Chapter 1070: Overcooked (23)

At the top of Colin Evans' list of life priorities sat a single word:

Style.

Looking cool is everything.

If even a single strand of hair was out of place, he'd immediately comb it back.

If the wax in his hair didn't feel quite right, he'd wash everything out and start over from scratch.

As a result, he was the member who spent the most time researching how to look as cool as possible on stage.

Of course, if NewBlack heard that, they would probably say,

"Maybe spend some of that time practicing instead..."

But Colin Evans considered himself a smart man.

Who expects actual skill from us anyway?

Popularity wasn't determined by talent.

If it were, why did so many incredible singers and actors disappear every year?

Even within Moonlight, Tyrone—the Black member—was the strongest vocalist.

Patrick, the Asian member, was a former b-boy and arguably the best dancer.

Yet neither of them ranked near the top in popularity.

Popularity ultimately depended on being chosen by fans.

Which meant the objective was simple.

Maintain the largest individual fandom until my solo debut.

Build a foundation through three or four years of Moonlight activities.

Then launch a solo career.

That was how most North American boy bands ended.

No matter how successful the group became, only one member usually survived as a major solo star.

That was why a constant silent war existed inside Moonlight.

I'm taking the top spot among the white members.

The Black and Hispanic members each had their own demographic advantages.

Patrick, whose popularity ranked near the bottom, was aggressively appealing to Chinese audiences by emphasizing his heritage.

Which left four white members competing directly against one another.

The fans knew it too.

Even the Supernova Dodgeball lineup had sparked fan wars.

Hunter and Josh should've gone. Haven't Colin and Jacob gotten enough opportunities already?

What are you talking about? Colin ranked first in the audition. The most popular members should go. Even casual viewers know Colin's name.

Jacob is literally the only Canadian member. Of course he has to participate.

After lengthy debates, producer Terry Austin ultimately chose Jacob and Colin.

And that alone demonstrated how important Supernova Dodgeball was.

Colin knew it too.

Today's going to be my day.

He'd played soccer when he was younger.

Sports were one of his strengths.

Even if he didn't become the main character, a few viral GIFs would be enough.

So every time he drank water, he deliberately exaggerated the movement of his Adam's apple.

During commercial breaks, he brushed back his sweat-soaked hair and winked at Sunshine fans in the crowd.

He'd contribute in the match.

Make an impression on people who normally dismissed Moonlight as just another boy band.

That had been the plan.

Then—

Ta-da! Sun Wooju appears~☆

Everything fell apart.

“WAAAAAAAAAH!”

“SUN! SUN! SUN!”

Every time Wooju scored, Canadian fans practically embraced one another while chanting his name.

“Wooooooow...”

“Wooooo...”

Even when he simply sat on the bench drinking water during breaks, the crowd erupted.

And honestly?

It was understandable.

How does he even do that? Does he practice this stuff at home?

If Colin had attempted any of those moves, he would've needed hours of practice.

Wooju just did them casually.

It was irritating.

Worse, the entire narrative had shifted into a showdown between the NBA legend and NewBlack.

Colin and Jacob had been completely erased from public attention.

I need some screen time somehow...

That was what he was thinking when—

BAM!

A ball rebounded off Lenny Jones and delivered a devastating blow.

THUD.

Colin Evans collapsed into a perfect OTL position.

Everyone rushed over.

“Colin!”

“Hey! Are you okay?!”

Every camera covering the forty-million-viewer broadcast instantly focused on him.

Colin stretched out a hand.

Get the cameras away! Move the damn cameras!

Meanwhile, somebody kept patting his tailbone.

Who now?!

Then he heard Cold Brown's voice.

“Why are you doing that? Is it some kind of encouragement?”

“It's a traditional Korean folk remedy.”

Wooju answered with complete seriousness.

“The muscles around the tailbone are probably in shock right now. If you tap the area like this, it helps relieve the pain.”

“I see!”

Immediately, several American players crouched down and began patting Colin's back.

Pat pat pat pat pat!

The atmosphere resembled a family-run assembly line.

The crowd exploded with laughter.

Go away! All of you, go away!

Colin wanted to cry.

After the third quarter ended—

Commercials began rolling.

Junghyun and I walked toward the American bench.

First, we approached the NBA legend sitting there wiping sweat from his face with a towel.

“Lenny, are you alright?”

“Of course.”

He smiled.

“Things like this happen in sports. Not just to me. Haven't we all been getting hit all day?”

“...That's true.”

Dodgeball was, after all, a sport centered around hitting people with balls.

Most of the celebrities had been struck somewhere by now.

The balls were soft enough that even hard throws only caused minor pain.

“Still...”

Lenny rubbed his side.

“Your throws hurt unusually badly.”

“That's because you're impossible to hit otherwise...”

Against everyone else, I could afford to hold back.

Against him?

If I didn't throw at full power, he'd catch it.

“It's fine.”

Lenny smiled warmly.

“I have thirteen grandchildren.”

“Pfft—!”

Mandy Spice immediately sprayed water everywhere.

I dodged.

“Mandy!”

“Sorry!”

She handed us spare towels while coughing and laughing uncontrollably.

Then Lenny pointed elsewhere.

“But I'm not sure that one is okay.”

“Ah.”

“Go check on him.”

Colin Evans sat nearby staring blankly into a bottle of Gatorade.

His soul appeared to have left his body.

Junghyun and I walked over.

He visibly flinched.

“You okay?”

He covered his mouth with a bright smile.

“I'm fine. I'd appreciate it if you left. Not really in a talking mood.”

Apparently he was furious about his image taking a hit.

If Ri Hyuk were here, he would've launched into a lengthy lecture beginning with,

"Why are you angry at innocent people after getting hit by a ricochet?"

But I let it slide.

How old was he again?

He reminded me of a high school student sulking because the wind had ruined his carefully styled hair.

“Want some advice?”

He looked at me as if to say,

Let's hear it.

“You can't spend your entire career showing only cool moments.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Any publicity is good publicity for an entertainer.”

Maybe it wouldn't resonate.

He'd only ever been rewarded for looking cool.

That was how he'd gained popularity.

After thinking for a moment, he replied,

“Doesn't really mean much to me.”

Well.

He'd been an idol for less than six months.

Maybe it wasn't surprising.

The expression on his face practically said:

You're the last person who should be saying that.

Junghyun and I exchanged a glance.

He doesn't get it.

Apparently not.

We simply smiled.

After all, he knew nothing about the long, dark, tragic history we'd accumulated in Korea.

I figured we'd talked enough.

Then I turned to Junghyun.

“Do you have anything you want to say?”

“Ah.”

Junghyun carefully considered his words.

Then he looked genuinely concerned.

“Is your little friend okay?”

“...!”

Jacob Ryan, who had just walked over, burst out laughing.

I hurriedly tried to explain.

“His English isn't perfect—”

At that moment, Colin Evans smiled.

Then clenched his teeth.

“Bom Gam Za...”

“!”

Junghyun and I both froze.

The two of us stared at him.

Then turned around.

“See you later.”

As we walked away, Colin's resentful curse of "Bom Gam Za" echoed behind us.

Junghyun and I exchanged a high-five before returning to our team.

The fourth and final quarter of Supernova Dodgeball.

“We've finally reached the fourth quarter!”

“How do you think this ends?!”

The commentators were practically spitting with excitement.

“At this point I'd call it fifty-fifty! What an incredible match!”

“There have already been so many unforgettable moments!”

A replay showed Junghyun and Wooju working together to eliminate Lenny Jones.

“An incredible play no matter how many times you watch it!”

Then the footage switched to the unfortunate incidents involving the NBA legend and the Moonlight member.

The commentators burst out laughing.

“I didn't know dodgeballs could hit people there!”

The broadcast continued reviewing the match.

Then the fourth quarter began.

“Sun comes out aggressively right from the start!”

“His skill set is incredible. Look at this—his eyes are looking one direction while he's throwing somewhere completely different!”

“Lenny Jones is out!”

Viewers howled with laughter.

“What is that?”

“That's so unfair!”

Wooju had entered full villain mode.

He'd look somewhere else entirely.

Then throw at Lenny.

And on top of that—

The timing was off-beat.

“Lenny Jones is eliminated in the most anticlimactic way possible!”

The direction of his gaze and the direction of his throw never matched.

There was no way to defend against it.

And then there were those infuriating half-throw feints.

Some Korean viewers watching online nearly died laughing.

-OffBeatCooked~ OffBeatCooked~

-In this cheerful off-beat rhythm~ there is neither love nor conscience~

-This is what happens when Americans don't study traditional rhythms. If they'd learned them, they could've dodged.

-LMAOOOOOO this is so dirty

Wooju unleashed every trick imaginable.

Meanwhile, Junghyun served as his bodyguard.

“A ball is headed toward Wooju!”

Junghyun suddenly spread his arms.

Papapapapap!

People rubbed their eyes.

“I think I saw something like that in Thailand.”

“The statue with a million arms?”

Like a thousand-armed bodhisattva, Kim Junghyun intercepted every incoming ball.

The moment he caught one—

He threw it.

The speed was absurd.

Whenever one of his throws struck the barrier separating the court from the crowd—

BANG!

The sound echoed throughout the arena.

Then one ball slammed into the transparent wall near the seats occupied by the First Lady and the Prime Minister's wife.

BANG!

Both women jumped slightly before laughing.

“Oh dear! Junghyun may end up having a conversation with the Secret Service after the match!”

Viewers laughed at the joke.

Meanwhile, Hayley Blue was continuing her own rampage.

“HAHAHAHAHA! DIE! DIE!”

The singer-songwriter hurled balls like a madwoman.

“Hayley Blue takes one to the face!”

A ball struck her mouth.

Her lip split slightly.

Medical staff rushed forward.

She waved them away and casually wiped the blood with the back of her hand.

For a moment, everyone admired how tough she looked.

Then—

“HAHAHAHAHA! DIE!”

She resumed throwing balls like an arcade basketball addict possessed by a demon.

Everyone immediately thought:

Yep. That's more like it.

While Hayley launched endless projectiles—

The match slowly tilted toward Canada.

“There are only five minutes remaining, and Canada now leads by three points!”

Wooju and Junghyun's teamwork was spectacular.

The lead gradually widened.

The cheers grew louder.

Just a little more!

Canadian fans wanted one more point.

Just a little more...!

American fans felt a comeback was still possible.

Everyone was tense.

Except Souffle.

The fans were quietly laughing.

Kyahahaha!

This is our victory!

KangBlack had become the stars of a broadcast watched by tens of millions.

Among Canadians online, they were already being treated as honorary citizens.

-All hail the Sun!

-Fear us, Yankees. We have Sun the Ball Hunter.

-I don't know who recruited him, but it was a god-tier decision.

-To Americans saying two Koreans carrying the team doesn't count as Canada: you'd do the exact same thing if you were us.

-To show my gratitude, I'm watching NewBlack music videos tonight.

Canadian approval had reached maximum levels.

Offline wasn't much different.

“SUN! SUN! SUN!”

“KIM! SHOW US YOUR NUCLEAR MISSILE SHOT!”

As victory came closer and closer—

Canadians grew increasingly excited.

Meanwhile, Americans held their heads.

“Ugh... I think we lost.”

“Yeah. Probably.”

The Souffles hiding among them carefully watched the mood.

Is this okay?

They had worried that representing Canada might make NewBlack unpopular with Americans.

Instead—

“We should've recruited them.”

“Seriously.”

“Even after bringing in Lenny Jones, they still turned it around.”

The physical disparity had been so obvious from the beginning that nobody felt resentful.

Cold Brown.

Mandy Spice.

Several celebrities famous for their athleticism.

An NBA legend.

America had essentially assembled the strongest celebrity team imaginable.

And despite that imbalance—

The Canadians had won.

People respected it.

...Or at least that was the excuse.

The truth was simpler.

The match was just ridiculously entertaining. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

If this were hockey, there would've been riots.

The Cloud Squad smiled warmly.

If this had been something Canadians and Americans genuinely treated like life and death—

Like hockey—

People might've been burning NewBlack albums in downtown Los Angeles.

Regardless, one thing was undeniable.

Interest in NewBlack had reached its highest point yet.

“Those guys are...”

“The tall member...”

“NewBlack...”

Everywhere people talked about them.

Of all the North American activities NewBlack had participated in—

This was the event that had connected them most directly with the general public.

The Souffles' hearts pounded.

Meanwhile—

“One minute and thirty seconds remaining!”

The countdown had begun.

Canada's victory was nearly secured.

Canadian fans roared.

American fans continued cheering too.

Because of the attitude displayed by the American celebrities.

Keep fighting until the end.

Even with the comeback nearly impossible—

Everyone continued diving, sweating, and giving their all.

That sportsmanship moved people.

In fact, the hopelessness only made them fight harder.

The final point had become more important than the result itself.

“Wooju hyung! Let's go! And Kim Junghyun!”

“My brother Wooju!”

Biju and Jiho shouted enthusiastically.

Ri Hyuk cheered quietly.

“My goodness. This is an incredible match!”

The president of the National Dodgeball Association openly wept.

One by one, players were eliminated.

Eventually, only the aces remained.

“Ah! Wooju hyung!”

Lenny Jones and Cold Brown threw simultaneously.

Junghyun intercepted the attack and was eliminated in Wooju's place.

“WAAAAAAAAAH!”

Wooju immediately countered and eliminated Cold Brown.

Thirty seconds remained.

The numbers on the scoreboard ticked down.

Two men stood facing one another.

"..."

"..."

Like gunslingers preparing for a duel in the Wild West.

Whoooooosh—

Somewhere, everyone could almost hear desert winds and old Western movie music.

Lenny Jones attacked first.

FWOOOOOOOSH!

The orange ball flew like a shot put.

Wooju dodged.

Lenny, now empty-handed, prepared to evade the counterattack.

Wooju gripped the ball.

His expression grew serious.

The NewBlack members widened their eyes.

Wait... that's...!

It almost felt like a voice echoed behind him.

"Tongki! It's your father!"

Wind seemed to swirl around Wooju.

He took a deep breath.

Ran forward.

Jumped lightly.

Then spun.

Ri Hyuk's eyes widened.

Flame Shot!

The crowd exploded.

It looked like Wooju was about to unleash his ultimate technique.

Lenny Jones extended his hands, preparing to receive the throw.

And then—

Wooju landed.

FWEEEEET!

The referee's whistle rang out.

"OUT!"

"...?"

"...??"

Wooju stared blankly.

Why?

The referee pointed downward.

Wooju had stepped on the boundary line.

At the exact same moment—

The final whistle sounded.

Match over.

"..."

"..."

Lenny Jones stood frozen in an awkward stance.

Silence spread through forty million viewers and the entire arena.

Thunk.

The ball slipped from Wooju's hand.

Roll roll roll...

The handsome young man dropped to his knees with a devastated expression.

And everyone burst out laughing.

“CANADA WINS!”

Canada had won.

But Sun Wooju had lost.