3:30 a.m.
Nine idol mbers gathered in the dorm living room were dressed and staring blankly.
"So."
LB pointed at the black-suited boss and his flunkies standing in the middle of the room.
"You guys are our managers...?"
"Yes."
When Wooju slid sothing from his inner pocket, the four flunkies began handing them out.
They were fresh, stiff business cards.
[DKB Company — Chief Manager Joo Sunwoo]
Street Boys lifted their heads from the cards and looked at the spaceship.
"That looks like Ujuseon."
"It is not."
He answered firmly.
"I’m not Ujuseon anymore."
"You’re not...?"
"No. As of today I’m Chief Manager Joo Sunwoo of DKB Company, assigned solely to you!"
"Uaaaaah!"
The henchn clapped hard, but Street Boys still stared dazedly, trying to grasp the situation.
"Is this a joke?"
Or were they still half-asleep and seeing things...?
From Street Boys’ point of view it was nothing but bewildering.
On a music-show day,
their closest friends in the industry had shaken them awake at dawn and announced they’d be their managers for three days.
"People on the Move?"
"Yes~ that’s right!"
To prove it, crew holding caras with the TBC People on the Move logo stood there.
Giwon whispered to Hanjo.
"Hanjo? Are those directors really from People on the Move?"
"Yeah. Looks like it."
There were faces they’d seen in the special forces episode.
And judging by the expression of Schedule Manager Song standing behind NewBlack, it was real.
Still not believing it, LB raised his hand again.
"Chief Manager Joo."
"Yes, Namu."
"Are you seriously in charge of us? For three days... without help from other managers?"
"Correct."
The mbers’ eyes wobbled.
"We’re dood."
On the faces of their grinning goblin friends, there wasn’t a hint of caution, gravity, or thoroughness.
They were the most professional in the world when doing their actual job—but that was their actual job.
"You guys are our...."
"What’s the issue?"
Ri Hyuk’s eyes flashed.
"Do you not trust us?"
"Right."
Answers ca without hesitation.
"Yes. Very much so."
"Honestly, if we said we’d manage you, you wouldn’t trust it either, right? Could you hand us your schedule?"
"Look, look. Ri Hyuk’s pupils are shaking."
"That’s exactly how we feel."
Laughter broke out at the blunt truths floating up from all sides.
Street Boys, seeing their giggling friends, smiled a little too.
"Happy to see them, but..."
It was the point when they were most worn out ntally and physically.
NewBlack turning up for a variety show made them wildly happy.
It was like eting a seagull while drifting in a rowboat on the sea.
But who on earth would be happy if that seagull said, "I’ll take the oars now," and then plopped the oar into the water?
"A seagull would be better...."
Groaning, LB clutched his straw-dry, bleached haystack hair.
"Is this for real?"
"It is. Namu. How many tis do I have to say it~?"
LB, seeing the spaceship flash a brief, cutting look, faltered.
"Did you just get mad?"
"No. No way."
As the friends tried to fra it—He’s mad already!—Chief Manager Joo Sunwoo cleared his throat and said,
"Anyway, trust us. We’re far more competent than you think."
"Okay...."
"All right! Then we need to get you ready for the music show. We’ve already lost a lot of ti. Let’s get to the salon!"
"...Okay."
"Let’s go! We’re going!"
NewBlack shoved the still-skeptical Street Boys toward the door.
"People on the Move ‘NewBlack TV Collaboration’ Special, Episode 1 — excerpt"
After Serenity’s awkward first eting with the People on the Move cast, the screen cuts back to Street Boys and NewBlack.
A large group traveling split across three vehicles.
Street Boys eyed the relaxed NewBlack mbers in the passenger seats with unease.
Interview cuts followed.
Production: You looked very anxious.
LB: It felt ominous from the start.
At that, Hanjo waved a hand as if to add context.
Hanjo: If this were the stage, it’d be different. On stage, I’d trust them with my life... but...
Moong: We’ve watched them for three years; we know them well.
Hanjo: You saw it when they woke us, right?
Lines viewers could relate to.
After testimony about NewBlack’s usual antics, like accident-prone whirlwinds, the screen moved to the hair salon.
— Oh?
Hair designers facing NewBlack dropped their jaws and let out squeals.
— NewBlack!
— What is this— Director! Director! Is NewBlack our salon now?
— No... I, I don’t know anything about that.
Wooju presented a business card politely to the puzzled staff.
— Hello. I’m Chief Manager Joo Sunwoo, your manager for the day.
At "Joo Sunwoo," everyone cracked up.
— Ah, this must be— You’re doing alter egos on NewBlack TV?
— No. People on the Move.
— Wow! Sothing new to watch!
With shouts of "aweso," staff and NewBlack took commorative photos—brief chaos.
They chatted about arriving earlier than usual.
While the fish-eyed Street Boys fought yawns and had their hair done,
— Okay. Managers, assemble.
Chief Manager Joo Sunwoo gathered the road managers and issued step-by-step orders.
The flunkies {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} snapped into motion.
Junhyun and Jiho bought breakfast at a nearby convenience store, and Ri Hyuk sorted it by preference.
— Oh. Thank you.
When sandwiches slid neatly into hands by taste, Street Boys looked bewildered, then pleased.
Then, glancing at soone seated beside them, they exclaid,
— You really look like a chief manager. Director.
— Clothes make the man. Who picked them out?
In black slacks, a blue sweater, and a gray long coat draped with elegance, Chief Manager Joo Sunwoo gave a chic little laugh and sipped decaf coffee.
— Pff! Ow, hot.
As Street Boys watched with "called it" faces and laughed,
— ...Really?
Over by the designers, Biju smiled neatly and chatted.
Anyone sitting with NewBlack’s beaming main dancer couldn’t help but light up.
But the designers who’d volunteered to be faux-fans and chat with Biju soon laughed less and less.
— I’m just curious about sothing...
Biju’s eyes crescented as he smiled bright as a flower.
— When does it end?
— S-soon...
— Ah. Got it.
He wasn’t giving looks or anything. He simply bead, as if genuinely curious.
Like a sunflower bobbing and shaking its stem...
Sohow, the pressure.
As the designers’ hands sped up, interview voices floated over the footage.
— With Manager Biju around, I think we worked faster than usual.
— A silent pressure of "Be on ti!"...?
— Since he ca as a manager this ti, he felt a bit different than we expected. Their expressions were much more serious.
A flashback showed NewBlack at last night’s eting arranging an order-of-operations chart for breakfast and hair.
Combined with Biju’s harmless smiles, Street Boys’ salon schedule wrapped at lightspeed.
— We’re done at this hour?
— First ti we didn’t get stuck at the salon... How? What did you do?
— What do you an, how.
Ri Hyuk said, like it was obvious,
— We put the slow eaters through hair first. That alone cuts ti a lot.
— Oho.
— And we picked bread and sandwiches instead of soup or rice. Save little bits of ti now, and it frees you up later.
Different from their initial mistrust, Street Boys began to look at them with growing belief.
It felt like the opening to a schedule-optimization project.
— Ha ha ha!
Chief Manager Joo Sunwoo swirled his coat and flashed a sparkling smile.
— Shall we go?
A caption reading [Deungchon-dong] flashed, and the scene shifted to the HBS public hall.
HBS Public Hall, Deungchon-dong.
Pushing carry-ons up from the underground lot with stylists, we looked around.
"It’s really been a while."
The distinct sll of an old building wafted pleasantly into my nose.
When was the last ti we ca?
Walking beside , Hanjo said,
"Isn’t this your first ti here since 2015?"
"Right."
We’d stopped appearing on HBS music shows after they gave us "three-minute curry portions" and told NewBlack to kneel in 2015.
Even during Goblin promotions, we didn’t do HBS.
I’d thought we probably wouldn’t be back for a while—never imagined it would be like this.
"Hello! We’re Street Boys!"
Behind the Street Boys greeting the station staff, we bowed in masks.
With thick masks on, no one could possibly recognize us...
"NewBlack!"
"Bu— Bul— I an Black! Why is Black here?"
"It’s NewBlack, right? The hair colors are pure NewBlack!"
We took off our masks and said hello to the wide-eyed HBS employees.
A stir broke out everywhere.
We, who didn’t get along with the station, had appeared, and many were shocked.
"Strange."
Sensing the odd vibe, I turned to the writer.
"Excuse , writer."
"Yes?"
"Didn’t people know we were coming for a People on the Move shoot?"
"Ah. We got cooperation. When we asked to film People on the Move, they gladly said yes..."
Ti for the "however."
"But we couldn’t ntion that NewBlack would be here. At that ti, your appearance wasn’t confird yet."
"Ah."
"They probably expected our regular cast to co."
Then it made sense.
As we greeted HBS staff with Street Boys, puffing themselves up about how we were their friends,
soone ca out of the bathroom at the end of the hall.
A tired-looking man with a rinse cup in his hand. We whispered to Street Boys,
"Ten o’clock direction. Producer."
"A producer?"
The Street Boys strode up and greeted the HBS music-show PD with the rinse cup.
It was the very person who’d run the year-end program last year and the year before.
"Hello, producer!"
"Oh, yes. Good mor—"
Our eyes t.
The face about to say good morning deflated like a pricked balloon.
Incredibly awkward, like he wanted to bolt right now.
We sparkled and said hello.
"Hello~ We’re NewBlack!"
"Ah... uh... what brings you...?"
"We’re serving as Street Boys’ one-day managers for today’s People on the Move shoot."
"I... I see."
Eyeing the many caras, the PD hesitated, and our maknae approached with a sunny smile.
"Please say a word to the viewers watching at ho~!"
"...Pardon?"
"It’s the historic collaboration of TBC and HBS!"
"..."
Only a shaless maknae could ask that.
The PD, asked to address the million Soufflés watching this program, flustered.
Rolling his eyes for three seconds, he chose:
"Oh, I’ve got sothing urgent! Nice seeing you!"
And fled.
As the PD’s back leapt away in quick steps, the crew tilted their heads, and we and Street Boys chuckled quietly.
"He’s gone."
We walked up to Jiho, who murmured disappointedly, and stroked his head and back.
"What is it?"
"Good job. Unit Five."
"I did good?"
The corners of his mouth crept up, and he started beaming.
Ri Hyuk took out the little punch he uses to poke straw holes in water-bottle caps and pressed it into the maknae’s hand.
"You can use this."
"Whoaa...! I can really use it? Aweso...!"
"I was going to do it, but I’m giving it to you."
"Thank you..."
Eyes shiny with gratitude for such a rare handover, the maknae looked like a kid.
We smiled quietly at how happy he was, while Street Boys looked on enviously.
LB puffed his cheeks with a whine.
"Namu wants to punch-punch too."
"Keep it chill, hyung."
When the youngest, Giwon, smiled kindly and put a hand on LB’s shoulder, everyone roared.
We entered the waiting room and began prepping for dry rehearsal.
The fan-manager, here as supervisor, asked us,
"NewBlack!"
"Yes!"
"In a bit we need to go to the assembly point and check numbers for the pre-recording audience. Who wants to co?"
"I’ll go. I’ve got nothing to do right now."
"All right, Junhyun."
We told Junhyun, who’d raised his hand,
"Don’t blow your cover and cause a scene."
"Trust , hyung."
Junhyun pulled a newsboy cap low and put on a black mask. Over that, he added dark sunglasses.
He pulled the hoodie under his parka up too.
"Tada."
We all burst out laughing as the unidentified tire-man lifted his arms and did a little dance.
"Next stop, Gayang. Gayang Station."
A group got off at Gayang and flowed along in a clump.
They were all fans coming to watch Street Boys’ pre-recording.
"Last stage!"
It had looked like they might miss the pre-record lottery entirely, but they’d gotten in at the last minute and were thrilled.
Walking up to the HBS public hall in Deungchon-dong, they found crowds already there.
In the busy scene, foreigners mixed in, people asked, "What number are you?" as they found their lines.
"We’ll start headcount!"
As usual, the fan-manager checked this and that while counting...
"Who’s... that?"
"Good question. Who?"
Behind the fan-manager, a mystery bun-man was bobbing along.
Even in a puffy parka, the figure sohow looked tall and striking.
"What is that?"
At first, they wondered if our boys had co in disguise to surprise fans—but no.
It was a silhouette they’d never seen among Street Boys.
"That’s a cara, right?"
"Looks like it."
Fans whispered.
The fan-manager seed more formal than usual. There must be so kind of shoot.
"Who could it be?"
The puffy parka made it impossible to guess.
anwhile, headcount continued.
As fans forgot required items and got disqualified, everyone winced as if it were happening to them.
"..."
When those not allowed to enter started popping up, bun-man’s shoulders visibly drooped.
He looked so bumd.
He even shuffled his feet like he wanted to do sothing for them.
"Who is that really?"
The stamp stickers for entry numbers were being pressed, chop-chop, on the backs of hands—and the fingers doing it were long and beautiful.
But the interest didn’t last.
For fans there to see their own artists, other things fade into the background.
Whatever curiosity there was ended as headcount finished.
"Where do we wait now?"
As the fan-manager finished her announcent and fans murmured,
the new manager walking away reached into his hoodie and scratched his head.
A breeze blew from sowhere, cold.
"...?"
On that breeze, a strand of hair slid out of the hoodie and drifted to the floor.
Too vivid to ignore.
A water-blue dyed strand landed on the white ground.
"Huh?"
A few fans crouched to look at the hair.
They’d definitely seen this color sowhere.
"This is the exact sa color as NewBlack’s Junhyun’s hair."
"It really is."
As they murmured "oh," trading comnts,
"...!"
"...!"
The fans staring at the hair snapped their eyes wide.
Those familiar, slightly droopy shoulders.
That sharp bridge of the nose.
Even when he pressed the sticker on the back of a hand—chop—it felt like a bear-paw stamp.
"Excuse ."
"What’s wrong? What is it?"
While questions flew from all sides, so people pulled up the goblin choreography video on their phones.
Blue-haired Junhyun danced joyfully in center.
Gulp.
A fan with the handle "Until Namu Becos a Stump," deducing clues like Sherlock Hols, pulled up another clip.
[NewBlack TV — Cops and Robbers]
A sunglasses-and-mask-wearing thief Junhyun.
The line of his nose, chasing terrified Officer Ri Hyuk and Officer Jiho, was clear on screen.
It was the very sa nose.
"..."
The Concretes, deduction complete, said with firm faces,
"Seems like him, right?"
"Seems like it."
"But why would he be here...?"
In other circumstances, they might have realized imdiately. But since he was with the fan-manager, they hadn’t even thought to check.
"Who would have imagined this..."
Soon the rumor spread on-site.
Junhyun’s here—Junhyun?—buzzed through the crowd, and posts began popping up in the fan community.
[I’m a Concrete and I am currently shaken]
Ca to pre-record and NewBlack Junhyun (presud) stamped my sticker
But unfortunately...
— What are you talking about
— Lol what
— That joke flopped lol
— Not funny
— Just because you insert NewBlack doesn’t make everything coherent;
— Why would so other group’s mber stamp those stickers lol
In an instant, the live comnt section turned them into liars.
"No...!"
"But it’s true."
"We’re literally saying what happened."
Fans on site stamped their feet in frustrated, indignant disbelief.
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