Chapter 69:

Chapter 69:

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.

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.