"Mm?"

We were on tour in the States when strange photos started popping up from Korea.

"What is this?"

"Isn’t that the bakery we always go to?"

"Right."

It was the neighborhood bakery where we’d ordered three hundred cakes this time.

Our own little hidden gem—so good we decided to send cakes around to friends.

But...

"Are all those... people?"

The photos online showed a snaking line of customers.

It even hit the news.

Apparently every reservation was already sold out, and even Christmas cakes—over six months away—were fully booked.

"Nothing to worry about."

Wonseok grinned.

"I spoke with the owner. He said anything you order will always go to the top of the list."

"Really?"

"Looks like business is booming."

"Good for them..."

We were happy our secret spot was thriving, but...

"Looks like we just lost our regular joint."

"Are we ever going to taste this bread again..."

We used to swing by on the way to the dorm to pick up a few loaves, but that little joy might be gone now.

Jiho blinked.

"People in our country are really serious about food. Who lines up from dawn just to eat bread?"

"Plenty of folks drive all the way to Daejeon for bread."

Not that we were in any position to talk.

Every time someone suggested a trip to Gunsan, the kids’ first picks were the famous bakery and jjamppong.

"For the record, Gunsan’s three local treasures are the bakery, the jjamppong, and Sun Wooju..."

"Ugh, that again."

"No, I’m serious. Every time we go to Gunsan the city puts up banners. The mayor gives us a welcome..."

"Eeeee~!"

The youngest and Junhyun pretended to dig out their ears with rapid scratch-scratch-scratch, like they couldn’t stand to hear it, and I clicked my tongue.

Brats.

Anyway, hearing we might not get to use our regular bakery while touring the U.S. brought tears to my eyes.

We’d just sent the cakes out with a "Today is a good day—everyone is our teacher," and never imagined it would snowball like this.

"Let’s eat."

"Yay~!"

At a famous Korean restaurant in New York, we tore open the wet towels, wiped our hands, and kneaded our tired shoulders.

"So we’ve been in North America for ten days now?"

"About that."

Roughly ten days in North America.

From Dallas to Chicago.

From Chicago to New York for two days of shows.

The venue: Madison Square Garden.

Planted in Manhattan, the place is known as "the most famous arena in the world."

It’s also an NBA team’s home court and, with MGM Grand Garden Arena, a storied boxing venue.

Capacity is similar to a gymnastics arena—about fourteen thousand per show.

After two shows, our whole bodies felt pleasantly heavy, but the tension hadn’t let up yet.

"Only the big event left now."

At Biju’s words, I nodded.

"The most important one."

Arguably the biggest item on our North America schedule was right in front of us.

Junhyun stirred the bulgogi hot pot with a ladle.

"It still doesn’t feel real. That we’re performing at Billboard..."

"Aaaahhhh!"

We all flapped our arms and shivered.

The Billboard Music Awards.

Our hearts pounded like our very first stages back when we were rookies—at Mango Awards or KMA.

We were so excited we kept checking the calendar every day to count down to the stage.

Smiling to myself at the thought, I heard Junhyun say:

"Hyung. Bil-gogi is ready."

"Right. Let’s eat bil-gogi first."

We’re going to look incredible at this awards show.

"Hold up."

Ri Hyuk tilted his head.

"Isn’t it bulgogi?"

"..."

It’d be great... if we look incredible.

If not, oh well.

As soon as we wrapped the New York concert, we headed straight to LA.

With only a day left before the awards, the sensible choice time-wise was to go straight to Las Vegas, where the show would be held.

But everything we needed for rehearsal was set up in LA, so we had no choice.

We landed at LAX and drove out to the edge of the city, where a massive warehouse awaited us.

"Whoaaa..."

It was big enough to pass for a logistics hub.

Biju said:

"This is the place Hayley uses whenever she rehearses for a concert. They set it up exactly like the real stage."

"That’s insane."

"Rehearsing like that, you wouldn’t even get nervous at the real thing."

We were awed by the resources—training for the stage like a real show, spending sums with eight zeros just in prep where we’d usually spend that kind of strength onstage.

"It literally makes you go ‘ugh’—in the best way."

"..."

"..."

No one laughed.

Only Mingi and Wonseok chuckled like it was their exact flavor of joke, which somehow felt even sadder.

We got off the bus as the hangar doors began to open.

"Ooooo!"

As the huge doors parted and the interior scene came into view, a beauty with neatly tied blue hair walked out.

Hayley Blue, in sunglasses and chewing gum, popped a bubble with a "Ponk!" and said,

"Why did you take so long?"

We shouted "Hayley!" and ran over to the person strolling toward us with a deadpan face.

"I thought I was going to die waiting."

"The traffic was rough."

"LA traffic is kinda hell. One of my ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) friends commutes by helicopter because of it."

Nodding, Hayley gave quick hugs and greeted us warmly.

Our new managers gaped—Hayley Blue?!—and we laughed, then followed her inside.

A wide, cavernous space.

That warehouse smell—damp, still air—and a set built to mirror the real stage, down to the last detail.

"Whoaaa..."

We’d checked it once over video call, but didn’t expect it to be this huge.

We headed straight up to the stage and looked around.

The neon sign flickered "Blue Moon"—it really felt like a preview of standing on the Billboard Music Awards stage.

"How is it?"

"It’s great. Feels like the real thing."

There were on-site first-aid staff, too.

It felt like we’d come to a workshop to learn a truly advanced rehearsal environment.

While we were taking in the stage, Hayley introduced her crew.

"This is our principal dancer, Jimmy Hoffman. He anchors the performance every concert and show."

"Hayley dances like trash. That’s why I have to be good."

"Jimmy, oh Jimmy. You test my patience every day."

A cheerful man in a fedora gave a little court-official bow with "At your service."

We shook hands and laughed.

When he looked at Ri Hyuk he asked, "So you’re the famous Doctor Fish?"—genuinely delighted.

Ri Hyuk seemed to like him, too.

"Your court bow is historically accurate."

"..."

Sure. That’s the reason.

We kept smiling and shaking hands with Hayley’s introductions when our gazes drifted elsewhere.

A few actors mingled with the crew.

We didn’t need introductions, so we went over first.

"It’s been a while!"

"Whoaaa!"

They were the actors who’d played the cannibal grandpa, Dracula, and the three brides in <From Now On, We>.

They wore the same team T-shirts as everyone else—printed with "Hayley Blue is the best."

"Have you been well?"

"We have. Thanks to you, we eat good food every day, and now we’re stepping onto a stage like this."

Mr. Hansen, who’d played the cannibal, clasped our hands and smiled.

"Thanks to you, we’re getting precious stage experience."

They’d be background performers out of focus, but even that opportunity meant a lot to them.

I could feel their sincere gratitude—warm to the fingertips.

After greeting the others lightly with smiles, I snagged Lucas Ronson as he tried to slip away.

"Our Grand Duke of the North!"

"Grand Duke of the North!"

"S-stop..."

Maybe he embarrassed easily—when we surrounded him and cheered, Lucas scrunched his brow on the verge of tears.

Still absurdly handsome.

A gorgeous man who looked like a duke stepped right out of a novel gave an awkward smile.

"I’ve been well. I got a good opportunity thanks to you, so I’m going to give it everything. Bone-crushingly hard."

"You remembered what we said. Bon Crash!"

"Yeah. It stuck with me."

Lucas glanced toward Hayley and whispered,

"And if this show goes well, Hayley said she’d introduce me for a role."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Through Chris Kyle, she’ll connect me to an agency. She’s going to look for acting gigs for me."

Chris Kyle.

One of the leads in a famous medical drama—and Hayley’s husband.

Hearing that she’d help him find acting opportunities made me smile.

Turns out our eyes weren’t the only ones.

Just like I’d gone "Oh?" when I first saw him, Hayley must’ve watched and gone "Hmm?"—feeling something spark.

When we came back, Hayley asked,

"Did you hear he’s getting a role intro?"

"Yes."

I smiled and asked,

"He’s good, right?"

"There’s... something there. Not ordinary. Kind of a glint."

"Exactly."

"Reminds me of when I first saw you guys."

Hayley said it like she was gazing back at a distant past.

"You were shining like crazy..."

At the fierce compliment, we beamed.

Warm and neighborly; LA felt like a second home—cozy.

After chatting with Hayley’s crew, we dove straight into a meeting.

"Our slot is five minutes total."

Five minutes.

It doesn’t sound long when you say it.

Back home, when we or Teen Spirit appear at domestic awards like KMA, the baseline is ten minutes.

When TNT was at its peak, they’d get a twenty-five-minute TNT special.

But unlike those Korean awards, American music award shows are mostly one song per artist and done.

— Wait, Logan Smith just sings that and gets off?

— Cold Brown does a single song and that’s it?

— Cold Brown...?

The first time we looked up other artists’ Billboard stages, we blinked.

Equivalent to our top-tier names at home doing a three-minute stage and calling it a night.

Award shows here have a different vibe.

If a Korean show is like a coursed meal—"Now, for the main dish: NewBlack!"—then an American show is closer to a buffet. One scoop of Hayley Blue, one scoop of Cold Brown, one scoop of Logan Smith on the same plate.

Seokhwan had told us as much.

— The setup’s different from Korea. The market itself is huge. It’s not like any single fandom is big enough to move the entire scene.

So you do your one song cleanly and hop off.

In that context, Hayley getting two songs—five minutes total—was huge.

"First I do a two-minute solo. Then... that’s when you enter."

She started drawing paths on the stage map with a marker.

"Blue Moon set, actors and dancers come on. Then we set five standing mics..."

Overall, the plan looked like this:

Hayley Blue opens with a two-minute solo.

Ten seconds for a set change as the song switches.

NewBlack enters and does Blue Moon with Hayley Blue.

Mid-song, NewBlack gets a thirty-second solo shot.

Nail it and eat meat!

Of these, number 4 was our biggest focus.

"Thirty seconds."

"That’s the key."

We traded looks.

From the moment the Billboard stage was confirmed, this was the part we mulled over most.

"...Thirty seconds."

Kids’ Choice made our name a little known.

Now we had to show this country our stage.

But because it was a collab with Hayley, we couldn’t present a full standalone performance.

Inevitably, our impact could end up lighter.

— Who are the kids singing with her?

Probably that level of reaction.

So we had to show something that made TV viewers watching the awards go—oh my god!

— These guys pull aggro like pros! What are they called?

We needed that vibe.

Thankfully, during stage talks, Hayley proposed a thirty-second solo shot.

We had to make those thirty seconds hit hard.

So that when it ended, people typed "Who is NewBlack!" into the search bar.

"That’s it for the meeting. Ten-minute break, then regroup."

"Got it."

While we stretched and warmed up, Ri Hyuk dropped into the splits and said,

"This time we need to show them something special."

"Exactly."

We wouldn’t leave a mark if we ran the same content as existing Western boy bands.

Pretty faces and good vocals wouldn’t be enough.

"Though with your face, hyung, that might be enough."

"Biju!"

"Hyuuung!"

"My number one fan. My number one fan."

"...Huh? I’m a fan... huh? What?"

"?"

I praised him for being my fan, and Biju suddenly short-circuited; I tilted my head.

Anyway.

Our strategy for this stage was "reversal."

Our comparative edge was dance.

Start with the boy-band look Americans are used to, then flip it during the mid-song thirty-second dance break. That was the plan.

"Let’s show America the taste of K dance, minions."

"K voice warm-ups."

"K wink."

We tossed around K-jokes as we finished warming up and moved straight into rehearsal.

Rehearsal repeated exactly like the real thing.

Where once it would’ve been just Hayley and the dancers, we joined in for the final run-through.

And the reaction to our thirty-second segment was...

"Ha, shibal......."

Very, very good.

Hayley gave a satisfied smile and a thumbs-up.

"I’ve been raising tigers."

We gave thumbs-up back at her pitch-perfect use of a Korean proverb—"a freaking tiger."

Laughter and good vibes all around.

Riding that wave, we felt a big one coming.

Then, during a short break, we noticed someone staring holes into his phone.

"Lucas?"

Lucas Ronson was frowning at his screen.

"Something up?"

"Uh. So..."

He lifted the phone and showed us.

"This dropped."

"Uh..."

He asked, face full of worry,

"It feels like it’s coming closer... What do we do now?"

"..."

The moment the thirty-second clip on his screen started playing, our expressions got heavy in unison.

And then—

"What is it, what is it?"

Like a nosy neighbor, Hayley squeezed in, watched the video, and burst into explosive laughter.

Around the same time.

Souffle back in Korea were swimming through thin air.

"Empty. So empty."

MeTube content was going up daily, concert photos of their faves were dropping daily.

Even with all the good news about Coin, the current title track, Souffle’s hearts felt achingly empty.

"Sigh. With NewBlack overseas, even my appetite’s gone..."

They said there was nothing to eat, then scooped up bait with both hands and munched away.

Fandom drifting on the clouds.

While other idol fans down on earth scraped at the dirt for cucumber-tasting crumbs, Souffle floated around all fluffy.

"Come to think of it, the Billboard awards are soon, right?"

Eyes sparkled.

NewBlack was slated to stand on the Billboard stage, and anticipation was sky-high.

What kind of performance would they show this time?

How would overseas audiences react? They could already hear the screams from the red carpet; it was thrilling.

"Hehehehe!"

That was when something unfamiliar rolled into Souffle’s lap.

"Hmm? What’s this?"

It was a video from HBS on MeTube.

A thirty-second teaser.

— [Teaser 1] Ep21. "In This Life, I Will Be a Lady" (HBS From Now On, We)

They tapped it, and a twinkling BGM chimed in.

An animation-style video played, with a narration by a voice actor who usually played magical-girl roles.

The Grand Duke of the North and his sisters sat elegantly around a table.

Then the back of someone with pink hair moving toward the banquet hall.

[One day I found myself inside a book.]

[I had entered the romance-fantasy novel The Princess Is the Strongest, and become an extra here.]

[This beautiful story about the Grand Duke of the North and a princess’s romance... wait, what?]

With the voice actor’s wry narration, the screen shattered with a crash.

As the pink-haired lady’s face was revealed, Souffle went blank.

"Biju?"

Lady Biju raised both hands politely in greeting.

A pretty-filter, doe-eyed face.

[Good evening, Your Grace.]

With a twinkle of BGM, the text read: "<From Now On, We> welcomes NewBlack!" and the video ended.

And then—

Korean netizens exploded.