Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 78
30 minutes later, The New Black posted a ssage on their official SNS.
@The_New_Black_Official
We really enjoyed the lunch boxes you sent us! Woojoo Hyung said he was so touched that he cried, because he was eating army food around this ti last year. It’s true. Junghyun and Jiho ate one more each. And Rihyuk didn’t leave any rice for the first ti.
#Thank_you #Love_you
Along with the photos of the mbers eating, they also wrote a long review of each food, like a food blogger.
The fans who were at the scene also started to upload their proof shots.
@IiiiII23
I ca out of the fan eting and ended up eating chicken, thanks guys,
#I’m_becoming_a_pig_today #Diet_fail
The SNS posts of The New Black’s fans quickly spread to the fan cafe.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-I want to tell people. Everyone. Please be a fan of our kids. Let’s be rich not in our hearts but in our bodiesㅠㅠ
-Last ti they gave us sandwiches at the music show, and today the fans who went to the fan eting got luckyㅋㅋㅋ
-I’m at the scene right now and it’s so delicious… I give up on dieting today
-Chicken is legit
-Live report) Chicken 10 pieces vs eco bag debate
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Live report) Eco bag wins by a landslide
-Breaking news) A fan said, ‘What if the kids personally handed us the chicken?’ and the atmosphere is buzzing
-Breaking news) ‘The kids are the kids and the chicken is the chicken’ a dramatic agreent is reached
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Wow, it must be really delicious, they’re frying it on the spot?
-Yeah, soone from the headquarters who’s in charge of cooking ca, I heard Jiho’s dad works at that company
-Hul, that’s awesoㅋㅋㅋ
While the fan cafe was bustling, the PR team of Lemon Entertainnt was working as usual.
They checked the SNS posts of The New Black mbers, and also sent out press releases about the heartwarming stories of the fans and the singers exchanging gifts.
When their busy work was sowhat settled, the PR team leader opened his mouth.
“Isn’t it ti for the ending stage soon?”
“Yes, it should be.”
“Turn on the TV. We have to watch it ourselves on days like this.”
Soone picked up the remote and turned on the TV.
They switched from the terrestrial channel that they had left on to monitor the drama that their company’s actor was in, and the number went up and up.
‘HBS MTV’ was the channel na, and Showti was being broadcast live.
As Soul Six from Oullim Entertainnt was performing, the employees rolled their chairs to the front of the TV screen.
Soon after, Soul Six’s stage ended, and the final three stages began.
Unlike usual, the order was from the highest to the lowest rank.
“Our kids are the last ones, right? They won’t make a fuss about this, will they?”
“It’s fine. There’s no one with a big fandom enough to make a fuss about that. Maybe if it was Teen Spirit.”
“They’re all pretty diocre.”
“I’ve been browsing so idol-related communities, and they say that this Showti’s first place is the best ever.”
Everyone gave a bitter smile, and soone asked, “Who do you think will be the first place today?”
“Well, I think Misty has the highest chance. They have the biggest fandom among the three. And their album sales have been rising since the last one, and this one’s not bad either, right? They even got third place on so other music shows.”
“Yeah, their fandom is surprisingly strong.”
“What about Joana? Isn’t she possible?”
“Really?”
“She was a girl group mber and then her company pushed her as a solo, so she has so existing fans, right? They’re few but very core, I heard.”
“Her album sales are low, though.”
But there was no one who said that New Black would be the first place.
Because of the objective numbers.
It might have been possible if it was the third or fourth week, but now, their overall indicators were low.
Soon.
New Black’s ‘Fireworks’ stage began.
“Wow.”
Soone exclaid.
“Look at the stage quality. This is why the broadcasting station gave them the finale, right?”
“They’re really good.”
“Their makeup looks good today, too, and their expressions are really, wow, this is why we feed them expensive food.”
“Woojoo is going wild, really.”
They admired the appearance of the New Black mbers singing the chorus of Fireworks.
And the refreshing song, too.
“Fireworks is always nice to listen to. I had a feeling that this would be a hit ever since I first heard it.”
“The A&R team said that the song is good, and even though it might not make it to the annual chart, it will stay on the chart for a few months.”
“We have to work hard on promoting the official release of Night Sea. We might be able to rise together with the double title track.”
“Look at the kids on stage.”
Soone smiled and changed the topic.
“They looked so young and cute when they ca out on Sothing in March. But now they look like pros, don’t they?”
“Exactly. They look like celebrities now.”
“How’s the real-ti reaction?”
“It’s not explosive, but it’s not bad. There are comnts asking for the mbers’ nas and saying they’re handso.”
Then, soone checked a ssage and asked, “Team leader, Young Daily wants to schedule an interview for tomorrow. What should I tell them?”
“Put them on hold. We have another schedule.”
As the employee nodded, another employee asked, “Schedule? There was nothing on the managent team’s schedule except for the music show.”
“We have an unofficial schedule. We have a eting with TBC Broadcasting Station.”
“A eting?”
As soone asked, New Black’s stage ended and all the singers who appeared today gathered in one place.
The countdown starting from five ended.
And on the screen, the total scores appeared quickly along with each group’s album photos.
-Yes! The first place is Joana’s ‘Starlight’! Congratulations!
-Congratulations!
With a click! sound, glittering papers fell from the air.
-Please tell us how you feel about being first.
-Uh… Uh, yes. ? Yes.
The solo singer with a ponytail and a leather jacket had her eyes wide open.
Soon, Joana regained her composure and ntioned the staff while giving her first-ever first-place speech.
The singers behind her clapped for her.
But what the promotion team employees were looking at was not the speech, but behind it.
“They look really happy.”
“Our kids have great reactions.”
“Woojoo must have told them everything beforehand.”
Usually, this was the ti when they had to be careful about their expressions.
In the past, Sixty Seconds caused a controversy when they crossed their arms and looked displeased when TNT won the first place.
Well. Of course, it wasn’t that bad.
They were worried that they might unconsciously show their disappointnt.
But after seeing the result of being third, they smiled brightly among themselves and soon sent applause to the senior singer who beca first.
They must have had high expectations.
They acted professionally, and the promotion team employees smiled as well.
A loud phone rang.
“Are you here? Yes, yes, I’ll co out to et you.”
As Hong, the deputy, got up in a hurry, the others asked, “Who’s here?”
“Oh, it’s the costus that the kids will use in Myeongdong. The samples just arrived.”
***
“…”
When they returned to the company, there were so monsters in the practice room.
“Oh, my god.”
Rihyuk made a fuss and hid behind them.
They were having similar reactions.
“Am I seeing things?”
“Hyung, what is this, or what are these?”
“They’re so ugly.”
“Please tell we’re not going to wear these costus…”
The youngest looked at them with a desperate look, but they had nothing to say.
Woojoo felt like crying too.
They were laughing and talking until a while ago.
But after seeing that, the thoughts of being a first-place candidate, or the fun things that happened while having a mini fan eting flew out of their heads.
The only thing they could think of was that the ‘things’ in front of them were not the costus they were going to wear.
The youngest shook his head and said, “Hyungs, I thought about it again, and I don’t think these are the costus we’re going to wear. If they were, there would be five of them.”
There were three costus in front of them.
“Oh, right.”
As Woojoo muttered a hopeful wish, Bijoo spoke.
“What if they’re just samples, and they want us to choose one out of the three?”
“Choose from there?”
That seed like a problem in itself.
Woojoo’s eyes drifted to the three dolls that were leaning against the wall of the practice room.
From the left:
A bald, flesh-colored doll that resembled a sausage.
A primitive tribesman.
A very strangely shaped teddy bear.
If there were villains in the doll world, they would be them. Their nacing appearance made Woojoo swallow hard.
“No way,” Woojoo said. “Unless the company staff have lost their sense of aesthetics, they wouldn’t have picked those things.”
“That’s true, right?”
“Yeah, Hyungs. When have you ever seen Woojoo Hyung say sothing wrong? If he says it’s not, then it’s not.”
“Right, right.”
“Hey, you guys seem to be in denial of reality right now…”
“I can’t hear you, I can’t hear anything.”
Ignoring Rihyuk’s words, Woojoo plugged his ears. Then, the door of the practice room opened with a click.
It was Hong Daeri from the PR team.
“Oh, when did you co back?”
“I’m sorry for the delay.”
“Congratulations on becoming the first-place candidate. I wanted to congratulate you earlier, but Director Cho said it might make you nervous, so he told to wait until it was over.”
“Oh, it’s okay. Thank you.”
The smiling deputy handed Woojoo a congratulatory ssage and then asked him, “How is it?”
“What do you an…?”
Don’t tell .
“It’s the mascot costu you promised to wear if you beca the first-place candidate. The rental company sent us a sample, and we’re going to order it once you choose.”
“You want to choose?”
“Yeah, I thought it would be fair to give you the option.”
The costu looked anything but fair.
“What’s wrong, Woojoo?”
“Nothing.”
Woojoo wondered if this was a hidden cara prank, so he glanced at the mirror or the rail, but he didn’t see anything.
Were these people serious?
“Okay, then let explain each one to you.”
Did you order them yourself?
Woojoo tried to keep a straight face while the deputy looked excited, and she led them to the leftmost one and started explaining.
First, the bald sausage.
“This is a finger puppet.”
“Fingers?”
“Yeah, they’re originally in five sets. From the thumb to the little finger, there are exactly five of them, just like you guys.”
She showed them a picture of the complete set on her tablet PC, and Woojoo couldn’t help but gasp at the sight.
It reminded him of sothing.
“Uh, boss.”
“Yeah?”
“Is it just , or does the middle finger look a bit long…?”
Woojoo was trying to find the right words to say when the most blunt mber of our group blurted out.
“Sir, you look like a middle finger when you stand in a line like that.”
“…Oh.”
Their boss looked flustered.
“I didn’t think of that at all, but I guess it could look that way.”
“It would be a disaster if any of us on the side had a dance move that involved bending our knees. There are a lot of foreign tourists in Myeongdong, you know…”
“Sorry. This wasn’t my choice, actually.”
She revealed the behind-the-scenes story.
“I ordered the remaining two, and the boss liked them. He said he wanted to help out with the kids wearing the masks.”
“Ah…”
“He asked to keep it a secret, but I’m telling you just in case.”
It seed like she spoke well.
But later, when the boss asked shyly, and the youngest or Junghyun said, “Oh, is that the fuck-you doll?” there would be a huge commotion.
“Um, shall we move on to the other two then?”
The second one was a doll that resembled a primitive tribe.
This one was cute.
Maybe it was because it was sandwiched between a flesh-colored sausage and a murderous teddy bear, but its appearance and outfit were sowhat adorable.
“How about this one? There were so many predictions on the fan cafe, so this was the only one left after avoiding them all.”
“Not bad,” Rihyuk said. “It looks pretty good to .”
“ too.”
“Um, I don’t know if it will fit my shoulders, but I agree.”
“This is the best of the three.”
But Woojoo disagreed.
“I like the appearance too, but the dark skin of the primitive people, and the clothes that remind of African people. There are a lot of overseas K-pop fans these days, so it might be risky. It could be seen as racial discrimination if we do it wrong. Koreans might laugh at it, but foreign tourists might feel differently.”
That was the kind of thing that caused controversy over racial discrimination on foreign websites.
Things like painting their skin black and making tribal noises.
“I think it’s better to avoid anything that could cause controversy.”
Everyone nodded and agreed.
“Then, there’s only one left. Do we have to order again? How about this one?”
The last remaining murderous teddy bear.
If you just sared so blood drops on that T-shirt and gave it a knife model, it would be a perfect Halloween costu.
Why did they put teeth on the teddy bear?
It was smiling, but it felt like it was saying ‘I’ll chase you to hell’.
Woojoo watched the teddy bear with an awkward feeling for a while, when Junghyun stepped in.
“Wait a minute. I know a designer, so I’ll ask him.”
Junghyun picked up his phone and connected sowhere. He answered ‘cousin’ to their curious eyes.
Were they the ones with weird taste?
The designer praised all the costus. He said the third teddy bear was the best for the public.
He said he would show it to his son and daughter.
Soon, two children appeared on the video call screen.
They looked like seven and five years old, a cute little boy and girl.
“What do you think?”
As Junghyun brought the video call screen close to the teddy bear, a loud cry burst out.
The call ended with the angry scream of his wife, his excuses, and the sound of his back being slapped.
“…”
There was a mont of silence, and they asked, “Manager, do you have anything else?”
“Um… Ah!”
She called sowhere and soon an intern from the PR team ca down with a big doll.
It was a chicken with a red T-shirt.
“Oh, it’s cute.”
They said without knowing.
The T-shirt said ‘Hoho Chicken’.
This was really cute.
“Did your dad send it?”
“Yeah, my father said to take it and use it if you need a doll costu. It’s cute, but the problem is that there’s a trademark on it…”
“How about taking off the T-shirt?”
“We already tried that. I’ll show you why it wasn’t a candidate.”
He took it off.
“Um…”
“Uh…”
“This is too erotic for a chicken, don’t you think?”
Rihyuk’s philosophical expression was translated by the youngest.
“The chicken is too sexy.”
***
In the end, they couldn’t choose a doll costu that day.
They refused the manager’s words that she would look for it again.
They said they would look for it themselves.
“No, there are so many good ones, but…”
Woojoo was looking at the doll profiles on the rental site, and the youngest sipped his caral macchiato and said, “But they’re too common. The fans are posting a lot of guesses on the fan cafe, and they say things like teddy bears are too boring…”
They had worked too hard on the stage.
It was just a doll costu, but the fans were expecting a lot.
It felt like they had to do sothing like jumping out of a helicopter with a parachute.
Woojoo deleted the 8-piece teddy bear set from his wishlist, swallowing his tears at the negative reviews about them.
“All the good ones are already rented out…”
As they were browsing the site with regret, they heard Seokhwan Hyung’s voice calling them from afar.
“Oh, they’re here!”
They put away their phones and checked their outfits.
They were at a cafe inside the TBC Broadcasting Station.
They all got up nervously at the sight of soone walking with Seokhwan Hyung.
The reason they had been desperately trying to relax by talking about the teddy bear costus was because of that person.
“Hello! We are New Black!”
“Oh, hi.”
He was PD Gu Jaeyong.
He was the one who created the national variety show ‘Around the World with Dice’.
He might have a high status in the industry, but he was also very big and fierce-looking. Woojoo couldn’t help but flinch when he glanced at him.
He looked like a scary person.
As soon as he sat down at the table, he blurted out sothing rather odd.
“Before we get into the main topic, there’s sothing I want to ask you first.”
“Yes, PD-nim.”
“Which one of you is the one who ca out of the army?”
“That’s , PD-nim.”
“Oh, I see. Since you ca out of the army, do you…?”
He was spinning his hand around for a while, like soone on their team who couldn’t find the right word. He finally asked Woojoo a question.
“Are you good at digging?”
…What kind of special was this?
User Comments
0 comments from readers