Chapter 907: Hey, where is this? Yes. This is Newniverse. (7)

About a dozen fans stood there blankly.

‘A bus?’

‘We’re riding a bus?’

Junghyun hopped down from the driver’s seat and strode toward them.

“Oh!”

“Uh—!”

“Oh!”

As the introverted fans instinctively stepped back in confusion—

“Ah.”

Junghyun paused.

Then he raised his hands.

Like approaching a picky country puppy, he held both palms up and kept his distance.

‘Are we puppies or what.’

The absurdity made the fans burst into laughter.

Junghyun introduced himself.

“Hello. I’m Kim Junghyun.”

“Hello!”

Souffle greeted him energetically.

‘As a group, we’re not scared!’

If it were one-on-one, their legs would be shaking and their eyes trembling—but as a group, it was manageable.

Of course, their hearts were still pounding.

‘I’m so nervous. Seriously!’

‘What do I do.’

This was the first time seeing Junghyun this close.

Closer than any concert or broadcast.

He was standing close enough to touch.

It felt unreal.

And his face—

“Seriously....”

Someone covered their mouth.

“He’s really handsome....”

“Thank you.”

Everyone covered their mouths.

They shouldn’t—but their lips kept twitching upward uncontrollably.

‘This is the first time I’ve seen someone this handsome.’

People they used to think were handsome suddenly didn’t seem that way anymore.

Faced with true beauty, they couldn’t control their expressions.

A sharp nose bridge.

Clear eyes.

The kind of face that would’ve been everyone’s first love back in school—the star athlete type.

They stared at him with wide, sparkling eyes, hands gathered near their lips.

“Uh... what was I going to say. One second.”

Junghyun pulled out a crumpled note.

“I tend to ramble, so Ri Hyuk wrote this for me. Told me to follow the order.”

Looking at it, he said,

“Ah... first, thank you so much for participating in New Universe filming. It says ‘applause’ here—should we clap?”

“Woooooah!”

“Yes, thank you.”

Looking at the bus, he continued,

“You were surprised when the bus showed up, right?”

“Yes....”

“I heard that the people here are more shy or introverted. So we prepared this bus for you.”

At that moment, a fan raised a hand.

“Th-then do the other fans ride normal cars?”

“Yes.”

“Whoa!”

Souffle gasped.

Misreading the reaction, Junghyun looked apologetic.

“The bus isn’t the best for communication, but... um... it has its charms. It feels stable.”

“That’s not it—”

“That’s not it?”

“We love it!”

The fans jumped excitedly. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

‘We get to blend in!’

No matter how much you love your idol, riding in the same car with them on a first meeting?

For introverts, that was a nightmare.

Cold sweat.

Hands with nowhere to go.

And the idol keeps talking.

But a bus?

‘We blend in.’

Being one of many made it far less stressful.

‘This is amazing!’

‘Bus is the best!’

‘So good!’

Seeing fans giving thumbs up and hopping around, Junghyun blinked, then smiled warmly.

“If you like it, I like it too.”

“We really love it!”

Reading his note again, he said,

“Next, I’ll tell you the destination. Today we’re going to a campsite in Gyeonggi Province.”

“Ooooh!”

“What we’ll do there is a secret. Have you eaten?”

“No!”

Following staff instructions, they had only eaten light snacks.

Basically empty stomachs.

Junghyun said,

“We’ll have lunch on the way.”

“What are we eating?”

“Chicken soup.”

“Whoa!”

The fans reacted again.

Thinking they disliked it, Junghyun waved his hands.

“Uh... it’s really good.”

“It sounds amazing!”

“Really?”

“We love it!”

Junghyun smiled again at their enthusiasm.

He folded the note carefully and put it away.

“Lastly, about safety. Since it’s a large vehicle, you might be worried. Ri Hyuk told me to make sure to explain this.”

Facing the camera and fans, he said,

“Since getting my large vehicle license, I’ve been consistently training. And someone will assist me today. Because buses are large, visibility can be difficult...”

He turned—

The passenger window rolled down.

A man in his sixties, wearing sunglasses and chewing gum.

A veteran driver, smiling confidently.

“He’s helping me drive today. My instructor.”

“No need to worry~”

A warm voice followed.

“His visibility is so good, it’s like he’s got eyes in the back of his head.”

“Not that much.”

“He can tell the color of cars behind him without looking.”

The fans laughed.

Meanwhile, Junghyun received a paper from staff.

“Alright, I’ll do attendance and we’ll depart.”

“Yes!”

“We’ll protect your privacy, so we’ll call you by your fan cafe nicknames.”

“Whoa....”

Such thoughtful care.

“I’ll call randomly.”

The fans screamed internally.

‘No!’

Junghyun read—

“Chicken Princess?”

“!”

Someone turned bright red.

“Are you from Pizza Nation, by any chance?”

“Ahhh!”

As she boarded in despair, the others realized—

‘This isn’t funny.’

“Choi Deokpal? Is that your father’s name?”

“......”

“Feng Shui Hyuk? Looking forward to meeting Ri Hyuk.”

“......”

Fans hurried onto the bus as they were called.

The staff laughed.

In a quiet parking lot—

Producer Gu Jaeyoung ended a call.

“Junghyun’s team?”

“Yeah.”

“They boarded?”

“They just left.”

I smiled.

“I really want to see their faces.”

Imagining their reaction to the bus—

“Ah, they’re ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) here.”

Three fans approached awkwardly.

“Hello! Over here!”

“Ah—hello!”

They bowed stiffly.

“Did you come together?”

“Yes... we met up.”

They boarded with me.

Silence.

“....”

“....”

Then our eyes met—and we burst out laughing.

“It’s awkward, right?”

“Yes....”

“You used to see me as a dot at concerts. Now that dot is a person.”

They laughed.

“Face this camera angle—it’ll make you look better.”

“Oh!”

We chatted casually, easing the mood.

I looked at them.

One young male fan beside me, two female fans behind.

“It’s interesting for me too.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve only seen your photos from applications. Now I see you in person.”

They laughed.

“I always felt it was unfair—you know everything about me, but I don’t know much about you. So I looked up your info.”

“Oh?”

“Your dog’s name is Lulu, right?”

“How did you—?”

“...You wrote it in your application.”

“Ah, right.”

I continued,

“I’ll call you by your nicknames... any of you want to change them?”

“Me!”

“I figured.”

LabSlave looked distressed.

“If this airs, my professor might kill me.”

“What about Lab Yay?”

Everyone laughed.

“...He’ll recognize it.”

“True.”

“Graduate Student?”

“Taken.”

“Graduate Student 2, 3, 4?”

“Up to 37 already exists.”

Thinking—

“What’s your major?”

“Semiconductors.”

Our eyes lit up.

“Semiconductor Princess?”

“...No thanks.”

We laughed.

Finally—

“I’ll just pick something normal.”

After that—

“Wait—!”

“Is that Biju?”

Biju approached with fans carrying large bags.

“They grouped similar people together.”

“Really?”

“Yes. We’ll eat together later.”

“Alright—seatbelts!”

“Woooo!”

The car departed.

The staff followed behind.

“They really grouped similar personalities.”

“Yeah...”

Audio feeds came in.

Ri Hyuk team:

[We must follow traffic laws.]

Jiho team:

[Laughing loudly together]

Biju team:

[Are we going the right way?]

‘Too similar...’

Then—

Junghyun’s team:

[Singing loudly like a tour bus]

“Weren’t they introverts?”

“They mixed in some extroverts.”

“Smart.”

Soon—

“They’ve already arrived?”

“...They used the bus lane.”

“...Right. It’s a bus.”

An idol using a bus lane.

This show would be something else.

Souffle were happy.

‘This feels like a dream.’

Driving with their idol.

Eating together.

“Ri Hyuk...”

“Yes?”

“...Wow.”

Their idol answered them.

Unbelievable.

But—

“Why are they doing this special?”

“Yeah...”

It felt like being treated.

‘Suspicious.’

‘Are they going to make us perform?’

Then—

[Don’t worry too much.]

They froze.

He could hear them.

[This special isn’t about content. It’s about spending time with you.]

Warm, gentle words.

[You don’t have to do anything today.]

They blinked.

Then—

[We’re almost there.]

Staff ran up.

“Wait—!”

They saw banners.

[Only the Strong Survive Quiz: Black Bell Challenge]

And—

[Souffle Hearing]

‘...We don’t have to do anything?’

Junghyun turned his head away.

“....”

“....”

Something felt very wrong.