Chapter 867: Answer (20)

Same time.

It wasn’t only the youngest of NewBlack who was experiencing something similar.

“Hm?”

Ri Hyuk had come to the broadcasting station for a meeting about an OST for a drama that had been named one of the most talked-about works of the first half of 2018.

“Oh my. Ri Hyuk, you’re here. Please, have a seat!”

“Ah, yes.”

It was a bit bewildering to see the planning PD personally pulling out a chair for him.

“Haha. Maybe it’s because it’s spring, but the weather’s gotten quite warm. I thought you might be thirsty, so I brought you an Americano. It’s made with Jamaican beans you like. Hahaha!”

“We actually brought coffee for everyone....”

“Oh come on. We can’t just keep receiving!”

As usual, they had brought coffee for the production staff—but this time, it was the complete opposite.

The broadcasting staff, who normally only received, had gone out of their way to bring coffee from a famous café.

‘What is this?’

Ri Hyuk’s eyes sharpened.

‘Something definitely happened while I wasn’t looking....’

Thanks to the title of “national idol,” NewBlack had a more approachable image compared to their actual status.

They were top stars, but not the kind that industry people found difficult to approach.

So conversations were usually casual and friendly.

But now...

Watching the broadcasting staff act overly polite, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

‘What happened?’

Ri Hyuk, who prided himself as the team’s only brain, began rapidly turning over possibilities.

As he considered various variables, a certain face suddenly popped into his mind.

He paused as Wooju’s face appeared in his thoughts.

‘For some reason... it feels like this is related to Wooju... hyung. Wait. Why am I even calling him hyung in my head?’

For a moment, Wooju’s face flashed by—doing a playful “V” sign with a mischievous grin—but Ri Hyuk shook his head.

‘No. I’m just being overly conscious of him.’

Just because something strange happened didn’t mean it was all connected to Wooju.

And so his conclusion ended up mirroring that of the younger member by one year.

‘As expected....’

Ri Hyuk’s hand stroked the sharp line of his chin.

‘People have finally recognized my true worth. Heh heh heh.’

In that regard, the main vocalist wasn’t much different from the younger member.

And the older members were experiencing strange things as well.

“This is weird.”

“What is?”

“Didn’t the broadcasting staff seem a bit more friendly than usual today?”

At Biju’s words, Junghyun lifted his head.

“Hmm.......”

“Right?”

“Hmm. Is that so? I don’t remember how it usually was.”

At his friend’s indifferent reply, Biju shook his head.

‘Seriously.’

Wasn’t this the same guy who, when others reacted with “What the hell?” to a borderline racist comment in Europe, responded alone with “Oh, thank you,” leaving Europeans stunned?

He had picked the wrong person to talk to.

As his friend casually asked what to eat, the elevator numbers ticked upward one by one in front of Biju’s eyes.

‘What was that earlier, really?’

While Wooju was busy doing a few days of promotions in Korea with Cold Brown, the others weren’t resting either.

Late at night and at dawn, all five gathered to practice choreography through the night.

But during the day, each had their own schedules.

At NewBlack’s level, each member was essentially a brand.

Their group fee was extremely high, and depending on the image needed, different members were called.

For example, Biju was called for cooking or soft-image content, Ri Hyuk for intellectual or music-related work, and Junghyun for farming or elderly-related programs.

That was why the two of them had briefly visited PBS’s for a rural cooking segment.

—Oh! Hello! Wow~ NewBlack is here!

But every person they passed in the broadcasting station hallway greeted them in an exaggeratedly eager manner, which felt strange.

“Have you ever been greeted like that at a broadcasting station before?”

“Was it like that? Oh, today’s cafeteria A menu is Jeonju bibimbap. Nice.”

“.......”

“They’re serving yogurt too. I’m getting two.”

“.......”

As Biju sighed, the elevator doors opened.

6th floor.

But he tilted his head as he looked at his friend, who didn’t get off.

“Hey. Aren’t you getting off?”

“Going to eat. Good luck.”

Junghyun pressed the close button.

“Hey, you....”

As the doors closed and his same-age friend went up to the 7th floor, Biju pouted.

‘Choke on your food!’

He had never seen him choke before, so it was hard to imagine—but still, Biju silently cursed him.

Heading to the 6th-floor lounge as usual, he spotted someone already there.

“Hm?”

Their eldest member, looking exhausted, was popping supplements into his mouth.

Biju’s face brightened.

“Hyung!”

“Biju, you’re here?”

He yawned widely—it must have been a tough schedule.

It was probably because of yesterday’s recording.

As Biju asked about the recording, he soon noticed something on the table.

“Hm? Aren’t those the cookies I baked?”

“Yeah.”

He had given cookies according to the number of participants—so why were there leftovers?

Wooju spoke casually.

“One of the participants said they didn’t want it and didn’t take one. Maybe their stomach wasn’t feeling great.”

“Hmm.......”

“So I’m going to eat it.”

“You could just throw that away. I can bake you new ones, hyung.” ℯ

Wooju waved his hand and unwrapped the cookie, munching on it.

He looked like he was eating something incredibly precious.

Biju watched that expression for a moment, then his eyes shifted slightly.

“Hyung. Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“What was the name of the participant who didn’t take the cookie?”

“Cough!”

Wooju coughed slightly, then smiled.

“Why?”

“I just want to remember.”

Biju had sensed something from his favorite’s expression just now.

If you’ve been a fan long enough, you can tell just by their face.

‘Something happened...!’

He had a feeling it was someone irritating.

Even if someone didn’t want to eat a cookie, wouldn’t they usually take it politely and say, “Thank you”?

The fact that they outright refused felt off.

Refusing such a small, polite gift meant—

—I’m not taking it. I don’t want to eat it.

He could easily imagine someone saying that bluntly, making everyone uncomfortable.

Wooju waved it off.

“It wasn’t a big deal. Just someone acting a bit immature.”

“They were young?”

“No. Same age as me.”

Even though his favorite could laugh off insults from strangers, he was now making a slightly displeased expression.

Whoever it was had clearly done something irritating.

Biju smiled.

“What was their name?”

“Bang Yochan. Don’t worry about it.”

“Bang Yochan....”

A bright smile spread across Biju’s face.

‘I’ll remember that.’

Watching his eldest hyung chew the cookie, Biju smiled.

Inside him, blades quietly began to grind.

If Wooju was the type to hold grudges naturally because of his memory, Biju was the type to remember on purpose.

‘Bang Yochan, was it.’

Biju smiled coldly.

At that moment, Bang Yochan gained an enemy who might be even more frightening than Wooju.

After finishing the shoot and wrapping up three days of promotions in Korea—

“Wooju! Wooju! Please look here! Over here!”

“Cold!”

“How was your schedule in Korea?! Ah—should I ask in English...!”

After greeting reporters and Souffle fans gathered at the airport, Cold and I boarded the plane.

“Phew. A private jet really is the best.”

Cold Brown, who had taken economy class in Korea to make an impression on the public, smiled contentedly.

As he and the staff settled in comfortably—

I sat in a private seat with a floral-pattern blanket and heard surprising news.

“...The CP got fired?”

“Yeah.”

Seokhwan hyung handed me a flower basket.

“It’s a gift from the production team.”

“Hm...?”

The message on the ribbon looked strange.

[Wishing you a speedy recovery.]

I blinked, and Seokhwan hyung asked,

“They heard you had a fever that day.”

“I had a fever?”

“You didn’t?”

“I didn’t.”

We paused mid-conversation.

It felt like we were having a dumb exchange, and both of us chuckled.

“They said they wanted to apologize for what happened that day. Something also came under the name of the production director, but it’s too big, so it’s at the company.”

Seokhwan hyung, who had already heard the full story from Wonseok hyung, knew what had happened.

Looking at the flower basket, I muttered,

“If the CP got fired... then money must have been involved.”

“Almost definitely.”

It matched what I had suspected after seeing Bang Yochan’s behavior.

No matter how close someone is, you don’t go that far to protect a friend’s son unless there’s more to it.

There was something I had learned from the CEO and the company.

—If a situation doesn’t make sense, money is usually involved.

Otherwise, even a production director wouldn’t fire a CP so quickly.

Looking at the flowers, I told our TF team leader,

“Send a thank-you message to the K-Net production director.”

“Got it. What should I say?”

“Something like, ‘Thank you for taking care of a program guest despite your busy schedule.’”

“Anything else?”

“We should send a gift in return.”

“Okay.”

After deciding to reassure K-Net that everything was fine—

I looked at the faces of the participants on my phone.

Among them, one stood out—a red-haired guy tilting his head.

“That’s him?”

A voice came from beside me.

Executive Director Jo Gyuhwan had just taken the seat next to mine.

“I heard there was a participant acting like a delinquent.”

“Yes.”

“I was wondering how to handle it... but it seems it’s already been handled.”

“Yes. I don’t think we need to do anything further. The production team is sharpening their knives. Once it airs...”

A participant who had been shielded by edits until now—

If his behavior was shown as-is, it would cause a major issue.

Director Jo glanced at Bang Yochan’s face, then looked away.

“Then what about the participant you wanted to recruit?”

“This one.”

I scrolled and showed him a photo labeled [No. 37 Kim Jihyuk].

“I heard he even made it to your third-round interview once.”

“Really? Hmm....”

He thought for a moment, then said,

“Ah! I remember him. His dancing was a bit lacking.”

“Was he that bad?”

“No. Not really... just a bit stiff.”

Then why was he eliminated?

“Because there were too many better applicants. Our trainees like Jinhoo and Boksoo may look gentle, but they beat odds of 1000 to 1. It’s probably closer to 2000 to 1 now.”

“Wow.......”

“Our company’s gotten pretty popular thanks to certain people.”

He smiled at me.

“So you want to recruit him?”

“I feel like there’s something there.”

I couldn’t quite explain it yet, but something caught my eye.

“I think giving him a chance wouldn’t be bad. What do you think?”

“If you like him, I do too.”

Director Jo clasped his hands.

“If he’s gained some recognition from the show, it could help. And if he has any past issues, they’ll come out during the program anyway, so that solves verification. There are several advantages... but most importantly, you saw something in him. That alone is reason enough.”

I felt embarrassed at his praise.

“I’ll inform the CEO as well.”

“Thank you.”

“More importantly, your face looks half-dead. You need some sleep.”

“I’m fine. You must be tired too—do you need a blanket...?”

As I tried to cover him with my floral blanket, he recoiled.

I put it on myself and whispered,

“Director... your expression just now hurt my feelings.......”

Loud laughter filled the air.

The goal of this U.S. promotion was simple.

Interviews with magazines like Billboard and Rolling Stone.

Appearances on famous talk shows like The Larry Gordon Show.

A simple music video shoot.

And a brief performance on an audition program before returning.

As a bonus, there was a meeting with Frank Chow, who was producing the Seon Myeongju biopic.

“Home sweet home.”

As the private jet landed in LA, Cold Brown took a deep breath and smiled.

“Finally, home.”

He turned to me.

“You’ve treated me well in Korea. Now it’s my turn to return the favor. Do you all have accommodations booked?”

“Yes.”

“Cancel them. Stay at my villa. It can hold about thirty people.”

Our staff gasped.

Cold called his manager.

“Ben!”

“Yes, Cold.”

“Call the best restaurants in LA. Tell them I’ll be bringing important guests—prepare properly. And Sunny?”

He grinned at me.

“Interested in an NBA game?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll show you what courtside seats look like.”

Everyone stared in awe at his generosity.

Then his security whispered,

“There are paparazzi.”

“Oh? Where?”

Instead of avoiding them, Cold waved cheerfully.

It was different from other Hollywood stars I’d seen.

Even Hailey would curse and hide—but Cold greeted them casually.

I asked,

“You don’t dislike paparazzi?”

“I do. They invade my privacy.”

“Then why...?”

“Photos are valuable when they’re rare. If I wave every time and let them take pictures, the value drops. If my photos aren’t expensive, fewer paparazzi will chase me.”

He smiled.

“Supply and demand.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

And so began our U.S. schedule.

Once the magazine interviews started, I realized why Cold had treated us so well.

“Wow. We get to meet the two hottest men in America right now...!”

“How did this collaboration happen? Our readers are dying to know!”

“Are you both comfortable?”

Everywhere we went, excessive kindness.

Yes.

Answer had exploded.

In Korea, it was just “a good song.”

But here—it was a jackpot.

“They say it might debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. How do you feel?”

Even editors were saying it openly.

Our voices played on the radio.

Paparazzi swarmed us.

Even my stalker fans were pushed away.

“...This is insane.”

Even Cold looked stunned.

After finishing interviews and photoshoots—

We headed to The Larry Gordon Show.

“Please welcome the two men behind the hottest song in America! Cold Brown and NewBlack’s Wooju!”

Bright lights.

Cheering audience.

Cold guided the conversation smoothly.

“...That’s how I ended up working with Sunny. I was deeply impressed by the Olympic ceremony.”

“I see.”

Larry Gordon turned to me.

“I watched both ceremonies—you were incredible.”

The audience cheered.

Then—

“Cold, I heard you had a lot of fun in Korea.”

“Yes, it was amazing.”

“Let’s watch this clip.”

On screen—

[4K Fancam] Cold Brown - Answer

[Encore Fancam] Cold Brown’s Cute Dance

Cold stiffened.

“What is that?”

I explained kindly.

“In Korea, we have something called fancams.”

“...!”

“You didn’t know before dancing?”

“...!!”

“It’s okay. It’s common—”

The video played.

Cold dancing a girl group choreography during the encore.

The audience burst into laughter.

“......”

I patted his shoulder.

“There’s a saying in Korea. If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.”

“......”

“Fighting.”

Cold closed his eyes.

“Sorry, Cold.”

“Take your hand off your mouth.”

“No.”

“Take it off.”

“...No...!”

He grabbed my hand and pulled it down.

“HAHAHAHA!”

“Hey!”