Chapter 784: Question (5)

While the production staff of Honey, I'm Going Fishing had tears in their eyes as they clasped Wooju and Junhyun’s hands, word of NewBlack’s visit to IBC Broadcasting was already spreading on entertainment forums.

[Spotted: Wooju & Junhyun at IBC]

(photo.jpg of the two members surrounded by IBC staff)

ㅇㅇ

Why did they even go there???

Maybe they went to film some new music show launch?

lolol looks like they’re filming another variety show

heartbeat emoji

Is that the gaunt dude Nam Dohun??ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Haven’t seen him in ages, why does he look half his old self

Is NewBlack filming a show with IBC??

It’s not unusual for celebrities to show up at a network.

But it was another matter that NewBlack had turned up at a station that’s been rising lately because of its variety shows.

“This is one hundred percent a variety meeting.”

Just standing there was funny enough as a two-shot.

It was the Woo–Junhyun combo, the pair specialized for variety.

Just their outfits are hilariousㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Sun Wooju’s outfit is all flowers but Junhyun’s is leaf-colored, it’s too funnyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

(pic.jpg of Junhyun giving Wooju a piggyback) who does that in a broadcast lobbyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The clip is even funnierㅋㅋㅋㅋ “Hello, we’re Flower and Leaf”

Netizens burst out laughing at the absurd duo already clowning around in the station lobby.

For anyone into showbiz, it was a feel-good scene.

“Variety, huh.”

Except for the escape-room show earlier in the year, NewBlack hadn’t done much variety since 2017.

They’d been suddenly busy with overseas schedules and hadn’t had time for variety filming.

Now that they apparently had room again and were turning back to domestic variety, variety fans were delighted.

heartbeat emoji

Ah I’m already excitedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Where will they show up??

Or are they launching a brand-new variety??

nah if it were a launch all the members would be here

IBC has some well-known shows too, they’ll probably appear on one of those

Talks flew: new variety launch, famous program guesting, and so on.

Entertainment reporters jumped in as guesses proliferated.

“What show is it?”

Reporters scrambled to scoop where NewBlack would appear.

“PD Park, it’s me. I heard NewBlack visited IBC — is it your program? No? If it is, you have to say so. I’ll be in an awkward spot later!”

The PD of the famous talk show “GuiGok Mountain Lodge” waved his hands, saying it wasn’t them.

“Really not? There’s barely any shows Wooju and Junhyun would be on besides this one. They’re the kind of members with stamina.”

The crew of the climbing-themed show also denied it.

Reporters knocking on the doors of IBC’s flagship shows were puzzled.

“No way this is happening, right?”

At first they suspected someone up top had ordered secrecy, but everyone really did seem clueless.

Entertainment reporters put their phones down and looked at each other.

“Should we call Lemon?”

“No point. That place keeps its mouth shut. They only send press releases once things are finalized.”

“Still, what is it?”

News of NewBlack appearing on variety was big in the TV world.

A national idol with a comedic image — now also with a “global star” tag — was news either way.

“Hmm...”

Reporters crossed items off a whiteboard one by one, eliminating the high-rating shows.

One item remained.

Honey, I'm Going Fishing

On the face of it, a B-grade sensibility program.

“...it can’t be this one?”

“This isn’t it.”

“What kind of ratings does this show get? Barely one percent, and that’s only these past few weeks.”

Compared to talk shows getting up to seven percent, it was negligible.

But it was the only option left.

And then—

Yes. That’s right.

It was the confirmed answer.

The two of them are appearing on our show... but...

Reporters who got the confirmation from the program’s main PD wore stunned expressions.

“Why?”

They couldn’t understand why NewBlack would be on a show said to be watched mainly by middle-aged men...

But fingers flew across keyboards.

IBC “Honey, I’m Going Fishing” to feature Wooju–Junhyun... “Variety-idol comeback”

Netizens and reporters alike were bewildered.

no way

identity we couldn’t have imaginedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

huh

Fishing..??

My dad and grandfather watch this show

Actually it suits themㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ feels like a perfect match

The show title is weird—translated it’s like ‘Honey, go kill me’ lolol

“Please kill me” = “I’m going fishing for 2 nights and 3 days” hehe

Ah! A divorce encouragement show (I get it)

At first reactions were “random,” but soon “fits them” became the dominant take.

What kind of trophy fish will they catch

(meme image) what chaos will unfold this time

Can’t wait to see Wooju become a 50-year veteran

Wooju: Junhyun, isn’t that a great white shark?

Junhyun: It’s okay, it’s still a baby

This fishing cluster is gonna be legendaryㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

I can already picture it

Because their variety characters are so clearly defined, parody posts predicting lines and scenes were already popping up.

[Predicted CUTs: Wooju & Junhyun on Fishing]

Cast: Oh my, who is that! It’s NewBlack — why are you here? Do you like fishing?

Junhyun: Yes~ My dream was to be a fisherman

A huge fish flapping on deck

Stunned staff and cast

Amazed Junhyun and smug Wooju

Wooju: It works, hehe

(etc.)

lolololol

I watched a whole episode in my headㅋㅋㅋㅋ

So excited alreadyㅋㅋㅋㅋ

If Wooju shows a sashimi-cutting scene it’ll be perfect

This thread will become sacredㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Their personalities are so obvious someone made this alreadyㅋㅋㅋㅋ but the fact it doesn’t feel off is funnier

Pilgrimage to the sacred site in advance, please make my lottery numbers come true

Netizens, trained on NewBlack TV, were posting predicted lines and scenes for the two members.

Excitement at NewBlack’s return to TV variety spread, and soon they were trending.

[Realtime search keywords]

Honey, I’m Going Fishing

going fishing

Honey fishing

Love’s Fishing

Because the program name was weird, the realtime search results turned into a joke party.

The producers of Honey, I’m Going Fishing stared at one another in disbelief.

“It’s on the realtime searches....”

“We should’ve picked a better program name!”

“Who could’ve known it’d turn out like this.”

They regretted having chosen a title they assumed would never be a hit.

“This is insane....”

“This must be the NewBlack effect. No wonder PDs beg NewBlack to be on their shows.”

“We’re getting huge traffic before we even start.”

And NewBlack’s effect didn’t stop there.

[2.3%]

Even before NewBlack had appeared, the latest episode’s ratings had nearly doubled.

Ratings ballooned several times higher before the NewBlack episode even aired.

“Oh my god.”

The production team felt the butterfly effect Wooju and Junhyun had brought.

They were the dream guests every variety producer wanted.

“PD, don’t cry. You can’t cry yet.”

“Waaah!”

“Oh PD, if you cry we’ll cry too... boohoo......”

Maybe because Christmas was near, NewBlack felt like Santa handing out gifts.

Everything was perfect.

Except for one thing.

“Honey Fishing” NewBlack effect? “Record-high ratings”

“Honey Fishing” PD Lee Junhee: “I feel like I should prostrate to NewBlack”

[This Week’s Issue] “Honey Fishing”... a new milestone in fishing variety

The production team gazed wistfully into space.

“But why did our show get nicknamed ‘Honey Fishing’...?”

“.......”

“.......”

Everything was perfect except that the show’s name had solidified online as that odd nickname.

December 25th.

The day when a red-clad benefactor leads a reindeer chariot and doesn’t give gifts to crying children.

It was Christmas.

“Merry Christmas~~”

“We’ve been counting down to this day~~”

We hummed the carol we released in 2015 as snow fell.

We pulled out gift boxes with a “ta-ta-ta” like sleds.

“Merry Christmas, everyone!”

“Waaah!”

We handed gift boxes we prepared for our TF staff.

Starting with Minki, Wonseok, the three road managers, and our stylists, everyone cheered at the presents.

“Thanks, you guys!”

“Thank you so much!”

“Wow, this is...”

Our stylist burst out laughing after reading the note in one of the gift boxes.

The envelope bore the Lemon Entertainment logo.

“Haha! What is this, like a Blue House gift?”

We smiled proudly and nodded.

‘Because we’re the major shareholder.’

‘This is the owner’s gift.’

For Christmas we’d put Lemon Entertainment’s logo on the gift envelopes.

After all, it really was our company now.

We smiled at the gifts, the major shareholder’s offering, and looked around the waiting room.

Someone said, “By the way, this year it’s at Gocheok Dome instead of COEX? Did the venue change?”

“No, it didn’t.”

I answered.

“COEX is being used for Pyeongchang Winter Olympics preparations.”

“Oh....”

“They’re using the entire exhibition hall.”

This year’s year-end HBS music awards were at Gocheok Dome.

Traditionally it was held at COEX, but the organizing committee had booked COEX for Olympic preparations.

Biju said, “It’s nice since it’s our first time performing at Gocheok Dome in a while. We were on stage for Mango recently.”

“Right. It’s better for stage adaptation.”

We stretched and warmed up.

Jiho, warming up beside me, said, “It feels like it’s been two years. Feels really long, doesn’t it?”

“A lot happened in between.”

This music awards stage was our first appearance in two years since our 2 minute 30 second performance in 2015.

Two years isn’t that long, but so many events had happened in that time it felt like ages.

Falling Blossoms. The birth of composer Wooju. Empire. Dokkaebi. U.S. debut. Coin, etc.

We’d levelled up a lot while apart from HBS.

Maybe that’s why we were being treated so well.

“Hello. Haha.”

“Hello!”

“Yes, it’s our first time in two years, right? Welcome back.”

The main PD of HBS’s popular-artist show and today’s director politely checked in on our condition and offered well wishes.

“Humph.”

Ri Hyuk scowled at the closed door as if thinking, ‘Don’t spoil me with over-the-top treatment; acting like that never should’ve been allowed in the first place.’

He’d clearly seen too much of that.

Click—

But when the door opened again, Ri Hyuk relaxed his leg and put on a business smile.

“Oh, by the way.”

The PD looked at me and said, “Wooju, could you stand by soon? We need to rehearse the MC special stage and lines.”

“Yes, PD!”

“I’ll see you later. Bye for now.”

There was still plenty of time before the awards; rookie groups were rehearsing in the morning, and our rehearsal would be later, but as MC I had a lot to do.

“I’ll be right back.”

“See you.”

After a mock high-five with Junhyun, I bumped palms with the other members.

Biju warned playfully into my back, “Don’t make Kevin miserable, okay?”

“It’s fine. Eunseong can take it.”

“No. I’m worried it’ll make the news.”

“Oh....”

Right — the headline “Singer Eun M. runs away after being bullied by popular singer Woo M.” floated into my head.

“I’ll behave.”

I gave a thumbs-up and left the waiting room.

And then—

“Oh?”

“Ah, you came out.”

Eunseong, standing near our waiting room in a hoodie, caught my eye.

With a sly fox face and sleepy eyes he grinned.

Eunseong’s fans would love it, but that smile immediately made my blood boil.

Well. Today I’d be civil.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“Hm?”

He grinned and asked, “Well, I am kinda handsome, right?”

“.......”

“Don’t stare — just look comfortably. I know I’m good-looking.”

“.......”

My patience was already wearing thin.

Having MC’d in Gwanghwamun Plaza before, the rehearsal went smoothly.

“One more time.”

Stage lights flashed and the opening BGM played.

“Hello viewers! Wishing success for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, united Korea!”

I grabbed the mic and made eye contact with the front camera.

“This is Wooju of NewBlack, hosting the 2017 HBS Music Awards!”

“Hello. I’m Kevin from APLB, your co-MC!”

“Ah, Kevin, hello.”

“Yes, good evening, senior.”

Playing up small talk in rehearsal, Kevin’s timing and sense—proven by his many variety appearances—were excellent.

“How was I?”

“You were great.”

“See, I got Wooju’s approval!”

The staff laughed at Kevin’s mic line, “Everyone! Wooju approved me!”

I let out an embarrassed chuckle but felt satisfied.

Kevin’s greatest strength is that he knows precisely when to hit and retreat with jokes.

In the busy, tense late-year staff environment, timing a joke is not something just anyone can do.

“Phew.”

Under the hot lights, sweat formed as we rehearsed; both of us gulped water bottles.

Kevin looked at the lights and said, “Reminds me of the military. In summer, everyone went out to work while we messed with keyboards under the AC...”

“Please, Kevin. Don’t talk like you suffered.”

“Really...?”

We chatted in a nostalgic tone while waiting when a camera with the HBS logo rolled onto the stage.

The writer beside the cameraman said, “We’re shooting behind-the-scenes today.”

“Oh.”

“We’ll post HBS Music Awards BTS on MyTube. Please cooperate!”

“Sure.”

We waved to the camera, playing friendly.

“What are you doing right now?”

“MC rehearsal.”

We waved a cue card reading that and joked shoulder-to-shoulder.

“This year’s MCs are me and my military junior Kevin. It’s a picture-perfect duo, right?”

“Not a picture — a masterpiece~”

“Also, there’s a rumor we don’t get along. Actually we’re very close.”

“Really, I’ve never heard that rumor either~”

We smiled, then mock-glared at each other for a bit of variety fun.

“What's your relationship?”

“I was Wooju’s junior in the service; he taught me singing so I debuted thanks to him.”

“Right. I’m Eunseong’s idol father. Eunfather.”

HBS Music Awards hype! The lineups are stellar this year!

That wrapped the BTS shoot.

“Lastly, our MCs have a special stage today! Please look forward to it!”

“Please do~!”

They struck the back-to-back pose, the writer said, “Great work,” and the stage rehearsal wrapped.

“Two of you, standby!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Our prepared stage was a cover of an old hit. HBS had asked us to pick an old classic; we chose one I’d taught Eunseong in the military.

Eunseong adjusted his hoodie strings and smiled sheepishly.

“It feels really strange.”

“It does feel unreal. You and me...”

We’d sung karaoke together before but never performed onstage as a duet. Feeling awkward, we strapped on guitars.

I plucked a few strings on the acoustic.

“Ready.”

We signaled the staff.

At the same time, singers in the waiting corridor watched the TV and murmured.

“Oh? Looks like Wooju is rehearsing.”

“Who’s beside him? Kevin? That guy really made it.”

“Hey, check it out, Wooju’s rehearsing.”

On the screen, I played acoustic guitar while Kevin traded vocal lines.

Even across the screen, the NewBlack leader’s face and tone of voice captivated viewers.

Kevin grabbed the mic and sang on.

“Wow, the harmony is insane.”

“Right. Wooju taught Kevin and that’s how he became an idol.”

“No wonder.”

“Both of them sing so well...”

As main and lead vocalists of various groups showed excellent skill, juniors admired them.

Suddenly there was a stir behind them.

‘Whoa!’

The juniors’ eyes widened as NewBlack members quietly stood behind, watching.

“Ah, hello!”

“Hi!”

Flustered, the juniors greeted them and NewBlack smiled warmly.

‘Seniors are monitoring us.’

Juniors hoping to impress favorite senior artists cleared throats and began praising them.

“Wow. Their vocal blend is amazing.”

“Right. They could even release a duet single.”

“.......”

The air cooled as NewBlack’s members gave off a slightly sullen vibe.

Their faces still smiled, but the twitching of eyebrows over their eyes hinted at hidden sadness.

‘What’s that? We gave Wooju praise—why...’

‘Maybe we imagined it?’

Someone started speaking up.

“Wooju’s vocals are so great that he’d pair well with anyone for a duet...”

The subtle frown returned.

Then someone, sensing the tension, added,

“But still, when NewBlack seniors are on stage, their blend is just the best...”

Sparkles!

NewBlack members’ faces bloomed like sunflowers.

Especially Ri Hyuk, who’d been sulky like a small cucumber, smiled broadly.

‘So that’s it!’

The juniors had learned the perfect way to court senior favor.