It seemed this time… he’d have to break his promise.
Entering the dorm, Fu Fei was carelessly playing games with the TV on. Seeing Mo Xun enter, he casually asked: “Brother Mo, what drama did President Zhou want you to take?”
Mo Xun said: “A period romance—wants me to join production next month.”
Tan Junwen scratched his head: “So we’re starting around the same time.”
Mo Xun: “Mm.”
He didn’t say more, turning to enter the bedroom.
Seeing Yinnian sitting at the desk seriously watching videos, Mo Xun felt a slight pang in his heart—how long had it been since they sang and danced together?
Time passed so quickly.
The five’s popularity kept rising, with each person’s fan-drawing ability after going solo making the industry jealous.
Five people earning money separately would definitely be much more than earning together—having five projects simultaneously generating income for a period made perfect sense from capital’s perspective. Breaking up for solo careers wasn’t wrong.
Unfortunately, their group could never return to those simple times when all five gathered together happily singing and dancing.
Mo Xun put away his sad emotions, calling quietly: “Yinnian.”
Fang Yinnian looked up, the anxiety in his eyes quickly masked by a smile: “How did your talk with President Zhou go? What genre is the new drama?”
Mo Xun said: “Big-budget period drama, starting production next month. Playing a bodyguard as third male lead. The production team’s treatment is decent—nothing to complain about.”
Fang Yinnian’s fingers gripping the mouse stiffened slightly. This meant they’d be separated long-term again. The promise to go back and see snow this winter…
Mo Xun seemed to read his thoughts, saying gently: “Sorry, Yinnian. This winter… let’s postpone it.”
Fang Yinnian quickly looked away, lowering his head: “Okay. Work is important. Snow scenes can be seen anytime—no rush.”
Mo Xun felt a stabbing pain in his chest.
He took a deep breath: “Right now… I don’t have the qualifications to pick resources. Whatever drama the company wants me to take, I have to take. This drama will take at least 4 months to film.”
Fang Yinnian nodded: “Mm, I understand. Take care of yourself on set—you’ll definitely act this role well.”
Mo Xun stepped forward to gently hug him: “Wait for me to come back.”
***
In December, Tan Junwen and Mo Xun’s new dramas started production one after another.
Tan Junwen was indeed criticized, with many online trolls stirring up sentiment, saying he was a “heaven-sent resource coffee who gets to play male leads upon debut.”
“Just an eighteenth-tier web drama anyway”
“Less than 10 million investment small flop drama—whoever acts in it flops”
“Can Tan Junwen even act? Don’t make me laugh!”
“Annual worst drama reserved~”
A few days later, news came of Mo Xun’s new drama starting production.
Mo Xun received no less criticism than Tan Junwen. Though he was a proper film academy graduate, his works hadn’t aired yet, so the public didn’t know his acting ability—their impression of him remained “idol.”
This “Palace Daily Life” was also adapted from a major IP novel. When the cast was announced, the official Weibo was directly criticized by book fans into trending.
“Finding an idol to play my beloved Wei Zhao? Are you kidding me!”
“Ahhh going to ruin my house again!”
“Wei Zhao is my favorite loyal dog bodyguard ahhh—what right does Mo Xun have to play this role?!”
“Mo Xun and Wei Zhao’s temperaments don’t match at all, okay?”
“Can idols stop coming to TV dramas to hurt our eyes”
Book fans vented anger in super topics while various disguised haters fanned the flames, making major forums extremely lively.
At this time, a post was suddenly pushed up.
“Is FTM music group breaking up?”
This post hit many group fans’ sore spots while making rival haters gloat—it quickly reached over 300 floors.
“They’ve been split since August—OP just got internet?”
“All five music group members are very capable. Splitting up maximizes profits—this arrangement is normal for companies”
“Where did the above troll come from defending the company, damn! Don’t you know domestic entertainment management companies are all equally black?”
“Sheng Yao is disgusting—can’t hide their money-grubbing faces”
“Who dares break up my music group—I still want to hear them sing [angry]”
“Mo Xun and Tan Junwen joined drama productions immediately after variety shows, Xiao Fei also announced his next variety show regular spot—FTM reunion hopeless this year”
“Their singing is really good—music fans are so annoyed. Can the company stop causing trouble?”
“This group got popular fast—I estimate they’ll cool down fast too.”
“Long separation periods make groups exist in name only!”
“Idol debuts are just stepping stones anyway. They obviously each have their own schemes with no real group spirit”
“FTM’s group spirit is just fan bragging, right?”
“Above floor is obviously stirring trouble. Whether FTM has group spirit doesn’t need your fart opinions”
“Marking this: wish Sheng Yao goes bankrupt soon!”
…
Online controversies grew fiercer.
#Sheng Yao Media# was criticized into trending by numerous group fans.
Perhaps to appease group fans’ anger, through Xu Baichuan’s efforts, President Zhou agreed to let them take several year-end activities.
First was December 31st New Year’s Eve gala—this year still going to Nanxing TV’s countdown, with all five FTM members reuniting to perform two songs consecutively.
Then January 7th’s Taohe Platform Star Awards ceremony—a platform award show with full network livestream where they only needed to sing one song on stage.
Mo Xun and Tan Junwen would request leave from their productions to return.
The five had no objections to such arrangements. Reuniting at major galas at least let audiences know—they were a group.
They hadn’t broken up and definitely wouldn’t disband.
On December 31st New Year’s Eve gala day, all five FTM members finally reunited on stage after many days apart.
When they took the stage, they saw numerous amber-gold light boards with “FTM” below.
—These were group fans supporting their reunion performance.
All five finished singing two songs with complex emotions.
Returning backstage, Fang Yinnian suddenly received a call from grandma: “Nian-nian, we just watched your performance—sang so well! Oh right, it snowed in Binzhou today.”
Fang Yinnian said in surprise: “Really?”
Grandma smiled: “Yes, such heavy snow. Didn’t you ask me before about whether Xishan ski resort has VIP private booking services for bringing friends back to ski? I’ll ask tomorrow!”
Fang Yinnian felt a pang in his heart, quickly saying: “Grandma, no need to ask. My friend… he’s very busy this year and won’t go see snow for now. We’ll talk about it when there’s opportunity later.”
Grandma paused, nodding: “Alright, snow scenes can be seen every year anyway. I heard they’re building a new ski resort on the east side—quite large scale. You can play at the new ski resort then!”
Fang Yinnian softly hummed agreement, reminding her to take care of her health before hanging up.
Mo Xun had heard Yinnian’s call with grandma. A flash of guilt crossed his eyes, but he was also helpless now. The production team had heavy filming schedules—he was taking a 2 AM flight back tonight, arriving at 4 AM, then getting up at 6 AM for makeup and costume preparation.
Mo Xun reached out, gently ruffling Fang Yinnian’s hair and saying quietly: “There will always be opportunities in the future.”
Fang Yinnian quickly put on an indifferent smile: “It’s fine—work is important. Taking a late-night flight then filming tomorrow must be exhausting, right?”
Mo Xun smiled: “It’s okay, I’m not tired.”
Though he said he wasn’t tired, Fang Yinnian could clearly sense his fatigue. Hanging from wires filming action scenes in deep winter—Mo Xun must be very hard-pressed.
Fang Yinnian felt some heartache, stuffing a hand warmer into his hands: “Take this hand warmer. You can put it in your pocket to warm your hands during outdoor scenes. The switch is here—fully charged, it lasts all day.”
Mo Xun gripped the small hand warmer, feeling warmth travel from his palm’s skin straight to his heart. He hugged Fang Yinnian tightly: “Thank you, then I’ll… head to the airport?”
Fang Yinnian said: “Go ahead, sleep a bit on the way.”
Mo Xun: “Mm, you should rest early when you get back to the hotel too. Bye.”
Fang Yinnian watched him leave in a hurry.
FTM continued their separate activities after the brief reunion performance.
Group fans’ emotions were temporarily appeased as they began frantically demanding a second album… but the company remained unmoved.
Domestic entertainment idol boy groups actually didn’t release albums that quickly—Bluewind, who debuted seven years ago, only had two official albums so far.
Boy groups that debuted around the same time as FTM had released at most one album—domestic entertainment companies cultivating idol boy groups didn’t emphasize musical development but rather focused on members’ popularity.
As long as the group became popular, whether they took on variety shows or acted in TV dramas, the company could happily collect money.
Fang Yinnian had originally thought music groups would be different.
Music groups emphasized music, hiring industry bigshots as producers—this was also key to why he’d been willing to join FTM initially.
But now he finally woke up—all crows under heaven were equally black; capital’s eyes only ever saw profit.
The five earning money separately meant five portions of income, while reuniting could only take one variety show at a time.
Recording albums required paying people to write songs and spending money on MV shoots, needing large upfront investments plus months of isolation, wasting time with slow returns.
Capital knew with eyes closed which to choose.
Though Fang Yinnian really wanted to sing new songs, he could only follow company arrangements now, going solo to record music variety shows.
***
This year’s Spring Festival was January 18th.
Their first year after debut, they’d spent Spring Festival in the dorm with Fang Yinnian personally cooking New Year’s Eve dinner and livestreaming for fans. Last year everyone was also together, performing at the TV station’s Spring Festival gala.
This year’s Spring Festival, all five were scattered across different places.
Fang Yinnian, Tang Che, and Fu Fei were all recording their respective variety shows. Tan Junwen was nearly finished filming, while Mo Xun’s entire production team was spending Spring Festival at Hengdian Film Studio, eating dumplings together.
The five exchanged New Year greetings in their group chat and grabbed red packet gifts.
Mo Xun also sent a message: “Brothers, my first drama ‘Rising Winds of Chang’an’ has been scheduled—January 19th, New Year’s Day, winter vacation slot broadcast [happy].”
The others sent many flower and applause emojis in the group chat.
Fang Yinnian couldn’t help feeling happy for him. Mo Xun’s first role would finally meet audiences—this should be the best recent news.
**
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
I wasn’t sure what to expect at first, but this turned out to be surprisingly useful. Thanks for taking the time to put this together.