Chapter 1018: We Call the Rain (2)

Why do people become idol fans?

If you really wanted to dive deep into that question, you could debate it forever.

You'd have neuroscientists arguing that fandom resembles romantic love, while humanities scholars traced the roots of theater and idols all the way back to Ancient Greece.

But if you asked the fans themselves, you'd usually get a similar answer.

You don't choose your fandom...

Your heart chooses it.

You're watching idol videos without a thought in your head, and then one day your heart suddenly pounds and starts shouting at the top of its lungs.

That's the one. That's the idol you're going to stan!

O-Oh. I see!

And just like that, your fandom life begins.

There isn't any special reason.

Your heart just starts racing.

In that sense, NewBlack fans were currently living their best possible lives.

The content that kept making their hearts race never seemed to stop.

King of Singers Sun Wooju, Mission Singer Round 2 "Star Gazer" Stage (new!)

Main vocalist Ri Hyuk had become the King of Singers and was now universally acknowledged as one of the greatest idol vocalists alive.

As a result, Ri Hyuk currently ranked first in idol buzz rankings.

And then there was—

Newniverse ranks #1 in buzzworthiness for three consecutive weeks during its gourmet special... NewBlack ranks #1 in the entertainer category

NewBlack had taken first place in the July entertainer category.

Newniverse had already surpassed 13% ratings, and many predicted it would exceed 15% once the restaurant special officially aired.

I think it'll hit 15% lololololol

Guys, I'm so happy~~

The restaurant special is definitely gonna break 15% lol the buzz is insane

Twenty percent still seemed difficult.

But fifteen percent looked practically guaranteed.

And that meant...

[If we surpass 15%, we'll go to Alaska!]

NewBlack going to Alaska was practically half-confirmed.

Fans could already picture NewBlack bundled up in fur coats somewhere in Alaska, sniffling alongside Producer Gu Jaeyoung.

'Wasn't that legendary TeenSpirit meme from a Nordic reality show? They say everyone looks extra pretty in cold countries because their skin gets so pale...'

'Gu Jaeyoung didn't survive this industry for a day or two. He'll probably make them suffer in a completely safe environment.'

'Sorry, guys... I think I'm trash. Hehe!'

While countless pieces of exciting content kept making Souffle's hearts race—

The truth was that while the public obsessed over Mission Singer and Newniverse, there was something else Souffle wanted even more.

NewBlack's Woobiz makes surprise debut with "WAVE" on the 31st

As much as they loved variety shows, an idol's actual job always came first.

WOOBIZㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

I've seriously been waiting for this

Ahhh I'm so excitedㅠㅠㅠㅠ What do I do

Kyaaaaaaa

Woobiz is such a cute name lol it fits perfectly

Fans' hearts pounded.

'This is going to work.'

'This is absolutely going to blow up.'

If someone ranked male idol performers at this exact moment, who would sit firmly at number one?

Wooju.

Combining visuals, vocals, and dance into a single overall score, he was the universally accepted first place.

And standing beside him was Biju, regarded by many as the supreme authority of idol dancing.

Two masters of performance.

Together.

Thump-thump—

Their hearts raced even when they were sitting still.

Work wouldn't get done.

They reread emails from clients because the words wouldn't register.

Students clicked mechanical pencils repeatedly while staring anxiously at clocks instead of studying.

'Is it almost time for the livestream?'

As they waited for the broadcast to begin, Souffle reviewed all the information released about Woobiz.

First came the official photos.

Biju, his hair dyed blue, stood half-submerged in water while glancing back with mesmerizing eyes.

'He seriously looks like a water god.'

The atmosphere felt somewhere between a mermaid and a fairy.

Fairyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Gorgeous fairyㅠㅠ

This is genuinely legendary

His body lines are so beautiful

Soon Souffle swallowed hard.

Next came Wooju's photo.

NewBlack's leader sat upon a marble throne with sky-blue hair, gazing down at the camera.

His fingertips rested against his chin.

He looked mildly bored, yet his faint smile kept drawing their eyes back.

'Is this some Olympus god concept?'

It felt like a modern reinterpretation of a scene from Greek mythology.

Wow lol all I can do is laugh

Seriously legendary... props, outfit, expression, composition, everything is perfect

As expected of the #1 ideal type, my man

He recently got first place in some weird poll on a male-dominated forum too

Sorry but I didn't need to know that...

Then came the duo photos.

Two beautiful young men standing back-to-back by the sea, glancing over their shoulders.

Souffle's cheeks flushed pink.

They looked like Zeus and Poseidon from mythology.

'Okay, I get the Greek mythology concept. But...'

After seeing both the first and second batches of concept photos, fans tilted their heads.

'I have absolutely no idea what the concept is.'

The second set felt completely different from the first.

Vests straight out of Back to the Future.

Sunglasses.

Retro yet kitschy colors.

Wooju lifted his sunglasses slightly and winked at the camera while Biju blew bubble gum beside him with an arm around his shoulder.

"Hmm..."

Just moments ago they'd looked like gods.

Now they were holding water guns like mischievous troublemakers.

'What is this? WAVE is only one song.'

If Woobiz were releasing an album, it would make sense.

Albums often contained multiple concepts.

But Woobiz was releasing a single digital track.

A one-song event release.

Even fans of other idol groups were starting to comment.

[The Woobiz concept photos are kind of all over the place.]

Rather than screaming THIS IS OUR CONCEPT!! it feels more like they just shot a bunch of different photoshoots lol

True

Kinda chaotic

Makes me curious about the song... maybe it'll make sense once we hear it

Does the teaser have any music?

Nope, not yet

Hard to tell whether it's a conceptual performance track or a summer song

Everyone remained confused.

Even the teaser videos came in two completely different versions.

One featured Wooju in flowing clothes underwater, reaching toward Biju.

The other showed Wooju and Biju riding a motorcycle in trendy outfits.

'Seriously, what is it?'

Fans assumed there had to be some connection.

Just as anticipation reached its peak—

One hour before WAVE's release.

[Woobiz Debut Celebration Live!!]

Souffle smiled contentedly at how smoothly the stream loaded.

'No casual viewers. Nice and peaceful.'

Because the release was essentially fan service, it hadn't been heavily promoted to the public.

Some perceptive fans quickly guessed why.

'If they heavily promoted Woobiz too, people would start complaining.'

They had already performed on music shows with the globally popular children's song Rabbit Uncle.

Then Mission Singer had put Wooju and Ri Hyuk's names near the top of the music charts.

If you blindly pointed at a top-charting song, there was a decent chance it belonged to NewBlack.

In that atmosphere, aggressively promoting Woobiz might have invited criticism.

So the company had probably decided to keep promotion largely within the fandom.

'Works for me.'

Even without casual viewers, NewBlack's fandom alone was enormous on a global scale.

Just as the stream began filling with Souffle—

Swoooooosh—

Something strange reached their ears.

Swoooooosh—

The sky suddenly darkened.

Rain began pouring down.

"Huh?"

"Is it raining?"

Fans blinked in confusion.

The weather forecast had promised clear skies all day.

Then they shrugged.

'It's nice. Things are cooling down.'

'We needed rain anyway. The drought's been awful.'

'That came out of nowhere.'

The entire country was under heatwave warnings.

People had even collapsed from the extreme temperatures.

As Seoul-based fans welcomed the refreshing rain—

CRACKKKK—

FLASH!

Everyone blinked.

"..."

"..."

This didn't feel like normal rain.

Rumble—

Hearing thunder in the distance, Biju and I exchanged sad smiles.

'It's a summer song...'

'A summer song.'

A refreshing track meant to blow away the summer heat.

And right before release...

It was pouring rain.

The sort of weather that could send one of Cha Woohyun's melancholy ballads straight to the top of the realtime charts.

"What if we think positively?"

Junghyun tried to comfort us.

"It's a good thing. The trees that have been drying out all this time are probably really happy."

"I guess..."

"The rain is soaking the dry earth, seeds are sprouting, and personally, I love this rain."

"Ri Hyuk. Take him away."

Ri Hyuk attempted to drag Junghyun away, failed, and ended up being doted on by him instead.

At that moment, the staff behind the cameras became busy.

"Five minutes left!"

"Okay~"

I took a sip of water through a straw, set the bottle down, and adjusted my outfit with Biju.

The youngest sat in the MC chair reviewing cue cards.

He'd even put on a pair of non-prescription glasses to look intellectual.

"Jiho."

"Yeah?"

"Your glasses..."

"They look good, right? I totally look like an honor student."

"More like someone whose eyesight got ruined from spending too much time on the computer..."

The youngest smacked my thigh with a cue card.

I laughed and patted his back as he pouted.

"I'm kidding. You're just too cute."

"Right? Hehe."

Today's livestream would be hosted by our youngest member.

The reason he was selected?

Because he wanted to do it.

When the youngest wanted to try something, his older brothers always wanted to let him.

The staff behind the cameras called out.

"Ready?"

"Yep."

Soon the livestream began.

As Souffle flooded into the chat—

"Hello, everyone!"

We greeted the fans alongside Jiho.

When someone asked for introductions, Biju and I waved.

"Hello. I'm Sun Wooju, main vocalist of rookie idol group Woobiz."

"I'm Kim Biju, Woobiz's main dancer."

Soon Jiho began reading amusing comments.

"Wooju, your beauty mark looks so pretty today."

"Ah."

I pointed to the spot.

"It's not a beauty mark."

"It's a pimple."

The makeup artists clutched the backs of their necks while the staff burst out laughing.

Jiho nodded.

"Ah. A pimple. There are lots of comments saying it's sexy!"

"I've been hearing that a lot. Maybe that's why it doesn't want to go away."

Biju nodded seriously.

"As expected. Praise can make even pimples dance..."

"Exactly."

We answered with completely straight faces.

Everyone around us laughed harder.

When I raised a finger and silently mouthed Don't laugh, they laughed even more.

"Please tell us about the name Woobiz!"

"Well, first it comes from our names. But when we first formed Woobiz during filming for Food Before Scenery, it happened to be raining and we were wearing raincoats."

"Ahhh~"

"And then there's another meaning..."

Biju explained the official meaning the company had created.

"When it rains, people get cold and miserable. We wanted to become your raincoat."

"In a rainy world, we'll protect all of you..."

Rumble—

FLASH!

"...That much might be a little difficult."

"We'll be scared together with you instead."

Souffle laughed in the chat.

We spent some time discussing WAVE's production process.

The costume designer.

The scriptwriter.

Director Heo Changjae, who had directed the music video.

Various staff members joined us for short interviews.

Then Jiho looked at his cue card.

"A lot of fans say your teaser images reminded them of Nine."

"Ah..."

"They say it feels similar to the free-spirited concept from back then."

"There are similarities."

Two young men dressed stylishly and roaming vibrant streets.

It did resemble the hoodie-wearing teenagers running through alleys in Nine.

But—

"There are differences too. If Nine was about rebellious teenagers, then in WAVE, Biju and I are more like those same kids after they've grown up."

The chat immediately filled with comments saying So basically delinquents!

We nodded.

"Yeah. Delin... yes. Delin..."

"That kind of..."

For some reason, words like delinquent felt awkward to say out loud.

They were strangely uncomfortable.

Our vague attempts at explanation made Souffle giggle.

Jiho moved on.

"Please give us a brief introduction to the song."

"Sure."

I smiled.

"Have you ever wanted to run away from everything? When work gets overwhelming and you just want to disappear somewhere far away."

"WAVE is about that feeling. We borrowed the perspective of a creature living underwater to express that desire for escape."

It was a song we wrote after finishing a fishing variety show.

Originally it had been about a fish visiting the surface world for a brief adventure before returning to the sea.

Back then, the title had been Flap Flap!

But the TF team had wrapped it in much prettier packaging.

"You ride a wave into the human world and wave at the people living there."

Biju explained while I glanced at the clock.

5:59 PM.

"Only one minute until release. A song that'll blow away your summer heat..."

RUMBLE!

The distant thunder almost seemed to say:

I've already taken care of that.

The chat exploded.

Oppa... I think the heat's already gone...

Tree branches are literally flying around right now

It's insane in Gangseo right now

seoul rain?? here indonesia rain too.. heavy rain

I am Souffle from Kansas. It is raining heavily. I am becoming Dorothy from Wizard of Oz.

Southern Hemisphere charcoal here. It's winter. We have snow.

As Korean fans discussed the rain, international fans from rainy regions chimed in as well.

"...Anyway! Please give lots of love to Woobiz's WAVE!"

"Thank you~!"

Then we pressed the notification that appeared exactly at 6 PM.

"Alright! Shall we watch the music video together?"

"Five, four, three... two... one!"

At last.

The long-awaited music video was released.

An elegant set appeared.

The kind of place that felt like Zeus's office might look if it existed.

Scrolls lay scattered across a table beneath shaded awnings.

Pieces sat haphazardly across an ancient chessboard.

And atop a marble throne—

Wooju appeared, covering his eyes with the back of his hand.

'Wooju...!'

The sky-haired god surveyed his surroundings with a bored expression.

Scrolls demanding approval.

A chessboard he'd long since grown tired of.

[...]

Souffle immediately understood the expression.

He was clearly a divine being.

Yet the emotion written across his face was something very human.

Burnout.

[...]

The god of the sky rose and walked toward a terrace.

A brilliant sky filled the screen.

Then the scene faded into the ocean depths.

'Biju.'

'It's Biju now!'

Dressed in elegant robes, Biju swam through the water.

Like the god of the sky, the god of the sea also seemed exhausted.

He wandered through the ocean looking lonely.

Melancholy.

Isolated.

Then—

A pale hand reached toward him.

Biju turned.

The god of the sky was extending his hand.

Wooju smiled as if making an offer.

[...]

A close-up of Biju's eyes.

The exhausted sea god smiled.

The fans watching didn't know it, but this had been Biju's idea.

What does this composition mean?

Hyung was the person who reached out to me when I was struggling the most.

Like the Creation of Adam.

Biju smiled brightly and reached toward Wooju's hand.

The moment their fingers touched—

Waves rushed around them as if welcoming the two gods.

[Swoooooosh—]

Their destination was neither sky nor sea.

It was the human world.

The next scene showed the two gods emerging onto land.

Bright sunlight.

Palm trees.

Modern people walking across sandy beaches.

The two exchanged grins.

The camera tilted upward.

And when it came back down—

Their outfits had transformed into retro, kitschy fashion.

'Ah!'

'So that's it!'

Only then did Souffle understand the concept photos.

The sky god and sea god exchanged smiles and put on sunglasses.

Ready to enjoy the human world.

Retro 1980s-style lettering appeared across the screen.

【 WAVE 】

An energetic melody exploded from the speakers.

Souffle's hearts began racing.

'This is incredible.'

'Holy...'

'The color palette is insane.'

While fans admired the visuals and dazzling scenes—

Three other people watched with completely different emotions.

"Hmm."

"Mmm."

"Hm."

Junghyun.

Ri Hyuk.

And Jiho.

As Wooju and Biju filmed their reaction video, the three members watched separately from the side.

Their eyes were filled with envy.

'The music video looks amazing.'

'I don't want to dance with them, but I also want to dance with them.'

'They did all the cool and pretty stuff without me...'

It felt like discovering someone had eaten all the expensive premium sirloin without inviting you.

Watching with jealous eyes, Junghyun and Ri Hyuk suddenly heard Jiho speak.

"Hyungs."

"Hm?"

"Should we make a unit too?"

"!"

The others immediately looked interested.

Ri Hyuk crossed his arms.

"They're Woobiz. What would we be called?"

"Hmm..."

The three thought for a moment.

Then spoke simultaneously.

"Horijung doesn't sound good, so how about Bottle Gourd? Obviously I'm the center."

"Ri Hyukseo. And I'm the center."

"Jung Ri Ho. Sounds like a ship's name, so what about a sailing concept?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

The three smiled warmly at one another.

'How did I end up in a group with these people...?'

ThreeBlack Unit Project.

Negotiations failed.