Chapter 974: I Am the King of Singers, But...? (9)

The day they departed for South America.

Seo Ri Hyuk had woken up before dawn and was checking his luggage one last time.

‘Five emergency bags.’

Check complete.

‘They said it’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere right now, so it’ll probably be cold... This level of coats and padding should be enough.’

Check complete.

‘Skin lotion, essence, toiletries, medicine kit, spare clothes... and even the astronomical telescope for stargazing.’

And one more thing.

‘Gotta bring these too.’

Ri Hyuk packed a pile of portable tea bags.

Teas meant to soothe a strained throat.

Partly so he could perform in peak condition in front of Souffle, and partly because he also needed to prepare for the upcoming competition.

‘No idea who the next challenger will be.’

He didn’t know what kind of person would appear, but he had already resolved to prepare with everything he had for the next round.

“Perfect.”

After checking everything one final time, Ri Hyuk smiled in satisfaction.

Then immediately opened the zipper again in a hurry.

‘Did I really pack it properly?’

After checking the items on the list repeatedly, both in order and reverse order, Ri Hyuk finally zipped the suitcase shut with a thump.

Everything was perfect.

And yet...

“Hmm.”

Why did something still feel off?

Just as Ri Hyuk turned his head while thinking that—

“Gah...!”

He nearly jumped at the sight of someone watching him while posing with flower hands beneath their chin.

“Ri Hyuk hyung~ good morning~”

‘Has he lost his mind?’

Under his messy hair, a puppy like face grinned brightly.

“Good morning, hyung~”

“?”

Ri Hyuk asked with a dubious expression.

“What’s with you? You’re okay now?”

“Hm?”

“You suddenly started avoiding me yesterday.”

“Me? When?”

The maknae answered as though it were the first time he’d ever heard of such a thing.

Seo Ri Hyuk narrowed his eyes.

Up until last night, Jiho had absolutely been avoiding him while screaming things like, “Waaah! Don’t come near me!”

But now his reaction was completely different.

Yesterday, it had looked like he was desperately trying to hide something.

Now, it looked like he was enjoying it.

“Hyung, hyung.”

“?”

Mischievous eyes sparkled.

“How does it feel to become King of Singers Sun Wooju?”

“Well. I climbed there with my own skills...?”

“What if some ridiculously amazing person appears to challenge that position? Like, what if some insanely powerful challenger suddenly shows up...?”

“......”

It wasn’t exactly a pleasant scenario to imagine, so Ri Hyuk grimaced slightly.

And then—

“Eh... eheheh! Ehehehehe!”

“?”

“King of Singers Sun Wooju... ehehheh!”

Whatever he was imagining, it seemed hilarious enough that he collapsed onto the floor giggling uncontrollably.

Apparently “King of Singers” or “Sun Wooju” had become laughter triggers.

After the laughter finally calmed down, Seo Ri Hyuk spoke again.

“King of Singers?”

“Fuhahahaha!”

“Sun Wooju?”

“Eheheheh!”

Watching the maknae burst out laughing just from seeing his face, the main vocalist tilted his head in confusion.

“Good at acting,” my ass.

“King of Singers?”

“Fhehehehe!”

“Sun Wooju?”

“Fhehehe... gahk! Hrk!”

Every time one of the members said “King of Singers?” or “Sun Wooju?”, the maknae would collapse laughing by himself.

“I seriously swear, that brat...”

Never tell him secrets again.

He was reacting exactly like a baby who’d been told a secret.

Suddenly acting awkward, hiding nearby while secretly staring at Mom and Dad, twisting around while trying not to laugh.

The difference was that babies were cute.

And—

“I’m cute too, right?”

‘......Annoyingly enough, he is cute.’

Our maknae was at least somewhat cute too.

Anyway, that wasn’t the important part.

“Jiho. Couldn’t you at least make it a little less obvious?”

“No, but what am I supposed to do if just looking at Ri Hyuk hyung’s face makes me laugh? There’s literally a bomb right next to him and he has no idea while smiling all innocently like that. How am I not supposed to laugh?”

The maknae was already laughing just imagining the shocking situation our main vocalist would face in two weeks.

“King of Singers Sun Wooju~ King of Singers Sun Wooju~”

I was laughing while watching the maknae circle around Ri Hyuk before immediately getting grabbed by the collar.

That was when Biju dragged his suitcase over beside me.

“Maybe Jiho thinks it’s hilarious that Ri Hyuk became King of Singers using your name, hyung.”

“Y-yeah. Maybe.”

“By any chance...”

Biju asked—

“Am I the only one who doesn’t know something, hyung?”

“No.”

“I see.”

He looked slightly unconvinced, but didn’t press further.

Of course, I could’ve told Biju too. Among the four of them, he was honestly the best at keeping secrets.

Still, I couldn’t tell him.

I’d always hated situations where only one person was kept in the dark and made to look stupid.

-“Wait! Everyone knew except me and kept it secret?!”

...If that happened, imagine how wronged Ri Hyuk would feel.

In moments like that, Biju and Junghyun could appear dramatically.

-“We didn’t know either...”

-“Ta da. Three idiots have arrived.”

Exactly.

If someone had to become an idiot, wasn’t it better for three people to become idiots together rather than just one?

...That was what I was thinking when—

“Oh?”

Biju suddenly looked like he’d realized something.

“King of Singers Seo Ri Hyuk?!”

“......”

The random guess flew out of nowhere, and I immediately turned away with a poker face.

Biju laughed.

“Ah, judging from your expression, I guess that’s wrong.”

“Obviously.”

‘Because it’s Korea’s top hip hop artist Seo Ri Hyuk.’

Biju awkwardly dragged his suitcase away.

After greeting the captain, I boarded the plane too.

As I fastened my seatbelt beside Junghyun—

“Careful, careful!”

Our staff carefully boarded the plane carrying a large box.

They moved with the same caution one might use carrying an ancient mummy’s coffin.

“Set that down over here.”

Seokhwan hyung directed the managers.

“Guys. That thing’s expensive now. Handle it carefully.”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

“Make sure it’s secured so it doesn’t shake.”

The box radiated a solemn aura.

Inside it was an extremely precious item.

A valuable object important enough that they’d even purchased insurance in case it was lost.

That object was—

“Hello, Rabbit Sam.”

-.......

“How is it in there? Not uncomfortable?”

Through the little window built into the box, the smiling rabbit puppet could be seen.

What had the foreign insurance company registered it as again...?

Probably something like this.

-The one and only original Uncle Bunny.

Rabbit Sam, the sixth member joining us on this South American tour.

Value, fundamentally, is determined by society.

Like how diamonds make Earthlings gasp in amazement, but on an alien planet they might just be rocks.

Rabbit Sam had once been nothing more than an ordinary hand puppet.

A puppet you slipped your hand into and moved around.

But—

-“NewBlack appears on ‘Seojoon’ alongside Uncle Bunny...”

After appearing on variety shows, Rabbit Sam’s public image completely changed.

Until then, it had merely been Rabbit Puppet #1, something commonly sold at local marts and stationery stores.

Suddenly, it became the unique existence known as “Rabbit Sam.”

No one knew exactly when it happened.

But as I continued bringing Rabbit Sam onto variety shows and music programs—

And then—

[Hey! Uncle! Please greet us for our Late Night Show!]

[Lalalalala~ It’s bunny time!]

[Uncle, why is one side of your whiskers burnt?]

[There’s a special story behind that! Curious? Then subscribe to NewBlack TV to find out!]

After appearing on famous overseas talk shows too, Rabbit Sam’s value changed entirely.

Because we continued using the same Rabbit Sam puppet from the childcare variety shows onward, value began accumulating around it.

The original Rabbit Sam.

Maybe that was why our company and my SNS accounts began receiving endless messages.

[This is Weatherby. Any interest in listing it for auction?]

Foreign auction houses asking whether we’d consider selling it.

[Greetings from our charity organization! Knock knock. Please hand over the puppet!]

[Wonderful things could happen around the world using the money from auctioning the puppet! Lalalala~]

[We would deeply appreciate Rabbit Sam participating in our fundraising campaign.]

Charity organizations encouraging us to sell the original Rabbit Sam and donate the money to them.

And then—

‎[الرجاء كتابة المبلغ المطلوب. (Please write the amount you desire.)]

[Моя дочь хочет этого кролика. (My daughter wants that rabbit.)]

[我想ÂòÍÃÊåÊå。(I wish to buy Uncle Bunny.)]

There were even people offering absurd sums of money on the condition that their identities remain unknown.

Naturally, we rejected all of them.

But even after refusing, the offers still felt unsettling enough that it seemed like men in black suits might suddenly appear from nowhere asking, “So where is the rabbit, Woojowski?”

Every time, the members and I could only stare at each other and blink.

‘Why?’

‘How can one puppet...?’

None of us truly understood.

And yet, the original Rabbit Sam had become an object that stimulated collectors’ desires all around the world.

“That’s why insurance is essential.”

Seokhwan hyung grinned.

“Can’t afford to lose it.”

“What if someone seriously steals it or something??”

Jiho said worriedly.

“Like suddenly professional thieves appear and all that’s left is an empty box... then Uncle Bunny disappears for fifty years. Rumors spread that it was sold on the Black Auction, but nobody ever finds Rabbit Sam...”

“And then ten years later, Surprise reveals the truth.”

At Junghyun’s comment, I could practically hear the narration already.

“‘The whereabouts of Uncle Bunny remain unknown to this day...’” followed by a dramatic [Surprise] stamp slamming onto the screen.

Seokhwan hyung burst out laughing and waved his hand.

“It’ll never actually go that far. We even contracted a security company separately.”

Our TF Team Leader adjusted his glasses.

“Realistically, nobody’s going to pull off a heist over a puppet. Rabbit Sam isn’t the Mona Lisa or The Scream.”

“Then why the insurance?”

“It’s closer to noise marketing, honestly.”

“Noise marketing?”

He nodded.

“You know how Hollywood celebrities insure parts of their bodies? Like insuring their legs for billions, or their arms and butt for huge amounts. It’s similar. The point isn’t really collecting insurance money. It’s about showing that something is valuable.”

In simple terms, they bought the insurance to signal:

“Rabbit Sam is this valuable.”

At that explanation, Manager Hong Seoyoung smiled brightly.

“You guys still have relatively weaker mainstream recognition in South America, right?”

“That’s true.”

Over the past several years, we’d steadily expanded our worldwide recognition.

Outside India, Asia was essentially our home turf already. North America had also become familiar territory after more than a year of groundwork, the Olympics, and Answer, enough that ordinary people would at least say, “Ah, NewBlack? They’re famous, right?”

But South America was different.

Even the Olympic opening ceremony watched by 300 million people worldwide hadn’t drawn much attention there because it was the Winter Olympics.

If it were the World Cup, maybe.

But Winter Olympics dominated by North America and Europe simply weren’t a priority in South America.

“Of course, it’s not like they completely don’t know you. You released METRO last year, and now there’s Answer this year. Anyone who listens to American music would probably recognize your name immediately.”

But just like ordinary Koreans didn’t remember every song on the Mango Top 100, that didn’t necessarily translate into broad mainstream recognition.

Manager Hong smiled.

“That’s why Uncle Bunny’s visit could really help increase your mainstream recognition in South America.”

We all imagined the headlines floating through the air.

-Globally famous K-pop group NewBlack visits South America alongside ‘Uncle Bunny’!

Rabbit Sam, the worldwide nursery rhyme sensation already surpassing 300 million views and approaching 400 million.

-Did you know? They even insured the puppet this time!

-Insured it?

-Yes. The one and only original Uncle Bunny from the song will be visiting together with them.

...That was probably the kind of noise marketing they were aiming for.

Ri Hyuk nodded.

“It feels similar to when an original Tyrannosaurus fossil discovered in America gets displayed in Korea.”

“......”

“That feeling was incredible back then. The word ‘original’ definitely carries a strange emotional weight.”

I nodded because I understood the feeling.

Though—

“If it had been a T-Rex, you should’ve invited me.”

“When did you go to the dinosaur exhibit?”

“You should’ve taken me too...”

Watching the younger members sadly mumble about dinosaurs made the TF team laugh.

Seokhwan hyung handed out printouts.

“Anyway, these are the TV schedules we booked in South America. Mostly simple interview appearances, so check them over...”

Rustle rustle.

“What are you doing?”

“Me?”

I pulled out my laptop.

“I think I’ll work on Overcook later.”

“?”

“So next time, South Americans will know us for Overcook instead of just Uncle Bunny...”

Seokhwan hyung burst out laughing.

Just wait, New Rabbit Sam.

The spaceship Wooju is coming...!

Right as I dramatically opened my laptop—

“Hyung.”

Jiho poked his head over the seat in front of me.

“There’s something I need your help with first.”

“What...?”

“You promised you’d help me pick scripts while we’re on the plane.”

“Ah, right.”

As Jiho immediately pulled out a stack of scripts, I raised a hand.

“Uh, wait a second.”

“?”

“I’ll help after takeoff.”

“Ah.”

I smiled and nodded at the understanding maknae.

I’d gotten a lot better...

But takeoffs and landings still weren’t easy for me.

After breaking into a slight cold sweat—

Once the plane stabilized above the clouds at cruising altitude, we all gathered around inside the spacious cabin room.

“All right.”

The older members crossed their arms while surrounding the maknae.

“Confess. What exactly do you need our help with?”

“Yes.”

Jiho politely explained.

“You know I’ve played about two roles so far, right? One was Heo Euigyeong from Slip.”

And the other was Shin Yihan from the currently airing NetPlus drama Gods.

Gods was expected to enter NetPlus’s Global Top 10 this year.

Not only had it become a mainstream hit, it had also earned tremendous praise among horror fans and developed a cult following in Western online communities.

-I even watched the Gods web drama. What am I supposed to watch now :(

-The first episode is seriously perfect

-The Resistance arc is peak because there are two handsome men in it

-If Season 3 covers horror around the world, I vote Spain

-YEEEEESSSS!!! NEW SEASON!!!!!

-I’m cosplaying one of the monsters from Gods at Comic Con this year. Hopefully there won’t be too much competition..?

-Anyone calling this boring horror has no conscience. Seriously. Do you remember what horror was like before Gods?? Fucking random SATAN jump scares every five seconds

Even actors at the Met Gala had approached Jiho saying things like, “I watched your drama.”

That was how much buzz the show had among industry insiders.

“But the next season of Gods won’t come out until around 2020. The budget’s apparently approaching 100 billion won this time, so the pre production period’s really long. And considering the CG work too...”

So Jiho wanted to film a movie next year.

“If possible, I want to try something more mainstream.”

“Mainstream?”

“Yeah. Gods was rated adults only, so people who dislike scary stuff didn’t watch it... how do I explain this. Horror’s naturally kind of niche by default, hyung.”

That was why Jiho wanted to do something more broadly appealing.

“Commercial movies are good too... crime movies, ah, actually crime movies aren’t really my thing, but anyway, something with a more mainstream feeling?”

We nodded at the maknae staring at us with a “You know what I mean, right?!” expression.

Then Biju raised his hand.

“One question. What about dramas?”

“Dramas, hyungs.”

“Mmhm.”

“There’s absolutely no way to fit them into our schedule right now...”

“......”

“If I join a drama now, it’d be at least second male lead level. There’s no way we could balance that with our current schedule. Wooju hyung knows best since he filmed a weekly sitcom.”

I nodded while remembering Alien Family.

Even filming one episode a week had been brutally hard.

“Anyway, I want you guys to help me pick scripts using those standards.”

“Okay.”

First, we clarified exactly what he wanted.

“Hyungs, what do you think my strengths are compared to other actors?”

“A handsome face?”

“Cute behavior?”

“And a little bit of acting ability...?”

Jiho wagged his finger.

“Nope. My real strength is having you guys. Something I might miss, you guys could notice instead.”

“That’s true.”

“Professional contrarian Seo Ri Hyuk.”

Ri Hyuk smirked while putting on glasses.

“Kim Junghyun, who somehow guesses wrong every single time!”

“Mm.”

“And Kim Biju, whose ordinary civilian tastes become a strength because he knows absolutely nothing!”

“Leave it to me.”

“And Wooju hyung is... Wooju hyung!”

“......”

Jiho grinned.

“I’m kidding. As a fellow actor, Wooju hyung can probably judge things from an acting perspective like me.”

“Accepted.”

Smiling contentedly, I reached toward the scripts.

“So what’s the sorting system?”

“Ah, these are the ones I personally liked enough to separate. The rest are ones I stopped reading halfway through.”

“I’ll check whether you overlooked anything.”

South America was so far from Korea that even after departure, there’d still be a stopover along the way.

I figured I might as well spend the spare time reading through the scripts Jiho had received.

That was when—

Something slipped out from the pile labeled [Rejected].

“Hm?”

Unlike the other scripts, this one was extremely thin.

As I bent down to pick it up—

The title felt strangely familiar.

“Wait a second... this...”

What?

Why was this in the rejected pile?