In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

After the concert ended.

We arrived back at the dorm after sharing drinks and stories with our families, and made a video call with CEO Park Gyu-ho.

On the screen, CEO Park chuckled.

“I must have looked suspicious again, hah-hah! It took ages to clear up that misunderstanding. I still don’t know why they jumped to conclusions.”

“Well, yes,” we laughed.

“Maybe the security staff were just doing their jobs so diligently.”

“That’s right—they did exactly as they should.”

He later told us he praised the flustered security guards once the misunderstanding was cleared: even the company CEO must follow the rules without exception. Then he boasted that he’d treated everyone to meat, and we laughed and said how generous he was.

“Anyway. You all worked so hard these past three days doing the concert. The single drops tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, CEO.”

“Get some good rest. Enjoy that meat.”

“We’ll eat it gratefully!”

The CEO gave us a wistful smile of “Eat plenty and bring back lots of money,” waved, and the call ended.

“All right.”

I declared to my wide-eyed brothers, “The time has come, you rascals.”

“Meat! Meat!”

“Let’s throw a meat party!”

“Waaaah...”

Just as we were about to cheer, Biju pointed at his watch, worried about the handsome boys below getting a good night’s sleep.

Hearing it was almost midnight, we quietly applauded.

Jiho, staring at his phone, said, “Should we call them up and share a few pieces of meat? I think they said they’re hungry from preparing the comeback.”

“No—if we interfere with their diet while they’re working on the album, that’d be wrong.”

“Right, right.”

We giggled happily.

In the spacious duplex villa’s kitchen, we set up the tabletop grill, and Junghyun pulled premium, heavily marbled beef from the fridge.

“Waaaaaah!”

We flapped our hands in delight. The CEO had sourced this top-quality beef from a friend who runs a ranch.

Looking up at the chandelier, we praised him. “Thank you, CEO!”

“We’ll eat well and earn big money...!”

And so the meat party began.

Junghyun’s dazzling scissor skills cut perfect strips of meat that he devoured, trembling with joy. Yes—this was the taste we’d dreamed of. We wrapped each bite in leafy greens and fed one another in brotherly fashion.

“A bite for our cute maknae~”

“A bite for our respected hyung~”

“Ha-ha-ha-hat!”

Thanks to the sweet beef, the atmosphere turned warm and convivial. Maybe because it wasn’t zero-calorie cola this time, we got carried away by the festivity.

“You guys really worked hard on the concert and album.”

“Everyone did so well, truly.”

“This time felt like the hardest yet—preparing a concert and recording an album at the same time.”

We vowed firmly that next time we’d choose to do just one or the other.

Ri-hyuk grimaced and added, “And we mustn’t forget MiP—filming the variety show really drained our stamina.”

“Right, MiP too.”

“Hyungs! Since we’re on the topic, let’s watch MiP!”

But we didn’t need to hook up a tablet PC or move to the living room to watch Mister Producer: we had the perfect solution.

Jiho gave a sly grin and held up his phone. “I’ll summon it.”

Suddenly, something began glowing and shifting in the living room.

[Welcome, Master.]

[Please wait a moment.]

With a whirring sound, the kitchen rolled in a giant TV on wheels, and we all burst out laughing.

Monday afternoon.

Suple eagerly awaited the upcoming music video and single.

“Love you, NewBlack!!!”

“Just a few hours until release... but I’m not mentally ready.”

“My heart’s pounding 😭😭😭😭”

“Even though I know the song is great, I’m so nervous.”

“Can’t wait to see the MV 😭 I missed the concert and MiP, so the MV is all I have.”

“Is the MV director the same one as for Nine? The teaser’s visuals are gorgeous 😭😭😭😭”

“Director, let’s keep walking the NewBlack path.”

When we first heard we’d work again with the director who filmed Nine’s 100M-view MV, we worried.

“Will they capture the Korean-ness well...?”

Nine’s heavy cyberpunk and neon style was so different. But the moment we saw the teaser’s stunning cinematography, our doubts vanished. Now, we just wanted to watch the full MV.

Refreshing the MiTube page and typing “bijusi♡” in the community chat, suddenly:

“It’s up...!”

The MV appeared on the official NewBlackTV channel.

While streaming the album on music platforms, I took a deep breath and clicked play.

“Woaaaah...”

Under a navy sky, leaves glowed on tree branches. The leader’s hair fluttered as he gazed into the void.

Swoosh—

Petals scattered in the spring breeze. As they settled on shoulders and hair, a long, pale hand plucked one.

Smiling softly, he blew, and the petal drifted away.

The petal, having lost its luster as it fell, regained its brilliance and hovered in midair. Across it, shimmering characters appeared:

Nakhwa (落花)

With the brush-written title, five men lined up in striking formation. Against a traditional-style backdrop, their dazzling choreography mesmerized Suple, who watched entranced.

...My heart overflowed.

“Someone acknowledge how stunning our boys are!”

If beauty could save the world, NewBlack would be heroes of the alien invasion. Suple sighed deeply.

“Is this my spot to lie down?”

The rapper, sleeves loosened, perched on a tree branch under the moon. The main dancer, in a midnight garden, tilted an empty glass and let a tear drop fall into it. The main vocalist traced bare branches, coaxing flowers to bloom. The sub-vocalist, tears still glistening, wore jade earrings as he walked. Each shot was a fandom dream come true.

“Come back when flowers bloom

Come back when flowers bloom”

And the chorus, impossibly infectious, looped in our ears.

Suple moved to comment... and paused.

“Why are there so many foreigners...?”

During the hiatus, Korean comments had dominated. Now, it felt like an English wave would wash us away. The comment section brimmed with excited foreign languages:

“I don’t know much about Korean culture, but I’m sure I’ll learn from today”

“Dislike-ers, wanna come to my house? My double-barrel shotgun’s waiting to chat”

“This is insane”

“NBLK’s charm is so varied. Every new song I think, ‘How will they top this?’ And they do. I’m so into NewBlack.”

“Is NewBlack not famous in Korea? My new roommate’s Korean and was surprised I’m a fan.”

“02:47—remember that time? My heart stopped.”

Seeing foreigners rave in English about how awesome NewBlack is, Suple blinked. Surely, a Korean-flavored track would find fans everywhere. But more than that...

“Why are you all even more hyped?”

Watching foreign fans bouncing around, drunk on NewBlack energy, we laughed. Below, comments in Japanese, Thai, and unrecognizable scripts scrolled. MiTube, stunned by the skyrocketing views, paused the video to ask, “What is this?” Meanwhile, domestic streaming charts blazed: 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

【Realtime Charts】

Wherever you looked, Nakhwa was #1, and the B-sides lined up below. MiTube views and streaming numbers exploded so violently that Suple wondered, “Did our fandom grow this big?” And the domestic and international reactions were only the beginning.

“Oh? A NewBlack song came out?”

“I guess a NewBlack song dropped.”

“Was that the ghost song thing? Nakhwa?”

Thanks to Mister Producer’s 25% viewership, the general public took notice. “NewBlack” flickered on music apps and MiTube homepages, and fingers tapped rapidly.

“Oooh.”

First-time listeners of Nakhwa all said the same: “This song is really good.” Without hesitation, they tapped “heart” or added it to playlists. As the song made its legendary impact from the start, idol communities began posting the Nakhwa MV to their best boards:

[NewBlack – Nakhwa Official MV]

Each refresh brought dozens more posts.

“Hmm... cryptic.”

“I’m not sure I like it. It’s not at all what I expected.”

“NewBlackTV’s site is lagging rn lol.”

“Expected more from the teaser, kind of left me ‘huh?’.”

“Foreign fans seem to love this oriental vibe they can’t get enough of.”

Anti-fan comments grabbed the early floor, but:

“The MV’s shot so well.”

“Look at that sheen.”

“This is gonna be huge lol.”

“Critical moment; great song and MV.”

“Curious about the stage.”

“Baramkkot was so subtle; this one blasts you from the first note haha.”

“Views? It’s like they have five foreign members.”

Praise for the song and MV overwhelmed the comments. At the same time, Suple’s own hangouts filled with new faces:

“Hello... I’m new Suple.”

“Hi Suple >ㅇ<”

“Here’s a Gyuho gif to celebrate!”

“First post—can I ask some questions?”

Those finally succumbing to fandom after watching the MV joined Suple and introduced themselves. As NewBlack swelled to join the “Big Three” boy groups, the malicious fandoms of TeenSpirit and TNT—who’d scorned our fan parties—started lashing out:

“Nakhwa MV trend: MiP Southeast Asia fans flooding in.”

“Views and muggle picks, so what; album sales dead last among the Big Three.”

“Foreign fans who can’t even spend money, big deal.”

“Domestic hype is just MiP carry, this song wasn’t gonna blow up on its own.”

Jealousy at the record-breaking performance had exploded past the limit. As Suple fought back, a new announcement arrived—enough to silence all the bickering.

“First-day sales?”

Clicking [NewBlack Mini-4 EP First-Day Sales], everyone’s jaw dropped.

(A capture from an album-tracking site)

“140K on day one.”

“At this pace, we might break 300K first-week—wtf.”

Everyone rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

“....”

140,000 copies. First-week sales are measured over seven days, so this one-day figure ranked among the all-time highest. Idol fans felt stunned.

“...I didn’t know NewBlack had this many fans?”

When we announced a three-day concert at the Gymnastics Arena, they thought, “Nice offline pull.” But seeing 200,000-level sales—what TNT hit recently, and TeenSpirit had to be a legit big name—coming from NewBlack’s album was surreal.

“....”

Amid comments denying reality, some asked:

“So we should... celebrate? Is this real?”

“C-Congratulations... ah my hands are shaking.”

“Waaaah😭😭😭”

Even existing fans were in a daze: a legendary first-day sale, on top of a killer MV and streaming reaction—it felt like discovering an ancestral tract and hitting an oil gusher.

“Wow...”

It was the most unforgettable day since I began fangirling.

Reactions to the album were off the charts.

“’Good’ doesn’t even cover it,” we mused—so positive that I didn’t know how to express it. Under a day in, the MV had already hit 5 million views.

“Whoa?!”

We were terrified. At this rate, we’d hit 10 million views in record time. Too much of a good thing feels scary—drink a ton of water and you drown, they say. Even for attention-seekers like us, this was overwhelming.

“What the... this is scary.”

“I suddenly feel afraid, hyungs.”

We shivered together until Seok-hwan-hyung turned and explained with a smile.

“Nine brought in tons of foreign fans, but MiP really drove Southeast Asian views this time.”

“Oh, so...”

“I’m no expert, but I heard from the Scarlet team leader that they watch MiTube obsessively over there.”

Fans poured in from Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and beyond: a testament to MiP’s massive influence in those regions.

Seok-hwan-hyung grinned, “We should be happy—we achieved what we aimed for.”

“True, though...”

Back from our Japan tour, we’d set our sights beyond China and Japan: to Southeast Asia, North America, Europe. We’d hit that goal, yes—but on a scale far beyond what we’d imagined.

“Heh... heheh...”

We laughed awkwardly, and Seok-hwan-hyung and the managers burst into laughter.

“Wow.”

The maknae pressed his hands to his cheeks and said, “Everything’s going spooky-good. Streaming charts stay #1.”

“I know, right.”

“Isn’t it all thanks to ghosts or something?”

We waved at the air with gratitude.

“Sorry, security uncle—we misunderstood you. You were a ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ good guy......”

“We hope you’re watching—our blowup was a hit!”

“I’m rational, so I don’t believe in ghosts, but if you exist, thank you.”

“Maybe it was that ‘aah—’ breath that made this happen...?”

At Biju’s suggestion, we nodded in agreement, then burst into giggles.

“Ha-ha-hat!”

Yes, it was scary, but good is good. We shook our shoulders in joy, as if we could tap-dance 24/7 without tiring.

And then...

“By the way, about advertising.”

Our TF team leader began.

“We’ve got nonstop inquiries from advertisers thanks to Mister Producer—about scheduling.”

“How did you handle them? Decline them?”

“Declined some, put some on hold.”

We nodded—we’d expected ad offers from MiP fame. That “Are you able to be SEXY?” meme was already used in ads—like “Can you do bill discount SEXY?” style. This morning, Jiho even showed me his phone:

[Are you able to be SEXY?]

It was a high-school webtoon, and a character was copying my expression. We’d become memes across countless fields—so ad deals were inevitable.

“Ten billion won...?”

The amount was more than we’d guessed.

“With about fifteen major companies, that totals at least 100 억.”

One hundred billion—how many meat feasts is that? We could franchise a barbecue chain with that. The thought of a “NewBlack Gogiggan” flashed in my mind, then vanished as I said, “Better to do just enough—if we overdo it...”

“Wouldn’t look good.”

“Right, I agree.”

Ri-hyuk and the others nodded—too many ads for quick money would hurt our image. Balance was key. From the start, our goal was to build a positive image through national variety shows.

Jiho said, “Right—you can get tired of anything. Even good meat every day—”

“True.”

“Yeah, true.”

At Junghyun and Jiho’s banter, we all laughed, and closed the discussion about the new album. We’d begun with record-breaking success, but the real promotion—music shows, radio, everything—started now. Nakhwa was great, but we also wanted to spotlight the B-sides. We had a parent-dedicated track we wanted to perform, too.

“Check the radio schedule later, okay?”

“Yep.”

“And...”

Seok-hwan-hyung glanced at the schedule.

“Are you set for the K-Pop concert in France next week?”

“Already wrapped prep.”

This referred to the early-June K-Pop concert in Paris, produced by K-net, where we and Street Boys were the main performers. Two of the most popular overseas groups headlining. After briefly discussing the Paris trip:

“All right, let’s rest a bit, then start light practice.”

“Yay!”

“The best part is you can still eat meat after rehearsal~”

“Woohoo~!”

We dove into stage practice. One of our top priorities was tomorrow’s broadcast recording.

PBS Broadcasting Center.

Tuesday—before the Music Café recording—MC Ha Seung-ju visited each waiting room.

“Hello. How’s your condition?”

“Great! Senpai!”

“I saw the rehearsal earlier—really...”

She was checking on performers and hyping them up. After touring the singers’ rooms, the MV PD told Ha Seung-ju, “Wow, this lineup is amazing. Ratings are going to skyrocket.”

“They have to,” she smiled. Among those already featured, the biggest draw was yet to come: NewBlack, now dubbed the national idols—cheered by audiences above all others.

Ha Seung-ju laughed, “Right, time to greet our VIP guests.”

“Let’s go.”

She strode toward NewBlack’s waiting room—a first face-to-face since the concert. She wanted to congratulate us on our performance, but stopped at the sound of laughter drifting out:

– We’ll transform~ we’ll transform~

A playful parody of “It’s all because of you,” echoed boisterously.

– We’ll definitely transform~ definitely transform~!

– We’ll change our image~!

Ha Seung-ju, hand on the door handle, hesitated.

“...”

She exchanged glances with the PD, who was also hesitating.

“...Think the energy’s high enough already?”

“Let’s just pass by.”

“I know them—best not get involved at times like this. I’m tired.”

The trill of a danso flute and boisterous dancing burst through the door like a ritual chant. Staff laughter boomed like mischievous spirits calling, “Transform! Transform!” The two men shared warm smiles.

“Transform, indeed...”

“This is before recording—should we calm them down? They might riot the studio audience.”

And with that, the two men quickly backed away, while the echo of “Kya-ha-ha-hat!” from those charged up to blow the show wide open reverberated down the corridor.