We watched as Gil Cha-kyung sat down beside Jiho.

What was her angle?

The atmosphere centered on Jiho shifted in an instant.

Each time the lively girl spoke, favorable reactions rippled around.

With our backs turned, we couldn’t see Jiho’s expression.

As we watched tensely, Gil Cha-kyung spoke—and a buzz began to spread.

Like throwing a stone into a pond, the waves radiated out in all directions.

And everyone’s gaze turned toward us.

“Why are they staring?”

“This is weird. What’s going on?”

Unlike the flustered kids, I stroked my chin.

Gil Cha-kyung looked slightly embarrassed.

The only plausible inference was that her attempt to diss Jiho had backfired.

The only tool she had to use against us or Jiho was our relative obscurity.

She’d failed.

So the reason students stared must be that they recognized us.

Having pieced that together, I called to Rihyuk.

“Rihyuk.”

“Yes?”

“Search our name in the search bar.”

“Do I have no hands, sir?”

Rihyuk pulled out his phone and his fingers flew.

“...Huh?”

After typing New Black into the search, Rihyuk frowned and began scanning articles.

His eyes widened.

Bijoo and Junghyun, who were watching, also turned to look, tense at his reaction.

“Rihyuk, what is it?”

“Did something happen to us?”

Without answering, Rihyuk’s fingers kept tapping.

Then the familiar yellow interface of the Mango music site appeared.

“...Oh?”

He was so startled he dropped his phone.

Even yawning, I caught the scene in my peripheral vision.

The phone slipped from his fingers and fell in slow motion.

My body reacted automatically—I lifted my heel.

Thunk.

The phone bounced off my heel like a sepak takraw ball.

I caught it and handed it back to Rihyuk.

“Wow.”

Junghyun beside me exclaimed, eyes wide in admiration.

Thanks to my mimicry ability from practicing acrobatics whenever I could, the move felt natural now.

Back in reality, I called again to dazed Rihyuk.

“Rihyuk.”

“......”

“Seo Rihyuk.”

“Yes?”

“Take your phone.”

“Hyungs.”

Rihyuk met my eyes and muttered, still half in shock.

“We’re huge.”

“Huge? What are you talking about?”

“Look.”

He held up the phone to show us.

[Mango Chart Real-Time Rankings]

Jang Sowon X New Black – Something

TNT – Blink

TNT – Don’t Smile

TNT – Pretender

Teen Spirit – Na Na Na

Something was number one in real-time ranking.

We traced the cause online.

It had started on a weekend variety show last week.

During a scene on a mock marriage program where they confessed feelings, our song played as background music.

Was this what Seok-hwan hyung begged the PD to do?

At that point, people barely noticed—viewers just thought, “Nice song,” and moved on.

The real trigger was when the highlight clip circulated on social media.

– Woobin to Jieun, will you go steady with me?!

– So sweet... absolutely perfect ㅜㅠㅠㅠ

– Does anyone know the BGM title?

– I’m curious too. Lately I’ve heard it on radio and in cafés.

– It’s Jang Sowon’s single! The title is Something

Awareness grew by word of mouth, but that wasn’t enough.

Then one cover video changed everything.

A popular internet streamer sang Something as a duet with another streamer, and it spread on SNS.

Word of mouth exploded.

Thanks to the viral video, our song grabbed massive attention, and from early yesterday the rankings climbed nonstop until this morning when we hit number one.

During the graduation ceremony I must have hit refresh a hundred times.

“This can’t be a dream, right?”

“Want me to pinch you?”

“You pinch me first.”

Bijoo and I pinched each other, but only the pain was real.

Honestly, who cares if it’s a dream?

It’s such a good dream I don’t want to wake up.

Even Junghyun—normally unflappable—blinked like a bear waking from hibernation.

Rihyuk hunched his shoulders and put a hand to his chest.

“My heart’s pounding.”

“You okay?”

“My stomach’s fluttering. My legs are shaking. Do you believe it?”

“When you suddenly call me hyung, it doesn’t feel real.”

Rihyuk shot me a glare.

While we laughed, Bijoo asked,

“By the way, hyung. The company must be losing it right now, right?”

Lemon Entertainment PR team.

Phones rang off the hook as if the building were on fire.

“Hey! Someone pick up the phone!”

“I’m coming!”

“How’s the press release draft coming?”

“We’ve sorted the draft for the journalists. It’ll be done in thirty minutes.”

“Okay. Hurry up.”

“Do we need to send anyone to Jiho’s graduation?”

“I don’t think reporters care that much about our kids yet.”

“No. Especially because of the Girls On Top member?”

“What?”

“Team leader, didn’t you know? Gil Cha-kyung is in the same class as Jiho at Seoil Middle.”

The PR manager grabbed the phone in alarm.

“Hey! Someone, anyone, get to the graduation now! If reporters chat up our kids and they slip up, we’re doomed! Especially that Jiho kid—he’s a powder keg.”

“Team leader! Manager Yoon from Management is already on his way.”

“When?”

“As soon as he heard.”

“Okay. With Manager Yoon there, that side’s covered. This is unbelievable.”

The PR team scrambled.

Only after the rankings shot up could they grasp the situation.

Who would have thought a solo song by an artist whose best rank was 30th would hit number one?

In two weeks there was zero hint—no one expected this.

“Lately we’ve been dismissing internet broadcasts. This is insane—one song and it’s skyrocket.”

“A hit song will hit.”

“Honestly, the song was amazing. It’s just our lack of resources.”

“Don’t get too excited. Lots of songs peak at number one and then drop.”

“Team leader.”

Someone staring at the chart spoke up.

“It’s not planning to drop.”

In the surreal moment, our youngest brought us back to reality.

“Hyungs!”

At the auditorium entrance, our maknae ran over holding a huge bouquet like a retriever.

“I’m not a middle schooler anymore!”

“My, you’ve grown.”

“Did you see our chart rank?”

We all nodded.

“We saw.”

Indeed we did.

The maknae pulled out a card.

“What should we eat? Dad gave me this card—it really has no limit. Mom said anything under a million won is fine.”

Talk about scale.

Riding high from the chart success and the end of the graduation ceremony, we were excitedly debating lunch.

“Hey Jiho.”

We turned and saw students from this school.

They’d been too shy to approach when it was just the four of us, but seeing familiar Jiho they came forward.

Makes sense.

We must have looked stiff and awkward.

“Can we take a photo with you?”

“Me too!”

“Me too!”

We posed for selfies.

At first it was awkward, but after dozens of snaps our smiles became natural.

As they asked if they could post on SNS, we were catching our breath when more people sought us out.

“You’re New Black, right?”

“Yes?”

“Hello, we’re from Star Daily.”

After Gil Cha-kyung’s graduation interview wrapped, reporters flocked to us.

Judging it was newsworthy, they thrust cameras forward and we froze.

“Excuse us.”

A gentle voice interjected.

Yoon Seok-hwan.

Our manager, whose face we’d hardly seen lately.

“These kids are new to interviews.”

He explained to the reporters and stood by us.

Whenever a tough question came, he cut it off or coached us, helping us through.

Thanks to him we finished okay, but it felt surreal.

So embarrassing.

Suddenly being grilled and my mind went blank.

Honestly, I wouldn’t want to do that again.

But there was a silver lining.

From afar, Gil Cha-kyung watched us.

Though she smiled at those asking for photos, a closer look showed her lips trembling.

All the attention that should’ve been on her was stolen.

She hovered near the entertainment reporters, but except for a few no one paid attention.

A fitting result.

A song exploded on SNS is far hotter than a graduation ceremony that journalists have already covered.

Watching Gil Cha-kyung stomp out of the field kicking at stray dirt, I grinned.

Serves her right.

From mid-February the magic time began.

After hitting number one, everything changed.

– “Something” blasts to weekly chart number one

– Jang Sowon’s dazzling revival

– “Something” races up charts—will collaborations boom in K-pop?

On radio, whenever love stories were read our song was requested; on TV it was the same.

Variety shows, streets, cafés—Something played everywhere.

It felt so surreal.

Seeing Something used as background music on a famous TV show or hearing contestants hum it, it felt unreal.

In a clip Jang Sowon senior posted in the group chat, cast members talked about our song.

Inside a car with cameras.

– “Holding your hand that I almost can’t reach~”

– “What song is that, hyung?”

– “Hey! Jinwoo! You don’t know this? It’s the hottest song right now.”

– “Really?”

Appearing on the hit variety show Dice Around the World.

We knew the song was good but never dreamed of this level of success.

Of course, the song’s success didn’t translate to our fame.

– Who are the rookie singers New Black who sang Something?

– Jang Sowon: “New Black are incredible kids.”

– Lemon Ent: “Inquiries about New Black flooding in.”

There were articles curious about us, but only trickles.

Honestly, few people search the artist when they like an OST.

Once I asked Seok-hwan hyung,

“Are inquiries really flooding in about who we are?”

His answer was simple.

“Do you think they’re trickling?”

“......”

Despite the gap between popularity and recognition, we didn’t mind.

We were overjoyed by the song’s success itself.

If anything, we enjoyed that gap.

When Something played at a phone store we filmed ourselves singing the part; at a convenience store we’d ask, “Whose song is this?”

Those days were pure joy.

Especially for me.

When Director Jo Gyu-hwan told me the expected copyright earnings from the Business Support Team, my jaw dropped.

“Why so surprised?”

“Director... is it really that much?”

“Of course.”

He gave a gentle smile.

“You don’t know, but Something is a once-in-a-lifetime song for a composer. You were lucky to get it.”

“My heart’s racing.”

“Congratulations. You’re a real composer now.”

Even after splitting with Jang Sowon senior, the royalties were huge.

Director Jo said this was just the beginning.

At this rate it would be a hit all spring, and with karaoke and download royalties we could afford an imported car.

It was unbelievable.

Every day was surreal, joyful, and overwhelming.

Of course, as with any sudden success, there were envious whispers.

– Isn’t Something chart manipulation? The trend looks weird.

Some people posted such comments online, but they gained little traction.

– This is malicious.

– Even if it were faked, by that logic all charts are.

– I’m not buying the manipulation theory.

– The song’s quality is off the charts.

– Yeah I sing this on karaoke with friends.

– Lemon isn’t that type of company. ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) They have too much pride.

– Hype fizzled when they mentioned the other agency.

I worried it might cause trouble, but these murmurs stayed online and had no offline impact.

And finally.

The moment we’d been waiting for arrived.

Manager Yoon Seok-hwan came down to the basement practice room where we were deep in rehearsal.

“Guys.”

He wore a face that said, The time has come.

“You’re confirmed for a music show appearance.”

As a number-one contender.