In the present...
"Ok everyone. It's a minute to midnight. I'm keeping track of the clock and I'll start counting down when we get to 20 seconds!" Ohm shouted.
The night had gone great so far. Elevation had performed based on requests from the comment section. Rising had been the first song demanded but they also played Together With Me, Cherry, the original FTSS and 5 other oldies, two of which were covers.
Noh felt like he was back in school as more of their friends drifted in.
"Here we go!" Ohm started counting off and they all joined in. On the 1, they started hugging and screaming Happy New Year!
"Ok now I can go on iTunes and see what you guys dropped as your surprise." Rodkeng said and walked away to a corner.
"Wait. Are there new songs on these?" Nant asked as he looked on his iPhone.
"Yep. In fact, everything got remixed too. Even FTSS so this is the last time we'll ever mess with the original." Dye admitted. "And then after this, it's all original music. I can tell you the one song that will be on the new CD that you have heard as a bonus track is Rising. How's that? There will be 3 bonus tracks in all."
"Why bonus tracks?"
"Because they don't fit the theme we picked for the CD."
"The fans are asking about the songs Noh made from FTSS." Ex said from over Ohm's shoulder.
"Oh those?" Noh asked casually. "Weeeeelllll. They will be on the new album. Actually the theme was chosen so they could be added to the new album."
"And when is that bad boy coming out?" Ex again asked on behalf of everyone.
"Que Mick. Take it away buddy." Noh dodged that bullet. Mick looked at him with flinty eyes then smiled for the camera.
"We are not at liberty to say so keep your eyes out for when something drops." While Mick was talking, Noh had wandered over to Secret who was sitting on a stool in the corner and fiddling on his phone.
"What are you doing?" He asked as he stopped in front of him.
"Just helping the fans." He said then pulled Noh into his lap. Since Noh's back was turned, he didn't see Win with the camera but Secret could. "By the way. Phun says he's sorry he can't come. He's watching the chat though."
"Where is he? With Scarlet?"
"Yep. Family obligations." He admitted. "He's not even near Bangkok. They went to Nan Province."
"I thought she was from Nong Khai area? What are they doing in Nan?"
"Um... I have no idea? I think one of her parents is from the Nan area but whatever. Not my business."
"True on both counts. I remember now. Her dad's side of the family. She said something about going to see her Nana before school started. And it is none of our business so that's true too." Noh draped himself on Phun and sighed. "I'm tired."
"They found it! Thanks for selling out Secret. Anyway. You guys like it? It was a surprise to us too. We only got to see it tonight." Ohm told the comment section. There were over 200,000 people watching the live at the moment and that hadn't been the highest number. Around 10:30 they had over 400,000 viewers which was the highest number either one could remember seeing.
"And will you two stop giving the fans a show already. Geez!" Ohm shook his head as he continued to read the comments. Noh didn't even turn around but flipped Ohm off anyway before snuggling closer.
Everyone slowly drifted off into little groups and began chatting and listening to the music. Win continued to film everyone as they talked about what they liked and didn't like. The only person not involved was Noh because he had passed out on Phun who was now resting on a chair and quietly talking with Keng, Dong, Per, and Joke as he held his baby.
"I really like this version of TWM. I mean I enjoyed the others that were secretly dropped a couple weeks ago but this one has to be my favorite. I still can't believe that song was done and practiced in three days." Dong admitted.
"I know right but it has to be my favorite out of the new material besides Rising. I love that the band has been pulling out some of their old music lately too. I have to wonder how much songs they have written and I hope they can continue to show them to us. These guys are really talented." Joke said and looked at the sleeping Noh with affection.
"The only thing I know and feel safe to say is that these guys are pretty much doing all this and making all these decisions themselves. Like 90% of the remixes were done and submitted by them. The other versions of TWM were actually done by one of the producers in the company but this one was done by Dye specifically. In fact he was the one who wanted them to sing this song that night in the competition." Phun admitted.
"So this is like 90% Elevation and 10% The Entertainment Company?" Keng asked. "Because if that's the case, they are just a vehicle. Elevation is driving 100%."
"Yes. They are writing, singing and self producing their music. I don't know much else or how this works but I trust Noh and I support whatever decision he makes." Phun said with a nod.
"He has always been a great leader even if he wasn't always proactive. I can say he has grown so much. He really has. I have looked up to Noh for a long time and I have always had my eye on his accomplishments. If you had asked me back then if I could have seen Noh doing this, I would have said no." Per stated confidently. "He would think this is too much work. However you have changed that. By the time he was ready to leave and you asked me that question again, I would have said yes. Without question Noh can do this. You really brought out the best in him."
Quietly Win moved away and wandered over to another group but many viewers were left with a great impression of Noh in general and the band on a whole. They got to see Dye in his element as he showed Fi, Ngoi and Mick what he did with the lyrics and how he worked the EDM program that helped him do most of the remixes.
"I have a scratch table where I do it old school and I've used that for a few of the songs on there too." Dye smiled. "I used to DJ small time before I entered uni and joined the band."
Ohm was also holding court and he was talking about, you guessed it, food. Win turned the camera, giving everyone a rare view of his face, and raised his eyebrow. "Only Ohm would be talking about food when everyone is discussing music. He's a special guy like that." He shook his head but gave Ohm the love and attention he deserved.
Ex and Flex were together and they too had deviated from the music talk. Instead, they were sharing stories with Rodkeng, Pong, Nant and some others about Noh and Ohm in university versus Noh and Ohm in Friday Collage. Win settled here because this was backstory gold and the fans loved him for it.
The comments steadily came in as fans began chatting in the comments with each other as best as they could. They especially like to hear about Flex and Ex back ground in music and learning about these two. Noh and Ohm was always out there. Now the Flex and Ex stans and shippers could step up and take in as much as they could about the two men.
Win glanced at the comments and soon found himself going between Ex and Flex and Dye. He kept track of their conversations and made sure to capture as much personal information as he could for the fans.
When Dye talked about his family trips to Japan and having relatives in Tokyo and Okinawa, the Japanese fans went crazy. When Ex talked about his dad who was a music professor in the US, everyone wanted to know the school he was at but Ex wouldn't say since he admitted that he wasn't that close to his dad. He didn't want anyone approaching the man or treating him unkindly because of Ex.
"Ok I don't know about everyone but I'm done in. Like utterly done. But this was fun. We should do this again in some way. Like have a random live, one or all of us at once."
"That would be cool. And fans would get to meet us individually as well as in a group." Dye agreed after he yawned.
"Noh left us a long time ago. Secret carried him out. Think he was actually asleep or he faked it so they could run off and do it?" Per asked gleefully.
"Stop it Per." Win told him softly and he looked down embarrassed. "I can't believe you said that on camera. Are we done? What do I do now?"
"Oh! Sorry Win. Here let me get that for you. Say goodnight all." Dye took the camera after they all said goodnight and shut it down. He saved the feed then ran it through a video editing program that would chop the entire live into 2 hour segment he could upload for viewing the next day.
Then they all passed out.
"Get your asses up! I made breakfast!" Noh's voice blasted into the room and startled everyone awake.
"I have toothbrushes you can use and I hope you were all smart enough to bring clothes otherwise your going home stinky."
"Ermagad! Why are you so loud?" Ohm groaned out. He looked over at Mick who looked grumpy as hell. He pulled him into his arms and snuggled him closer, causing the guy to sigh.
"Well I found a megaphone in Pang's room and I used it. Now can you all please rise? It's like 10 in the morning and several of you already have missed calls from your significant others or parents in Win's case. Your mom called and wanted to know why Per hadn't brought you back home. Lucky you Phun answered the call. You'll have to work out your stories with him."
"Oh. Oh shit. Thanks P. I can't believe she still checks on me." Win complained softly.
"It's only because she knows your with me. If it were him, I'm sure she would be fine."
"That's not true." Win said quietly though secretly he knew it was.
Per looked away but he didn't say anything else. Instead he took Win to Phun and they chatted before Per waves goodbye to everyone and took Win out. Noh just shook his head at them and turned back to the remaining people.
"So what's the plan? Want to go out? I don't know that we have enough food."
"Nah. We're all going home." Fi decided for everyone and they nodded. It was new years day. They needed to be home.
With everyone cleared out, the Phumipats and the band along with Noh's parents and Pang gathered together by 2 and had a huge lunch.
It was cozy and sweet and Noh secretly took as many pictures as he could and even sent some out on social media, without people in them of course unless it was the band members.
Secret also sent out some pictures of his own and they were much appreciated. Fans easily admitted that giving Secret his own account gave them an insight to the band that they wouldn't otherwise have and they hoped it would continue for as long as possible.
After dinner, Dye went to go check on the uploads and came back looking dazed.
"Noh. Hey Noh. We have 5 million views in just one day."
"Huh?" Noh looked over and took in Dye's dazed face. He blinked and waved a hand in front of him to get his attention.
"I said we have 5 million views in just one day. All our videos are just over that amount. Seriously. I was hoping for a million considering we had so many people with us during our live but over 5 mil? That's crazy!"
"It shouldn't be though." Phun said quietly. "I mean think about it. There were so many people watching with us last night and we had 8 hours roughly of live film. I mean that's fucking great that we didn't even crash video but managed 8 straight hours. Then you can consider that within that 8 hours people would have come and gone. That gives us over a million viewers alone collectively in that span if time. They all knew we were dropping new videos and if they checked social media when they woke up they would have seen our posts about them. They would have told friends. They would have streamed. We've been trending since just after midnight."
"Wait! For real?!" Ohm had finally joined the discussion.
"We have." Mick said quietly with a smile. "We were number one for a few hours."
"I see." Noh said calmly, a little too calmly. They all looked at him, waiting. He sucked in a breath then shoved his face in Phun's chest and started yelling his excitement. He gripped Phun around the waist so hard that the guy struggled to breathe.
Ohm started laughing but there were years in his eyes and Flex knew it was because he laughed to cover the fact that he was crying in happiness. Dye just grinned at them because the shock had already settled for him while Ex could only blink. His brain simply refused to internalize anything at this point.
"Do you think it's too early to be excited?" He finally asked the rest and they all tuned to look at him.
"Don't worry Ex," Noh said simply and hugged him next. "We're not counting our chickens or anything like that. I'm just happy for anything that we get. The only person we'll have to reign in is Ohm."
They both looked at the guy who was currently checking things out on his phone.
"Why me? Huh? You always say me."
"Because your reputation precedes you. Anyway, I personally intend to watch out for all of you and I expect you all to do the same for me. So if we all turn into dicks, it's no ones fault but our own and whatever we get, we deserve."
"So what now?" Dye looked around.
"I think you should set goals. This happens and you do a special video or do a live. You don't have to make it obvious but just simply reach ot. Don't announce it either. Just make it random. I notice fans like the random way you guys do things sometimes. Also don't stop posting stuff like you always do." Phun have his usual advice.
"You mean like when Flex fell asleep in the middle of drumming or when I fell recently and twisted my ankle."
"Or when Ohm actually failed an eating challenge. Or the time Ex lost him cool on the rollercoaster and tossed his marbles spectacularly."
"Did you have to bring that one up?" They all laughed.
"But anyway we get it Phun. Just keep being ourselves but maybe do a little more now too."
"Yes and I'll work hard also."
Noh smiled and kissed him on the cheek.