Chapter 1183: Are they tears? No, they are sweat. (3)

The members burst into laughter on the TV screen.

The MCs and audience members were practically collapsing as they laughed.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Hahahah!"

The viewers watching on TV or online were no different.

He said it wasn't spicy at all!

Everyone delighted in seeing NewBlack's leader get his comeuppance after maintaining such a straight face.

Those with strong empathy somehow felt their own faces heating up.

In particular, some Koreans who suffered whenever a protagonist embarrassed himself in a movie were laughing through the pain.

-Damn??? I'm embarrassed for him???????

-Why is the embarrassment always the viewer's burden?

-It's humiliating enough when your voice cracks at karaoke, but imagine it happening on a broadcast watched by millions?????

-No, but these guys are starting the year with a spectacular run of public humiliation????

-Look at how red Ri Hyuk's ears are

Ri Hyuk's ears and face had turned bright red even though it had not happened to him.

Yet Wooju, the person actually involved, wore a shameless expression.

Koreans marveled.

As expected, someone with years of embarrassing history has a different level of mental fortitude!

Wooju, who had been wearing a prim expression as though nothing had happened, swept back his hair.

Then he merely grinned.

Until the audience's laughter died down.

[…Then let's try that again.]

NewBlack's leader held out the microphone.

[Is everyone ready to have some fun?!]

The main melody of immediately began to play, and cheers erupted at the venue.

The expressions of the NewBlack members, who had been giggling only moments before, changed completely the instant the stage began.

Wow.

As NewBlack performed on a TV show watched by millions of South American viewers, someone's first embarrassing incident of 2019 was rapidly spreading across Korean social media.

Posts about NewBlack flooded the internet in an instant.

Naturally, there were people who did not like this.

No, people who absolutely hated it.

What the hell?

Damn it, what is it this time? The year only just started.

Do I really need to know that NewBlack went to South America too?

They were NewBlack's antis.

The antis, whose fighting spirit had recently been crushed by the nonstop news of Grammy nominations, a Golden Globe win, and even an Academy Award nomination, frowned.

Wherever they went, they heard news about NewBlack's visit to South America.

But just then!

"Huh?"

A welcome piece of news appeared and made their eyes light up.

[NewBlack's Wooju Has First Voice Crack on Stage Since Debut]

The antis' hearts began to pound.

Their fingers were already itching.

They imagined a lively forum atmosphere.

-Looks like Stone Head stopped practicing and became washed up???

-He's a Hollywood movie star now?? He's got all those actor friends, so catching actor disease is only a matter of time. What are the Coal Aunts going to do??

-These days, G and B have lost their original passion too and their eyes look dead. Why does nobody realize it?

-The Coal Aunts who are still hanging on even after seeing this are amazing???

-For real, the smarter you are, the faster you leave a fandom

However, when the people who had been hiding in the shadows grinned and clicked on the post, an entirely different scene from what they had imagined unfolded.

[Everyone. Do I look like I'm eating something spi-icy?! Icy?]

NewBlack's leader had suffered a voice crack in the middle of speaking because of spicy food.

"……."

"……."

All they could see were the Brazilian audience members looking fondly at his cute verbal slip.

The antis lost their will to fight once again.

Damn it, again….

This whole scene is so filthy that I'm just going to leave.

Why do they never give us an opening?

While the Souffle fandom grew larger and larger, the number of antis dwindled with each passing day.

"Guys."

"Yes."

"I've gained a realization in life."

"What is it?"

"No matter how embarrassing something is, it won't kill you. You simply become extremely embarrassed, and that's all."

"Hmmmm~"

"I'm not embarrassed at all."

My underlings looked at me suspiciously while struggling to suppress their laughter.

As I maintained my innocent facade, Ri Hyuk supported me.

"There's a famous quote by Nietzsche. What does not kill me makes me stronger. So in the same way, no matter how embarrassing something is, it won't kill you."

"Exactly. Ri Hyuk. Thank—"

"But it can make you embarrassed enough to wish you were dead, right?"

"……."

The others joined Ri Hyuk, who was cackling like a demon, and burst into laughter.

I shouted.

"Hey, stop laughing!"

"Ahahahahaha!"

Jiho spoke with a happy expression.

"How long has it been since you created a proper embarrassing memory? I'm so happy."

"What are you happy about?!"

"You haven't felt like yourself lately. Academy Award nominee~ Grammy nominee~ It made you feel distant. But now our brother is finally back! Our idiot brother!"

"Get over here."

The youngest ran away, dodging my hands.

The others continued laughing as they looked at their phones.

I could not tell whether the posts were in Portuguese or Spanish, but all kinds of videos were already racking up high view counts.

When I pressed [View Translation], the comments appeared in Korean.

-This is the cutest video I've seen all year

-I'm watching this video for the twentieth time. A handsome man making a mistake and getting embarrassed will always be perfection

-Hahahahahahaha (laughter) (laughter)

-See? This is the true spiciness of Brazil

-Sunny just hasn't tried Mexican food yet. If he'd eaten Mexican food, he probably wouldn't have been able to sing at all

There were frequent comments calling it cute or saying that it made them like me.

Either way, it was a net positive.

It was simply a massive negative for me personally.

Flash—

Hanjo [You have quite a talent for Portuguese^^]

Hanjo [I applauded in admiration when you added that "icy" accent]

One person blocked.

Hwiyeon [?????????????]

Yeonhu [???????????]

Hahyun [That was the best B-flat I've ever heard]

Hahyun [Eek~!]

Hahyun [Brother?? Why aren't you answering..?]

Woobin [I think he probably believes there are no human beings around him right now]

Leave group chat… No. I should simply stop looking at my phone.

But I was not safe elsewhere either.

Brazilian TV news programs had also reported on us.

[Global superstars NewBlack have visited Brazil! They arrived with a new song themed around spiciness.]

Then the footage played.

[Eek!]

"Hahahahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

"Why would they use that as the footage?"

"Because it's funny."

At Junghyun's answer, I wore a sad expression and leaned my head against someone.

"Biju."

"Yes~"

"You're on my side, right?"

"Yes."

As I clung tightly to our second-oldest member, who was smiling beautifully, I caught sight of the video saved on Biju's phone.

"…Then why do you have that?"

"Because it's a moment that highlights your charm."

"……."

I blinked while staring at my bashfully smiling younger member.

No matter how much I thought about it, I could not understand what was supposed to be charming about that.

But the important thing was….

"The response is extremely good."

At the meeting held after the talk show appearance, Seokhwan was wearing a broad smile.

"Did you know the hashtag #HotSauce ranked first in real-time trends across most of Latin America?"

"No."

"For reference, your voice crack ranked second."

"You don't need to tell me things like that…."

The TF team employees burst into laughter.

It seemed provoking people with the spicy-food theme had been effective, because we were seeing visible results.

Most of the audience had probably been Souffles, but the live viewer count alone had reached several million.

Those millions spread the clips online, tens of millions more saw them, and then those people talked about them in their daily lives.

"Several factors worked together."

Deputy Manager Hong Seoyoung spoke.

"There are plenty of pop stars with greater status than you in South America, like Logan Smith, Hailey Blue, and Ailo. But if you had to name the hottest singers in the American entertainment industry right now, it would be you, wouldn't it?"

"That's true."

There had been the massive success of , followed by the success of our carol, and then the movie soundtrack.

If people were asked who the hottest singers in North America had been during the second half of 2018, many would probably name us.

We simply knew that it was temporary rather than something that would last forever.

"I think one of the reasons the response was so strong is that celebrities like that visited in person to promote a new song. It's like how Koreans tend to feel positively toward Hollywood celebrities who come to Korea."

Deputy Manager Hong Seoyoung continued analyzing the reason.

"And I think the way you acted on yesterday's broadcast made you feel much more approachable too."

"…We certainly were approachable in several ways."

"That really did have a huge effect."

Apparently, people had found it relatable and entertaining to see us suffer from the spicy food.

It seemed they had also liked the way we praised the food without reservation and mentioned local music.

And then there was my little mistake.

"Of course, the response is slightly weaker outside Brazil."

"Well, not every South American country is the same."

When I thought about it, Latin America contained a huge number of countries.

Trying to target other South American countries through Brazil alone would be like Americans saying this.

-If we target Japan, Korea will follow too, right? They're both in Asia and right next to each other!

Latin America did not consist only of Brazil. There were many different countries, including Argentina, Peru, Chile, and Uruguay, and each had its own distinct character.

Of course, the places we would be visiting were major countries, but the important point was that we would have to promote ourselves in the same way in each of them.

"On that note…."

The TF team leader asked.

"How is everyone's stomach?"

"We're fine."

We had acted as though the food was extremely spicy on the broadcast, but its actual heat level had only been comparable to fairly spicy Korean food.

We had also set several conditions with the show.

We did not want food that was merely painfully hot. It had to taste good too.

"I'm worried about you, Wooju. You were once taken to the hospital with gastritis in the United States."

"Well, this much is…."

"You'll have to eat in the other countries we visit too. You know the spicy dishes in Mexican cuisine can be extremely hot, right?"

"……."

"And remember, I warned you in advance."

What had my past self been thinking?

At Seokhwan's words, I could only laugh and shed tears of joy.

Jiho spoke.

"This reminds me of equivalent exchange from a comic I like. We transmuted people's attention by sacrificing the pain receptors on our tongues."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but it doesn't sound wrong."

…The important thing was that we had succeeded in attracting people's attention.

In other words, we had achieved the goal of the promotion.

We had informed people that our new song was coming out, and since it had worked, there was only one thing left.

"The song."

was about to be released.

As everyone wore nervous expressions, Junghyun asked me a question.

"Do you think it'll do well?"

"Shouldn't we ask the jelly book that?"

"Ah, should we?"

"Or we can ask this guy."

As I said that, I turned toward something inside a glass case.

"Let's ask him for the first time in a while."

It was the original Rabbit Uncle doll.

It held [Yes] in one hand and [No] in the other.

One of the TF team employees asked.

"Why did you bring this thing?"

"We brought it just in case. If none of the attention-grabbing schemes worked… we were planning to use Rabbit Uncle."

The TF team employee gave us a look that said, You people are seriously ruthless…, and we nodded.

"Anyway! Rabbit Uncle."

I asked the broadly smiling rabbit doll.

"Answer me. Will our song do well?"

Whirrr—

The rabbit raised [YES].

At that reassuring sight, we turned toward Junghyun.

"We got an answer from Rabbit Uncle, so let's ask the Jelly Bible too."

"Yes."

"This guy might have terrible intuition."

We crowded around the jelly book.

While I somehow felt that the neglected Rabbit Uncle was cursing us with its eyes, Junghyun opened the book.

[Sometimes, things are lost.]

We rotated the book.

[But that which is lost will always return someday.]

"Something lost will return?"

"What does that mean?"

"This is the first time I've received such a confusing fortune. Are we going to lose something during this promotion and then recover it?"

The Jelly Bible, which had always predicted success and failure with uncanny accuracy, had shown us a difficult-to-understand passage.

What is it?

What's going to happen?

My younger members and I tilted our heads and looked at each other.

It was the day before the release of .

There was a certain mentality common throughout fandom culture.

Q. Excuse me, fan! I heard you're currently taking a break from fandom activities. Why did you stop?

A. My favorite….

Q. Yes.

A. Became really freaking famous.

Q. …….

It was not that they had started disliking their favorite or suddenly lost interest.

Their favorite had simply become successful.

In the past, they had felt as though they needed to keep the passion alive themselves. But now, they thought the fandom would keep running perfectly well without them.

Of course, not everyone felt that way, but a considerable number of fans did.

-NewBlack Excels on Brazilian Talk Show… "Who Won the True Battle of Spiciness?"

The college student reading the article smiled.

Oh. They're doing well.

She had been taking a break from Twitter lately, so she no longer received news in real time. Still, she occasionally encountered stories about NewBlack on Facebook or community forums.

She found the intense interest they were receiving in South America fascinating.

It really is amazing. When did they become this big?

She was a former Souffle.

She was currently absorbed in another fandom, but there had once been a time when she had passionately devoted herself to NewBlack.

At some point, however, she had gradually begun taking a break. These days, she supported them from a distance.

They had become superstars, and it felt as though things would keep going well even without her.

Looks like they're releasing a new song too.

She would probably listen to it as soon as it came out.

NewBlack's songs were always good.

There was only one thing she regretted….

I kind of want to see their old style again.

The earlier albums, starting with , for example.

Sometimes, she wanted to see the NewBlack of that era, when they performed as idols with fierce precision and tightly synchronized choreography.

NewBlack's performances, including , were still famous for being intense and spectacular. But perhaps she simply missed the particular feeling they had back then.

Of course, that did not mean she wanted them to reproduce it exactly as it had been.

The trends of 2015, when had been popular, were different from those of the present.

So I want a more 2019 version of it… Hmm… Ah, I don't know.

The important point was that she had now become a casual listener who could no longer confidently argue about what NewBlack's concept should or should not be.

It was then.

As she browsed MyTube like usual, a recommended video appeared.

[The New Black - Hot Sauce Official MV]

It was the official music video.

The college student thought she would watch it later, but for some reason, she felt drawn to the thumbnail.

The composition of the NewBlack members standing on a bright beach felt strangely familiar.

"What is this?"

Unable to resist her curiosity, she clicked the video, and the music video immediately began.

It seemed to be a beach somewhere like Los Angeles.

[Squawk— Squawk—]

Seagulls cried somewhere nearby.

[Shhhhhhh—]

The refreshing sound of waves flowed through her Bluetooth earphones.

As she watched closely, the camera passed along the shoes of the NewBlack members standing on the beach before pulling back.

The former Souffle's eyes widened.

「???」

It was the melody of .

The NewBlack members stood in the same formation they had used during , wearing the exact same outfits from that time.

Ohhhhhhh…….

As the emotion she had felt when she first watched the music video swept over her, the Souffle's eyes moved across the singers.

White shirts, blue T-shirts, hats.

The NewBlack members stood still in refreshing outfits that blended white and blue.

Just then.

「???- ??」

As the melody gradually transformed into the new song's melody, the outfits worn by the NewBlack members on screen began to change.

Their colors shifted through CGI.

Fwoosh—

The white and blue colors burned away and transformed.

Their outfits became filled with yellow symbolizing the sun and red symbolizing heat.

As the members closed their eyes and basked in the sunlight—

Thump. Thump.

A drumbeat began, as though representing the former Souffle's pounding heart.

From the very opening, the sharp body isolations and waves performed by the members exuded the powerful intensity of hardcore K-pop.

Jiho, whose hair had been dyed a deep wine red, lifted his chin.

[Hey.]

The adorable youngest member from five years ago, now grown into a handsome adult, winked.

[Did you miss me?]

Those words set her heart ablaze once again.