Chapter 1200: Extremes (11)

The year was 2014.

NewBlack, freshly chosen as models for the school uniform brand Everdream, had been wonderfully cute and youthful.

"Wow, I was really cute back then."

"Look at Jiho. He was seriously a baby. A baby."

The photos from that shoot made us smile automatically.

Junghyun said,

"It's a little hard to describe, but maybe it's because we were rookies. We all look like sweet potatoes still covered in dirt."

"You mean we had that unspoiled innocence, right, Junghyun hyung?"

"Yeah, yeah."

We all agreed.

The hairstyles looked dated and the poses awkward, but there was no denying the unique freshness and cuteness we had possessed as rookies.

Jiho and Ri Hyuk had been especially adorable.

"You were really cute back then."

"Lovable. I could even forgive you for spilling milk on the carpet."

"Wasn't forgiveness possible because I was the one who cleaned it up, not you?"

Pretending not to hear Ri Hyuk, I looked at Jiho's school uniform photos.

Was it because we saw one another every day?

Other than getting a little bigger, I had always thought his face looked exactly the same, but Jiho in his first year of high school looked genuinely young and fresh.

"Hehe."

We heard him giggling proudly at our praise.

Our youngest shoved his face toward us.

"What do you think? I was cute then, but I'm still super cute now, right?"

"You're cute. For now."

He still had that particular glow of someone in his early twenties, but....

We smiled warmly.

"That glow will disappear before long too...."

"Soon, you too shall be cursed with a body that never recovers from fatigue no matter how much you sleep. Heh heh heh!"

"Nooo!"

We laughed as he covered his ears like he did not want to hear it.

Just as we were about to keep reminiscing over the photos, Jiho said,

"Want me to tell you something seriously creepy?"

"What?"

"I'm twenty-two now, right? That's the same age Wooju hyung was when we took those."

"...."

The others blinked.

Then they looked back and forth between Jiho and me.

"Wooju hyung back then and Jiho now are the same age...."

"Huh?"

"That feels weird."

Jiho snickered and nodded.

"Right? Back then, I used to look at Wooju hyung and think, I'll be like that in five years...."

"But you aren't?"

"Turns out I'm not."

I laughed.

"That's how it is. Time passing doesn't automatically make you an adult. Once the youngest, always the youngest."

"Mrrgh."

"Come to think of it, that was around the time you cried while eating tteokbokki."

"He ran away from home back then."

As the story we had already milked hundreds of times began yet again, Jiho pouted and ate a snack.

"Anyway."

Jiho continued,

"Don't you think my idea is good? The commercial we filmed back then was set at a magic school. We can finally show the continuation to all the Souffles who kept saying, 'I'm dying to know what happens next~!'"

[Everdream Social Media Commercial - Magic School]

Even after five years, I remembered the commercial clearly.

The protagonist had been reading a webtoon called when they were transported into its world and began attending a magic school.

Since it ended on a scene designed to provoke maximum curiosity, even five years later, the MyTube upload was still full of furious comments.

-I heard every Souffle had to watch this ad, so I did, and what the hell

┕222222

┕LOLLLLL an ancient tradition in this fandom

┕I refuse to be the only one who watches this and gets mad.

-The fact that they never made a continuation after this is legendary LOLLLLL

-So what happens next?!

-I remember seeing this in middle school LOLLLLL We used to share it in group chats because it was the most infuriating commercial ever

"You had group chats in middle school...?"

"Huh? You didn't, hyung?"

"I used texts."

"Whoa."

Somehow, if Seokhwan hyung had been there, I felt like I would have heard him say, "You had cell phones when you were in school...?"

Jiho said,

"Ah, it's a shame the original commercial was taken down. I heard it had a ton of comments."

"Yeah."

What we were watching was a low-quality copy uploaded separately by a Souffle.

The company had taken down the original because we were no longer their models.

"Who are their models now?"

"For the boys, it's Flawless. They're a junior boy group to TeenSpirit that debuted under MOP. For the girls... who was it? Dahlia, the group from that survival show?"

"Ah."

After hearing the names of the rookie idol groups currently modeling for Everdream, I looked away.

In any case, the plan to purchase the old advertisement and turn it into a simple web drama sounded excellent.

Ri Hyuk smiled.

"It sounds fun. Almost like a musical."

"Right?"

Through meetings among ourselves and by sharing the idea with the TF team in Korea, we were able to settle on a distinctive concept for the new album.

-We film one web drama for every song.

The plan was to write the songs first, then film web dramas with stories suited to each track.

In a way, it was similar to a musical.

Of course, in a musical, the script came first and the numbers were written afterward, but they were alike in the sense that song and story were combined.

Jiho raised his hand.

"Hyungs! Then can I try writing the scripts? Writing and directing something is one of my dreams."

"Of course."

Since this would be a small-scale project anyway, we would probably be able to proceed without too much pressure.

Ri Hyuk smiled.

"I like this plan. It sounds fun. I studied musicals a little while ago too."

"Really?"

"And since we can keep it relaxed without too much pressure...."

Ri Hyuk trailed off and fixed his gaze on me.

"?"

I tilted my head.

"What?"

"I'm begging you, hyung. This time, please... please don't let the project spiral out of control. Let's keep it quiet and simple."

"...When have I ever made things spiral out of control?"

"You always do. Every single time. It's stressful."

The others nodded vigorously and added their own comments.

"We agreed to keep it small this time, hyung."

"Small and relaxed."

"It would be nice to keep the scale modest for once. Like the things we did when we were rookies."

I felt wronged.

"No, when have I ever let things get out of hand...."

"Why did we come to Antarctica?"

"...Because I made a ratings pledge."

"Why did we end up serving meals to foreign guests in Antarctica?"

"...Because I invited them."

See? the others said, clicking their tongues.

I truly had nothing to say.

"Fine. This time, let's really keep it small and relaxed, just among ourselves."

"No making it bigger?"

"Promise."

The five of us hooked pinkies and pretended to stamp our thumbs on the agreement, laughing.

Then I hesitated.

"The promise starts now, right?"

"What?"

"I was wondering whether anything I already set in motion before this counts."

My underlings narrowed their eyes.

"Did you do something?"

"No. There could be something I don't know about."

"Hmm. Fair enough. We'll forgive all your crimes committed before today."

"Ah, what a relief. Something had been weighing on my conscience."

My underlings snickered as I clutched my chest in relief.

We spent our final day at King Sejong Station with the people there.

Discussing the album was good, but honestly, when would we ever get another chance to visit Antarctica?

It felt wrong to come all the way to the end of the world only to shut ourselves in a room and work on music.

So on our last day, both we and the production crew relaxed and spent the day comfortably.

"Junghyun, want to play a game of billiards?"

"Sure."

"What about me? What about me? Cute little billiards beginner Wooju is right here~~!"

"Wooju, you can't play."

For some reason, despite claiming to be a beginner, I was barred from their wagered billiards game.

"Yai-yai-yai~ Yaya~! What's wrong with my age~~"

"Ha ha ha!"

We also danced excitedly with the other crew members in front of the karaoke machine at the station.

"Where's Ri Hyuk?"

"He said he was going around looking at the laboratories."

Ri Hyuk toured the labs with a vlog camera.

"First, when making New Bulgogi Baekban, the part you need to be careful about is...."

"Hold on, Biju. Let me write this down in my phone."

Biju taught the cooks recipes for simple dishes they could prepare at the station.

In the evening, we all held a small wrap party, sipping alcohol and other drinks together.

And so our last day in Antarctica passed.

"At last...."

We stood at the entrance to Sejong Hall, the central building of King Sejong Station, gripping the handles of our suitcases.

People had crowded into the lobby.

Regret flickered across the faces of the station crew, all dressed in various kinds of outdoor wear.

One of the older crew members said,

"Oh dear. Attachment really is frightening. It's only been a few days, but it feels like we've known each other for years."

"That's not entirely wrong. We've been watching NewBlack on TV for years."

At someone's comment, the crew member smoothly revised his statement.

"Oh dear. Television really is frightening. It's only been a few days, but it feels like we've known each other for years~"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

As everyone laughed, I stepped forward to speak for us.

"It's really time to say goodbye now."

I met each person's eyes.

Every face was filled with reluctance to part.

"We had such a wonderful time over the past few days. It must have been difficult to suddenly host guests, but thank you for treating us with such warmth and consideration. I don't think we'll ever forget filming here."

"Oh, it was nothing...."

As we went around thanking everyone one by one, the station leader presented us with certificates.

"We prepared something too. These are honorary crew member certificates...."

"Ooooh."

While my underlings accepted them with great emotion, I explained,

"We really love titles. We love certificates like this."

"Thank you! We'll display them in the case at our company. There happens to be an empty space next to Rabbit Uncle."

Everyone applauded and laughed at how blissfully we accepted our honorary King Sejong Station crew member appointments.

Gu Jaeyoung said,

"All right, shall we finish with a group photo?"

"Yes!"

We gestured to Suyeon, the Souffle.

"Come over here."

"Oh my."

Everyone twisted and wriggled around trying to secure a good position before we took the group photo and waved.

"Thank you so much! We probably won't... see you again, but let's meet in Korea someday~!"

"Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!"

The King Sejong Station crew waved back.

"May your next album be a huge hit!"

"Go, NewBlack!"

"Thank you for the delicious food! Have a safe trip home!"

We bowed deeply to the people seeing us off, then turned away.

The station crew shivered and retreated inside, while only those taking us to the airport remained outside.

As at the beginning, Dr. Paeng Gwiin was our guide.

Vroooom—

We departed by inflatable boat and arrived at the same airport where we had first landed.

In front of the plane preparing for takeoff, we said goodbye to Dr. Paeng Gwiin too.

"Thank you so much, Doctor."

"It's a shame. If you had stayed a few more days, I could have conducted an in-depth study into that unusual phenomenon involving the gentoo penguins...."

"It is. We would have liked to stay longer too if we didn't have another schedule."

"Are you going to the award ceremonies now?"

"Yes."

The plane came into view.

Perhaps because we had been in Antarctica, things that had felt as though they belonged to some distant world suddenly rushed back into reality.

"We have the Grammys and the Academy Awards."

"Oh my, you're heading to some enormous stages."

We shook hands with the doctor as he wished us good results.

We climbed the stairs to the plane and called out one more farewell.

"Take care, Doctor!"

"I'll be cheering you on from afar! The whole crew will watch you on television!"

"Okay!"

We bowed to the other King Sejong Station crew members as well before boarding the plane.

For a while, we waved through the windows at the people who continued waving back.

Rrrrrrrrrr—

The enormous aircraft lifted from Antarctic soil.

The ground receded in an instant.

It had not truly registered while we stood there, but as we gained altitude and the land of Antarctica spread out below us, I finally understood where we had been all this time.

Biju murmured to himself,

"I feel strangely sad. Like maybe we should have done more while we were in Antarctica."

"Yeah. This feels different from other destinations."

With any other destination, even if there were things we had failed to do or reasons for regret, we could simply tell ourselves we would come back someday.

Antarctica was different.

It was a place one might visit only once in a lifetime, if at all.

Apparently, I was not the only one thinking that.

Not just the members, but the production crew as well could not tear their eyes away from the windows.

As though they wanted to engrave the retreating Antarctic landscape into their memories.

"You worked really hard too, Producer Gu."

"Hard work? I had fun. I didn't get to film everything I wanted... but it was still good."

"You originally wanted to do something more like Antarctic exploration, right?"

"Yeah. Something like reaching the South Pole."

I smiled.

"You'll get the chance someday."

"With you guys?"

"There's a guy named Kevin in APLB. He handled winter warfare training in the army really well. And there's also a guy named Hanjo...."

Gu Jaeyoung listened with an amused smile.

All the while, the Antarctic land grew more distant.

He asked me,

"What about you, Wooju? How was it?"

"I loved it. And...."

I smiled as I looked at the white land of ice.

"I hope there comes a day when I can return at least once."

"Me too."

"I don't know when that will be...."

Everyone smiled and gazed at Antarctica with wistful eyes.

As the white land gradually faded and the plane rose above the clouds, an announcement sounded in English.

[Ladies and gentlemen, we are now leaving Antarctica and heading for Punta Arenas, Chile.]

It was time to return to the world.

At the same time.

The scientists at the American base in Antarctica looked at a computer screen and exclaimed.

"Did you hear? NewBlack just left Antarctica."

"Really?"

"A friend at the Korean station emailed me... damn, I'm jealous. They got a photo with NewBlack."

"You didn't take one?"

"They were serving food right in front of me. How could I ask them for a photo too?"

"Fair point."

As they enjoyed their coffee break, one of the scientists glanced at a closed laboratory door.

"Amy is going to be devastated. She's a huge NewBlack fan."

"Should we tell her?"

"Leave her alone. There's no point telling her something that'll only upset her."

They smiled as they remembered their colleague, who had been in an unusually good mood ever since returning from King Sejong Station.

One scientist asked,

"By the way, what is Amy doing? She hasn't come out of the lab since she got back from the Korean station."

"Well... she said she was preparing a gift for NewBlack."

"A gift? What kind?"

"How would I know?"

They blinked in confusion.

NewBlack had already left Antarctica, so how was she supposed to give them a gift?

But the subject soon slipped from their minds.

As the scientists began discussing a recently released superhero film, one paleontologist disappeared from the conversation.

"Hmmmm."

Inside the laboratory, Amy Parkins removed her glasses as she stared at a fossil.

"Yes. This is it."

A broad smile spread across her face.

This was the gift she had prepared for NewBlack.

Tap, tap—

When she typed on the laptop, the computer displayed a 3D model of the dinosaur's estimated living appearance.

A sleek body.

A pointed snout.

A strangely sly-looking face.

Resembling Compsognathus, the small but frightening dinosaur that had also appeared in , this fossil belonged to a newly discovered dinosaur Amy Parkins had found on the Antarctic continent.

In other words, it was a dinosaur without a name.

Tap-tap-tap—

Amy Parkins chuckled as she typed on the keyboard.

The name of the sly-looking dinosaur she would present to the academic world was....

[Seorihyuksaurus]

Amy smiled blissfully and cupped both cheeks.

He's going to love it, right?

It was a surprise gift from a Souffle to her favorite.