Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 69
The fan signing event was nearing its end.
They had planned to have a long time for chatting with the fans, and because of that, the fans who took their eco-bags looked very happy.
It was a sight that filled them with joy.
While they were doing the sound check for the stage that would follow the signing time, Woojoo secretly peeked at the faces of the fans in the audience.
“They really like you guys.”
“Of course.”
The fan manager who was standing next to Woojoo answered.“They would have been happy even if you gave them just lotion.”
“Hey, that’s a bit…”
“It’s true. Scarlet gave out rice cakes as gifts at their first fan signing event.”
“Rice cakes?”
“One of the members had a rice mill at home. Anyway, they gave out just one rice cake each, but the fans loved it. I saw some online reviews saying that they kept the rice cake until it got moldy.”
She pointed at the fans and said, “Look. Their expressions.”
They all hugged their eco-bags and smiled brightly.
“Let alone a rice cake, the things that you guys made yourselves don’t even need to be mentioned.”
Was that so?
Woojoo didn’t know much about that, since he was a singer, not a fan.
He just thought that was how it was, since the staff who was in charge of the fan-related events said so.
Woojoo was grateful that the fans appreciated our gifts.
Woojoo secretly wondered if giving them eco-bags was enough.
Maybe it was the thought that mattered.
As he was thinking that, someone whispered in his ear.
“They really like you.”
“Ah. You scared me.”
“It’s me, Junghyun, Hyung. Don’t be surprised.”
“Please, warn me before you whisper behind me.”
Woojoo was lucky that he controlled himself reflexively, because he felt the sensation that comes from somewhere in his nerves when he was about to tackle someone.
That was close.
Woojoo glared at him, and he rubbed Woojoo’s shoulders as if he was sorry.
“Ah, this feels good.”
The fan manager and the staff who were filming them laughed at Woojoo’s expression of closing his eyes and sighing.
“Hyung, you sound like my grandfather.”
“Really?”
“That too.”
As they were chatting, Minki Hyung and the younger ones came back from the bathroom.
Woojoo laughed as soon as he saw them.
“You guys look like a group of people who drank in the daytime.”
“What are you talking about?”
Rihyuk, who had a flushed face, snorted.
“You’re not any better, you know?”
Well. He was the same.
During the signing time, every time the fans praised him or said something nice, his face got so hot, and now it was completely red.
They looked more like five kids who applied their sister’s blush wrong than a five-member idol group.
The youngest said with a smug face, “I’m sad that it’s over. I could have done more.”
“You would have lost your voice if you did more. Hey. Wang Jiho. How can you talk so much without hurting your throat?”
“That’s because you did all the talking for me, Hyung.”
As they were having a fierce eye fight, Bijoo put his palms on his cheeks that were burning red.
He couldn’t touch them because of the makeup, so he cooled them down with his hands that he washed and became cold.
He asked with a smile, “Were you nervous?”
“Yes, I made a lot of mistakes. I wrote the names wrong, and I said some nonsense while talking.”
“You did well.”
“But I was glad that you were next to me, Hyung. It helped me to follow what you did, just like Han Taehyun Sunbae-nim said.”
“…Did you hear everything?”
“Yes.”
He raised his hand and whispered, ‘I’ll keep the World Cup to myself.’
Woojoo just smirked at that.
As they heard the news that the sound check was over, they looked at the younger ones.
“Shall we go?”
It was time to meet the fans again.
***
A fan signing event consisted of three main parts.
First, there was the sign time, where they gave autographs to their fans. Then, there was the photo time, where we took pictures with them.
And finally, there was the talk time, where they chatted and answered their questions.
“Members, please pick one of these post-its that are written here.”
Today’s talk time was a Q&A session.
It was called <Ask anything you’re curious about the members!> corner.
There were 100 post-its stuck on a panel.
Each of them picked one when it was their turn.
“A promise you made to the members? I have that. The day after our radio schedule, Rihyuk Hyung came back and was sulking all day because I pranked him. So I promised to buy him a robot vacuum cleaner. Yes? Oh, I know, the latest model that was at the expo. What, Woojoo Hyung? Why didn’t I buy you anything? You said you were fine then. Huh? You weren’t serious? Why are you changing your mind now?”
“A member you would take to a deserted island. I would take Seon Woojoo-ssi. What? Why wouldn’t you take me? Don’t you know? Fans, don’t misunderstand, but I went to an amusement park with Wang Jiho and got a rash on my body. He whined all day long. He was hungry, his feet hurt, and he texted me every time he went to the bathroom. No, you did. But what did I say?”
“A personal wish? Um. I want to be more successful and move to a bigger place. And I want to bring my friend who lived with me. Woojoo Hyung, why is the manager making a fuss over there with his mouth? Ah. The friend I mentioned is a hamster I left at my hometown. His name is Ham Sik. He’s a male, and he has a similar personality to Rihyuk.”
“That’s a very good question. What I’m into these days. Ah! I’m reading that. Harry Potter. Every time I do chores, Woojoo Hyung teases me that I look like the house elf Dobby. No, Hyung. You did tease me. I was happy when you said I was a fairy, but I felt really betrayed. Anyway, I’m reading it, but Dobby hasn’t appeared yet. Oh. It’s because it’s the first book? I know Voldemort dies, Jiho-ya. …And he comes back and dies again?”
It was a casual Q&A, but the fans enjoyed it every time they spoke.
Their eyes sparkled.
It was only a 30-minute talk time, but the atmosphere that started from the sign time got warmer and warmer.
“They said we can do two more.”
As Woojoo spoke according to the fan manager’s signal, there was a disappointed reaction from the audience.
They smiled as if they were sorry and looked at each other.
“Then who wants to pick one?”
“Me! I want to pick one!”
“Wow, our maknae is confident. Okay. Jiho-ya, you pick one.”
Jiho approached the panel and looked around.
Rihyuk, who was giving him advice on what to pick, was knocked down by a bright remark, ‘Hyung, you’re such a know-it-all.’
Woojoo smiled as he watched him calm his mind by repeating ‘robot vacuum cleaner’ like an order. When Jiho peeled off a post-it.
“Someone wrote this. They asked what we would do as a promise if we ever got first place on a music show with our song.”
“Ooh.”
“That’s a meaningful question.”
Woojoo nodded at him, who made a face as if he picked well.
Before Woojoo answered, he made a premise.
“First place on a music show, that’s still too far for us. There are so many great seniors and colleagues in the music industry. It’s hard to imagine that we could beat them and get first place. Really, someday, it might happen. That we get first place…”
Woojoo winked at Seokhwan Hyung and the fan manager, who nodded from afar.
The question was good, but a bit risky.
If Woojoo said something wrong, he might get criticized by other idol fans, saying things like ‘They’re so ridiculous, they got first place once with a digital single before debut.’ or ‘They’re so arrogant for rookies.’
So he played it safe.
Woojoo didn’t want them or their fans to get insulted because of this remark.
“It’s such a distant thing, and I don’t have the courage to think about it. Honestly, first place is too big of a goal for us.”
“Hyung. How about first-place candidate?”
Junghyun said.
“Not first-place promise, but first-place candidate promise.”
“Oh, that’s good.”
“I think that’s okay too.”
Woojoo turned his head and saw the audience’s reaction. It seemed like a promise to do something when they became first-place candidates wasn’t bad.
“Then why don’t we each say what we have in mind?”
Woojoo felt like he became an MC.
The people who liked them were the audience, and the brothers he cherished were the guests of the show.
The maknae thought for a while and opened his lips.
“I want to do it in Myeongdong. You know, there’s a famous street there. I want to do a free hug or a performance in the middle of it.”
“I don’t mind if it’s fans. But I don’t want to hug strangers.”
The fans laughed at Rihyuk’s firm answer.
“I will sing the song that becomes the first-place candidate in a female key.”
“Can you do that?”
The song was already high enough to kill them.
The main vocal showed them a smug smile.
“Why are you like that? I’m New Black’s main vocal.”
As the fans sent playful exclamations, Rihyuk shrugged his shoulders.
“Hey, Rihyuk.”
“Yes?”
“Sorry to say this, but we humble Hyungs don’t have a voice like yours.”
The fans burst into laughter.
But it was true.
In the chorus part where even Junghyun dropped out because his voice cracked, singing in a female key was really over the top.
As he ignored the guy who grumbled why he asked then, he turned his gaze to Junghyun.
“I want to try that. Dancing in a Teletubby costume.”
“There are four of them.”
“Oh. I’ll do the vacuum cleaner.”
The room erupted in laughter as he made an elephant trunk with his hands and made a ‘shoosh’ sound.
Ah. Really.
Woojoo tried not to laugh out of pride, but he ended up laughing and making a sniffling sound for a long time.
“Then what about Bijoo?”
“I want to try switching parts and singing? Something like that.”
“As expected, our Bijoo is the best.”
“I wanted to see you rap.”
“I’ll cancel that.”
Woojoo didn’t know why the fans were disappointed.
Actually, when he was auditioning for TJ, he was going to tell them that he was picked for rapping, but he kept his mouth shut because he thought they would make a big deal.
The rap he did then, it raised his empathy level just by listening.
“Myeongdong free hug, singing in a female key, wearing a mascot costume, switching parts and singing. A lot of different things came out. What should we do? How about we decide by voting like democratic citizens? Please raise your hand for a free hug.”
When he summed up the results, the mascot costume and switching parts and singing were tied for first place, and the free hug was last.
Even the members voted, but they only voted for their own things, so the result was half and half.
The decision was now up to Woojoo.
Woojoo was going to choose the safe option of switching parts and singing, but he changed his direction drastically when he saw Bijoo’s eyes sparkle.
“I’ll choose the mascot costume.”
“Huh, why?”
“It’s because of you. You.”
Woojoo poked Bijoo playfully and said to the fans, “But we might have trouble with the characters because of the copyright. If we can, we’ll think about something else that’s cute. Until then, please keep looking forward to it.”
Well. He didn’t know when that day would come.
As he got the signal to wrap up the schedule and ask the last question, Woojoo smiled and said to the fans, “Now there’s one last question left. This time, I’m going to choose. There was one thing that caught my eye earlier.”
It was the post-it he found while wondering how to end the fan signing event.
—Q. What does a fan mean to New Black?
The atmosphere that was laughing until a moment ago became quiet.
“I’m sure this is a question that many of you, including those who came here today, are curious about.”
All relationships were basically insecure.
You knew your own feelings, but you didn’t know what the other person felt.
That was why fans were always anxious.
I like you guys so much, and I support you from behind, but do they just see us as a money source, or a nuisance that follows them around?
They already showed them once with a VCR that it wasn’t like that, but he wanted to tell them again with his own mouth as he wrapped up.
“I don’t think there’s a clear definition of the relationship between idols and fans. There are different thoughts for every 100 people. So what I’m saying right now is just one of those thoughts.”
Woojoo grabbed the microphone and looked at the serious eyes.
“Sometimes we joke among ourselves that we’re not a five-member group, but a seven-member group. What that means is that we can’t do anything by ourselves. We only know how to sing and dance, we really don’t know how to do anything else. Do we know how to schedule, drive, or have a sense of fashion? If it weren’t for the company staff who help us in every way, we wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”
It was a talk for the fans, but somehow the staff were also focused.
“And the other spot is the spot for the fans, I think. Just like the staff who help us, we can’t achieve anything without the fans. Really.”
The company made the process, such as albums or fan signing events, but the fans made the results.
Music show first place.
Who made that, the fans made it.
“Every time I see our members, I feel grateful, and every time I see you, I think of you as a reliable and thankful teammate. That’s what we’ve wanted to tell you since before.”
Woojoo finished with a plea.
“It’s okay if you don’t cheer for us up close. It’s okay from afar, too. I just hope you cheer for us with a comfortable mind. If you look at us like that, we’ll work hard without looking away and show you a good side. Yes, that’s it. This has been New Black. Thank you.”
“Thank you!”
New Black all bowed and greeted them.
But somehow there was no reply.
As Woojoo looked at the silent audience with an anxious expression.
“…”
Just when he was wondering if he had said something wrong.
A very hot reaction started to come back.
Much more than he expected.
***
A few days later.
“Guys! Guys!”
“Why again?”
“We got that announcement!”
“What?”
“You know, they said they were going to vote for the fan club name! That ended today. They just said the results came out.”
“Oh, really? What is it?”
“I don’t know! I haven’t seen it yet because I wanted to see it with you guys.”
“Let’s go in and see. What it turned out to be.”
The members gathered in front of the smartphone with a fluttering feeling.
“Wow, I’m really nervous.”
“Me too, I’m so nervous. What do we do, we have a name now.”
“That’s right. It’s a good thing we didn’t even peek at the fan cafe. We really don’t know what it’s going to be.”
“Right. I feel like I’m opening a random box in a game right now.”
“How do you feel, Woojoo Hyung?”
“I’m so nervous. We’re going to have a name to call our fans from now on. Our whoevers, like this.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh! Here it is, the result!”
When they clicked on the post in the announcement, the voting results came out.
And.
“…”
Everyone looked at one person’s face.
[New Black Official Fan Club Name Vote!! +It will run for 3 days, so please participate]
-Final results view
1st place: Soufflé (85.2%)
2nd place: Teammate (11.8%)
3rd place: Tablet (2.9%)
4th place: New Pink (0.1%)
-The fandom name is confirmed as Soufflé~~^^!!
“…”
Silence flowed for 3 seconds.
Then someone’s voice, denying reality, began to echo in the practice room.