Chapter 921: We are, well... uh... henchmen. (11)

“What is this.”

Just moments ago, the Moonlight members had been acting all playful and restless, but now they were bowing politely.

‘What is this.’

‘This isn’t the vibe they had earlier.’

Was it because they were made up of late teenagers?

It was completely different from how they had been throwing their arms around the staff saying “Hey!” and taking photos, or laughing loudly enough to shake the hallway.

Their eyes had settled.

Their posture was disciplined.

“Uh....”

Colin Evans, known as the most popular member, scratched his head.

A strikingly handsome face.

He resembled a fennec fox—one of those faces that would be called a “fandom magnet” back in Korea.

“Uh... we meet like this.”

He looked unsure how to treat us, visibly flustered.

I smiled and asked,

“Congratulations on your debut. What are your names?”

“I’m Colin. This is Patrick... and over here is....”

He introduced the members.

As we shook hands and I complimented them with “You’re handsome,” they laughed awkwardly.

Jiho smiled and asked,

“...Are we making you uncomfortable?”

“No! No!”

They waved their hands, denying it.

“This is totally cool right now.”

“We’re not uncomfortable at all! We’re really excited!”

No.

You look uncomfortable.

“Hmm.”

I smiled.

“Looks like we’ll have to talk later because of time. You said this is your first stage on Billboard today, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

With that greeting, we left Moonlight.

Ri Hyuk whispered,

“They’re more mild than I expected.”

“Yeah.”

Even in interviews, they had been slipping in subtle competitive remarks.

I thought they might act prickly when we met face to face, but they were surprisingly polite.

Jiho said,

“In online games, people trash-talk like crazy, but when they meet offline, they turn into total sheep.”

“Speaking from experience?”

“No. I don’t trash-talk in games.”

Jiho smiled.

“Instead, I do things that make people curse at me. Hehehe.”

“Don’t do that... seriously.”

As we talked, I turned my head.

Moonlight had gone back to their original selves, chatting noisily as they entered the venue.

Junghyun said,

“They’re definitely different from when they were talking to us. Maybe they were just nervous.”

“No. I don’t think it was just that.”

They had looked very confident when approaching us.

But then they glanced behind us, flinched, and suddenly became cautious.

If that’s the case...

“Is there something behind us...?”

Just as I turned my head—

Two people came into view from a distance.

Hailey Blue and Cold Brown.

“Ah.”

I understood immediately.

If those two were watching from behind, anyone would feel pressured.

A singer-songwriter famous for her sharp tongue in the industry.

And the leader of East Coast hip-hop who once dominated Billboard with diss rap in his youth.

And—

Blue Moon

Answer

Each of them had Billboard No.1 songs tied to us.

Their eyes sparkled at us.

‘Give me a Billboard song.’

‘I won’t give it to anyone. My personal Grammy vending machine.’

We burst out laughing at the goodwill filled with ulterior motives.

Then the two of them started talking seriously among themselves.

It looked like an intense logical battle.

I turned to Junghyun.

“Bugging device.”

“Yes.”

“What are they talking about?”

“...Give me a moment. It’s in English, so it takes time to process.”

After listening in, Junghyun said,

“They’re arguing over ownership of us.”

“....”

“Ah. Not us. It seems like they’re arguing over your ownership. Who gets to write a song with you next.”

I let out an incredulous laugh.

Biju said,

“From their perspective, it makes sense. You’re a composer with three Billboard No.1s.”

“...Is that so?”

It was just luck.

I smiled awkwardly at their generous evaluation.

Then suddenly, the younger ones chuckled.

“You know what, hyung?”

“Hm?”

“While those two are busy fighting...”

The lackeys said,

“We already own you.”

“....”

“A Billboard No.1 composer in the palm of our hands... hehehe....”

There were truly hopeless people everywhere.

The Billboard Music Awards.

My first visit again in a year.

“Sunnyyyyy!”

“I learned Korean!”

“Jiho ya! Jiho ya!”

The loud shouts of Souffle fans who had learned Korean echoed through the venue.

Guided by staff, we were seated in the very front row with the best view.

The stage right in front of us.

[Billboard Music Awards]

On the dazzling stage screens, staff wearing intercom headsets moved busily.

When we first came last year, we had been completely overwhelmed.

But now, on our second visit, we were clearly more used to it.

“Hey! Our famous friends!”

“Hey!”

We said “Hey!” back to a stranger and took a selfie together.

I leaned toward Jiho and asked,

“Who was that? Looked like an actor.”

“He plays a detective in a sitcom.”

“Ah.”

Now, even strangers suddenly approaching us for selfies felt natural.

As we sat and waited—

The live broadcast began, and the atmosphere heated up.

[Ladies and gentlemen! Let me introduce today’s host!]

A famous comedian came out and made jokes.

I didn’t quite understand, so I laughed along vaguely as he went through the lineup.

[We have incredible artists waiting for us. We have Mandy Spice.]

“Waaaaaah!”

[Kelly Nelson, Troy Kid, and Ailo—you look amazing tonight.]

After showing the Australian singer known for unique fashion shyly waving—

[And today’s breakout rookies... Moonlight! Welcome to the Billboard Music Awards.]

The crowd erupted.

Moonlight’s popularity was overwhelming, just as expected for a debut hit.

As soon as the camera caught them, screams exploded everywhere.

“Colin! Coliiiin!”

“Jacob! I love you!”

“Hunter!”

Judging by the names being called, the white members seemed especially popular.

Colin Evans, showing off his long legs, made a finger heart toward the camera.

The cheers grew even louder.

If a journalist were watching this live, they might write a headline like:

Moonlight shakes the venue with their rise... “A new era of boy bands has begun”

While everyone was going “Wow” at the cheers—

The host continued.

[And do we even need to say more? We have NewBlack.]

At that moment—

I understood what it meant for your ears to feel like they were tearing apart.

A massive roar.

“!”

“!!”

Even I flinched.

My heart pounded.

“It feels like a T-rex is roaring right next to my ears.”

“T-rex doesn’t have vocal cords, so it can’t roar.”

“...Right. Ri Hyuk. That was my mistake for telling you.”

The overwhelming noise made everyone swallow hard.

The comedian nodded.

[I expected this, so I brought earplugs this time.]

He pulled out the earplugs from his ears, drawing laughter.

Then the opening continued.

From the opening, it felt like the Billboard Awards had a clear intention this time.

They want to sell a rivalry!

They kept mentioning us and Moonlight together.

Trying to create a boy band rivalry for ratings and headlines.

But...

After that difference in cheers just now, I wasn’t sure if it would work.

[Now, shall we begin the awards?]

The ceremony officially began.

Various stages passed, and awards followed.

And—

Finally, we received one.

[The winner of Top Duo/Group!]

[The winner is NewBlack!]

When our name was called, I felt immense relief.

Standing on stage and giving the acceptance speech, it felt like a weight lifted from my chest.

Like winning a medal.

“...Lastly, I want to send love to someone watching this in Korea. I love you, my Deoksun!”

“Grandma, your grandson won an award~”

I waved at the camera.

She was probably watching at a diner with other ladies, clapping.

After receiving the trophy, we went backstage for interviews.

“We’re very happy since we didn’t expect this win...”

The category we won was Top Duo/Group.

One of the major awards for group acts.

Last year, we only won in collaboration categories.

This was our first solo win.

It was one of the awards we wanted most.

Ri Hyuk said with relief,

“I’m glad we achieved something. I was worried we might go home empty-handed... though it’s not like people would actually criticize us.”

If we had gone home without an award—

Billboard you bastards!

We should blow up the site...!

“...Huh?”

“...Huh?”

I shook my head.

No.

It wouldn’t go that far... probably.

“Nice.”

Junghyun smiled, touching the trophy.

“We’ve got another Billboard trophy for the shelf.”

“Yeah.”

Grammys might have higher prestige in the U.S.

But somehow—

Seeing a Billboard trophy with our name on it...

“This is the best.”

I smiled, feeling the golden microphone-shaped trophy.

Our staff waiting in the hallway cheered.

“Waaaaah!”

“NewBlack! NewBlack!”

I hugged Seokhwan, who was dabbing his eyes.

“Hyung, why are you crying?”

“When did I cry?”

I handed the trophy to our teary “math genius.”

After exchanging congratulations, we returned to the venue.

Now that we had won, we were ready to relax and watch—

[Top Selling Song goes to NewBlack!]

[Top Streaming Song Video goes to NewBlack’s METRO!]

Before we could process it, two more trophies were added.

Triple crown.

“...Uh....”

It was great—but overwhelming.

We had only prepared a speech for one award.

But—

There was still something we needed to say.

Because these were music awards.

“Thank you.”

I stood at the mic.

“Honestly, the song METRO...”

Los Angeles.

In a warehouse converted into a studio, a group of composers cheered.

“...The New Black!”

They were Lemon Entertainment’s composers.

They had come to the U.S. to improve and support NewBlack.

Learning trends.

Meeting local producers.

Sharing feedback daily.

And most importantly—

Sun Wooju is not here!

Without him constantly critiquing them, they felt free.

“...But...”

“Don’t you kind of miss Wooju after a month?”

“...Yeah.”

“...It feels empty.”

[Honestly, METRO couldn’t have been created by us alone.]

“...That’s not true.”

“He toyed with us during the song camp and wrote it.”

[Creating one song requires many hands...]

Wooju looked into the camera.

[I want to dedicate this award to our producing team who helped us.]

The composers smiled.

“...You worked hard, Wooju.”

[Suddenly, talking about them makes me miss them.]

“...Huh?”

[I’ll come visit soon.]

“...Wooju?”

Their faces turned pale.

Three awards.

Even one would have been enough.

We couldn’t stop smiling.

“Nice.”

“So nice....”

Then—

[Next stage: a new boy band shaking America!]

[Please welcome Moonlight!]

We nodded as we watched.

“They’re good.”

“Solid.”

Honestly—

They were still unrefined.

In Korea, they’d still be trainees.

But their base skills were strong.

A strategy stood out:

Growth-type idols

Showing improvement over time.

Each member covering weaknesses with strengths.

“NewBlack.”

We stood up at the staff’s call.

Time to change outfits.

As we walked out—

“They’re good.”

“They are.”

But compared to past rivals—

They weren’t at that level.

“....”

“....”

Rustle. Rustle.

We changed in silence.

Then exchanged smiles.

“Ready?”

“Let’s go.”

It was time for our stage.

If they wanted to be our rivals—

We would show them what level that meant.