Chapter 257: Chapter 258:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 258

They say you meet your enemy on a narrow bridge.

Right after they finished the pre-recording, a rookie boy group came to greet them in their waiting room.

They entered timidly, a group of five.

“…”

They looked awkward with each other, and tried to sync their steps. They somehow reminded Woojoo of new soldiers.

…Except for one who was giggling nervously.

He mouthed ‘Sergeant!’ to Woojoo, making his brothers laugh. The leader of the other group glared at Eunsung.

“One, two, three, hello! We are APLB!”

“Hello, we are New Black.”

They greeted the rookie group back.

Woojoo felt sorry for the other leader who looked like he didn’t know what to say.

“That’s an unusual name. APLB.”

“Yes, we were divided into A team and B team when we were trainees, and we competed with each other. Now we are one and working together, so we are A plus B, or APLB. Please take care of… ugh… us.”

He was so nervous that his voice cracked in the middle of his prepared speech.

Junghyun handed him a bottle of water, and he took it gratefully.

“Th-thank you.”

“Drink a lot.”

Woojoo turned his eyes to Junghyun, who smiled warmly.

“Junghyun.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

“Who gives 2 liters of water to someone who looks thirsty?”

He held a large plastic bottle and wondered how to drink it. Woojoo laughed at his sight.

Bijoo handed out paper cups to each of them.

Glug, glug, glug.

Junghyun poured water for them, but something looked off.

It wasn’t an initiation ceremony for a gang. A rookie boy group holding paper cups, and Junghyun acting like a boss pouring alcohol… water for them.

At this point, someone should say ‘Cheers!’.

Jiho joined in with a mischievous expression.

“By the way, you said you were Woojoo Hyung’s junior, right?”

“Here!”

Eunsung raised his hand happily.

Their kids loved him so much that they didn’t know what to do. Rihyuk asked him with a suppressed excitement, “I have so many questions to ask.”

“Oh, ask me anything. I can tell you everything, even if I have to stay up all night.”

They both sat down with sparkling eyes.

Woojoo sighed deeply and said, “Let’s chat later. I don’t think I’ve heard your names before. Shall we introduce ourselves properly?”

“Ah, yes! I’m Haru, the leader.”

They told them their stage names one by one, but Woojoo couldn’t help but snort when it was Eunsung’s turn.

“I’m Kevin.”

“Kuh.”

Woojoo bit his lips to stop laughing, and his eyes narrowed. Jiho asked him curiously.

“Oh, that’s the same name as the protagonist of Home Alone.”

“Huh?”

Eunsung widened his eyes.

“Wow. How did you know? That’s where I got it from.”

“…?”

“Wow, you’re the first person to guess that.”

Jiho looked confused.

Then he turned his head to Woojoo, with an expression like a cat who found a new creature.

‘What is this? What is this?’ he looked at Woojoo, and he nodded with amusement.

You’ve never seen it before.

A life form that lived so casually.

They also introduced themselves and exchanged warm words.

“This is our CD. Sunbae-nim.”

“Thank you. We don’t have a CD yet since it’s our seventh week…”

“This is my photo card~”

“…”

How many people have had the rare experience of receiving a photo card from an idol album from their junior in the army?

He smiled brightly and handed Woojoo the photo card. Woojoo was slightly stunned, and the leader Haru scowled at him.

Kevin, who became crumpled, went to the corner.

He kept appealing to Woojoo to ‘talk to us’.

They finished greeting the rookie boy group APLB, and Woojoo called him out separately after leaving the waiting room.

“Eunsung.”

“Sergeant-nim…!”

“Sunbae-nim, you’re so cool…”

“Sunbae-nim!”

He laughed at Woojoo as he clenched his teeth.

He was about to continue the conversation when the door of the waiting room opened and four faces peeked in.

“Can we join you guys?” Bijoo asked with an excited expression.

He looked like he had found a treasure trove, and Woojoo could see right through his intentions.

“No.”

“I haven’t used my birthday wish yet…”

Woojoo politely closed the door.

Then he took the smiling guy to the vending machine and bought him a drink.

“How does it feel to debut? Is it fun?”

“It felt good for 3 seconds. Just 3 seconds. It’s already hard.”

Woojoo chuckled at his honest answer.

He looked familiar.

They had been saying they should meet after they were discharged from the military, but this was the first time he saw his face.

“Oh, right.”

He widened his eyes and turned his head to Woojoo.

“Do you know how scared I was in the elevator earlier? Look at this. This, the buttons on the costume.”

“How is that my fault?”

“I’m disappointed.”

“Eunsung. I’ve told you many times, but your disappointment is none of my concern.”

He stuck out his tongue.

“Wow. Look at your personality. You’ll see.”

“What will I see?”

“I’ll…”

“You’ll…?”

“I’ll become friends with other senior idols and be on par with them.”

Woojoo was speechless.

“Eunsung.”

“Yes.”

“Stop dreaming, please…”

Woojoo felt ridiculous at his ambitious plan to befriend the top stars instead of aiming for success.

“You’re really something, you know. Your leader must be having a hard time.”

“Haru? No… What does he have to worry about? He’s the best in everything.”

“Is he younger than you?”

“He’s the youngest.”

That was an interesting relationship.

“The youngest is the leader?”

“The President looked at the debut lineup and said ‘I’m screwed’ and gave him the leader position. He’s the smartest one, but he always annoys his Hyungs.”

“You should be a little jealous.”

“…Ugh, why did I have to join the idol industry as a junior! I want to bully my juniors for once!”

“If you’re unhappy, you should have gone to the military first.”

He made a face as Woojoo laughed. Then he changed the subject.

“By the way, the President came by this morning and gave me this. He said to give it to you.”

“What is it?”

“A gift card? Something like that.”

He handed Woojoo a crumpled envelope. Inside, there was a gift card and a note.

It was a message from Cho Dongwan, the CEO of Plus Entertainment.

He said he was happy for his success and asked him to look after his kids who they sometimes ran into.

“Do you know the President?”

“Yeah. We had a connection for a while.”

The reason Woojoo recommended Plus Enter to this guy was not only because they had a good reputation in the industry, but also because of his personal relationship.

When he first became a trainee, he was the director at TJ.

He talked to Woojoo at the first interview and suggested that he try composing.

He remembered the names of each trainee and was popular among them, but he left soon after to start his own company, Plus Enter.

Now that Woojoo thought about it, it was probably the kind of kindness that people showed before they started their own business…

“Tell him I appreciate it.”

“Okay.”

He nodded.

“He always shows us New Black videos and lectures us. Look at that. That’s dancing. Look at that. That’s singing. He even analyzes the videos during meetings.”

“Really?”

“They say it’s a miracle of a small agency, and we should study what we can benchmark from them.”

The members who came in earlier also said ‘Wow, amazing…’ after they came out of the waiting room.

A miracle of a small agency.

It was a somewhat embarrassing nickname, so Woojoo just smiled awkwardly.

As he was thinking that, his eyes went to the guy who was smiling brightly.

“Don’t laugh too much. It’s similar to the army here, and there are people who don’t like rookies who laugh a lot.”

Was it during Fireworks?

He was laughing with Jiho in the hallway, and one of the boy group members came over to them and said ‘Hey. Can. You. Turn. It. Down?’ Woojoo still remember his expression vividly.

Now they were like ‘New Black!’ and act friendly to them.

He shook his head.

“I’m quick-witted, so I’m fine.”

“I know. You’re very quick-witted. But you don’t care.”

“That’s right.”

“…”

To others, he might seem like a clueless kid, but he was actually very quick-witted.

But he didn’t care.

“…”

Woojoo briefly remembered the time when he was frustrated in the army, and then let it go.

Well. He would take care of himself.

He wasn’t his junior anymore, and he was in a different group. He was busy taking care of his own kids, and he didn’t have time to worry about him.

Woojoo just thought he should take good care of him whenever he met him.

“Hey!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought of a good way to take care of you.”

“Oh?”

“Hey. Do you know Men Go by any chance…”

He ran away. That guy.

Oh. He was fast.

It was a shame.

Eunsung would be perfect for the army show.

The problem was that he was from a small agency, and he was a rookie who just debuted.

Men Go was a program that basically required some level of recognition.

It was a program where they laughed at celebrities they knew rolling around, not a program where a rookie idol gained recognition.

“Yikes!”

Woojoo wasn’t a villain or anything. Every time he ran into him, he ran away like there was a devil.

He seemed to have a lot of misunderstandings, but Woojoo didn’t correct them.

It was fun to watch him run away.

“What’s so funny?”

“Yes. There is something funny.”

Woojoo swallowed his laughter and looked at Hanjo, who was sitting nearby.

“Ha ha ha!”

“Kyaa kyaa!”

“Kee kee!”

“…”

The monkeys who were watching a movie and screaming were the younger ones on both sides.

They were so excited to see each other after a long time that they were making a lot of noise.

Before, it was a partitioned waiting room, so if they raised their voices a little, the other group’s manager would give them a look and say ‘Geez’. But now it was their room, so they don’t have to worry about that.

“The room is so nice…”

“Is this the taste of success?”

“Remember this. I’m changing my future dream to New Black from today.”

The Street Boys members looked around the room and spouted jokes, and their younger ones clapped their flippers and were very satisfied.

The Street Boys, who came back with a new album, had a completely different look from before.

They were still slim because they were idols and had a limit to bulking up, but their muscles were very clear overall.

Their skin was slightly burnt, as if they had gone to their grandmother’s house for summer vacation and played hard with their elementary school friends.

“Our wish this time is to win first place once.”

The Street Boys members said that and wished them well. Woojoo didn’t know why they treated him like a Buddha.

He heard them say that they wanted to win first place at least once, even if they weren’t like them.

Their eyes were burning, as if they were thirsty for success…

“I need a phone!”

“Out of all the Rookie Award nominees last year, we’re the only ones without phones!”

…The members were thirsty for phones.

They kept asking Woojoo how their new song was.

They wanted an objective opinion, so Woojoo said it was good. They were happy, as if his words were a guarantee.

While the younger siblings on both sides sang ‘Seon Woojoo Oo, the Grandfather of Music’, Woojoo had a conversation with Hanjo, covering one ear.

“When are Street Boys going to stop promoting?”

“Maybe four or five weeks?”

“Oh… That’s awkward.”

“Why?”

“Because then we can go to the army together.”

“…”

Hanjo, who was eating a Choco Pie, froze. Woojoo gave him a kind smile and handed him a bottle of water.

“Hanjo.”

“…”

“Let’s go together. Us.”

“…”

“I’m not going to die alone.”

Woojoo patted his back, which was making choking noises, and smiled happily.

On the other hand, when Woojoo answered his question about when the shooting date was, his face started to brighten up.

“Oh, then I won’t go. It overlaps with our promotion period.”

“Why don’t you go? Even if we don’t go together, we’ll go separately later.”

“There’s a difference in popularity, you know. I was the one in Two Plus One when I was a rookie, so I probably won’t be called alone.”

“Oh, that’s too bad…”

Woojoo smiled awkwardly.

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his words, which assured him that he wouldn’t be called alone because he was less famous than him.

There was one thing for sure.

“Hanjo.”

“Yes?”

“Please succeed and make this album a hit.”

“Oh, thank you…”

“Because then we’ll go to the army together.”

He had a look on his face that said ‘what kind of devil is this’.

Six weeks of music show wins.

‘Windflower’ earned the title of the best digital song of the first half of 2015.

It was the first time since the second-generation idols set the record.

Even while promoting ‘Flower Dance’, Windflower continued to take the first place.

-New Black, 7 weeks of unbelievable record, the true ‘third-generation representative group’

-[New Black Exploration Life 1] Woojoo “Thank you for the nickname of composer idol, I didn’t do it by myself” … A&R Team, “No, Woojoo can do it alone”

-It started with Windflower and ended with Windflower, 7 weeks of weekly chart “first place”

After seven weeks of music shows, the nickname they got was the third-generation representative idol group.

TNT, a 2.5-generation group, was at the top, and other second-generation senior singers dominated the album market. The third-generation idols were not able to show their presence.

Among them, they, New Black, were the only ones who grew to the same level as the second-generation among the third-generation idol groups.

Especially for this third album, the total sales volume was expected to exceed 200,000 copies, and some said that they would definitely be in the top 10 of the year.

All this happened before their debut anniversary, so it was natural that other agencies would pay attention to them, as Eunsung said… but Woojoo still felt awkward and embarrassed.

And, Windflower stayed at the top of the weekly chart.

Woojoo heard the estimated digital revenue from the Management Support Team, and he couldn’t help but smile at the thought that he could buy a nice car for his grandmother.

Everything was smooth sailing.

Windflower, A Poem About Yesterday, Something, Deoksoon…n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

At the end of spring, the spring song Something was gradually pushed out of the chart, and the refreshing songs that aimed for summer were coming up one by one.

It was the time when summer was coming along with the hot weather.

“Wow, look at the people.”

Gimpo Airport.

Their kids stuck out their tongues at the outside scene where idol fans and reporters were mixed.

Jiho stuck to the car window and opened his eyes wide.

“There are so many people. Oh, what’s that. Look over there. Someone fell.”

“Are they okay?”

“There are so many people. How many are there? There. One, two…”

Junghyun started counting the heads with his fingers.

They were at Gimpo Airport, ready to leave the country.

They were going to perform at K-net’s K-pop concert.

K-pop concert.

It was a show that K-net’s parent company, a conglomerate, held every year to introduce Korean idols to overseas K-pop fans.

They didn’t think they would get invited because they weren’t on good terms with their company, but money won over bad blood.

It was a win-win for both of them.

The company also agreed enthusiastically because they had planned to do some promotion in Japan for a few days, and Rihyuk was happy to finally have a chance to use his Japanese.

The problem was…

“I didn’t expect there to be so many people…”

“Just wait a bit. Guys.” Minki Hyung said, “The security company people are securing the place, so let’s go down when everything is ready.”

“Okay.”

They all nodded.

Meanwhile, Woojoo’s phone screen flashed briefly and turned off, but he didn’t pay attention.

It must have been a sasaeng.

They had achieved tremendous results with their third album activities, but there were also some bad points that came with it.

The most obvious one was sasaengs.

There was a saying that ‘sasaengs breed sasaengs’.

For example, when they reacted a little to a fan who was waiting in front of the company, the rumor spread like wildfire and more people showed up in no time.

From the singer’s perspective, they weren’t stalking them, they were just gathering in front of the company, so they talked to them, but in the end, it often turned out badly.

If they were careless, it could lead to an accident where the fandom collapsed due to a close relationship between certain fans and the singer.

To prevent such things from happening, they had a principle of not responding to anything on unofficial schedules.

That was why they had fewer sasaengs than other male idols.

But as the scale grew too big to ignore, they couldn’t help but have more sasaengs.

Especially, Woojoo’s younger brothers had a bad memory of someone trying to break into their dorm four months ago.

“What should we eat in Japan?”

Woojoo smiled and changed the topic to the younger brothers who were a bit anxious.

“We have some free time this time, so let’s eat a lot of delicious food.”

“I want to eat that. Pizza.”

“Who eats pizza in Japan?”

“That’s the point. I want to try something that no one else has eaten.”

“Eighty-nine, ninety…”

Junghyun was still counting.

Bijoo tapped Woojoo’s arm.

“Hyung, are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Today’s weather is cloudy and windy, so I’m a bit worried.”

Woojoo smiled at Bijoo, who looked worried because of the plane.

“Guys, let’s get off.”

“Okay.”

They got off the car in front of the airport.

As soon as they got off, a scream-like sound erupted. People gathered in front of them in no time.

“Wait a minute! Wait a minute!”

The security staff surrounded them while people around them clung to them.

The reporters flashed their cameras.

They were talking to them from everywhere, and Woojoo had no idea what was going on.

Woojoo nodded his head as he passed by, but the people who followed them to the departure gate and to the plane were still there.

“Uh…”

This was unexpected.

It was a completely different situation from the last time they went to Singapore, and the younger brothers were noticeably flustered.

How far were they going to follow them, Woojoo wondered.

“They’re not going to follow us into the plane, are they?”

Woojoo heard Rihyuk’s whisper as they showed their tickets and boarded the plane, and Woojoo swallowed his saliva as he saw what was reflected in the glass of the boarding gate.

…Sasaengs were following them into the plane.