At the same time.

Souffles lounging at home or out and about received delightful news.

[Sun Wooju of NewBlack is doing subway announcements right now!!]

It started with a post online.

Souffles clicked it with hands trembling sweetly.

“What is it this time? Is there something going on?”

NewBlack, who run a unique promotion every comeback.

Fans had trauma from those /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ events.

— Pardon? NewBlack is doing an event? Fake-Souffles mobilize. Where do we apply for tickets?

— It’s Foil here. I’m going, too.

— Heh heh heh heh. NewBlack’s adorable grandpa-grandma fan club, Songpyeon. Now which mouse button do I press, left or right? Oh, the right? ...You scoundrels worthy of the gallows...!

Because even a single event made people nationwide declare they’d attend.

Among fans it was a running joke: “NewBlack is a public good.”

Which is why the mere whiff of an event made them tense up. They couldn’t let muggles steal the spots.

“Subway announcements? Where do we ticket for that?”

Thinking so, the Souffles clicked—and a short post popped up.

[Sun Wooju of NewBlack is doing subway announcements right now!!]

Currently announcing on Line 2

Too many bait posts, so adding a MyTube link

They tapped the link, and sure enough, Wooju was saying, “This station is...”

“...It’s really a subway announcement?”

The new single’s title, Metro.

It can be a prefix for “metropolitan,” but it’s also one of the names used for big-city subways.

They’d heard the new song’s backdrop was related to the subway, but—

“No, are they seriously having him do actual subway announcements?”

Fans burst into laughter.

And immediately began searching the subway map.

“Which line was it again?”

One fan’s heart pounded like mad while she searched on her phone.

“I have to hear it.”

She wouldn’t be seeing her fave’s face, but she could breathe the same air and hear his voice.

Nerves jittered at the thought of failing, and she drummed her heels on the bed.

Her dad happened to spot her.

“Soyeong, what are you doing?”

“Dad, one sec, don’t talk to me. I’m searching something important.”

“...?”

She calculated where the train Wooju boarded was now.

How long till that train reached somewhere near their neighborhood, or if they took a taxi from here, how long to a station the train would hit. High-level brainwork ensued.

She sketched Sun Wooju’s train path and a taxi path on A4 paper with a ballpoint pen for five minutes.

“Huff, huff!”

“Where are you going?”

Seeing his daughter frantically grab her card wallet, Dad asked again.

“NewBlack!”

“NewBlack?”

“Wooju’s doing subway announcements right now. We’re going to time it and board that train.”

“.......”

If it were any other idol, parents might squint and shake their heads like, “Oh, come on.”

“NewBlack?”

NewBlack were different.

In Dad’s mind, a golden future unfurled.

— Chief! Is it true you heard Sun Wooju’s announcements live on vacation? How was it? Was it really funny?

— Heh heh heh. It was wild~

He could boast to coworkers, and maybe even see Sun Wooju in the flesh.

The golden vision exploded in his head.

“Dad? Why are you grabbing your wallet? Where are you going?”

“Let’s go together.”

Father and daughter exchanged blazing looks and nodded.

Tension filled the elevator. Dad checked his outfit in the mirror.

“Pumpkin.”

“Yeah.”

“We will succeed.”

“We have to. Then we can hit the jackpot, too.”

They tightened their sneaker laces and sprinted like mad.

First, they hit the main road and flagged a taxi in a rush.

“Whew.”

The driver side-eyed the father-daughter pair dripping sweat in mid-August.

“In a hurry?”

“Sir? Yes... NewBlack are doing subway announcements right now. Hehh... we need to hurry.”

“NewBlack?”

“Wooju’s on the mic.”

“Oh, that explains it....”

Now the driver understood their urgent look.

He rubbed under his nose with a grin and gripped the wheel.

“I’ll get you there fast and precise.”

“Driver...!”

True to his word, he delivered them to the station quickly and cleanly.

“Keep the change!”

“Thank you so much!”

Tumbling out of the cab, they sprinted toward Line 2’s Wangsimni Station, gasping.

Soon they were inside the concourse.

“Safe.”

“Safe?”

“Whew....”

Right on cue, the chime said a train was arriving.

Dad’s head snapped around.

“That one?”

“No, the one after.”

The train that pulled in was practically empty.

“Hardly anyone’s on it.”

“Right? Maybe that’s why they picked this time. Our boys get really careful about not inconveniencing people.”

“Ri Hyuk is finicky about that.”

Chatting, they let the empty train go and waited for the next.

The subway’s bright chime sounded.

From far away, the train with Wooju aboard was coming. The moment they saw it, their eyes went wide.

“It’s... Wooju...!”

“It’s really him!”

The screen doors made it hard to see, but you could just make out a man in a flashy floral outfit in the cab.

In Korea, the only person who could wear that openly was Sun Wooju.

Their hearts thundered like they’d explode.

“Jackpot!”

“Coworkers, prepare to lose your minds...!”

But their joy cooled in under ten seconds.

“Huh?”

“Uh, uh...?”

Something was off.

It was great when they could barely glimpse Wooju, but...

“Why... are there this many people on the train?”

It was as packed as a rush-hour commute.

People crammed in like bean sprouts in a jar.

“Dad, this is...”

“Too early to despair. Someone will get off.”

[Screen doors opening.]

Pssshhhh!

The doors slid open.

“.......”

“.......”

But no one got off.

Anyone who’d thought, “Ah, this one will be crowded,” had already disembarked. Only boarders were left.

With no minus, only plus, the result was a train at full saturation—no one else could get on.

On the other side of a single line, the eyes of those inside met the father-daughter pair’s gaze, colliding in midair.

“We’re sorry....”

“It’s okay....”

Who could they blame for being late?

Even with the NewBlack train right there, those who couldn’t board stared blankly as the doors closed.

The train receded, hollowing their chests.

— Chief. You still saw Sun Wooju from afar, right?

— Yeah.

Dad imagined what he’d say at the office.

— He drifted away, like a star....

They sank to the spot and wept, hiccuping.

And many Souffles were experiencing this in real time.

“Huff, huff...!”

“Look there! Isn’t there at least one open spot...?”

They sprinted to a station only to taste despair.

They missed it while buying bread at the subway bakery.

They boarded the wrong train, giggling, then wondered, “Why can’t we hear Wooju’s voice?”

“.......”

Staring into space, the Souffles looked down at their phones.

A news item on the screen.

[According to Seoul Metro, “To avoid crowding, we chose off-peak hours,” and “The intent was to give tired citizens a bit of joy...”]

Souffles let tears stream down.

“What exactly is off-peak!”

“Stans never hit the jackpot! Never!”

“Ah, the voice... I want to hear his voice.”

Maybe to comfort them, the organizers moved fast.

Seoul Metro uploaded a video titled “[LIVE] Sun Wooju’s Announcements.”

“Let’s at least listen to this.”

“Yeah....”

Souffles plugged in earphones and watched the subway map, waiting for their fave’s voice.

Then they traded self-deprecating laughs online.

— I’m at a cafe with my stan-friend staring at the map with earphones in ㅠㅠ lolol

— Kyu ㅠㅠㅠ it’s not funny but it is

— lololololol omg for real

— At least I saw Wooju for like 0.5 seconds... when I waved he even waved back

— The one I saw up close drifted away faster than anyone...

— At 60 km/h, actually

— Kim Charcoalgrill (27), heel snapped sh*t while trudging down the subway stairs

— Failed to board, going to eat now

— Still, we’re better off than the folks in hell-train rn ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

But that wasn’t true.

It was summer-hot, yes, but the A/C blasted, and citizens were kicking back.

“We’re the winners.”

Those who boarded that train today had secured bottomless story fuel to milk for a week.

They could go anywhere and say, “I was on that train,” and spin tales.

Above all, NewBlack events were brutally competitive, so they felt proud.

[Next stop, Gangnam. Gangnam Station. Doors will...]

Wooju’s voice continued after the announcement.

[But no one will get off....]

Laughter rippled through the cars.

His voice sounded moist for some reason.

[My original intent was to bring joy to Seoulites, but I wonder if that came across properly... If you’re happy, please let me know with a round of applause.]

Clap clap clap clap!

[I hear you.] 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Then, as if pondering something, Wooju asked:

[Since it’s come to this, may I come a little closer to you all? Originally I planned to do announcements for just an hour....]

Clap clap clap clap clap clap!

By overwhelming consent of the audience—no, passengers—Wooju started chatting comfortably.

[If you have questions, please drop them now in the comments on Seoul Metro’s MyTube live stream. Ah, there are already a lot. I won’t be taking song requests.]

The mood turned like a special radio program.

[“Where are the ducklings?” asks user ‘MetroPleaseBeAHit.’ Thank you for the well-wishes. The ducklings are each moving to different regions now. We have subways nationwide, right?]

He meant they’d gone to cities with urban rail—Gwangju, Daegu, Daejeon, Busan.

As the news spread, Souffles and muggles in those regions cheered and started getting dressed.

[“Is composer Kim Deokchun the same person as composer Woojuseon?” asks user ‘MakeMetroBlowUp.’ No. Not the same person.]

Citizens burst into laughter at a lie that wouldn’t fool anyone.

Starting with that Q&A, Wooju began humming and singing NewBlack classics on the spot.

The announcements continued for about an hour and a half; the cars buzzed with laughter and joy.

“This is fun.”

Smiles bloomed everywhere.

It felt like maybe Sun Wooju was the entertainer most perfectly suited to the role of bringing people joy.

He pleased the ears with songs that sounded good.

He pleased the eyes just by being seen.

Whenever things risked getting dull, he popped up in variety or with some gag, or with a surprise event like this—and brought joy.

Lucky riders wore smiles.

“...That was rich.”

They felt they had taken something with them.

And there was one thing people considered the biggest takeaway from today’s subway live.

[Okay. Approaching the next station.]

Wooju’s voice turned playful.

[Listening to me, you don’t know what station this is anymore, do you?]

“Huh? True.”

Heads swiveled around.

[Now you’ll start craning. You struggle to find a map, but other people block the view, and you don’t remember the last station, so you don’t know... and then your eyes all turn to one place.]

The monitor hanging from the ceiling.

[That’s right. The only thing you can rely on is that monitor up there.]

Passengers burst out laughing.

Because they knew exactly what he meant.

[Now, the station name pops up. But the instant you miss that pop, the suffering begins.]

Laughter swelled. You could even hear the engineer chuckling through the mic.

[Inner and outer loops appear.... The missed notice never returns, and it says your door will open on the right. The doors open, but it still doesn’t tell you where you are. And just when you’re tense—]

Wooju’s voice went ominous.

[The announcements start repeating in English.]

A roar of laughter erupted from cars 1 through 10.

“I figure everyone’s experienced that at least once. Hm...? User ‘MetroIsGonnaBeASmash’ says please make a suggestion, Wooju ㅠㅠ. I’ll be meeting the Seoul Metro president later—let me bring it up.”

“Woooooaaah!”

Thunderous applause rose from the heart.

After roughly an hour and a half of announcements—

I said goodbye to the passengers and stepped out of the cab.

“Thank you so much for today.”

“Not at all. Thanks to you, we had fun.”

I bowed to the engineer and stepped out.

Buzz buzz.

Bustle bustle.

“.......”

Ri Hyuk once said when a subway’s full it holds at least two thousand people.

Those two thousand poured out into the station, turning it into a chaos of bodies.

“Wooooaaaaah—!”

For a moment I froze, dazed.

This wasn’t what I had in mind.

I’d pictured a modest “Have a great day!” and about an hour and a half of announcements, then farewell.

It was a blessing we’d chosen off-peak hours just in case it drew crowds.

“It’s Wooju! Wooju!”

“Waaaaah!”

“Kim Deokchun! Kim Deokchun!”

I bowed to the clapping, cheering citizens and took a loudhailer from Minsu.

— Thank you for enjoying my announcements today. Did you have fun?

“Yeeees—!”

— I’m so relieved.

I grinned toward the cameras filming nearby and said:

— When does our “Metro” drop?

“August 25...!”

— Pyeongchang?

“Eighteen twenty-nine!”

— Two thousand eighteen?

“February ninth~!”

As an Olympic ambassador, I even got them to recall the opening ceremony date.

I greeted the citizens and, surrounded by managers, moved out quickly.

Maybe because we had begged and begged about safety, people followed guidance better than I expected. I was so grateful.

If we nailed the broadcast and ended with an accident, the arrows of blame would have—

“Ugh.”

“Hm?”

“It’s nothing, Minki hyung.”

“Great work, Wooju.”

I high-fived Minki hyung and smiled.

Then we continued the rest of the schedule.

We met with Seoul Metro for commemorative photos, held a short press huddle with waiting reporters—

Then, via video call, I met the ducklings who had scattered to each region.

“It’s a success...!”

— Success!

— Hyung, articles are exploding right now! So glad we did this Metro promo?

— There’s a flood about us on portals and SNS.

Because travel times differed, the announcement windows were slightly staggered.

From the article links and comments the ducklings dropped in our group chat, it looked like we’d nailed the goal of focusing attention on “METRO.”

“Ducklings. Now it’s your turn to push.”

— We’ll work hard.

— I prepped a bunch of lines for today. I even have the daily weather forecast.

— I’m cute just standing here.

I wanted to say “reassuring,” but nothing about them looked reassuring.

Still, they’d do fine.

“Who’s up after me... ah, Ri Hyuk.”

— Yeah, Ri Hyuk is next.

So that’s why he wasn’t on camera.

Oh, it’s Ri Hyuk... We were all smiles—then our faces clouded over in an instant.

“Ri Hyuk...?”

— Ri Hyuk?

— It’s Ri Hyuk?

— Oh dear.

A solo live hosted by Seo Rihyuk, icon of grievance and grumpiness. It hadn’t worried me when we planned it, but now... I was uneasy.

“...He speaks well too.”

— Right. He’ll do fine!

“.......”

— ......

With the younger ones, I hurried to check Ri Hyuk’s live—broadcast from Daejeon Metropolitan Rapid Transit.

Daejeon.

Passengers on a Line 1 train lit up with delight.

[Hello. I’m Seo Rihyuk, and I’ll be doing today’s subway announcements.]

A gentle, caring voice.

At first they thought it couldn’t be him for that reason—but it really was Seo Rihyuk.

As the maknae always insisted, personality and voice are inversely proportional—he was the main vocal with NewBlack’s most elegant, refined voice.

Like listening to a classical station.

As Ri Hyuk delighted Daejeon’s ears with that kind voice—

Just like his eldest hyung, he checked the comments and tried interacting.

[Hm? User ‘RiHyukIsMoreHandsomeThanSunWooju’ is asking for a fun story. User ‘RiHyukGreaterThanSpaceship’ wants to hear some science talk, in the city of science, in Ri Hyuk’s beautiful voice....]

Citizens, having figured out which usernames got picked, began changing their handles.

[Hmmm... something interesting....]

Even his thoughtful hums sounded sweet.

Smiling, they leaned in.

[I think I’ve always really liked subways. What kind of power moves these trains so they can carry so many people? And how do they run so fast?]

A bright, sparkling voice as if to say, “Isn’t that fascinating?”

People listened.

[The train you’re on has close to a thousand passengers right now and runs at a top speed of 80 km/h. Isn’t it mysterious? That the train you’re standing on is blasting out massive kinetic energy...?]

“.......”

“.......”

At the next station, people began getting off.