Hashimoto Genji didn’t even have ti to say anything.
Swiftly—
Biju smiled kindly and grabbed his hand. The warm touch lted the winter chill.
“I don’t think I saw you at the signing event. Could it be that you’ve been waiting here all this ti? In the snow?”
His tone was gentle yet polite, as if addressing a respected elder in the neighborhood.
Japanese fans nearby, holding up their phone caras, began shrieking, “So kind...!”
“No, don’t film this! Don’t film this!”
As Hashimoto Genji cursed the phone caras in his mind, a piece of paper fluttered into his hand.
“Eh...?”
“Just a mont.”
Biju pulled a marker from his pocket and lightly scrawled his signature, then smiled.
“Sorry. Our schedule was so busy...”
“No, I—”
“Thank you for becoming our fan—!”
“...!”
In an instant, he had beco an ardent middle-aged fan receiving an autograph.
It had all happened so quickly, with no ti for him to speak.
Biju, still smiling warmly, climbed into the car. The manager smiled and ushered him in, then closed the door.
The other mbers popped their heads out of the retreating vehicle windows and waved. “Thank you!”
“Waaaaaaa!”
Like soldiers chasing after a war elephant, the fans started running toward the car.
A cloud of dust swirled as the crowd vanished.
Left alone, Hashimoto Genji watched, and the TV production staff approached him.
“...Sir.”
The producer swallowed hard, looking grave—Hashimoto Genji’s appearance was not good.
His once-neat silver hair was disheveled, making him look like an Arican scientist who might invent a ti machine.
In his struggle to push through the crowd, several buttons had co off his coat.
His eyes were bloodshot from glaring so fiercely.
“Father, are you alright?”
“...”
“Father.”
Hashimoto Genji closed his eyes tightly.
‘Father and son alike...’
From Senmyouju to now Wooju, he thought, even those connected to NewBlack made him feel this humiliated.
‘Frustrating.’
He wanted to throw the autograph paper he still held to the ground.
His sche had been ingenious, but every ti he tangled with NewBlack, things went wrong in a strange way.
As if heaven itself conspired against him.
Hashimoto Genji squeezed his eyes shut and thought,
‘This isn’t going to happen. I give up.’
He had tried every trick to make an impression, but events refused to go his way.
At this point, giving up was the right call.
‘If Kenta ever becos a world-class pianist, then...I’ll repay this humiliation.’
With that thought, he smoothed his hair and restored his usual gentle smile.
Only then did he regain the dignified air befitting a once-celebrated Japanese pianist.
“It’s nothing serious.”
“Father, really...”
“It’s fine. You can stop looking at with that worried expression.”
The producer asked,
“Sir, then shall we—”
“Let’s pretend it never happened.”
“Ah, yes. That’s best. We did record on tape, but I don’t think we can use any of it...”
“You’ve worked hard.”
With that solemn praise, they spoke among themselves.
At the sound of his surna, “Hashimoto,” nearby NewBlack fans—still checking their caras—began to look over at them.
“Oh?”
Before Hashimoto’s party could hurry away, fingers flew.
Fans who had been tapping away at portal search boxes suddenly looked up at Hashimoto Genji, then back at their screens.
They must have searched his na.
One fan widened their eyes.
“Eeh?!”
Since the situation was already like this, as Hashimoto Genji smiled to introduce himself, the fan shouted,
“Hashimoto Genji was a Supple!”
“Supple!”
“Hashimoto Genji was a Supple!”
No, no! It’s not—!
He scread in his mind, but the click-click of caras was inevitable.
‘How did I end up humiliated like this...’
Hashimoto Genji felt tears well up.
“Amazing.”
“Truly amazing.”
We clapped our hands together, hearts full.
It was because of that devoted fan whom Biju had just signed for.
“He looked so old, I was surprised. He ran through all the other fans and grabbed my hand.”
Biju’s eyes were wide as he spoke.
“So I gave him my autograph. I think he tried to say sothing after that.”
“I know that feeling.”
This happened often at fan signings.
Just as we had been startled eting fans for the first ti, Supple sotis froze seeing us.
So couldn’t find words and ended up crying.
Perhaps that fan earlier felt the sa way.
“Did you sign it well?”
“Yes.”
“We should have signed for him too. But Manager Minki told us to stay in the car.”
We trusted his judgnt—after all, it was so crowded.
Ri Hyuk nodded.
“But at least we waved to him as we left.”
“That’s right. We did what we could.”
We exchanged smiles.
anwhile, our main vocal, who had been using Japanese to search “I love NewBlack Ri Hyuk,” suddenly looked up, startled.
“What is it?”
“I was looking at Japanese SNS.”
“And...?”
Ri Hyuk glanced at carefully.
“That man from earlier—he wasn’t a fan.”
“What?”
I asked.
“How could that be? He even got your autograph...”
“I think he had another purpose. Turns out he was soone we know.”
“...”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Now that you ntion it...”
I felt sothing missing—like leaving a recycling bin behind when you left ho.
From a distance I’d thought his face familiar, and when I closed my eyes it clicked.
“Oh...!”
“What is it, hyung? Who?”
“That! That!”
His presence was so faint that I only rembered now.
“The man who claims to be my father’s rival, rember?”
“Oh, who was that again?”
We all wracked our brains. Then Ri Hyuk turned the tablet around to show us.
“Hashimoto Genji.”
“Ah, right...”
Holding the tablet again, Ri Hyuk said,
“In any case, there’s no way he ca as a fan. He must have had another motive.”
“He was that kind of person?”
Biju smiled gently.
“I should have sprinkled salt on that paper.”
“...”
As Junhyun murmured about why his rice had tasted salty, our gazes shifted to the managers, whose expressions were now calm.
“You two were going to tell us sothing earlier, right?”
“Yes.”
Manager Minki smiled.
“Team lead gave us instructions. If he shows up again or tries to approach, take action.”
“No wonder.”
“But it worked out in the end. Have you seen the online reaction?”
“No, not yet.”
Manager Minki said it would be fun, so we looked at the tablet Ri Hyuk was holding.
Since we weren’t fluent, Ri Hyuk explained,
“It’s on Japan’s real-ti trends: ‘Hashimoto Genji was our fan.’”
“Huh?”
Ri Hyuk showed a tweet.
@KurikuriQ1
(Video clip of the devoted middle-aged fan we witnessed at the fan signing, sobbing as he received the autograph)
Outside NewBlack’s fan signing hall! I witnessed an incredible uncle-fan. Is this what pure devotion looks like?
Beneath it were replies like:
“Uh? Isn’t that Hashimoto Genji?”
Thus began a flood of posts declaring “Hashimoto Genji is a NewBlack fan!”
I couldn’t help bursting out laughing.
Next, SNS feeds filled with pitiful images of Hashimoto and his son departing.
“Well.”
Ri Hyuk said briefly.
“I doubt we’ll see him again.”
His summary was spot on, and we all laughed.
As NewBlack finished the signing event schedule and headed back to the hotel to prepare for the concert, Japan’s evening info programs began airing past 8 p.m. on weekday evenings.
True to form, they quickly recapped the day’s entertainnt and lifestyle news.
– NewBlack!
Across most programs, the hot topic was the boy band that shook the morning show.
‘Looks like NewBlack ca to Tokyo.’
We’d arrived in Osaka a few days ago.
Every info show had shown the massive crowds at Kansai Airport with “NewBlack! Japan landfall!”
But now Tokyo.
Even those too busy to follow news in the morning had heard today’s events.
[This was this morning! The five-boy group appearance on NTN’s MorningQ!]
– So cute!
– They’re boys, but they exude loveliness.
Amid panel chatter and narration, footage of NewBlack’s Junhyun on NTN rolled.
[Hello, I’m weather genius Junhyun.]
The golden subtitle caught the panel’s attention, “Weather?”
Junhyun then said on screen,
[It’s going to snow today. A lot of snow.]
The screen froze for an instant, and the focus shifted to the upper left.
At that very mont, [9:39] appeared along with the label “Tokyo” and “clear.”
A red circle was drawn, and the panel burst into laughter.
– What the heck, not a single bit was right...!
– The agency would say, “That’s just your opinion,” huh.
Isagi, the host in the footage, gave an awkward smile and said, “Take it as entertainnt.”
Then—
[Breaking news!]
The screen switched to an urgent bulletin. The panel’s expressions turned to question marks.
[Breaking news: Contrary to the agency forecast, this afternoon Tokyo suddenly experienced snowfall...]
As the scene cut to other news, live footage showed Tokyo transforming into a winter kingdom.
A narration bood grandly.
[The weather genius’s prediction was absolutely correct!]
[Today’s sudden snowfall across all Tokyo was sothing even the teorological agency didn’t foresee!]
[To uncover the mystery, we interviewed experts.]
A teorology professor appeared, adjusting his glasses.
[It’s hard to believe. It could involve geosmin—the scent of rain in the air—but I don’t think so. Sothing...]
[The professor hesitates!]
[It’s beyond human realms.]
The professor rubbed the back of his head, “Sorry, can’t analyze this.”
[Even the teorology professor gives up!]
– Kind of spooky now.
– Incredible...
Next ca vox-pop interviews with Tokyo citizens.
They were asked if they’d seen Junhyun’s weather video this morning, and most said yes.
[I thought, “What is he saying?” but hours later I was buying an umbrella.]
[It’s amazing~]
[Thanks to NewBlack, I got praise from my girlfriend today! Truly grateful!]
A college student showed a thumbs-up, saying he’d preemptively grabbed an umbrella and looked thoughtful, eliciting smiles.
Then,
Stories about NewBlack continued one after another.
[Co on over!]
There was footage of the leader perfectly speaking Osaka dialect, surprising Kansai-region broadcasters.
Clips from NewBlack TV featured various mbers: Junhyun spinning Biju and Jiho around like a fast amusent-park ride.
‘...Are they human?’
Viewers gasped at the five Korean boys who seed to have leapt from comic pages.
At the sa ti, they felt warmth.
Despite the panelists spitting criticisms on news shows, none of that stuck—NewBlack seed simply charming.
“So cute.”
“That reliable one—you know, he’s surprisingly cute, right?”
“But his face is alien.”
“That part is true...”
Female viewers watching the leader smiled brightly.
Regardless of whether they had favorite celebrities or athletes, they were drawn to his handso glow.
NewBlack’s overwhelming good looks always helped during overseas activities.
“He’s really handso...”
“How would it feel to live with a face like that? Even if it showed up on your phone screen, you’d be happy.”
Like a gem carved with exquisite detail, from jawline to ears, his elegant curves and sparkling eyes stood out.
He must have inherited only his parents’ best features.
“It’s nice, sohow.”
“I know...”
As NewBlack’s leader drew Japanese viewers deeper and deeper—
After the weather segnt, the next topic rolled in.
Caras followed NewBlack’s magazine interviews and the fan signing.
[And! Outside the fan signing hall, an astonishing face was waiting!]
– Eh?!
– Hashimoto Genji-san?
It showed famous pianist Hashimoto Genji receiving an autograph from Biju.
Panelists admired how, despite being jostled, he stubbornly clung on to get that autograph.
“Is Mr. Hashimoto supporting NewBlack? How heartwarming.”
“Even the rival’s son cheers them on. That’s very touching.”
The broadcast and panelists packaged it neatly, and viewers smiled, thinking, “He was a fan?”
But so sharp-eyed viewers frowned.
‘Hashimoto Genji? From when?’
To older generations, he was a known figure, but younger viewers felt no connection.
They heard he was a big na, but didn’t know why.
On TV, he was always touted as the rival—do it once or twice and people go “Oh,” but by now, viewers were a bit tired of it.
‘It’s kind of a nuisance. Shouldn’t he go his own way?’
Online, similar comnts appeared.
– He got ignored lolol
– Why would he go all that way, thinking NewBlack would welco him like “Wow! Amazing, Mr. Hashimoto!”
– I wish he’d just pursue his own path.
– It’s sweet—why are you being so negative?
As they tried to wrap up on TV with “A fan! How heartwarming!,” Maeda Shin, one of the panelists, smoothed his shiny hair and said bluntly,
– You could have t quietly, but this feels like “I’m eting them!” showboating.
—Haha!
—If you can’t make money, you could be a panelist like ...
With that bombshell and biting remark, the hosts hurriedly switched topics to the news that NewBlack’s concert starts tomorrow at the National Yoyogi Stadium.
And with that, entertainnt news wrapped up, and the show moved back to lifestyle info.
“Ooh...”
Search volu for today’s Korean idol phenonon was still climbing as ti passed.
Viewers clicked images in portals, watched SNS videos, and followed various updates.
Those searches arrived at their final stop: NewBlack TV’s World channel in multiple languages.
“Oh.”
From the interview that resurrected Maeda Shin from retirent, to content launched earlier this year to woo international fans—it was bearing fruit.
“Ooooo...”
As viewers sank deeper, the NewBlack World TV the began to play.
NewBlack danced doom-chit-doom-chit in the opening, doing a hula motion like “Churai~ Churai~.”
Amid colorful Japanese logos, one felt themselves drift into a sea of beautiful n.
– Welco to NewBlack World~ (Welco)
– You can’t leave~ (You can’t leave)
Indeed, it was the NewBlack World the co to life.
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