In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

When NewBlack was pouring all their attention into rehearsal ahead of their LA concert.

Saturday night.

[thump thump!]

“At last, our boys on a variety show after so long...!”

“Haak... I think my heart’s going to explode.”

Souffles sitting in front of the TV were staring at the HBS channel with excited faces.

The very variety show they had been waiting and waiting for.

Since HBS had been dropping teasers and still cuts from the start of the week, the hype was at max.

And it wasn’t just Souffles who were looking forward to this special.

“Oh my.”

Hearing the sound of someone sitting on the sofa, they looked over to see parents and siblings cozying up together.

“I heard those kids are on this today.”

“I don’t know what it is, but it looked super fun.”

“Miyeon. Turn the volume up.”

Souffles eagerly cranked the volume.

While other idol fans fought their parents over channel share, these fans could relax and line up family time with stan time.

“This ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) beautiful fandom we can share with muggles...!”

Souffles happily unlocked their phones.

Maybe thanks to the impact of the Billboard Awards, every online community had posts about NewBlack.

[NewBlack flooded with Vegas sightings (feat. casino)]

(NewBlack staring holes into the casino entrance)

Intently checking out the entrance in front of the casino

There’s a rumor they’re only looking from outside because of Ri Hyuk

-(A gif of Ri Hyuk happily peeling the label off a PET bottle just to sort recycling)

Adorable Vegas sightings, birthday ads for Biju that fans around the world bought across LA, and so on.

And hearing that the local response in the States was good made their shoulders shimmy for no reason.

People living in the U.S. said, “I heard people talking about NewBlack,” and passing along those tidbits put satisfied smiles on faces.

Then they looked at a fresh post.

[Reporter who asked NewBlack a rude question posts apology]

(A “4-pology” filled apology tweet from reporter Riena.twt)

She’s the reporter who tried to farm outrage by asking NewBlack a rude question on the Billboard Awards red carpet, and she posted an apology today

Basically “it absolutely wasn’t racism and if you were offended I apologize” vibes

It was more “fine, here’s your apology” than contrition, but hearing that an apology came from a toxic outlet like that at all made people go ohhh.

It meant the Souffles spread across the globe had serious firepower.

“We’re strong. We really are.”

Firepower that could make even shameless American media apologize.

Souffles positioned across every field of society worldwide, law included, wielded tremendous clout.

And this fandom with tremendous clout was now...

“Hee hee hee hee!”

...grinning as they waited for .

About thirty minutes still left before start.

Souffles made a suggestion to the family watching the show in the previous time slot.

“NewBlack uploaded something on MiTube today. Want to watch that first before the escape-room variety? They said they prepped an escape room with Lee Gyeonu.”

“Oh. They filmed that too?”

“Yeah, I’ll put it on.”

Fans pulled up MiTube on the TV and hit play on the newly uploaded content, .

“Bwahahahaha!”

It was a happy weekend of fandom with the whole family.

The boring ad block ended and finally began.

On the dark screen after the ads, the live comment window sped up.

After a notice telling anyone under 15 to backstep out quickly,

Subtitles in the font broadcasters use when they’re apologizing or being serious rolled by.

[This broadcast contains scenes that could startle the elderly or pregnant persons and may be somewhat harmful. Viewer discretion is advised.]

The sober-mode “We warned you... We warned you!” message ended, and then

[Props and story elements in this broadcast bear no relation to reality.]

...the magic line to dodge lawsuits rolled as well.

With the mood set, the main episode began without warning.

“Oh my, it’s on!”

“There it is.”

No one knew why Mom or Dad were clapping just because NewBlack appeared, but anyway that was the vibe.

“They’re filming more variety even after winning a Billboard Award. They work hard. Really.”

“They pre-shot that, Dad.”

“Really?”

“Variety shows usually film two or three weeks ahead. That one they filmed the week after the concert.”

“Concert?”

The parents’ faces turned ominous.

“That bald CEO is a bad man. Working the kids to death.”

“Tsk tsk tsk.”

Souffles swallowed their words.

“Our boys probably have more say than Gyuho does...”

They just smiled quietly and held back.

Meanwhile, with the caption [Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do], NewBlack shot the opening and started moving blindfolded.

Soon the filming location appeared: a theme park.

“Isn’t that opening next year or something?”

“My, they’ve built a lot.”

“They must’ve sponsored the location because NewBlack was filming variety.”

A perfectly accurate deduction.

A famous theme park that had lent space for a NewBlack special to break into the Korean market successfully.

Past a statue of a mouse couple waving, a massive castle loomed up ahead of the NewBlack members.

“Wow...”

The sheer scale made jaws drop both on and offline.

As an eerie BGM settled under shots of the members entering the castle, viewers gulped.

“That castle’s seriously creepy.”

What secret lies hidden here—captions with that nuance drew you right in.

[clank!]

From the jump, Wooju was in a cell, and viewers nodded.

“Gotta lock him up.”

“Don’t let Wooju out. If he’s there, those under— what are they. Those lackeys will band together~”

“Dad! Say henchmen. ‘Lackey’ has a weird ring.”

“Ah right. Henchmen.”

Online reactions were similar.

Then the other members started getting locked up one by one.

Ri Hyuk, assigned to the knights, got mistaken for Junhyun Kim and put through knight training; Junhyun showed up working at a laundromat—huge laughs.

And Lady Biju.

In a dress with a wistful expression, gazing out the window, he truly looked like a princess.

Among them, the maknae assigned as a page became a hot topic.

“Hy... hyungs!”

“Ugh!”

“What do I do. I can’t be without my hyungs... I can’t be alone.”

At first the maknae of NewBlack whined blindfolded.

Then, once he grasped the situation, he started showing the air of a first-class page.

“Um... this plate is shining! You! Did you work as a dish-washer before entering the castle?”

“No! Such strict observance of etiquette!”

“That kid... he’s no ordinary page!”

On TV he looked every inch an adult.

The “eeeing!” whiny kid he was around his hyungs vanished; Adult Jiho appeared, handling tasks perfectly.

“Looks like his head cleared once he was alone.”

“Jiho’s really grown.”

Even speaking fluent English.

It was the rediscovery of Prince Jiho.

Working capably with a taut face, then off in a corner letting out a “huuung...” sigh—the maknae of NewBlack.

An interview cut flowed over that image.

[Prince Jiho (20) / Generally on the timid side]

I mean, I’m an adult now too... but I’m really not used to being without my hyungs. I think I was way too scared.

(Scared?)

Yeah. I mean... you open your eyes and medieval Westerners are telling you to wash dishes—who wouldn’t be scared?

People smiled fondly at the maknae widening his eyes like “Writer, try being in my situation!”

Then they burst out laughing at the next shot of Wooju in the cell.

“Oh my. Sir, have a drink. If we clink this, we’re sworn brothers. Brother.”

“Haha! I’ve got a little brother in prison!”

Clinking porridge bowls with inmates.

“New inmate Sun Wooju! Sound off with a big greeting~! Hahaha!”

“Whoaaa!”

“The cell must feel stifling, right? I’ll dedicate a song for you all!”

Wooju launched into 90s classics like “I Want It That Way,” doing a self-initiated initiation with the senior inmates.

Winning hearts with song, Wooju shouted:

“Who am I!”

“That sun-like name! Sun!”

“That’s right. I’m Sun!”

The inmates roared.

It looked like they’d shoot Les Mis any second, the TV prison about to blow like the Bastille.

Maybe the staff panicked; a guard rushed in.

“From now on if any of you say a single word I will execute you on the spot! Shut up! Shut uuup!”

Inmates chanting “Sun!” with wild cheers, a guard waving a club to threaten them.

And Wooju’s response—

“Oh boy. I’m sleepy...”

He ignored it, leaned on the wall, and pretended to doze.

Viewers exploded with laughter.

Only the inmates who got riled up for nothing suffered, sobbing boo hoo as the scene rolled, and everyone marveled.

“Really... thank goodness he uses that talent for being an idol.”

“Grandma did a great thing. Raised him right, kept him on the straight path.”

“Without his henchmen he just makes other people his henchmen. The members better treat Wooju well... he replaces henchmen on the spot.”

“Looks like he’s the type who needs henchmen.”

With that face and those social skills, if he’d gone bad the country might be in chaos.

Not long after that scene, Wooju, warming himself on the toasty ondol, welcomed Ri Hyuk.

Ri Hyuk, locked up for impersonating Junhyun Kim.

“You’re here?”

Sun Wooju greeted his younger member with a smile like nothing had happened in the cell.

-(basically a face of nothing happened)

Wooju and Ri Hyuk got a mission from an old man nearby and started digging the ground with spoons.

Meanwhile Biju, Junhyun, and Jiho, who had finished dining with the Northern Grand Duke, also gathered.

As the independently moving members converged, the tension of the plot started to tighten.

And then—

“Huh?”

“Oh my...?”

“What’s with Ri Hyuk— is that a cat?”

Like a cat whose body slips through if the head fits, Ri Hyuk slipped his head between the bars... and slid right out.

[Paper Ri Hyuk used “Pass Through”! The effect was tremendous!]

While the panel on TV guffawed, online laughter flowed too.

Meanwhile on TV, Ri Hyuk was delighted, “I showed a different side!”

“Honestly, yeah.”

You could say NewBlack members were showing different facets.

It was fresh seeing them act unlike the personalities whose every move you could usually predict.

The maknae turning into a proper, composed adult.

Wooju, laughing lightly among inmates, instantly turning them into new henchmen.

Junhyun using his head desperately and Ri Hyuk using his body.

“That... body-using part feels not quite right, but anyway... it’s different.”

And—

What felt most different to viewers was Biju.

“Biju’s... not quite what I imagined.”

“Biju really is NewBlack.”

“They say the quiet ones who smile like that are the scariest.”

In a dress, fully immersed in being a lady, Biju strolled around going hohoho.

Maybe because of the pretty-boy looks and the wig, he really looked like a pink-haired princess.

So elegant and beautiful that parents in households with kids were already predicting, “They’re going to ask us to buy that dress...!”

But separate from that beauty, Biju was calmly showing some peculiar traits.

“For today only, I must live as a lady of refinement!”

“Senior H. I’ll be a splendid lady who brings no shame to you...!”

“Haha... no. Hohoho.”

The grind-gremlin side came out in scenes of him “training to be the best lady.”

“No, Biju. That’s not it...”

“NewBlack is NewBlack,” people said.

Meanwhile—

As the members started gathering, the escape began to rip along.

“Once they’re together, it’s no joke.”

They solved the escape-room puzzles in a flash, then moved in perfect formation under the leader’s command to the library.

And there, the true identity of Count Dracula was finally revealed.

“Huh?”

“That’s it?”

“Already?”

Over an hour melted away like nothing, and—

“By the way, who was that just now?”

Face hidden with (?).

As eyes fixed on the mysterious guest to be revealed next episode, the internet started buzzing.

Day 1 in LA wrapped without a hitch.

“Good work.”

“Good work...!”

“Oof.”

After successfully finishing the concert at Staples Center, the younger ones gathered in my room and ordered room service.

Fresh from their showers, we were about to tuck into a late-night snack with pleasantly heavy limbs.

“Now we have to watch that. That.”

“Yeah. We do.”

They said it aired at dawn in local time here.

We decided to watch , which we’d missed because of the concert.

The maknae said,

“This goes up on Netplus.”

“Yeah?”

So we opened Netplus on the hotel TV... the big N boomed in and the familiar screen did load, but—

“Huh?”

The interface looked a bit different.

All the posters were in English only, and the catalog was full of shows we’d never seen before.

Ri Hyuk went ah and said,

“Content differs by country. We’re on a U.S. IP now, so we’re seeing U.S. content.”

“Ah...”

“I’ll find another way we can watch.”

Ri Hyuk was unlocking his phone to search when

Junhyun pointed at the screen.

“Hyung. It’s right there.”

“Hm?”

“Right there... ‘From Now On, We’ is in the real-time trending content.”

“Huh...?”

On the TV screen, in Real-Time Trending Content, there was the poster for .

We all blinked.

“Why is it here?”

And when we clicked the remote until a white border framed the thumbnail,

The preview auto-played.

Under a scene of Biju as a noble lady flitting through the castle, English subs were rolling.

The person in question opened his eyes wide.

“This is serviced here? Wow...”

“That’s wild.”

“Great. Then we can watch it.”

But our smiles didn’t last long.

“Hold on.”

I said to the younger ones,

“We’re in America.”

“And?”

“So why is that in Real-Time Trending Content?”

“Uh...?”

“Huh?”

Something felt ominous.

Real-Time Trending Content.

And placed right on the first screen—that thumbnail was making a surge of dread rise fast.