"Yes, and this week’s live broadcast of , the number one is...!"

"NewBlack’s ‘Coin’! Congratulations!"

We took first place on our last music show as well.

While confetti fell from the air, I received the trophy from Seul of Trickster, one of the MCs.

"Congratulations, seniors."

"Congrats!"

"Truly, congratulations!"

We bowed to the idol members and ballad singers applauding around us.

The singers who’d been smiling and congratulating us faded with a collective wow as they headed down.

"Did you see the score?"

"It’s my first time seeing a perfect score...."

"So a perfect score really is possible."

It was clearly because of the number that our "Coin" had posted.

The first-ever perfect score in the history of HBS’s music show.

Even we, who’d seen plenty of high scores, widened our eyes; it went without saying for the other singers.

We laughed as we watched them descend with blank looks, then we took the mics too.

"Souffleeee!"

"WAAAAAAAH!"

Dalbongs were everywhere.

Seeing the Dalbongs sparkling and sparkling-sparkling in pure joy, the younger ones and I burst out laughing.

Happiness brimmed in the Souffles’ eyes too.

"Thank you so much for giving us such a precious gift on our final music show. Being able to hold this trophy here is thanks to you."

Just being here on HBS’s music program at all was an outcome our fans had powered.

If we hadn’t had people supporting us so solidly from behind, we would’ve probably gone out meek after the abuse of power incident at the year-end broadcast of ’15. Telling a network no is not something you can do without serious guts.

"And we want to thank everyone who loves our music. We’ll keep on always being...."

...was what I was saying when a piece of gold foil drifting down from above landed with a gentle chwap on Junhyun’s philtrum.

While the MCs ducked their heads to hold back laughter, we passed the mic to Junhyun with smiles.

Wearing the gold foil like the stern beard of a Joseon-era minister, Junhyun smiled.

"We will continue to be an idol group that takes responsibility for viewers’ laughter. We are truly obliged."

"Truly obliged!"

We waved and lifted the mics together.

While the ending credits rolled on the TV monitor, the younger ones and I harmonized on the chorus of "Coin."

Layering harmonies over the retro arcade melody, we saw the happy faces of fans in the audience.

Take my, my coin

Now take my hand

With a sweet voice, Ri Hyuk reached his hand out; we clasped it and sang the refrain softly together.

Oh we, we are ready

It’s time to begin

Then, shooting each other petty side-eyes, we finished the song.

As we waved and came down from the stage, our staff waiting backstage with a cake let out a yell.

"Number one!"

"Number ooooooone!"

While Minsu, Jongwan, and Jiun smiled shyly, guarding the candles on the cake, we grinned and high-fived the staff.

With peals of laughter together, we blew—[whoo]—and celebrated the win.

"There we go. This is it."

Hugging the trophy to his chest like Gollum, Ri Hyuk wore a satisfied smile.

"We’re finally collecting the big-three terrestrial and K-Net trophies all at once. It always bugged me that HBS was the one missing."

"We’re at four now? Awesome, it’s been a while since we’ve done a clean sweep of four."

It was HBS’s music show that had kept not giving us the win even when we took first on other music programs with "Dokkaebi," "Empire," and "Falling Blossoms."

Even when "Attention" did numbers.

Even when "Fireworks" climbed back up the charts and swept 1–3 with our songs, HBS used to hand the #1 trophy to fourth place on the grounds that they didn’t give wins to artists who didn’t appear.

We remembered how the now-#1 artists gave acceptance talks with embarrassed faces, and those moments became a hot topic.

"Truly, congratulations."

Looking at our new managers beaming like they were proud themselves, we smiled too.

It had been a good while since they came aboard.

Seeing the smiles they wore today, I had a feeling we’d be seeing them for a long time.

"Wonseok hyung. Do we head to the hallway by the waiting rooms now?"

"Hm?"

"The time to greet the PDs."

"Ah."

After music shows, everyone usually gathered in the waiting-room hallway to greet the PD.

"...Why is nobody here?"

Maybe everyone had cleared out; the hallway looked empty.

Wonseok hyung laughed.

"I heard from other managers that after a reshuffle of music-show directors, that custom disappeared."

"Really?"

"They started phasing it out around the time you shot the Chief Manager Joo Sunwoo special, and then they dropped it."

"Oooo...."

We’d often wonder when this kind of bad practice would disappear as we chatted with the younger ones.

It seemed HBS had gotten rid of that culture now, same as the other music shows.

"Now we won’t be late to the next schedule because of greeting lines."

"Right. Remember our radio spot almost ran late when the PD came late?"

The thought that rookies debuting now wouldn’t have to deal with that weird culture put me in a slightly better mood.

We, too, carried the trophy down to the underground parking lot.

A warm wind of change was blowing from somewhere.

—HBS ‘Popular Singer,’ #1 is NewBlack... perfect scores in all categories, "first in history"

—NewBlack tops ‘PopSin’ too... completes a four-music-show sweep, "We are truly obliged"

—[Photo] "You’ve got seaweed on your face. Real seaweed"... NewBlack’s Junhyun gives #1 speech on ‘Popular Singer’

With HBS closing out our sweep of four music-show #1s, we put our full weight into the concert.

The Gocheok Dome shows this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Unlike the showcase, which had seating on the floor, this was standing—so they said the audience would be even larger.

"Whoaaa."

The youngest clicked his tongue at the sold-out ticket count.

"Hyungs, at this point we could have done the Main Stadium, couldn’t we? Seeing that we could’ve done four days at Gocheok, we probably could’ve filled the Main Stadium for two."

"The Main Stadium would still be /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ hard."

"Why?"

I smiled at the maknae.

"If we suddenly jump scale from doing a stage at the Gymnastics Arena to the Main Stadium, even we won’t be able to adjust to the stage."

"Ah. That’s true."

"Even moving from the Handball Arena to the Gymnastics was jarring. That’s a twofold difference."

And from the Gymnastics Arena to the Main Stadium, it’s nearly three to four times the audience.

It’s not just that the audience multiplies three or four times—the venue scales with it proportionally... and doing a solo show in a stadium that big isn’t easy.

Ri Hyuk nodded.

"Honestly, the Gocheok Dome is huge too."

"Yeah."

"Even at the showcase, I was already getting a headache wondering how to cover the crowd at the concert. How we’d work the thrust stage, and how to make eye contact with the folks up on the third tier...."

"It really is massive."

We’d held the showcase at the Gocheok Dome not only because the number of Souffles who needed a lottery was astronomical.

There was another reason.

It was to do a dry run before the concert.

This was the largest scale we’d ever done for a one-off solo show, so we needed a little mental prep too.

There was a lot to prepare physically as well.

"All right, let’s do a walkthrough from here."

"Yes!"

"On three we roll music. One-two... cue."

So in addition to the rehearsal at the Dome the day before, we built a separate stage and did a dry run.

Maybe because it was a big show, there was a tension thrumming through the whole rehearsal.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

"Hyung! Look at what Kim Junghyun is doing! I’m embarrassed for real...!"

"No, hyung... Kim Biju told me not to lie. How can a frog jump backward."

"A frog jumps backward...?"

"Hyung, you try it too."

"Director! Hurry and come over here! Junhyun hyung says he’ll show us a frog jumping in reverse!"

...For the most part, rehearsal proceeded in an earnest mood.

And with the giant concert looming, we finally met the people we’d been waiting for.

People arriving with a small army of cameras for filming.

"Hey."

A young man with a sharp, sensitive look smiled and greeted us.

"Long time no see."

"Hello! Director!"

The director who’d shot the 2014 school-uniform CF with us—and who now came to film our tour documentary—Director Yoo Gun.

Director Yoo Gun, face slightly tense, asked:

"Is it okay if I speak casually...?"

"Yes. It’s not like we’re meeting for the first time...."

"Whew, thank god."

He let out a breath of relief.

"I was low-key worried. I’d say hello and you’d go, ‘Director, why are you speaking so casually...?’—and I’d get scared for a second."

"Eii~"

"I’ve had that happen a fair few times...."

Joking that we’d gone too high up and it was intimidating now, the young director explained the project again.

"The film title isn’t final yet, but the working title I’ve got is ‘The New Black: Making Waves.’"

"Making waves...."

"You picked the name NewBlack because it means creating a new trend, right?"

"R-right?"

"In that sense—new trend, new wave... and your name spreading in the States, and all. I heard you rose into the sixties on the Billboard chart this week?"

"Yes."

"Coin," which had been #73, rose five spots to #68.

"We’re going to shoot a documentary that earnestly captures how you create change. A look that literally matches the origin of ‘New Black’!"

At Director Yoo Gun’s impassioned spiel—he’d even researched the origin of our name—the younger ones and I smiled warmly and gazed off.

"Hurry up and open the dinner show, when’s it coming."

"We have to wait fifty years...."

"We need to tell them while we’re still alive."

With eyes blazing with zeal, Director Yoo said:

"This time it’ll go straight to NetPlus distribution, so to match the eyes of viewers worldwide... I’ll do my utmost."

"It’s going straight to NetPlus?"

"Probably."

The younger ones and I spoke with mildly worried faces.

"We have to show a serious side...."

"Just be your usual selves."

"Hahahahaha! Wahahaha! Like this?"

"Y-yeah...."

"Then you’re saying that’s okay, Director."

At our vow to show the true NewBlack, the director’s eyes looked moist, moved already.

"Anyway, we’ll keep shooting so it doesn’t interfere with the concert and tour as much as possible... there’ll be additional interview shoots too. Overall, we’ll introduce the process you went through to become today’s NewBlack."

It was a good plan.

Because viewers who’d found us through things like Kids Choice would have one question.

—Who is NewBlack?

Even if they wanted to know more, MeTube and the wiki wouldn’t be enough to really know who we are.

That went for domestic audiences too, not just overseas.

People knew we were a national idol group... but unless they were fans, there weren’t many who knew our early days with "Fireworks" and "Masquerade."

A plan to target those viewers and draw them in like an ant trap.

"Once you see our saga, there’s no getting out. It’s like a bog—you can’t escape. Hehehehehe...."

"Stick to us like a Venus flytrap."

"Then I’m a glue-leaf."

The director laughed and waved his hands.

"That’s not exactly the vibe I’m aiming for, but...."

"Please take good care of us, Director."

"Mm, sure...."

And so filming began for our first documentary to launch on NetPlus.

Though there’d be full interviews later, they started by shooting concert rehearsal scenes.

Catching interviews here and there with the concert director, the dancers, and more.

"Whew. We’re going to look really cool in the doc, right?"

"My heart’s already pounding."

We traded happy smiles.

From the NetPlus-launching documentary "The New Black: Making Waves"

NewBlack members, loosening their throats, go ki-yo-ooot!—mimicking pterodactyls together.

Cameras move in close on staff hustling for the concert rehearsal.

A conversation between the concert director and choreographer Joo Yehyung.

Director: So you already had ties with NewBlack. And since you’re a choreographer, you’ve trained them too.

Joo Yehyung: Right.

Director: You’ve just kept working with them.

Joo Yehyung: Yes. I was actually about to go elsewhere....

Director: Yes.

Joo Yehyung: I was dragged back.

Director: Oh.

Joo Yehyung: ...Pardon?

Director: I was dragged here too.

The director and choreographer share a hearty handshake.

Between shots of NewBlack laughing in peals, nearby staff turn to camera to say similar things.

Dancers stretching smile as they speak.

Dancer 1: We’re a crew that originally appeared with Biju on that program.

Dancer 2: We were dragged here as a group! (laugh)

Dancer 3: But being dragged is a point of pride too. Everyone working in the performance industry dreams. "Ah. I want to be dragged off by NewBlack too." Just being here proves your skill is top of the industry.

A dancer’s dreamy look is caught in an insert.

Dancer 3: People ask, What are you up to these days? I’m so busy lately. Why? Because I got dragged off by NewBlack... that line is insanely stylish, you know?

Dancer 2: It’s a kind of pride, among us. I work with NewBlack.

Dancer 1: You’ll see directors too, all claiming they got dragged—this is why.

As interview cuts roll of staff proudly declaring they were captured by NewBlack, an English narration by the English dub voice flows over.

—Korean performance staff are all proud to have been captured by NewBlack and pray to be captured and hauled in.

For Koreans, it was narration that brought to mind .

D-2.

Two days before the first show of the tour at the Gocheok Dome.

"Huaaaaaah...."

Souffles who couldn’t sleep day after day.

They were in the mood of wishing that if they just closed their eyes and opened them, it would be concert day.

They were so eager for the concert that even classes or office work that would normally feel tedious were bearable.

"Right, if I quit, I can’t go to the concert."

For Souffles living their daily lives with warm smiles, this concert was the biggest bait of all.

Of course, the bits of news trickling in along the way were big bait too.

[NewBlack "Coin" MV — now over 50,000,000 views]

Seventeen days after release, it hit fifty million; at this rate, it would hit a hundred million in a month.

Freezing or no freezing, the views were going up like crazy.

Maybe because of that, MeTube was overflowing with content related to NewBlack’s "Coin."

—Seventeen hidden secrets in NewBlack’s ‘Coin’... "Did you catch this?"

—The shocking metaphors in the lyrics of NewBlack’s ‘Coin’... "This song was about that?"

—Hello, WOrLD analysis

Domestic MeTubers looking to bump views and overseas MeTubers going K-pop is amazing! were all posting reaction videos.

"Perfect timing to put a spoon on it."

It felt like all sorts of spoons were going on the pot worldwide.

Among the analyses of the "Coin" MV were a few that were genuinely fun, so Souffles watched some of them.

—"Hello, WOrLD seems derived from the example used often in programming languages. But what meaning is hidden in those capital letters? We’re going to Focus! Investigate! that part! Let’s gooo!"

And curiosity rose.

"But why do those capital letters show up in the album title?"

Why was only the r lowercase?

They investigated the reason but couldn’t come up with an answer. "Hwold," which took just those letters, meant nothing.

While theories raged—member color schemes and more—

[Previewing the NewBlack Concert: the 2017 Hello, WOrLD tour]

Marking D-2 like a gift for fans, another concert teaser arrived.

Against a dark background, the members give interviews.

Jiho, in a dandy casual cardigan, sits with legs crossed and a gentle smile.

"[What NewBlack is to me... and the keyword that describes me within NewBlack is probably happiness.]"

As Jiho’s soft-spoken line ends, the word Happy floats up in a soft hand.

Biju’s interview follows.

"[It feels like a miracle that we can be together like this.]"

And Wonder appears.

Souffles’ hearts began to pound.

Scratching the back of his head, Junhyun speaks in a serious voice.

"[To me, the members and our fans are like an oasis. The only place of rest in a world that’s like a dry desert....]"

Another keyword: Oasis.

Then the main vocal with a cool face. As if embarrassed, Ri Hyuk tucks his hands into his sleeves and fidgets.

"[Um... lo-lo... love...?]"

As the shot of Ri Hyuk’s reddening ears fades, the word Love pops up, cute as can be.

Lastly, Wooju’s interview cut.

Even sitting still, the beautiful leader looks like something noble as he smiles.

"[It’s destiny.]"

And Destiny appears.

The words, as if promising to show the keywords of this world tour, compress into one.

The first letters slide out one by one as the font changes.

Then the lowercase letters fill in.

H e l l o, W O r L D

With a hint of laughter, Junhyun’s weighty voice intones, "Hello, world. Are you ready?" and the video ends.

And the Souffles clapped.

"So that’s what the capitals meant!"

"Goodness."

"Our kids packed a meaning this deep...!"

It was a deep meaning crafted by Lemon Entertainment’s most capable TF team.