Chapter 26
We are Singers
Inside the car on the way back to the dorm after the first music show.
Puhahahahaha!
Hahaha!
Hahahaha!
Everyone burst into laughter as Bi-ju egged on the youngest.
Ji-ho, do it again. That thing.
This thing?
Yeah, that thing.
As everyone looked at him expectantly, the acting prodigy of the group cleared his throat and started to get into character.
Ahem.
Then he perfectly imitated soone.
Please love our Souffle a lot~.
The kids laughed like crazy.
I covered my face with both hands.
If I die today, maybe I should write on my tombstone [Seon Woojoo, died of sha].
Its painful.
Im so ashad that I want to die.
Wow, its exactly the sa.
I felt betrayed by Bi-ju, who was wiping away tears from laughing so hard.
Bi-ju, what do you an its the sa?
Huh? Its totally the sa
No, its not the sa at all-
You dont know because its yourself, hyung.
The youngest cut in.
Do you want to compare it for you? The clip from Music On should be online by now.
No, no.
That makes want to do it more.
I snatched the youngests phone, but it was useless. Jung-hyun, who was sitting next to , had already played the video.
The smartphone screen.
With the applause from the scene, a caption appears: [1st Place Sothing].
On the screen, I look very nervous. I have full makeup on, making my skin pale and my features sharp.
I look good, but thats not the point.
The words I utter with teary eyes.
-We Souffle will work hard from now on
The kids burst into laughter again.
I lanted.
Ive been so good to you guys.
You call that good? Just change your clothes, ajusshi.
Yeah. You dont do anything and lie down, and always say Ji-ho, get so water and stuff.
The youngest took the opportunity to butt in.
Our youngest, you had a lot of complaints about ?
Yes, I hated you. You always bullied , made do chores.
I see. I did a big wrong.
Yeah. You should feel sorry for now Ow!
The youngest, who got a flick on the forehead from , clutched his forehead and made a pained face.
The mbers laughed.
Ri-hyuk, who seed to enjoy taking pictures, was a bonus.
While everyone was laughing, I saw Jung-hyun tapping the smartphone screen with a focused face.
What are you doing?
Im saving the videos.
Jung-hyun answered with a smile.
These are all mories. I have to keep them as records.
No You dont have to.
I was already ashad enough, but they were trying to nail to the coffin.
Yoon Seok-hwan also seed to enjoy the noisy atmosphere.
I brushed my hair back and said.
Seok-hwan hyung.
What.
Can I cancel the contract? I want to get away from these ungrateful kids.
Woojoo, just endure for seven years.
Yoon Seok-hwans tone was echoed by the kids.
Ah, where are you going?
Bi-ju hugged my shoulder with a smile.
We cant do without you, hyung.
Yeah. Who do you think made us successful with his songs?
Do they act like this even though they know?
Hey, its because they like you, hyung. Dont they know any better?
I tried to glare at the youngest who clung to awkwardly, but I couldnt help but laugh.
I felt like I understood how people who raised pets felt.
I was angry that they had made a ss of the house while I was gone, but when they ca and cuddled up to with their cute acts, my heart lted in an instant.
Ri-hyuk saw my expression and chuckled.
You look like a grandfather whos amused by his grandsons jokes.
Our Ri-hyuk is so good at talking.
I know that too.
If only your heart was as good as your face.
Where can you find soone as kind as ?
Ji Ho made a face as if he had lost his appetite at that shaless remark.
How can you say that without a steel plate on your face?
Shut up, King Ji-ho.
Do you always tell to shut up when things dont go your way?
While the fourth and fifth in the hierarchy were fighting like dogs, the hyungs watched them with a smile as if they were cute.
No.
Even the main vocal and sub vocal who were arguing had smiles on their lips.
Everyone was in a good mood.
Maybe it was the best day of my life.
It felt like my chest was wide open.
Every ti I took a deep breath, the knots that had built up over ti were released, and the chilly wind that blew through the open car window felt refreshing.
I wouldnt want to trade this feeling for a million dollars.
The reward for all the hard work was really sweet.
I had passed through the invisible long tunnel and saw the light for the first ti. How could anything not be exciting and happy?
Jung-hyun handed his phone as I was enjoying the breeze.
Hyung, have you seen this?
What is it?
Your story is quite popular on the internet.
Really?
I looked at the smartphone screen.
[New Black? The leader has amazing charisma]
He looks like he can fit anywhere
-What is charisma lol
-Is that a joke lol
-I only saw the face of the guy playing the guitar while singing
-Im a true fan of Jin Sung and Im starting to stan him today
Thanks to my speech for winning first place today, my face was a hot topic.
I clicked on the post below with the award speech.
-Was Jang So-won always this pretty?
-So-won unnie, take
-They dont look like rookies and theyre good at live
-I was eating ran at ho and I burst out laughing lol Theyre so funny
Most of the reactions were positive.
Thankfully, the reaction of the TNT fandom, which I was most worried about, was not bad either.
-Hes the one who took a picture with Tae-hyun lol
-He said he almost debuted with TNT It must be awkward for both of them.
-I still find the chart movent suspicious but well They seem to like each other when they announced our kids right after
-I havent seen Tae-hyun smile like that in a long ti lol Are they really best friends
The ones who were making a fuss about the music manipulation a while ago were showing a soft response.
It was probably thanks to Tae-hyun posting a picture on SNS.
No wonder he kept taking pictures at the broadcasting station.
I had a rough idea, but when I actually confird it, I was grateful.
[Thank you]
I sent a ssage to the number I exchanged earlier and the reply ca right away.
Han Tae-hyun [^^]
Han Tae-hyun [If youre thankful, buy a drink]
Han Tae-hyun [Ah lol Thats right, you cant drink, hyung]
Han Tae-hyun [Just buy food]
Han Tae-hyun [Lets get together with the B group kids]
Han Tae-hyun [Ill make a group chat soon]
I sent a vague reply and felt a strange emotion.
Han Tae-hyun, a five-year idol.
The guy who had less sense than Ji Ho had beco so quick-witted after living in the entertainnt industry. I wonder if our clueless youngest would change like that soday.
Ji-ho chuckled softly when he felt my gaze.
What?
Huh?
Why are you looking at with such a loving eye?
We still have a long way to go.
***
Thats what I thought when we won our first place on Music On.
We were lucky.
We kept topping the charts, but I wondered if we could compete with the senior groups who had strong fandoms behind them.
I hoped we could stay on top for two more weeks and then step down gracefully.
But reality went against my expectations.
-Sothing on a wild run, three consecutive weeks of music show wins
-Rapper Hesions coback, will he end Sothing's long reign?
-A breathtaking March music war, the final winner was Sothing
Music show grand slam.
We won first place on all three major networks and the music channel for three weeks in a row.
It was unbelievable.
Who would have imagined?
In March, when the chart competition was fierce, a collaboration between an unknown idol group and an unpopular singer took the first place.
It was beyond surprising, it was absurd.
To people who had no interest in the entertainnt industry, the weekly music show wins might not an much, but to us, the rookie group New Black, it was a huge achievent.
And we felt the results every day.
First of all, we started to get so schedules.
After the music shows, we got so minor invitations from various places.
There were so local festivals that we had never heard of, with potatoes or sweet potatoes as their thes, and there were also so music festivals that we had heard of.
The most common thing among them was school events.
The universities were quick to move to get us to perform Sothing live for their festivals starting from late April.
The the of Sothing was exactly that, sothing.
It was the hottest topic among college students on SNS and elsewhere.
One music critic even analyzed that the success of Sothing was due to being the first to capture the popular subject of sothing.
Sothing, with its relatable the and addictive lody, was expected to be the biggest hit song of the first half of 2014.
The hottest song in the college scene right now, Sothing.
In this situation, where everyone wanted us to co to their school, the tension between Jang Sowon and New Black was inevitable.
The competition was so fierce that I couldnt close my mouth when I heard the event fees that the universities offered through Seok-hwan hyung.
When Junghyun was startled and squeezed the can, the soda exploded, and as we were wiping the floor, he explained.
Theres usually an agency that connects the events. They grade you like beef. They check how many tis you won on the music shows, what your chart ranking is, what your recent buzz index is, and they grade you accordingly. The music show wins are that important. Your senior Scarlet probably doubled her event fee as soon as she won.
Yoon Seok-hwan added with a smile.
Youre popular right now, enjoy it while you can. You cant keep it, and you shouldnt keep it either.
What he said was not a sugarcoating, but a realistic congratulation.
You cant keep it, and you shouldnt keep it either.
It wasnt a wrong statent.
The monthly chart first place and the three consecutive weeks of music show wins that we were enjoying now were miracles that we didnt know if we could achieve again.
An album is like a sports ga for a singer.
Just because you were the MVP in the last ga doesnt an youll be the MVP in the next ga.
Maybe it was like the independent trial probability that I learned in the college entrance exam.
Even if the previous result was a success, the next result was not certain whether it would be a success or a failure.
The popularity of Sothing was the popularity of the song.
It wasnt the popularity of New Black from the beginning, so it was a popularity that we couldnt keep.
Then, what did it an that we shouldnt keep it either?
-Honestly, Jang So-won did everything, right? She used to be a singer-songwriter herself. Shee just gave the rookie group a chance.
-New Black only did the backing vocals without the main vocals on the music shows.
-I honestly dont know why theyre there.
-Its the adults situation, right? What do the kids know?
-One of them participated in the composition.
-The interview said it was a co-composition.
-Jang So-won was nice to say that, right? What kind of composition is an idol? The producers at the company do everything for them.
-Theyre so eager to debut even though the song is doing well.
-Isnt it because we didnt practice singing enough? Lol
Thats what the internet comnts I was reading said.
Our popularity depended on Jang So-won sunbae.
Most of our schedules were like that.
Whenever Jang So-wons na ca up at Hwai Entertainnt, they would contact our managent team and share the work.
All the schedules we had in March.
The magazine photoshoot and interview we did with Jang So-won sunbae, and most of the events we were invited to.
Even if they contacted us first, they would say sothing like The condition is based on Jang So-won being with you.
Thats what Yoon Seok-hwan ant when he said our popularity was not sustainable.
It wasnt New Blacks popularity in the first place.
Now that I think about it, its strange.
Were so popular right now, but its not our popularity?
Of course, other people might think its a luxury problem. Its already a fortunate situation to receive this much attention when we havent even debuted yet.
The mbers seed satisfied too.
Their expressions were so happy every day that I felt full just by looking at them.
But I still felt like it wasnt enough.
Shouldnt we row harder when the tide is high?
Since this was our chance to imprint New Blacks first image, I didnt want the four of us, excluding Ri-hyuk, to be rembered as re vases.
I wanted to show people.
That we had skills as singers.
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