In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

When the NewBulbaek show on KG Home Shopping ended, the aftermath of NewBulbaek reached even those who were busy or not very interested in TV.

“Huh?”

A little past rush hour, people leaving work late blinked their eyes. They’d lazily pressed “shuffle play” on the music app, but something on the real-time charts seemed off.

“I’ve heard this somewhere.”

A soothing voice sang of winter. Lyrics reflected on someone who’d lived only in summer experiencing winter. On the subway, tunnel lights flashed outside the window; on the bus, city nightscapes and chatting, laughing crowds passed by in time with the ride. For those who felt cast out from the world’s joys, stranded on a lonely island, the song was a comfort.

At the end of this winter

Remember that spring is waiting

Bodies grew drowsy in the warm voice, drifting toward sleep, or they straightened their posture and exhaled deeply.

“Whose song is this?”

The voice, the style—it felt familiar. A quick tap on the phone brought up the title:

[NewBlack – Intro : Nineteen]

The album art, a painterly mix of blue and white suited for winter, bore a familiar name.

“Huh?”

It was NewBlack? Realization struck that the warm voice belonged to Ri Hyuk, and people were astonished.

“Ri Hyuk can sing so warmly...?”

And did NewBlack even have an album like this? Checking the album info showed it was from “Hibernation,” released earlier this year.

“Oh! So it’s a song from the Hibernation album.”

It included “Winter ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Trip,” a duet “Companion” with veteran singer Baek Sanggyo, and NewBlack’s Christmas carol. Unlike the unfamiliar Intro, there were many songs they knew. Discovering a hidden favorite gave them a good feeling.

“Was this on a variety show?”

Just as they wondered if it had trended somewhere, another song played.

“Hmm...?”

This time it was NewBlack’s voice: a clear, bold vocal with a hint of traditional Korean music, a delight to the ears. Another familiar track.

[NewBlack – Flower Play]

Album info revealed it was on “Falling Flower,” one of the top hits of early 2016 alongside A-Teen’s “Attention” and Serenity’s “REALITY.” They were pleased to find another great song—but something was odd.

Those who tapped “view details” on the real-time chart blinked.

“...What is this?”

Beneath the darkened top spots by NewBlack’s new album came NewBlack, NewBlack, NewBlack... their name repeating. Masquerade—wasn’t that an old song by NewBlack?

“...”

Whatever it was, NewBlack had clearly done something again. The drowsiness vanished and people instinctively opened YouTube.

Sure enough, a popular video appeared:

[NewBlack – THE Bulbaek Show]

Without a special thumbnail, the clip auto-played silently—it looked like a home shopping scene. The demon-lord-like grandmother caricature appeared, NewBlack burst onto the screen with “ddun ttan ttang ttang,” unfurled a scroll reading “Buy Bulbaek hohoho,” and...

“What is this?”

Watching in silence, viewers noticed the channel name: KG Home Shopping. A quick web search confirmed NewBlack had sold NewBulbaek on home shopping today—and it was a huge hit. Internet communities buzzed with NewBulbaek talk.

Seeing is believing. Curious, people clicked the hour-long KG Home Shopping video one by one.

And then:

“Huh?”

Startled, they realized they were standing in their entryway, earbuds in, phone in hand. The video was paused, their lips curling in a grin.

“When did I watch all of that?”

They’d hesitated at the thought of an hour-long clip, but now realized they’d already watched it from start to finish. Their gaze moved to the top comments:

“Suphlette introduces the songs: 02:17 Flower Play, 04:19 Masquerade, 07:11 ...[more]”

“Official NewBlack banger party”

“Lol the BGM is so good... Internet kept saying it was NewBlack’s songs and I was surprised”

“Today’s performances were great, but those old NewBlack tracks as BGM were amazing too!”

“Was this a secret idol-making broadcast under the guise of a bulbaek show?”

“An idol doing a bulbaek show the day after a comeback showcase?!”

“How did such great songs not blow up since 2014?”

┕“They blew up back then!”

┕“I was the clueless one...”

Agreeing with the praise, people timidly hit “like” on the comments. Thus even those who’d never heard of NewBulbaek’s story learned about it, and online chatter about NewBulbaek swirled:

“Anyone who didn’t buy NewBulbaek?”

“That’s me...”

“ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“Add one more to my count”

“Just eating one bowl of bulbaek is this hard, wow”

“Cheer up... it’s not that special lol I ate it at Hellpyung rest stop and it’s just a week-long craving”

“Is it really that good?”

“One bite spreads sweet aroma, charcoal flavor rises strongly, sesame oil scent melds, mouth waters”

“I reported it, damn”

“Why?”

As tearful “I failed to buy” stories surfaced in various forums, idol communities buzzed too:

“Anyone here who didn’t get NewBulbaek?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“That’s me...”

“But my mom got it!!!!!!”

“Yaaayyyyyyyy”

“Students be attentive”

“Don’t you sense the vibe?”

“ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why are you so excited, cute”

“My mom succeeded too lol KG Home Shopping veterans are amazing”

“Kyuhokie, sell the container by itself”

“I’ll scour the apartment recycling bin every day—someone must toss one”

“ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Look at their determination”

“No... teacher, the container is too beautifulㅠㅠㅠ”

“But I really want to eat itㅠㅠㅠ”

“N-year veteran fan... finally felt the fear of muggles”

“I truly realized my ticketing skills and became humble”

Fans who failed to buy NewBulbaek held back tears. Yet, true to Korean spirit, they turned sorrow into humor with jokes about initial sales volumes for the rookie sensation:

“Oh, they say it’s coming out today?”

“Missed NewBulbaek again. Why didn’t I know...?”

“They sold out?”

Ordinary viewers learned late and lamented—but then good news arrived:

“- NewBulbaek, after convenience store lunchbox, frozen product coming soon”

Word spread that frozen NewBulbaek would hit supermarkets nationwide soon, warming people’s hearts.

“It’s going to be released.”

Determined not to miss the NewBulbaek lunchbox coming Thursday, they vowed to succeed. Only those who missed the container looked slightly downcast—but not too sad.

“Chart smash...!”

Muggles drove NewBlack’s past songs up and down the real-time chart with streaming efforts. Having watched the rest of the full album tracks thanks to the bulbaek show, fans were happy. And whoever at KG Home Shopping was responsible, they also posted fancams:

“- [Fancam] 161018 THE Bulbaek Show 4K Wooju – ‘It’s OK’”

Fancams for each song let fans savor their favorites like a music show. The comment sections, filled once again with Koreans, were heartwarming—and overseas fans also chimed in:

┕ “Because they’re NewBlack”

┕ “Ah, got it.”

Fans chuckled at the confusion. Meanwhile, late-night fans still online received another startling update.

That night’s home shopping broadcast ended joyfully.

“Oh my! Great job, everyone! Haha!”

“I didn’t expect it to sell this well... and the call volume! This reaction is out of this world!”

They were sent off by the home shopping director all the way to the parking lot. The previous highest home shopping rating was around two percent, but judging by order volume and texts, today felt at least four times that. KG Home Shopping staff cheered that they’d made history. The home shopping side was pleased with record sales and buzz, and NewBlack had successfully promoted their full album—win-win.

“Anything else to sell? We’ll sell it all for you.”

“We’re okay, thank you.”

Passionate eyes offered further sales opportunities for NewBlack—“even if you want to sell shoe polish, just let us know.” Mrs. Kim Deoksun also seemed highly satisfied. She’d called to praise the broadcast, and her messenger profile now showed her in sunglasses, holding a cat with swagger. As a spy movie once said, manners make the person—and money is indeed mighty.

“A well-raised grandson makes his grandmother dance. How’s that?”

“Please don’t make weird proverbs.”

When Ri Hyuk teased her, Junhyun, ready to applaud the proverb, slapped the air as if swatting a mosquito.

“Why~?”

the youngest said, stretching lazily.

“I liked it, hyung Wooju’s proverb.”

“See, Ri Hyuk?”

“It felt like it’s at my level, so I loved it. I felt kinship. Ha-hat, they say the eldest and the youngest connect well.”

Ri Hyuk averted his eyes then chuckled. No matter what they heard now, it felt wonderful. Sleeping soundly after yesterday’s home shopping and waking to happy news was delightful.

“- NewBlack ‘Empire’ hits 10 million views in six hours... fastest ever”

“- ‘Empire’... shortest K-pop record, 10M views in 30 hours”

“- NewBlack’s ‘Falling Flower’ and now ‘Empire’ hit 10M fastest”

By Tuesday midnight, “Empire,” released Monday at 6 p.m., had surpassed ten million views. Waking up, they found an avalanche of messages from older brother Seokhwan, managers, and friends.

“This is amazing...”

“Wasn’t ‘Falling Flower’ at 10M after a music show?”

“I think so?”

Looking it up, last time it took about 65 hours—three days—but this time it was half that.

“More Soufflé fans must have joined.”

“Or maybe phony fans swarmed in.”

“Could be.”

Perhaps due to NewBlack TV’s uniqueness, many factors influenced views. Whether truly more genuine fans or just more viewers, they weren’t sure—but it was good. Very good.

“I’m relieved,” Biju said, breathing easier.

“It’s better than last time.”

“Right. That’s the real relief.”

They weren’t cheering just for numbers or records but for the album’s success. Reaction was even stronger than before. Locking eyes with his brothers, Ri Hyuk smiled.

“We made it again...”

“It seems so.”

They survived again. They hadn’t fallen. In a world where stopping means sinking, they climbed higher—and that was what mattered. Only then did they pause checking the charts and smile peacefully, dispelling fears of the next album’s pressure.

After a moment, Ri Hyuk asked with a smile,

“Shall we head to work? We should finish Empire’s final rehearsals.”

“We’ll get ready.”

Empire’s music show promotions awaited them.

Thursday morning. Arriving at K-Net’s building entrance early, camera shutters flashed.

“Hello~!”

They waved or bowed as they passed the cameras.

“Fighting!” voices cheered, and they returned the gesture, smiling. They’d soon be crying “Faiiighting...” with bloodshot eyes, but for now:

“Feels great~!”

“Yeah, feels good! Haha!”

Heading to a music show after a long time was exhilarating. They’d only appear on the three major networks this run, making music show stages precious.

“HBS dropped us.”

“Again?”

“They kept demanding stuff.”

Perhaps owing to PBS’s Mr. Producer special and TBC’s Jusehan “Let’s Do Business” success, HBS, a rival broadcaster, offered music show slots if they’d appear on variety shows—but they declined. Thus their first week’s music shows were K-Net, PBS, and TBC.

Junhyun said,

“It feels different even though we were here Monday.”

“Right, must be because it’s a music show.”

Walking through K-Net’s lobby, the smell of roasting coffee and sweet cake from the cafe teased their noses. “I’ll get chocolate cake and iced chocolate later.” “What’s for lunch?” “What about dinner, guys?”

“We’ll think seriously about that.”

Minki hyung chuckled, “You talk about dinner at 8 a.m.?”

“We have to discuss these things from morning to get excited, hyung.”

They arrived at the waiting room—the same one from Falling Flower. A white A4 with [NewBlack] marked the most spacious waiting room. They tasted success once more.

With early recording times, staff bustled; they pinned on name tags for rehearsal.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

“Thank you!”

Time flew. They finished the dry rehearsal with barely any wait and smoothly completed the pre-recording.

“Soufflé fans!”

“Waaaaaah!”

“We’re back~”

Even for a few lines, fans cheered loud. Amid the roaring support, Empire’s camera rehearsal was flawless.

“....”

Backstage they gathered, eyes focused on the rehearsal footage. Being comeback week, stakes were high—they had one extra stage besides the intro. Junhyun pointed.

“Ri Hyuk, that in-ear might fall out. Better put it in your pocket.”

“Oh, you’re right.”

Ri Hyuk moved his hand behind his waist to adjust the mic pack. While they reviewed choreography meticulously, managers relayed notes to stylists. After tweaking parts where costumes hindered movement, a staff member with a mic asked:

“Starting recording now... what’s with that sun-like light stick?”

A staff pointed to a glowing red light stick. Fans and staff reacted—NewBlack explained:

“It’s designed to glow that color when the battery is low.”

“Ri Hyuk hyung calls it the red giant... we call it the charcoal stick.”

Jiho’s charcoal stick remark made the staff giggle into the mic, pulling it back. Fans laughed along. In that atmosphere, the red giant became a black hole and the pre-recording began.

“Sun Wooju! Kim Biju! Kim Junhyun! Seo Ri Hyuk! Wang Jiho!”

“Aaahhhhh!”

As Empire’s intro played, unstoppable cheers made my lips twitch. The studio thundered with support. During the B-side stage, the camera closed in on me striking the ending pose, and the pre-recording ended.

“Thank you for coming so early! You must be busy...”

“I retired!”

A soufflé fan shouted in retirement joy, and we laughed. Waving to fans, we wrapped Empire’s pre-recording and headed back to the waiting room.

“Oh! Um...”

A K-Net music show writer waited at the door.

“Hello!”

“Oh, hi!”

“What should we do now?”

“Well, there’s a new segment we started this month. The PD wants to ask if NewBlack would film it too.”

“What is it?”

The writer said,

“It’s a relay dance.”

“A relay dance?”

What was that? Our eyes lit up at the thought of something fun.