In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

David Schumacher, who lives in San Francisco, tilted his head at a notification that popped up on the Netplus app.

‘From Now On? What was that again.’

He tapped the new-episode alert and a thumbnail appeared.

‘Hm? Ah...! That trailer I saw on MiTube.’

It looked like a new episode had been uploaded for a Korean TV show he’d saved before.

Five pretty boys escaping through a lavish castle backdrop—it looked fun.

‘I’m watching this right now.’

Arms full of cheese balls, David Schumacher plopped onto the sofa and opened Netplus.

He skipped the “N” logo quickly, hit play, and the episode he’d been waiting for began.

But...

“Huh?”

The instant the five-member group showed up on the TV, David felt a sudden déjà vu.

‘Aren’t they... those guys? From the Billboard thing?’

He knew a K-pop band called NewBlack had made a splashy debut stage at the Billboard Music Awards.

He hadn’t seen the stage live.

But everywhere—on social media or anywhere else—photos of them winning an award with Haley Blue or performing kept popping up, so he knew their faces.

Surprise flashed across his face.

‘Wow. So it’s the same people. I can recognize them now!’

Back when he watched the trailer he hadn’t realized it was NewBlack, but now he could see it was them.

The five chattered noisily in Korean.

“Okay, turning on English captions.”

He turned on the English captions with audio description.

Thankfully, because Netplus carries French or Spanish content, the foreign-language barrier had gotten lower for him.

The thirty-something man chewing cheese balls wore a bored expression.

“Hmm...”

Maybe because it was a language he’d never heard, he couldn’t quite settle in.

For an American, it felt like what a Korean might feel watching a drama or movie in Russian.

But it didn’t take long before his eyes lit up.

“Oh...”

It got fun once the five trapped in Dragon Castle started interacting with English-speaking actors.

Different countries, same sense of fun.

A handsome guy locked in a cell, a pretty boy panting through knight training, and a pink-haired boy suddenly cast as a princess, acting his heart out. As they gathered and began to escape, he couldn’t help but focus.

He even stopped eating cheese balls to watch.

“Bwahaha!”

He’d planned to switch if it wasn’t fun after about twenty minutes, but a satisfied smile tugged at his lips.

As the real escape segment rolled, he unlocked his phone.

“NewBlack.”

A search pulled up Wikipedia.

“A five-member Korean K-pop boy band; they’re singer-songwriters, dancers, actors, and comedians... comedians? Aha!”

Now it made sense.

There were pro-level comedians in a control room feeding them various orders.

But the five were spitting out sketch scenes and truly hilarious beats nonstop. Skills you wouldn’t expect from “just singers.” It was goofier than a lot of SNL bits, and he burst out laughing.

And it felt natural.

It wasn’t a staged script; the funny moments poured out like kibble from a bag just while they were breathing.

‘...This is a smash.’

He admired the “Count Dracula appears!” cliffhanger timing.

Had he spent over an hour laughing?

In that uniquely happy mood you get after something funny, David searched MiTube for NewBlack.

“Oh, there’s a lot more.”

He’d been looking for something fun lately, and NewBlack TV had content for days.

“Lighting a fire with flint and building a hut...? Is this a reality show?”

Travel. Survival. Comedy. A channel packed with every genre made his eyes go wide.

It was a new world.

As he started watching those videos, he clicked the Billboard Music Awards stage he hadn’t seen yet...

“Oho.”

The first time is the hardest; after that, it’s easy.

The wall of resistance he felt toward unfamiliar artists dropped a lot thanks to .

Meanwhile—

The Netplus algorithm began to hum.

“Oh? A show with NewBlack!”

Souffles in North America, excited, swarmed the relevant content like piranhas to tear into the bait.

Notifications hit people in similar regions and age ranges.

That virtuous cycle pushed the NewBlack episode into Real-Time Trending Content.

Of course...

“Aaaaaah! Can someone please make this stop! Why is a Korean variety show popping up in U.S. content!”

“Wooju hyung, do something like when you stopped the world!”

“Maybe we can just, like, yank the cord...?”

“Like that’s going to work!”

“We can at least look away...”

For a certain five-member group trying to project a cool image in America, it was a very sad story.

American tastes are unknowable.

“Ri Hyuk.”

“Yeah.”

“Wasn’t the Korean variety vibe supposed to not land with Americans? Why... are they watching this.”

The U.S. version of our HBS variety ended up on Netplus’s charts.

And—

We were feeling the might of Netplus, greater than the Billboard Music Awards.

“Oh, I know you!”

A mom pushing a stroller in LA greeted us brightly; I tried to act cool, but she gave a thumbs-up saying the show was hilarious.

Local concert staff also said hi and asked,

“Did you escape safely in that one? I watched yesterday and now I’m dying to know what happens... Those three women are Dracula’s brides, right?”

“Do you shoot that without a script?”

“You ran really well in the dress yesterday, B.”

Do these people have Netplus as their only hobby? It felt like half the city had seen it.

On the bright side...

“Your music videos and the Billboard stage views spiked again.”

Seokhwan showed us a chunk of the graph where it shot up.

“Looks like a lot of folks came to your stage clips after watching ‘From Now On.’ Honestly, it even looks more impactful than the Billboard stage... The two fed each other well.”

“Then what about our ‘cool image’?”

“Well...”

Seokhwan coughed and said,

“You don’t need to worry as much as you think. In the States, top stars bomb themselves on SNL sketches all the time. It seems like it’s being received like that. Biju sprinting in a dress, and so on...”

“There are already a ton of memes on the internet.”

“That’s... being consumed as a cheerful image.”

In just one night, memes appeared.

It’s that culture in the U.S. where you slap white text under a funny pic; our photos were popping up all over.

A representative one came from the scene of Junhyun and Biju talking over a walkie-talkie—Biju says “I’m the lady,” and Junhyun goes stone-faced.

[Friend: I ordered pizza.]

[Me: What pizza?]

[Friend: Hawaiian.]

[Me: ]

...The caption was weirdly perfect.

Biju asked about this unexpected ripple from a Korean variety show.

“But why is... the reaction happening in America right now? I thought only Koreans watched it.”

“Right. And why is there even a U.S. cut...?”

Our manager explained to the maknae, who chimed in,

“HBS uploaded a North America version without Korean captions, pushing into the U.S. market. It used to be one of those shows with no reaction, but... with you guys on, your fans drove a ton of traffic.”

Hearing this was all because there were so many Souffles... we couldn’t tell if we should be happy or sad.

“The fact you had American actors also helped.”

“...”

We’d placed English-speaking NPCs because it’s harder for us to immerse with Korean actors in those roles.

Apparently that was fun for Americans from their side.

Honestly, if a TV show from some unfamiliar country went up on Korean Netplus and that episode had everyone speaking Korean, I’d find it easier to watch too.

“And your comedy is easy to understand.”

“No need to pretty it up by calling it refined. You mean it’s one-dimensional, hyung.”

“Ahem.”

I gave a warm smile to the TF team lead trying to wrap it in nice paper.

Without wordplay, we were slipping, crashing, and going “huuung,” which was easy to get.

With a sad face I checked MiTube and social comments.

—I watched a show called From Now On featuring the “hot lately” NewBlack. Oh my God. I laughed until I cried

—Somebody get them invited to SNL

—The cute guy locked in the cell killed me. Watching with a friend and we lost it when he sang a 90s pop medley

—They really did seem legitimately funny

—Totally different from what I saw on the Billboard Music Awards stage. They felt friendly and nice

—Usually comedians break a celeb’s character for laughs... here they self-implode. Like a supernova that collapses and shines by itself

—Don’t know who the commenter above is, but as a Souffle I guarantee, Ri Hyuk would like you

Correct.

“Pffft...”

I shook my head at a certain someone blushing at the science joke.

Mostly positive reactions wall-to-wall.

Not exactly “they rocked the entire nation! the effect was tremendous!”—more like the level of pulling a hugely buzzworthy moment on the top-rated talk show. That kind of reaction.

Either way, it was good for us.

“I wanted to be a mysterious Asian superstar...”

“Isn’t that a bit shameless.”

I glared at the tactless TF team lead. Seokhwan looked away and hummed a tune.

The kind of promo effect you only get by doing a full talk-show blitz.

The fact that we’d promoted in the U.S. like this without spending a dime clearly made him happy.

Well. If we weren’t the ones involved, we’d be banging gongs and drums shouting “It’s a jackpot!”

“But the editing this time was insanely good.”

Junhyun said,

“Honestly while filming, most of the funny stuff was back-loaded, so I worried a lot. I wondered if it would even be funny...”

“They really did edit the hell out of it.”

“Facts.”

Thanks to PD Yeo Hoseok and the crew pouring in their souls, even little moments got paired with BGM and came out hilarious.

Through the managers we’d heard it was a two-parter.

Even though the opening half was relatively less impactful, the reviews were glowing.

Especially in Korea, online looked absolutely on fire.

—HBS “From Now On” hits personal best ratings.. “The NewBlack Effect”

—[Last Night’s TV] “Huh? Biju runs in a dress?”.. “From Now On” ratings jackpot

—After PBS and TBC, HBS too—NewBlack “personal best ratings” grand slam

Since it’s a program where guests take center stage, the spotlight concentrated on us, who were sprinting all over.

There were so many “that was hilarious” comments on portal sites that it put us in a good mood.

There was even a post like this:

[My little one saw a photo somewhere and is whining for Biju’s dress;;]

Anyone know where to get Biju’s dress ㅠㅠ

—My kindergarten daughter is begging too;; We barely tracked down Ri Hyuk’s dress last time

—The next kindergarten party is going to be wall-to-wall Biju dresses..

—I asked the network and they said it’s a custom build

—At least we should get the hand fan

—Thought this was my house. I almost said “it’s only pretty because Biju wore it”... but I swallowed it... trembling...

A sheepish laugh went around at the tearful reports from parents nationwide suddenly tasked with finding Biju’s dress.

[Male idol with insane dress fit]

(A photo of Biju waving a hand fan.jpg)

If you object, your closet gets filled with Sun Wooju’s clothes

—No objections...

—True

—When I read “male idol” in the title I thought “what nonsense” lololol What is this

—Even if he looks slender, our Biju has shoulders... he’s manly..! I almost said that # Nоvеlight # out loud, but I’ll accept it.

—Nod... whatever else, Wooju’s fashion crosses lines

—I’m remembering that photo. Sun Wooju in a fluorescent jacket you can identify from 1 km away

—Somebody please convert Wooju’s closet into an incinerator

—???: “Hyung..! Put the clothes in the closet now” (whoosh)

—lolololololol

“Incinerator... is this person a genius?”

“If Souffle Awards happens again, they deserve a prize.”

I tried to laugh at the Biju humor post, but if my eyes got a little misty, that was just a feeling, right?

There were funny posts everywhere about last night’s variety episode.

Lots of threads wondering who the special guest was.

Amid that—

“Looks like people finally figured it out.”

“Finally...!”

People started recognizing the actors, including Lucas Ronson, who’d stood on the Billboard Music Awards stage.

[Turned out the Northern Grand Duke also appeared on the Billboard stage]

(An actor doing a vampire bit beside Haley Blue.jpg)

We’d met before;

—Insane lololololol

—They laid down foreshadowing hard

—No; timeline-wise, wasn’t the variety shoot first??? Looks like they filmed that and then got invited there

—But he’s handsome.. He looks exactly like a Northern Grand Duke

—Yeah yeah my family said during the show that with that face he’ll go big lol

—How did that deal happen

I made a note to reveal the behind-the-scenes later via the Y app.

After checking reactions through the posts Manager Hong Seyeong sent and links from others, I wrapped up.

Honestly there was a lot more reaction than this... but I was deliberately being selective.

In the English-speaking world, some macho types were leaving nasty comments about Biju in a dress. In Korea, a few kept pushing the “it’s scripted” theory and making noise.

There was all sorts of stuff, but the sure thing was—

“This is good.”

The overwhelmingly positive response.

After we won Male Variety at the Korea Arts Awards, some people fanned the narrative that “NewBlack got carried by the program; they were never actually good.” They say this special shut them right up.

In the States... it felt like we’d lowered local people’s guard and come off approachable.

“Wooow!”

We stepped out of the hotel room into the lobby and someone recognized us. They spotted Biju and gaped.

“You’re Dress Boy! You!”

We all burst out laughing as Biju flustered.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t laugh too much...”

With a faraway smile, Biju said,

“It’s going to be your story now...”

“...”

It’s a relief we’re leaving America before that day arrives.

LA Staples Center.

While we were warming up in the green room ahead of concert day two, I spoke toward a nearby documentary camera.

“Today’s the last day of the North America tour.”

If we wrapped today’s concert cleanly, our U.S. schedule was done.

We did plan to hold a meeting afterward about future U.S. market strategy, but that was secondary.

The main schedule in North America ended here.

“I want to hurry back to Seoul and eat Korean food.”

“Anything you especially want to eat?”

“Jjajangmyeon.”

“Jjajangmyeon?”

“You can still find most other dishes locally... but weirdly, jjajangmyeon is hard to track down.”

We chatted like that while I stretched long.

“There’s a bit of time until the Chile and Brazil legs... once we finish today, we’ll have a pocket of time.”

“You’ll rest.”

“No. Work.”

We had to think about music activities after Coin; there was no shortage of things to watch.

We had to decide whether to release an English track.

We should start thinking bit by bit about the full album slated for early next year.

We had to prep greetings and interviews for the countries on the tour.

We were also set to sign a formal contract soon with the Olympic committee about next year’s Pyeongchang Olympics closing ceremony stage.

“Ri Hyuk looks tired. I’ll go give him a boost.”

Manage the younger ones’ condition too.

“Ri Hyuk.”

“What now.”

“I picked this up on the way. A heart.”

“...”

His awkward reaction stung a little; then I felt a brief dizziness.

“Mm...”

Strangely, I wasn’t feeling great today.

A slight cold sweat.

Something felt a bit caught at my solar plexus... like a touch of indigestion, with a bit of heartburn.

Maybe the jambalaya rice at lunch didn’t agree with me.

“Hyung.”

Biju, fixing his hair in the mirror, came over.

“What’s wrong. Are you okay?”

“I think my stomach’s a little off.”

“Yeah? Should I call medical?”

“I’m fine.”

I waved off worried Biju.

I did feel a brief wave of nausea—maybe just nerves running too high.

Thankfully after about five minutes I felt okay.

“See?”

“Mm... you still don’t look great. If you feel off on stage today, please tell us. Hyung.”

“Got it. But don’t worry too much.”

I pressed the web between thumb and index finger to ease the indigestion and stretched again.

Whether they’d heard Biju or not, the penguins waddled over and stuck to me, asking if I was okay; I waved them off.

I smiled at the managers watching with anxious eyes.

“It’s nothing.”

It really was nothing.