After the Kids’ Choice Awards ended.

Not long after, the news started reaching Korea.

NewBlack wins the U.S. Kids’ Choice Awards “Global Music Star”.. “First ever K-pop act”

“Cheers every time they appeared on screen”.. Foreign media stunned by NewBlack’s popularity with kids?

“The screams were different” on-site reports from the 2017 Kids’ Choice Awards.. U.S. press: “Who on earth is NewBlack?”

Hearing that NewBlack received an award at an American show, Koreans felt a strange thrill.

‘Wait. They really won an award?’

At first, people thought it was just some random American children’s ceremony.

But every celeb seated near NewBlack was a familiar face. From superhero movie leads to top singers.

And they didn’t just pick up a trophy and leave.

[NewBlack blowing up among local kids right now.twt]

(A U.S. fan’s tweet with attached video)

Kids are shrieking every time they’re on camera

???

What is this lol why are the kids like that

It just makes you say “why you guys..?” lol

This is kind of bewildering lol

Even if their bald boss handed out candy at the door, it wouldn’t get screams like that

The foreign stars next to them looking amazed is killing me lol they don’t know why, but honestly neither do we..

From the vibe alone they’re the kid-presidents of America

Kids were screaming like they might faint every time the camera caught them.

At the same time, moments from the red-carpet event started trending again. For people who’d heard the news late, these scenes were nothing short of jaw-dropping.

The swarm of grade-schoolers trailing NewBlack like the Pied Piper.

There were more than a few scenes reminiscent of the legendary Hellpyeong rest area incident. And not in nearby countries—this was a far-off place.

‘Good for them.’

That was the reaction of most regular folks.

They weren’t fans, but they viewed the national idols with fondness.

Seeing them command serious popularity overseas gave people a gentle sense of pride.

Just as everyone was about to drift back to daily life—

-[Photo] “Eek! We got hit by slime!”.. NewBlack slimed

Photo pieces dropped.

NewBlack were huddled, clutching their coats, as green slime poured down on them.

Beyond them, celebrities were clapping and cracking up.

‘Uh......?’ 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Koreans who’d watched a fair number of teen movies back in the day went pale.

It was a scene they’d seen in movies.

The kind where villains pull a nasty prank to humiliate the protagonist at a party.

People pictured NewBlack going “waaah” as slime rained down while Americans enjoyed it.

‘What the hell is that?’

Fans had heard in advance about the slime and went, “Oh, it’s a special honor they bestow only on famous people.”

But regular folks had no way to know that.

These bastards, seriously

Did they dump paint on them during the acceptance speech??? Are you deranged??

I’m gonna wreck this rotten show

Psycho freaks

Everyone on site is sitting there laughing their asses off

There’s an old saying: never trust Americans. Pale-skinned wolves brought gunboats to our land..

Knew it since Shinmiyangyo fr

It was starting to feel like Heungseon Daewongun would resurrect and erect a “Reject Westernization” stele.

From the show’s side, the limited slime allotment was meant as a special gesture to an overseas act, but without any explanation it was absolutely something to get angry about.

When a Japanese broadcast ran provocative segments about NewBlack, regular folks had tossed around some choice curses—now their lids just went pop!

‘Just wait, you punks!’

As the fuming millions of Koreans moved to charge in—

Like peasants grabbing pitchforks and farm tools to revolt, the masses were rushing forward when the Souffle fandom blocked the road with armfuls of bread.

‘Hold on. Please hear us out!’

‘Hear what!’

‘J-just a minute!’

Souffles urgently blocked the citizens’ path. The hearts of the Souffles standing before the enraged crowd were pounding hard.

‘If this goes wrong, it’ll blow up.’

‘We have to stop it.’

In front of the regular folks ready to blow up the Kids’ Choice, the Souffles began spreading posts.

[List of celebs slimed in the last 5 years]

Photos rolled of celebs who, like NewBlack, had been slimed.

Famous people turned completely green.

An Oscar-winning actor, the hottest teen star locally, even a singer who’s won the Grammys twice.

There was even a world-famous footballer.

‘Huh?’

The atmosphere that had been ready to detonate the show cooled in an instant.

‘......So it really isn’t something just anyone gets.’

People scratched the backs of their heads and let out sheepish laughs.

Sorry for the misunderstanding hehe..

This is what we learned in high school social-culture class: cultural relativism.. It’s goodwill there, but we saw malice

In the UK the V-sign is an insult, you know

Oh this is like when Europeans gave milk as a gift but the natives got stomachaches and thought it was poison

Awkward;;

Kinda sorry for the misunderstanding.. but like, you should’ve had a better track record anyway

If you fart too often, one day it’s not a fart—this time it was gold

lol they meant it as top-tier goodwill in their world, but Koreans got mad as a group lol

Awards staff: (confused)

Everyone typed “hehe” and stared off into the distance.

What almost became an Antiwiki article titled “NewBlack Slime Korean Outrage Incident” ended as a harmless mishap.

And then.

Through that brief mishap, the public realized something.

‘Wait, do I like NewBlack...?’

Normally they’d just felt mild fondness.

They’d go “oh nice” when a song came on or they were on variety shows.

But the second they thought someone overseas had messed with NewBlack, fury shot to the top of their heads in a heartbeat.

So this is what they mean by national idols

Everyone’s got one NewBlack tucked in their heart, huh

They feel like little brothers lol usually you go “tsk tsk,” but someone touches them? Whole family raids that day

fr my first thought was “are you insane??”

When did they seep in like this

It’s like the tissue under a coffee mug.. nothing’s leaking, but somehow it’s soaked

I used to scoff whenever reporters said national idols, but I kinda felt it this time

The image NewBlack had stacked through variety and Mytube had hardened into something solid.

The moment anyone tried to shake that tower, scribble on it, or dump filth on it, the nation would rush in and drive them out.

It was the moment the keyword “national idols” hit home in the flesh.

While real-time searches filled with “NewBlack,” “Kids’ Choice slime,” and the like—

‘Let’s see.’

Koreans whose tempers had been running hot turned their attention elsewhere.

‘So how’s the reaction locally?’

At the same time—

The Kids’ Choice Awards organizers were grinning from ear to ear.

‘This is huge!’

Because of this year’s 2017 show’s ratings.

“What were our 2016 ratings again?”

“Was it 3.3 million? Something like that. 2015 was around 3.6 million. This time it really went boom.”

“Total jackpot.”

With OTT services everywhere and Mytube content exploding, ratings had been falling year after year.

After 12 million in 2013, they’d slid and for this year’s show they’d set expectations around 3 million.

But surprise—

The result blew past their projections.

[4.033 million]

4.033 million.

The highest in the last three years after 12 million in 2013 and 5 million in 2014.

Still low compared to the peak years, but what mattered was the momentum had flipped from decline to growth.

For an awards show, nothing is more important than ratings.

An award’s authority doesn’t spring from itself; it comes from the fact that the public watches it and thus acknowledges it. And in the power games between awards shows, ratings are a crucial factor.

So every broadcast is followed by feedback on ratings.

‘Exactly what made the ratings rise or fall?’

And according to the Kids’ Choice organizers’ analysis this time......

“It looks like NewBlack served as the engine for ratings. Right after broadcast they took over Twitter’s trends. Other SNS reactions go without saying—honestly we’re getting responses from all over the world. India, the UK, Japan, China.”

“Do they watch in China?”

“Unofficially, but they say it was the most-watched program on the internet.”

“Quite the scale.......”

Offline was lively too, but online NewBlack showed truly insane firepower.

No wonder—they got thirty times more votes than runner-up Mandy Spice in the Global Music Star category.

The NewBlack fandom that had swelled rapidly since late last year was finally breaching the surface.

“......Where were they hiding until now?”

“I don’t think they were hiding. It’s more like the kids got called out when they voted this time.”

From Americans’ perspective they seemed to pop up out of nowhere, but NewBlack had been continually active on Mytube since 2014.

Early in 2016 they launched the World channel and tried to reach countries around the globe.

Somewhere in there, the hit of Blue Moon seems to have brought in a wave of kids.

“My take is these guys are about to step into the next ‘boy band’ ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) slot.”

“Same.”

The U.S. music scene runs on positions.

Who’s the male dance singer, who’s the Black female rapper, who’s the middle-aged country singer. One winner holds a position.

For example, in the “female singer-songwriter” position, Hayley Blue has it locked down in a long reign.

With the “boy band” seat vacant, NewBlack appeared—bam.

“If there’s any project we could do together, pitch it. We opened the route for them, so.”

“Got it.”

“Move fast. The hyena pack will be on the move.”

As the organizers, broadcasters, and brands started waving dollars and doing courtship dances—

A video on Mytube was spiking fast.

[“It’s Slime-tastic!” The New Black Slimed!]

A video whose title blended slime with fantastic.

The recommended-video thumbnail grabbed eyeballs.

‘What’s this?’

The view count was skyrocketing; the comments were buzzing. It felt like you had to watch this to stay on-trend.

On screen, a five-member flower-boy group was giving an acceptance speech.

Then—

[Fwooooooosh!]

A slime cannon fired, and while presenter Becky Tyler flinched and hunched her shoulders in surprise nearby—

Two NewBlack members turned their backs to shield their teammates.

As if protecting comrades from danger.

‘Ho.’

Just as they looked smug for dodging it—

This time the hangar of a blimp that had been hovering nearby opened. Slime poured out in torrents.

‘Oh!’

Just when it seemed impossible to dodge—

‘Huh.’

......They dodged that too.

Strictly speaking, they hadn’t dodged it.

They simply lifted their suit coats like hoods, turtle-style, so only their jackets were soaked.

Their clean white faces were pristine.

In their midst, the leader smiled with cheeky brilliance.

[This actually works.]

He winked one eye as he grinned, with a faint smear of slime under his eye—perfect.

Like he’d dabbed paint on for a photoshoot.

The video ended right after, but viewers unconsciously scrubbed back ten seconds.

[This actually works.]

For some reason you just kept replaying that expression.

Peerless beauty is universal.

Only after watching three or four times could people scroll down to the comments.

04:37 no matter how many times I watch it this moment is legendary. From the tiny movement around the eye on “well” to the curve of the smile when he beams

Kids have been hoarding something this good all for themselves

I was someone who discovered NewBlack in 2014 and thought they were really underrated. They’re big now, but I truly think they’ll become even bigger

I don’t know who NewBlack are but I can see why they’re famous

Fun fact: NewBlack are already famous K-pop singers worldwide; Americans are only now finding out

I’m a regular Aussie and I know NewBlack

Are these guys what kids are into now. I’m happy the Spicies are gone

Spicies.

That’s what people call the fans of Mandy Spice, a solo singer explosively popular with teens.

A fandom notorious for extremity.

The Souffles showing up now seemed pretty extreme too, but for those exhausted by Spicies’ rampages, this was delightful.

And surprising.

‘They beat Mandy Spice in a vote.’

Mandy herself posted a cool “congrats to NewBlack on the win” with a smiling photo together on SNS, but her fans seemed stunned.

For regular folks, of course, it was just another piece of gossip.

“Did you see this group NewBlack? The kids who dodged slime twice in a row at the Kids’ Choice?”

“Yeah. I saw. They dodged it in a weirdly cool way.”

“Social networks are going nuts. Enough to rival Mandy Spice fans.”

“Even winning the vote is wild.”

As the “dodged slime twice” video and the clips of kids cheering whenever NewBlack appeared spread—

Given the commotion at a major awards show, the name NewBlack was reaching regular people for the first time.

It was the biggest impact yet of their North American promo.

“These NewBlack kids.......”

“...NewBlack......”

“They dodged slime like ninjas......”

Meanwhile, the root cause of this word-of-mouth was simply that NewBlack were popular with children.

Kids dart around everywhere.

Every time little Souffles chirped about NewBlack, curiosity blossomed here and there.

“Oh my. Who did you draw?”

“A goat, teacher.”

“The goat’s name is NewBlack?”

“Um, that’s a bit complicated to explain.”

Preschool teachers, elementary teachers, and school staff learned the name NewBlack.

Rumors spread through kids’ gossip communities.

“NewBlack?”

Parents learned it too.

Then their workplaces learned it, creating a chain reaction.

“My kid is head-over-heels for a K-pop singer called NewBlack these days. Did you see the video? They were at the Kids’ Choice this time.”

“Really?”

“I only found out now. She’s begging me to buy the CD.”

NewBlack’s name was spreading to the public on the strength of children.

And—

Among them were adults who, watching videos of NewBlack’s kid popularity, were falling for them one by one.

“Hooooh......”

Adults secretly watching NewBlack going oooh in private.

They couldn’t exactly go around saying they liked a K-pop act popular with children, but more and more “grown-up” fans were seeping in.

‘Of all things, kids like them.’

Being hugely popular with kids had its downsides.

You can’t just go around saying you like them.

Especially if you’re a man, you’re bound to get teased somewhere. So they watched in the shadows and smiled.

“Wooooow... wow......”

As late-arriving muggles dove into the vast sea of “becoming a fan” content and lost their minds—

The very culprits behind all this fuss were in LA, handling a new schedule.

After the Kids’ Choice Awards, our greenroom was truly jam-packed.

On the red carpet, a few people had come by to say hello; after the show ended, the vibe totally changed.

Americans we didn’t know started coming up to talk.

“Hi!”

“If you’ve got any secrets for popularity with kids, share them. Let me get some attention too. Hah-hah-hah!”

“How about a photo together? Rick! Bring the camera!”

Stars with staffs in tow came by wanting photos together.

Showbiz is just as dynamic here.

They came up acting all friendly and snapped pictures with such ease you’d think we’d been friends for a decade.

Some asked if we’d drop by their parties when we had time later.

“Hell congrats, you little punks!”

A blue-haired star was into it, slamming high-fives.

“I knew you’d win this. My eye is impeccable.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you going to the after-party?”

“No. We’re working on the album right now, so we have to work.”

“Boring guys.”

Hayley grinned and gave us a light hug.

“But that’s why I like you.”

With album work underway, our schedule was tight.

I was curious about the vibe, but parties full of foreigners and mingling didn’t really fit our personalities.

Someday, when we had time, we decided to try one of those events.

It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested......

“Trust me.”

What Ri Hyuk said with a warm smile stuck in my head.

“I’ve been to parties in this country, and in America, APLV’s Eunseong comes off as introverted.”

“......”

“We won’t survive this.......”

We scaredy-cats decided to aim for next time.

We wrapped the awards schedule and were supposed to fly home... but a new booking came in and our stay got extended.

“We’re shooting for a kids’ magazine?”

It was a top-tier magazine among children and teens, offering a photoshoot and interview.

“I mean, it’s nice, but a kids’ magazine.......”

“Isn’t it a bit weird for people in their 20s. Kinda feels like grown-ups barging into a kids’ playground.”

“Exactly. We’re adults.”

Feeling sheepish, I picked up the Kids’ Choice Award trophy we’d received yesterday with the younger members.

An orange blimp-shaped trophy.

There’s a hole like a telescope; when you look in, you see colorful patterns like a kaleidoscope.

The maknae screamed.

“Woooooow! Guys! Look at this. The picture inside actually moves all colorful.”

“As expected of America. A practical trophy......”

“I wanna see. Me too!”

Smiling, I watched Biju, Junhyun, and Ri Hyuk press their bun-like faces next to mine to peek.

Maybe......

It’s exactly at kids’ level.