Chapter 136:

Chapter 136:

Comeback! New Black

Lunchtime.

As the staff members grabbed their coats and went outside one by one, New Black gathered on the sofa in the break room.

On the table, they placed a smartphone stand.

And they took out the lunch boxes they got from their management team.

“Alright.”

Woojoo rubbed his palms and said, “Let’s open our lunch boxes first.”

As everyone opened their lunch boxes at the same time, a sigh escaped.

Not a good one.

Jiho stuck out his tongue.

“Seriously, I know it’s from my dad, but... at this point, I feel like something is rising up from my stomach.”

“Today it’s grilled chicken breast.”

“At least it’s not boiled.”

“True. We should be grateful and eat it.”

Inside the lunch boxes, there was grilled chicken breast.

Lately, Jiho’s father had been sending them diet lunch boxes.

They were so-called hoho lunch boxes for dieters.

Chicken breast salad.

Woojoo looked down at his and handed it to Jiho.

“Jiho, there’s a heart drawn with mustard here. It’s yours.”

“Ah. Really. I have to tell my dad to stop doing this. I mean, this makes me look like a baby. I’m already a grown-up.”

...said the youngest, who was met with scornful smiles from his brothers.

Rihyuk snapped his plastic fork.

“Stop whining, you idiot. When are you going to grow up? And it’s not ‘already’, it’s ‘finally’. What’s ‘already’? Onion?”

“Onion. I want to eat onion.”

“That grilled onion from the tripe place was so good...”

“If I had a time machine, I would go back to then.”

The younger ones looked blankly at the air.

They had been like this lately.

New Black was on a strict diet for their second album activities, and they were all suffering from hunger.

Thanks to that, their abs were showing, but they were at the age when they should eat a lot.

Rihyuk scoffed as if it was ridiculous.

“Don’t act like you’re the same age as me.”

“Hey. How much difference is there between you and me?”

“Four years is a lot. When I was in sixth grade, you were in high school.”

“True.”

“Hey, Junghyun. Don’t agree with him. Rihyuk. Didn’t you hear the story that Oseong and Haneum were best friends in the Joseon era, even though they were five years apart?”

Then the youngest’s eyes sparkled.

“Oh. Then can I use informal speech?”

“Do it. Do it.”

“Woojoo.”

The youngest’s random remark made them all laugh and clap like seals.

The youngest shook his head.Fịndd new updates at novelhall.com

“Ah, but... it doesn’t feel as good as I thought. It feels weird and nauseous. I guess I’m meant to be the cute youngest,” he said, and they laughed and picked up their forks.

As they started to eat the dry grilled chicken breast, Bijoo tapped the smartphone on the stand.

It was to watch a mukbang.

They ate chicken breast with their mouths, but they watched a food program with their eyes, and brainwashed themselves that what they were eating was not chicken breast.

But Bijoo played a random video.

-The title is ‘Starlight’.

A fan meeting scene filled with the cheers of Soufflés.

As the video uploaded on the company’s YouTube played, the angry eyes of the mint chocolate fans turned to the main dancer.

“Bijoo.”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t you say you prepared a video that would make us full just by watching?”

“Yes. With the love of the fans...”

“Well... that’s nice, but let’s watch something else. We.”

Bijoo looked sullen, and Junghyun stepped in.

“I knew he would do this, so I prepared one. Hyung.”

“Oh, Junghyun.”

“Our tripe fairy prepared a video, I’m looking forward to it.”

Soon, Junghyun’s phone was on the stand.

The video started to play.

It was a scene of a young lion trying to hunt a gazelle, only to get slapped in the face and roll over.

-Oh dear. Leo failed to hunt again today! Haha!

As the sarcastic voice-over narrated, the sulky lion walked away towards the sunset.

“...”

They turned their heads at the same time, and Junghyun spoke.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“Where do you feel that from...?”

“Leo failed to hunt and is starving. But we don’t hunt and get this much food.”

“That’s not a good way to think, Hyung.”

“Right. Kim Junghyun. Reflect on yourself.”

“Uh... that’s not what I meant.”

“Yeah. I’d rather watch Daegil eat cabbage, Junghyun.”

“Oh. I have that. Here.”

“Put it on. Please.”

After being scolded by them, he muttered ‘poor Leo...’ and left him alone. They ended up turning on the TV in the break room.

A food show with sushi.

They watched it with full attention and played a skit among ourselves.

“Wow, Junghyun Hyung. The tuna sushi you’re holding with a fork looks so delicious.”

“No, this is spam sushi. Can’t you see the seaweed wrapped around it?”

“Soy sauce shrimp... that looks tasty... I’m chewing on soy sauce shrimp right now. Soy sauce shrimp.”

“Why are you doing this too, Hyung, seriously. I’m not going to participate in this pathetic skit.”

As he said that, Woojoo’s phone vibrated.

It was a short text from Director Jo.

-Next to

Next to? Woojoo tilted his head as another text came.

“Yes, I did.”

“You don’t have to do that, you know? We care more about your emotional well-being...”

“It’s okay, team leader. I can leave a greeting video.”

Woojoo smiled and said that, and the PR team leader nodded as if he understood.

But he looked at Woojoo with a worried expression.

He was probably concerned about his birthday being the same as his parents’ death anniversary.

He looked at Woojoo with a slightly sad eye, so Woojoo smiled at him again.

Why was he like that? It was really fine.

***

As they started working on the visual concept for their second album, they finally had a big change.

It was their styling.

At the studio of Hwang Taeseon, the photographer they hired for their album jacket, Woojoo was showing off his new look.

-What changed about your hair?

“It went from brown to black.”

-Really?

“Don’t you care about me?”

-How would I know? I’m not your girlfriend. Anyway, it’s so dark that I can barely see it. You’re such a crybaby...

Woojoo lowered his volume by three levels as he saw the staff members nearby laughing.

-Show me Bijoo and Junghyun.

“Hello. This is Kim Bijoo and Kim Junghyun, transformed into Seon Woojoo~”

-Don’t do that nonsense.

“...Seriously, I’m never giving you my photo card.”

Woojoo then turned the camera to the other guys sitting next to him.

Rihyuk and Junghyun, who dyed their hair in brown tones, and Bijoo, who bleached his hair brightly, waved their hands.

“Hello!”

And then.

-Oh my, Jiho’s hair color looks like he soaked it in radish soup. Why did you make it so pink?

“Isn’t it pretty?”

-Well, it depends on who’s looking.

“You’re just like Woojoo’s grandma...”

The youngest, who dyed his hair red, made a sullen face, and Mrs. Kim Deoksoon on the screen laughed.

They also laughed with her, but then they controlled their expressions as they saw the youngest glaring at them.

After introducing his brothers, they had a warm conversation with Grandma.

-Tell me what you want to eat on your birthday.

“Really?”

-Yes.

“Then make me some lobster.”

-You... #$#%#%

Woojoo switched to mute for a while as various animals corresponding to the 12 zodiac signs filled the screen.

As they were having a loving conversation, Minki Hyung called Woojoo.

“Woojoo! You’re up first.”

“Okay! ...Grandma, I’ll be back.”

-Okay, don’t be rude! Be humble. You got that?

She nagged Woojoo with concern until the end.

Woojoo was about to end the call with a smile when Bijoo reached out his hand.

“Hyung, can we talk to Grandma a little more?”

Woojoo wanted to say ‘No, Kim Deoksoon is mine’, but he didn’t want to be petty, so he generously handed him his phone.

Then Woojoo bowed his head and approached Hwang Taeseon, who was welcoming him.

It was time to work again.

***

H Studio in Gangnam District

The camera approached the four members who were gathered in a dark corner.

On a small screen below, the leader was squinting his eyes in the studio.

Woojoo: What? Did you guys eat snacks without me?

Jiho: Hahaha! Look at Woojoo Hyung’s eyes popping out.

Bijoo: How could we eat without you, Hyung.

Woojoo: (Satisfied)

The question from the production staff in the VCR.

Production staff: What are you doing there?

Everyone: (Turning their heads) Uh... that.

The ones who had vampire-like makeup brushed off the cookie crumbs on their lips quickly.

(Bijoo) There’s a complicated situation, Hyung.

Production staff: What did you eat just now?

Everyone: No?

Production staff: You have a cookie bag in your hand.

Jiho: (Quickly handing it to the production staff) Now you’re an accomplice, director.

Rihyuk: Let me feed you quickly.

The members’ faces as they eagerly offered the cookies made the production staff laugh, and it was captured in the VCR.

Bijoo: Actually, we’re trying to prepare a birthday event for Woojoo Hyung... But we can’t think of any ideas. We had to eat snacks to fill up on sugar.

Junghyun: Yeah. Yeah.

Rihyuk: It’s a scientifically proven fact. You need sugar to make your brain work better.

As they said that, they discussed the upcoming birthday event for Woojoo in front of the reality camera.

Production staff: How about a hidden camera or something?

Everyone: (Gasp)

Jiho: Absolutely not. That’s the kind of taboo...

Rihyuk: Taboo rule.

Jiho: Yeah, that. There’s a rule that we can’t surprise Woojoo Hyung. He’s a human weapon...

Meanwhile, the screen changed according to the members’ story, and Park Kyuho, the President of Lemon Entertainment, made a surprise appearance in black and white.

A scene like a cable TV reenactment drama.

Woojoo turned his head sharply, and Park Kyuho’s surprised eyes were close-up.

The camera work was chaotic as the ground shook, and the middle-aged man’s acting of holding his waist and groaning in pain on the floor.

While the members in the studio laughed and flipped over, there was a serious discussion going on in the screen.

Rihyuk: How about this?

The members responded to his whisper-like words.

And when he was about to explain the details.

The episode ended with a preview and moved on to the album production.