When the NewBulbaek show on KG Ho Shopping ended, the aftermath of NewBulbaek reached even those who were busy or not very interested in TV.
“Huh?”
A little past rush hour, people leaving work late blinked their eyes. They’d lazily pressed “shuffle play” on the music app, but sothing on the real-ti charts seed off.
“I’ve heard this sowhere.”
A soothing voice sang of winter. Lyrics reflected on soone who’d lived only in sumr experiencing winter. On the subway, tunnel lights flashed outside the window; on the bus, city nightscapes and chatting, laughing crowds passed by in ti with the ride. For those who felt cast out from the world’s joys, stranded on a lonely island, the song was a comfort.
At the end of this winter
Rember that spring is waiting
Bodies grew drowsy in the warm voice, drifting toward sleep, or they straightened their posture and exhaled deeply.
“Whose song is this?”
The voice, the style—it felt familiar. A quick tap on the phone brought up the title:
[NewBlack – Intro : Nineteen]
The album art, a painterly mix of blue and white suited for winter, bore a familiar na.
“Huh?”
It was NewBlack? Realization struck that the warm voice belonged to Ri Hyuk, and people were astonished.
“Ri Hyuk can sing so warmly...?”
And did NewBlack even have an album like this? Checking the album info showed it was from “Hibernation,” released earlier this year.
“Oh! So it’s a song from the Hibernation album.”
It included “Winter ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Trip,” a duet “Companion” with veteran singer Baek Sanggyo, and NewBlack’s Christmas carol. Unlike the unfamiliar Intro, there were many songs they knew. Discovering a hidden favorite gave them a good feeling.
“Was this on a variety show?”
Just as they wondered if it had trended sowhere, another song played.
“Hmm...?”
This ti it was NewBlack’s voice: a clear, bold vocal with a hint of traditional Korean music, a delight to the ears. Another familiar track.
[NewBlack – Flower Play]
Album info revealed it was on “Falling Flower,” one of the top hits of early 2016 alongside A-Teen’s “Attention” and Serenity’s “REALITY.” They were pleased to find another great song—but sothing was odd.
Those who tapped “view details” on the real-ti chart blinked.
“...What is this?”
Beneath the darkened top spots by NewBlack’s new album ca NewBlack, NewBlack, NewBlack... their na repeating. Masquerade—wasn’t that an old song by NewBlack?
“...”
Whatever it was, NewBlack had clearly done sothing again. The drowsiness vanished and people instinctively opened YouTube.
Sure enough, a popular video appeared:
[NewBlack – THE Bulbaek Show]
Without a special thumbnail, the clip auto-played silently—it looked like a ho shopping scene. The demon-lord-like grandmother caricature appeared, NewBlack burst onto the screen with “ddun ttan ttang ttang,” unfurled a scroll reading “Buy Bulbaek hohoho,” and...
“What is this?”
Watching in silence, viewers noticed the channel na: KG Ho Shopping. A quick web search confird NewBlack had sold NewBulbaek on ho shopping today—and it was a huge hit. Internet communities buzzed with NewBulbaek talk.
Seeing is believing. Curious, people clicked the hour-long KG Ho Shopping video one by one.
And then:
“Huh?”
Startled, they realized they were standing in their entryway, earbuds in, phone in hand. The video was paused, their lips curling in a grin.
“When did I watch all of that?”
They’d hesitated at the thought of an hour-long clip, but now realized they’d already watched it from start to finish. Their gaze moved to the top comnts:
“Suphlette introduces the songs: 02:17 Flower Play, 04:19 Masquerade, 07:11 ...[more]”
“Official NewBlack banger party”
“Lol the BGM is so good... Internet kept saying it was NewBlack’s songs and I was surprised”
“Today’s performances were great, but those old NewBlack tracks as BGM were amazing too!”
“Was this a secret idol-making broadcast under the guise of a bulbaek show?”
“An idol doing a bulbaek show the day after a coback showcase?!”
“How did such great songs not blow up since 2014?”
┕“They blew up back then!”
┕“I was the clueless one...”
Agreeing with the praise, people timidly hit “like” on the comnts. Thus even those who’d never heard of NewBulbaek’s story learned about it, and online chatter about NewBulbaek swirled:
“Anyone who didn’t buy NewBulbaek?”
“That’s ...”
“ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
“Add one more to my count”
“Just eating one bowl of bulbaek is this hard, wow”
“Cheer up... it’s not that special lol I ate it at Hellpyung rest stop and it’s just a week-long craving”
“Is it really that good?”
“One bite spreads sweet aroma, charcoal flavor rises strongly, sesa oil scent lds, mouth waters”
“I reported it, damn”
“Why?”
As tearful “I failed to buy” stories surfaced in various forums, idol communities buzzed too:
“Anyone here who didn’t get NewBulbaek?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
“That’s ...”
“But my mom got it!!!!!!”
“Yaaayyyyyyyy”
“Students be attentive”
“Don’t you sense the vibe?”
“ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why are you so excited, cute”
“My mom succeeded too lol KG Ho Shopping veterans are amazing”
“Kyuhokie, sell the container by itself”
“I’ll scour the apartnt recycling bin every day—soone must toss one”
“ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Look at their determination”
“No... teacher, the container is too beautifulㅠㅠㅠ”
“But I really want to eat itㅠㅠㅠ”
“N-year veteran fan... finally felt the fear of muggles”
“I truly realized my ticketing skills and beca humble”
Fans who failed to buy NewBulbaek held back tears. Yet, true to Korean spirit, they turned sorrow into humor with jokes about initial sales volus for the rookie sensation:
“Oh, they say it’s coming out today?”
“Missed NewBulbaek again. Why didn’t I know...?”
“They sold out?”
Ordinary viewers learned late and lanted—but then good news arrived:
“- NewBulbaek, after convenience store lunchbox, frozen product coming soon”
Word spread that frozen NewBulbaek would hit supermarkets nationwide soon, warming people’s hearts.
“It’s going to be released.”
Determined not to miss the NewBulbaek lunchbox coming Thursday, they vowed to succeed. Only those who missed the container looked slightly downcast—but not too sad.
“Chart smash...!”
Muggles drove NewBlack’s past songs up and down the real-ti chart with streaming efforts. Having watched the rest of the full album tracks thanks to the bulbaek show, fans were happy. And whoever at KG Ho Shopping was responsible, they also posted fancams:
“- [Fancam] 161018 THE Bulbaek Show 4K Wooju – ‘It’s OK’”
Fancams for each song let fans savor their favorites like a music show. The comnt sections, filled once again with Koreans, were heartwarming—and overseas fans also chid in:
“What is this?”
“I’m confused... why are they singing on a ho shopping channel?”
┕ “Because they’re NewBlack”
┕ “Ah, got it.”
“I don’t know much about K-pop—do artists usually appear on ho shopping?”
“Is this a music show?”
“A major ho shopping channel must be big if they invited NewBlack”
“Bool-Back? Is that Korean-style English like Co-Back?”
Fans chuckled at the confusion. anwhile, late-night fans still online received another startling update.
That night’s ho shopping broadcast ended joyfully.
“Oh my! Great job, everyone! Haha!”
“I didn’t expect it to sell this well... and the call volu! This reaction is out of this world!”
They were sent off by the ho shopping director all the way to the parking lot. The previous highest ho shopping rating was around two percent, but judging by order volu and texts, today felt at least four tis that. KG Ho Shopping staff cheered that they’d made history. The ho shopping side was pleased with record sales and buzz, and NewBlack had successfully promoted their full album—win-win.
“Anything else to sell? We’ll sell it all for you.”
“We’re okay, thank you.”
Passionate eyes offered further sales opportunities for NewBlack—“even if you want to sell shoe polish, just let us know.” Mrs. Kim Deoksun also seed highly satisfied. She’d called to praise the broadcast, and her ssenger profile now showed her in sunglasses, holding a cat with swagger. As a spy movie once said, manners make the person—and money is indeed mighty.
“A well-raised grandson makes his grandmother dance. How’s that?”
“Please don’t make weird proverbs.”
When Ri Hyuk teased her, Junhyun, ready to applaud the proverb, slapped the air as if swatting a mosquito.
“Why~?”
the youngest said, stretching lazily.
“I liked it, hyung Wooju’s proverb.”
“See, Ri Hyuk?”
“It felt like it’s at my level, so I loved it. I felt kinship. Ha-hat, they say the eldest and the youngest connect well.”
Ri Hyuk averted his eyes then chuckled. No matter what they heard now, it felt wonderful. Sleeping soundly after yesterday’s ho shopping and waking to happy news was delightful.
“- NewBlack ‘Empire’ hits 10 million views in six hours... fastest ever”
“- ‘Empire’... shortest K-pop record, 10M views in 30 hours”
“- NewBlack’s ‘Falling Flower’ and now ‘Empire’ hit 10M fastest”
By Tuesday midnight, “Empire,” released Monday at 6 p.m., had surpassed ten million views. Waking up, they found an avalanche of ssages from older brother Seokhwan, managers, and friends.
“This is amazing...”
“Wasn’t ‘Falling Flower’ at 10M after a music show?”
“I think so?”
Looking it up, last ti it took about 65 hours—three days—but this ti it was half that.
“More Soufflé fans must have joined.”
“Or maybe phony fans sward in.”
“Could be.”
Perhaps due to NewBlack TV’s uniqueness, many factors influenced views. Whether truly more genuine fans or just more viewers, they weren’t sure—but it was good. Very good.
“I’m relieved,” Biju said, breathing easier.
“It’s better than last ti.”
“Right. That’s the real relief.”
They weren’t cheering just for numbers or records but for the album’s success. Reaction was even stronger than before. Locking eyes with his brothers, Ri Hyuk smiled.
“We made it again...”
“It seems so.”
They survived again. They hadn’t fallen. In a world where stopping ans sinking, they climbed higher—and that was what mattered. Only then did they pause checking the charts and smile peacefully, dispelling fears of the next album’s pressure.
After a mont, Ri Hyuk asked with a smile,
“Shall we head to work? We should finish Empire’s final rehearsals.”
“We’ll get ready.”
Empire’s music show promotions awaited them.
Thursday morning. Arriving at K-Net’s building entrance early, cara shutters flashed.
“Hello~!”
They waved or bowed as they passed the caras.
“Fighting!” voices cheered, and they returned the gesture, smiling. They’d soon be crying “Faiiighting...” with bloodshot eyes, but for now:
“Feels great~!”
“Yeah, feels good! Haha!”
Heading to a music show after a long ti was exhilarating. They’d only appear on the three major networks this run, making music show stages precious.
“HBS dropped us.”
“Again?”
“They kept demanding stuff.”
Perhaps owing to PBS’s Mr. Producer special and TBC’s Jusehan “Let’s Do Business” success, HBS, a rival broadcaster, offered music show slots if they’d appear on variety shows—but they declined. Thus their first week’s music shows were K-Net, PBS, and TBC.
Junhyun said,
“It feels different even though we were here Monday.”
“Right, must be because it’s a music show.”
Walking through K-Net’s lobby, the sll of roasting coffee and sweet cake from the cafe teased their noses. “I’ll get chocolate cake and iced chocolate later.” “What’s for lunch?” “What about dinner, guys?”
“We’ll think seriously about that.”
Minki hyung chuckled, “You talk about dinner at 8 a.m.?”
“We have to discuss these things from morning to get excited, hyung.”
They arrived at the waiting room—the sa one from Falling Flower. A white A4 with [NewBlack] marked the most spacious waiting room. They tasted success once more.
With early recording tis, staff bustled; they pinned on na tags for rehearsal.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Thank you!”
Ti flew. They finished the dry rehearsal with barely any wait and smoothly completed the pre-recording.
“Soufflé fans!”
“Waaaaaah!”
“We’re back~”
Even for a few lines, fans cheered loud. Amid the roaring support, Empire’s cara rehearsal was flawless.
“....”
Backstage they gathered, eyes focused on the rehearsal footage. Being coback week, stakes were high—they had one extra stage besides the intro. Junhyun pointed.
“Ri Hyuk, that in-ear might fall out. Better put it in your pocket.”
“Oh, you’re right.”
Ri Hyuk moved his hand behind his waist to adjust the mic pack. While they reviewed choreography ticulously, managers relayed notes to stylists. After tweaking parts where costus hindered movent, a staff mber with a mic asked:
“Starting recording now... what’s with that sun-like light stick?”
A staff pointed to a glowing red light stick. Fans and staff reacted—NewBlack explained:
“It’s designed to glow that color when the battery is low.”
“Ri Hyuk hyung calls it the red giant... we call it the charcoal stick.”
Jiho’s charcoal stick remark made the staff giggle into the mic, pulling it back. Fans laughed along. In that atmosphere, the red giant beca a black hole and the pre-recording began.
“Sun Wooju! Kim Biju! Kim Junhyun! Seo Ri Hyuk! Wang Jiho!”
“Aaahhhhh!”
As Empire’s intro played, unstoppable cheers made my lips twitch. The studio thundered with support. During the B-side stage, the cara closed in on striking the ending pose, and the pre-recording ended.
“Thank you for coming so early! You must be busy...”
“I retired!”
A soufflé fan shouted in retirent joy, and we laughed. Waving to fans, we wrapped Empire’s pre-recording and headed back to the waiting room.
“Oh! Um...”
A K-Net music show writer waited at the door.
“Hello!”
“Oh, hi!”
“What should we do now?”
“Well, there’s a new segnt we started this month. The PD wants to ask if NewBlack would film it too.”
“What is it?”
The writer said,
“It’s a relay dance.”
“A relay dance?”
What was that? Our eyes lit up at the thought of sothing fun.
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