Lunar New Year vibes filled every corner of the country.
The sll of oil from pan-fried pollock fritters and at patties drifted through houses while elders lazed on sofas.
Kids tore around shrieking at the top of their lungs.
Holiday scenes varied house to house, but they all had one thing in common: Jusehan was on TV.
“They’re on again.”
“There’s nowhere they aren’t~”
They poked at their teeth with toothpicks while chatting like that, but the eyes of those elders were clearly pleased.
The familiar “Gabi gabi dokkabi~” song from TV lasted only a mont.
To snatch the show’s gold coins, the mbers of NewBlack lit up with fierce determination and started pulling off the wildest stuff.
“...What?”
It was NewBlack’s leader, acting out a brutal keyword with his whole body for a “Speak with Your Body” ga.
“What is that? How do you do that?”
“Red blood cell? How are you supposed to...”
The leader mid jabbing a syringe into his own arm, then flitted around like a round disc flying through the air; Ri Hyuk got excited.
[Uh... red blood cell!]
Wooju flashed an OK, then twisted his face into sothing wicked, pretended to heft a trident, crossed to the other side, and blew an imaginary police whistle.
“I can see the whistle...”
“So that’s the one that fights germs, right? You know, the hospital posters where germs carry spears.”
“Right.”
Ri Hyuk jumped up, fired up, and after thinking hard, shouted:
[Red blood cell fighting a white blood cell!]
[Correct.]
Viewers watching on TV, online and offline alike, were amazed.
[laughs]
I’m losing it
My great-uncle is dying laughing like “what’s that... how’d he even...”
Our relatives are covering the TV captions with Post-its to guess and it’s hitting dead on
[laughs]
That works only because the demonstrator is Wooju
What is this, do I have a talent for guessing or what [cry]
The TV even said, [Viewers, try to guess along], and in most hos people were nailing it the sa way.
Wooju wiggled as if swimming and pretended to blow water from his back.
“Whale!”
This ti he bared his teeth—Kwaaang!—and swam to the Jaws BGM beat. Then he made a plus sign like “combine.”
“Shark? ...Whale shark!”
“Insane!”
“So that’s how you win five million won in Japan...”
According to the caption, NewBlack had won five million won with this in Japan.
Even with complex keywords, they tore through the quiz faster than the Jusehan cast, drawing involuntary admiration.
This is the level it takes to be a national idol
That hurdle is freakin’ high [laughs]
Thank God they beat the NewBlack kids [laughs] If they’d lost, Wooju would be under a star chart all night practicing charades
Character-analysis artisan, this one
Ah [laughs] damn this is fun
Crazy good [laughs] Feels like Wooju’s been communicating with his body since birth
[squirm squirm] (give formula)
Encyclopedia Seo Ri Hyuk × mini-ga maniac Sun Wooju, a collab
Then shots of NewBlack munching on tteokbokki made everyone chuckle.
“They’re pure, those kids.”
“But it’s cloudy over there... yikes. Look at Ye Huiyeon with the horns.”
Soon Jusehan’s team launched a solid counterattack and the ga turned neck and neck.
Biju, lacking arm strength, placed second in the cube steak grilling challenge.
Jiho lost by a single kick against shuttlecock master Teacher Woo Jaeyong and sprawled on the floor.
[Aaaargh! I lost! Ah! I lost!]
The maknae in thick hanbok pants and a puffer jacket plopped down and wailed, cracking everyone up.
With teary eyes Jiho shook the shuttlecock.
[Uuuuuu—!]
While he shook it with that aggrieved face and the staff and cast howled,
Jiho kept going “Auuu” while shaking the shuttlecock,
Biju ca over and popped a sweet hotteok in his mouth, and Junhyun slung the maknae over his back—commotion over.
And then...
[Germanium.]
[East.]
For a mont the main vocal made waves by knocking out the Jusehan cast in a word chain round with shaless words.
That’s dirty as hell [laughs]
If you did that with friends it’d 100% hurt feelings [laughs]
At that level you’re getting grabbed by the collar
Ah [laughs] even I’m mad now
But co on—“crab” → “germanium” is standard ta
(Wooju countering “germanium” with “-rium bond” .gif) It does pop up in NewBlack TV as a daily thing
Still, a win is a win: the little goblins gleefully bought snacks with the coins Ri Hyuk had sneakily stolen.
Each ti, the Jusehan cast’s faces went darker and darker.
The cara cut to PD Gu Jaeyoung smiling with deep satisfaction.
[laughs] They’re getting dried out, wrung out
At this pace they’ll blow the coins and end up going to Arica again
Jaeyoung has a plan [laughs]
See? I told you they’d spend it on food
At first the Jusehan cast had promised to save their coins, but they lost their minds and started eating tteokbokki.
After a string of scenes that made everyone crave winter snacks,
A mini-ga to disentangle a knotted tal ring ca up. NewBlack’s challenger: Junhyun.
He solved it in under thirty seconds.
“Look at that... whoa. He pulled it apart.”
“He actually ripped it. Junhyun.”
“Strong as an ox. Kids like that should be in the wrestling ring.”
As the elders clucked in amazent—
[I solved it.]
“......”
Junhyun lifted the ring, eyes bright, looking into the cara as if addressing the viewers.
The ring was cleanly apart.
[I solved it. Really...]
[Verification! We have to verify this!]
“Right. Verify.”
The replay rolled at once. Junhyun stared at the ring, and then—tororok, tororok—he unwound it.
It was like watching a bear twist off a Pepsi cap, roll-roll-roll.
“Incredible. Junhyun... used his head...?”
It felt sohow unreal.
Don’t lie [laughs] How did Junhyun not tear it apart... but solve it...
Return my worldview
This is weird
Usually you rip those—oh? so you can actually solve it by following along?
Why is nobody believing him so funny [laughs]
Junhyun tears rings off (X) Junhyun unties rings (O)
The abnormal thing is ripping rings, but NewBlack has corrupted my brain
But Junhyun’s spatial sense is good... in reality shows he drives like a pro [laughs]
While everyone reeled from the twist by NewBlack’s rapper,
At last, the leader’s turn ca.
The shot of Jusehan’s cast losing their minds—“we can’t beat this!”—had everyone nodding along.
Live watch threads across communities reacted the sa.
If you tell to duel Wooju I’m refusing on the spot [laughs]
There’s no way to win
Even if Junhyun attacked, he’s the type to dodge everything
The best strategy is not to face the guy who hit a ho run at first pitch in a ceremonial at-bat [laughs]
Yeah, you can’t beat that [laughs]
Why are you guys getting proud, though;;
Because we’re knock-off Souffle, obviously,,
Most people in this country are probably not knock-offs but like... diet-Souffle at least
But the mont a ga-console event was announced, the knock-offs and Souffle went “Huh?”
“Wooju is terrible at gas, though...”
As their eyes went round,
Even ordinary viewers who didn’t know about Wooju’s ga ineptitude sensed sothing off in his face on screen.
“His face looks a bit... suspicious.”
“He’s hiding sothing.”
He’s a national idol—people have seen his face too much—so they caught it right away: the expression wasn’t normal.
That easy, poker-faced smile felt strange.
The Jusehan cast noticed it, too.
“What is that.”
“He must be awful with that kind of console, huh.”
With reactions popping up everywhere, Souffle smiled like the inevitable had arrived.
“Our boy only ever works—he doesn’t know gas...”
He had lost to fans in online gas, sure—but probably because he never had ti for that kind of ga.
They kept watching Jusehan thinking just that when—
[Oof...!]
“Wow. He fell right there?”
“Oh boy.”
The groans from the TV made perfect sense.
Every ti people thumped their chests beside Wooju holding the controller, the ga character went byoong and sky-dived off a cliff.
Song Jinu finally asked, unable to watch.
[...You’re doing that on purpose, right?]
[No!]
It was a skill level like he’d been cursed by the god of gaming.
Wow [laughs]
First ti seeing anyone this bad at gas
I’m Souffle. As a fan I’ll shield... shield our boy with my body
My grandpa is frustrated
???: Sigh... you have to hit A there, son,,
If he’d been a strear it would’ve been “extre spice” content, famous overnight
Right... a person’s got to have at least one thing they’re bad at
The good news is his only weakness is online
[laughs] That’s true
The Jusehan staff probably thought the sa. “We can’t beat him offline—take him to the virtual world.”
So he’s unbeatable in real life, huh [laughs]
[laughs]
Nationwide, the leader of NewBlack had his weakness exposed.
As viewers logged the data point “Wooju’s weak spot... gas...” into their brains,
“Damn. I could do better than that.”
“If you handed the controller to Nabi the cat, she’d do better.”
“o”
“Right, Nabi? Oh my, why are you all scrunched up like that again. Are you Raincoat Boy?”
“I don’t know. Leave alone...”
In one house in Gunsan, a young man with his hoodie yanked low had a storm cloud parked over his head.
After NewBlack went “Gabi gabi dokkabi” and left—
[Huh?]
[Where did all the coins go?]
Like they’d been literally bewitched by goblins, the Jusehan cast had burned through their coins, and PD Gu Jaeyoung reached out with his devil’s hand.
They spun the “gold-rush chance!” wheel for a brutal off-grid expedition mission.
“Next week!” The Jusehan teaser rolled—and straight into Part 2: People Are Going.
“Huh?”
“They’re here too?”
Viewers who were about to change channels after Jusehan froze.
“NewBlack again?”
They put the remotes down.
While People Are Going inherited Jusehan’s ratings wholesale—putting smiles on the master control room staff—
“Finally!”
Idol fans watched with pounding hearts.
“At last...!”
Idol fans’ hearts raced at the special: NewBlack would beco managers for Street Boys.
It was the first bait of its kind.
Hanjooooo [cry][cry][cry][cry]
Our boys are on variety [cry]
God, how long has it been
For once, good job, Hyunsik
Hyunsik gets 10 seconds of protection from slander—10... 9...
First variety in seven months [laughs] What do you even do better than Gyuho besides having hair
Aside from Hanjo and LB and Giwon having popped up on Jusehan, it was effectively their first variety in seven months.
“Thank goodness we at least have this.”
The overseas tour was about to start.
You could barely see their faces on TV, and the agency kept shipping them overseas; complaints were brewing.
“Oof. They’re being dragged in...”
From the start, NewBlack had been conned and hauled in by PD Do; it was funny already.
Then ca scenes of them moving to DNS dia and MOP Entertainnt for training.
Idol communities exploded into another fight.
They say it balances boy vs girl groups, but Serenity hit the top and S-bo aren’t top, right??
True
Feels like Tier 1.5 to [laughs]
Besides Tenti they’re basically third place, no? Doesn’t feel like the gap with Wonder Child is even that big
Would’ve been better to send Wonder Child
Watching antis stir by bringing up Wonder Child (audition-debuted), the Concrete fans hefted their hamrs.
“Like street buskers—antis respawn every cooldown.”
As usual, the Concrete smacked antis down.
They swung their hamrs—bang, bang, bang—attacking hard; Souffle, watching, thought, Should we help? and joined in.
And in that instant—
“Huh?”
Kuwaaang! A giant bomb went off, and it felt like the antis beca stars in the sky.
Squeaky-clean boards.
Like an enormous loaf of bread with shining eyes waved and vanished beyond the clouds.
“...We should stay friends.”
While the Concrete smiled faintly like that,
Manager Joo Sunwoo appeared on TV.
He’d even changed outfits; people burst out laughing.
Joo Sunwoo [laughs]
Wooju again
Damn, I choked at “Joo Sunwoo” [laughs] My pride hurts
Woo Jenmin, Woo Juseon, Kim Wooju... Joo Sunwoo
Only “preferred stock” left now (wooseonju)
How about a “limit-up stock pro” concept?? Three consecutive limit-ups, up-up-up
???: “Limit-up... achieved?”
Souffle: “Yes... because we made it so...”
[laughs]
Is the age of stock streaming upon us
Your fave’s pick was limit-down, you know? Unforgivable
The second Wooju picks it, the whole nation becos a pump-and-dump cartel
While idol fans traded gags, the long-awaited reunion of the mint-choco squad happened on TV.
In a slightly... dramatic way.
[Aaaaagh!]
[Hyaaa!]
Wooju scaled walls like an assassin and woke Hanjo, setting fans laughing.
Off to a wild start [laughs]
What is Hanjo’s room [laughs] why so pink-pink
(Interview still from a reality show where Hanjo says his childhood dream was “magical princess.”)
Lee Hanjo says he dread of being an idol watching Angel Girl Nette and Wedding Peach as a kid
Their friendship is too cute
Guest casting was perfect [laughs] This is funny even without a single gag scene
Going between the salon and the station, even the little things with S-bo and NewBlack were hilarious.
LB and Ri Hyuk are the sa age??? [laughs]
First I’ve heard of it
I kept wondering why Ri Hyuk dropped honorifics for him while using them for others... sa age, huh
The tree is crying [laughs]
Serenity and Sagan Team had that cute awkward manager dynamic; these two feel like grizzled ten-year coworkers [laughs]
They do not accept cutesy behavior for broadcast
Whoa [laughs] the legendary public-broadcast check is coming up
While the scene played where Junhyun hid his identity to do a public-broadcast attendance check, idol fans watched with keen focus.
“This is fun.”
It wasn’t so special chase or an unusual gimmick.
But the hands-on variety shone a light on what people were always curious about—managers and agency workflows.
Especially since variety focusing on managers is rare.
“Man, music TV isn’t easy. That’s an all-day thing?”
“Fascinating.”
Even non-fans were giving it good marks.
anwhile—
Since the early build-up ran long, it felt like they planned to push the at of the music-show arc to Episode 2.
Fans were watching, tantalized, when
The S-bo × NewBlack team’s ending scene rolled.
“Everyone.”
Manager Joo Sunwoo whipped his coat and laughed “Hah-hah-hah.”
“I brought a schedule.”
News broke that he’d secured a booking with HBS’s hit variety Inc., and viewers’ eyes widened.
“Next week!” The teaser for Part 2 of the manager special ran.
Uh uh uh?
Wait, show us more
[laughs] What did I just see
You bagged a schedule... on a manager variety??
Hold up my Concrete heart is pounding pounding—what is this
Concrete are going feral, Junki
Did he just secure an S-bo variety booking right now?????
As idol fans blinked wide at a first-ever situation,
Right on cue, HBS’s hit variety dropped an official press release.
“Inc.” confirms: “Yes, the booking ca through People Are Going taping... Street Boys ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) start recording soon.”
While idol fans collectively gasped, the Concrete stared at their phones, dazed.
“Holy.”
Goosebumps.
Variety.
After scraping one variety in seven months, they had another within a day—and it was a group booking.
“...Felt like there was sothing else, too.”
Even in the teaser, it looked like Manager Joo Sunwoo brought sothing else.
Concrete’s hearts thundered. They ran toward where Souffle gathered.
Thank you [cry][cry] Overwhelming thanks [cry][cry]
Thank you, sirs
Tell us to be a road and we’ll be your road
Who do we bury [cry] We’ll bury them all
I’m Concrete... for you I can even beco con-cheese
[laughs] I’m losing it
Parched for variety, Street Boys’ fans ca to bow; Souffle smiled bashfully.
“It’s nothing, really...”
They typed shyly and smiled.
They each posted just one note—
And imdiately, pages and pages of “there’s nothing between us...” shyposts piled over five pages, and the Concrete got washed away.
“Hey, hey! Friends! Where are you going!”
“Aaaagh!”
Another heart-warming day in idol world.
That night.
Online was still buzzing about People Are Going.
Seo Ri Hyuk woke from a nightmare.
“Ri Hyuk hyung! Look at this! I found a rock! It’s glowing!”
“Ri Hyuk! Look at this! The rock is shining!”
“Bwahahahaha!”
In the dream, the leader-and-maknae duo rejoiced with a glowing stone.
“That’s radiation! You lunatics! You’ll get exposed!”
If sothing glows in nature, it’s bad!
He shoved the two away and jolted awake—finding himself on the floor.
“Phew...”
Once again, I saved the mbers in my dreams.
Calmly brushing back sweat-soaked hair, Ri Hyuk got up and left his room for water.
1 a.m.
He crept down the dark hallway, lighting his way with his phone.
“ooowwww—”
“♪ ♪ ♬”
“ooowwww—”
A room where a cat’s cry and faint piano notes leaked out, mixed together.
“Huh?”
Seo Ri Hyuk walked toward the door with the faint light. What he saw inside made his eyes go wide.
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