Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 241
As the soft prelude filled the air, New Black changed their formation.
The members surrounded the main dancer in a circle.
In between them, Bijoo’s body sank slowly.
Like a seed blown by the wind, falling to the ground.
At the same time, the members bent their bodies and covered the main dancer like an umbrella, as if the soil was embracing the seed.
When the prelude ended, the members moved to the side as if their role was over.
The main dancer, who was sitting alone, got up lightly.It was a simple movement, but the fans’ eyes were fixed on his graceful gesture.
His hands stretched like branches as he rose, as if he was a real seed sprouting a flower.
“…”
For a moment, they forgot the cheer they had prepared.
As the Soufflés regained their senses and started cheering, Bijoo closed his eyes and grabbed the microphone.
When the wind stopped
That winter also stopped
As the first verse ended, the members joined in.
They took turns whispering the lyrics of Windflower softly.
The beginning felt like a cold winter, but as time passed, it gradually resembled the warm color of spring.
The fans’ lips curved into a smile.
‘It’s beautiful.’
The song gave a feeling of beauty, from the melody to the choreography.
But it wasn’t a song that was too sentimental or boring.
As the song became familiar to the ears, the sound underneath changed unpredictably, stimulating the ears.
If they heard it by chance in a cafe, they would stop their hands on the laptop and say ‘hmm?’ and listen carefully.
It was a song that was gentle but powerful.
It felt like there was a pulse of life in the song.
‘…It’s really good.’
The story of the song was also easy to relate to.
If Junhyun’s ‘Wind’ was the story of the wind that held the seed in its arms, Windflower was the story of the wildflower that the seed bloomed.
Woojoo grabbed the microphone.
Where I am
Is your beginning and end
As they watched the performance, the story of the song naturally drew in their minds.
A wildflower blooming in the apartment garden.
A wildflower that watched someone who walked with a limp in the morning and returned with a drained look at night.
A flower that said it was with you from the beginning and end of your day.
But even if they looked at it, the person didn’t give their eyes to the flower in the garden.
The rap part followed.
What catches your eye
Is a hopeless cell
The cold night sky
Presses you down heavily
Someone who looked at their phone with no contact on their way home or at the night sky and felt lonely.
There was no answer anywhere.
The wildflower told them that the starry night sky was not a comfort to them.
The night sky was only cold and dark.
It was so vast that it made you smaller and lonelier.
The main vocal grabbed the microphone, and the sub vocal added harmony.
You don’t need to look up
Or turn away
You just need to look
Instead of the cold night sky, if you lower your eyes, you’ll see the wildflower swaying in the garden.
It was a message that you were not alone.
As the chorus came, the scattered members gathered again.
Bijoo, who leaned his back against Woojoo, appeared in the front again, and each member moved like petals in the dance.
The Soufflés who watched them had a warm smile on their lips.
When the stage ended, a louder cheer than ever erupted.
“Woah-!”
As they saw the members standing on the stage with flushed faces, the fans had the same thought in their minds.
This song would be remembered for a long time.
“How was it, did you like Windflower?”
The answer that came out at the same time made their ears sting. It was supposed to be ‘yes’, but it sounded like ‘nuahak!’.
Woojoo exchanged smiles with his eyes sparkling with his siblings.
‘They must have liked the song.’
‘Did you all like it…?’
Woojoo was secretly nervous.
Their song’s primary listeners are not the public, but the fans. That was why he was tense about their reaction.
Woojoo could see pleasant emotions on the faces of the people waving their light sticks.
They were like this during the first round of Legendary Song Discovery.
That was when he could relax and show a happy smile.
“I’m so relieved. I didn’t know if you would like Windflower or not, so I was really nervous.”
Woojoo added an explanation.
“When we prepare an album, we can’t really tell if the song is good or not.”
-That’s right. We listen to it dozens of times a day.
From the first draft of the composition to the repeated revisions, they listened to it hundreds of times.
When they start preparing for the performance, they listened to the title song hundreds of times a day for a month, and their senses disappear.
They were used to it and liked it, but they didn’t know how it sounded to other people’s ears.
So Woojoo was anxious about what kind of reaction would come, but he was glad to get a sincere reaction.
The younger ones looked relieved.
Especially Bijoo, who cried while worrying about the album, had sparkling eyes.
Woojoo grabbed the microphone.
“Wasn’t the choreography beautiful?”
There was no need to say anything else, the answer was good.
“I’m revealing a behind-the-scenes story, but the person who made this choreography is Bijoo.”
“Oh, no. No.” Bijoo waved his hands and said, “I didn’t make it all, Choreographer Clay…”
“Yes. Choreographer Clay refined the overall choreography, but the start was Bijoo’s choreography.”
The dance he showed in the living room of Director Jo’s house in early January was the basis of the choreography for ‘Windflower’.
Woojoo calmly explained how much Bijoo contributed to making this title.
“No, really. He said he wanted to talk to me about composing, so he studied composition theory every break time.”
Woojoo bragged about his younger brother for five minutes, and Bijoo pulled his clothes.
“Hyung, stop it. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Of course. Our kid is humble and amazing, right? Bijoo, you know what bolmae means, right?”
“Bolmae…?”
Everyone laughed at the timid logic that went from ‘bolmae… bolme… bolmakeup… boltouch?’
“It means attractive the more you see.”
“Ah. I see. I’ll remember.”
“Bijoo is someone who suits the word bolmae. Me, me. Last time…”
Woojoo was excited and bragged about how diligent and good he was, but somehow everyone laughed.
Why were they like that?
Rihyuk grabbed the microphone and said, “You’re like an octopus.”
“…No, an octopus. I’m just cherishing my younger brother…”
“Praise us too. Us too. You always love Bijoo the most. We’re not your favorites, are we?”
“What are you talking about? My favorite is Kim Deoksoon.”
Jiho and Woojoo bickered, and Rihyuk shook his head.
“…Well, the age difference is five years, but when you look at them, they’re at the same level.”
“Hey, everyone. Don’t fight because of me.”
On the other hand, the voices of envy and jealousy exploded over the praise of Bijoo.
Junghyun, who glanced at Woojoo, grabbed the microphone and uttered a low-pitched ‘humph’, and the hall was covered with laughter.
Even their staff who were backstage collapsed, laughing and leaning on the wall.
Rihyuk grabbed the microphone again.
“And it’s been beautifully packaged since a while ago, but I’m one of the victims of this album.”
“A victim, Rihyuk? You’ve never been a victim.”
“That’s right! That’s right!”
“No, these people…”
Rihyuk grabbed the microphone and said, “I’ll tell you here. When I heard the concept of Windflower, the brothers said, ‘Rihyuk, this song is vocal-centric.’ I was looking forward to it. Oh, this time it’s a song.”
The main vocal had a look of tears in his eyes.
“But Bijoo came with a ‘ta-da’ and brought the choreography. You know that kind smile, right? ‘Rihyuk. This is our choreography.’ He said…”
Laughter erupted everywhere. The choreography of Windflower was not easy to look at.
“I was surprised and said, ‘Hyung, is this the choreography of a vocal song? This difficulty…?’ He looked at me like he didn’t understand and said, ‘Huh? Is this hard?’”
“There.” Bijoo said in a soft voice, “Rihyuk.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry…”
They all clapped and laughed at Bijoo’s apology. Rihyuk also chuckled and accepted his apology.
Woojoo revealed the behind-the-scenes stories of their title song.
Woojoo wanted to shout, ‘Everyone! Our kids are the best in the world!’ but he restrained himself.
He didn’t want to sound like he was bragging to the fans.
Besides, he couldn’t reveal everything.
Woojoo left out the ‘Dark Matter’ story for Rihyuk’s human rights and the fans’ mental health.
Bijoo kept saying he wanted to tell them that Woojoo composed the song after watching his choreography, but he stopped him with a look.
He acted like, ‘Why, they need to know this’, but composing after seeing the choreography was a bit too much, even for him.
As the fans went ‘Wow’ at Woojoo’s explanation, his younger siblings who participated in this album production smiled proudly.
Woojoo felt good seeing them.
This was what he wanted to show them.
When the fans liked the song they made themselves, he wanted to share this good feeling he had been having.
“Thank you for waiting for us to finally show you this album that we’ve been preparing for a long time. We’re really happy to share it with you.”
Woojoo swallowed the words, ‘We’ll come back sooner next time’, but he thought they got the message.
Woojoo made eye contact with the fans in the heated concert hall.
“Well, this is the last song.”
They received a cheer full of regret and performed their last stage.
The performance of ‘Flower Dance’, which was scheduled as the follow-up song.
They sat on the stage covered with petals that exploded from the stage effects and took a photo with the fans to end the fan showcase.
And at the same time.
Their title song ‘Windflower’ was still at number one.
Idol fans who attended offline events usually felt two kinds of emotions. Sometimes they felt a strange emptiness after waiting for a long time but ending up with a short event.
And sometimes they felt a sense of fulfillment and went home.
On a late night.
The mood of those who came out of the concert hall was mostly the latter.
“Did you see Bijoo’s eyelashes fluttering earlier? That was awesome!”
“Look at this. They’re so pretty.”
“The song is really good. It’s going to stay at number one like this, right? The Muggles are picking it online, too.”
Some were chatting with people they befriended on SNS, making a fuss. Some were walking quietly to the subway station, looking at their phones.
They all looked different, but they were happy.
-New Black ‘Windflower’ hits it, ‘all-kill’ on 7 music charts
-From trendy to top? ‘New Black’ debut 10-month idol’s power
-New Black’s momentum is not normal… Will they be the main character of the ‘April’ music chart?
The entertainment media was buzzing with the Windflower that didn’t seem to come down from the number one spot on the music chart.
The idol community was also buzzing.
-These days, it’s hard for any male idol to enter at number one… Crazy
-The song is really goodㅋㅋ
-It feels good to listen to it on the way home from work
-It’s not just the entry, but the feeling is big. It’s amazing that the Muggles around me are asking if New Black’s song came out
-Weren’t they rookies? When did this happen???
-They got their faces known with the combo of Legendary Song Discovery Team + History Discovery Team
–ㅋㅋwhere did the people who said the public only knows their name and their fandom is a handful go?
There was a lot of interest in New Black, who achieved a performance that neither they nor their fans had imagined.
An undeniable success.
The atmosphere was different from usual, with articles analyzing the reasons for this album’s success already coming up.
The fans instinctively felt that the success New Black had achieved would put their idols in a different position from now on.
Things would change from today.
When they thought that, some of the fans who had been watching New Black since their debut felt a subtle feeling.
The feeling of a small star in their arms shining brightly and quickly moving away.
When they thought that, the smartphones of the fans scattered around started to vibrate.
【TheNewBlack.Official has started a live broadcast. Watch it now!】
It was a notification from the SNS app.
When they pressed watch, the faces of the New Black members appeared on the screen.
-We’re bored, so we came back!
They laughed and chatted among themselves.
They said they were bored, but anyone could tell why they came.
They had been preparing for the press showcase and the fan showcase all day, and they had to get up early the next morning.
There was no way they would come just because they were bored in their exhausted state.
-Let’s see~ Are we looking good?
Woojoo checked the angle to make sure all five members were in the frame, humming a tune and smiling brightly.
-How are you, Soufflés all over the country? What are you doing right now?
-Why are you asking them that? Of course they are watching this right now.
-Oh, Rihyuk~ You have a point…
‘Yes!’ They all shouted and laughed together, making Ryeok’s cheeks tremble.
Woojoo scrolled through the comments and said.
-There are a lot of comments saying they want to grow up quickly. But that’s impossible, you know.
-That’s right. We’ll be here until you can rest at home.
Junghyun read some of the comments.
-There’s someone who says they’re working overnight at a company. They’re going to sleep in the dormitory. Oh, they came to the showcase but their home is in Gwangju…
-From California LA… Oh, they want to live there?
-There’s someone who lives in Hawaii?
Soon, the joke of ‘Bo-gok Hawaii’ made Woojoo clap and laugh. The puzzled looks of the other members.
-What’s Bo-gok Hawaii, Hyung?
-Huh? You don’t know?
Nod.
-…Well, it’s a thing.
-Someone says they’re the same age as you. Who are you? …How did you know that?
As soon as he heard the familiar keyword, the Hyung line was happy.
-I’ve tried the blow pen too! I drew a rabbit with it.
-I drank it upside down.
-You can’t do that, Junghyun.
-I did.
-…?
-…?
They laughed at each other for a while.
After chatting for a while, they clapped their hands and smiled at the phone.
-Actually, we wanted to say thank you again, so we came here live. Thank you so much.
-Thank you!
-We always say thank you, but I don’t know how much it means to you. So I try to say it whenever I have time. Everyone. Thank you very much. I love you.
As if writing with a pen, they carefully said each word with a gentle voice. The image of them looking at the screen was engraved in their eyes.
The other members also thanked them carefully.
The Soufflés scattered in many places looked at them quietly.
As they were about to say goodbye, they cleared their throats.
-How about we sing a song before we go? Our songs are amazing to listen to at night.
-They’re the best.
Soon, the gentle voices sang ‘Windflower’ softly.
In the house or somewhere else.
Or the people who were going home after the showcase had the gentle melody of ‘Windflower’ in their earphones.
And, a quiet smile appeared on the lips of those who looked at the screen.
Woojoo was sure he went to sleep happily, saying that he was a hot singer and that he should laugh ‘hot hot hot!’ now.
“Ugh…”
When he woke up at 3 a.m. the next day, he was a zombie.
Zombies who went to the music site as soon as they woke up in the morning.
People who wore baseball caps and smiled shyly as they got in the car with swollen eyes in the morning.
The hair stylists also congratulated them as soon as they met.
“Congratulations on being number one.”
“Thank you… Ugh, ugh, ugh.”
Woojoo answered with a hoarse voice and they just laughed and told him to sleep.
Woojoo almost burned himself with a curling iron, fell asleep with a glass of water in his hand, and went to the music site every time he nodded off.
“Ugh…”
“Ugh…”
Dowon Hyung looked at them with a worried expression.
“Are you guys okay?”
They nodded off, woke up and groaned, and nodded off again.
“We’re here, guys.”
The huge building of K-net in Sangam-dong came into view.
The cool dawn.
The recording schedule was early today, so the standby was fast. As they saw the dark broadcast station, they felt like they had come back.
K-net.
This was the first place that idols usually appeared when they debuted or came back on Thursday’s music show.
Maybe it was a program that was obsessed with the first public title.
They had a lot of bad blood with the agencies that didn't debut on their show, and they would retaliate by blocking their appearances. They even had a huge fight with TJ not long ago.
Woojoo heard they didn't get along with Lemon Entertainment either, but he didn't know the exact reason.
That was why they mostly did reality and idol-related shows with their rival, HBS MTV.
"It's amazing that we get to do two comeback stages here."
Everyone nodded at Bijoo's whisper.
They must have made a name for themselves, because today they were doing two comeback stages, unlike the Masquerade where they were cut off after a few seconds.
Windflower and Flower Dance.
They weren't expecting much from this show, but they were surprised to get some special treatment.
Ah, this was why they had to do well…
"Hey, Hyung!"
They screamed as they entered the broadcasting station.
"Uh! Uh!"
"Hey. It's Bang!"
"Is it Bang?"
"It's Bang!"
Oh my god.
They all looked at the name on the waiting room door with wide eyes.
『 New Black 』
Everyone's mouth let out a sigh.
"Bang…"
"Bang…"
Their waiting room was Bang.
Bang!