New Black Friday.

In other words, warehouse-clearance time.

— I’ve been browsing the internet lately, you know. Heh heh heh. People say we sell our merch by the ant’s eyelash. Heh heh.

That line from the CEO sparked an idea.

We thought: why not re-sell older merch that sold out before people could buy it?

The idea was to bring back the fireworks-day items and other pieces that were discontinued fast because they were too popular. We weren’t sure how many would actually purchase, but it seemed like a good idea, so we were in.

And—

“These are the partners for this New Black Friday.” 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“Whoa...”

“They all want a toe in the water.”

For New Black Friday, we decided to cut prices nationwide on Souffle Bread and NewBulBaek.

And on top of that, lots of companies joined in to celebrate Souffle Week.

The online mall 34th Street, several fashion labels, toy companies, and more.

That made the event bigger than we had imagined.

“Woooow...”

The maknae spoke in a dreamy voice.

“Remember how we joked about doing a Souffle Expo once? Renting a hall like COEX and throwing a full-on Souffle festival.”

“We did.”

“Maybe that day is closer than we thought.”

“Whoaaa...”

Even imagining it made me happy.

The things we’d dreamed of since debut were coming true one by one, like a dream.

“As expected, dreams☆come true.”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it...”

Sometimes I forget we have a baby of the team who doesn’t remember the 2002 World Cup.

“All right, let’s hit it again!”

“Go go go!”

All that was left was the comeback showcase and Souffle Week prep.

Early April, in full spring.

As the Yeouido cherry-blossom festival opened and spring vibes filled the city, congratulatory messages appeared across subway stations.

— You came on a warm spring day. Now let’s grow old together.

— [Wang] Jiho, thanks for being born. We’ll [Ji] guard you. [Ho] ho ho ho.

— For His Highness Jiho: on 2017.04.09 at 00:00, +1 year was delivered.

Students and office workers passing through on their commutes went ooh and ahh.

“Must be Jiho’s birthday.”

“How old is he now? He just graduated high school, so twenty? Whew. How did that happen...”

“Lucky kid. His hyungs are NewBlack.”

“Wang Jiho birthday” climbed real-time searches, and birthday news about the nation’s idol maknae spread.

NewBlack TV also posted the maknae’s birthday video.

The maknae in a party cone bobbed his shoulders, and the members tooted party horns beside him.

They were throwing a sweaty practice-room birthday party.

“It’s really a comeback.”

Souffle’s hearts went thump-thump—like Deoksun’s name.

Comeback D-1 for their faves, who had dropped a special album in mid-January and were returning with their second full album after just three months.

“Hoo-ha, hoo-ha...”

Even if “teaser scams” are a thing and you only know once the song’s out, it was impossible to tamp down the excitement.

[NewBlack — “Coin” Official Teaser 1]

It was a shot of NewBlack’s sub-vocal walking down a corridor with a strikingly kitschy color palette.

His eyes, touched with a lilac hue, flashed sharp.

Flicking a coin with his fingers, Jiho strolled at ease, then stopped at a mirror and flicked the coin toward the crouching him on the other side.

Srrrrr.

The coin slipped through the transparent glass and landed in the other Jiho’s hand.

A mischievous, rascal vibe in the styling.

As mirror-Jiho lifted his head from the coin, the background that had been in shadow began to brighten.

The video ended as an arcade full of clattering, glowing game machines came into view.

“Whoa.”

The melody of “Coin” under that stylish teaser felt anything but ordinary.

— Juseon did it again

— ah this slaps so hard ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ King Jiho is grown now

— I want to brag about their faces so bad... you all know it, but the brown hair is Jiho and the blonde is Wooju

— Are we getting member teasers? Jiho has lots of screen time here

— I seriously love this ㅠㅠㅜ

— Yeah, from bringing back gold coins from Australia, it’s been gathering a spirit bomb. Time for a monster hit

— Biju steals eyes even in that split-second lol wow

— Hair-makeup-styling looks a bit rushed.. ㅠ

— Where did Jiho’s cheek fat go ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ He’s an adult, our baby is an adult now

— Watching Booze-Black then this is whiplash

Seeing their faves return to their main job after “Dokkaebi,” Souffle smiled and remembered who they were.

“Right! I’m an idol fan!”

Sure, our kids are scarily good at being funny, but when they do their main job, they’re stellar performers.

“As long as they don’t talk!”

Singing, dancing, or just smiling in silence, they looked like heaven-tier beautiful youths gathered in an idol group.

— Earth! Stop!

Souffle shooed away the image of a spaceship and its minions lingering in their heads and stared at the concept photos, breathing hard.

There were boys like they’d come to hang out at an arcade.

Wooju blew a bubble with one eye closed.

Junhyun held a skateboard and snuck a sidelong smile.

Overall the vibe was bright and crisp.

“Is it a bright song? Bright?”

Some fans prefer heavy or intense tracks like “Nine” or “Empire,” but demand for the mood of “Fireworks” or “Windflower” was no joke either.

Of course, the actual sound seemed closer to newtro than pure freshness.

But it definitely felt like it would be bright and exciting like “Fireworks.”

“Offline buzz seems good too.”

You could overhear talk about NewBlack’s comeback.

“From the look of it, they’re borrowing a bit from old-school idols, no? The fashion feels that way too.”

“I got that vibe.”

“It’s an arcade, right? Seems like they aimed for an intentionally retro backdrop.”

Souffle eavesdropping from the side agreed.

“They aimed for it!”

It evoked a little nostalgia for the era of the original national idols.

Fashion updated to the 2017 version, and the music tilted not retro but newtro.

Newtro.

If retro pines for the past and tries to go back, newtro is enjoying past things anew like a brand-new product—a trendy, modern re-interpretation of old sounds.

Through that, you could feel Lemon Entertainment’s aim.

— We’re going to nail this in! Ha ha ha!

You could picture CEO Park Gyuho walking around with a sign saying “Our kids are the one-top,” “National Idols,” wielding a spike and hammer.

“Dokkaebi” had captured the public perfectly.

Now the plan was to drive the spike so no rival could even attempt a challenge.

“...What kind of song did they make this time?”

Even Souffle felt curious at the company’s bottomless confidence.

Then they shook their heads.

“Stay calm. Stay calm.”

They cut the happy-ending circuits that kept drawing the best possible future in their minds and steadied themselves.

As their artists always did.

Even repeating mind-tricks like “we’ll be grateful to match last time’s results”...

— This album will be a yardstick for how big NewBlack’s new-fan inflow really is

— If it’s buzzing in the US, it’ll explode lol

— “We don’t care about numbers,” but artist and fans are more numbers-obsessed than anyone.. lol

— Strangest fandom by my standards

— Their fans on Twitter are hilarious—say they don’t care about charts and then obsess the most

— Let’s hit a million this time~~

— Charcoal fans getting wronged by Tenti and Teen fans ㅠㅠ but they act even more intense than them

— So when’s Tokyo Dome

While they tried to stay serene and not fixate on results, Souffle took deep breaths.

Antis are always the same.

If you do well, they bash you for doing well; if you flop, they bash you for flopping.

They were calming themselves when—

[NewBlack world tour scale this time is kind of ridiculous]

(Tour schedule screenshot.jpg)

North America alone—Mexico and the US combined—around 100,000 capacity.

— Feels overreaching

— Huh? Doesn’t three days at Gocheok Dome make 60–70k?? What are those Europe/US sizes

— Paris Accor Arena—isn’t that where the K-pop concert was last year?? They’re filling it solo for two nights?

— What is this confidence. Europeans don’t know K-pop at all

— They couldn’t even do a Japan Dome last year lol

— Overall, company, artist, and fans all seem drunk on “global popularity NewBlack ㅠㅠ”

Souffle blinked.

“Is that concern or an attack?”

Common sense says if a venue’s too big and seats go empty, the ones who hurt most are the artist and fans.

Even if it’s «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» sad, the people most crushed would be the people involved.

Watching folks compare “too big, too small” on concert scale always felt suffocating.

“Let it go.”

After the kids’ award show, the antis had lost focus in their eyes and were bouncing off the walls.

Maybe this is what it’s like on a one-top throne.

Comments swarmed with envy and jealousy: “Fail! Fail!”—curses everywhere.

The only relief—

“They don’t show up where muggles are. Like loaches that only live in third-class water.”

Whether they feared muggles or what, they only stirred up drama in idol-heavy spaces.

Still—

Watching it made your blood boil just the same.

“...”

“...”

Souffle eyes blazed across the forums.

“Fine. We’ll make it a million.”

“Overseas fans, gather up. I have words.”

“Did these punks get scammed by Wooju in a past life? If so, I’d accept it, but still...”

On the eve of the comeback, the fandom was uniting like never before.

Won, dollars, yen, yuan, euros—you name it.

Money stacks rustled in from every country.

“Million, here we coooome!”

Ahead of the “Coin” comeback and Souffle Week, Souffle truly were gathering a spirit bomb.

Finally, comeback day.

From early morning, our hearts pounded as we rode to the venue.

“Ugh, I’m shaking... why am I shaking so much.”

“Me too.”

“I need to do something to calm down. High-fives?”

I slapped palms with Biju, who was shivering, and went aaahhh.

We were so nervous.

— Sunbae...

A chat with trainees from recently came to mind.

Sometimes when I bring them grilled meat, we do counseling, and their worries are mostly the same.

At monthly evaluations they get so nervous they take calming pills—how do you not shake?

— Time is the answer.

— Only time will fix it. As you build experience, you’ll shake a little less.

— Then you’ll be like us. Hehehehe!

...was the cool advice I gave.

But inside the van, heading to the venue, were five guys in hoodies pulled low, faces puffed like bread, whining.

“Uhhh...”

“Why is it only comeback day that we get the shakes?”

“That’s the mystery.”

Sure, with experience you get inoculated against most things.

Giving an acceptance speech on stage, or shamelessly doing personal talent in front of others.

But performances—no matter how much EXP you had—never stopped being nerve-wracking.

“It’s because this is the main job, I think.”

Ri Hyuk, hoodie strings cinched like a raincoat kid, spoke.

“And today’s venue... happens to be the same as a concert hall.”

“Right.”

Today’s comeback showcase was at Gocheok Dome.

A massive event with roughly twenty thousand in attendance.

Unlike the special album “Dokkaebi,” this was for a full album—and more than anything, the lottery pool was huge.

If we limited winners to just a few thousand out of almost all Souffle, it wouldn’t even put a dent in it.

“Wow. This is really glow-up gratitude.”

“It’s ‘the world has changed’ and ‘we’re grateful,’ got it.”

“Right.”

“Okay. Just for today, no four-character idioms.”

I patted the maknae’s back with a smile.

Usually this personality type would be stubborn—“I’ll do what I want~”—but our kid listens so well.

“I know myself really well. I know my head wouldn’t have gotten me this far.”

“Say ‘brain,’ not ‘head.’”

“Ah, must be from chatting with the Teens kids lately.”

Speaking of them, I wondered how they were doing.

Teen Spirit had promised to help us hit a million by buying albums.

Of course, five copies, not six.

— That was a painfully sore memory for us.

— If it wasn’t our fave, fans would’ve beaten us up.

— Whew. Thank goodness it’s our fave...

We’d been too busy to meet lately. After the comeback, if time allowed, I should invite them over.

Same for Taehyun, who sent a “congrats on comeback” via chat.

I was resolving to check on people I’d neglected while working on the album when—

“They’re announcing that thing later today.”

Junhyun said around a morning jelly.

“You know... Billboard Awards are announcing nominations. They say our name might be in there.”

“Oho.”

“‘Blue Moon’ did make some noise.”

The Billboard Awards would announce this year’s nominees.

I’d heard it was likely “Blue Moon” would be nominated in Collaboration.

Not sure if we’d perform... but maybe?

After the Kids’ Choice Awards, word was our stock rose in the US. Kids were hot on us, so adults were being forced to hear our name.

“So we’re like Pororo. Kids go ‘Pororo!’ so adults end up knowing him too.”

“Whoaaa...”

“Still, how could we possibly challenge that legend...”

“Yeah, that’s a bit much.”

We laughed and Gocheok Dome drew near.

Everyone pulled off their hoods one by one.

The album palette was pastels on white.

Jiho dyed a neat brown; Biju went pale pink; Ri Hyuk, orange.

Ash-gray for Junhyun, and gold for me.

“Colorful. Our five brothers.”

Dyeing hurt like crazy, but we were satisfied in our way.

We were a little dry and scruffy now, but with the pros’ touch we’d be fluffy in no time.

Looking at my hair, Ri Hyuk said:

“You look like... that thing, mister.”

“What thing?”

“Corn silk.”

“...”

The kids applauded his line. Manager Minsoo, driving, choked looking at my hair.

“Minsoo?”

“I’m sorry. It was just... too accurate...”

“No, not that.”

I laughed.

“Feel free to laugh.”

“Oh... really?”

“Yeah. You seemed so careful—no need to be that careful...”

“Wahahahaha!”

He burst into boisterous laughter.

Maybe be a little careful.

My eyes thinned to slits, and Manager Wonseok said:

“Watch it, Minsoo. There’s that petty spaceship face again.”

“Ah.”

“Careful. Wooju remembers until the end of the world.”

“I see...”

“That’s Wooju for you.”

I shook my head at the manager hyung’s proud explanation.

We arrived at the venue and rehearsed the “Coin” stage and the other segments for today.

And among them was the corner we were most excited about.

“Can’t wait to give out the awards.”

“Ahhh.”

“Souffle will love it if we hand them trophies, right?”

Today’s showcase for twenty thousand included a very special segment.

— Now then, we’ll have an awards ceremony.

We would personally award trophies to Souffle.

At the same time—

While Souffle were getting ready to attend the “Coin” showcase at Gocheok Dome,

“...”

“...”

Some people stared at their phone screens with a sinking feeling.

[Congratulations! You have won the lottery to attend NewBlack’s showcase for the 2nd full album “Hello, WOrLD”!]

When they first heard they’d won showcase entry, they jumped for joy.

But when the next text arrived, their hearts dropped with a thud.

[Congratulations! You have been nominated for the 1st Souffle Awards hosted by NewBlack! Truly, congrats! ^^]

Receiving a trophy from your fave in front of twenty thousand people.

Not a bad image to picture—but the problem was the image file attached.

A compilation of the award nominees.

[Eek! You cleared Stage 1 even later than Wooju!]

☆ Effort Award!

— To the one and only player who scored lower than Wooju (ID: SunWoojuGameNoob)!

[It was over before it began ㅠㅠ]

☆ Speed Award!

— To the one who hit Game Over in 10 seconds (ID: MyLifeIsTough)!

[Thank you for making us shine... w-wait—so bright!]

☆ Firefly Award!

— To the top purchaser of light sticks at the NewBlack Store (ID: LighthouseKeeper)!

“...”

“...”

The lottery-selected awardees began to feel a dark cloud settle over their faces.