In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

On the first day we arrived in Osaka, we warmed up and took care of our condition.

“Five hundred twenty-two... five hundred twenty-three....”

“Junhyun?”

“Five hundred... five hundred... oh... I forgot.”

Supporting himself on one hand while scratching the back of his head with the other, Junhyun started push-ups again.

“One, two....”

I blinked and said to the other members, “Junhyun really has a strange way of warming up.”

“...I don’t think that’s something you can say.”

Ri Hyuk blinked and pointed at me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s yoga. The scorpion pose.”

I mimicked a scorpion’s tail with my leg, and Ri Hyuk, looking intrigued, took a photo.

“But why are you taking a picture?”

“To remember your final form.”

“....”

“Because if you keep that up, you’ll become the scorpion in the night sky.”

He immediately dropped the pose and switched to a normal stretch alongside Bijoo.

Bijoo laughed and said, “Ri Hyuk is right, hyung. If you get hurt doing something dangerous...”

Touched by her concern, I felt a lump in my throat—until she gave me a sad smile.

“Then we’d have to change the choreography.”

“Aah...”

The others swallowed hard.

“Wow, that was really scary. With the concert right around the corner....”

“Stop doing dangerous stuff.”

I protested that we’d set up all the safety measures, but the members scolded me for risking injury.

Jiho, who had been doing a full 180-degree leg split, groaned, “Ugh... I’m going to die.”

“Tired?” I asked.

“Yes. I think the fatigue’s been building since the U.S. It feels like my phone battery’s at thirteen percent.”

“Just hang in there a little longer.”

Only three more weeks of hardship, and then we’d have some breathing room—Japan tour, year-end stages, then New Year’s holiday. We just had to make it.

Junhyun, doing push-ups, gave a warm smile. “I guess it’s because we keep moving around.”

“Exactly.”

LA to New York to Korea to Hong Kong and now Japan—overseas activities always double the energy drain, what with different languages and environments. We tried to speak Japanese too, so we paid close attention to our lines.

“I picked up English fast, but why is Japanese still so hard?”

“Well, you’d already learned English.”

“That’s true. I went to English kindergarten and all that when I was little. Even if I don’t look it, I’ve learned a lot.”

“How about root nine?”

“Ay! Don’t ask me something as tough as root!”

Ri Hyuk covered his face in shock as the maknae bent forward, eyed the Japanese phrasebook, and studied hard.

“Help me. The police are chasing me.”

Watching her pore over a book titled Learn Japanese Conversation Through Comics, I smiled.

“That was really a crafty locked-room murder trick. I, the great detective, almost fell for it!”

...Well, I’d just say I didn’t know if it came up later.

While NewBlack was preparing for the concert at Osaka Castle, the Souffles, always carrying “clues” in both hands and in their mouths, received fresh bait.

@Ohayo_morningQ

Korea’s super-popular idol NewBlack will appear on Ohayo Morning Q! First live broadcast on Japanese TV!

My heart won’t stop racing..!

#The_New_Black #Empire

The Souffles’ eyes went wide.

‘Morning Q?’

Anyone with fandom experience knew that program—one of the essential stops whenever a popular Korean idol appeared on Japanese TV. It was the same show Teen Spirit visited during their summer tour.

Though the show was known for accommodating its guests, the Souffles couldn’t help but be a little nervous.

‘If they ask about Uju’s dad, I won’t forgive them....’

Some of us had screenshotted past Japanese TV segments about NewBlack.

[This Uju’s father is the legendary Seon Myeong-ju! He was Hashimoto Kenji’s rival.]

[They were rivals of the century.]

[Wow... the sons are all pretty boys.]

They’d even compared Uju to some unknown young pianist, and it grated on me. I just wanted them to drop the subject.

Even so, the tone of Japanese coverage of NewBlack seemed to be shifting.

[Korea’s super-popular idol NewBlack has arrived in Osaka today!]

[An enormous crowd at the airport.]

[Following their success in the U.S., NewBlack challenges the Japanese market...]

While news shows with anti-Korea talk probably wouldn’t change, the entertainment news programs were clearly more cautious when covering NewBlack, aware of our large fandom. The Souffles took this as a positive.

‘Japanese reactions aren’t bad.’

If there was a downside...

‘Don’t you ever get tired?’

As soon as news of NewBlack’s Japan tour broke, the anti-fans rushed in.

[NewBlack Japan tour scale]

Osaka-jo Hall 2 days

Yoyogi Arena 2 days

Total roughly 60,000 seats

We laughed as we left rebuttal comments at the hordes of scoffers.

‘Since when were we a top artist....’

It felt absurd—people acting as if NewBlack had been at the top for a century. Teen Spirit, debuting in 2012, only did one Tokyo Dome show in their fifth year, let alone a dome tour.

‘...I wish all the domes would just disappear.’

Honestly, you’d expect surprise that we’ve sold out this much without any real Japanese activity. Even if we did Tokyo Dome, they’d still nitpick whether we sold out or not.

‘But I wish they’d ease up....’

Insults are one thing, but lately they’ve been fabricating rumors and spreading them. It might be time for some action. Then the fans got new news.

[Hello. This is Lemon Entertainment.]

The phrase “Hello...” from an agency greeting always makes every fandom panic. Hearts racing, the Souffles saw the agency’s announcement.

They were filing lawsuits against malicious commenters and inviting more reports.

‘Kyuho, let’s build our own building...!’

As negative comments began disappearing, Souffles quickly reported the rest.

The concert at Osaka-jo Hall ended successfully.

“Thank you so much—!”

“Kuaaaaa—!”

Seeing the Dalbongs filling every seat and waving in unison was truly a spectacle.

Osaka-jo Hall, located within the Osaka Castle grounds, was similar in scale to a gymnastics arena, but its steeply tiered seating made it look enormous.

“Hoo....”

“It still feels amazing....”

Even after the concert ended, we were still lost in its afterglow. We’d expended a lot of energy, but performing a proper concert after so long felt recharging.

After Osaka, we immediately moved on to Tokyo. We’d rest one day, then have an early schedule the next.

“So today is the morning show, a fan signing, and then the concert, right?”

“That’s right.”

I asked Hyung Seokhwan, who nodded.

“Last time we did a pop-up café. There’s none of that now?”

“There is. We’re running a special event café to commemorate your Japan tour.”

Seokhwan hyung smiled.

“But if we put you guys to work there, it’d be a disaster.”

“What are you talking about? We don’t get into trouble these days.”

“Exactly!”

Our manager chimed in.

“...Not that kind of trouble. I mean the kind caused by too many fans crowding in.”

“Sorry, I’m guilty.”

We all averted our eyes. We’d involuntarily thought he was talking about us, but true enough, our fans tended to create bigger scenes than we did.

“Let’s all do our best. We can’t lose.”

“That’s right~!”

“Kya ha ha ha!”

“Let’s blow up the network...!”

We shook our shoulders and danced, feeding off the excitement until Wonseok hyung burst out laughing at our puffed-up faces. We shook off our drowsiness with a little doom-chit-doom-chit body shake.

It was 7:00 a.m.

“We’ll be at NTN Tower soon.”

“Yes~!”

A massive skyscraper in central Tokyo loomed ahead: NTN Tower. It was even registered ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) as a tourist attraction for its various sights. Studio 3 on the third floor was our filming location for today.

As we took in the cityscape full of commuters, automatic doors opened and a roar erupted, boosting the temperature higher than the heaters.

“Waaaaaaa—!”

Countless Souffles waved placards. With flashes from local reporters around us, we moved swiftly with security’s help.

“...”

Hands reached out for us from every direction, and I swallowed unconsciously. Compared to our last visit, this crowd was at least five times larger—making boarding the bus quite a feat.

“Phew....”

Junhyun wiped sweat from his brow. “So many more people now.”

“There really are. It feels like three or four times more than last time.”

Ri Hyuk clicked his tongue in disbelief, and Jiho, smiling, untangled her scarf.

“But isn’t this great? It reminds me how hard we worked this past year.”

“Exactly.”

This was our return to Japan about a year after our first visit. That so many gathered in Osaka rather than Tokyo was encouraging. I waved and smiled at Wonseok hyung holding the NewBlack TV camera.

“Yes, NewBlack has arrived in Japan~!”

“Waaaaaa—!”

This Japan leg was a continuation of our world tour after Blooming. During our summer Asia tour, we couldn’t fit another Japan show so soon after the early-year concerts, so we pushed it to December.

“We’ll perform in Osaka for two days, then Tokyo for two days!”

“Waaaaaa—!”

After sharing our impressions, Seokhwan hyung gave a wry smile.

“You know your Japanese fans are ragging on us for not matching demand?”

“Why?” 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“They say you can’t meet the demand...”

“Hahaha!”

“How are we supposed to match that?”

Seokhwan hyung shook his head. Concert venues are booked months if not half a year in advance, and it seems fans grew more numerous than expected.

“Don’t be too sad, hyung. It’s a good problem to have.”

“Right. It’s a good thing.”

He soon laughed and shared our schedule.

“I was worried because promotion was so hard last time...”

“It was tough.”

I remembered spending an hour with Maeda sensei talking about hair loss and diet. Seokhwan hyung laughed and said,

“As I told you before, today you’ll appear on a terrestrial morning program.”

“A morning info show?”

“That’s right.”

He said it was Japan’s most popular morning information show. After the news slot, they air a comprehensive info program that’s quite a hit.

“Do a lot of people really watch it?”

“Why?”

“Well... I wondered if we’d gotten it wrong.”

I recalled a foreign actor who visited Korea and appeared on what he’d been told was a hit show, only to find it unfamiliar—since morning shows aren’t big here.

“Hollywood actors and pop stars all try to get on it in Japan. You can find clips on MyTube.”

It was true. I saw Hailey playing guitar primly, Logan Smith dancing doom-chit-doom-chit with backup dancers, and Nostalgia’s John Edwards pounding mochi with a hammer. Familiar faces like TNT and Teen Spirit appeared too.

“So it really is popular....”

“If Hailey sits demurely, it’s popular.”

In addition to that morning show, we’d lined up several interviews with Japanese media. I’d expected some reluctance, but they’d eagerly booked us.

“But...”

I asked, “I feel like we forgot something important.”

“Me too...”

“I feel like I left something behind...”

“Like that feeling when you leave home and go ‘Hmm’.”

We thought hard, then locked eyes.

We remembered Bijoo almost becoming a lost child in Japan last time, and images of her crying surfaced. We sprang up and spotted someone in the corner of the bus.

“...?”

Our main dancer was knitting and nibbling an apple. Our eyes met, and Bijoo cocked her head in confusion as the rest of us waited to see how I’d handle it.

“Bijoo!”

I raised my fist and shouted, “I love you!”

“Wow... me too, hyung!”

“Me too, I love you! Our NewBlack family!”

“Waaaaaa—!”

Seokhwan hyung covered his face to hold back laughter as we all smiled and nodded together.

‘Well done.’

‘That was natural.’

A crisis had come, but today too we navigated it safely.