Free Web NovelTeen Spirit.
They’re a fourth-year boy group that debuted in 2012.
They boast exceptional visuals even on MOP, whose motto is “Visuals above all.” True to their reputation, they’re a gathering of handsome boys, each with a different vibe.
There’s leader Hwiyeon, who looks like the protagonist of an online novel, and then there’s Yeonhu, whose refined features make you think he’s great at art.
Truly a variety of faces. And then...
“Damn it, we’ve gotta make room for guests—whose chips are all over the sofa? You’ve got ten seconds. Confess.”
“It’s not me. It’s Lee Yeonhu.”
“If you ate them, clean up. Are you a five-year-old?”
“It wasn’t me!”
Every one of them swore like sailors. As they snapped at each other, hunting down the culprit, we laughed awkwardly.
Just then, when “fuck” and “damn” flew like hail, Woobin—who looks like he could write 100 Ways to Scale a School Wall—offered us candy.
“Want one? These are glucose candies.”
“Oh?”
“Tastes just like blueberry—Apollo brand. Saw you struggling with the choreography. This will hit the spot.”
His rough face cracked into a friendly grin. For a moment, I thought “hit the spot” might mean “hit the floor,” but the candy was indeed delicious.
“Mmm—”
“Not bad.”
As we savored the melt-in-your-mouth sweets, the chaos roared on.
“Ugh...”
Woobin clicked his tongue, watching the others yelling “Who spilled chips here?” Unlike our maknae, who’s a little terror despite his quiet looks, Teen Spirit’s youngest was the calmest.
I glanced back at Jiho; behind me, our maknae poked his head out.
“Why?”
“Nothing...”
“Why you staring like that? Think I’m ugly or what?”
I smiled warmly and nodded. On the other side, Yeonhu protested his innocence.
“I’m telling you, I didn’t do it. It’s so unfair—why won’t you believe me?”
“...Seriously?”
“I swear!”
After a moment’s solemn stare, the Teen Spirit members softened.
“Damn, sorry, man. Chill out...”
As they made up in a flurry of “My bad!” and “No, I’m sorry!” Manager Wonseok stood beside us, his face registering culture shock as he watched the handsome troublemakers.
We exchanged pleased grins. Meanwhile, the Teen Spirit managers, their expressions so tight you could see their ribs, bowed stiffly and greeted us.
One of their road managers, with a serene look, explained, “They’re not usually so feisty in front of guests. Please understand—they’re just going through puberty and are extra sensitive right now.”
“...?”
“Yeah, they hit adolescence recently...”
I stifled a laugh.
“At that age, emotions run high...”
He indicated the members hugging each other, “I’m so sorry!” “No, I’m sorry!” Their eyes glimmered with genuine apology. My brothers and I stared off into space, trying not to laugh.
They debuted two years before us, yet they were only now hitting puberty—makes sense, since except for twenty-year-old Hwiyeon, all the others were still high schoolers. I remembered reading while in the army, “Average age 15.4—youngest idol group ever!” MOP had rushed these trainees out to stop their stock’s slump after Daydream’s tepid results.
I murmured, “It’s kind of amazing...”
“What is?”
“That we’re all meeting like this.”
Biju tilted his head. I smiled.
When I was in the army, I laughed, “Kids these days debuting so young...” But now, seeing those once-child trainees as our seniors felt surreal.
“I’ll clean it up.”
“No, I will.”
Teen Spirit immediately made peace and began tidying, then invited us over with a wave.
Hwiyeon beckoned us. “Please sit.”
“Oh, yes.”
Surrounded by Teen Spirit, we awkwardly perched on the sofa. Hwiyeon spoke up.
“We were gearing up so hard for NewBlack to come, but when we saw chips on the sofa, we lost it...”
“That’s understandable,” we nodded. “You’re going through puberty.”
“Oh, by the way...”
Hwiyeon scratched the back of his head. “K-Net said the cameras would arrive, but they’re running about thirty minutes late.”
“...Yes?”
“What do you want to do?”
“What should we do?”
I crossed my legs and answered politely. My brothers stifled laughs.
“Hm, yeah—what shall we do?”
“Wanna play a board game?”
“...Board game?”
Another Teen Spirit member pulled a backpack over and opened it: Hali Gali, of all things.
“They’ve got Jenga too.”
“Oh—nice.”
With thirty minutes to kill, we decided to chat rather than play games.
“Oh—by the way, we watched your ‘Nine’ MV.”
“It was so awesome, hyungs.”
“You looked so fierce. We can’t pull off that vibe since ‘Gunflower.’”
They stared at us with shining eyes, saying, “Your MV was epic!” We smiled, cornered by their enthusiasm. Then our maknae, comfortable among peers, asked,
“Why don’t you do a strong concept?”
“We almost did, but the directors saw the choreography and shot it down immediately.”
“...Why?”
“They said fans like the fresh vibe. Told us to wait until we’re older for something edgy.”
“Ah...”
Their reasons were completely different from ours: we felt too sheltered for edgy concepts, they felt too convincing at it to do anything else.
“I’d crush a police car with no problem.”
“Right? Wanna riot.”
We laughed at these rebellious dreamers. Somehow the vibe relaxed. I’d thought this group would be the most awkward with us, but we clicked better than expected. Watching Yeonhu’s eyes light up as he watched Junghyeon play futsal at the idol Olympics...
“...?”
Something had changed. At first I thought we were comfortable because we’d succeeded, but that wasn’t it. It felt like they had changed.
“Wow, insane—so all your titles were self-composed? ‘Windflower,’ ‘Nine,’ all of them?”
“How did you take down that SWAT instructor? That was awesome.”
“Hyung, what workouts do you do?”
Teen Spirit peppered us with questions, eyes sparkling. And it wasn’t just me.
“How did you nail that dance break? You’re so flexible.”
“Hyung, what protein do you take?”
They stared at Rihyeok and Junghyeon—our peers—with innocent admiration, like middle schoolers hearing high school tales.
“....”
What was this? When we first met, I thought, “Who are you guys?” Now it was, “You’re unbelievable.”
“Hello! We’re Teen Spirit!”
“One, two, three—hello! We’re NewBlack!” free𝑤ebnovel.com
“Woooo!”
Returning to their bright-boy looks, Teen Spirit applauded us with broad smiles. NewBlack clapped back just as cheerfully.
“The vibe here is amazing!”
“Visuals versus visuals—feels like we’re in a flower garden!”
Wild’s two interns, acting as MCs, bantered to warm up the atmosphere.
“Today’s special guests are Teen Spirit and NewBlack!”
“Please introduce yourselves to each other!”
We kicked off with NewBlack.
“Hello! I’m Jiho, NewBlack’s sub-vocalist and maknae cutie! Please look after me~!”
“Woooo!” Teen Spirit cheered loudly. As we took turns introducing ourselves, they looked on with big “ooh” expressions, as if we glowed from behind.
“Heh-heh!”
“Heh!”
Laughing at each other’s jokes, Teen Spirit murmured in awe, “Even if they look gentle, these hyungs are fierce...” Such fascinating people.
NewBlack.
A five-member idol group under Lemon Ent. who debuted last June. Counting their pre-debut days as Something, they’re about one year and seven months in.
Teen Spirit’s first memory of us was on a music show early last year. Their own release was buried by our debut song Something, which shot up like a comet over TNT—so much so that they couldn’t even clinch third place.
“Hey! Did you hear an un-debuted rookie made the list for tomorrow’s number-one contenders?”
“That’s bullshit.”
“No, look—it’s NewBlack!”
“Lemon Ent.? Isn’t Scarlet over there?”
They only remembered “that rookie group from the company with those scary older sisters.” When they came to greet us in the waiting room, seeing the five of us huddled with Sang-won, they thought, “Oh, those rookies.” I recall TNT yelling, “Galhyeon-dong Hero’s here!” but that was about it. Otherwise it was a blur—except for someone’s “Please love us, Soufflés...” which made me laugh.
Next time we met was when NewBlack filled in for an event. “Some ‘Black’ group is doing a fill-in—who are they?” “That Soufflé group, right?” Only when they saw our faces did they remember our name.
“Thanks so much.”
“No problem at all.”
I still recall their pale, rain-soaked smiles. From then on, we were on their radar.
Then things got really interesting.
“Did you see this?”
In Ju-sehan’s Chuseok special clip, someone fought a black goat.
“Check the charts—this is nuts. TNT got overtaken in digital sales.”
The rookie group’s song “Masquerade” was vying with top idols for chart supremacy. Eventually, they took first place. When they swept Rookie of the Year, we thought, “Wow...” but that was just the start.
“At that white triangle—he’s so fast...”
“You should’ve seen Daegil hyung playing futsal. Looked like a thousand-armed statue.”
“What’s going on? Eat, then shoot arrows?”
“Was he on the basketball team?”
They shocked and awed idols at the lunar New Year Olympics. Then this spring they broke records with “Windflower.”
“Man, what’s this song? It won’t budge from number one.”
“Deserved—it’s so good.”
“Wow, people actually stream it.”
“That’s public taste, dummy.”
“Windflower” ruled the 2015 charts all year. Everyone was sure it’d win Song of the Year at the year-end awards. That was the moment NewBlack’s image shifted from “rookie” to “hot idol.”
Every move they made felt awe-inspiring. They’d taken three years to catch up to TNT, but NewBlack was nearly on their heels in just one year.
“How did they do it...?”
After “Nine” succeeded again, Teen Spirit had Googled us repeatedly, each time bowing their heads in respect.
“How do you beat that goat?”
“His acting’s insane.”
“Those lines—no one pulls that off after lunch.”
“His lung capacity—what’s up with that? Does he have gills?”
Each member’s stats were through the roof. But what amazed them most was...
“All their songs were self-composed...?”
Our leader’s compositions. Just as a great song is essential for a singer’s success, NewBlack had someone delivering those songs.
When asked by the MC, “Mr. Uju, you composed ‘Nine’ yourself—does its title have a meaning?” Uju smiled.
“Nine is the last number. We wanted the vibe of ‘burn up the final moment and party hard.’”
Teen Spirit’s eyes widened.
“Oh, that’s the meaning...”
“Wow, that’s deep.”
“I thought it meant ‘nine-year-old heart.’”
Maknae Woobin’s remark made us all jump—then burst into laughter.
“Actually that was part of it, too.”
Their ability to land a potentially awkward joke perfectly showed their entertainment instincts. Amid the soft atmosphere, the “Switch Songs” corner began.
Then...
“Piece of cake, right?”
One of our members, smiling kindly, launched into Nine’s complex choreography flawlessly. Only then did they remember.
“That must be the Clay Teacher everyone’s scared of...”
They recalled Clay Tyler warning, “Watch out for B in NewBlack.” He did look formidable: kind smile, but one misstep and you’d wonder, “What am I doing here?”
Soon Teen Spirit picked up the Nine choreography.
“Wow...!”
“Incredible. It’s exactly how we imagined the original Nine!”
“It suits you so well...”
NewBlack mobbed them with exaggerated praise, eyes sparkling. Then they instantly launched into Teen Spirit’s “Feel So Good” choreography.
“...”
Watching them adapt with the right feeling so quickly, Teen Spirit members gasped in admiration.
“This is nuts...”
“You really practiced.”
“You learned it the day before?”
Waves of respect passed through their eyes.
“They’re such good hyungs...”
Our first week back was a triumph. The pre-recorded stages with our Soufflés were warm and heartfelt. With the album’s success setting a festival mood, we toured K-Net and all three major networks’ music shows, then on Monday we checked MyTube with proud smiles.
“Wow...”
One week in, the MV topped ten million views. We stared at the number, dazed. Performance videos from this week’s comeback also boasted high view counts. Among the hottest was the Teen Spirit × NewBlack content on K-Net.
– “Professionals are on another level; watch both of their expressions totally change.”
– “lol Teen Spirit looks so perfect.”
– “22222 can’t sense any awkwardness.”
– “They swapped parts and it works so well—NewBlack pulls off fresh, Teen Spirit nails the edgy.”
– “Teen Spirit’s acting chops are on point.”
– “Every time Hwiyeon’s shot, I can’t take my eyes off him.”
– “This is why pros are called pros—our sweeties must’ve worked their asses off pulling off that strong concept.”
– “Now I just want to cuddle our gentle boys.”
– “Both groups are so cute—like ‘woaaa!’”
– “You can tell NewBlack practiced—so adorable.”
It seemed idol fans loved our joint content.
“Thank goodness.”
“Right—they feared sucking, so they practiced nonstop.”
“Seemed like Teen Spirit hyungs were pleased, too.”
All our hard work analyzing and practicing choreography paid off. It was a win-win: our earnest preparation for senior hyungs earned genuine goodwill. Had we bragged, “We practiced for you,” they might’ve scoffed—but learning humbly from scratch had the best effect. Because of that, after the shoot, Teen Spirit asked for our contacts—they clearly liked us.
“But that video’s # Nоvеlight # going up soon, right?”
“That one?”
“Yes.”
We’d prepared a special video to thank fans for ten million views: the average nine-year-old children from the Olive House ad dancing the original “Gogi Song” choreography. I wondered how Soufflés would react.
“They won’t notice, right?”
“No way they will.”
While my brothers shook their heads, I checked my watch.
“Shall we upload it now?”
Today’s Monday. It was time to hear from our manager about Neon Black’s results. As my brothers nodded and stood from the floor...
“Hmm...?”
Our maknae’s eyes went wide—he’d spotted something odd online.
“Hyungs, did you see this?”
