Chapter 1031: We Call the Rain (15)

At the same time.

[* LIVE] Woljeongsa Rain Ritual with NewBlack

Viewers watching the livestream on NewBlack TV burst into laughter.

Right in the middle of the abbot's prayer, a child's clear, ringing voice echoed through the broadcast.

["Dad, Dad! Why is that monk wearing a suit?"]

The camera immediately zoomed in on CEO Park Gyuho.

Apparently he found it hilarious too, because he had his lips pressed tightly together while looking down.

Everyone else was in a similar state.

'Hold it in... hold it in...'

It was almost as though those words were echoing through the venue.

Everyone had their eyes closed and hands pressed together in prayer.

Even the monks' lips were twitching.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Live laughter suppression challenge

-The kid is adorable

-Gyuho is trying not to laugh tooㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Little one, the man you're looking at is the one true light and salt of K-popㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-I get the light part, but why salt?

-The sweat on his scalp...?

-Satan: (standing ovation)

To be fair, the child had a point.

Park Gyuho really did have an exceptionally gentle appearance.

As befitted a devoted Buddhist, he stood there with his hands pressed together in prayer with impeccable form.

'Wow, it must be really hot.'

The monks were constantly wiping sweat from their heads.

So was Park Gyuho.

Honestly, everyone looked overheated.

While Souffle quietly laughed, their attention shifted toward the comment section.

-???

-unnie-dle what is this??

-did i miss something again?

-I want to know what this is

English comments flooded in nonstop.

Foreign Souffle and Clouds—the American fandom—were completely lost and desperately trying to figure out what was happening back in Korea.

Korean fans tried to explain.

Or rather...

They tried.

'Wait! My comment got swept away!'

'No!'

Every comment disappeared off the screen before anyone could finish typing.

"Whoa... how many people are watching?"

Souffle stared in disbelief.

NewBlack TV · 870K watching

Even though the livestream had been split across Y app and several other platforms, MyTube alone had gathered eight hundred seventy thousand viewers.

In other words, fans all over the world were watching.

Souffle chatting on domestic forums began discussing it.

-I mean, from the perspective of overseas fans this has to be confusingㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-This reminds me of the Rabbit Uncle livestreamㅋㅋㅋ

-Imagine your favorite foreign artist suddenly starts a livestream and they're performing an exorcism ceremony with priests.

-That analogy is killing meㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Okay, now I understand why they're confusedㅋㅋㅋㅋ

From the perspective of international fans, NewBlack had suddenly gone live and started doing something utterly bizarre.

Once again, everyone was reminded of the importance of putting themselves in someone else's shoes.

[Yes...]

The abbot took the microphone.

[Next, we will have a performance by WooBiju.]

Applause broke out.

The camera slowly shifted focus.

Beginning at their shoes and moving upward.

A two-person unit dressed in elegant hanbok came into view.

They looked like the visual centers of some ancient Hwarang warrior order.

"Gasp...!"

Wooju and Biju appeared wearing hats adorned with hawk feathers, walking forward with graceful steps.

As the crowd parted to either side, Biju and I walked forward.

Devotees lifted their phones to record.

The younger members wiggled their shoulders excitedly.

"..."

I lowered my eyes calmly and headed toward the stage.

After being invited to this event, Biju and I had spent yesterday putting together a simple rain ritual choreography.

-What kind of choreography would make it look like we're summoning rain?

Biju thought about it for a long time before answering.

-What if we dance as though it's already raining?

-Like it's raining right here?

-Yes.

And so we rearranged Flower Dance, the follow-up track from our Windflower promotions years ago.

It would serve as the intro before WAVE.

Clap, clap, clap—

The adults beneath the tent applauded.

'Ready?'

'Yes.'

Biju and I met each other's eyes.

Both of us were dressed in elaborate styling.

We nodded.

"You're beautiful, Kim Biju!"

"You're handsome, Sun Wooju!"

Ignoring the younger members' comments, we focused on the stage.

These days my special ability meant dancing no longer posed much difficulty.

But originally, I had been hopelessly uncoordinated.

And what that meant was—

-Taehyun, could you explain this choreography to me?

-Again...?

-The meaning behind it. Stuff like that. If my body can't understand it, I should at least understand it with my head.

Before every performance, I studied choreography obsessively.

Why was this movement performed during this part of the song?

What meaning did the choreography contain?

As a result, even when my body couldn't fully keep up, my understanding of choreography was unusually high.

If you lacked something as a professional, you compensated in another way.

That was basic.

So before every stage, I always thought carefully about what I was trying to express.

-A dance in the rain.

Two people desperately wish for rain.

Biju and I gazed upward and stretched our hands toward the sky before slowly circling around one another.

Our fingertips reached upward in longing.

Then fell in resignation.

Then sorrow.

At some point, the two of us began dancing as though rain had started falling.

"Wooooow..."

Though cicadas still sang throughout the valley of Odaesan, Biju and I gradually immersed ourselves in the choreography.

The sound of cicadas faded away.

And little by little, the movements transformed until it felt as though rain itself could be heard.

Biju's arms became heavier, as though his clothes had been soaked.

His movements slowed slightly.

Each time I responded to his dance, it felt as though droplets were splashing from me onto him.

Shaking rainwater from our hair.

Moving together like dancers beneath a storm.

Biju and I matched each other's rhythm.

'This is fun.'

We had outlined the choreography.

But we intentionally left gaps.

Places where we could move freely.

And those gaps were filled by years of effort.

When improvising, what kind of movement should follow?

How did great dancers among our senior artists perform?

I had always studied.

Always tried to absorb different styles unconsciously.

Now it felt like those efforts were finally bearing fruit.

It was as though my body understood instinctively.

When Biju moved one way, I knew exactly how to respond.

Like two people happily dancing in the rain, we exchanged smiling glances.

-I did some research, but honestly... I don't think researching how to perform a rain ritual is very meaningful.

-Then what should we do?

-Let's perform our own rain ritual. Using the thing we're best at.

And so we performed the thing we were best at.

-Let's dance as though it's truly raining. Enough to fool the sky itself.

After completing the ninety-second Rain Dance intro with Biju—

I accepted the microphone from the abbot.

-Thank you.

The audience looked as though they had just watched a piece of contemporary dance.

A wave of admiration rolled through the crowd.

Biju and I smiled.

-Now then...

"...?"

We simultaneously pulled down our zippers and tossed the outer garments aside.

Underneath were our sparkling WAVE outfits.

Biju and I grinned and gestured toward the audience.

-Now we'll begin our performance of WAVE.

"WOOOOOOOAH!"

The younger members suddenly appeared as backup dancers.

And the real stage began.

The older audience members stared at the dazzling performance taking place beside a Buddhist temple in complete culture shock.

The monks and CEO Park Gyuho kept their hands clasped together while subtly bobbing to the rhythm.

Bada— Bada

No one—

"We pray for rain..."

No one at all

Can stop us—

"Avalokitesvara..."

It was utter chaos.

Biju and I danced nonstop.

Then finally—

"Thank you!"

As we finished WAVE—

'Hm?'

People began murmuring while looking up at the sky.

The sky was perfectly clear.

Yet everyone kept staring upward as though searching for a UFO.

Some shaded their eyes with their hands.

Biju and I tilted our heads.

Then we heard them.

"It's not raining."

"Why isn't it raining...?"

People looked genuinely disappointed as they stared at the cloudless sky.

Biju and I exchanged warm smiles.

'Well, of course.'

'We're not actually rainmakers...'

It seemed some people had developed a rather serious misunderstanding about WooBiju.

[JunghyunTearsPotatoesApart @potato_bbozzak]

@kma_weather

Dear Meteorological Administration,

WooBiju performed in Gangwon Province today.

Why is there no rain forecastㅠ

|

[Korea Meteorological Administration @kma_weather]

Weather phenomena are not influenced by individual human activities.

[DogWhoBarksAtHandsomeMaleCharacters @wallwall]

I heard your follower count has skyrocketed. How do you feel about that??

|

[Korea Meteorological Administration @kma_weather]

(Shy emoji)

Remarkably enough, after we performed the rain ritual—

Not a single drop of rain fell near Soyang River Dam.

"Not even one drop."

"There isn't even a cloud icon in the forecast."

Biju and I admired the weather report.

Naturally, articles followed.

The most commented article of the day read:

-WooBiju Supposedly Brings Rain, But Woljeongsa Rain Ritual Met with Silence from the Sky

It was one of those articles subtly mocking us.

"So, where's your rain?"

Naturally, the comment section was on fire.

-What kind of reporter actually believed WooBiju makes it rain?

-"Silence from the sky" my assㅋㅋㅋㅋ The only silence here is from readers looking at your article.

-What if NewBlack is secretly Korea's royal family? The entire nation loves them (O). They perform rain rituals for the people (O).

-And they occasionally go abroad to conquer barbarians and return with treasure.

-The people getting genuinely angry about this are killing meㅋㅋㅋㅋ Did you leave your weather with them or something?

Watching hundreds of comments pour in every minute, I smiled.

"So some people actually took it seriously."

"Seriously."

The timing of rain and our performances had simply overlapped by coincidence.

Apparently some people had interpreted it as a documentary.

"The idea that it rains every time we perform is honestly ridiculous."

"Exactly. Like today."

"Right."

Strangely enough, no rain had fallen after the Woljeongsa ceremony.

It almost felt as though the sky itself was responding to us.

-Why does it rain every time we perform?!

-I understand now.

-?!

-Hmph.

Today, Sangam was blazing hot.

Some Souffle were sweating so much they'd actually started saying,

"It was better when it was raining."

Anyway.

After finishing the rain ritual schedule, we returned to collecting first-place trophies on music shows.

-Yes! Congratulations! WooBiju's WAVE!

-Congratulations!

It was the second week of music show promotions and the final week of WooBiju's activities.

We took home a trophy from KNet's Music K.

Then another from PBS's Music On on Friday.

After collecting a few more over the weekend, promotions would be over.

WAVE had been a huge success.

-Shortest time in MyTube history to reach 100 million views.

Even faster than White Night.

It seemed Souffle had become especially interested because it was a NewBlack unit release.

The quality of the music video probably helped as well.

We'd heard that director Heo Changjae, who filmed the video, had become one of the industry's hottest rising names.

-Please call me anytime. I'll keep my schedule open.

He'd practically told us that NewBlack projects would always be his top priority.

That made me smile.

And beyond the music video—

The digital performance had been phenomenal.

Maybe it was because of the rumors that WAVE could summon rain.

There were even stories about farmers blasting WAVE through giant speakers in rural villages.

'But it's supposed to be a summer song...'

I'd intended to create a refreshing track that would wash away the summer heat.

Before I knew it, it had become a song that supposedly summoned rain.

Maybe "monsoon song" would be more accurate.

On Tuesday, when heavy rain fell across the central region, WAVE set a new user record on Mango.

[WooBiju - WAVE]

24-Hour Unique Listeners

1,573,799

In simple terms, over 1.57 million people had listened to WAVE that day alone.

It surpassed the previous record held by White Night.

"No!"

"Stop, WooBiju!"

It was a little bewildering.

But it was fine.

Overcooked would break all those records soon anyway.

"Just wait, Rabbit Uncle! Just wait, WAVE!"

"Stop talking like it's someone else's accomplishment. You're the one who keeps making these songs."

"..."

I ignored Ri Hyuk while chewing sweet-and-sour pork.

"What a mysterious flavor."

"It tastes weird every time I eat it. Looks awful though."

The food in front of us was Kimchi Pizza Sweet-and-Sour Pork.

Kimchi Pizza Tangsuyuk.

I had been horrified by the name and refused to try it.

But Jiho insisted.

If something became trendy, our maknae had to taste it.

Surprisingly, it wasn't bad.

"Hmm hmm hmm~"

We were currently taking a break in the lounge after practicing Overcooked choreography.

The NBS logo sat in the top corner of the TV.

Under it was the cute title:

Newniverse.

It was commercial break before the main broadcast.

♪ Lalalalalala~ ♪

TeenSpirit's sports drink commercial was playing.

The members ran across a sparkling beach.

[Ahahahahaha!]

[Ehehehehehe!]

Fans probably found it adorable.

People who knew them personally just saw painfully forced laughter.

"...Is this the commercial they said they filmed recently?"

"Probably."

"I'm jealous."

It was the sort of advertisement only youthful, refreshing idols could film.

Today was Friday.

We were waiting to monitor two broadcasts.

-Newniverse Preview Draws Attention: NewBlack Successfully Computerizes Restaurant Operations

-[Goblin Restaurant Arc] Flood of Spoilers Creates Equal Parts Anticipation and Concern... "Will It Be Fun?"

-From Restaurant Preparation to 15% Ratings, NewBlack x Gu Jaeyoung Never Misses

The first was Newniverse Project, which would begin actual restaurant operations today.

-'Mission Singer' King of Singers Sun Wooju, Can He Achieve a Fourth Consecutive Victory?

The second was King of Singers.

The show featuring our leader.

I was looking forward to seeing the chaos that would erupt once Cha Woohyun sunbae appeared.

Then the lengthy commercial break ended.

Newniverse began.

[Last Week!]

The episode featuring Kim Deoksun and Jiho's father played first.

Then came the preview for the restaurant arc.

Jiho happily chewed his Kimchi Pizza Sweet-and-Sour Pork.

"Back then it was so hard. I was throwing up from stress and everything. Now it feels like a fond memory."

"Want to do it again?"

"I'd rather go bungee jumping with Ri Hyuk hyung."

Ri Hyuk blinked.

"?"

Meanwhile, footage from our first day of business appeared.

"Ugh, that's embarrassing."

"Ughhh..."

Since it was our first day, mistakes happened nonstop.

Especially because none of us had real restaurant experience.

The footage showed us panicking repeatedly.

『Waiting times continue increasing...』

Gu Jaeyoung PD used ominous music and blood-red captions to make everything look incredibly dramatic.

Then Jiho appeared onscreen.

Watching customers enjoy the food.

Looking anxious.

Then screen-me walked over and put a hand on Jiho's shoulder.

[Jiho, what's wrong?]

[I made a mistake with those customers...]

[Do they know?]

[No.]

The Wooju on screen asked:

[Is it a problem with the order quantity? Something we need to correct immediately?]

[No. They just don't know I made a mistake.]

[Then there's no need to tell them.]

Recalling that moment, I explained.

"If it's not a major mistake or something that requires immediate correction, there's no need to bring it up."

"Exactly."

Ri Hyuk nodded.

"The customers are already satisfied. No reason to reduce their satisfaction by pointing out every tiny mistake."

"Heh~ I guess unlike you hyungs, I'm still pure at heart."

"...!"

Our maknae instantly turned all of us into villains.

We were just beginning our retaliation when—

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Junghyun was applauding while staring at the screen.

His expression was so satisfied that he was practically glowing.

"No need to bring up a mistake and hurt yourself over it..."

He nodded to himself.

"That's really true."

"...?"

"Actually, I've been worried about something lately."

Junghyun smiled warmly.

"I think I finally found my answer."

"...?"

Then our third brother sat there chuckling to himself.

Three days earlier.

The night before the Woljeongsa rain ritual.

Junghyun was chatting with a friend late at night.

"Oh right, Kim Junghyun."

"Hm?"

"You don't need to pray against rain tomorrow. We're trying to make it rain at Woljeongsa."

"Oh. Okay."

Ever since WooBiju promotions began, our leader had jokingly asked him for one favor.

-Junghyun. Make sure it doesn't rain on us~

-Will my prayers really have any effect?

-Who knows? It can't hurt.

-This is annoying to remember...

So whenever he exercised, he prayed briefly.

Too lazy to think of anything original, he simply read a note saved on his phone.

-Please don't let it rain~

-Let today's performance go smoothly without rain~

The moment his friend told him it was no longer necessary, Junghyun opened the memo to delete the prayers.

Then—

'Huh?'

He froze.

Something felt wrong.

"Hey..."

"Hm?"

"It worked backwards, didn't it?"

"Yeah."

Junghyun became a statue.

'I mixed them up...!'

And so he spent several miserable days agonizing over it.

"Why does he keep smiling like that?"

"No idea."

Now that he'd finally freed himself from that burden, Junghyun sat there happily chewing sweet potatoes.