"Mm?"

I woke from a dream because someone was screaming.

I was sure I’d heard someone going, “Kk—hrrgh!” and wailing from somewhere... maybe I imagined it.

"Ri Hyuk."

"Yeah?"

"Did you happen to spot a typo in a book or something?"

"No? Why?"

"It sounded like somebody was howling..."

Maybe it was just an echo from the dream?

Ri Hyuk looked at me tilting my head and clicked his tongue like I was hopeless. Then he held out wooden chopsticks.

"Quit saying weird stuff and eat. Lunch is here."

"Oh!"

I looked around. Everyone was hugging a lunch box and grinning.

I shook my head to wake up and took a lunch container from the box.

"Hyung, drink some warm water before you eat. You might get indigestion. We can’t have your stomach acting up again."

I smiled at Biju as he handed me a cup of hot water.

With the warmth of roasted barley tea sliding down my throat, I picked up the lunch that was still toasty on the bottom.

Stir-fried pork and ham over rice, rolled omelet, kimchi—everything looked tempting.

"Wow."

I turned to our road managers.

"Where’d you find Korean lunch boxes?"

"There’s a place called Calamba near Manila. They do Korean lunch deliveries."

I gave the managers a thumbs-up as they answered, pleased.

It made sense—because the place we were eating these lunch boxes was, of all places, the Philippines.

The last leg of our Southeast Asia tour: the Philippines and Malaysia concerts.

It might sound strange to have concerts slotted in right before a single drops, but the new song is a digital single, so it’s doable. It’s just one track, so there’s no separate offline showcase.

Which means we’ve got more breathing room than usual.

"Whoa, it tastes exactly like home. Close your eyes and it’s Korea."

While saying that, Jiho picked up a flyer.

"Oh?"

"What is it?"

"Hyung, did you see this? It says the most popular lunch box here is Newbulbaek. It even says ‘popular menu’ in English."

Manager Minsu swallowed and answered.

"Yes, I’ve heard Newbulbaek is the most popular. But I figured everyone would be sick of it..."

"Good call. Honestly, we’ve eaten Newbulbaek way too much."

I looked at the flyer the maknae held out and was about to dig back in when—

"Mm?"

Something felt off.

I looked again at the Newbulbaek lunch on the flyer, then glanced over at Seokhwan sitting far away.

"Is Newbulbaek being exported to the Philippines?"

"No."

"But it’s right here...?"

"Yep."

I wondered how this didn’t run into copyright or trademark issues, but I decided to let it go like usual.

Because it happens a lot.

In some countries, they even make billboards that look like us. There was even a place where the ad model dressed like Ri Hyuk to sell whitening cream.

From that angle, the Newbulbaek thing wasn’t all that surprising.

"NewBlack, a public good spreading across the globe."

"That’s us."

We kept eating, chuckling with the younger ones.

After a carefully prepared lunch that tasted exactly like the ones back home, it was rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal on loop.

Every venue’s stage is a different size, so we have to adjust our blocking, and we need to personally check audio gear and stage equipment for any safety issues.

We also go up through the seats to see how the stage looks from the audience.

"If we keep the current path in 'Masquerade,' Section B won’t see us at all. We should shift a little more left."

"Then won’t Section D lose us?"

"Hold on."

Working a remote, Junhyun sent five little RC cars—each with our faces on a tiny flag—rolling across the stage.

The local Filipino staff were wide-eyed, like they were watching some marvel.

"Hmm..."

"Mm..."

"Should we still go a bit more left?"

"Let’s try."

The cars slid left in a line.

Watching them creep until they were in our sightlines, I started calling out like a parking attendant, "More, more, more..."

"Whoa—whoa—whoa!"

The cars, which had been moving in a neat line, started tumbling off a cliff. Like a pack of rats led by the Pied Piper.

"..."

"..."

"...Maybe we call it ‘left, within reason’?"

"Y-yeah, let’s do that."

We kept trekking back and forth between sections, and sat down for a short break.

[bzzzz]

A MyTube notification popped up: a channel I subscribe to had just uploaded a music video.

1 p.m. Korea time.

Midnight on the U.S. East Coast.

TJ Entertainment’s big English-song project was going public.

"What is it, hyung?"

"They say Trickster’s song just dropped, so I’m gonna listen."

The yawning kids went, "Ah," and nodded.

"Trickster’s finally coming back, huh."

"I forgot because of Sun Wooju’s Rest Diary. Is the new song out right now? How is it? Good?"

"Play it already, hyung."

My ducklings paired off shoulder to shoulder and craned their necks toward my phone.

"One sec."

I tapped Trickster’s "Thunder" MV, just posted on the TJ Entertainment account, and focused.

An old man who looked like a butler strolled a mansion, thunder and rain lashing a window behind him.

[screeeak]

The door opened and he stepped into a ballroom-like hall, lit a lamp, and looked around.

Statues draped in white cloth.

After he checked them one by one and left the room, the cloths over the statues began to glide down in a soft flutter. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Over that elegant, classical MV backdrop, I heard the kids go ooooh.

"The colors are gorgeous."

"They shot this really well, didn’t they?"

I perked up my ears as I watched.

I’d heard that the Steve and Garrett duo we turned down had taken part in the composition. It didn’t feel like a fit for us then, so we passed—but Steve and Garrett are hitmakers in the U.S. market.

What could we learn from the K-pop they made?

My heart was already going thump-thump.

"Wow. Feels like they spent a ton."

Ri Hyuk said, "This might not be easy. That kind of spend means they’re confident in the song."

"Huh..."

It felt like TJ was chuckling, "Heh heh, you watching this, you Lemon squeezes?"

With that, the intro that leaned into Trickster’s ‘prankster’ concept wrapped up.

Their new song hit, flaunting that slick, teasing charm on stage.

And—

"Oh...!"

Trickster’s new song was really good.

The kind anyone could hear and go, "Oh, this song’s good."

As you listen, it does get a little fatiguing on the ears and a bit tiring, but if you ask, Is it well-made? I’d still answer yes.

The problem...

"Hyungs."

The maknae blinked.

"Isn’t this the exact song they played us?"

"It is."

It was the very track Steve and Garrett had played in that meeting.

"This," they’d said, "is our secret weapon."

"Waah. A-ma-zing."

"You can’t have it # Nоvеlight # even if you beg! It already has an owner! You want it, right? You really, really want it?"

"Wo-w."

...and we’d gone, "We’re not taking it!" to that exact song.

Junhyun smiled warmly.

"So that ‘already has an owner’ line was a bluff."

"They were pushing a track that hadn’t sold yet. Those guys."

"I thought it was weird too. Playing a piece you’re prepping for someone else to outside people? Odd..."

Watching Trickster belt the disco-meets-rock hook of "Thunder," I could just see Chairman Park Taejun in the back cackling.

Chairman.

Um...

I think you just got scammed...

"..."

"..."

When the song ended,

we quietly closed the MV and stared into the distance.

Why, though.

TJ had been all "Hmph! We’re dropping an English song! Hehehe!" and now I didn’t even find them annoying—I just felt... kind of sorry for them.

Trickster’s fandom, ROA, felt a strange mix of things.

"That old coot, drop dead... No, not literally."

"I won’t let that old coot off the hook..."

First came the anger at Chairman Park for suddenly pushing an English-song project.

He’d been on and off since the TNT disbandment, and now it was clear he’d gone senile enough to ruin the next boy group too.

"At this point he’s basically a spy planted by a rival company."

If Park Taejun ripped off his wig and went, "That’s right! I’m Park Gyuho of the same Park clan!" they’d almost buy it.

The most insane move among all of it was comparing them to NewBlack for clout.

"Are you trying to get someone killed? You lunatic old coot!"

Which fandom is the biggest in idol land right now?

The massive black-as-ink Souffle.

Watching the company roll out marketing that poked that bear on purpose, ROA’s guts burned to a crisp.

"If those guys even breathe, we get blown away."

Day after day ROA keened, "Stop... I’m gonna die..."

Thankfully, there was a sigh of relief.

For one, the NewBlack "METRO" promo had started and that behemoth fanbase’s attention was splitting.

And... the song was better than expected.

"Honestly? It’s good!"

It felt like a song a company might brag about.

A neatly balanced sound paired with the members’ light, pretty vocals—yeah, you could say it was well made.

Other idol fans were mostly agreeing.

— The song’s not bad??

— Could be a title track tier. They did a good job.

— Trickster’s songs are always good.

— Trickster’s new one is pretty nice.

— It’s good but feels too much like straight pop lol

...But it wasn’t the very best kind of reaction, either.

There wasn’t any "Looks mid to me tbh" level harshness, and there wasn’t the ultra-spicy, "Your faves’ song is trash!" kind of ‘praise’ either.

A lack of resistance isn’t a great omen.

Even NewBlack in the celestial tier gets every kind of take in the world whenever a new track drops—that’s this field.

"Still... they held their ground."

It was obvious the project had been cobbled together in a rush, so people expected a worse result; it turned out better than that.

ROA was treating the situation like a passing shower.

"At least the old man isn’t stubborn."

Once he fixates he charges ahead, but after he slams into a wall—thunk—he goes, "Maybe not..." and backs off. That’s TJ’s M.O.

If this had been an album, the damage would’ve been big; but a digital single can be chalked up as a quick activity.

ROA got busy: praising the members’ visuals and the new song in the MV, defending the MyTube comments, streaming hard.

"Looks like the domestic response will be tough."

With fan power alone they wedged it into the realtime chart, but... general listeners clicked "Oh? New release?" gave it a whirl, and bounced.

Probably because the track sits much closer to pop than K-pop. Koreans like Korean-style songs.

"Mmm..."

Since they aimed for the U.S., maybe that was the point.

Entertainment reporters watching this had a similar thought.

At Trickster’s showcase, reporters whispered:

"Did you hear the new track today? Trickster’s?"

"Better than I thought. I wondered why they blitzed press releases and went so hard on promo—makes sense now."

"A major is a major."

Most were positive.

But...

"It’s good, but I don’t find myself replaying it. Is it just me?"

"No, me too... It’s good, but a bit heavy?"

"When you watch with the MV it’s great, but it’s not a song I’d keep in a playlist on loop. Feels performance-specialized."

It was the same type of reaction that a certain composing monster from NewBlack had once predicted.

Like a whipped-cream cake.

The first couple bites are, "Oh wow, delicious!" but you don’t eat whipped-cream cake every day. If you ask, Is it good? Yes. But it’s not the kind of song you get hooked on and keep replaying.

"Well."

One reporter said:

"The U.S. might react differently, no? It’s a different market. It could hit the taste of U.S. K-pop fans."

"True."

"And as the K-pop pie grows, it’s not like only NewBlack can enter America."

And that was true.

Janet in Chicago was a K-pop fan.

Strictly speaking, a multi who fell into K-pop through NewBlack.

"Hooo..."

LB of Street Boys snapped his neck and strode in powerfully to rap on a year-end stage; Janet lifted a hand to her cheek.

"So good. So good...!"

And how is his name actually Tree.

On stage he’s a charisma bomb; off stage, a goof.

That was her type.

When the stage video ended, the algorithm served up Tree’s mukbang clip.

"Hehe. Donut. Hehe..."

On a travel reality show, a seagull swooped and snatched his donut—splash!—and he made the saddest face. Janet burst out laughing.

"As expected, a friend of NewBlack."

They say he’s tight with Ri Hyuk, and from the way he acts you can tell—he’s not just any friend of NewBlack.

"So cute."

Smiling, Janet hopped to Teen Spirit.

Lately Teen Spirit had been edging out of adolescence and trying on a more adult vibe on stage.

A bright, collegiate concept.

"K-pop is heaven."

Like a buffet stocked with every cuisine.

If you wanted fresh, boyish charm there was Teen Spirit; for strong, hard-hitting hip-hop there was Street Boys; for dazzling bling, the newly hot Wonder Child.

And reigning at the top: NewBlack, serving 31 flavors.

"As expected..."

A grin spread on Janet’s face as she watched NewBlack’s stage.

Since the Billboard Music Awards’ "Blue Moon" performance, the K-pop fandom in the U.S. had been multiplying fast.

Many became fans of the group called NewBlack; others, like her, expanded and fell for the genre itself.

"Mm?"

A new video popped up.

Trickster, one of the big boy groups, had uploaded a new MV.

"Hooo."

The thumbnail was right up her alley, and she clicked, heart fluttering.

She admired the MV’s intro—then the song started.

"Mm?"

She felt something off.

An English-lyric track.

It was nice how the words landed right in her ear, but it didn’t quite satisfy her.

"This isn’t K-pop."

Some old-Korean-official alter ego awakened in the heart of a thirty-something who’d lived in Chicago all her life.

She liked the members’ acting and dancing.

But the song was just...

A pop song.

From a fan who loves the ‘K’ in K-pop, it felt iffy.

Plenty of people must’ve felt the same, because posts started popping up on social media and K-pop communities.

[Do you think anything a Korean singer sings counts as K-pop?]

The all-time bait topic that splits overseas K-pop communities made its return.

If five Americans sing a K-pop song in Korean, is it K-pop?

If a Korean act sings in English, is it K-pop?

— The K stands for Korea, right? National origin matters.

— Language and format matter. If a Korean singer does an Arabic folk song, is that K-pop?

— K-pop is over; the era of J-pop begins.

— Please leave.

Americans cheerfully split into Noron and Soron schools of K-pop thought and debated: "Which sound is truly ours?"

After posting her two cents, Janet turned back to MyTube.

"No matter how I hear it, this isn’t K-pop."

It wasn’t the English lyrics; it lacked that distinctive K-pop feel.

A standard even fussier than a Korean listener’s.

Shaking her head, she went to find another video.

"I’ll just watch this again."

There was one K-pop track she was obsessed with lately.

On the commute in the car, while showering—she kept it on and hummed.

[Scarlet — Not Fine]

It was Scarlet’s final-round competition song.

Watching the girl group tear up the stage with powerful choreography, she felt a kind of soul.

"This is us, so take it or leave it~"

Humming along with the lyric and going, "Yeah," the K-pop fan smiled.

She wasn’t alone. Most U.S. K-pop fans who’d recently discovered Scarlet showed the same symptoms.

—I come back to this once a day

—Koreans are lucky. They can see this with their own eyes

—The most underrated Korean girl group

—Has anyone heard their other songs?? If they’d debuted later, we might be seeing them in America like NewBlack

—I don’t know who composed this, but it should play at the composer’s funeral it’s that killer

—Back again, this makes 123 times

A moombahton base, converted through that K-pop prism into pure addiction.

The members’ dazzling visuals.

Not girl crush but girl-planet-destroyer levels of impact.

The idol catching fresh attention among U.S. K-pop fans panting heh... was Scarlet.

Just like that reporter said—there’s no rule that only NewBlack will break America.

"Hoo."

"I like this. It says they’re NewBlack’s sister group."

The deep-sea scanners of big capital, hungry for the next catch, had locked onto the meat goddesses.

"Not Fine," born from a song camp hustling to craft a K-pop track that would land in the U.S.

As the vanguard, Scarlet’s song was spreading by word of mouth among U.S. fans and climbing.

Of course, that was happening in America.

The girl group that was basically throwing a daily meat feast with their prize money like a pack of mountain bandits had no idea yet.

"Meat! Meat!"

"Kyahaha!"

"Scarlet’s stomachs are world class...!"

"Eat up, all of you! You gotta eat well to shine like LED!"

And—

"Today as well, the High Priest of the Church of Wooju, I, Biju, will preside over the service. Please turn to MyTube page 3."

"We see it."

"What is there?"

"A comment that Spaceship is the best composer in the world."

"What must we do?"

"Press Like."

"Thus ends our regular service."

"That’s it? You’re really not gonna compliment me more?"

NewBlack, hosting a strange religious gathering over late-night snacks in a hotel room, were just as oblivious.

But either way...

"Meat! Meat! Meat!"

"Spaceship! Spaceship! Spaceship!"

"Hee-hee!"

On both sides, the kinds of sights that make you genuinely worry about entrusting the future of American children to them were unfolding just the same.