LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 37
Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 37 [Who is ‘New Black’, the No.1 trending search term?]
[Entertainment IN = Reporter Oh Sohee]
New Black is attracting the attention of netizens by topping the real-time search term rankings.
This is the second time they have made their name on the search term list.
It has been only two months since their collaboration song Something with Jang Sowon was released in February and topped the music chart.
This is an unprecedented feat for a rookie group that has not yet officially debuted.
What is the reason behind their popularity?
The direct reason is their appearance on PBS’s ‘Ha Seungju’s Music Cafe’ that aired yesterday (10th).
In the broadcast, New Black showed various charms along with the stage of Something. In particular, member Woojoo’s piano performance and Between performance highlighted the appeal of all the members, and revealed their strong side as a talented boy group that had been hidden behind their visuals.
The stage, which received high praise from MC Ha Seungju, recorded a high number of views on the Music Cafe clip, ranking in the top 10 of the entire clip, and the song also briefly topped the music chart.
But the most talked-about thing in the broadcast was the personal story of the leader Woojoo.
The member, who showed his charm with his outstanding visuals and the story of composing with Jang Sowon, revealed that his father was Seon Myungjoo during the talk.
The audience in the episode all had expressions of speechlessness. It was a relatable reaction for anyone who remembered Seon Myungjoo, the legendary star of Korea in the 90s.
This story spread to various online communities and became a bigger issue.
Netizens reacted to this by saying things like ‘The one who sang Something was Seon Myungjoo’s son, wow, amazing’, ‘He must have inherited his talent from his dad since he composed too’, ‘He must be making a fortune from royalties. I’m jealous.’
The agency said, “We are cautious because there is a lot of interest in New Black and member Woojoo after the broadcast.” and added, “We will all work hard to live up to the interest shown by the public.”
Regarding their future activities, they said, “There is nothing decided yet, and except for some events, New Black is officially done with their activities.” and avoided direct comments.
New Black was aiming to debut in June this year, and the agency said, “The debut album will also include member Woojoo’s self-composed songs.” and expressed their gratitude for the support.
***
The excitement of Something’s ranking was short-lived.
As the rush hour ended, the music chart plummeted vertically.
From 1st to 9th, from 9th to 23rd.
But it still stayed in the upper ranks of the daily chart.
They were happy with this unexpected result.
They had already achieved a tremendous success with Something, and they appeared on Music Cafe as a way of wrapping up their activities.
None of them thought they would get anything more from there.
And they also achieved their original goal of ‘showing the public New Black’s skills’.
Before the Music Cafe started, the comments that were mixed with doubts like ‘Huh? New Black only has one main vocal singing? The rest of them just add harmonies. Aren’t they unprepared kids if you look closely?’ disappeared.
The comments on the articles showed that atmosphere.
For example, the comment on the Entertainment IN article ‘Who is ‘New Black’, the No.1 trending search term?’, which had the highest number of views, was like that.
-They were really good lol. They must have been so wronged all this time
-I was a bit annoyed by how they kept talking during the talk, but the stage was impressive. Woojoo, I think my eyes were drawn to him a lot.
-I was shocked when I watched the broadcast yesterday;; I didn’t know they were the ones who sang Something
-They seem to be the top level among the rookies these days
-Lemon really likes talented groups. Scarlet was like that too. They put a lot of effort into it.
Most of the comments praised New Black’s vocal skills.
Even if they sorted by recommendations, the majority of the atmosphere was favorable to them.
That alone was enough to satisfy Seon Woojoo, but there were also many comments that remembered his dad.
-Seon Myungjoo… He was the person I liked since elementary school… I don’t know about the young kids these days, but he was a great source of strength when it was hard during the IMF. His last memory was heartbreaking, but it’s nice to see his son grow up and appear on TV. I hope you show good things in the future ^^
-My mom was teary-eyed watching it yesterday.
-My father was amazed to see how much he resembled his facial features.
There were also many comments that warmed his heart just by looking at them.
Of course, not all comments were friendly.
If 30 out of 100 people liked it, about 70 were indifferent, and there were some cold reactions.
To be honest, they were close to hate comments.
They were disliked and disappeared on the portal articles, but Seon Woojoo saw a lot of them when he looked around various communities.
-Who the hell is Seon Myungjoo? Am I the only one who doesn’t know?;;
-Do rookies these days have to sell their parents to promote? I turned it off because it seemed like they were selling their emotions too much yesterday
-They haven’t even debuted yet and they’re doing media play
-Why do you keep saying they’re pitiful, they’re pitiful? What’s so pitiful? The most useless thing in the world is worrying about celebritiesㅋ He must have made billions from royalties. I don’t know what’s so pitiful about him. Our lives are the most pitiful.
But there were also people who defended them.
-There are people who don’t know who Seon Myungjoo is; it’s something you can find out with a little search. What’s the psychology of saying I don’t know, so listen and see? If you don’t know the US president, is he listen and see too?
-Honestly, his musical talent is definitely inherited from his dad, but isn’t it more ridiculous to hide it? If they wanted to do media play with that, they would have done it sooner. Something is already at the end.
-I didn’t care, but I think I should cheer for them after seeing the hate comments
-They’re venting their anger at the kid because their lives are not going well;;
The arguments went back and forth like this.
Seon Woojoo didn’t care much about the hate comments, but they were annoying to see, so he warned the kids whenever they looked at their smartphones.
It would be a loss if they got a crack in their mental state.
But from another perspective, this was a good sign.
When they went around the music shows with Jang Sowon, there was no one who hated them.
What would New Black say?
If Jang Sowon was the strawberry on top of the cake, they were like the whipped cream.
They were so invisible that most people didn’t even know they were the singers of Something until they appeared on Music Cafe.
But this opportunity seemed to have engraved their name in their minds.
Although the interest in them would fade away in an instant, as seen from the chart performance of Something, they would at least remember them later as ‘Oh, there were those guys called New Black.’
The scariest thing for a celebrity was indifference.
You had to be known to be hated. And right now, they had more people who liked them than hated them.
“Hyung!”
The youngest opened his eyes wide and pointed at his smartphone screen.
“What’s up?”
“Look at this. Our fan cafe membership has increased a lot! See? Until yesterday, it was less than 200. But now…”
“Eight hundred?”
The welcome board was filled with posts marked ‘new’.
The upgrade board was also glittering.
The fan cafe, which had been like a dying amusement park, was moving.
They looked at each other with wide-eyed faces and cheered.
Like a bunch of minions.
Director Jo was right.
It was the easiest for a singer to attract fans with the stage.
Just a week ago, he was wondering how to increase their fan base, thinking he had to go on some military variety show or something, but he didn’t expect things to work out like this.
The fan cafe membership gradually increased to about 1,200.
The influx stopped after that, but it was still a huge influx.
It was hard to believe, and that was why that day was like a festival.
Everyone they met at the company congratulated them, and their families were busy bragging to their surroundings.
Kim Junghyun’s father even sent a list of names of elders like ‘Yoon Gildo nim, Son Byeongok nim’ from the next village, saying he had to send them autographs.
Seon Woojoo had to sign with him too, because he insisted he needed Seon Myungjoo’s son’s autograph.
The situation where their popularity soared overnight.
But they didn’t get complacent or lazy.
They had experienced it once before, so they knew.
How quickly interest cooled down.
They knew that they had just taken one step, and how important the next step was, so they went back to square one.
To their debut album track, ‘Untitled’.
***
Seon Woojoo told Kim Junghyun the idea he had while watching Music Cafe.
A way to find out New Black’s musical color.
He agreed to his idea of comparing the music they each liked, and they stayed up for several nights to complete the plan.
All that was left was execution.
Finally, Monday.
It was easy to work since it was officially their day off.
Or rather, a day without a schedule?
As Something achieved a modest success, the company called them together and asked for their opinions.
How many schedules could they handle in a day?
How much rest did they need?
“Events are just a side thing. We’re trying to make hay while the sun shines, and we want to make you a lot of money by booking them. But if we prioritize, it’s the debut album. So we need to know how much you can handle so we can plan.”
Under the leadership of Director Yoon Seokhwan, the gave their opinions. And finally, the President approved.
A maximum of three schedules per day. Monday was a rest day.
Well, not really a rest. It was just that they didn’t schedule anything, so they had to practice hard.
So they did.
While the younger ones were at school, three men in sweat-soaked tracksuits sat down at a shabby restaurant.
“Ugh, tough.”
Kim Junghyun grabbed his chest and shook his T-shirt to cool off his sweat.
As they sat down, the owner lady came over with a bright smile, holding a water towel and a kettle.
“Oh, my, New Black is here.”
“Auntie. We’ll have the bulgogi set.”
“What about the kids?”
“They’ll be here soon. They’re coming from school.”
The lady, who always gave them generous side dishes and meals, walked briskly to the kitchen.
She glanced at Seon Woojoo as she did.
What should he say? She looked at him like a young head of the household.
It was a change that happened after the Music Cafe appearance, she looked at him like a poor orphan.
Seon Woojoo was going to say he was fine, but he didn’t.
The lady gave them generous side dishes and meals with a wistful look in her eyes.
“Hyung, look at this.”
“What is it?”
“Dad sent it.”
It was an MMS message from Kim Junghyun’s father.
In front of a banner that read ‘Congratulations! Kim Junghyun’s first broadcast after joining New Black!’, elders and men were cheering and shouting ‘fighting!’ in a photo.
Why did he feel like his empathy level was dropping?
But the person in question looked satisfied, smiling and stroking his chin.
“Hyung, I feel like that. Like I’m wearing a gold necklace and going into exile.”
“It’s a flower necklace and a homecoming, Junghyun. If Rihyuk heard you, he would have said something, man.”
Their rapper laughed peacefully.
Then he pointed at the restaurant door and said, “They say the tiger comes when you talk about it. The kids are here.”
The door opened with a clang.
It was as if Wang Jiho was saying ‘Wang Jiho is here!’ with his whole body.
The youngest, who was whining about something, and the main vocal, who was rubbing his ears and showing his displeasure, came in.
Seon Woojoo asked Seo Rihyuk, who sat down, “What’s wrong with him again?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. He just says he’s unhappy.”
“Woojoo Hyung, tell Rihyuk Hyung something. I’m telling him I had a hard time, but he doesn’t even pretend to listen.”
“I can’t hear you. I can’t hear you. You ordered bulgogi for me, right?”
But Seon Woojoo’s interest was elsewhere.
The word ‘hard time’ made the Hyungs’ faces grim in an instant.
What? Who messed with their kid?
When Seon Woojoo looked at him with that eye, the youngest said, “The kids…”
The kids?
“They keep teasing me about my runny nose!”
Oh, what?
As soon as he got to school, he was bombarded with all kinds of teasing he had been waiting for over the weekend.
The youngest, who was sociable, was friends with almost everyone in the school.
That meant there were hundreds of people who teased him.
What? It was nothing.
Seon Woojoo smiled it off and thanked the ahjumma for the hot bulgogi set and the generous side dishes.
…Something was weird?
Seon Woojoo felt a different sense of discomfort than usual.
A feeling of misalignment.
The puzzle pieces were all in place, but there was a sense of distortion somewhere.
Seon Woojoo didn’t need to worry about what it was.
There were five of them, but one audio was missing since earlier.
Kim Junghyun was talking, Seo Rihyuk was talking, Wang Jiho was talking, but one person was silent today.
What was wrong with Kim Bijoo?
He usually smiled and chimed in with the kids’ stories, or stroked Wang Jiho’s head.
He didn’t say anything.
He didn’t react even when the food came out.
His eyes were looking at the food, but they were out of focus. He seemed to be thinking about something else.
But where did he see that expression on his face?
Seon Woojoo imitated the expression that came to his mind on his refined face, and he remembered it right away.
…Oh!