Chapter 965: Nothing Goes According to Expectations (19)

Sometimes during interviews, he got asked questions like this.

-Wooju, you’re both a member of NewBlack and a successful singer songwriter. If there are juniors out there dreaming of becoming idol producers like you, what advice would you give them?

His answer varied depending on the situation.

But there was one thing he always said.

-When you write songs, you have to write about things you know.

No matter how talented a composer was, they couldn’t write convincingly about something they didn’t understand.

Just as twenty something him couldn’t write trot songs aimed at middle aged audiences, and Cold Brown couldn’t write hip hop about Korean social issues.

The moment you tried writing about something unfamiliar, you immediately hit a wall.

"Then what about children’s songs?"

Jiho asked while chewing snacks.

"Hyung isn’t a kid anymore either, but Rabbit Uncle still became a massive hit."

"That worked because I used to be a kid."

He remembered his childhood self watching Tooniverse cartoons in his grandmother’s diner while writing Rabbit Uncle.

-A children’s song that would become a friend to lonely children.

It was a song written with his belief that all children deserved happiness.

"Like, You’ll never be lonely with Rabbit Uncle~ lalalala~."

"So there really was a reason it perfectly targeted kids’ tastes. The vibe of someone who used to be a kid."

"The way you’re talking nonsense tells me you’re sleepy."

"Yep. Jiho is sleepy. Oooooh."

He stuffed snacks into the face of the swollen eyed underling leaning against him, then gently pushed him away.

Turning his head, he saw the members all yawning heavily after getting ready to go home.

Biju swallowed a yawn and spoke.

"I’m not sleepy yet, hyung."

"Sorry."

"You don’t need to apologize. Honestly, I feel [N O V E L I G H T] worse because there’s nothing I can really help with......"

"Just rest for a bit. I’m almost done."

The members nodded repeatedly.

"Just a little more."

He clicked the mouse while staring at the laptop screen.

"Hmm......"

It felt like the song would become perfect if he adjusted the sound just a little more.

Closing his eyes briefly, he pictured a certain scene.

-Grandma! Two soft tofu stews and one spicy pork!

-Alright! Take these side dishes out first.

-Hehe.

-It’s hot as hell and you’re fooling around again. Stop clinging to me! Hey Sukja! Stop slacking and move faster!

He remembered the days after getting cut from TNT’s debut lineup, when he spent his time helping out at his grandmother’s diner.

The days when he wriggled beneath blankets every night whispering, I’ll make you regret this, TJ Entertainment. Hahaha......

Anyway.

The reason he recalled those memories was because that period was when he had accumulated the most memories related to cooking and kitchens.

Bubble bubble—

Seafood soft tofu stew boiling with egg yolks floating gently on top.

Slice slice slice—

The sound of the best kimchi in Gunsan, made by his grandmother, being cut diagonally across the cutting board.

Spicy pork stir fried atop a greasy pan.

Eggs frying with sizzling salt and the nutty aroma of perilla oil.

Clatter clatter—

Slice—

Sssizzle—

He imagined the noisy kitchen of the diner filled with all kinds of sounds.

Since Overcooked was an English song and suited a Western style kitchen better, he initially tried writing it while imagining those kinds of kitchens.

But no matter how hard he tried, something kept blocking him.

[Warning! No data available!]

That was the feeling.

Which was why he ended up working on Overcooked while imagining the familiar kitchen of his grandmother’s diner instead.

Especially lunchtime at the diner.

-Excuse me, one grilled mackerel and two soybean paste stews please...! And can we get wet towels too?

-Do you have cold soybean noodles? It’s not the season yet...? But why...?

-Excuse me, we’d like the check!

From 11:30 until around 1:20, the restaurant became so crowded with customers that the air practically filled with fog from the heat.

Then around 1:40, the place slowly started calming down again.

At times like that, he would briefly turn on a fan and cool himself off while drinking yogurt.

He wanted to play Overcooked for the version of himself from back then.

"Hmm......"

There was no fixed message.

When someone was exhausted to the point of death, would they really want to hear some song smugly going, Behold the profound artistic meaning hidden within this work?

He wanted it to be lighthearted.

[Overcooked~ Overcooked~]

Something tired people could happily hum along to while blankly sitting in front of a fan after a long day of work.

A song people could sing thoughtlessly.

Something that could become a brief moment of joy for people who felt lost and overwhelmed about the future.

[I only cooked it a little too long~♪]

That was the feeling he poured into the song while working.

And sure enough, the work started progressing faster.

Dragging sections got cleanly trimmed away.

Awkward parts were cut out and rearranged elsewhere, or completely revised.

Bit by bit, the previously blurry shape of Overcooked became clearer and clearer.

"Hmm......"

Maybe it wasn’t the perfect metaphor, but he pictured a flawlessly cooked sunny side up egg.

A bright yolk glistening beautifully at the center of soft white egg whites.

The song made him think of delicious food plated elegantly on a beautiful dish.

Pretty, refined... and exciting.

"Finished."

Just as he stretched like a chef who had completed a meal—

[05:39]

The moment he saw the time, his heart nearly dropped.

He had promised the members he’d finish quickly, only to accidentally stay up all night.

He hurriedly turned around.

"Guys. I’m sor—"

He stopped himself midway through the apology.

The members were collapsed asleep across the sofa like a row of friendly penguins.

Drool from the maknae dripped onto Ri Hyuk’s shoulder while Junghyun leaned against Biju’s shoulder peacefully.

"Guys. Hyung finished the song."

"..."

Naturally, there was no answer.

Listening to the sound of soft breathing, he turned back toward the monitor.

"It really turned out well."

Just as he shamelessly praised himself while looking at the completed version of Overcooked—

His eyes met the stuffed Rabbit Uncle doll sitting on the studio table.

Come to think of it....

A certain video came to mind.

-Honey, we’re home.

A father playing Rabbit Uncle to wake up his sleeping daughter in the car.

The child never fully woke up, but she smiled brightly in her sleep at the melody of Rabbit Uncle.

The video had over 750,000 views.

Which meant....

How would the members unconsciously react to Overcooked?

He grabbed a vlog camera and spoke quietly.

"Now then. We shall test how the members’ subconscious minds react."

He played Overcooked at a volume low enough not to wake them.

Squirm squirm.

He whispered,

"Look over there. We’re getting a reaction."

The sleeping members captured on camera began muttering in their dreams.

"Lo......"

Love you?

You’ll gain weight.

Sa Ri Hyuk? How about ramen noodle Hyuk?

Actually, I’m RainarrRRR....

Various hallucination like mutterings beginning with S flowed out of their subconscious.

Then—

"Please spare me......"

At Junghyun’s mumbling, he blinked.

The members squirmed around.

"Y yes... hyung’s right about everything. Yes, yes. I like this version better. Yesss......"

"Stop......"

"Tte......ing......"

Watching the members wriggle around like they were trapped in nightmares, he looked over at the rabbit doll.

Staring into the distance, he spoke quietly.

"I it’s just because they heard it too many times."

For some reason, Tosam seemed to be mocking him.

At long last, Overcooked was complete.

Not long afterward, the members woke up and praised the final version enthusiastically.

"This is basically perfect...?"

Biju said with wide eyes.

"How did you even do this, hyung? Feels like we could start recording immediately."

"Wow, this turned out really well."

The maknae rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"I literally just woke up so nothing’s entering my ears properly right now, but this song keeps slipping right into my head."

"I like it too."

"It turned out great."

Nodding at the members’ praise, he saved the file onto a USB drive to send to the producing team.

[Overcooked_Ver3.29_Final_FinalEdit_ReallyFinal]

After saving various other edited versions as well—

"Did you guys sleep well?"

"Yep."

"Did anything unusual happen while sleeping? Like dreams. Maybe an extremely good dream. Maybe you felt really happy."

"Hmm......"

Everyone sank into thought before Junghyun spoke up.

"I think I did have a dream."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It felt like an absolutely horrific nightmare."

"..."

The other members agreed too.

"I dreamed I became spicy chicken being chased by sweet potato noodles. They kept screaming about why I was still left in the frying pan when fried rice needed to be cooked......"

"I dreamed I was falling off a cliff."

"Everyone else became apple trees while I turned into a grapevine."

......He decided not to ask any further questions.

After finishing the first stage of work on Overcooked—

They spent their time busily holding meetings with the TF team, A&R team, and producing team regarding the album’s production.

Preparing the music video.

Contacting designers for outfits.

Concept art, and more.

As discussions continued with the staff, the international album project finally received its official title.

『Flavour』

The album’s concept centered around songs inspired by different foods from around the world.

Seokhwan hyung smiled.

"We’re going to start accepting submissions now, and honestly I’m excited myself. I have no idea how many songs we’ll receive, but the competition’s going to be brutal."

"Competition?"

"There are countless people who want to work with you guys. Some foreign composers are already sending songs even before the submission notice officially went out."

"Really?"

A huge grin spread across Seokhwan hyung’s face.

"It’s completely different from back during METRO. Back then we were the ones in the weaker position, but now there’s nothing to regret. Your status overseas changed enormously before and after METRO."

And with Answer still sitting at number one on Billboard, the changes had only grown bigger.

What kind of songs would come in?

Even he felt excited.

"Now that album prep has officially started......"

He smiled while checking items off the to do list one by one.

The solo variety show New Universe Project was going smoothly.

Recording prep for the musical film Sound of Sun OST complete.

WooBiz concept photos and MV filming preparation complete.

Before the South American tour, there were only two schedules left in Korea.

Strictly speaking, they were more personal schedules than official activities.

-Visit TNT’s concert.

One was TNT’s reunion concert happening this weekend.

And before that—

-Ri Hyuk appears on Mission Singer★

Their main vocalist’s appearance on the singing survival program.

Operation Debut Great King Sun Wooju officially begins!

-Please maintain strict secrecy until the broadcast airs.

At the request of the Mission Singer production team, they hid Ri Hyuk thoroughly.

"Alright! Put on these black clothes, Ri Hyuk hyung."

"His face is too small. It stands out. Put a hat on him."

"Ri Hyuk’s eyes are too pretty. Should we give him sunglasses too?"

And thus, perfection was achieved.

"Whf is thiiis?"

Baggy clothes, a mask, sunglasses, and more.

Ignoring the victim’s protests, everyone applauded proudly.

"Perfect."

"Oh? I think I’ve seen this in Conan before."

"The culprit?"

He looked exactly like those shadow covered criminals in detective comics who cackled while carrying ice picks.

Ri Hyuk tapped the suffocating mask.

"I can’t breaff."

"Just hold on a little longer, hyung. Once the episode airs next week, you can go around freely. Everyone will know it’s you anyway~"

"Mask......"

"Let’s loosen it a little... hold on."

They adjusted Ri Hyuk’s disguise.

Ri Hyuk exhaled deeply.

"Hoo. Seriously... all of you......"

Before he could start complaining, they struck first.

"We love you! Seo Ri Hyuk!"

"The shining light of humanity! Seo Ri Hyuk!"

Ri Hyuk grumbled while secretly enjoying the attention as the others continued cheering him on.

Wrapping an arm around Ri Hyuk’s shoulders, he said,

"Time to go. Ri Hyuk and I will head out now."

"Okay!"

"Have a safe trip! Eat something tasty too! Ah, but since you’re leaving me behind, don’t eat too tasty of a meal~!"

They waved back at the members waving goodbye.

"Alright, let’s go!"

Today, he was the only one accompanying Ri Hyuk.

It was because of Ri Hyuk’s oddly specific personality.

Like Jiho, he had a Please pay attention to me! mindset.

But at the same time, he hated it when all four members focused on him simultaneously.

He was the type who preferred having just one person beside him offering support.

"Nervous?"

"...Of course I’m nervous."

Ri Hyuk removed his hat and fixed his hair.

"It’s been forever since I competed like this. I’ve barely done any competition shows since Masterpiece Group."

"True."

"Maybe because it reminds me of those days, but my mouth feels dry."

A singing competition for the first time in three years.

People often described the idol industry as intensely competitive, full of yearly rivalries and constant battles.

And honestly, that wasn’t wrong.

They themselves had climbed upward while competing against groups like Street Boys, TeenSpirit, and TNT.

But stage competitions where careers were on the line, like Mission Singer, weren’t something idols were naturally accustomed to.

-A stage only the strong survive.

Brutal competition that idols rarely experienced unless they appeared on programs like Challenge, Masterpiece Group! or Mission Singer.

Especially for artists like them who had already achieved massive success.

Normally, there was no reason to appear on shows like this.

Of course, they knew Ri Hyuk’s abilities.

But if a top tier idol group suddenly announced they were entering a survival singing show, most agencies would desperately try to stop them.

-...You want to join a survival show? Why?

It wasn’t necessarily bad.

If the vocalist performed so well that they earned titles like ultimate vocal monster, it became an incredible opportunity.

People would react with, What?! He was hiding this level of talent?!

But—

What if the skill level wasn’t overwhelmingly exceptional?

-There’s a reason people say idols are idols and singers are singersㅋㅋㅋ Look at the skill gap

-And this group’s supposed to be the top of the idol industry????

-The world’s unfair.. there are tons of people better than him at singing but he’s the successful oneㅠ

-Since when was the idol industry about talent anyway? It’s just visuals

The expectations themselves created the problem.

Most viewers instinctively associated popularity with skill and expected top groups to perform at a certain level.

If they performed amazingly, it merely met expectations.

If they were merely decent, the backlash became catastrophic.

Which was why these shows usually benefited rising idols more than already established top groups.

However—

-But honestly, I think Ri Hyuk hyung is good enough to send out there.

Even back during Masterpiece Group in 2015, senior vocalists Cha Woohyun and Lisa had praised him heavily.

And after three years of bloody effort polishing his vocals—

NewBlack’s main vocalist Seo Ri Hyuk had surpassed the level of an ordinary main vocalist.

-Aren’t you excited, hyungs? If we send Ri Hyuk hyung out this time, people are seriously going to lose their minds.

Everyone agreed with the maknae.

'We want to show them.'

They wanted to proudly reveal the vocals Ri Hyuk had never fully gotten to display during group performances.

The skills he had silently sharpened for three years!

"And with that skill, Great King Sun Wooju shall carve his name into music history...!"

"You always start strong and then suddenly take a hard turn."

He laughed while watching Ri Hyuk sigh in amusement.

Maybe because he kept chatting to distract him, the trembling in Ri Hyuk’s legs gradually subsided.

"Alright!"

He continued talking so Ri Hyuk wouldn’t have time to get nervous.

"Beginning training to become Great King Sun Wooju."

"Beginning."

"Repeat after me. E kung, dark history..☆"

"E... e kung."

"You can’t be embarrassed! You are Sun Wooju!"

"I I am Sun Wooju."

"Dehet Kim Deoksun."

"Dehet! Kim Deoksun!"

They trained thoroughly while listening to the managers laughing.

And eventually, after driving along Gangbyeonbuk Road, they arrived at TBC headquarters in Sangam.

Heading straight from the underground parking lot to the elevator, he whispered,

"From now until we reach the studio, we move quietly."

"I mean, I’m covered up enough already. Honestly, I think you need to be more careful than me."

"Don’t worry about me."

The moment he put on a mask and activated his body altering skill, Ri Hyuk burst into laughter.

A crystal clear laugh like marbles rolling together.

And thanks to his strong vocal projection, it echoed loudly.

"Ri Hyuk. Even your laugh."

"...I’ll be careful."

Making that promise, they boarded the elevator from Basement Level 2.

Ding dong.

[First floor.]

As the elevator rose to the first floor lobby, crowds of people piled inside.

Normally, people would’ve recognized them instantly even from their silhouettes.

But today everyone only glanced briefly before looking away.

'It worked.'

'Nobody recognizes us.'

He and Ri Hyuk exchanged triumphant glances beneath their masks.

Then—

He suddenly felt someone staring intensely at them.

"...?"

It was a little girl around five years old sitting in the arms of what seemed to be either a visitor or employee.

She stared at them like she was playing a hidden picture game.

'W what is it.'

'Seriously?'

After intensely studying them for several moments, the little girl tugged on her father.

"Daddy."

"Hm?"

Her tiny finger pointed straight at them.

"Kitty Uncle and Bunny Uncle are here!"

"...!"

"...!!"