In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

“Because I was bored, I searched ‘Nine’ on MiTube in English.”

“And?”

“A bunch of these came up.”

We squinted at the smartphone Jiho held out. The thumbnails were all bizarre—photos of strangers with their mouths wide open, making “Tuhhaak!” faces. I tilted my head.

“Who are these people? Do you know them?”

“No. They’re people we’ve never seen.”

“What is this? It’s our song, but only people who don’t know us are here.”

While we pressed our faces together in thought, we spotted a common keyword on the list: “Reaction.”

“Oh. Reaction videos.”

One of the content types you often see on MiTube—foreigners filming themselves going “Wow! Whoa!” while watching certain videos. We’d seen reaction videos to our MV since the fireworks, so we knew about them. The problem was...

“Why are there so many?”

The number was no joke. It hadn’t been this many even when overseas fans reacted to “Masquerade.” Every scroll revealed more faces with their mouths agape.

“Let’s click one at random.”

We opened the reaction video with the highest views. We heard a click. Then Ri-hyeok shook his head.

“Why do you have to see it?”

“I’m curious.”

“What if there’s something bad? Our mental states are already glass thin...”

He blinked, then looked at us.

“Aren’t you the most fragile?”

“It’s almost film-prop level. Like sugar glass that shatters if you flick it.”

“Maybe one matchstick’s worth.”

Our joke brought back a shout of “I’m not glass!”

By then the Scarlet outdoor ad with “Kya-hat! Kya-hat!” skiing had ended and the video began. A group of foreigners sat on a sofa in a living room. Jiho squinted.

“Ah, it’s in English. No subtitles?”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Let’s ask for them later. Kor sub plz.”

We chuckled as the video’s conversation played. It seemed to be American college students from various countries. The man in the middle set up the camera and said,

“Today we’re going to watch more K-pop singer videos.”

His friends chimed in one by one.

“I remember that group called Teen Spirit we saw last time. They’re a K-pop group too, right?”

“They were super cute like baby angels!”

“Yeah. They really were as pretty as babies!”

We smiled warmly at the women hugging cushions and giggling.

“They won’t know these.”

“Maybe it’s better that way...”

“If they knew Jonna they wouldn’t react like this.”

As we whispered, one of them asked,

“So which singer are we watching today? Lucas?”

When the MiTuber said “NewBlack,” they blinked or tilted their heads.

“Who are they? Was there such a singer in K-pop?”

“The group name is The New Black? That’s unique.”

“They must be famous... if we saw their faces, wouldn’t we remember? What are they known for?”

Just then the MiTuber played the “Nine” MV. The subway scene began in the bottom-right mini window with NewBlack’s logo.

“The subway is crazy clean.”

They laughed at the New York student’s amazement mid-sip of coffee. Then they gasped,

“Wow...”

“Is that all CGI?”

“Cyberpunk. Looks like a scene from an SF movie.”

They stared, mouths agape, at the virtual city’s nightscape full of neon signs. Even we thought the CG was awesome, and they looked equally amazed.

As the song began, various reactions poured out.

“So there are five members.”

“They’re so pretty. I don’t usually like pretty men... who’s that redhead that just appeared?”

“Calm down... Ugh! I like him too!”

They gasped at Viju’s elegant walk as he turned in a zip-up hoodie. We giggled at Viju proudly saying “That’s me!”

Then, when the chorus choreography appeared, the lively chatter went silent.

“How can their feet move that fast?”

“This is insane. It’s the first time I’ve seen a K-pop MV so perfectly synchronized.”

“How much practice do you need to reach that level?”

“Exactly. Ugh... I don’t even want to imagine. Cheerleading in school was tough enough.”

We smiled, feeling proud that they recognized our hard work.

“It’s fulfilling. Even people on the other side of the planet think we look like we’re working hard.”

“They really notice it overseas.”

“Ri-hyeok. Did you hear that comment? They said you’re a great dancer...”

He froze mid-sentence, arms folded like a cat stalking a fly, absorbing every comment. He’d said he hated this but was more focused than anyone.

By then the MV had entered the highlight third ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) verse.

“Yes! Yes!”

“Right! This is it.”

“I have to add this to my playlist after.”

They reacted wildly as we stomped and jumped. We stopped the video around there.

“Why’d you turn it off? It’s not over yet...!”

“I thought we saw all the good parts. Was there more?”

“No. We were voting on our favorites...”

Someone clicked more thumbnails with regret. Indeed there were all kinds of reaction videos—some sipping wine alone then shouting “Wuaaang!” Others showing ordinary people with no K-pop interest reacting awkwardly. Of course, not all were positive; some had nasty comments and we shut those off immediately. The first video was among the most enthusiastic.

“It is fun though.”

“I lost track of time watching. It was so entertaining.”

“Foreigners sure are generous with praise. My mom never complimented me like that.”

We looked at each other, flushed. We’d checked reactions through charts, sales, and online comments—but seeing responses in such a novel way was refreshing and nice.

But one thing bothered me...

“Do people really watch this?”

“Right. We enjoyed it... but will others?”

We might find it fun, but would anyone else? I wouldn’t be curious about reaction videos for other groups’ MVs.

“There must be reasons MiTubers dive into this content.”

Ri-hyeok pointed at the screen.

“Look at the thumbnails. It used to be random people posting, but now it’s different.”

“Hmm... Oh? You’re right.”

This time it smelled professional. From eye-catching photos to bold titles, most uploaders were professional MiTubers posting K-pop reactions.

“They must have a decent audience.”

We concluded that where there’s demand there’s supply. In any case, it wasn’t bad. If watching these videos piqued curiosity about us, it was free promotion.

“Alright.” I clapped.

“Let’s stop here and go upstairs. Seok-hwan hyung said he wants to talk business.”

“Yes.”

The younger siblings stood as we left the practice room. Jiho, who’d been deep in thought, spoke up.

“But...”

“Hm?”

“Do you think now that people see those videos they’ll try watching ours?”

“Oh. You mean they’ll become our fans after watching?”

“It’s not impossible.”

Jiho grinned.

“They might see the MV or a reaction, think ‘Who’s that cute blond?’ and become my fan.”

“We envy your confidence, Jiho.”

“Guys, dream big.”

Jiho hugged us whispering “Dreams☆come true,” and I snorted.

“Yeah. I really hope so.”

Mexico City. A city at 2,200 meters above sea level with nine million people. In a house there, a teenage girl stared dazedly at her laptop screen.

“Waaa...”

A five-member boy group danced on the MiTube screen—NewBlack. She’d discovered them a few days ago via a subscribed reaction channel.

“Está padre...”

Under the K-Net logo on a music broadcast stage, the gray-haired member rapped. She didn’t understand Korean but it sounded good.

“How do five people all draw attention like this?”

She first saw them via reaction video days ago, then watched the neon alley MV on repeat. Soon she’d searched for the broadcast performance.

“One more then I’ll stop.”

But NewBlack’s content never ended. Every performance led to another, and when stages ended there was reality and Q&A on MiTube.

“Hmm.”

Mariella didn’t plan to watch but couldn’t help herself. They even supplied English subtitles. Before she knew it hours had passed.

She reached a conclusion.

“I have to share this.” 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

She wasn’t exactly a fan, but it felt too good to keep to herself. She thought of her sister Elena in the US.

“...She probably won’t care about stages.”

Her sister didn’t like K-pop so performances wouldn’t get a reaction. After pondering, she chose one video link and sent it via messenger.

[Video (▶) 16:46 PM]

[Check this out lol 16:47 PM]

The message went to a restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“Pfft!”

Elena Lopez choked on her shake, drawing puzzled looks.

“What’s up?”

“...Look at this.”

They burst out laughing at the clip: the gray-haired member riding a unicycle in a studio, then catching a flying piece of pickled radish with chopsticks.

“Pahaha!”

They replayed it laughing. After a while someone asked,

“Who are those people?”

“I’m not sure. My sister in Mexico sent it. One sec...”

Elena messaged her sister: who was it? The reply came instantly.

[It’s NewBlack! 18:02 PM]

About four thousand kilometers away her sister cheered.

“They say it’s NewBlack.”

“NewBlack?”

“Think there’s more like this? It’s so fun.”

NewBlack’s name was slowly spreading.

When we visited the management office, Seok-hwan hyung got straight to the point.

“We’re changing the overseas tour schedule a bit.”

“How?”

“We’re adding countries that weren’t on the original lineup.”

He spoke of the tour starting after Chuseok. We had Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and Australia scheduled.

“And Chile and Brazil...?”

“Also the US.”

Mostly Latin and North American countries. We tilted our heads; the manager explained,

“These are regions where the MV is hot. Especially Latin America.”

“Ah. So that’s why.”

“For promotion it might be good to go once.”

Seok-hwan hyung adjusted his glasses.

“They’ll be small venues—showcases—so don’t feel pressured. Just think of it as promotion like in Japan.”

“Yes, understood.”

We nodded. Then sat bright-eyed on the sofa. He smiled.

“Before I tell you about your first-week sales...”

He paused.

“You all know already, right?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, we know.”

It was obvious. But it still felt unreal.

“I still feel dizzy. My heart pounds every time I check online.”

“I honestly can’t believe it.”

“We kept saying ten-hundred-thousand for thirty minutes, sir.”

Even our mini 2nd album ‘Windflower’ sold 70,000 in its first week, ranking sixth this year. But this time...

“That’s right.”

Seok-hwan hyung officially confirmed.

“This third mini sold about 117,000 in its first week.”

“So it was real...”

“Congratulations.”

He laughed as if it were absurd.

“We’ll know total sales later, but you’ll be fifth among albums sold this year.”

“Wow...”

We exchanged dazed smiles.

“It was real.”

“I thought it was a hidden-camera prank.”

“Over 100,000...”

We still couldn’t believe it and just laughed. Tears welled in our eyes. We’d been too worried to relax, but now we felt at ease. A drop or two fell.

“......”

“......”

I lifted my head as a mist formed in my siblings’ eyes.

“Wait.”

He handed us tissues one by one. As we dabbed our eyes Junghyun sniffled. Jiho snuffled and laughed.

“It’s real. We really couldn’t believe it even after seeing it.”

“The album did that well.”

“Tonight I can sleep well.”

It was an unbelievable record. Only two groups exceeded 100,000 in the first week this year: TNT and Teen Spirit. Directly below them was our name. We were stunned.

“So... we...”

“Mini 2 and 3 will rank fifth and sixth this year.”

“......”

“If you count only singers we’re third.”

Right below the top four’s full and repackage albums by TNT and Teen Spirit.

“So...”

“Your group sold the third-most albums this year.”

Seok-hwan hyung looked equally bewildered.

“I’ve never seen this firsthand either. Really.”

He laughed.

“Hitting big in your second year is something only major-label singers like TNT or Sixty could do. This is...”

“We can’t believe it either.”

We fell silent. Such success in year two was astounding. We sat dazed as he discussed this week’s schedule, but his words slipped away like sand.

“......Sun Woo-ju. You listening?”

“I am. Eating.”

“You all seem out of it.”

Seeing Viju smile blankly, Seok-hwan hyung took drastic steps.

“Let’s take a break then talk later.”

“What? B... but...”

“Jiho’s nose is running. Wipe it. Use the company card to buy something from Wonseok to eat.”

With a wave as if telling us to rest, we awkwardly stood. He smiled,

“Don’t come back crying again.”

“I won’t.”

I shook my head.

“We don’t cry over this.”

At Lemon Ent., staff heading to the rooftop jumped at a ghastly sound.

“Uhhhhh...”

The stairwell echoed with sobs as if many ghosts were crying.

“Uhhh...”

Panicked staff glanced at each other when a strange sound mixed into the sobs.

“Sluuurp.”

A drinking noise. Then,

“Uhhhhh...”

The eerie duet of sobs and that strange sound. One brave staff lit their phone light toward the noise.

“Uhhhhh!”

“Uhhh!”

The faint light revealed five silhouettes and the staff blinked.

‘NewBlack...?’

‘What are they doing?’

‘What is this sound?’

They recognized the source when the silhouettes turned toward the light, tear-streaked like sticky rice cakes. Jiho, eyes puffy, held a bowl of tteokbokki and said,

“Ah, hi....”

“......”

“Our crying is not because we’re sad.”

The following excuse lacked any persuasion.

“It’s just too spicy... uhhhhh!”

“Uhhhh!”

Sobbing through a tteokbokki feast, NewBlack’s members left staff blinking.