Chapter 1182: Are they tears? No, they are sweat. (2)

Our NewBlack always had clearly divided roles.

Decision-making was my job. Physical tasks were Junghyun's. Mediating opinions was Biju's. Bright, innocent smiles belonged to Jiho.

And research was Ri Hyuk's.

"Hmm..."

Ri Hyuk narrowed his eyes.

"From what I researched, South America does have spicy food. But from what I heard, Brazilians don't generally eat things that spicy on average. Except for northeastern coastal regions like Bahia."

"Then what about those peppers?"

"They're probably intentionally preparing something fiery and stimulating."

At those words, we turned our heads.

The chefs, who had been skillfully tossing their woks around, met our eyes and sent us a wink.

Huhuhuhuhuhuhu.

Prepare yourselves, NewBlack.

My younger members and I narrowed our eyes.

"Hmm... So this is how they're coming at us."

"Then we can't just sit back either."

But it would not be easy to win with only our own strength.

Compared to Brazilian peppers, our Cheongyang peppers were mild.

While we were preparing spicy pork cutlet sauce, we exchanged smiles and meaningful glances.

"Should we bring that out?"

"Yeah."

At Junghyun's words, I nodded.

Then the ingredient we had kept sealed away until now appeared.

A red pepper.

It was a habanero pepper from Mexico.

"Hahahaha."

When we happily brought out the new ingredient with bright smiles, the chefs around us flinched.

The average Scoville rating of habanero peppers ranged from 100,000 to 300,000.

They were two to three times hotter than the Malagueta peppers the Brazilian chefs had used.

"Um..."

One of the nearby chefs asked,

"That's a habanero, isn't it? Weren't you only using Korean ingredients?"

"Sometimes you need to borrow the power of foreign forces."

"......"

"Hahahaha!"

My younger members and I laughed happily.

Like the famous line from a basketball manga, "However, this photo was never used as the cover," the sauce we made never actually appeared on the broadcast.

"Hmm."

"Mm. It's a little too spicy."

It was a level of spiciness we could endure and eat somehow, but it felt like it would be too intense for them.

Maybe in Mexico, where extremely spicy foods were common, it would have been fine.

But considering the average Brazilian stomach, it did not seem like a good choice.

"Let's not use this."

"Why?! We need to win!"

I said to Jiho, who jumped up in protest,

"Imagine someone being taken to the emergency room during the broadcast."

"Ah."

The festival atmosphere we had created would instantly turn into a funeral.

If we were going to become a topic of conversation, it was better for it to be for something positive. We had to avoid anything that could become a negative story, even slightly.

Besides, winning through pure spiciness was never our goal.

"We came here to promote our song, Jiho."

"Ah, right."

After returning to the waiting room, I said to my underlings,

"What is our goal?"

"To make these people like us."

"Exactly. The competition isn't important."

What mattered was our attitude.

How people from another culture viewed their food and how they understood their culture.

"That doesn't mean we need to prepare fake reactions. I always say this, but naturalness is the key point in shows like this."

The members all nodded.

As entertainers, we always focused on the important points during filming.

Making people laugh unconditionally was not everything. We needed to understand the concept of the program and decide what role we should play.

For example, our role in this TV show was simple.

[The food in South America wasn't spicy at all~]

A famous foreign star who appeared while teasing people's pride in their spicy food.

Then the audience's expectations were obvious.

I want to see those guys get destroyed!!

They just don't know how amazing our food is. Once they try it, their reactions will change immediately.

Scenes where we struggled against unexpected spiciness.

Scenes where we were amazed by Brazilian cuisine.

The key points we needed to deliver on the show naturally formed in my mind.

While thinking about that, Junghyun suddenly stopped.

"But... doesn't this feel like something we've seen before?"

"Huh...?"

"It feels like I can naturally imagine what kind of scenes we need to create."

We blinked.

Just as Junghyun said, the concept we should go for came naturally.

[Brazilian food is truly the best!]

Various imaginary voices overlapped.

[Oh my god. Korean food really is amazing. I might move to Korea.]

[Oh my god. What is this texture? I'm going to carefully observe how the chef makes it.]

[From today onward, I love Korean food.]

Foreign guests tasting K food and discussing it on food variety shows.

Then another imaginary voice overlapped.

[The food is... wow. It's spicy.]

[Oh, is it too spicy for you, Robert?]

[Yes, wow... Koreans are really crazy. How do they eat something this spicy?]

[Hahahahaha!]

My younger members and I looked at each other.

A great realization passed through us.

Was that what it was?

We had already been trained beforehand.

We all smiled warmly.

For us, who had been trained by countless K variety shows, no preparation was needed at all.

Late at night.

During the tropical night, where the heat caused everyone to sweat heavily, Brazilians picked up their remotes.

Was it TV Brazil?

A cheer immediately came from the television.

[Let us welcome the world's greatest stars to this stage!]

Amid the cheering audience, NewBlack members appeared.

While they greeted everyone in Portuguese, the number of online viewers watching the broadcast continued to rise.

The people watching the broadcast were not only Brazilians.

[LIVE] The NewBlack’s ‘Hot Sauce?’

The number of real-time viewers for the broadcast being streamed by the station on MyTube had already reached several million.

Live comments written in Spanish and Portuguese filled the chat.

The number of viewers kept climbing as quickly as the attention created by the singers.

With things already becoming noisy, news was also reaching Korea, which was watching from afar.

[Breaking) NewBlack appears on Brazilian broadcast lol]

Koreans laughed at screenshots posted in real time.

The five members appearing on the broadcast somehow looked slightly awkward.

And the thoughts of Koreans watching this spicy food battle were similar.

I think we're going to win.

While people were looking at those comments and thinking, This won't be easy, the actual broadcast began.

South American viewers watched with excited expressions.

NewBlack came to Brazil.

Stars like them usually only visited for concert tours. It was rare for them to actively appear on television like this.

Because of that, their first impression felt fresh and positive.

[What was the reason NewBlack decided to release a song called this time?]

Wooju spoke in English while Portuguese subtitles appeared.

[The theme of the album we will release soon is cooking. Among those themes, we wrote a song based on spicy flavors. And when you think about the world-famous spicy sauces, isn't South America the first place that comes to mind?]

[But there are many spicy dishes around the world, aren't there? Korea also has spicy foods like kimchi.]

[I think music and food are similar.]

His charming smile captivated the audience.

[I believe music and food show the people of a country. Latin pop. Spicy hot sauce. Passionate samba. Colorful festivals. Football players with world-class techniques.]

When he reached the topic of football, the audience erupted into cheers and applause.

Looking around at them, Wooju shrugged his shoulders.

[Do we need any more explanation? We decided that Latin pop was the best genre to show this concept connected to spicy sauce.]

The excellent compliment brought satisfied smiles to South American viewers.

Koreans watching this smiled proudly.

A post translating the Brazilian comments was immediately uploaded to several communities.

[The man's dazzling tongue dribbling in real time]

Koreans felt proud at Wooju's magnificent speech skills, which were so impressive that he could become a smooth-talking official anywhere.

Meanwhile, after chatting with the MC for a while, chefs appeared in front of the NewBlack members.

[Finally! It is time for the competition!]

[Wooooooow!]

With intense background music playing, both teams began cooking.

Watching Biju skillfully chopping ingredients, South American housewives laughed.

"He's a man who knows how to manage a household!"

"Like me?"

"Be quiet. You don't even fold laundry."

"I shouldn't have said anything..."

Soon, the dishes were complete.

As the Brazilian chefs introduced their menus, the dishes made by NewBlack were shown as well.

The chefs began tasting them.

[Oh. This texture is similar to gnocchi. So this is what tteokbokki is.]

[It feels similar to milanesa, but you used pork. Pork cutlet? Oh, it's spicy.]

Among them, the dish that received the greatest praise was New Bulgogi Baekban, where the spicy flavor was the key point.

[...This smoky flavor is truly incredible.]

[Can I try some too?]

Even the MCs who came over with forks took a bite and let out a satisfied,

"Mmm~"

Biju introduced it in English.

[This recipe was passed down from Wooju's grandmother. It contains the know-how of someone who ran a restaurant for decades. That's probably why it tastes even better.]

[She is like a grandmother to all of us. Grandma Deoksun.]

South Americans, who had a strong sense of family and close-knit relationships, nodded.

They could easily imagine it.

A plump, sturdy grandmother commanding her family with a booming voice while making delicious food.

Grandma Deoksun...

They had never met her, but somehow they felt like they understood her.

Meanwhile, this time NewBlack members tasted Brazilian food.

From croquettes to Acarajé, a famous dish from Bahia, along with dishes the chefs had intentionally made extra spicy, various foods appeared.

And NewBlack's reaction was...

[Wow. It's not spicy at all.]

They were sweating heavily.

The MCs burst into laughter.

[Liar! You're sweating so much right now!]

[These are tears of emotion. Our souls are crying because we are moved by Brazil's delicious food.]

Everyone laughed at NewBlack insisting it was not spicy at all.

It was an adorable kind of arrogance.

One of the chefs shouted,

[Admit it. Our food is spicier!]

[We came here carrying the pride of 50 million Koreans. We won't back down from this competition. Korean food is more... w, water, do we have any water?]

Even while gulping down water, NewBlack refused to admit that Brazilian food was spicier.

Then one of the MCs quietly called Ri Hyuk, who was standing behind them.

[Ri Hyuk, are you not eating?]

[I can't handle spicy food very well. For me, both sides' dishes are already plenty spicy.]

Except for Ri Hyuk, who was excluded, everyone was covered in sweat.

The MCs asked mischievously,

[Then doesn't this mean the winner has already been decided?]

[That's right. It's a draw.]

Wooju's shameless answer drew boos from the audience.

Then Ri Hyuk spoke in Portuguese.

[If you really want to say that you won, then I will admit it only when this person starts sweating.]

The person he pointed at was Junghyun.

While NewBlack's other three members were sweating heavily, Junghyun alone was sitting there perfectly fine, laughing.

At Ri Hyuk's words, Junghyun crossed his arms and nodded with a serious expression.

It was a dependable look.

But only because he had no idea what Ri Hyuk had said in Portuguese.

Ri Hyuk spoke to him in Korean.

[Hyung. Now you just have to eat the spicy food they made.]

[Uh...? I have to eat it?]

[Yes.]

The audience burst into laughter at the Korean comedy routine with Portuguese subtitles.

[Ready!]

The chefs, provoked by Ri Hyuk, brought out dishes with even more spicy sauce.

But Junghyun did not even flinch.

The MCs looked confused.

[No way. There is no way this isn't spicy... We will try it ourselves. Oh my god! This is insane...]

The spice was so intense it nearly brought out curses.

In the end, unable to defeat Junghyun, the chefs accepted the draw with complicated expressions.

Then the members said,

[The competition is mostly over, so can we properly enjoy the food now? We don't think we have really appreciated the dishes until now.]

[Of course.]

The chefs brought out other dishes as well.

Side dishes to accompany spicy food and dairy drinks to calm the heat.

Reactions naturally came from the NewBlack members.

[Oh my god. This dish is incredible. What is it called?]

[Seriously...]

[I don't like cold weather. I think I might come live in Brazil for half the year. The food really suits my taste.]

Brazilians puffed out their chests proudly.

People from other South American countries reacted with, They need to try our country's food too.

The praise was that intense.

[What? How much does beef cost?]

[I'm not joking. I really might have to come here. How much is meat of this quality in supermarkets?]

NewBlack was amazed that high-quality beef could be bought at prices unimaginable in Korea.

For some reason, South Americans looked even prouder.

South Americans smiled happily at the praise pouring out from NewBlack.

Sometimes even when you knew something was just a compliment, it still felt good.

That was one of those moments.

Except...

"Uh..."

Only the Koreans watching from very far away felt slightly complicated.

[Brazilian food is the best in the world!]

[Oh my... How can such a flavor exist?]

[How much is this beef per 100 grams? Brazil is heaven!]

I've seen this scene somewhere before.

What is this feeling? Is this some kind of mirror therapy?

While Koreans stared into the distance...

[Now, let's enjoy NewBlack's performance of Overcooked.]

The NewBlack members wearing chef uniforms lined up, and the intro of began playing.

The song that everyone in South America knew.

The MCs danced while holding cue cards and microphones, and the audience moved their shoulders along with them.

[Whew.]

The MC teased the red-faced leader of NewBlack.

[Can you sing? You still look like you're suffering from the spice.]

[You mean, am I spicy?]

Wooju fanned his face with his hand, smiled, and removed his chef hat.

The leader of NewBlack shouted confidently in Portuguese.

[Everyone. Do I look like I'm suffering from the spice?!]

Because of the spice, his voice cracked.

Millions of viewers burst into laughter.