Debut or Die-Chapter 300
T-Holic. The top-tier group that ruled the idol world before VTIC’s rise.
In short, they were the symbol of the previous generation of idols.
“Isn’t the song you first sang, that person’s?”
“Yeah.”
The “Party in Me” I performed during the Ajusa ranking evaluation was originally a solo album track by one of T-Holic’s members.
‘They’d been promoting solo activities for years, so they were as seasoned as could be.’
Most of their contemporaries had long since gone their separate ways.
Yet they managed to reunite, every member except one, and release a group album again.
I nonchalantly watched the T-Holic music video autoplay beneath YouTube’s trending section.
The thumbnail featured the member whose song I’d covered.
[T-Holic – “Let’s Go” M/V]
Honestly, it wasn’t particularly sleek—its vibe felt several years old.
“T-Holic seniors are back~ Wow, it’s been so long. I used to cover them all the time in middle school~”
Lee Sejin, sitting behind me, craned his neck to join in.
His excitement drew Cha Yoojin’s attention as well, but...
“Who? Umm... I don’t really know them.”
Being American, he seemed uninterested in an idol who was big more than a decade ago.
Kim Raebin, however, looked genuinely shocked.
“You don’t know T-Holic seniors?”
“Right!”
“For an active K-pop idol to lack that background knowledge is unprofessional!”
“...! I know plenty of K-pop songs! I just haven’t studied their tracks!”
True: by the time K-pop expanded into the U.S., most idols were doing their mandatory military service and couldn’t promote in groups. Cha Yoojin had a point.
“I know their name! T-Holic seniors!”
“Not enough!”
My eardrums felt under siege.
These days, any mention of a topic triggers a chain reaction of over-the-top reactions, turning everything into chaos.
I watched Bae Sejin, across from me, shrink further into his corner and plug in his earphones without a flicker of surprise.
Our promotions were going smoothly; none of us had any particular worries or suspicious behavior.
So even this trivial conversation drew huge responses.
‘We’ve all just grown comfortable with each other.’
As teammates interrupted each other’s comments without hesitation, I mentally organized the situation.
This will make great reality content.
That was all I thought that day. But T-Holic’s comeback caused a far bigger stir than I’d expected.
First, the nostalgia factor.
In plain terms, nostalgia marketing.
– “They had so many hits back then.”
– “Honestly, each member had more charm. They’re like factory-made dolls now.”
– “I miss when they all wore Ugg boots and sang that song”
Fans in their twenties and thirties fondly reminisced about their childhood memories of T-Holic. With nearly the entire lineup intact and a new group album after years, nostalgia and admiration fueled the buzz.
Even those who’d once disliked T-Holic reacted positively under the haze of fond memories.
‘Of course, if the songs sucked, it’d be a storm in a teacup and fade fast.’
But then came the second factor: T-Holic’s own unique appeal.
These guys... were hilarious.
– “I almost threw up laughing.”
– “Why did they all fall over at once? That’s insane lol.”
– “What did they do in the military to get even funnier?”
– “I don’t even follow them, and now my algorithm’s full of T-Holic clips.”
From YouTube retrospectives to major network TV, every variety show they guested on was a jackpot. They weren’t afraid to make fools of themselves yet never crossed the line—a perfect balance of ease and savvy.
‘Proof that experience counts. The exact opposite of VTIC’s squeaky-clean, tightly controlled media strategy.’
They voraciously dominated content and built momentum.
Normally, the novelty would wear off, and they’d plateau or fade—but fortune smiled on them.
Several random broadcast clips became memes.
– “T-Holic’s karaoke tray bit is legendary.”
– “Is it my fault?.swf”
– “The source of the ‘is it my fault’ meme is T-Holic?”
They exhausted their old image and reinvented themselves as a trending meme, appealing to younger audiences.
They even launched their own variety show channel on WeTube.
[We’re Starting Anew on WeTube... The PPL Maniacs of Desire | T-Holic’s Show Business Ep.1]
Despite the variety buzz, their album and streaming sales were merely respectable.
In today’s inflated K-pop market, their numbers ranked at the lower edge of tier-one.
Current idol fans viewed them less as competition to fear.
– “Their Show Business show is super slick—pure entertainment ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) lol.”
– “I wish our group could do something like this.”
They’d become a separate category of consumption.
And unsurprisingly, their variety show became a smash hit almost overnight.
A bad omen.
“......”
I checked the ratings for T-Holic’s variety program, which had even been slotted into CVN’s primetime lineup after its runaway success.
Episode 1 rode the opening hype, so Episode 2 mattered most...
– Episode 2: 5.8%
A staggering figure—on par with CVN’s marquee prime-time shows.
‘Too much.’
They stepped into a gap left by the lack of other trending dramas or variety shows this season.
“Oh~ T-Holic seniors are on fire this comeback.”
Big Sejin, waiting like me for the next shoot, shrugged and chipped in.
I nodded in agreement.
“Yeah.”
I doubted they’d sustain it long term.
‘If they get too big, there’ll be hunters ready to take them down.’
Downfall of the once-popular makes juicy gossip. One misstep and controversy will kill their momentum.
Even regardless of that, variety hype doesn’t last. This trend’s lifespan tops out at three or four months.
‘Not enough to threaten us.’
Everyone knows our sales figures are in a different league.
But the timing was critical.
‘We can’t let them steal our year-end spotlight.’
VTIC sold well in both streams and albums, but neither was dominant enough to secure awards alone.
‘That’s where MusicBomb wins out for VTIC and Youngrin’s judging credibility.’
So under today’s split evaluation of streams versus album sales, a “trendsetter” image had to be rock-solid to win.
Yet unexpectedly, T-Holic was hoovering up mainstream attention.
‘And they’re still officially classified as idols.’
Thus, the idol capturing the most public attention right now was T-Holic.
‘Dangerous.’
If our own “trendsetter” metric fell, VTIC’s clout would suffer and jeopardize our awards.
I switched off my phone and murmured,
“We’ll have to work even harder.”
“Right?”
Big Sejin positively affirmed.
‘He gets it—this guy wouldn’t say that unless he did.’
“Let’s crush year-end too~”
Even without knowing all the details, they were fired up by the challenge.
“Yeah! I’ll try to get more screen time on variety...!”
“It really shows that idols are full-fledged entertainers, not just musicians.”
In that respect, our group had mental fortitude that couldn’t be measured on any status screen.
Even thriving under blatant success, we maintained ambition and rational judgment.
‘Usually people get complacent in this situation.’
We were mid-shoot for a photo spread.
“Yes, let’s begin right away~”
“Yep!”
This wasn’t just any magazine shoot.
Through a partnership with a major publisher, we were doing a special issue featuring only VTIC’s photos, interviews, and ads—from start to finish.
Eight alternate covers—individual shots and the group—were already pre-selling over 800,000 copies.
“Amazing, you all look so beautiful~”
“Ha ha!”
No one on set dared complain. We enjoyed unconditional “VIP” status.
‘It’s a recipe for destroying one’s character.’
Especially for newly minted twenty-somethings, the risk of losing social grace and manners is huge. When you can berate working staff with no penalty, it’s hard not to slip into rudeness under pressure.
Energy and mood swing wildly.
‘If you want to act like an asshole, you can.’
Yet these guys kept the same debut-era energy.
“One more time~”
“Yes!”
For the group cover in jeans and Ts, we bunched up and shot.
During our brief outfit change, Bae Sejin murmured,
“...This reminds me of debut.”
“Right? That hair color too.”
“I love the red hair!”
This spread’s concept traced VTIC from debut to now—a fitting theme for the male idol group with this year’s biggest hit.
‘Has it really been that long?’
I looked back over the years with a strange feeling.
So many unbelievable events... yet it felt like Ajusa was just last year.
And the “Magic Boy” shoot seemed only yesterday.
Just before we resumed shooting, I unconsciously recalled the compliment I’d given Bae Sejin back then.
“You were great on set then and you’re still great now.”
“Mm, you guys are doing great too.”
This time, unlike before, Bae Sejin accepted the praise sincerely.
‘Yeah, something’s changed.’
Our emotional distance had shrunk. We’d been through so much together and built real trust.
“....”
“Oh~ Mundae, your expression is perfect!”
“Thank you.”
But there was no time to dwell.
We were a few steps from our awards, and any sudden rockslide had to be cleared.
So what was the best strategy?
It would be dumb to naively benchmark their variety show.
‘If we launch reality now, people will compare us.’
No need to butt in on the fortune and experience that got them primetime slots.
Instead, let’s be clever...
‘Hmm.’
I pondered until the shoot wrapped, then reached a conclusion.
‘Let’s turn it to our advantage.’
To catch a tiger, you enter the tiger’s den.
T-Holic’s show was a success.
That meant their buzz was effectively bound to their variety program.
And that buzz could be used by anyone who appeared on it.
As guests, depending on format, you could outshine the hosts and become the show’s star—if you generated more buzz than T-Holic’s routine antics.
Especially if you were genuinely entertaining.
‘That would be ideal.’
So after internal discussion, we analyzed T-Holic’s “Show Business” format and selected the two members most likely to make the biggest impact—fully custom-tailored.
“I’m really looking forward to it!”
Cha Yoojin.
“Since this is my first variety appearance with such a small group, I’ll give it my all!”
Kim Raebin.
And... someone neither booked on another show nor beyond our control.
“Alright.”
Me.
I brought Cha Yoojin and Kim Raebin to the set of T-Holic’s Show Business.
