Chapter 1198: Extremes (9)

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Ha!"

I covered my eyes with one hand as I watched everyone burst into laughter.

"Ah, seriously...."

I had been ready to bawl my eyes out like the others, but the tears had completely vanished.

Instead, helpless laughter kept slipping out.

[Are you doing well?!]

I nodded at Grandma in the video message.

I am.

Kim Deoksun, wearing glasses, began reading the letter.

[I don't know if you've been wearing the clothes I gave you.]

We and the production crew patted the clothes we were wearing for the camera.

They were outdoor jackets Grandma had given all of us in preparation for our trip to Antarctica.

[You'll probably be flying around that freezing place doing all kinds of strange things. You must be working awfully hard.]

"Grandma...."

[But what can you do? You brought it on yourself. Nobody forced you into it, but you went around telling the whole neighborhood, "I'm going to Antarctica! I'm going to Antarctica!" So naturally, everyone thought, Ah, we'd better ship him off there.]

"Kim Deoksun...!"

Everyone burst into loud laughter.

I wanted to argue, but what made it so frustrating was that Grandma was not wrong.

Gu Jaeyoung's voice came from the video.

[Ma'am, this VCR is supposed to have a touching atmosphere, so if possible, could you focus on saying something warm....]

Kim Deoksun nodded, then spoke with a warm expression.

[The better things are going, the more humble you need to be.]

"Yes."

[I know you already understand even without me saying it, but what do you have besides your face?]

While I wholeheartedly agreed with Grandma, everyone else began murmuring.

"Why would Wooju only have his face? He has plenty of other things."

"I don't even have the face...."

Everyone laughed at someone's mutter as Grandma continued her warm advice.

[Always stay humble. A man must be careful of three ends when he becomes successful. And those three things are....]

[Ma'am.]

[Ah, right. Something else....]

Kim Deoksun nodded and changed the subject.

[Well....]

"?"

[I l-l-l....]

After staring primly off into the distance, Kim Deoksun finally managed to say it.

[Love you.]

"...."

[Oh, this is so embarrassing when I never say things like that. Nabi, you tell your brother something.]

[Meow.]

[That's right. Nabi misses you too.]

I smiled shyly as I watched Grandma hurriedly try to wrap up the video message.

When had I last seen her?

I thought the last time was at the library opening ceremony in Gunsan last year.

Thinking that I should hurry to Gunsan as soon as I got a break after returning to Korea, I smiled warmly.

Finally, a video played of all our members' families gathered in one place, making hearts with their hands.

[We love you.]

[We all miss you. Let's see each other in Korea soon.]

We smiled and waved back at everyone gathered around Kim Deoksun.

From a distance, Gu Jaeyoung gave us, our faces streaked with tears, a thumbs-up.

His eyes seemed to ask, How was it?

It was the best.

We gave him thumbs-up in return.

It was the best holiday gift.

All the main filming in Antarctica had come to an end.

The schedule might have seemed short, but we had only come as a kind of Newniverse spin-off in the first place.

The entire premise was simply interacting with the people at King Sejong Station and cooking for them.

"The main filming is over."

Gu Jaeyoung held up a 6mm camera as he spoke.

"From now on, just relax and film comfortably."

"Did we get enough footage?"

"Yeah. You can relax and film without worrying."

We nodded with pleased expressions when he said they had secured more than enough footage, especially after the overseas guests had arrived.

Gu said, "We've got all the footage we need for the broadcast, so from here on out, it's literally just extra material. Until we board the plane again the day after tomorrow, you're free to explore Antarctica."

"Yes!"

And so, [Bonus Stage - Antarctic Exploration] began.

We climbed into a snow vehicle provided by King Sejong Station and headed for a penguin colony on King George Island.

Rattle, rattle.

Inside the vehicle on the way to the penguin colony, we all stared at one man.

A chubby penguin in outdoor clothes.

No, a human man.

We addressed Dr. Paeng Gwiin, who sat there looking as though his soul had left his body.

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"We're on our way to the penguin colony right now."

"Yes...."

We looked at him in confusion.

Normally, by now, he should have been bouncing in his seat and telling us a hundred fascinating facts about penguins.

Something seemed off about him today.

"It's strange. I don't feel cold at all."

"Is that so...?"

"Yes. My wife asked how I could forget our wedding anniversary and told me not to even think about coming home. She said if I like penguins that much, I should just live in Antarctica forever."

"...."

"If I were in Korea, I'd probably be standing outside the front door feeling the cold, right? Antarctica is warmer."

Biju offered him warm consolation.

"If you give her a sincere apology, I'm sure she'll forgive you. Anyone can make a mistake in life, can't they?"

"The thing is... I married late, so we're newlyweds."

"You should stay in Antarctica, just like your wife said."

Biju and the rest of us moved away from the doctor with icy expressions.

The other researcher driving the snow vehicle snickered, while Gu Jaeyoung offered various pieces of advice as a senior married man. At last, we reached our destination.

It was a large gentoo penguin colony about two kilometers from King Sejong Station.

"From this point on, it's ASPA territory, so you need to be especially careful."

Dr. Paeng Gwiin spoke as he got out of the vehicle.

"You can't approach them, so you'll need to observe from as far away as possible. They're raising their chicks right now, which means the penguins are especially wary. Under no circumstances should you enter that area."

"Understood."

"Then let's move."

We followed the doctor uphill.

Once we crossed a ridge, a flock of penguins came into view in the distance.

"Wooooow."

There were so many gentoo penguins waddling around that the flock we had seen near King Sejong Station could not even compare.

There were so many penguins that....

"Ugh...."

Even from this distance, Ri Hyuk was gagging at the smell.

We accepted binoculars and quietly observed the penguins.

Junghyun looked with his naked eyes and said, "The penguins are staring at us."

"Yes. Even if it doesn't look that way, they're all aware of us."

Just then, Jiho exclaimed through his binoculars.

"Wow. The seagulls and penguins must get along really well. They're facing each other and dancing."

"Wow. They really are."

"That's cute."

As we watched the heartwarming sight of seagulls and penguins mingling together, Dr. Paeng's voice cut in.

"The skuas are hovering around because they're trying to eat the penguin chicks. They're after the eggs and the young."

"...."

"And the penguins are defending them."

It felt as though a nature documentary soundtrack had suddenly begun playing over the warm scene in my binoculars.

Whenever the gulls edged closer, the penguins spread their wings, cried out, and threatened them until they retreated.

"Nature is brutal."

"More brutal than the human world. The gulls don't have enough food unless they steal penguin eggs, while the penguins cannot allow their young to be taken...."

Dr. Paeng Gwiin sighed as he watched through the binoculars.

"Oh dear, the gull got an egg."

"It did. The egg... huh?"

An orange beak came bobbing in from somewhere.

Before the gull could react, a valiant gentoo penguin nimbly battered it with its wings.

Screech!

As the gull flapped away, the gentoo penguin let out a triumphant roar.

Junghyun narrowed his eyes and hummed thoughtfully.

"Hyung. That's the penguin."

"Hm?"

"The one we met on the beach."

"Really?"

I raised the binoculars and looked, then gasped.

The markings were unmistakably familiar.

So was the especially vivid orange beak.

It was the leader of the same group of penguins that had defeated the seals on the beach.

Then our eyes met.

"?"

Jiho blinked behind his binoculars.

"Huh? It's coming this way."

"What?"

The gentoo penguin began approaching us.

"Doctor, what should we do? Should we back away?"

"Just stay as still as possible. Don't make contact, keep your distance, and the penguin should retreat on its own... huh? It's coming? Why is it coming?"

A group of penguins marched toward us like a penguin battle fleet setting out.

Leaving adorable little footprints in the snow, they descended the slope and came right up to us.

Dr. Paeng Gwiin held his breath, and Gu Jaeyoung and the camera director also went silent so as not to agitate the penguins.

Bob.

I faced the penguin staring up at me.

I greeted it aloud.

"Hello."

"No, as if a penguin would respond just because you...."

The penguin flapped its wings.

Peep, peep!

Ri Hyuk closed his mouth.

I clicked my tongue.

"You look like a bird, yet no one understands a bird's heart less than you."

"Who are you calling a bird?!"

"Shh. You'll scare the penguins."

"Tch."

I met the gazes of the gentoo penguins staring up at me.

Eventually, the penguins turned around.

They waddled away again, then stopped and turned their heads to look back at me.

"Uh...."

I turned to Dr. Paeng Gwiin.

"Doctor."

"Yes?"

I asked the doctor, who was practically trembling with excitement as though he had witnessed something miraculous.

"I don't understand penguin body language, but doesn't it look like they're asking me to come with them?"

"It does seem that way...."

For some reason, their little eyes were sparkling.

As a gust of wind carried over the intense stench of droppings and Ri Hyuk gagged again, I hesitated for a moment.

Then I spread my arms like an emperor penguin and took a small step toward the leader.

"Hm. What should I call you? Uh... Jonathan?"

Peep, peep!

"All right. I'm sorry, but I can't follow you. An emperor penguin has an emperor penguin's own life to lead."

Peep....

"It's sad, but this is where we must part. Still, I believe in you, Jonathan. Our friendship will last forever."

The penguins simply stared at me.

When I turned away with the stately waddle of an emperor penguin, the gentoo penguins watched me for a moment before beginning to move.

Waddle, waddle.

As we waved at Jonathan and the other gentoo penguins proudly returning to their colony, Ri Hyuk asked,

"But why did you call him Jonathan?"

"Because of Jonathan Livingston Seagull."

"He's a seagull. Why do you think he's called Seagull? It literally means a sea gull."

"Huh? Ah!"

I had given him the wrong name.

"Why did I think Jonathan was a penguin name?"

By the time I realized the truth and reached helplessly into the air, Jonathan and the gentoo penguin group were already marching proudly away.

The others smiled warmly.

"Jonathan will never know that the name bestowed upon him by an emperor penguin was actually the name of a gull."

"Poor Jonathan...."

"You named a penguin after its mortal enemy. Your name shall be Ito Hirobumi."

"No, no, that's not what I meant...!"

I belatedly tried calling out various names containing "peng," but Jonathan merely waved a wing at us from afar.

It seemed as though he was saying,

-I'm Jonathan. Thank you for naming me.

"No...!"

My hollow cry was buried beneath the surrounding laughter and never reached the penguins.

After finishing our tour of the penguin colony.

"This is an incredible discovery. It's extremely rare for a gentoo penguin to recognize a human as another penguin. This may indicate that even among penguins...."

Thoroughly excited, Dr. Paeng Gwiin returned to the station to conduct research, while we boarded the snow vehicle and traveled a little farther.

One of the King Sejong Station researchers said,

"None of the places you've visited so far really felt like Antarctica, did they? There wasn't even much snow."

"Right."

"So now we're going to take you somewhere with a lot of snow. It would be a shame to come all the way to Antarctica and leave without seeing a snow-covered plain, wouldn't it?"

One of the researchers explained further.

"Strictly speaking, although King George Island, where King Sejong Station is located, is in Antarctica, it doesn't really feel like the Antarctic proper. It's closer to the Antarctic region, much like how Seoul and the greater metropolitan area are different. That's why serious glacial research is conducted in much colder places."

We sniffled and blinked.

"This... isn't cold?"

"No. Believe it or not, this is warm weather."

In other words, they intended to take us to the part of King George Island that felt most like Antarctica.

Rattle, rattle.

After traveling over the rough terrain, the snow vehicle finally stopped.

"Wooooow!"

"Wooooow...."

We climbed out and gasped.

White.

A pure white snowfield stretched out in every direction.

Other than the tracks left by the snow vehicle, everything was buried in snow. It was so brilliantly white that the reflected sunlight made my eyes ache.

"We'll stay in the vehicle. Don't go too far, and take your time looking around."

"You're not coming with us?"

"We'll be looking at this every day for the next few months."

While the researchers rested inside the snow vehicle and poured themselves hot cocoa, we covered our mouths in awe.

"This is insane."

"Hyung, this is really Antarctica. Antarctica."

"You're right. This really is Antarctica."

Honestly, until now, it had not truly felt like we had come to Antarctica.

We had seen Antarctic scenery, but we had spent most of our time indoors at King Sejong Station, and even when we went outside, we only traveled around nearby.

Aside from black soil and a gray sea, there had only been a little snow.

"Wow."

But this place truly felt like Antarctica.

It felt as though we could finally put the title "NewBlack Comes to Antarctica" on the footage.

"We've gotten everything we need thanks to Wooju, so relax and enjoy yourselves for a while. We'll film the scenery."

"Yes!"

"Don't go too far!"

Leaving Gu's voice behind, we wandered around excitedly.

There was snow everywhere.

We enjoyed the crisp crunch beneath our boots, touched the snow, and took countless pictures of one another.

After about thirty minutes of happily enjoying our outing.

"It's cold."

"It really is."

We had grown accustomed to the majestic scenery of Antarctica.

Now we were merely sniffling and hugging one another.

"We did come pretty far."

"Yeah."

Gu Jaeyoung and the production crew were holding some kind of meeting, while the staff by the distant snow vehicle were chatting. We could see them, but not their expressions.

Jiho said, "Hyungs, stay still for a second. You really can't hear anything."

"Hm?"

Just as he said, when I closed my eyes and stood quietly, I could hear nothing.

Absolute silence.

There was hardly any wind, so even the sound of our breathing seemed loud.

Biju smiled.

"I think people's feelings change easily depending on the situation."

"Why?"

"Don't you ever think this when promotions get difficult? That you want to rest somewhere quiet for just one week."

We all agreed.

Whenever we became physically and mentally exhausted, we sometimes wished we could spend a few days resting in a cabin in the woods, listening to birdsong.

Biju looked around and rubbed his eyes as though dazzled.

"But now that we're actually somewhere with no one around, I think I miss people."

"Me too."

"Me too."

The saying that the human heart was fickle fit perfectly.

When we were exhausted during the promotions for , I had thought, I want to go somewhere quiet like Antarctica.

A place where no one captured and analyzed every single one of our expressions, where we did not have to worry about how people would view our performances, and where we could simply relax among ourselves.

Yet now that we had actually come to such a place, what I missed was the warmth of the people drinking cocoa in the distance.

I probably would have felt the same even if the sight before me had not been the empty, snow-filled expanse of Antarctica, but the Grand Canyon, the Amazon rainforest, or Niagara Falls beneath a rainbow.

Ri Hyuk nodded.

"I agree. I prefer being alone too, but... people definitely need other people."

I asked the others,

"Should we head back?"

"Yep."

"Let's go get some cocoa. I need to get somewhere with lots of people."

We were walking back while having that conversation when it happened.

Maybe it was because I had suddenly thought about returning to a crowded place.

A certain space came to mind.

A place that made you want to leave the moment you were there, yet also made you want to return when you were alone.

A place filled with people my age.

An image formed in my mind.

Curtains fluttering in a breeze blowing through an open window.

Lazy midday sunlight falling across desks.

The noisy sounds drifting in from the schoolyard outside.

Lively, cheerful laughter.

-School.

As I thought of a word that felt like the polar opposite of Antarctica, something mysterious happened.

A melody I had completely forgotten surfaced in my mind.

It was the melody I had written while watching the aurora in Alaska.

The melody naturally began rearranging itself, and a powerful premonition surged through me.

"School...."

"What?"

I wiped my nose and turned shining eyes toward the confused others.

"Guys. How does a school concept sound for our next album?"