Chapter 832: Is This the Land of the New Black? (8)

"Urrrgh...."

"Get it together, sir."

"Urrrgh...."

"Are you okay? Are you really okay?"

A pale white hand waved back and forth in front of my face.

"I’m... fine."

My voice came out hoarse, and Ri Hyuk frowned.

"You didn’t even sing yesterday. Why is your voice gone?"

"I don’t know. Maybe I was just that nervous."

"No, I think your stomach acid refluxed. You coughed a bit in your sleep at dawn, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then it refluxed. Stress."

My throat was prickly and I coughed intermittently. He was probably right.

This damn stomach again.

I barely pushed myself upright and drank the water Biju handed me.

"Ughhh...."

My whole body felt like it had the flu.

My shoulders were stiff, my lower back that had been tense all day throbbed... my entire body was screaming.

I must have been far more tense than I realized because of the Opening Ceremony.

"Ughhh...."

I stretched while staring at the morning sunlight streaming in through the hotel window.

"So what time is it?"

"Ten."

"I really slept in."

"You slept super quietly, hyung. I’ve never seen you sleep that deeply."

I laughed at Junhyun’s comment and we gathered around the table in the hotel room.

Jiho called room service on behalf of everyone and then looked out the window.

"Nice view."

The Alpensia Resort area in Pyeongchang.

Yesterday it looked like a frozen wasteland from hell. Now it looked like a peaceful Christmas village.

We admired the snow-covered resort for about five minutes.

Then, like proper modern people, we each pulled out our smartphones despite the beautiful scenery.

—‘One Passion United,’ Best Moments of the Pyeongchang Opening Ceremony TOP 5

—Seon Myeongju and Sun Wooju, the ‘Nation’s Father and Son’... What Their Question and Answer Left Behind

—[Current Affairs Issue] ‘Is Your Republic Doing Well?’... A Portrait of Our Unsettled Times

Our joint performance had been named one of the best moments of the ceremony.

—My eyes teared up watching it... it was so moving

—I think everyone had the same expression during the ceremony ㅎㅎ Wooju, you did great ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

—Fighting

—Cheering for you ^^ NewBlack is the best

—The songs were amazing but yesterday’s festival atmosphere was just incredible ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

—Wooju oppa ㅠㅠㅠㅠ you grew up so well

What does “you grew up well” even mean?

I tilted my head and kept scrolling.

—ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Watching this and then switching to Wife Fishing was such whiplash

That comment made something click.

"Ah."

"What?"

"Wife Fishing aired yesterday."

"Ah!"

We had completely forgotten because of the ceremony.

Junhyun blinked.

"I thought it would be preempted. So it aired?"

"Yeah. I assumed it would be off because of the ceremony...."

All three major networks had canceled their dramas and variety shows, so I assumed this would too.

I should’ve watched it yesterday...

Then I shook my head.

I had been so exhausted I fell asleep while on the phone with Kim Deoksun.

"Too bad."

Jiho sighed.

"The ratings probably weren’t great because of the ceremony...."

"Nothing we can do."

The Olympics were covering everything—politics, economy, society, culture. Ratings dropping would be natural.

While thinking that, I spotted a strange article.

—Wife Fishing Episode 2, ‘Olympic Boost’ Sets IBC All-Time Record... 19.8%

"......."

"......."

I rubbed my eyes and read it again.

"How many percent?"

"It says... nineteen point eight percent."

"Round that up and it’s twenty percent."

Ri Hyuk’s helpful clarification made me blink.

So...

After the Opening Ceremony ended, Wife Fishing had exploded in ratings.

"Don’t even dramas struggle to hit that?"

"Th-that’s right?"

Cable or general programming channel dramas had to become nationwide phenomena to hit that number.

"And why...?"

The article explained.

After the Olympics ended—

—Wow, that ceremony was amazing. Should we turn off the TV?

—Is there anything else on?

Viewers still riding the ceremony’s excitement flipped channels.

—Nothing’s on.

—Check another channel. The chicken isn’t here yet....

All three major networks were airing only current affairs programs.

Then they happened to land on IBC.

And there we were—me and Junhyun.

Since I had just performed at the Opening Ceremony, Episode 2 sucked in viewers who had nothing else to watch.

"Wow."

Jiho said.

"The game site I always go to is full of Olympics and Wife Fishing posts."

"Really?"

"Look. Hyung, half the best posts are about you."

"No way...!"

Junhyun and I laughed loudly.

Then—

"Wait."

I looked at Junhyun.

"What kind of scenes would’ve aired in Episode 2?"

"If it’s Episode 2, it probably went up to the first fishing on Day 2... hmm...."

Thanks to experience, we could roughly picture the broadcast cut.

It probably went up to Junhyun catching the shark on Day 2.

That part was fine.

But—

The humiliating scenes before that flashed through my mind.

—Aaaagh!

Me catching half a barracuda.

—You cunning fish!

—This fish is just stupidly strong!

Junhyun and I tangling our lines in disgrace.

Calling Thai Souffle and shaking bracelets to perform a mock abundance ritual.

Those scenes had aired to twenty percent of the country.

My body hair stood on end.

As expected—

"Hahaha!"

"Wait, you did this while fishing in Thailand?"

"Wow. You guys are really terrible at fishing."

The brats were cackling at highlight clips.

Junhyun and I exchanged bright smiles.

"Still, we achieved our original goal. Junhyun. Our goal was to hit big ratings."

"That’s right."

"We hit twenty percent with a variety show. Even dramas don’t get that. We need to brag about this."

Ding dong.

Knock knock.

—Room service!

Junhyun and I jumped and dove under the blankets.

The hotel staff wheeled in the cart and set down the food.

—Are the other two not here?

—They’re hiding under the blanket.

—Ah.

The staff laughed.

—I really enjoyed Wife Fishing yesterday.

"Thank you...."

We answered from under the blanket.

Ri Hyuk snickered at us as we ate and scrolled.

Embarrassing... but still good.

Twenty percent.

And the impactful scenes were already turning into memes.

[An Idol With No Anti-Fans.jpg]

(Shark-catching photo.jpg)

There are no haters because they’ve all been defeated (nod)

—ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

—Junhyun catches sharks...

—How strong do you have to be to catch a shark lol

—Certified no-hate idolㅋㅋㅋㅋ

—Nature vs human... but human wins

—LOL nature was weak

I laughed until Junhyun showed me another post.

"Hyung. Look at this. They’re calling you the high roller of fishing."

"Oh."

High roller sounded like a master.

I smiled and clicked.

[Sun Wooju, the High Roller of Fishing]

(Half-barracuda.jpg)

???: I only take half the fish

I closed my eyes slowly.

The younger ones burst out laughing.

—ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

—Wooju? Best fishing failure I’ve ever seen

—Sun Wooju method of catching one fish: catch two and split themㅋㅋㅋㅋ

—Same as stocksㅎㅎ

—Half but I was offended for the fishㅋㅋㅋㅋ

—Yesterday’s episode proved fishing is destiny

Not the reaction I wanted when I first joined the show.

Instead of “Heir of the Dragon Palace,” I had become “The Man of Half.”

"Hyung."

Junhyun placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled warmly.

"Life has ups and downs. You can’t get too happy or too sad."

"......."

"That’s how I see it."

He said that—but clearly he was thrilled about being famous for catching a shark.

His profile picture had already changed to the shark shot.

As I felt faintly annoyed at his smugness, Biju slid his phone over.

"Hey. Kim Junhyun. Look at this."

"Huh?"

"It’s praising your fishing skills."

"Really?"

We leaned in.

[Honestly even if he had some misses, Kim Junhyun is insanely good at fishing]

Higher batting average than the KG Dragons

"......."

The KG Dragons supporter slowly let the phone slip from his hand.

Tomato juice dribbled down someone’s chin.

We burst out laughing.

Thank goodness it was Winter Olympics season and not baseball.

After breakfast—

We took a walk around the Olympic Village.

"National team! Fighting!"

"We’re cheering for you!"

Quite a few national athletes were Souffle, so we’d received visit requests.

We visited personally, shouted “Fighting!” and took photos.

Gave them merch.

Even athletes who weren’t fans welcomed us warmly.

"Yesterday’s fishing was so fun! Junhyun caught a shark!"

"Thank you."

"You should come to the Jincheon training center. With looks like that, you’d make unpopular sports popular instantly."

"Haha."

"With that physique and face... whew!"

Junhyun scratched the back of his head while we nodded.

He really did have the build to succeed as an athlete.

Tall.

Lean but muscular like Olympic competitors.

Certain outfits looked sporty on him. Ri Hyuk looked like a scarecrow in a windbreaker. Junhyun looked like an athlete.

"There you go again. You were insulting me in your head, weren’t you."

"Ri Hyuk. Does the world revolve around you?"

Sharp, as always.

Anyway, with Junhyun drawing attention, we toured the village as ambassadors.

The best part was—

"Wow."

"This is so good...."

The Olympic Village cafeteria.

We had low expectations.

It was incredible.

A nation serious about food.

"Did you see that? There’s Newbulbaek on the menu."

"Yeah."

Foreign athletes were surprisingly taking a lot of it.

When I gave a thumbs-up and said, “I developed that,” they laughed among themselves.

It’s true though....

"That was amazing."

"Happiness isn’t far away. Sleep well and eat well—that’s happiness."

We left the cafeteria smiling.

Warm sunlight poured down.

Today was our short reward before preparing for the Closing Ceremony.

Two weeks of near all-nighters awaited.

But—

"For today, let’s really enjoy it!"

"Go go go!"

We toured Olympic Plaza.

Watched part of the curling preliminaries predicted to be hot this year.

Then we headed to watch the women’s cross-country skiathlon 7.5+7.5km final.

Cross-country skiing.

The marathon of the snowfield.

"So that’s fifteen kilometers nonstop?"

"Yep."

Ri Hyuk pointed at the course in the booklet.

It was long enough to be exhausting even on a bicycle.

"Oh! They’re entering."

Athletes in colorful uniforms entered holding poles.

Thick thighs like track athletes.

"The Nordic athletes are the favorites. Norway is dominant in this event."

"Wow."

"If Ri Hyuk got lightly shoved, he’d fly."

The Nordic athletes looked like final bosses.

Skiing was a daily sport there.

Then—

"There she is!"

"Souffle!"

Suzy Clark, the British national team rookie who once said, “Is this the country of NewBlack?”

The Scottish athlete in red entered.

"Quiet."

Ri Hyuk whispered.

"If she notices us, she’ll feel pressure."

"She already noticed."

The brown-haired athlete stared wide-eyed.

She covered her mouth, then waved.

We waved back.

"Oh!"

A British supporter nearby smiled.

"NewBlack!"

"And you are...?"

"I’m her father. She talks about you constantly."

"Ah! We’re your daughter’s singers."

We shook hands.

"She’s such a fan she custom-designed her goggles."

"Really?"

"There. Look."

Among athletes warming up, Suzy Clark put on pink floral goggles.

"Flower pattern!"

"That’s dedication."

She nodded at us determinedly.

We cheered.

She swallowed and joined the lineup.

Then the buzzer.

"Whoaaaa!"

They shot forward.

The final stretch.

Forty minutes in.

Norwegian supporters roared.

Norway dominated.

But—

"Souffle!"

"Suzy!"

Our British rabbit surged forward.

She passed a Finnish athlete and approached Norway.

She evaded interference smoothly and entered the corner.

Like a speed skater, she cornered wide and closed the gap.

"Whoa!"

We stood.

She edged past Norway by a hair.

"Whoaaaa!"

British supporters and we clapped and gasped.

Norway chased, but Suzy extended the lead.

The crowd grew louder.

She approached the finish.

She glanced back, lifted her poles, twirled them in celebration.

And—

Crossed.

"WHOOOO!"

British supporters hugged us, crying.

A massive upset.

Her father hugged me and shouted thanks.

Suzy removed her goggles and smiled brightly.

"This isn’t the time. Guys."

"Yes!"

We rummaged quickly and put on gold caps.

NewBlack, singers of a gold medalist.

We sent hearts.

Suzy responded with the Dokkaebi dance.

"WHOOOO!"

British supporters hugged us, crying.

Nordic supporters laughed in disbelief.

"You did great!"

"So proud of you, Souffle!"

She cried at our cheers.

It became one of the iconic moments of the Olympics.

Soon dubbed online as “legal doping.”