Best Dresser, Sun Wooju.

The instant they saw those words, ripples ran through the minions’ hearts.

“This makes no sense.”

“Sun Wooju is Best Dresser” was a sentence that simply could not exist.

Like “The exit is the entrance,” or “Studying is playing.”

Never mind other people—their hyung was the last person that keyword could ever fit.

“Rolling the pants hem looks great... Oh, these pants aren’t supposed to be worn that way? It’ll look like capris?”

“Practicality is king. Wouldn’t it be comfy to wear a back brace in the travel reality show?”

“Why are all the clothes I like in the middle-aged men’s section? Ah, what a bitter world...!”

Their ears buzzed with his glorious past hits.

“Wooju hyung is... Best Dresser......”

“Uhuhuhuhuhu.”

“Wow, look at Junhyun going feral. He’s not the type to be this shocked.”

The minions, who’d been staring off into the distance, took a deep breath.

“Calm down. Calm down.”

Then they looked at their eldest, still kneeling and radiating holy vibes.

“I did it......!”

He wore the expression of a mountaineer who’d punched through a blizzard to summit Everest.

Eyes dewy, body wriggling with a grub-worm’s joy.

Watching their eldest hit a solo happy ending, the members smiled.

“He’s... misunderstanding something, isn’t he......”

Even Ri Hyuk, NewBlack’s resident dissident, agreed on one thing:

Their leader was devastatingly handsome.

Stand at a window and smile and it turned into a pictorial; sometimes even his shadow looked handsome.

Why make him leader?

Because if that guy delivered the acceptance speech or a comment, the crowd’s focus would be absolute.

Why did they become national idols?

Face.

With that flighty, chaotic personality, how could he have so many fans?

Face!

Even the beauty-legend group Scarlet avoided Wooju for a reason.

“Wooju.”

“Yes, noona.”

“My face looks so big. Back up a little.”

“I’m already as far back as I can go. Hey... Nayoon, why are you holding a baseball bat?”

Other idols weren’t trying so hard to avoid sharing a frame for nothing.

And a face that cast an AoE debuff of “everything nearby looks uglier”...

“He throws it all away with his clothes.”

His fashion sense was powerful enough to make that face look worse.

Early in debut, maybe worried about public scorn, Sun Wooju dressed relatively normal.

To strangers, he read as “someone who doesn’t care about clothes.” But with that base model, he looked good in a burlap sack.

As he got more famous, the true colors emerged.

And here they were now.

“Umhahahahahahaha!”

The minions, who were eyeing their eldest’s obnoxious laugh, looked back down at their phones.

“I hate to admit it, but... it did suit him......”

“It looked good.”

“The outfit itself was beautiful.”

The suit by Jimmy Robbins fit Sun Wooju like a dream.

Flash with flash.

A suit that could have been too much ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) found its balance on Wooju’s face and came together like a painting.

Even the members who hated florals had to concede.

They narrowed their eyes.

“But the more I look, the more it feels like his face won, not the clothes......”

A reasonable suspicion flashed: whoever picked Best Dresser had chosen by face.

Meanwhile—

Separate from that suspicion, annoyance boiled up.

Their usually humble “So that’s not how to wear that” Wooju had a nose bridge climbing from Hallasan to Baekdusan.

“Did you see?”

“......”

“Minions. Did you see? Did you see your hyung become Best Dresser? Right here, B-E-S-T dres-ser. You see it?”

“......”

“You don’t have to like it, but this round goes to me. Ha... a good match.”

As their leader started beating his drum and cymbal, the members shut their eyes and kneaded the backs of their necks.

After the Teen Choice Awards—

News hit the idol communities: NewBlack had won at Teen Choice.

They’d taken, for the first time, the Global Artist award—where TNT or Sixty Seconds were sometimes nominees—and they’d been named Best Music Group by American teens.

Grats grats grats

Superstars, superstars TTTT

Thought only little kids liked them, but the school-lunch crowd’s into them too

Newbies are the future

I live in the States; it’s a nobody show irl—only hot in the community

Teen Spirit were also nominated for Global Artist... looks like a category made to hand K-idols trophies

Lol, so the category “made to hand K-idols trophies” was won by U.S. boy band Ocean Five last year??

While the usual brawl raged—

One thing from today’s photos and videos—red carpet and all—was making the biggest waves:

[Teen Choice Best Dresser: Sun Wooju]

The utterly unbelievable news that Sun Wooju had been picked Best Dresser.

Everyone doubted their eyes.

“It’s not April Fools. What kind of bull is this.”

Then they clicked through and went “ah,” exhaling in awe.

Because Sun Wooju’s figure in that red suit embroidered with lush florals really did make sense.

Did Sun Wooju switch floral suppliers

Hate to admit it but he wears clothes well

Sun Wooju as Best Dresser???? Cognitive dissonance incoming—then acceptance...

What parallel world is this where Wooju dresses well

(English SNS capture.jpg) Looks like U.S. socials are calling him well-dressed too

Don’t be fooled, Americans TTTTT he’s not that guy

He’s the type who turns a blanket into a cape... He didn’t wear the outfit well—he’s just handsome ㅜㅠ

But why does it suit him???? lol I’m actually speechless lolol

I heard the suit’s LeBlanc

No matter how I look, it’s the face

If you see his off-duty fits, you get why a LeBlanc designer would love him. Jimmy Robbins is the final boss of Too Much

Idol fans were speechless, watching Sun Wooju run around America like a fashionista scam artist.

“I mean, yes, he did wear it well, but......”

Honestly, wasn’t that a victory by face?

The video on the Y app of Sun Wooju self-congratulating—“My victory”—was so smug it hurt.

Like he lucked out and won one game, then went, “See? That’s skill.”

“Man... this is......”

Stuck between “Sun Wooju can’t dress” and “but he dressed well,” they hit cognitive static.

Right then—

Someone rushed in a post from a famous fashion designer.

[Jimmy Robbins posted about Wooju on SNS!!]

The world-famous designer Jimmy Robbins had uploaded Wooju’s red-carpet shot.

Words in English over the photo:

[The friend with the greatest fashion sense in the world]

[May my paltry, humble clothes have been of help]

Idol fans blinked.

Who was Jimmy Robbins?

The genius designer who had helped make LeBlanc one of the world’s top-selling luxury brands.

Famous since fashion school for original design; then, as LeBlanc’s youngest head designer, he drew huge buzz. When people said he was too young, he smacked down the doubts with results—a prodigy. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

And yet—

“Why is that person praising Wooju......”

Pupils wobbled across the board.

No, that can’t be right

I’m telling you he just can’t dress

What?? No seriously, what is this

Fashion reverse world

But seeing this... are we the ones who’ve got it wrong?

Nah guys, that man’s taste leans toward this sort of styling lolol He’s the type who’d come to Korea and buy a kimchi vest

High fashion is truly incomprehensible..

Any sufficiently advanced high fashion is indistinguishable from florals — by Spaceship

Is everyone doing a hidden-camera prank but me

Mr. Robbins, how much did you get, tell the truth

With the one-liners flying, people treated the famous designer’s post like a funny little episode; the story spread beyond idol communities to others.

But reactions weren’t much different.

Did he hypnotize him?

Hypnosis lmaoooo

“You will... praise me...”

If it’s Spaceship Wooju, it does feel possible, which is scarier

Rumor has it those minions’ loyalty comes from hypnosis techniques

That’s... convincing

Isn’t there some subprime effect, what was it—you insert 0.1-second frames between scenes to brainwash

Subprime is mortgages... With the IQ in this thread you wouldn’t need hypnosis

With the quip fest raging, most people chalked the designer’s post up as a one-off gag.

“Did you see this? Some famous designer praised Wooju’s outfit.”

“Got paid?”

Offline, unlike idol fans glued to Teen Choice, the “famous designer praised him” item spread.

“Angling to expand into Korea?”

“But he’s apparently really famous. The top design guy at LeBlanc.”

“LeBlanc, the place with the long lines......?”

Koreans were baffled that the head designer of a nose-in-the-air luxury brand had praised him.

Someone burst out laughing.

“If you look at the post, he’s completely smitten. At this rate they’ll ask him to walk a runway.”

“Pfft, Wooju in a fashion show......!”

“Pffh!”

Koreans, mid-coffee, collectively spat a laugh.

“Wooju in a fashion show.”

Just the image was a once-in-a-generation comedy.

Next day.

“Best Dresser Sun Wooju has entered.”

“......”

Normally, this was the moment for “Hwahahat!” and applause, but the minions were dead quiet.

“Clap.”

“Waaaaaaah......”

At the limp applause, Ri Hyuk grumbled.

“How long are you going to talk about Best Dresser?”

“Until you sincerely celebrate my victory.”

“What victory. You won by face...!”

“Huuuuuh.”

The moment he finished, I raised my phone like a mic.

“Say that again for the recording.”

“KyAAAAK!”

“Ri Hyuk hyung, calm down! Breathe!”

“Ri Hyuk. Go ask. Go ask now.”

“Biju hyung, why are you like this!”

While the kids squabbled, I smiled, satisfied.

To celebrate Best Dresser, I’d put on another floral T-shirt from Mr. Jimmy Robbins.

“Hmm-hmm-hmm.”

LA’s bright, clear sky slid past.

Feeling that dok-sun-dok-sun mood as cottony clouds drifted by, we climbed into the minibus waiting out front.

“Did you all sleep well?”

We smiled back at the CEO’s gentle greeting.

“Did you sleep well?”

“A bit tired from the jet lag. Heh heh, we should finish up and head back to Korea quick.”

Maybe yesterday’s schedule was packed—CEO and Seokhwan hyung both looked a little worn.

Junhyun kneaded the CEO’s shoulders and warm smiles spread across our CEO’s and team lead’s faces.

“Oh, that’s good.”

“Hey, hey, hey... Junhyun, did you put a motor in your hands.”

“Yes.”

While those two basked, the van rolled out.

Summer heat was already roasty in the morning, but we sank into the AC and snapped photos with the kids.

The day after Teen Choice.

Unlike other times, we weren’t flying back to Korea right away because we were shooting a choreography video in LA.

“Yes!”

I waved at the selfie cam.

“Day two in LA. We’re headed to set! Biju, what are we doing today?”

“We’re shooting the choreography video for ‘METRO’ today.”

“Why are we shooting it?”

“Since ‘METRO’ is prepped for a global promotion, we wanted to shoot a choreography video set against an American subway.”

That was the idea.

Subways aren’t just in Korea—they’re in the U.S. too.

The maknae asked, “But... LA has a subway?”

“Search says it does.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen one.”

We’d never seen it while in LA, so we hadn’t even known—but a search said there’s LA Metro.

Not huge in scale, but newer than you’d think and the facilities are supposed to be good.

We’d ridden a double-decker train in Australia during the reality shoot, but we’d never tried an American subway—very curious.

“Hmm, we’re heading out toward the outskirts?”

We’d heard there was a subway-related set and rolled out—but the destination felt... different.

I craned toward Seokhwan hyung in the front.

“Hyung, weren’t we going to the set?”

“Yeah.”

“But this feels like the opposite direction.”

“Ah, we’re going to a set the World Art Studio arranged. They said they built a small set.”

“Oh......”

I figured it was like when we shot an MV in Korea—separate subway-car modules.

When we arrived—

We passed the headquarters of World Art Studio, a film company under the same parent as World Records, and entered a massive lot.

Warehouses like airplane hangars lined a small-city-sized property; our destination was one of the larger ones.

“Wow......”

“It’s huge.”

A woman in her thirties wearing sunglasses approached as we got out.

“Welcome! I’m Selena, site supervisor for today’s shoot.”

“Hello!”

“Wow, NewBlack... I heard you won at Teen Choice yesterday? Congrats. My niece said she voted.”

She clipped her badge and led us into the studio.

“Because we’re shooting on a set, you might lose some of that on-site feel, but it was hard to get cooperation for a live location.”

“Was it that hard?”

“LA Metro put so many conditions on it that we barely had time to install gear, let alone shoot. You also have to manage foot traffic, and we can’t inconvenience the public.”

Just like back home where we couldn’t shoot on a real subway, the same real-world constraints applied.

She guided us in.

“So when we crunched the numbers, building a set actually looked cheaper.”

“Oh......”

“So we built an entire subway set!”

“Sorry?”

Korean popped out of me; she winked, “Yeah~,” agreeing.

Jiho blinked.

“What did she say exactly? That when they calculated live-location costs, building a set was cheaper?”

“That’s what it sounded like...?”

How expensive could on-site be—surely not more than building a set?

For a one-day choreo shoot, at that.

While we were thinking that—

“......”

“......”

Junhyun rubbed his eyes.

We were the same.

“It’s a subway station.”

“There’s a train.”

Inside a set that felt like LA Metro transplanted whole... there was a real subway train.

Cheaper than a location shoot?

Do they hand out gold bars to bystanders every time they shoot in this country?

We stared, speechless, at the massive set while staff installed rigs and cameras.

“Um.”

We asked Selena:

“You know we’re only shooting for a day, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you built this set...?”

“That’s right.”

She acted like “We didn’t want to shoot on location, so we built it,” no big deal—and even our reformed-chaebol maknae swallowed hard.

Catching our thoughts, Selena smiled.

“No worries. We basically built it for free.”

“Free?”

“We’re going to keep this set as ‘the place NewBlack shot.’ If you charge admission for pilgrimages, the build cost gets recouped in under a year. With merch, you cut that to three months.”

“A... amazing......”

She rattled off future items: METRO T-shirts, METRO straws, METRO umbrellas, METRO character pins—and we gaped.

“This is capitalism......”

“The original’s on another level.”

Seokhwan hyung admired the OG capitalist hustle; our CEO chuckled his “heh heh.”

I noticed coolers along one side.

Ice-stuffed boxes filled with thirst-killing sodas. Selena asked:

“Do you like cola?”

“Yes.”

“A company sponsored us. Thanks to that, we basically built the set for free.”

“Does the drink have to appear in the video?”

“Not at all.”

She gestured to the brand rep standing off to the side.

A tall, bespectacled man smiled.

“Enjoy freely. No pressure—just have a sip whenever you get thirsty on set.”

So, PPL.

They seemed happy even if we only showed a casual sip in a behind-the-scenes clip.

Even that wasn’t required; they’d be grateful if we simply felt good about the brand.

“......”

Something felt off.

The beverage company that fronted costs earned from PPL and brand image; the production built a set with beverage money and gained a tourist spot to monetize for years.

Surely building a set cost a fortune... and yet no one took a loss. Everyone gained.

Standing there where nobody lost and everybody won, I felt a little spacey.

“......”

I nodded at the kids, who were looking around like, What even is this?

Then said:

“Let’s drink first.”

“Okay.”

With the cameras rolling in the background, we downed the cold soda together.

“Khheeee!”

“Whoa! Sweet! Sweet!”

“Oh my, so this is the world’s greatest beverage...!”

Little by little, we were adjusting to another country.