Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 149
After the music show ended, they got into the car with grim faces, ready for the next challenge.
Bijoo shook his head and said, “Our next schedule is TBC radio ‘Tempting and Tasty Time’.”
“Tam-tam-tam, huh?”
“Yeah. Let’s do it with the determination to break our bones.”
They looked out the window with solemn expressions, and Dowon, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, blinked his eyes, while Minki Hyung suppressed his laughter.
Soon, the manager spoke.
“By the way, you guys were curious about the text voting, right? It’s not that the Chinese people voted that much, but that multiple voting was possible, so that’s why there were so many.”“Huh? But don’t they have to pay a lot for that?”
“Chinese fans spent 100 million won on text voting today.”
“…”
For a moment, a stupid expression appeared on everyone’s face.
Woojoo almost blurted out ‘Did I hear that wrong?’, which he hadn’t said since he was discharged from the army.
“100 million won?”
“Yeah.”
“That 100 million won? Korean money?”
“Well, they probably used yuan over there, but that’s what they said.”
“…”
They looked at each other with blank faces, forgetting their grim resolve.
Bijoo asked with a worried face, “What do we do, Hyung? 100 million won.”
“It’s okay. We don’t need money…”
“What do we have then?”
“…”
As they pondered for a moment, Rihyuk said, looking out the window, “We have nothing, I guess.”
“Hey, why are you so negative? You need to have positive energy.”
“Shup, shup.”
“…What are you doing, Junghyun?”
“I’m trying to drink some positive energy.”
They burst into laughter for a moment because of their rapper, and then Woojoo said, “Let’s just do our best. As long as we do our best for each schedule, that’s all that matters.”
“That’s right.”
“Come on, let’s forget about the 100 million and go back to the solemn mood.”
As they made serious faces with the younger ones, Junghyun played a song at the right timing.
Rihyuk showed interest.
“This is Strauss’s symphony ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’.”
“Really? I’ve seen this song in wrestling.”
“…”
Meanwhile, the rest of them, including Woojoo, looked at the schedule.
“By the way, what is this?”
“Which one?”
The youngest pointed his finger at the middle of the paper.
There was a schedule for Thursday morning that said ‘The Little Witch’s Great Adventure – Movie Theater One-Day Part-Time Job’.
It was a Hollywood theatrical animation that was opening this week, and they were the ambassadors for it.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s selling tickets and popcorn at the theater?”
“Wow, that’s really cool. I love that theater. I love watching movies too…”
“Huh? We’re going to watch a movie?”
“We’re doing a one-day part-time job at the theater the day after tomorrow.”
“Really? Well, that’s not bad. It’s nice to go out and meet people once in a while.”
The managers in the front seat gave them an awkward smile as they looked forward to it.
***
“I would have never done this if I knew.”
“Rihyuk, you said you would do your best for any schedule, right? It doesn’t matter what the schedule is, we have to do our best.”
“No, I get everything else, but why do I have to be a devil hamster?”
“You’re not a devil hamster. You’re a thousand-year-old vampire queen who learned magic. Stop complaining and act according to the setting.”
“Eeeh…”
Rihyuk, who had thick black makeup under his eyes, flapped his cloak with his eyes wide open.
It was Thursday, when the music show was canceled due to the preparation for the upcoming KMA Hong Kong Awards.
Their morning schedule was to promote ‘The Little Witch’s Great Adventure’.
In order to do a proper promotion, they had carefully studied the story summary and video that the film company staff had sent them whenever they had time.
The story was simple.
The youngest princess, who had always been ignored by her ten older brothers, was actually a powerful witch with hidden powers.
When she had to leave the kingdom for a while because of the villain’s scheme, a thousand-year-old vampire took over the kingdom with a horde of monsters.
It was a story of how she, the princess who had left, saved the kingdom.
It was very fun, apart from the promotion.
It was a movie that adults could enjoy too, but Woojoo wondered why they translated the original title ‘Coming Home’ into ‘The Little Witch’s Adventure’.
The domestic distributor asked them to dress up and take pictures with the child audience in front of the theater.
“Hi, did you come with your mom?”
“Yes!”
“Good, you have to listen to your mom. If you don’t, you’ll turn into a grumpy face like this oppa here.”
“Wow.”
They crouched down and took a picture with the five-year-old kid who came to watch the movie.
At a shopping mall theater in Yeongdeungpo.
They stood in front of a photo wall with a huge title ‘The Little Witch’s Adventure’ and a chaotic kingdom background.
They each dressed up and greeted the little kids who came holding their mothers’ hands.
Of course, outside the frame, their fans with cameras and passers-by were buzzing.
“What are they doing?”
“Promoting the movie, I guess.”
“Wow, look at that. They’re so pretty. That black cloak is awesome.”
The devil next to Woojoo shrugged his shoulders.
He was stimulated by that and the red-haired princess in a warrior costume grabbed the boy who was next in line.
“Who’s the most handsome here, little one?”
“Uh, I…”
The baby who was sucking his finger glanced at their faces and instinctively pointed his chubby finger at Woojoo.
“…You!”
“Our baby can’t use honorifics yet. Haha.”
As the mother and New Black laughed, Woojoo asked her with a smile, “Can I hold your baby’s hand?”
“Yes. Sure.”
Then Rihyuk reached out his hand.
“Wait. This germ-infested hand.”
“Oops, it’s the witch’s spray.”
The witch took out a spray from her black cloak and disinfected Woojoo’s hand with a solemn look. There was a big laugh around them.
Woojoo held the baby’s hand and said, “Welcome, little one. Of course, the fairy godmother is the most handsome, right?”
“Woojoo Oppa, let me touch your wings as a souvenir.”
“Oh, sure. Come here. Let’s touch our wings together.”
As Woojoo moved his shoulder, the baby who was touching the costume wings made a curious expression.
Then, Jiho asked again, “Then who’s the prettiest here?”
“Hmm…”
The baby’s eyes swept over them.
While he did, the three of them, except for Junghyun, quickly struck a pose.
The red-haired princess, the witch in the black cloak, and the blond prince each took an elegant pose.
Only Junghyun, who wore bear ears as a headband and played the role of a bear, blinked his eyes.
But the winner was too obvious.
The sore finger soon pointed at one person.
“…Sister!”
“Hahaha!”
As they clapped and laughed among ourselves, the witch who became a sister in a flash blinked his eyes.
Then he caught the concept and said, “You have a good eye, my little friend. Come here. I’ll grant you the honor of taking a picture with me.”
Then he put the baby in his black cloak, and made only his face pop out for a commemorative shot.
He hid his ears with a crown, otherwise his red ears would have shown.
They did their best for the event.
They did everything for the little audience who came to the theater with the intention of doing their best for whatever schedule they had.
They sang a verse of a song, and acted like the actual characters.
They wanted to promote Masquerade because there were a lot of people, but they refrained from it for the sake of the children.
They had to make a good memory for the schedule they were doing.
When there was a time when there were no children, they posed for the fans who were standing on the edge.
“Is it almost over?”
It was time to wrap up the schedule after taking pictures with the kindergarten group.
It was winter, so the heating was good in the theater, and the costumes were surprisingly hot, so they sweated a lot.
The youngest, whose cheeks were red, pointed to the snack corner as if he was thirsty.
“Hyung, Hyung. Let’s buy some popcorn when we go. And cola.”
“Okay, let’s buy one.”
They were cooling down like that.
“Good job, guys.”
The managers who were standing nearby gave them the necessary items and were about to go to the entrance and exit for the staff.
A loud cry was heard.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know. It sounds like a baby crying?”
There was a woman and a girl who was holding her hand and crying near the ticket sales.
They heard the story while watching the mother who was talking to the embarrassed staff.
The mother seemed to have booked the wrong movie.
Meanwhile, the baby was crying loudly.
“Minki Hyung, how much time do we have until the next schedule?”
“Well… about 15 minutes plus.”
Woojoo wanted to take off his costume and drink cola right away, but…
Well.
That was a problem that could be postponed for a while. They quickly finished the discussion and headed towards them.
***
Yeseo was six years old this year.
A while ago, Mom showed her a movie trailer on her smartphone.
The title was ‘The Little Witch’s Great Adventure.’
She wanted to see it so badly that she decided to go on the opening day, but when she got to the theater, she heard that her mom had made a mistake.
But to see the next one, she had to wait for three hours.
She was upset and hurt. She wondered how her mom could do this to her. And she felt like crying.
"Uhuhuhu…
“Yeseo, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Stop.”
"Uhuhuhu…
Even though her mom told her to stop, it wasn’t something she could control.
Her mom didn’t know much about being six years old.
As she was crying uncontrollably, some other giants appeared.
At first, they were bright because of the lights on the other side.
Huh?
They were dressed differently from the ones she saw in the movie, but they wore similar clothes to the ones who came out of there. They were very pretty oppas.
When she saw their faces clearly, she stopped crying.
“…”
She had never seen people like that before.
The most popular kid in the playroom, the chic and cool Siwoo, had a plain face compared to them.
Especially the one with fairy wings looked like a real fairy.
As she looked at his face, her mom and the oppas talked to each other.
Then her mom looked at her face and made a squeaky laugh.
It was the sound she made when her dad glanced at the people on TV.
Then the witch in the black cloak crouched down.
He had a pale face, red lips, and sharp eyes. He smiled softly and greeted her.
“Hello.”
“…”
But handsome was handsome, and scary was scary.
She was scared by the sudden appearance of these strangers, and she hid behind her mom. She even held her hand, which she didn’t want to hold a while ago.
Then, a gentle voice came.
“Your name is Yeseo, right?”
The curly-haired blonde prince stepped forward.
He smiled softly and called her carefully.
“Do you want to say hello to the oppas?”
“Come out and play with us.”
This time, it was the red-haired princess.
He was the oppa she thought was the second most handsome when she saw him.
But what really made her open up was the bear.
He was so big that she was scared at first, but soon he felt natural and comfortable like an old tree.
As she timidly stepped forward, the fairy godmother said, “Your mom said you were sad because you couldn’t see the movie, so she called us.”
“Really?”
“Of course. Isn’t it obvious?”
“Really?”
When she asked her mom if it was true, she nodded with a smile. Then the fairy godmother said, “Um… There’s still a lot of time before the movie starts, so I’ll show you a fun play by the oppas.”
She was seated comfortably and handed a sweet penguin drink, and a play began.
It was a play that summarized the movie story very briefly.
But it was so realistic.
Especially the fairy godmother and the princess looked like real characters.
The scene where the spoiled princess flew around the sky alone every night and enjoyed the world.
She was angry at the scene where the princes ignored her.
When the witch took over the kingdom, and the family was all driven out and tried to get the kingdom back.
The play ended with the scene where the princess saved her family in crisis and showed her hidden ability for the first time.
Yeseo asked with a bright face, “So? What happens next?”
“You have to watch the movie later.”
“Uh…”
“It’s not fun if I tell you everything. Right?”
The fairy godmother, who had been smiling softly, crouched down and looked into her eyes.
His eyes were also amazing golden eyes that matched his golden outfit.
She was momentarily captivated by his gaze, but his eyes curved softly.
“Just wait a little. Look, it’s already been 15 minutes.”
It was true.
She cried for a long time waiting.
“You’ll listen to Mom until then, right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, see you later.”
The oppas who waved their hands disappeared somewhere busy.
That sight remained vivid in her mind.
She would be seven years old next year, but she didn’t know why.
It felt like the first amusement park you went to with your whole family.
She thought she would always remember this.
When she was sitting in the chair and looking at the entrance where the oppas disappeared, her mom stroked her hair and said, “Our Yeseo, you’ve stopped crying now. Do you want Mom to video call Siwoo?”
“No.”
“Oh, what’s wrong. Our princess.”
“Siwoo is ugly now.”
She didn’t know why that was so funny, but Mom burst into laughter.
***
[□ New Black Mini 1st Album ‘Five Colors: The Red’ Product Review Corner]
[Thank you… New Black guys…]
[★★★★★]
[Do you remember… I’m Yeseo’s mom who was at the Yeongdeungpo Theater that day]
[It was really our daughter’s birthday that day… And my husband had to go on a business trip because of work]
[I made a mistake with the reservation and it was really dark in front of me…]
[Thanks to you, it was a happy time for both our princess and me]
[(By the way, I listened well all day)]
[I wanted to give you something in return, but they said it wasn’t allowed at the company…]
[I bought the album because I was grateful]
[Our daughter doesn’t care about the movie and she’s been watching New Black oppas’ photos and videos all day long since that day]
[I did too and I ended up watching it with her]
[Ah… At this age, mother and daughter are doing fan service together]
[The songs are good too]
[I’ve been exhausted by childcare these days, and I’ve been hit by this and that, but I really heal every time I watch New Black guys’ videos]
[I’ve been posting promotional posts on various cafes that I’m active in…!]
[Good luck ^^*]
***
When the anecdote that happened at the theater that day started to spread warmly in various cafes where the moms were active, and they became known as a rookie group that they wanted to cheer for.
Idol community ‘Green Room’ best board.
[New idol who performed a play on the spot for a crying child after the event]
It was a video uploaded by the mom
-I came in shouting New Black before I even entered with the rookie keyword… How many points is my prediction?
-Something special and good + rookie = New Black. It’s science now
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Look at the kid’s eyes. It’s so round
-I thought it was a lie, but I laughed when I saw the kid’s nose red because of crying in the beginning
-They’re really nice kids
-Did they like the outfit? They came in wearing that when they first came in for the fan signing that night and the fans laughed and went crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The movie company must be happy
-I’m glad the comments are normal… Lately, TNT fans have been bashing them for being fake and trying to compete with them, which I hated.
Meanwhile, the butterfly effect of the live video was slowly spreading to other places.
-Their acting is so realistic lol
-Oh… But I’m really curious about the movie content
-Isn’t that a spoiler? Come on…
-Come on what? You’re annoying. You weren’t going to watch it anyway.
-I watched it because of my younger sibling and that’s the first 10 minutes of the movie.
-The first 10 minutes…?
-But it was fun… Surprisingly good.
-Yeah, really. I don’t know why they translated the title like that and targeted the kids.
The word of mouth about the movie started to spread thanks to New Black’s performance.
It was originally a movie for children, but as the word of mouth spread that it was fun, the adult audience gradually increased.
The promotional effect brought by a rookie idol group.
If New Black had just attended the event without understanding the movie content, wearing costumes and waving hands, it would not have happened.
Whether they noticed their sincere attitude towards such a trivial schedule, Lemon Entertainment also started to receive inquiries.
“Yes? Movie promotion? We’ll let you know after we discuss it internally.”
“Where are you from?”
While Yoon Seokhwan, the manager, and the PR team were flustered by the various requests for ambassadors from everywhere.
The PR manager of the domestic distributor who first hired New Black was also nervous about the unexpectedly rising ticket sales trend.
‘What’s going on.’
As he thought that, he remembered the voice of his acquaintance who recommended New Black.
-If you’re going to do an idol, go with New Black.
-Why?
-I worked with them before… They’re really hardworking.
Woo Heeseon, the manager in charge of the school uniform brand ‘Everdream’, said that.
-Trust me. They do better than what you pay them.