Chapter 900: You’ve waited a long time, haven’t you? (29)

The luxury sedan glided smoothly down the road.

[It’s time for the next song! The track currently dominating the charts at number one, right? It’s NewBlack, back as lovable villains, with “White Night”!]

Listening to “White Night” flowing from the radio, Yoon Seokhwan smiled.

‘They really picked a great song.’

Unlike ordinary listeners, he was an insider who had been hearing it almost every day for the past couple of months.

Even so, it still excited him.

Whenever he listened to “White Night,” it felt like all his stress was blown away. The fatigue from the commute home seemed to melt off completely.

[Yes, honestly, whenever I hear this song, it just makes me so excited. NewBlack’s “White Night” really is.......]

He was waiting at a signal while listening to the DJ’s commentary.

“Hm?”

Yoon Seokhwan tilted his head.

‘Why is “White Night” playing again?’

He could hear it somewhere again.

It wasn’t the radio.

He turned his head.

Through the slightly open window, an upbeat punk rock sound drifted in.

‘Ah, it’s from a shop.’

“White Night” was playing through speakers outside a store.

He hummed along again as he drove forward.

“Hm?”

As he passed each street, the music kept appearing.

From what looked like a bar, a B-side track was playing, and after turning another corner, a softer track was playing as background music in a café.

“.......”

He knew he managed the group, but sometimes situations like this were a little frightening.

Bzz—

Right then, a call came from the very person who had created this level of success.

[Sun Wooju]

The reason was simple.

“You want me to come pick up side dishes?”

—Yeah. Junghyun’s family and the villagers sent some... but they sent a lot.

“How much is a lot?”

—It doesn’t all fit in the fridge. The guys said we can’t store it all, but they told us to share it with neighbors and company staff too.

Yoon Seokhwan immediately pictured it.

—This is our heart.

Junghyun’s family stuffing the trunk to the brim.

As he ended the call, Yoon Seokhwan smiled warmly.

‘That kid, Sun Wooju.’

Once they stored everything, there probably wouldn’t be that many side dishes left.

So he must have called the first person he thought of to come pick some up.

And that person was obviously him.

‘Raised him well!’

The “math ghost” chuckled to himself as he turned the wheel.

The TF team leader sped toward NewBlack’s dorm.

Soon, as he approached, he frowned.

“That’s strange. This isn’t a place where there’s usually a line......”

Cars were lined up at the entrance to the underground parking lot.

Normally, you could enter at lightning speed, but today there were many vehicles.

“Hm? That car looks just like the CEO’s.”

A distinctive model caught his eye.

The first-generation Grandeur, often nicknamed the “box Grandeur.”

When new employees joined, they would always ask, “Does that thing even run...?”—that exact model.

Even the license plate looked similar.

“8335... same as the CEO’s—”

Wait.

“It’s the same?”

Looking closer, the cars ahead also looked familiar.

‘Those are company cars.’

CEO Park Gyuho, Director Jo Gyuhwan, division heads...

A lineup of company vehicles made him blink.

‘Why are they here?’

After the security team finished their thorough checks, the cars began entering one by one.

Yoon Seokhwan parked underground and hurried over.

“Sir!”

“Oh, Team Leader Yoon, you’re here?”

Next to CEO Park Gyuho stood Director Jo Gyuhwan and a division head.

Behind them were the PR team lead and the legal team lead.

“Why are you all here...?”

“Oh, we came to pick up side dishes. The kids called and told us to come.”

“You too, sir?”

“Huh? You too?”

Everyone present tilted their heads in mutual confusion.

Including those still arriving, there were already over ten people.

‘They’re giving side dishes to all of them?’

At this point, it felt like they would each get one tiny bite of squid jeotgal.

Right then—

“......You’re here?”

A voice came from behind idling trucks.

Wooju and the others stood there with blank expressions.

And behind them—

Rattle, rattle—

Young boys awkwardly pushed carts loaded with boxes of side dishes.

‘Teen Spirit?’

The members of Teen Spirit greeted them shyly as they pushed the carts.

At a glance, the amount was anything but normal.

“Is that......?”

“They’re side dishes, hyung.”

“You can give away that much?”

“Yeah......”

As Yoon Seokhwan blinked in disbelief—

The division head asked, “So where are the side dishes?”

“Here.”

Junghyun pointed at the truck.

“?”

“??”

Then they noticed two figures standing behind him.

Like elite guards protecting a final boss.

They looked ordinary, even gentle—but resembled Junghyun.

“They’re my cousins. Dohyun and Raehyun.”

“Nice to meet you!”

Young men with massive builds that made even Junghyun look small.

Polite, but with the kind of presence that made you feel you shouldn’t mess with them.

Smiling like happy potatoes, they began unloading the truck.

“.......”

“.......”

The company staff stared blankly at the endless boxes as NewBlack introduced them.

“Ta-da. Side dishes.”

It became known within Lemon Entertainment as the legendary “Day of Side Dishes.”

It took two hours just to distribute everything.

Everyone left in a daze—including them.

“Junghyun.”

“Yes.”

“Your village must really adore you.”

“I was kind of like a local celebrity when I was young. Like the village mascot.”

Jiho asked, “Why were you the mascot?”

“Because I was cute.”

“.......”

“I was really cute as a kid.”

Junghyun pulled out a photo.

It showed a young Junghyun riding on top of a water deer.

“Did you go to some kind of deer farm?”

“No, it was a wild one.”

“How did you even get on it?”

“I saved it, and it let me ride it to say thanks.”

At that point, the conversation felt so absurd that Wooju gave up trying to make sense of it.

They all stared at the boxes piled in the living room.

“Even if we use the kimchi fridge, this won’t all fit.”

“Yeah......”

After some thought, they reached a conclusion.

“Let’s eat it.”

“Okay.”

They heated instant rice and began working through the side dishes.

Who were they?

A group of five adorable young men with mysterious, black hole–like stomachs.

They gathered the dishes Junghyun had insisted must be protected.

And the taste—

“Wow......”

“As of today, Junghyun’s village is officially on the gourmet list. This is insane.”

Spicy braised anchovies with chili peppers.

Crunchy stuffed cucumbers.

Chewy, sweet-savory lotus root.

Wild chive sauce perfect with roasted seaweed.

“Let’s grill meat too.”

“Okay.”

“Junghyun, shouldn’t we treat your cousins to something before they go?”

“They said they have to go home quickly.”

“Why?”

“They didn’t finish their workout today......”

That sounded exactly like his relatives.

After giving them some spending money and sending them off, they grilled meat.

“Damn......”

With meat and side dishes together, it felt like the best restaurant in the world.

Messages flooded in.

Yeonhu: [Hyungs]

Yeonhu: [This is insanely good]

Junghyun smiled proudly at the praise.

While they ate, Biriho excitedly talked about the variety show filming.

“Ri Hyuk fell into the water and carp attacked him—and he lost!”

“A robotics team from KAIST came and built a Woojoonghyun bot, and it caught like 60 fish!”

“Biju’s braised fish reaction was amazing—”

Except for the braised fish story, everything sounded ridiculous.

Wooju and Junghyun smirked.

“What kind of carp attacks people?”

“Then I guess I got attacked by a shark too.”

Apparently, the carp had just bumped into Ri Hyuk.

“And what kind of fishing show has a KAIST robotics team......”

That also sounded exaggerated.

The only believable story was Junghyun’s grandfather defeating a pit viper.

“No!”

“It’s all true!”

The younger ones protested, but Wooju and Junghyun just smiled warmly.

“Yeah, yeah. We get it.”

“You want to beat us somehow—even if it’s through variety shows.”

“I’m telling you, it’s real!”

They insisted they watch the broadcast later.

As the others kept arguing, Wooju called out to Biju.

“Biju, want to listen to our track after you put that away?”

“One second, hyung.”

“Do it later. We’ll clean up.”

He brought Biju to the living room.

Biju’s eyes sparkled.

“That one? Our unit track?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m so excited.”

They were rough beats and melodies they had been casually working on at home.

Wooju played the candidates.

Biju listened intently, brushing his hair back.

Then—

“Oh!”

“How is it?”

“This one’s good. I really like this vibe.”

A retro synth-pop track with electronic elements.

Biju’s eyes lit up.

“You like it?”

“I can already see the choreography.”

As Biju began sketching movements, Wooju was amazed.

When Biju hears music, he sees dance.

When Wooju sees Biju dance, he hears music.

Others gathered.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking tracks for our unit.”

“Oh.”

“What genre is it?”

“Both electronic and retro.”

“It’s not finished yet.”

Wooju asked, “Anything you want to try?”

Ideas poured in.

“Make the choreography super hard so Biju can torture you.”

“Let Biju rap so I can finally scold him.”

“I want to be the lead actor in the MV.”

Wooju shook his head.

Then Biju spoke.

“I want to try a type of dance I’ve never done before.”

“What kind?”

“I watched fish movements carefully today.”

He moved his fingers fluidly.

“Like heat waves.”

Then his feet.

“Like a stomping cow.”

His movements conveyed images effortlessly.

“This time......”

“This time?”

“I want to do a fish dance.”

“.......”

“Fish?”

“Yes.”

It sounded strange.

Jiho flapped his arms.

“Like this?”

“Not exactly.”

Biju demonstrated slow, fluid underwater motion.

“Like this.”

“Ah......”

He moved like waves.

“That’s amazing.”

“What if Biju raps too?”

Wooju nodded.

Jiho raised his hand.

“What if the song is from a fish’s perspective?”

“Oh......”

Ideas exploded.

Wooju typed them into his laptop.

“This is amazing.”

“See? Even idiots can make something if there are five of us.”

They high-fived.

“This is seriously good.”

“Yeah, we’re kind of amazing.”

Fans often wondered:

—If the idols write, compose, and create everything... what does the company even do?

For Lemon Entertainment, the answer was simple:

—We make NewBlack’s ideas real.

If NewBlack said they wanted “a black goblin-style hanbok,” the company found the best designers.

Sometimes, they refined ideas too.

Like last year’s tour.

A typo became meaning:

H for Happiness.

W for Wonder.

And now—

“What’s the title again?”

Yoon Seokhwan and Manager Hong Seoyeong stared at the document.

[Padak Padak]

They massaged their temples.

“As a PR manager, I cannot accept this title.”

“Agreed.”

The idea was brilliant.

But—

‘The packaging...’

Like serving Michelin cuisine in a plastic container.

“Why are they geniuses but like this sometimes?”

The TF team stepped in.

“What about the French ‘Padam Padam’?”

“Or change the lyrics to something more metaphorical.”

“And the title must change.”

The concept transformed.

From:

A fish escaping briefly from water.

To:

A metaphor about freedom.

『To escape a suffocating world...』

And finally:

『Woobiz — WAVE』

The highest-paid team at Lemon Entertainment—

Turning nothing into something extraordinary.