Free Web NovelThe moment I stepped out of the car with a trembling heart, my whole body shook.
Because it was cold.
It was truly the kind of weather that called for saying it was disgustingly cold.
The breath that escaped between my lips turned into a mist that blurred my vision.
Every time the wind whooshed in between my suit trousers, goosebumps stood up.
If this had been near our dorm or the company, I’d have wrapped myself in scarves and paddings, muttering “Oh, it’s cold, so cold,” but right before my eyes, flashes were strobing.
“Look over here! Over here!”
“Woo-joo! Woo-joo!”
“Right here!”
I was too busy adjusting to the exploding light that nearly blinded me to appreciate the red carpet itself.
“One two three, hello. We are New Black!”
We bowed to the crowd staring at us and then took the lead.
Unlike the front, where cameras were lined up, from mid-way on there were many ordinary spectators.
Bundled up in scarves, padded jackets, and masks, they covered their mouths with pamphlets as they whispered to the person next to them or raised their phones to snap pictures.
Each time we passed, they greeted us with bright smiles.
I glanced back to see how the younger members were doing—they were doing all right in their own ways.
Smiling softly, bowing their heads, waving their hands.
Sometimes they did both at once, probably so nervous they didn’t even realize they were doing it.
But I couldn’t scorn them when I saw it.
I was doing exactly the same.
Every time we passed, idol fans could no longer keep their faces frozen; their cheeks twitched and burst into laughter.
...I feel like we could do better if we tried again.
Swallowing my regret, I waved my hand with a bright smile.
Soon, we climbed a couple of steps at the end of the red carpet and stood in front of the “2014 MCA” photo wall emblazoned with sponsor logos.
Papapap—
With the flapping of a hundred shutters, flashes erupted everywhere like a swarm of moths.
The male and female MCs holding microphones beckoned us forward.
“New Black, please come over here!”
“You’re all such handsome men!”
Andrew, the Chinese member of Daydream, and announcer Jung Hyo-jin, dressed in suit and gown respectively, greeted us.
I recognized the latter’s face from once before.
She had hosted the festival in Icheon City back when Teen Spirit was late, and had struggled through with us then.
She looked genuinely pleased to see us.
“You’re truly the rookie boy group that set this year ablaze! You’ve been nominated for the Rookie Award today, right?”
“Among rookie groups this year, you broke a million views on your MV in the shortest time, and your songs swept the charts—it’s no exaggeration!”
While Andrew praised us in fluent Korean, I kept averting my gaze.
It felt embarrassing.
Like being first in a surprise quiz and feeling happy, but having the broadcaster come over and announce, “Here is the surprise quiz top scorer!”
What we did was real, but hearing it like achievements made me self-conscious.
Fortunately, the interview began immediately.
We answered questions about the concept behind our different-style suits and demonstrated the point choreography from our song when asked.
After talking about our feelings on being Rookie Award nominees, we stepped away from the MC desk.
“But no, not there!”
“Biju, that’s not it!”
“Uh, really?”
“You need to go back there. Yes. That was New Black.”
As I quickly pulled Biju back when he took a wrong turn, laughter burst out among the crowd.
“Ugh, I’ve got a runny nose.”
“Me too.”
“I’ve been holding mine in for so long.”
Even with hot packs inside our jackets, at minus three degrees it was truly, really, exceedingly cold.
“Achoo!”
In the end, we sneezed in unison, sniffling. While making our way behind the MC desk, Ji-ho asked with an excited face.
“Hyungs, our press photos must have come out great, right?”
At the same time.
Thinking we’d sneezed off-camera, New Black’s photos were being uploaded in real time.
[Photo] New Black, “Uhechwi!” ... ‘It’s so cold today!’
[PhotoOne] New Black at MCA, handsome men’ unexpected charm ‘Uchwechweche’
[Picture] ‘Oh my, he’s got a Rudolph nose’ New Black’s maknae Ji-ho
These headlines spread instantly on idol communities watching the red-carpet event live.
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Seriously the reporters’ headlines are insane lol they already have dozens of sneeze sound varieties
Uchwechweche what even is that lol
They’re so cute lol their pale cheeks are red and they’re shivering
Maknae’s wet nose is like a country puppy
2222 lol
They’re adorable every time I see them lol
When the stylist team sighed “These aren’t the clothes we picked for this,” and Director Yoon Seok-hwan and two managers gave nervous laughs, one unexpected GIF became a hot topic.
What’s this guy’s name!!!!
He’s New Black’s Woo-joo
He’s insane we need to export him overseas
It was the shot of Woo-joo laughing mid-interview while sniffling.
By lucky timing it looked like he was winking his nose as he laughed, a side profile.
That GIF spread across communities in no time.
Who’s the one winking their nose????
He’s an idol. New Black’s Woo-joo. He was on “Jusehan” recently!
Wow... modern idols can have such beauty too, surprising
I rushed here because they said there was a hottie
Isn’t he prettier than actors these days?
Meanwhile, in the waiting room, New Black members watching these reactions on a tablet PC turned their gazes to one spot.
It was Woo-joo in the corner, eyes closed, touching up his smudged makeup.
While everyone else was a runny-nosed mess, only the leader survived unscathed, and the others watched him enviously.
......
Seeing his makeup done with more intensity than usual, I understood why.
His white face, glossy lips, sharp nose bridge, and deep eyes combined to form natural shading.
A three-dimensional face.
The curve from his rounded forehead to his sharp jaw, combined with the fitting suit, made me think that a photo couldn’t capture his real appearance.
Only then did I think, That’s right, Woo-joo hyung is handsome.
Woo-joo opened his eyes and lifted a water bottle as if it were a wine glass.
He wore an expression like a scene from some foreign movie where fireworks go off behind him.
“Have a drink. You runny-nosed guys.”
......
It was infuriating how infuriating it was.
Award ceremonies are commonly called ‘parties of the stars.’ freewebnovёl.ƈom
It means that many famous people attend, and today I felt that word more than anyone.
From the waiting room until we went on stage, I gaped at the faces we passed in the hallway.
From the hottest girl groups and boy groups in the music scene to famous actors attending as presenters.
Among them, we were the only rookies who debuted this year.
“Hello, we are New Black!”
Each time we met someone, we bowed and greeted them, and everyone returned the greeting warmly.
There were members of Teen Spirit saying “Congratulations on the Rookie Award,” and Girls on Top offering brief “Congrats”s.
Joanna, Autumn Girl, Daydream, and so on.
Their congratulations felt like “Welcome to join us at this event”—a feeling of being overwhelmed by the attendees’ caliber.
Just as I was making a dazed face, a small, white, rice-cake-like face bounced up to greet us.
It was Daisy, the maknae of Scarlet.
“Congratulations!”
This unfamiliar person celebrated us with a big “Yay!” while they’d been dancing among themselves.
They were the four-member girl group Scarlet dressed in black outfits with feathered wings.
“Guys, congratulations!”
Their leader Ara laughed cheerfully, giving high-fives to our members, then turned to me with a surprised look.
She looked like she was thinking, Are we meeting for the first time?
She then clasped her hands together like meeting a parent for the first time.
“Uh... hello, Mr. Woo-joo. I’ve heard a lot about you. They say you take good care of your members.”
“Ah, hello. Nice to meet you.”
Shaking hands politely like a formal introduction, our younger members next to us burst into applause and laughter.
At first, it felt a bit awkward.
Unlike our younger members who chatted happily, I hardly knew anyone but Daisy.
But the atmosphere was warm and friendly.
Their outgoing personalities made it easy to talk comfortably in no time.
“Let’s all shout ‘Wowaah’ together!”
“Wowaah!”
...Before I knew it, we were all jumping up and down shouting encouragement.
When we were freed from that and headed to the stage, I found myself blinking in disbelief.
“...It feels like I was caught in a whirlwind and just released.”
“But compared to your usual, that’s you being totally toned down with new people. Normally don’t even talk. It’s like Ji-ho squared, seriously.”
Ri-hyuk shook his head with an out-of-it look.
“What did I do wrong? It’s just... Biju hyung?”
......
“Don’t pet me while smiling sweetly.”
At that moment, Jung-hyun asked.
“But why does everyone we meet say congratulations on the Rookie Award? The ceremony hasn’t even started yet.”
“Probably because apart from us, there are no other rookies attending.”
Although several nominees for the Rookie Award were chosen, we were the only ones invited.
It was virtually decided already.
Of course, that didn’t guarantee anything.
Last year, TNT, who’d shown excellent performance, attended and ended up empty-handed after a weird Trend Award despite winning one early on.
Last year the mood was to shower awards on Sixty Seconds.
As I thought that, the lights dimmed and the ceremony finally began.
After singer Joanna’s first solo performance since her debut with a girl group, the MCs’ banter continued.
“Now, we’ll announce two of this year’s TOP 10 first.”
“Girls on Top, and Cha Woo-hyun! Congratulations!”
Various segments followed, like the contest to take selfies with sponsored phones, but none of it caught my attention.
I was anxious.
Trembling.
During the veteran singers’ performances, we applauded but our minds wandered elsewhere.
The members were the same.
They smiled as usual but clapped with dazed faces.
It was probably because of the Rookie Award.
Unlike other awards, it’s only given once in a lifetime during your first year.
Even artists who win Daesangs say in interviews “I really regretted not getting a Rookie Award,” so it means a lot to everyone.
As I swallowed hard, the moment arrived.
“Now, the Rookie Award, which singers can receive only once in their lifetime, will be presented by last year’s winner Lee Ji-hoon and his entourage.”
The three-member folk group famous ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ from an audition program appeared wearing sunglasses.
After leader Lee Ji-hoon delivered his trademark greeting, a VCR rolled.
[The super rookies who set K-POP ablaze this year!]
...read the embarrassed caption, showing MV clips.
Street Boys, Blink, Serenity, and others among this year’s Top 5 rookies were mentioned.
At the end, the caption displayed “New Black” and our name appeared, prompting a small but intense cheer from the audience.
Meanwhile, we sat stiff as statues, swallowing hard during the entire VCR.
Lee Ji-hoon opened the envelope with the winner’s name. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
There should have been only us attending, so I wondered why I was so nervous.
“And the 2014 Mango Chart Awards Rookie Award is....”
He smiled broadly and said.
“New Black! Congratulations!”
In that moment, I almost jumped up and shouted.
In my head I was screaming “Woaah!” as we rose gracefully from our seats with our younger members.
“Guys.”
“Hyung.”
Seeing my younger members’ relieved smiles, I finally relaxed and smiled too.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
The singers in front rows stood and clapped to congratulate us.
I smiled and greeted Girls on Top, whose lips trembled, and Senior Jang So-won who said “Congrats, you little ones.”
“Congratulations, Woo-joo.”
Leader Goo Sun-woong from TNT also greeted us on behalf of his group. We made our way through the singers.
Walking that aisle while the standing-room crowd looked up was so nerve-wracking that my legs trembled.
“Congratulations.”
After receiving the trophy from Lee Ji-hoon and his entourage, I stood at the standing mic with my younger members huddled around me.
In the bright spotlight, more than ten thousand pairs of eyes were on us.
Counting those behind the cameras, it was ten times that.
Our families, company staff, and our fans, Soufflé, were all watching.
Clutching the trophy tightly, I quickly opened my mouth.
We had 1 minute 30 seconds for our acceptance speech.
“First, I want to thank the people I’m grateful to.”
I yielded the mic briefly to Jung-hyun.
Our rapper ran through the names of those to thank like fast yet composed rap.
“Thank you so much. Lemon Entertainment’s CEO Park Gyu-ho. Producer Director Jo Gyu-hwan...”
After laughter rippled through the audience and watching artists, I returned to the mic.
“We....”
My throat tightened and I cleared it before speaking.
I hoped I wouldn’t cry.
It felt like my body was urging me, “Hey, now’s the time to cry.”
Biju placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a gentle smile.
“Yes, this year has been unbelievable from even before our debut. We...”
Though I recited the prepared speech, I wasn’t sure if I was saying it properly.
I only glanced at my younger members whose eyes were glistening.
I fought to keep my vision from blurring as I continued.
To someone else it might be just an award, but to us it meant more than anything.
No, to me especially.
Today, memories of my past at TJ Entertainment kept flooding my mind. At first I didn’t know why, but as I spoke my thank-you message I realized the reason.
“I think nothing is ever guaranteed.”
As a trainee, I subconsciously believed that like other TJ seniors, once we debuted we’d immediately win Rookie Awards and concerts in arenas like this.
But after debuting and promoting, I realized that wasn’t true.
Nothing is ever guaranteed.
Fans don’t just come on their own, and chart rankings don’t just rise by themselves.
Every single achievement must be earned.
And even then, sometimes only barely, even when we all worked together.
That’s why I’m grateful.
To my younger members who worked so hard this year, to our company staff, and above all, to the fans who brought us to this Rookie Award stage.
So finally, I delivered my last thank-you message.
“And to Soufflé, thank you so much.”
Sincerely.
“I hope our time together feels like an instant even though we’ve been together for a long time. Thank you truly.”
“Thank you!”
As the hall echoed with applause, my younger members and I carried the trophy back to our seats.
Walking back with a light heart, the maknae whispered to me with rosy cheeks.
“Hyung, I feel so good.”
“Me too.”
It was the best day of my life.
