Chapter 131:

Chapter 131:

A black hoodie and a hat.

That was my work outfit, and as soon as I appeared on the screen, the jeers poured out.

My siblings all went “Aye~” in unison.

“Wow, what a dramatic shot. When did you start wearing makeup for work?”

“Makeup? That’s my bare face, everyone.”

“That’s not your bare face.”

Junghyun looked at the screen with a hawk’s eye.

“Your eyebrows are different, hyung.”

“My eyebrows are a bit fickle. I guess they were in good condition that day.”

“Wow, you’re really shameless.”

With Rihyuk’s exclamation, Bijoo started to laugh.

He seemed to like my weird jokes.

His long fingers, holding a dried sweet potato, pointed at the screen.

“But, ajusshi, what shade of BB cream did you use? 13?”

“Rihyuk-ah. The fans are watching too, so don’t make trouble.”

“Our Soufflé needs to know the truth.”

“That’s right.”

I smiled brightly at the chat window, where ‘ᄏᄏᄏᄏ’ was rising in real time.

“Is anyone here curious about Rihyuk or Jiho’s dark and secret past? Raise your hand, please. I’ll tell you.”

The chat window became busy right away, as if the eager breads were raising their hands here and there.

-Hand!

-Hand here!

-ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏLook at Jiho and Rihyuk’s faces

I put my hand on my mouth and pretended to whisper, and the two brothers said politely.

“Oh, I was mistaken. You’re totally bare-faced now.”

“I thought you wore makeup, but you have mineral skin. Oh, is it called water glow?”

I chuckled at the change of attitude of my brothers.

They tended to be annoyed when I dressed up for TV and acted like it was my usual look, because I didn’t care much about my appearance.

Of course, there were some exceptions.

“Bijoo-ya.”

“Yes?”

“Let’s do the capture later. I’m busy.”

“Oh. But you looked really cool just now...”

Bijoo made a regretful expression as he kept pressing the capture button.

I was running out of laptop space, so I couldn’t keep it all.

Last time, at the music cafe, he pressed the capture button so much that one folder took up a huge amount of space.

Junghyun pointed at the laptop screen.

“Oh, the scene changed.”

The A&R team staff appeared on the screen.

That’s strange.

They weren’t the kind of people who wore such neat clothes...

The composers, who had dressed up for the broadcast, gave interviews.

-It was amazing. Woojoo brought Fireworks as his self-composed song, and as soon as I heard it, my head went ting.

-I cried. (Why?) I had already planned to secure the title song in advance... but it all fell apart.

-I think he’s a fast learner. I’ve been watching him since Something, and I was moved by his recent Night Sea.

I looked away, embarrassed by the compliments.

While the fans and my siblings were teasing me, the scene changed again.

This time, it was our members.

-He was extraordinary from the first time he came. He boasted that he would do a difficult arrangement in one day.

-Rihyuk-hyung lost miserably in a bet then. (No, I didn’t! I only lost a little.)

-We always talk about that. If it wasn’t for Woojoo-hyung, we wouldn’t have made it this far.

I said with a smile.

“Now it’s flattering.”

“That’s right.”

We smiled warmly at each other and looked at the distant mountain.

Then, the video of the Night Sea composition process on the company’s YouTube, the headlines of the articles about the success of Fireworks and Night Sea, and the majestic BGM followed.

This was really embarrassing.

It felt like I was watching the great biography of the glorious comrade Seon Woojoo, made by a dictatorship.

“Please don’t misunderstand, everyone. The reality show producers made it look so big for the broadcast.”

I cooled down my flushed cheeks with a water bottle and waited for the next scene.

“...Huh?”

"I thought the screen went off, but then a drowsy voice popped out from the screen.

-Seokhwan hyung.

That was the call that started it all.

‘Oh, no!’

The embarrassing call I made to the director played back.

The melody was hummed for security reasons, and only the first note was heard before it was beeped.

I erased the sound that leaked out of the laptop speaker with a loud ‘Ahh!’ every time my voice came out.

Junghyun smirked and asked.

‘Hyung, but the fans are not watching this here, they are watching it on their own TV at home right now.’

‘Oh.’

‘I’m smart, right?’

‘...’

While they were laughing at me saying ‘Seokhwan hyung, I’ll buy you pork cutlet~’, the chat room was filled with pork cutlets.

I teared up as I saw it.

Then, Director Jo Gyuhwan was sitting in the office and giving an interview as the producer of New Black.

The laughter of the production team was heard first.

-(Did you eat the pork cutlet?) Yes. I even took a proof shot.

A proof shot popped up on the screen with a click sound.

So that’s why he asked me to take it that day.

I lowered the level of the gift card I was going to send to the director after the broadcast.

From tiramisu set to bagel.

-Our kids have received a lot of attention while they were active. But there are also a lot of parts that didn’t get attention. I always felt sorry that I couldn’t show the true colors of these talented kids as a producer.

He went on to say this and that.

-...For that reason, through this reality show, I want to show the fans of New Black how the members participate in the album production and their production process.

In simple terms, that’s what he meant.

The gap between the debut in June and the comeback in November was long, so he was going to throw some hints about the second album through an eight-part reality show.

“A meme?”

“Yeah, the idol kid who eats well.”

“Oh.”

He remembered.

Two weeks ago, New Black came and made a record-breaking sales and left.

That’s when he understood the reactions of those who asked how they knew.

‘They were fans of New Black.’

Lately, as he saw the gradually increasing sales records, the faces of New Black members flashed in his mind.

‘Then...’

The next day.

Seo Ji-hyung printed out huge screenshots of the reality show where New Black members appeared and stuck them on the wall.

He also wrote a phrase on the wall where they had sat.

[↓ Where New Black members ate]

He looked at it and smiled contentedly.

Then he thought of someone.

Someone who gave him this great opportunity.

Joonhyun said.

“But the reality show is getting reactions from unexpected places.”

“That’s right. Hyung, same with the album tracks.”

I nodded.

We worked hard on the reality show for our fans, but it surprisingly got attention from elsewhere.

Before the reality show aired, there were few people who sent us songs for the second album contest, but the number increased a lot after the first episode.

There were some pretty famous ones too.

According to Director Jo, the scene where I appeared in the reality show became a hot topic among the composers.

It was more of a curiosity than a compliment, as they thought I was a ‘strange kid’, but anyway, it was good news for us.

It meant we could make our second album more diverse and rich.

Of course, what was most important to us right now was the official fan meeting that would take place before the album.

“Let’s talk again about what we should give to our fans.”

We sat in the lounge and spread out a paper, exchanging various ideas.

The topic was the gift for our fans.

From food to photo cards, to giving them eco-bags again, there were different opinions.

“No, let’s try something different this time.”

I said.

“Eco-bags or food are things we can only give to those who come to events like fan signing or music shows.”

Rihyuk agreed.

“That’s true. They are gifts that can only be received by those who come to the site.”

“I want to broaden the scope a bit. There are people who want to come to the fan meeting but can’t.”

“What about those who come to the fan meeting?”

“We’ll give them something else too.”

“Ah, I get it now.”

The younger ones finally understood what I meant.

I wanted to take care of the Soufflés who couldn’t come to the fan meeting, as well as those who did.

To deliver our hearts to everyone equally.

“It might be a bit difficult.”

Bijoo said.

“I talked briefly with the promotion team earlier. They didn’t say it outright, but it seems like the budget is over.”

“That makes sense. We upgraded the venue too.”

The atmosphere became somber as we thought of the cancellation fee for the small theater and the weekend live hall rental fee.

Joonhyun asked.

“Should we fold paper cranes? Paper is cheap.”

“Do you have the confidence to fold as many as the fan cafe members?”

“Hold on.”

He tapped his phone calculator and nodded.

“If I start folding paper cranes right after eating, it’s possible.”

“...I see.”

“Paper cranes are a no. Let’s think of something else. Something that will make the fans go wow.”

“Should I film a cute video?”

“Put it in.”

I shook my head.

There were various suggestions, but none of them seemed convincing.

The problem was money.

What could we give them that wouldn’t exceed the budget like the last time with the eco-bags?

Then, Rihyuk asked me something that reminded me of something.

“Right, speaking of gifts, you said that last time on Chuseok. You said you’d buy me a vacuum cleaner.”

“Oh, that.”

“When are you going to buy it?”

“Just wait a bit. There’s a weekly sale this month. It’s a waste of money to buy it now.”

Rihyuk nodded as I said that, and then something flashed through my mind.

The keyword was weekly sale.

An event where products are discounted for a week. I thought of the so-called Black Friday overseas and the Black Friday Week for the week with that day.

My head started spinning fast.

We named the fan meeting event Soufflé Day, so...

I quickly explained to the younger ones what came to my mind.

An event that wouldn’t exceed the budget realistically, and that all the fans could participate in.

“That sounds good.”

The most picky main vocal of ours agreed, and Bijoo said with a serious face.

“Hyung, but.”

“Yeah.”

“...Let’s keep it a secret that you got the idea from the weekly sale.”

“Ah.”

Naturally, I decided to keep it a secret.

Some time later. On the fan cafe of New Black.

[The New Black 1st Fan Meeting – Soufflé Day]

A news that would make the fans jump with joy came out.

The first official fan meeting.

As everyone was happy to see the group poster with the schedule and the venue, another notice was posted.

It was a strange title: [Soufflé Week].