In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

The NewBlack members, having walked right up to the camera, halted their steps.

“No fanlight like this has ever existed before.”

“Bong‐bong.”

“Pfft, hey, Kim Junghyun. You made me blank on that line.”

Viju laughed and jabbed him playfully. Soon all five were giggling.

“Turn the lights back on, hyung.”

As the conference room lights came up, the Soufflés regained their composure.

“Ah... finally, sob sob sob.”

“Guys, that lighting just now was really no joke.”

“Let’s erase that phantom from memory.”

“Whew...”

Relieved, the fans watched as the members’ fresh, radiant faces appeared again.

Leaning in close to read the chat comments, the members filled the screen with their delicate features.

After a moment of smiling and interacting with fans, Uju beamed.

“All right. Now we’re going to introduce the fanlight. How is everyone? Are you excited?”

“Yes!”

“No, not you guys—the fans...”

“Waaaaah!”

The members themselves got so pumped up, shouting “Yeah!” that the Soufflés laughed.

While the members gathered around the table with excited murmurs, the manager handed them the fanlight box.

“Okay, then—today’s product! Let’s get started.”

Uju, channeling a home‐shopping host vibe, held up the box.

“This is the official—”

“Fanlight!”

“Yes. Everyone, it’s a must‐have item for cheering on music shows or hyping up concerts, right?”

“Exactly. It’s the essential item when you root for your favorite artist.”

Viju and Uju were perfectly in sync. Like seasoned hosts, one would deliver a line, and the other would pick it up with flair.

The other members joined in the introduction, from the box itself to the actual fanlight. Listening along, you half‐expected yourself to pick up your phone and ask, “Are there any left to buy?”

“Thrilling lol”

“I tuned in to see their faces and now I’m totally hooked”

“This is so fun lol”

“If they went on home shopping, they’d sell out instantly”

“I’m here watching with my mom eating tangerines, and she wants one too lol”

“Feels exactly like home shopping;”

“So, where do I go to order????”

The Soufflés played along, asking, “What freebies do you get with purchase?”

“Freebies, you say?”

“Oh, freebies are so important. At the market, don’t they always throw in extras? Even a salad feels incomplete without dressing. So our Lemon Home Shopping has prepared—”

“Tada!”

The NewBlack members produced photo cards from their pockets. Each card featured a different pose holding the fanlight, igniting fierce desire in the comments.

“Gyuho’s got skills...”

“Gyuho‐jang sob sob I knew you’d deliver”

“The fanlight is so pretty... for real”

“Wow... that night‐sky design is insane sob”

“That designer must be classically trained sob”

“They really know idol fandom hearts”

“Is that person a Soufflé themself?”

Especially when Uju explained the June 19 debut‐night sky, the Soufflés responded with warm smiles. Everything was perfect. And it wasn’t over.

“Oh, there’s one more thing I haven’t mentioned. We’ve applied a system in this fanlight for the first time.”

Uju showed his phone screen: a sleek black app labeled Fireworks.

“With this app you can adjust brightness and color via Bluetooth—this IoT? Rihyeok, right? Yes. We’re the first to apply Internet of Things to a fanlight.”

“Here’s how you adjust it.”

Even the Soufflés paused comments to type “Waaah...” in awe. Some were already searching “Fireworks” in the app store.

“‘Fireworks’ in Korean means fireworks, and we suggested maybe naming our debut single after it.”

Suddenly questions poured in.

“What will the name be?”

“That hasn’t been decided yet. Even internally we haven’t settled on one.”

“I call it Dal‐bong!”

Viju grinned broadly.

“Soufflés are like the moon in the night sky, so we call it ‘Moon‐bong.’ Hyung said ‘Won‐bong,’ right?”

“Yep. Won‐bong.”

“I prefer ‘Soufflé‐bong,’ nice and clean.”

Opinions varied, but “Dal‐bong” won by a landslide—for its cuteness.

“Shall we go with Dal‐bong for now?”

Uju suggested an official vote to include fans who weren’t present, and everyone agreed. As Viju clasped his hands to his cheeks in delight, the maknae proposed,

“Since we’re at it, let’s add a surname—like a family name.”

Minutes later, under a brilliant collaboration between members and Soufflés, “Cheering Kim‐ssi 32nd Generation Kim Dal‐bong” was born. Collective peals of laughter rang out.

When someone asked, Uju blinked.

“Too bright, you think? Ah, others agree?”

Many commented that it was great but perhaps too bright. Yet the NewBlack members just laughed at the idea.

“Actually, this is turned way down. The original brightness was about twice this, and we really lowered it a lot.”

“They’re surprised this is the dimmed setting? Yes. It really is.”

“Ah! We need to show the King‐bong.”

King‐bong? Uju stood and disappeared off‐screen, then returned holding something.

“...?”

At that moment, all the Soufflés’ minds froze. He was carrying the one‐meter torch. Earlier, Uju had been cradling something, and now it made sense—it was that giant fanlight.

As he began explaining the backstory and everyone burst into laughter at the absurdity, Uju offered to demonstrate the original brightness.

“I’ll show you max setting. Please be careful if you’re sensitive.”

The leader gripped the fanlight with both hands, making a prayer-like expression.

“Lord, grant me the wisdom to be a righteous thief today.”

At that 1990s magical‐girl anime line, laughter erupted on and off camera. Then the light burst—

WHOOSH!

A ray strong enough to light up the world flooded the screen, turning it pure white.

“Eek!”

The manager’s trembling hand holding the camera shook violently.

“What is—;;”

“Is it really not painted white, is this for real?”

“Guys? You okay?”

“I can hear it but where’s my eyes blinded”

“lololol what is this lolol”

“lololol went insane I’m... spinning”

“Are you crazy lol”

“Luminous power is insane”

“What is this lolololol”

“Did it... destroy us?”

At last, click—the lights went out. In the dark, Uju peered forward and asked,

“Anyone still think this is too bright?”

Nobody answered.

[Idol who nailed the ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) beauty‐legend at today’s fanlight review .gif]

(A gif of Uju switching on the King‐bong, the screen instantly turning blinding white)

“My kid’s beauty is unreal”

“Because all I see is light”

“lololol this is fucking hilarious”

“lololol insane”

“What situation is that?? lolol no clue”

“lolol I’ve never laughed this hard recently”

“Need the original clip, Soufflé, drop the link”

“lolol the shake when it brightens is the killer point lol”

“The dialogue is funnier, must listen”

“lol the serious face in the gif with that line is golden”

NewBlack’s fanlight review exploded on idol‐fan forums. Praise flooded in for its look and functions.

“Wow... there’s an app???”

“Overseas fans change colors in the audience, can it do that?”

“No, just basic functions—they said the tech for that’s not there yet”

“Amazing, why is Lemon even working lol”

“Not ‘why are you like this,’ but ‘why are you working’ lol”

“My eyesight’s ruined lol”

“May the staff in charge of NewBlack get huge paychecks, please”

“The design is so pretty sob sob”

“That night‐sky design... heart shot”

But the biggest buzz was the legendary King‐bong.

“Like a manga, seriously lol”

“How is this real?”

“Looks photoshopped lol”

“In today’s live, they said they’ll bring it to every major event lol”

“Really curious to see it in person lol”

“But if they have that, the vibe would be on point”

“If you’re not a NewBlack fan you gotta see it from afar lol”

“Watch the self‐powering clip—my cure for Monday blues”

“But it’s non‐sale item; even if they sold it, people’d buy”

“Nope, the specs are so good production costs are crazy; no margin at any normal price”

As NewBlack’s fanlight gained traction in idol communities, the King‐bong meme and phantom entrance scene spread across forums, social media, and even mainstream “Today’s Laugh” pages. Even non‐K-pop fans recognized NewBlack and laughed “Black again” at the memes.

Meanwhile...

“Huh...?”

Some people furrowed their brows at the app store’s real‐time top charts, seeing “Fireworks” ranked high.

“A fanlight app...?”

An app related to a boy group was trending because Soufflés had pre‐downloaded it.

“How many fans do they have for a fanlight app to chart?”

With Soufflé 2 recruitment approaching, NewBlack’s fandom—previously hard to quantify—was finally revealing its scale.

“This is unexpected.”

“...Were we supposed to hold a concert as gymnastics?”

Lemon Entertainment’s publicity team stared at the raw data on their desks in bewilderment.

“And this is weird too.”

“What?”

“Foreign data. Demand for the fanlight overseas is this high? This.”

“It’s at least ten times our forecast.”

They’d expected some overseas response, but never this magnitude—not just from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, but all over.

“Should we issue a press release?”

“No. We’d just get flak for hyping a tiny overseas fanbase.”

“We need to re-verify these numbers. Investigate when and where the responses started.”

“Right.”

Sensing something unusual, the publicity staff sprang into action. Deputy Hong Seo-young tapped her pen on a sheet.

“Something’s happening.”

She recalled when they first planned NewBlack’s live broadcast and added foreign subtitles on MyTube—a similar chill had struck her then. Lost in thought, she paused mid-snack, looked at the treat from the members, and smiled.

“I’ll do my best.”

Domestic schedules remained hectic. We split our minutes between events and ad shoots.

Especially because so many ad requests had piled up, there was no shortage of work.

“NewBlack is insanely popular in advertising right now.”

Two TJ NewMedia staff who’d filmed the magic‐school CF with us last summer laughed. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“In six out of ten meetings with sponsors, someone mentions NewBlack. They’re the favorite among SNS-using audiences in their twenties and thirties. We got another inquiry call just yesterday.”

“Wow... what a transformation.”

In under a year, we’d gone from debating whether to do an electric blanket ad to becoming a hot blue chip.

Advertising agencies treated us like princes on set—fetching anything we needed before we asked.

Rihyeok whispered, “I’m glad we’re a group activity.”

“Why?”

“We can’t get idol egos that way.”

True wisdom. Though it was overwhelming, we resolved to stay happy working in this comfortable atmosphere.

Not every shoot was fun, though.

“Oh my, NewBlack, you all look radiant! Haha!”

A company manager ad‐contracting us complimented us, then slyly asked,

“How about drinks later... oh, some of you are minors. All hungry, I bet—dinner together? The director and our executive will join.”

“What should we do? Sorry, but our next schedule is right after.”

When we politely refused, he frowned.

“Such stiff rules. Tsk.”

Schikhwan turned politely to see him off.

“What’s the situation?”

“The exec he mentioned is the chairman’s granddaughter.”

“Oh...”

“Inviting us to dinner wouldn’t do us much good.”

“Good call to refuse.”

We heard that girl group Scarlet got requests like that far more often. It was a reminder that in this world, many “adults” behaved like children.

Stick with good people; steer clear of the rest. I recalled that vow as we carried on through schedules.

Among them was our first TV commercial shoot.

“Wow...!”

We even went to a real university campus for a lens ad airing on the three major networks.

“Oh my... so many people...”

“Feels like they won’t let us leave.”

Despite the midday heat making us sweat just standing still, students mobbed the shoot.

Hiding in shade with mini fans, they stared wide-eyed, phones raised.

As we wand ered the campus, the director approached with storyboards.

“The concept is what I told you—freshman life.”

“Yes!”

“Just enjoy campus life—above all, keep it relaxed! Because...”

“‘Comfortable to wear all day’ is our tagline.”

“Some friendly directors praised NewBlack, and now I see why.”

The director asked, “Ready? I heard none of you had group activity experience aside from military service.”

“We have military experience.”

“Really? You did?”

We nodded and smiled reassuringly, telling him we were well prepared—having watched countless movies, dramas, and American teen films to practice expressions and poses.

Our preparation paid off in the shoot.

“Okay! That’s it!”

In campus clothes, we walked with fresh expressions, and the director beamed.

A staff member joked that the footage looked like a “Best_of_first_love” montage, and laughter rippled through the set.

After the group shot came my solo ending shot—sitting on a bench with sunlight streaming through leaves, gazing at the sky with a smile. On the third take, I got the OK.

“Great work, everyone.”

“Thanks for your efforts!”

Having wrapped ahead of schedule, the staff were all smiles. After thanking everyone, we addressed the watching students.

“Hello, we’re NewBlack!”

“Are you enjoying History Expedition? Will there be season two?”

“Photo? May we take one with you?”

“Yes! What pose? V sign? Both hands? Ppoi!”

While older viewers loved our “Great_Song_Duets,” these students were fixated on History Expedition’s impact.

But the biggest recognition came from the drama.

“Officer Heo!”

“I’m a huge fan of that slip scene! True fan.”

“Season two talk—if they do it, will you have a role?”

It felt like the maknae’s personal fan‐meeting.

Surrounded by cheers of “Officer Heo! Officer Heo!” his grin stretched ear to ear.

The post‐credits cookie scene from episode ten was still a hot topic, with season two speculation everywhere—even though scheduling made that unlikely. Yet the producers’ gamble had paid off.

“...You really made it big.”

Manager Mingi, who’d rescued us from the crowd, wiped sweat and said.

“Hurry up and move—we have the next schedule.”

“Can’t we take our time, hyung?”

I begged to tour the campus more, but my brothers and managers tugged me toward the car.

“Neaaaah...”

“Don’t copy what I say.”

“Neaaaah...”

Pulled along by my brothers and managers into the vehicle, I felt a rain cloud hang over me—my solo schedule loomed.

Ping—

My phone buzzed with a new chat notification.

[User not registered as friend]

Do Jun-gi [Uju‐ssi]

Do Jun-gi [I’m waiting. Take your time ^^*]

Today’s schedule was a pre-meeting with the Men_on_the_Go production staff.

Do Jun-gi [Sent a gifticon]

Do Jun-gi [It’s hot—let’s have coffee with the members]

I thought, I can’t drink coffee—then:

Do Jun-gi [Uju‐ssi loves chocolate, right?]

Do Jun-gi [Here’s an iced chocolate gifticon h.h]

“...”

Well, I’d better graciously accept whatever’s offered.

“Manager Won-seok.”

“Yes?”

“Can I pick up some coffee on the way? I got a gifticon from the PD—I’ll treat the managers too.”

“Good idea.”

The manager driving smiled.

“If you all go in, people might swarm. I’ll get them.”

“I’ll place the order then.”

“Sir ‘Kim Deok-soon’s Man’ from Siren Order! Your drink is ready!”

“...”

“‘Kim Deok-soon’s Man’! Your drink is ready!”

“...”

As cafe patrons whispered, searching for “Kim Deok-soon’s Man,” Do Won-seok closed his eyes peacefully.