Chapter 919: We are, well... uh... henchmen. (9)

Sometimes we get criticized.

They appear on variety shows way too much!

Stop going on variety shows! It’s boring! You’re always on!

The kind of comments that made Ri Hyuk’s fingers twitch with irritation.

But to me, they were compliments.

Because if you actually counted, we didn’t appear on variety shows that often.

So if people said they were tired of us or that we showed up everywhere, it meant our impact was strong.

Usually, you only hear that kind of thing when someone appears five times more than we do.

"It’s like school lunches. If tonkatsu comes out five times a month, you remember it—but would you remember fish cake soup coming out five times?"

"I would."

"You would, huh."

I nodded at Junghyun’s answer.

Anyway, the important point was that we didn’t appear on variety shows that often.

It was because of our values as entertainers.

Variety shows are part of our filmography!

Just like actors perform best in roles that suit them, we try to choose shows that suit us.

Because of that, we almost always hit big.

We chose shows that created good synergy with us.

In that sense—

"What do you think?"

"I think it’s good. What about you, hyung?"

"I think it’s good too."

The childcare variety show passed our standards.

Ri Hyuk said,

"First of all, I like that there’s a clear reason for us to appear. Our music is popular with babies and young kids."

"I looked it up, and apparently it’s nicknamed ‘baby pick.’"

At Jiho’s words, we burst out laughing.

[The song currently known as ‘baby pick’]

There were even posts like that online—our Lullaby was popular among parents.

If you searched MyTube, tons of related videos appeared.

Some parenting vloggers had videos with millions of views.

[Parenting Vlog | I played music for my baby]

At first, the babies just stared blankly.

Then slowly, their eyes closed as they nodded off.

"So cute."

"Babies are treasures of the world. Seriously."

"Ri Hyuk hyung must’ve been that cute once too, right?"

As we watched with warm smiles—

[The music worked!]

—appeared on screen, and suddenly the video turned into a baby food ad.

We stared dryly at the vlogger saying, "Of course NewBlack’s music helped, but ever since feeding this baby food, the baby sleeps—"

"Looks like there’s a cat version too."

"Really?"

This time, a famous cat vlogger played Lullaby for their cats.

At first, they rolled around.

Then gradually, their expressions softened, relaxing.

[The cats are falling asleep...!]

[Our angel baby’s jelly paws☆]

[Aaah!]

After the owner got smacked by a cat for touching its paws mid-sleep—

more videos followed.

[Surprising Science Ep127. Asking a Neuroscientist About Lullaby]

[How Classical Majors View Lullaby]

[Curiosity Explosion | Do cover versions of Lullaby work on babies?]

The neuroscientist explained things like, “The waveform of this music...” linking it to sleep science.

I asked Ri Hyuk for a three-line summary.

"So what’s the reason?"

"They say there could be several reasons."

"So basically, they don’t know for sure."

"Scientists don’t say 100 percent. If they do, they’re lying."

The youngest suddenly popped his head in.

"Ri Hyuk is 100 percent cute."

While Jiho and Ri Hyuk flailed at each other with mock punches,

we skipped past a slightly overwhelming video of classical majors praising us and watched the last one.

An experiment testing whether cover versions worked the same.

[?]

In the video, five-year-olds listened to a cover.

But unlike the others, none of them fell asleep.

[Q. Aren’t you sleepy?]

All the kids answered together.

[No!]

[Q. Why do you think that is?]

One little girl shook her head and said bluntly,

[It’s not spaceship’s voice.]

"Heh."

I laughed—then froze.

"Wait."

I asked,

"Why are they calling me spaceship?"

"Doesn’t it just mean you’re famous?"

"No, that’s not it. Kids that age shouldn’t know my alias."

The composer persona “Spaceship” from Mister Producer in 2016.

It had only been two years, but to those kids, that was when they were three.

Even I didn’t remember much from when I was three.

Jiho said,

"That’s because you’re old, hyung. Kids these days have smartphones, so they just search everything."

"Really? Kids use smartphones?"

"Yeah."

"Whoa......."

It was a cultural shock.

When I was young, phones didn’t even exist.

I only remembered adults using those black brick-like flip phones.

Suddenly, memories of being amazed when phones got color screens, cameras, and rotation flashed through my mind.

"They’re living in a good era. Heh."

"Stop talking like an old man."

Ignoring Ri Hyuk’s scolding, I realized something.

"So that’s why we have so many young fans."

"Yeah."

"Ahh... that explains it."

I [N O V E L I G H T] had wondered how elementary school fans even followed us.

Turns out kids these days carried smartphones and could be fans.

"That’s fascinating."

As I marveled at the changing times, I nodded while looking at Lullaby’s response.

"At least the reason for appearing is clear."

A national idol group popular among babies.

Plus, the wide audience range of a childcare show was appealing.

Our TV appearances were usually meant to say, “Please love NewBlack!”

Jiho chuckled.

"And we can show a new charm."

"New charm?"

"The mature side of us. We always get called elementary schoolers, right?"

"!"

Everyone had a sudden realization.

"Right... in front of actual elementary school kids, we’ll look super mature."

"The charm of adults will explode."

"NewBlack showing a caring, mature side... and viewers being amazed..."

The mature charm of NewBlack, who always looked young.

It sounded like a great choice.

Feeling oddly tempted, we looked into the program.

We thought maybe an actual kid named Seojun appeared, but that wasn’t it.

"They say it’s just one of the most common names for kids in the 2010s."

"Like Jihoon or Hyunwoo in my time."

The format itself was simple.

Parents raising kids.

Four- to five-year-old children as the main focus.

"We should binge it when we have time."

Since we had a concert coming up, we decided to research more later.

We’d make the final decision after proper research—but we were already leaning toward it.

Biju smiled brightly.

"I imagined kids eating food I cooked and liking it."

"I imagined being super popular with babies."

"I imagined going to the zoo with them."

And I imagined singing while babies cheered.

A dreamy version of childcare floated in our minds.

"This is going to be huge."

"I feel like we’ve already succeeded."

"They can walk and talk, so it won’t be that hard."

All-rounder idols NewBlack.

Just as we smiled brightly, confident in our success—

"Heh."

A laugh came from somewhere.

We turned our heads.

The married staff members in the TF team were smiling faintly.

"...Why are you like that?"

"You’ll find out."

"Huh?"

"Soon... you’ll understand..."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

They just chuckled and walked away.

Something about their laughter sent a chill down our spines.

‘What was that.’

‘What did they mean?’

A bad feeling crept in.

The concert held over two days in Toronto.

It was our first concert in Canada, so we wondered if people would really come—

They really did.

"Waaaaaaah!"

Fifty thousand people.

We had heard there were many Koreans in Canada, so we expected to see a lot—

[Did anyone succeed in getting NewBlack concert tickets?]

I failedㅠㅠㅠ

Sameㅠㅠ

I thought it would be easy

It’s Canada, I thought it’d be easy... guess not

I’m not even a fan, but it sold out before general sales

Most people failed because Souffle fans snapped up tickets instantly.

"Next time, we should go bigger."

"Seokhwan hyung, is there anywhere bigger than this?"

"That’s the biggest..."

There were slightly larger venues, but not in densely populated areas like Toronto.

"Then maybe we should increase the number of shows."

Seokhwan laughed.

"We already increased scale this time... but even that wasn’t enough to meet demand."

Estimated total tour attendance: two million.

"At this rate, we should just do concerts every day."

"Seriously."

Jiho said,

"Shouldn’t we do an online concert too? Some fans won’t get to come at all."

"That’s a good idea."

It was worth considering.

After finishing the northeastern U.S. and Toronto tour—

[NewBlack, we will soon be landing in Las Vegas.]

We had been asleep, and when we woke up—

Las Vegas greeted us.

A city of casinos shining in the desert.

Just like last year, the Billboard Music Awards would be held here.

"Woojoo! Woojoo!"

"Hey!"

We waved at paparazzi waiting at the airport and got into the car.

Destination: MGM Grand Hotel.

[2018 Billboard Music Awards]

A massive green hotel.

Flags waving.

"Same place as last year."

"Looks like it’s fixed."

Even though everything felt rushed, the familiar venue helped.

And the treatment had improved.

The same staff—but after METRO, the difference was noticeable.

"Please move a little this way... for the camera."

"Sure."

Even small things during the stage made them go, "Wow!"

As we rehearsed, I checked the cue sheet.

"Let’s see."

"We’re almost last."

"Last? I’d rather go earlier."

Unlike Korean award shows, order didn’t matter much here.

Top artists could perform in the middle.

But there was a reason we were near the end.

Ri Hyuk said,

"To keep ratings up."

"That’s it."

“Just a little longer and NewBlack is coming...!”

We were the rating fairies.

"Let’s see..."

Among familiar names—

one unfamiliar one stood out.

[Moonlight]

Moonlight.

The debut group from the audition show where I performed Answer with Cold Brown.

The prize had been performing at the Billboard Awards.

Biju narrowed his eyes.

They had been provoking us lately.

Not just Asians—support a true multicultural American group!

A rookie that surpassed NewBlack!

A boy band that beat NewBlack’s first-week sales!

Ah.

We had beaten that with Midnight Sun this time.

Junghyun said,

"Strangely... I don’t feel threatened."

"Same."

"They’re trying to act like rivals..."

If they had appeared when METRO alone was big, maybe.

But now—

Instead—

"Doesn’t this feel familiar?"

"Yeah... weirdly familiar..."

Something about them felt familiar.

Like someone trying to stand next to us and act like a rival.

"What was it..."

"Not sure."

We scratched our heads.

Anyway, it wasn’t important.

Japan.

[Today’s entertainment news!]

[A global super-popular group! NewBlack has arrived in Las Vegas, causing chaos!]

Girls cheered.

[We love you!]

A man watched, smiling.

Hashimoto Genji.

Self-proclaimed genius jazz musician.

"Good times."

But—

"You don’t know the fear of the world."

He had heard about Moonlight being formed to check NewBlack.

‘Like back then.’

Asian artists in America faced resistance.

He smirked.

But he no longer felt rivalry.

‘They are singers. My son is a pianist.’

Different fields.

‘Let’s see... what path you take.’

Unaware that NewBlack didn’t even remember him.

On the way to the red carpet—

"Ah!"

Biju said,

"I remember his name!"

"Really?"

"Watashi Kennosuke?"

"No."

I shook my head.

Hashimoto Genji.

We had just remembered him yesterday.

"Should I just tell you?"

"No!"

"We have to figure it out ourselves!"

I laughed as they struggled.

The venue grew closer.

Cheers louder.

The limo stopped.

The door opened.

"Thank you."

We stepped out—

"WAAAAAAAH!"

But something felt different.

The fans—

And—

"Hyung... what are those hats?"

"Uh...?"

Cloud-shaped hats.

Signs in Korean.

[Sun and his clouds... and subordinate clouds]

[Congratulations on the Cloud Squad★]

[We finally have a new name!]

We burst out laughing.

The cutest clouds in the world.