Free Web NovelMonday morning.
The staff member at the family restaurant’s counter flipped through the reservation book.
“Let’s see. Three parties for lunch. Five parties for dinner. And...”
There was one party in the morning.
The group reservation listed “Sun Uju +15,” and she remembered taking that booking herself.
They said adults with four children.
Watching through the window before the reservation time, she saw two men approaching the entrance.
“Are those them?”
As she stared, she felt a visual shock.
“Watermelon?”
At first she mistook the outfit’s intense green and red for a watermelon. frёewebnoѵēl.com
A Hawaiian shirt printed with red and green roses, paired with snow-white pants.
Even masks and sunglasses.
It looked exactly like what a ferryman-turned-entrepreneur would wear at a busy port.
But the proportions...
The outfit was middle-aged, but the body was model-perfect, a total mismatch that left her momentarily awed.
Ding.
The two men opened the door and entered.
“Hello.”
The man in sunglasses smiled and greeted her.
“We made a reservation under Sun Uju...”
“Oh, yes...I remember taking that reservation. Welcome. Are your party arriving soon?”
“They’re all on their way.”
She returned a friendly smile and asked,
“So the children haven’t arrived yet?”
“They’re on the way. One of them is here already.”
“...?”
At that moment, the staff member flinched.
She’d been so captivated by the Hawaiian shirt that she hadn’t noticed the figure standing like a shadow behind them.
In a navy shirt and black pants, even wearing sunglasses, he exuded the intimidating presence of a bodyguard—chewing gum in a perfect still stance.
“You mentioned they were our children...?”
“Yes. They’re ours.”
The man in the Hawaiian shirt looped his arm through the other’s, then presented him with a flourish.
With a warm smile, the taller man offered her a bag and asked, “Would you like some jelly?”
She, as if hypnotized, accepted and popped one into her mouth.
Her head spinning, she luckily felt the puzzle pieces fall into place when the man removed his mask and sunglasses.
“Ah...so hot, JungHyun.”
“That’s true, hyung. Should we just stay inside?”
“No, let’s wait for the kids and go in together. But why are they so late? Did Viju get lost again?”
“No. Jiho spotted a crane game on the way.”
“And the others?”
“They’re playing together.”
“How old are they again? JungHyun, can you swap the jelly for another color?”
The staff member’s eyes widened.
“Wow!”
It was a celebrity.
She clearly recognized the idol leader who’d freely shared his cringe history on last week’s ShinTokki.
What was his name again...?
“Yes?”
Seeing the surprise on her face, he chuckled.
“I’m Uju of NewBlack.”
“I’m JungHyun.”
Before she knew it, they were posing for a photo together, and soon the rest of their party poured in.
“We’re here!”
“It’s not even hot, so why were you all wearing masks? Ah...it was just an idol act, huh.”
The idol members chattered as they streamed in with their manager and staff.
She calmly showed them to their table, then dashed to the kitchen as soon as she turned around.
“Wow! Did you know celebrities just came in?”
“Celebrities? Who?”
“NewBlack. The idols.”
“Oh! Them?”
“This is insane. Can I get their autographs later...?”
The kitchen staff, who had been laughing, fell silent in three seconds.
“Wait a minute.”
“They’re not children...?”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to the cake they’d been carefully decorating.
“Can we erase that?”
“If we erase it, it’ll look smudged.”
“...”
“...”
In bold chocolate script the cake read, “Kim Viju, Happy Birthday!”
“...”
“...”
As we approached our reserved table, we were stunned.
Colorful balloons.
Four brightly colored children’s chairs.
“...”
While we stood there dumbfounded, Mingi-hyung, filming with the handycam, burst into laughter.
Other staff rolled on the floor in mirth.
Rihyeok’s cheek trembled as he whipped his head around.
“How on earth did you make this reservation?”
“But I definitely did it properly...”
“I did it properly, but this is what shows up?”
“It’s still not exactly for toddlers, right?”
“...”
Rihyeok pouted, JungHyun murmured, “Interesting,” and Jiho twirled the balloon strings around his finger in delight.
“Ha-ha-hat!”
Today’s birthday boy, whose laughter barrier was one centimeter, finally broke into laughter.
“Sorry, Viju.”
“No, hyung.”
Viju waved his hand and said,
“I think this will be a birthday to remember.”
Then Wonsoek-hyung sent a staff member scurrying over, apologizing and offering to swap out the chairs.
I gave an awkward smile.
“It’s fine if we sit, but our kids have short torsos.”
“Usually we’d say they have long legs, you know, not short torsos.”
The staff member averted her eyes and pursed her lips.
While not tiny, the chairs were clearly not designed for tall bodies.
Jiho said,
“No one can sit in these. JungHyun-hyung would need two chairs.”
“Two chairs, I might believe that.”
True. Even Viju could barely sit on his.
“Isn’t it weird that grown-ups thought they could sit in children’s chairs in the first place?”
...We all turned simultaneously at that voice, like a lightbulb flickering on in our heads.
“Oh...”
“Huh...”
“This is it.”
We asked the staff member removing the chairs for their understanding.
“Um, excuse me.”
“Excuse me, we’ll take the last one.”
Rihyeok shuddered when our gaze fell on him, then shook his head emphatically.
“No, I’m really not sitting. No way. Please, don’t make me!”
“Rihyeok.”
I spoke seriously.
“Just try it once. It’s my wish.”
“Please, don’t ever make wishes about things like this.”
“Rihyeok, you need to manage your expression. There are other people around—aren’t you concerned about your image?”
“The reason Rihyeok-hyung hasn’t seen the bitter side of celebrity sighting reviews.”
“You haven’t seen the bitter side either.”
As Rihyeok dug in his heels with “No way I’m sitting,” Viju’s gaze sparkled.
“...”
“Hyung, it’s my wish. Rihyeok.”
“...”
“Besides, if you sit, our next album might be a hit.”
“Ah, stop with that!”
In the end, the promise of a next-album smash made him surrender.
Rihyeok squeezed his eyes shut, stared at the blue children’s chair, sighed deeply, and took a steadying breath.
Then, in slow motion, he sat down.
And...
Swoosh!
If there’d been a sound effect, it would’ve sounded exactly like that, as if a Tetris piece had fallen perfectly into place.
“Puhahaha!”
Staff and we all gave him seal-clap applause and erupted in laughter.
“I knew this would happen!”
A nearby diner eating pasta suddenly coughed as if choking.
Rihyeok glared at us, cheeks flaming.
“...Just wait until I write my autobiography. Everyone will only leave their name in four-point font in the final footnote.”
His petty vengeance was so small-minded it only made me grin.
“Ah, today’s already so fun.”
Viju, seated at the head table, clapped softly in delight, eyes sparkling at our group outing.
I handed him a party hat.
“Viju, your birthday hat.”
“Wow...this is so pretty. I don’t want to wear it.”
We took a birthday selfie with Viju in the colorful cone hat, then all ordered menus.
“Oh...this is delicious.”
“It’s really good. Heh heh.”
It was my first time at a family restaurant, and it was better than expected.
If I’d known, I’d have come earlier.
In elementary school someone told me these places were for parents, so I never came back.
Each bite of steak released a nutty richness.
I turned to watch Viju slurp spaghetti.
“Tasty?”
“Yes, it’s so tasty.”
“If there’s anything you want to do or wish for, tell me today. Except not to wear flower prints—I’ll do anything else.”
“Uh...oh! I want to try that later too.”
He named things he’d always wanted to try, like sticker booths and arcades, and I smiled.
He must have a ton of things he wants to do.
We’d need a whole day to do them all.
Not just Viju, but the other juniors’ eyes gleamed at the suggestion.
Maybe because music shows were longer than expected, everyone had pent-up energy to play.
Well, one day off is fine.
I decided to shelve my future activity plans and rest for today.
Ta-at—
The lights went dark where we were sitting.
Startled, Viju paused mid-slurp, eyes wide.
“...?”
As he blinked, a strand of spaghetti dropped from his mouth and I motioned to the others.
“Let’s begin.”
JungHyun broke the silence.
“Huh, what’s this...?”
“Wh-what is this situation?”
Kim and Seo, don’t you dare act...
Thud—
Jiho dropped his fork and gasped.
“Wh-what is happening? Why did the lights go out all of a sudden?”
...Don’t do that so well.
Watching the youngest make a disaster-movie-worthy ominous face, I rubbed my temple.
Staff approached carrying a cake with a single lit candle.
“Wow...”
Viju pressed his hand to his cheek and made a pterodactyl sound as we quietly rose.
We all joined in to sing “Happy Birthday.”
“One, two, hot two, three four!”
A staff member strummed a guitar, another held a tambourine, and the rest joined in singing.
“Happy happy happy day! A joyful day, a good day...”
Since we’d memorized the lyrics, it was easy to join in.
Every time we sang, the staff raised their voices higher, clearly getting into it.
We matched their enthusiasm in return.
Jiho danced with napkins in both hands, and JungHyun even threw in some ad-lib rap.
I watched the staff, sweating and singing, completely energized.
They seemed to be having the time of their lives.
It became a contest of who could get more hyped—every time one side raised the energy, the other side raised it more.
“Viju, happy birthday!”
When the song ended and they called, “Blow out the candle,” Viju thought for a moment, then smiled.
“I wish for everyone to stay by my side like this.”
The candle flickered out gently.
“Congratulations!”
As we handed ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Viju the gifts we’d prepared, I thanked the staff wiping their brows.
“Thank you. Our child really enjoys this.”
“Haha...you’re welcome.”
But at my thanks they all just laughed awkwardly, giving me strange looks.
Why were they like that?
I wondered, but a voice calling me pulled me to Viju’s side.
“Working part-time and celebrities show up...”
“I work at Olive House.”
“In the morning a group of twenty-plus came—NewBlack.”
“I thought their wild energy on History Expedition Team was just for show, but it was real.”
“They said it was a member’s birthday and the leader messed up the reservation, so we prepped the children’s event.”
“Anyway it ended as a fun incident...when they charged in with that cake.”
“Oh right, our store’s the one that won first place in the birthday celebration competition.”
“We’re usually social butterflies, great at these events, but today we hit a wall.”
“They wanted to sing along and the manager said, ‘Yes, please!’ but that was the wrong choice.”
“They harmonized and hummed among themselves and completely drowned out our voices.”
“They danced and sang so energetically it drained my own energy.”
“When the rapper dropped in a verse, I nearly clapped.”
“The youngest, who claimed to be the worst singer, out-projected all of us together...insane.”
“But you know how it is—once you start, you get competitive.”
“We decided not to lose and sang our hearts out, but they got even more hyped and pushed harder.”
“That reminded me of that story: a bear and a martial artist. The martial artist gave a real punch, but the bear thought it was play and got excited.”
“Today will go down as the day our branch’s pride cracked.”
“- lolol got wrecked
By the time NewBlack’s visit reviews were quietly spreading online, Olive House’s official SNS had posted a video.
@Olive_House_Korea
(Video of NewBlack singing amidst children’s balloons at Olive House)
“Who’s the special guest at Olive House?”
#Family_Restaurant_Favored_by_Top_Idols #The_New_Black
As the joyful birthday party video silently spread,
a few hours later Olive House’s U.S. head office SNS retweeted it with a meme-style image.
@Olive_House_official
(On the left, a calm childhood photo of Uju under ‘Before’; on the right, a photo of the grown Uju dancing and singing with ‘After’)
“Translation: This Korean child grew up to sing and dance at Olive House. Our restaurant brings joy to guests. Great response. We love NewBlack. We love K-Pop.”
Meanwhile, that day’s video and SNS buzz were also spilling onto idol communities.
A live capture showed Uju with a sad expression saying, “I messed up the reservation...”
[Idol who blew up for birthday party.youknowho]
“- I came for ‘Now Trending’ and only saw ‘Now Trending’ and clicked in
Viju’s birthday ended happily.
We spent the whole day going to a sticker-photo booth, an arcade, and ate the shaved ice he’d always wanted.
We packed ten days of fun into one.
We almost got ambushed by sasaengs, but luckily Wonsoek-hyung handled it.
For the finale we went to the subway ad of Viju put up by our Soufflés and took photos.
“Wow...”
A gifted Soufflé turned a scene from History Expedition Team into a gorgeous poster.
Viju in golden hair, in a hanbok and gat, looking like a scholar-child who topped the national exam—we stared in awe.
From there we toured several spots.
We stuck post-its at each place, each with a single letter so that together they spelled a thank-you message—only someone removed one and it now read, “Offer sacrifices, Soufflé,” which startled us.
Overall, it was a satisfying day.
“I had such a great time today...”
Seeing Viju, relaxed and thankful, filled us all with pride.
At that point we thought the birthday ended normally, but—
“Uju...”
A few days later, on a video call, Seok-hwan-hyung asked with a stunned face,
“You said you went to a birthday party.”
“Yeah.”
“But why are there TV ads playing...?”
“Well, I wonder...”
“Did you maybe visit the head office for business after the party?”
“No. We didn’t.”
We hurriedly explained to his suspicious look.
Maybe because of the online promotion, we’d received a request from family restaurant Olive House to be TV ad models.
JungHyun said,
“That’s weird. We just sang at their place and they offered us an ad.”
“I have a great idea, hyungs,” Jiho said, eyes wide.
“How about next birthday we go to a phone shop so we can get a telecom ad?”
“Yeah. Let’s go dance with balloons there.”
Between laughs, the manager just grinned.
After chatting about this absurd but wonderful situation for a moment, we heard about our schedule.
“Next week your music show run ends. Organize the ad requests you’ve received and start shooting those first.”
We’d finally get to film the ads we’d postponed because of music shows.
Including this Olive House one, it was about five or six places. Two or three TV ads.
As we marveled at the major brands named, we heard one more note.
“Also, remember the K-Net overseas concert next week. We’re going to Japan, right? Everyone, pack ahead. Don’t stay up doing laundry like last time in Singapore.”
“Yesss...”
“Who stays up packing while running the washer all night?”
Next week we’d be invited as performers to K-Net’s overseas concert in Osaka, Japan.
“This time we’ll pack ahead.”
As we made that firm vow, news of my personal schedule arrived.
“By the way, Uju, you have a pre-meeting with the Men on the Go team soon. Do well.”
“Yesss...”
“The shoot’s roughly set for late June to July. It could be earlier.”
“...”
The ads part sounded great—but at that news I fell into a slump.
So this year I’ll do reservist training and join a military variety show too.
My excitement over the lens-company TV ad vanished.
Noticing my mood, the juniors tried to cheer me up.
One of them said they’d still take me along, but everyone clicked their tongues and looked away.
“Guys, let’s head to rehearsal!”
At the manager’s call I ended the call with Seok-hwan-hyung.
I walked with a light step.
I checked the mic pack at my hip, adjusted my head mic to lip level.
Warming up my neck as I walked, some rookie boy-group members from Iris bowed low before me.
“Hello, sunbaenims!”
“Hello.”
We acknowledged them with bright smiles.
“...”
But their reaction was...awkward.
I thought I was exuding senior vibes, but why didn’t it land? I’d worked so hard on my image.
Confused, I smiled kindly at the Iris members and moved on.
“Street Boys are doing their comeback today, right?”
“Yes. They said they’d drop by our waiting room later to check it out.”
Thursday marked the second week of Flower Dance and our seventh week on music shows.
Street Boys had just made their comeback with a new album.
They charted yesterday, and the buzz was good. I hoped they’d do well.
Their concept photos and MV showed they’d bulked up so much—I was curious how they’d look in person.
...Now that I think about it, there was one more person debuting today I’d rather not bump into.
Shaking my head, I boarded the elevator down to the first floor.
Speak of the devil.
Around the corner in the hallway, a five-member idol group turned toward us entering the elevator.
“...”
Before anyone reacted, the tallest of them spotted me and widened his eyes.
“Uh...!”
His crazed gaze flickered with recognition, and I quickly hit the elevator close button.
Please don’t call me weird. Please don’t call me weird.
“Corporal!”
“...”
“It’s me, Corporal!”
Someone ran up cheerfully, leaving the juniors speechless, and I pressed the elevator’s close-door button.
“Who is that?”
“There is. Someone I really didn’t want to run into...”
Below the rising elevator came a thud! and a scream.
