2021 was absolutely dreadful for Apink, they had no comebacks, most of their members limited themselves to act in flop dramas (except for Eunji's most recent one) and due to the Kim scandal, Chorong was essentially MIA for most of the year. It was quite similar to Red Velvet's 2020 where the group essentially did nothing because of external factors. They also signed new contracts to PlayM (now IST) with one exception: Naeun, who left the company to sign for YG as an actress. For 2022, just like SM, IST wants them to have a comeback even though it's a low priority and Chorong isn't fully cleared from her scandal, but it's going to happen regardless, with them probably adopting the same approach of only letting her post group related content.
However, I'm pretty sure the comeback will happen with only 5 members, that is because IST has no intentions of promoting Naeun under the Apink brand. It is their brand and they don't want a "traitor" capitalizing on it. None of Apink new content since Naeun departure from the company featured her and at this point it's pretty clear that to IST Apink is 5, even if Naeun still considers herself as part of the group.
