Free Web NovelWhen I woke up I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
A luxurious hotel room.
Staring at the pre-dawn sky outside the window, I tried to calmly recall what happened yesterday... yeah right.
“Ugh!”
I threw off the bedsheet and bolted for the bathroom. I clutched the toilet and dry-heaved for a long time.
I was lucky.
What I ate yesterday cost a whopping fifty-nine thousand won for a single serving.
Even if nothing else, I’d never live down vomiting up such expensive meat.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and leaned my head against the cold bathroom wall for a long time.
My head throbbed painfully.
At that moment the light suddenly turned on and I turned around to see our Kim Deok-soon standing in her pajamas.
“Are you okay?”
“...Uh, Grandma. My stomach’s just queasy. It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“You’re croaking like that ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) and you expect me not to worry after you keeled over at the barbecue place and made a scene?”
“......”
Now that I looked, deep shadows lay under Grandma Kim Deok-soon’s eyes.
At first I thought she hadn’t removed her eye makeup, but they were dark circles.
Could it be...
“Grandma, did you lose sleep because of me?”
“No.”
“You should have just slept...”
“I told you I didn’t. Why’d I stay up all night next to a drunk who passed out?”
She wasn’t wrong—that much was clear from her tone.
“Why wouldn’t it be pretty when you...”
“Is this fool still drunk?”
“Ugh!”
While I dry-heaved again, Grandma Kim Deok-soon’s thick hand patted my back.
After a long moment I found myself sitting dazed at the table in the hotel room.
It was 5 a.m.
I saw the black cityscape outside.
In the reflection of the window I watched Grandma Kim Deok-soon unwrap cup noodles one by one.
I brightened.
“I was about to have something to settle my stomach...”
“They’re mine.”
“......”
“Want one?”
“No thanks. I won’t eat.”
Two cups of noodles were ready.
Since we had a live broadcast later, I sipped only a little of the broth, but it still eased my stomach.
As I savored the spicy, salty soup I slurped like a toddler in unison with Grandma.
“...So who brought me here?”
“Junghyun carried you in.”
“Thanks for your trouble... but you covered my face when you came in the hotel, right?”
“You hid it with a mask. You weren’t in a wheelchair or anything—you looked like some chaebol chairman. Everyone laughed at you.”
“......”
I was doomed. How would I face the rest of the family in the morning? I covered my face with both hands and muttered.
“I’m gonna get you back, Wang Ji-ho.”
“Just don’t beat him up too badly. He already got chewed out by his sisters yesterday.”
“Serves him right.”
Where would a minor get booze? My inner Confucian flared up.
Grandma laughed.
“Still, the kid was good. They stayed until one in the morning.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. They said they’d wait until you woke up. Four of them standing around you like lost puppies. It was so funny I took a picture.”
“...Haha!”
I laughed as I looked at the photo Grandma took on her phone.
Like grandchildren around an elderly relative on their deathbed, my siblings sat around the bed and looked down at me.
“I can’t live like this, seriously.”
“They thought you weren’t waking up so they made a video with your phone before leaving.”
I opened the phone album and saw a video. Curious, I tapped play.
Four heads bobbed into view at the front camera.
“One, two, three, hello. We’re your siblings.”
“Why are we greeting them?”
“Isn’t it weird not to? I feel awkward if I don’t say hi before I talk to the camera.”
“Fair enough. I concede.”
“It’s an occupational hazard.”
“You greeted too, so don’t act objective.”
“Yeah, soju-mix.”
“Grandma, scold him for us!”
“Kids. Don’t fight. It’s a letter to Woo-joo in your hearts. You don’t know when he’ll wake up...”
“Hyung, Woo-joo-hyung is alive.”
There were ten minutes of footage after that so I stopped it.
Something more important occurred to me.
Yesterday’s variety show.
Seeing the missed calls, messages, and chat notifications piling up on my phone I clicked my tongue.
“Seems people watched the show more than I thought.”
“Director Ne just told me it was huge. I got Bijoo to mash my phone for me because I was curious and there were tons of articles. I was amazed reading them.”
“Oh? About what in particular?”
“How gutsy that monk was. He said his great fortune starts this month...”
I covered my ears dramatically.
At my antics Grandma’s mouth formed furious shapes, spitting out consonants like ㅆ and ㄲ.
Of course she was pissed.
But I had a secret weapon to calm Grandma Kim Deok-soon down.
“Grandma.”
“What is it?”
“I have something I earned from being on the show.”
“What is it, you little brat.”
I opened my bag and pulled out a box wrapped in multiple layers of paper to keep it from crumpling.
“Open it.”
“What is this? The print’s so tiny I can’t read it.”
“A first-class package tour voucher.”
“...!”
Grandma Kim Deok-soon’s eyes widened as if she’d touched a golden ticket.
Her tightly clenched lips relaxed, her eyes softened, and I smiled with satisfaction.
Money really is the best peacekeeper.
6:30 a.m.
In the cool air that gave me goosebumps, we said our goodbyes to family in the hotel lobby. freeweɓnovel.cøm
They planned to have breakfast at the buffet and then head home, and we had to go to the salon for makeup.
“Grandma, text me when you catch the bus at the terminal.”
“I got it so keep your head straight. If you mess up naming pastries on air again it’ll be a total embarrassment.”
We shared a final hug and climbed into the Grand Carnival. We opened the windows and waved to each family member.
Only after they became dots in the distance did we feel we were returning to our routine.
Minki hyung tuned the radio and spoke.
“Yesterday’s show was fun.”
“You watched it too?”
“I had to monitor it. My folks watched with me at home. When I told them I’m your manager they were so proud.”
Our road manager laughed, saying our younger relatives begged her to get our autographs.
Then she gestured at the incessantly flashing phones.
“All of that is messages about you.”
“...This?”
“Amazing, right? Reporters who never reached out before are calling. A cable network asked about our schedule.”
“In total, four have contacted us on the way here.”
Because of that the company went crazy and held a staff meeting on Chuseok.
They said they’d fill us in after today’s recording—the news was all good.
If there was any bad news...
“I want to post something for fans.”
“Minki hyung, can we post a little message? Something small for fans...”
“No.”
“Then at least a proof shot for social media.”
“No.”
At the road manager’s firm refusal my siblings looked at me with pleading eyes.
I shook my head too.
“We’ll post after today’s broadcast. It won’t be late.”
“But fans must be curious about our reaction. We should leave a message...”
“I understand that feeling. But let’s hold off a bit longer.”
I wanted to brag, “Did you see us on the show?” but the company wouldn’t allow it.
I agreed. Reporters were already scouring fan cafés and official SNS for any scoop.
From GBS cable’s ‘On Location’ reruns to our old remarks, everything was being reevaluated.
In this situation we had to be careful with every word and action.
We couldn’t squander our luck.
My siblings looked dejected but accepted it eventually.
Still, I thought the fans would understand.
Besides, the company’s official account would be posting many Chuseok greetings and reality videos today.
-[2014 Chuseok Greeting] Strong and Powerful Morning! Hello, we are NewBlack
-[Chuseok Special] #1. The Origins of Chuseok (feat. Professor Seo)
-[Chuseok Special] #2. Making Songpyeon (feat. Biju)
There was also a video for the event winners showing how to make songpyeon, and one of us in hanbok playing yutnori.
Junghyun broke the yut sticks and everyone burst into laughter.
Right.
Let’s postpone the online fan meetup and focus on the schedule ahead.
“Hello! We are NewBlack!” fгeewebnovёl.com
Every time we passed PBS staff in the annex corridors we greeted cheerfully.
Usually they glanced and walked on, though occasionally someone greeted back and they’d laugh among themselves—probably about yesterday’s show.
We arrived at the public studio at 9 a.m.
Two hours before broadcast, amidst tangled camera cables and equipment, we greeted the PD leading the setup.
“Oh, NewBlack. Long time no see.”
He was already familiar with us.
The team that planned today’s PBS live Chuseok special ‘2080 Music Quiz Show’ also produced ‘Ha Seung-ju’s Music Café’ which we appeared on.
The PD, script tucked under his arm, laughed.
“Your variety show response was great yesterday. At this rate it’ll be hard to book you next year.”
We all smiled warmly at his joke.
Then he half-shouted a scolding at a staffer’s mistake, almost cursing.
“......”
I forced a smile and crossed the humid public studio.
The participants—celebrities and civilians—waited in the audience.
Our approach caught their attention as they leafed through scripts.
The first to react wasn’t a celebrity.
“Oh? ...NewBlack?”
In that moment we froze.
It was the first time since debut that people recognized us first.
