Chapter 1188: Are they tears? No, they are sweat. (8)

"We had a great time, Cancun!"

"Let's meet again!"

After wrapping up our wonderful break in Cancun, we left Mexico with the fans seeing us off.

A few days of proper rest had completely recharged our energy.

Jiho said with a bright smile,

"Honestly, I feel like I could do anything right now. I wish someone would give me something to do. I feel like I could pull off anything."

"Sleep really is important. Even I'm in a good mood right now."

Ri Hyuk said that and flashed a broad, toothy grin.

That smile looks incredibly awkward.

When he smiles like that, he looks like a teddy bear with teeth.

Noticing the looks we were exchanging, Ri Hyuk roared and breathed fire at us, making everyone turn their gaze elsewhere.

[Passengers, we will now safely transport you to Los Angeles.]

"Ri Hyuk hyung, there's something I'm curious about. We're going to America to film talk shows anyway, so couldn't we just go straight to New York? I heard it's only three hours from Cancun to New York."

"It was twenty-three degrees in Cancun, where we were until just now."

"Yeah."

"It's currently minus five in New York."

"Ah."

"And Los Angeles isn't much farther."

American talk shows were broadly divided into two groups.

There were East Coast talk shows centered around New York and West Coast talk shows centered around Los Angeles.

The temperature difference was one reason we were heading west despite the East Coast being closer.

At the mention of below-freezing temperatures, Jiho shuddered.

"Wow. Just hearing that makes me feel like I'm catching a cold."

Only then did it truly sink in that we were leaving the Southern Hemisphere and returning to our home ground in the Northern Hemisphere.

The place where we had spent our entire lives thinking of January as winter.

Biju said,

"Maybe because we spent so long in South America this time, I don't think I'll automatically associate January with winter anymore. It feels like, the north is winter, but the south is summer."

"Me too."

"I feel like my perspective has broadened somehow."

We were smiling contentedly as we chatted when—

"You also need to consider that the equator has no major temperature differences."

"…."

"And to truly say that your perspective has broadened, you should also consider that some regions of the world divide their seasons into wet and dry seasons."

"…."

As Junghyun shook his head, I asked Rabbit Uncle,

"Rabbit Uncle, when do you think Ri Hyuk will develop empathy?"

"I do have empathy!"

Rabbit Uncle whirred and raised [YES].

"Hmm."

"Rabbit Uncle hasn't been the same since disappearing and coming back."

"No wonder Jelly beat him."

Rabbit Uncle raised [NO], but we all ignored him and burst into laughter.

Los Angeles was a little chilly when we returned.

Compared to Korea, where bitter winds were raging under Siberian influence, it felt like summer. But after growing accustomed to the weather in South America and Mexico, it felt fairly cold to us.

On top of that….

"It's raining."

Rain, which was uncommon in Los Angeles, was falling as well.

"Ocean blue, heated beneath the blazing sun~"

"This breathtakingly beautiful place is an ocean view."

Biju and I cheerfully hummed Raincoat's "WAVE" inside the vehicle and laughed.

Roooooar!

The others shouted,

"Stop singing!"

"You're making it rain harder!"

Biju and I felt wronged.

"It's just your imagination."

"Exactly."

"The rain's getting lighter now. Watch. We'll sing again."

Pointing at the weakening rainfall, the two of us began humming.

"Sea, sea, no one, absolutely no one~"

"Can ever stop us~"

"See? Nothing's happen—"

Roooooar!

A sudden gust of wind came from somewhere, sending sheets of rain pounding against the windows.

The three of them looked at us.

"…Sorry. We won't sing anymore."

Nod, nod.

And so we made our way through the gentle rain toward a famous television studio in Los Angeles.

The show we were scheduled to appear on was The Larry Gordon Show.

Since we had appeared several times before and already knew how to work with the host, filming the talk show was not difficult.

Especially since we had plenty of material this time.

[Apparently you had quite a difficult time in South America. Let's take a look at the footage!]

The audience burst into laughter at the clip of me shouting, "Gyeck!"

I shrugged.

[A lot happened.]

[It looks like you experienced the true taste of hot sauce! Why don't you tell us what happened in South America?]

We told entertaining stories about what had happened on South American television programs and shared funny anecdotes from the festivals.

[And there was an enormous incident too, wasn't there? The story from Cancun is drawing a huge response right now.]

We explained how the Souffles had joined forces to help recover our belongings.

Judging by the way the audience's eyes sparkled, it seemed to be the kind of heartwarming story Americans loved.

[You're also releasing an album soon, correct?]

[Yes, there really isn't much time left now. Our album is coming out. The theme this time is cooking….]

After thoroughly promoting our upcoming album, we ended the shoot with a performance of "Hot Sauce."

Once we finished one or two more talk shows and a few interview schedules, it would truly be over.

We would finally be returning to Korea.

"Ah."

As we worked through our tightly compressed schedule, Seokhwan hyung said,

"Come to think of it, there was something I needed to pass along to you."

"?"

"We've received multiple proposals from OTT platforms that want to turn this incident into a documentary."

The title was visible on the document our TF team leader handed us.

[SAVING UNCLE BUNNY]

The title reminded me of a movie in which a great many people died to save a single private.

"Saving Uncle Bunny?"

"You know OTT platforms are very interested in true-story documentaries, right? They're quite effective at attracting subscribers. North America, in particular, has a great deal of interest in content based on real events."

"Ah."

"So we've received documentary proposals. What do you think?"

I could already imagine the general feeling without needing an explanation.

It reminded me of the trailers that automatically played on Netplus.

[It was something magical. People from entirely different parts of the world gathered online and moved toward a single goal.]

Someone wearing glasses, introduced by a caption as a journalist despite their exact profession being unclear, would speak excitedly in an interview.

[It was a truly wonderful experience.]

[Um, I suppose you could call it a unique experience. I couldn't believe I was communicating with other fans.]

Souffles who had participated would tell their stories, while scenes reconstructing the incident like a movie played in the trailer.

Seokhwan hyung asked,

"What do you think? Personally, I don't see much downside."

"I agree."

"So do we."

We did not particularly mind whether it was made or not.

It was not a story that could portray us negatively, and it would give the fans attention.

"But don't documentaries like this technically not need our permission?"

"I think they want to include interviews."

"Ah, so they need comments from us."

It would be good from a public-relations perspective since it gave us one more thing to add.

"We'll think… No, before thinking about it, we should hear the offer. What did they propose?"

"First, the amount is…."

After hearing the figure, we said,

"Go."

"Go?"

We nodded frantically.

"Go."

"Yes, Team Leader. Go, as in the first part of sweet potato and water deer."

"Go, go, go, go, go."

It was large enough to make us agree immediately.

We looked at one another.

"Hyungs, with that much money, we could put on a drone show in our music video."

"We could make NewBlack entirely out of CG."

"Let's spend extravagantly on our next music video."

As we talked—

-Music video.

…The moment I heard that keyword, my stomach began to ache slightly.

Was it stress?

While the others excitedly chatted, I took a stomach pill from my pocket and swallowed it.

Biju must have been watching me, because he looked over worriedly. I smiled and shook my head.

It's nothing.

The keyword music video had probably reminded me of something I had pushed to the back of my mind.

The new album we needed to release that spring.

The song I had written while watching the aurora in Alaska last year was still at a standstill.

I worked on it at my computer every day, but composing was similar to cutting a gemstone in many ways. If you kept shaving away at it, eventually nothing would remain, so you had to touch the raw stone as little as possible.

And if you ruined it, you returned all the way to the beginning and made it again.

"Hmm…."

I was soothing my aching stomach while thinking that it was about time to start making the new song when—

Flash—

My phone lit up and vibrated.

It was a message from someone whose notifications I had specially configured.

King God Kim Deoksun [My grandson is enduring such a difficult and challenging journey in a strange foreign land~~]

King God Kim Deoksun [I always love and cherish you~~]

King God Kim Deoksun [(kiss)]

What?

Why?

What?

Wh-What was this?

"What's wrong, hyung?"

"No, Kim Deoksun suddenly said she loves me…."

"Ah."

"Did she lose her phone…? Is someone impersonating her?"

The others burst into laughter.

While I told them, "I'm serious," Seokhwan hyung said, "Ah~," as though he understood.

"It's probably because of the news about New Bulgogi Baekban exports."

"Exports?"

"I heard there were a lot of inquiries about exporting New Bulgogi Baekban after it drew so much interest in South America. The company is apparently preparing to export it."

"Ah."

Only then did Kim Deoksun's messages make sense.

"Heh heh heh. I suppose I really am a rather lovable grandson."

"Wow. Look at that sudden change in attitude."

"I've always liked that shallowness of his. It teaches me how not to live."

"Our hyung is nothing if not consistent…."

Ignoring the others, I sent Kim Deoksun a message.

Me [Please call me the great and mighty Sun Wooju.]

Flash—

King God Kim Deoksun [What a load of damn nonsense.]

I smiled peacefully amid the others' laughter.

Only now did I finally feel at ease.

Jiho repeatedly smacked me and said,

"But hyung, you're really like Shin-chan."

"Hm?"

"Shin-chan does that too. Whenever his mom suddenly treats him nicely, he gets all uncomfortable."

"I am not."

On the flight from Los Angeles to Korea, I dreamed about Shin-chan.

-Shin-chan! Time to wake up!

-I'm not Shin-chan, I'm Wooju— Wait, why does my voice sound like this?

-You are Shin-chan.

-!

-Hohohoho. And you shall live as a kindergartener in Kasukabe for more than twenty years!

It was a terrifying nightmare.

I only managed to wake up after escaping a dream where I was trapped in Kasukabe like The Truman Show, unable to escape forever.

"This is your fault."

"Huh? What is?"

"You said I was like Shin-chan."

"Did I say that?"

The person who had said it to me did not even remember.

"I usually speak without thinking, so I don't really remember what I say either."

"Really? Do you remember saying that if you inherited your family's chicken restaurant, you'd give it to me?"

"Probably not."

"What? I thought you said you didn't remember…."

Jiho shook his head.

"No, that's not it. My dad saw how I was doing and said I was hopeless, so he'd never leave it to me."

"So that's why."

"My oldest sister is studying management. She's the smartest one among us."

Apparently, the woman who grew frightened whenever I imitated Jiho's facial expressions in front of him was intelligent.

As we chatted, we headed straight from the airport to the company.

"Hohohohoho! You're back!"

The CEO came running out in his socks and welcomed us from the lobby, asking whether we had been well and why we had lost so much weight.

We all drank tea together with Director Jo in the CEO's office.

"The film is performing extremely well. It ended its Korean run at thirteen million admissions, and in Japan, I believe ticket sales reached roughly a hundred and fifty million dollars?"

"Whoooa…."

"I think its final worldwide box-office ranking for last year will fall somewhere between seventh and tenth. There are still countries where it hasn't opened, so we'll have to wait and see, but we're estimating around seven hundred million dollars."

His words made the enormous success of Sound of the Sun feel real.

"And that isn't even counting Blu-rays or secondary markets."

"Th-That's incredible."

"That's the power of film. If one fails badly enough, it can shake an entire studio, but when one succeeds, there truly is no limit."

Once ancillary revenue was included, a single film had effectively generated nearly one trillion won in sales.

Director Jo sipped his black tea and said,

"That also means we'll receive generous production funding when we go to Antarctica. Studio Lemon has grown tremendously."

"…."

"Hahaha! Have a safe trip."

Was it just my imagination, or did he seem strangely happy?

We agreed to discuss the film in more detail later and left the CEO's office.

There were many people we needed to meet.

"Guys!"

"Come over here. We've created a lot of great material this time!"

We met with the Newniverse production crew, who were brimming with excitement ahead of the Antarctic shoot.

"Well, who do we have here? Isn't this composer Sang Yoon Na, nominated as a producer for the Grammy Record of the Year?"

"Heh heh. You recognize me very well~ Yes, I am the one and only Sang Yoon Na. The greatest product of the Na family of Naju."

"But who is the reason you're attending the Grammys?"

"Sun Wooju…."

"Always be grateful to the Sun, Mr. Na."

"Ugh… How humiliating."

We also caught up with the producing team.

As I handed out souvenirs and snacks I had brought back from South America, the composers asked,

"By the way, Wooju."

"Yes?"

"When should we hold the meeting for the new song?"

"Hmm. After we come back from Antarctica."

"Ah…."

He tried to control his expression, but perhaps because he had watched me for nearly four years, Team Leader Na Sangyoon immediately noticed.

"You're a little stuck, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Go to Antarctica, rest a little, and think about it. Strangely enough, whenever you visit places like that, you come back with a completed song."

"I'd like to say that's not true, but I have a feeling it will happen again."

"Let's talk once you're back."

I nodded and left the producing team's office.

Afterward, we met with various company employees, including the legal team, which was full of Souffles.

Then we spent a relatively relaxed period.

Of course, by relaxed, I meant rehearsing for the Grammy performance, Korea's early-year music awards, and the Academy Awards. But if there were no filming schedules, it counted as a relaxed schedule.

In the meantime, our international album was finally released.

-NewBlack Releases International Album, Flavour

An empty plate, fork, and knife against a black background.

It was our first international album, designed to evoke a luxurious restaurant.

Unlike domestic albums, which usually involved autograph events or appearances on music shows, there were no special promotions.

"Because we've already done all the promotions."

"Very American. Release the singles before the album."

I nodded at Hanbyeol's words.

One of the reasons we had released "Hot Sauce" in the first place was to promote the international album.

Hanbyeol, sipping an Americano in the sixth-floor lounge, asked,

"How do you feel?"

"It's strange. I've never released an album this quietly before."

We had held a countdown with the Souffles through our own broadcast, but it still felt strange to have nothing to do after releasing an album.

Hanbyeol said,

"I noticed American singers hold parties when they release albums. They invite acquaintances and celebrate the release."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Though I wasn't particularly interested."

"Me neither."

Holding an album release party somehow felt distinctly American and did not suit me.

As we talked, I studied Hanbyeol.

There was definitely more life in her face. It seemed a lot of entertaining things had happened in Korea while I was touring South America.

"I appeared on a variety show this time, and suddenly everyone was going, 'Hanbyeol~~~,' with honey dripping from their eyes. People are so shallow."

"That's how everyone is. You'd faint if you heard about the people who treated us badly around our debut."

"Ah. I guess things were different for you. We were popular from the moment we debuted."

"Right."

In any case, Hanbyeol looked well.

Her latest solo album had recorded the second-highest first-week sales in history after our White Night, and its digital performance was currently near the very top of the charts.

Apparently, festivals were already lining up to invite her.

"Heh heh heh. You'd better treat me well, Secretary Sun."

"Yes, Chairwoman. Of course."

"Heh heh heh heh."

We were talking when—

Buzz—

My phone rang.

It was Deputy Manager Hong Seoyoung, so I answered immediately.

"Hello."

-Wooju, have you seen the news?

"The news?"

-Hold on… I'll send you the link now!

A news link arrived through chat.

Hanbyeol leaned her head over curiously, and the two of us read the headline.

-NewBlack's International Album Surpasses 2.03 Million Copies in One Day… "Fastest in History"

My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. Beside me, Hanbyeol asked in bewilderment,

"Don't you guys currently hold the record for highest first-week sales? How many was it?"

"One point nine nine million."

"Then you surpassed that in just one day…."

As Hanbyeol muttered blankly, changes began taking place in my body.

My spinal erectors tensed.

A smile formed at the corners of my mouth.

I turned toward our company's greatest solo singer and gave her a benevolent smile.

"Secretary Jang."

"Yes, Chairwoman."

"Why are you sitting?"

"Oh, Chairwoman. Naturally, I should be standing."

Hanbyeol rose from her seat, and I patted her shoulder.

"Let's do our best."

"Yes."

"Cacklecacklecacklecackle!"

A gentleman's revenge was never too late, even after five seconds.