exactly 9 days.
After returning today, looking at the familiar furnishings—Junwen’s easel on the balcony, Xiao Fei’s PS game controller on the coffee table, Tang Che’s favorite tea stuffed in the cabinet next to the dining area, and Mo Xun’s guitar placed beside the TV cabinet.
Fang Yinnian inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity in his heart.
He didn’t feel reluctant when leaving, but at the moment of return, he suddenly felt safe.
This was the place where they had lived together for 40 days, their FTM “little home.” Here they could speak freely, sprawl on the sofa without worrying about appearances, and not have to worry about outside judgments and gazes.
Fu Fei started to complain: “Tao Yizhou’s sasaeng fans are truly terrifying. Luckily, I reacted quickly and immediately closed the curtain. What the hell are they filming? Don’t they understand respect? I really wanted to smash their phones.”
Tan Junwen scratched his head and said: “I completely don’t understand this behavior. With that time and money, couldn’t they do something better?”
Fang Yinnian also didn’t quite understand this behavior.
Mo Xun smiled and said: “The number of sasaeng fans largely depends on the artist’s team. If the team behind them implements good security measures and doesn’t leak so many schedules, sasaeng fans wouldn’t be so rampant. There’s actually an entire industry chain behind this.”
Fang Yinnian looked shocked: “There’s an industry chain?”
Mo Xun said: “There are scalpers who specialize in selling celebrities’ schedules for profit. For example, which celebrity is taking which flight on what date to where, which hotel they’re staying at. Sasaeng fans pay these scalpers for these itineraries, then they can buy tickets for the same flight, stay at the same hotel, and closely spy on and photograph that celebrity.”
Mo Xun paused, then continued: “Some even find out the addresses of celebrities’ family members, where their parents work, and so on. I’ve heard some even harass their parents—truly sick.”
Everyone: “…”
Damn, this has become an entire industry chain?!
Since entering the entertainment industry, Fang Yinnian had been refreshing his understanding every day.
It was the first time he’d learned that Bilibili content creators would remove accompaniments to critique singers’ vocal skills word by word; the first time he’d learned about the large number of “investment fans”; and also the first time he’d encountered real “sasaeng fans.”
When he was bumped by the sasaeng fans today, his mind went blank. He didn’t understand what was happening and thought they might be passengers with some emergency, acting crazy on a plane.
Fortunately, Mo Xun was there. Mo Xun reacted very quickly to these situations, pulling him to sit in the window seat.
Fang Yinnian exhaled with lingering fear, looking at Mo Xun and saying: “Thanks for just now, I didn’t even have time to react.”
Mo Xun smiled: “No need for formalities with me. I was just afraid you’d get hurt by them—those people have no concept of manners.”
The young man before him was truly a dependable team leader. When faced with situations he couldn’t handle in the future, at least he had Mo Xun—thinking of this, Fang Yinnian suddenly felt much more at ease.
Tan Junwen rubbed his sore shoulders and asked: “We’re starting classes again tomorrow, right? What’s the schedule?”
Just as he asked, a new timetable appeared in the group chat.
Previously, they had paused dance classes to focus on vocal training for the tenth anniversary debut. The new schedule indeed had them making up for dance classes: dance at 8 AM every morning, vocal training in the afternoon, and more dance classes in the evening until 11 PM before bed.
Manager Xu said: “Focus on both areas and build a solid foundation.”
All five replied in unison: “Understood.”
The schedule was packed full, with early mornings and late nights comparable to cramming for college entrance exams. Tan Junwen’s hopes of sleeping in instantly shattered.
Tan Junwen hugged a cushion, sighing: “Ah, I guess I’ll never sleep in for the rest of my life.”
Fang Yinnian asked curiously: “Junwen, your dad said you wanted to be a painter since childhood. Why did you suddenly join a boy band?”
Tan Junwen ruffled his messy hair: “I just don’t like having my life planned out by my parents.”
Fu Fei exclaimed in surprise: “I didn’t expect you to be so rebellious!”
Tan Junwen said helplessly: “I was forced to learn painting as a child. My mom’s a publishing editor, right? She hoped I would publish my own art collection in the future, and she could help me a lot.”
“They even wanted me to hold my own art exhibitions.”
“Actually, I don’t have much talent for painting. Every time I pick up a brush, it gives me a headache. During creative blocks, I can’t find any inspiration—what I paint is a pile of dog poop. You probably can’t understand that kind of suffering.”
Tang Che nodded: “Indeed, it’s hard to understand, after all, I don’t know how to paint dog poop.”
Everyone: “…”
Tan Junwen sat up abruptly: “Tang Che, do you ever focus on the point?”
Mo Xun interrupted with a smile: “Alright, you two, stop arguing. I can imagine running out of inspiration for painting. But what I don’t understand is, you won an award in ‘Youth Rap Class’ last year, why didn’t you continue down that path?”
Tan Junwen let out a long sigh: “I was tricked by old Xu! I thought Shengyao signed me to develop me as a solo rap artist. I never imagined he’d put me in a boy band as the rap specialist, let alone that it would be a harmony group? I had to learn harmonizing from scratch, damn.”
Everyone: “…”
We can only sympathize with you for three seconds, no more.
Fang Yinnian couldn’t help laughing: “Looks like Brother Xu is good at convincing people. I was also talked into joining.”
Tang Che said calmly: “Same here.”
Fu Fei scratched his head: “So, only Mo and I wanted to form a boy band from the beginning?”
Mo Xun and Fu Fei both came from trainee backgrounds and were already on the idol boy band path. The other three joining a boy band was purely coincidental, but everyone was trying to seize this opportunity to debut quickly.
Mo Xun concluded: “The internet users are right, we really are a makeshift operation.”
The five looked at each other and burst out laughing together.
What else could they do? The group was already formed; they couldn’t just tear it down and start over.
As if destined by fate, the five of them had somehow come together to form FTM, the harmony group. Although the process was ridiculous, their debut had a decent start.
At the moment when they stood together singing on stage for the first time, everyone came to somewhat accept this combination.
Their harmonizing style seemed to work, right?
Now that they had debuted as a group, they could only continue moving forward.
Mo Xun stood up and said: “Alright, let’s wash up and sleep. The variety show schedule will be officially announced tomorrow, and we still have a ton of classes to attend. Now that we’ve officially debuted, things will only get busier from here on.”
Fu Fei said with a smile: “Celebrities who are too idle are already completely forgotten.
The busier we get, the more popular we’ll become!”
Tan Junwen agreed: “That sounds good to me.”
Everyone lined up to take showers and go to bed.
They’re currently in the early stages of their career, so it’s better to be busy.
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