Chapter 894: You’ve waited a long time, haven’t you? (23)

The past three days had truly been golden for Souffle.

—This concert outfit compilation

The outfits this time had been remade versions of past promotion-era costumes.

From masquerade-inspired looks to black crown prince uniforms,

every concept Souffle had ever wanted to see was gathered and presented all at once.

‘This is a feast for the eyes. Seriously.’

But it wasn’t just visually satisfying.

It was the kind of live performance that made people say their ears had been blessed.

[NewBlack Main Stadium Fireworks Opening]

Already, hundreds of videos comparing NewBlack from 2018 with their 2014 and 2016 selves had been uploaded on MyTube.

‘This is insane.’

It was the same chorus, yet completely different.

If rookie-era NewBlack had a fresh, youthful vibe, then 2018 NewBlack exuded seasoned maturity.

Wowㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The payoff of stanning them is insane.. everyone, those kids are my idols

The one thing that hasn’t changed) their intensity even in year 5

They’ve gained more muscle, gotten more handsome, cuter, just everything improved

But honestly 2014 still slaps??? No wonder they gained fans right from debut

When Fireworks started climbing again I was like wow they improved a lot, but they got even betterㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Ugh I should’ve gone but couldn’t because of Lee Sunja 씨

Every time fancams from various stages were uploaded, admiration poured out naturally.

Even through the muffled audio quality, the members’ refreshing voices felt like they were cleansing the ears.

Even Jiho, often considered the weakest among NewBlack’s vocal line, was at a level where most competitors couldn’t even compare.

Watching the youngest handle the third-verse high notes in “White Night,” everyone smiled in satisfaction.

‘So this is what stanning feels like.’

They were the kind of artists who leveled up every single year with each concert.

And now even the scale of the concerts had leveled up as well.

[Real-time Main Stadium Drone Show Han River View]

(A drone formation shaped like CEO Park Gyuho.jpg)

A drone show dedicated to CEO Park Gyuho.

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Why does this feel so emotional

Fuckㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ it looks like a memorialㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

If you spent that much money on a concert, you deserve a drone show, 인정

???: CEO up in the sky...!! are you watching!!

Is it just me or is the top of his head shining more...

Everyone was getting emotional listening to “Ruler By,” then lost it at that partㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

People at Han River Park were murmuringㅋㅋㅋㅋ saying a bald man was floating in the airㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Cute and tiny Souffle shapes.

The words NewBlack and Souffle formed in the sky.

It was a scale that made everyone’s jaws drop.

‘People who went must be so happy.’

Those who attended the NewBlack concert now had stories to tell acquaintances for weeks.

The three-day concert had produced countless talking points.

And many of them became topics of interest among idol fans.

[Han Taehyeon spotted at NewCon]

[NewBlack waiting room staff verification shot]

[Celebrities who attended NewCon yesterday (+Lee Gyeonwu added)]

From Lee Gyeonwu, who blended into the darkness in his outfit while watching the concert,

to various celebrities spotted in the audience—

Photos of NewBlack’s close friends together were being uploaded as well.

It’s literally an awards show

Why bother going to red carpet eventsㅋㅋㅋㅋ just go to NewCon and all celebrities are there

I thought it was an award ceremony, not a concert

Namu is so cuteㅋㅋ

Is Lee Gyeonwu playing hide-and-seekㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

From famous audience members to the reenactment of the Pyeongchang Olympics on stage,

there was something else that also sparked interest among idol fans.

[NewCon Lemon trainee sighting.jpg]

Those are the same guys from Gocheokㅇㅇ

It was a photo of male trainees wearing masks and waving lightsticks.

Simple casual outfits, neatly styled hair.

Even with only their eyes visible, there was a clear sense that they were unusually good-looking.

I’m looking forward to the one with his hair down

Are they all high schoolers?? Physiques are a bit lacking though

Which one is going to be my future bias

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ there’s definitely a “Lemon look”ㅋㅋ handsome and gentle-looking but not easygoing

Lemon lookㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

What are their names???? Anyone know???

The one in the middle of the second pic looks like Jiho

Curiosity naturally arose.

‘Lemon should be debuting their next group soon.’

Typically, agencies debut new idol groups every three to five years.

Since NewBlack debuted in 2014, it was about time for news of the next group.

Even DNS Media, which debuted Street Boys, was preparing to launch a new boy group this year.

Recently, Hongju, who placed runner-up in the hip-hop survival show Next Mission, was also set to be a member of DNS’s upcoming boy group.

They all look cute and handsomeㅋㅋ just that kind of vibe

When are they debuting?? If their faces aren’t revealed yet, probably not this year

Maybe next year?

If they debut, will Wooju write songs for them? Curious

Luckyㅋㅋ they joined when it was a small company, now it’s a major one

Nah Lemon auditions were always brutalㅋㅋ even back then people flocked because of good pay

Even trainees whose faces hadn’t been revealed yet were sparking heated debates.

The reason was simple.

—Lemon Entertainment, number one in industry revenue.

Now undeniably the top agency in the idol industry,

so naturally people were curious about what kind of group Lemon would debut next.

Even NewBlack’s antis were excited, saying, “If the next boy group sucks, we’ll roast them~”

It was a new challenge for Lemon Entertainment as a major agency.

Souffle exclaimed.

‘What are these comments...?’

Photos of trainees that used to get only a few dozen {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} comments now had explosive engagement.

After briefly looking, Souffle shifted their attention elsewhere.

Because today, their focus was elsewhere.

[NewBlack 3rd Full Album First-Week Sales]

It was one of the topics Souffle had become especially sensitive about recently.

Over the past year, album sales had surged so much that people began calling it “first-week inflation.”

Of course, it wasn’t a bad thing. The overall K-pop market growing was good.

But the problem was how people reacted to it.

A prime example was Wonder Child, who recently recorded 890,000 first-week sales.

Since then, attitudes toward Souffle had subtly changed.

‘...They kind of look down on us now, don’t they?’

Their numbers weren’t far from NewBlack’s 990,000 first-week sales with Coin.

With top boy groups now easily surpassing 500,000 or 600,000,

people started underestimating last year’s Coin.

Feels like there’s not much difference between NewBlack and us now?

Yes, NewBlack was doing incredibly well in the US,

but in terms of overall fandom power, maybe the gap wasn’t that big.

The problem was, there was no real way to refute it.

Coin was a digital single.

And Answer, the collaboration with Cold Brown, was also a digital single.

‘We’ve been waiting for today.’

Souffle, who had been grinding their teeth over constant comparisons, were ready.

‘Time to show our power.’

Fortunately, they had already surpassed 1 million copies by day two,

silencing fans of rival groups.

But that wasn’t enough.

They needed something bigger. Stronger.

[NewBlack 3rd Full Album ‘Insomnia’ First-Week Final]

Souffle took a deep breath and clicked.

And then they cheered.

‘This is insane!’

Like their artists, it started with cheers.

But then—

‘Huh?’

‘Wait a second. Excuse me. What is this?’

‘1.99 million...?’

Their minds went blank.

[1,999,827 copies.]

If only 173 more copies had been sold, it would have reached 2 million.

As fans clutched their heads, other fandoms burst into laughter.

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

No butㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Let’s round it up one more time

The era of 2 million first-week sales... almost?

Just hovering at the doorstep of 2 million

After the Olympics influx I knew it’d explode but this is crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Congrats Souffle~~

This is definitely a historic recordㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ but what even is this

Amid the laughter, Souffle were in tears.

Fuck

If I had just bought a few more copies

AAAAAAAAH

We could’ve hit 2 millionㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

99 -> 199 아니ㅠㅠㅠ 100-200 is so clean

But 99 to 199 is better. Double then add one

Ah yes, positive mindset

It felt similar to when they once hit 999,999.

[What does this look like?]

(Ri Hyuk pointing a water gun at Wooju’s temple.jpg)

2.. 200..

Wooju has good eyesight

True cornea Sun Wooju

199?? Where do you see 199? It’s 200

Kids these days call that 199? Back in my day that was 200

Posts flooded in everywhere.

[An NBA player who is 2 meters tall]

(Profile says 199cm.jpg)

Exactly 2 metersㅎㅎ

[Webtoon reaching episode 200 today]

(Screen says episode 199.jpg)

Congrats on episode 200!!

[What comes after 1998?]

Ta-da, it’s 2009

Because 199 + 9 = 200 + 9

Therefore I was born in 2009

All kinds of posts were exploding.

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Seriously 173 copies..ㅠㅠㅠ

A sufficiently advanced 199 is indistinguishable from 200

Souffle are basically Einsteins

Einstein: (weeping)

No, Souffle. Your artist’s first-week sales are not 2 million but 1,999,827ㅎㅎ

Puppy baby

Read the room????

AAAAAAㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

As people teased them everywhere, Souffle cried.

‘It’s clearly a celebration... it is...’

‘No one else even broke 1 million, and we got to 2 million... no, basically 2 million...’

‘Why are you doing this to us?’

They were incredibly happy—and incredibly sad.

I should probably turn my phone off for a while.

Han Taehyeon [Congrats on 1.99 million~~~~~~]

Jang Hanbyeol [If you had cast me on NewUniverse it would’ve hit 2 million]

Blink blink.

Staring at the endlessly lighting screen, I closed my eyes.

“Bastards...”

“That’s why I turned mine off completely, hyung.”

The youngest showed his powered-off screen.

The others also pouted, saying they’d turned theirs off too.

Biju stared into the air.

“What is this feeling... happy but strange...”

We all stared blankly into the sky.

Between the warm sunlight and fluffy clouds, the number 199 seemed to shimmer.

If it had been 197 or 189, there wouldn’t have been any lingering regret.

Jiho muttered.

“I guess water really doesn’t boil at 199 degrees.”

“It wouldn’t boil, it would evaporate...”

“Why are you looking at your younger brother like that? This is a concept, hyung. My silly concept.”

No one believed him.

We just laughed.

Monday afternoon.

After lunch, we lay on the rooftop garden, leisurely soaking in the sunlight.

“So peaceful.”

After the chaos of comeback and concert prep, it was finally a rest day.

We’d burned a ridiculous amount of stamina over the three-day concert.

Considering the upcoming schedule, rest was necessary.

“First, music shows...”

“They have a variety show tomorrow, hyung.”

At Junghyun’s words—

“Ah, right.”

While Junghyun and I rested, Biriho would appear on a variety show tomorrow.

[Honey, I’m going fishing.]

It was that same fishing variety show we had appeared on before.

The reason, of course, was album promotion.

Ri Hyuk said,

“This time the music video they made was really good.”

After I won by catching a sailfish, the staff promised a “music video.”

The ridiculous fishing MV with karaoke-style subtitles of “White Night” had gone viral.

And—

“Hehe. I’ll show them the cutest youngest in the world. I’ve done plenty of aegyo for adults before. There’s a reason my dad likes me the most. He cries every time he sees me.”

The real goal was to appeal NewBlack’s charm and music to middle-aged men far removed from idol culture.

...At least, that’s what they thought.

—Teacher Oh Hyunsuk, thank you for your cameo as Mrs. Kim Deoksun. What can I do for you?

—Then send me a guest, honey.

—I’ll send you the best guest.

Watching Biriho get excited about making a big impact, I smiled quietly.

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

Anyway, including their short fishing trip, the next two weeks were promotion period.

Music shows, fan sign events, mini fan meetings...

Radio appearances and various interviews.

Next week included second-week music shows and NewUniverse filming.

And—

“The Met Gala is soon.”

Right after the second-week music shows, we would head to the US for the Met Gala.

It had been scheduled after last year’s Paris Fashion Week.

It had felt so far away, but now it was almost here.

Thinking about attending the ultimate gathering of top celebrities made my heart race.

“It feels like autumn in spring.”

Just being still felt good.

Like harvesting a field of ripened grain, it was time to reap the results of the past months.

“This is nice.”

“It really is.”

As we smiled at White Night still holding number one on the charts—

Bzzzt—

My phone buzzed with Seokhwan hyung’s name.

“Hello.”

—It’s me. Time.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

I asked the others sprawled around the fountain.

“You want to come watch too?”

“They’re here?”

“Yeah. If you want to see the audition, come.”

On this rest day, there was one special schedule.

—Next Mission final winner Kim Jihyuk: “Thank you so much”

—‘Next Mission’ winner Kim Jihyuk receives offers from hip-hop labels

—Where will Jihyuk go?

It was time to confirm another result.

Kim Jihyuk.

A popular contestant from the survival show where I had judged with Cold Brown.

—I’m a NewBlack fan, sunbaenim!

—I even auditioned for Lemon Entertainment.

An amateur rapper who once tried hard to impress me.

Good visuals, good rap skills, and potential in composition.

But his weakness was dancing.

So I gave him advice.

If he wanted to make up for that, he needed strong results in a survival show.

—I’ll win and come back.

...He had said that.

And now—

“He really won.”

I stared blankly at his profile.

I hadn’t meant he should actually win.

Director Jo Gyuhwan laughed.

“Looks like Wooju has a good eye for people. You recruited a winner in advance.”

Next Mission had been the most popular audition program recently.

A winner from there was an excellent candidate for an idol trainee.

Biju said,

“That’s surprising. I thought he’d debut as a rapper under a hip-hop label.”

“He said his dream was to be an idol.”

“Ah...”

The head of the rookie development team asked,

“What do you think, Wooju? You recommended him.”

“What made you choose him?”

“His potential. He’s already good, but it feels like he doesn’t have a clear ceiling.”

The most important trait in a trainee is growth potential.

If one person is skill 20 with a cap of 120, and another is 80 with a cap of 90—you pick the first.

That’s why he stood out.

“He learns fast... and I liked his personality. Sharp, ambitious.”

As people nodded—

“Hmm.”

CEO Park Gyuho wiped his head and spoke.

“Everything’s good, but I’m a bit concerned about one thing.”

“Yes, sir.”

“He’s coming from a broadcast background. He might be seen as a celebrity among trainees. It could disrupt things.”

It made sense.

A semi-celebrity entering as a trainee could cause issues.

“We’ll observe him in the audition first.”

“Good.”

“And the runner-up from his show, Hongju, is from DNS Media.”

“A talent like that coming to our company...”

The CEO laughed in satisfaction.

As we talked—

Knock knock—

The applicant entered.

“Hello.”

Kim Jihyuk bowed deeply at the door.

Everyone’s eyes widened.

Because of his hair.

The blond from the show was now dyed black.

“My name is Kim Jihyuk. I look forward to working with you.”

Seeing everyone smile, I chuckled softly.

No explanation was needed.

As Wooju smiled quietly—

‘Oh...’

The others grew curious.

‘Now I see what he meant by sharp.’

Dyeing his hair black sent a clear message.

He wasn’t here as a winner—

but as a Lemon trainee.

As the staff nodded in approval—

‘But...’

They tilted their heads.

‘Why does this feel familiar?’

Gentle, yet not easy to approach.

Eyes burning with ambition.

Combined with his behavior on the show—

‘Wait...?’

The NewBlack members realized.

‘Baby Sun Wooju!’

Wooju had brought in someone exactly like himself.