Free Web NovelThe trigger was simple.
“This isn’t edible.”
Citizens who came to Jungpyeong Rest Area after hearing the rumors saw the endless line of cars and gave up.
“They say even if you line up now, you absolutely won’t get in before seven tonight.”
“They say the people who arrived at two o’clock have been waiting for three hours already. We just have to assume we can’t eat it.”
“Why are there so many people...?”
They thought about waiting to catch a glimpse of NewBlack like everyone else, but even that seemed impossible.
First, your car has to be able to get in.
Just as the discouraged citizens were about to drive home again, someone said:
“Have you seen this?”
A post had gone up online.
[They say the original NewBulBaek recipe belongs to Grandma Wooju]
(a heartwarming photo of Wooju handing out bulbaek.jpg)
I asked directly and yes, it’s true
Their eyes lit up at the rumor that there was a separate original source of the NewBulBaek recipe.
“Where is it?”
“They say Gunsan... Gunsan isn’t too far, right?”
When they called to ask if it was open, the answer was that it was operating normally.
And so, just as Yi Seong-gye turned his troops at Hwihwado, a massive convoy of vehicles set off for Gunsan.
And the result was immediately apparent.
“Holy hell......”
The line was so long that Ms Kim Deoksun’s jaw dropped.
“Why would they come all the way here just to eat bulbaek?”
And then.
“...Why are you all lining up?”
The nearby shop owners had come out from behind their shutters and were standing at the front of the line. The owners of the snack bar, the gamjatang restaurant, and the flower shop all wore warm smiles.
“It’s obvious we won’t get to eat if we wait until later. We’ve got to get ours first.”
“Congratulations, Chairwoman. You’ve hit the jackpot.”
She glared at their easy laughter as if they were grandchildren, scratching her head.
“Sookja, what are we going to do about this?”
“What do you mean? Sell as many as we can.”
Ms Kim Deoksun rubbed her eyes as she stared at the endlessly long line.
‘I heard a lot of people would come, but...’
She’d heard that TBC’s dice program would travel the world and that NewBulBaek sales might draw customers away from here.
‘Grandma. Um... there might be even more customers. Our CEO suddenly extended the business hours.’
Ms Kim Deoksun thought that the so-called representative must have done something.
‘Television really is something.’
She clicked her tongue at the sight of what must have been hundreds of people.
Normally she would be happy at the good business, but seeing such a crowd made her nervous.
When she emerged outside, everyone’s attention turned to her.
‘That’s Grandma Wooju!’
Ms Kim Deoksun gave a small, shy smile and addressed the crowd.
“I... appreciate that you’ve come from so far, but there’s a bit of a problem...”
“...?”
“Even if I make all the bulbaek I can, it wouldn’t be enough for everyone here. So I can’t serve all of you.”
Just as she was about to say that.
Hands shot up among the citizens.
“I brought ingredients!”
“I just came back from the mart!”
Laughter and excitement broke out all around.
Ms Kim Deoksun gave a modest smile and memorized the faces of those who had brought ingredients.
They would be the ones in line to get bulbaek for free.
“Then please, come in one by one!”
As people filed in with cheers, Ms Kim Deoksun stepped into the kitchen and started cooking.
‘Business is booming.’
Word of mouth from my grandson had already made this place popular, but she’d never seen so many customers at once.
A hum of contentment filled the air.
“Wow, unbelievable...”
“I can’t believe this hidden gem existed.”
“This tastes amazing...”
Patrons trying the original Grandma Bulbaek gave thumbs up and snapped photos for social media, creating a warm atmosphere.
But not everyone was smiling.
“...What on earth is happening.”
Regulars who had come for dinner blinked in disbelief.
‘The restaurant is...’
bursting?
Completely bursting.
Watching hundreds of people chatting loudly in line, the regulars wore hollow expressions.
“....”
Tears glistened in the eyes of customers who had lost their favorite spot overnight.
After finishing NewBulBaek sales and returning to the dormitory, a call came from Grandma.
[phone vibrating]
“Grandma~!”
“Hey!”
On the video call screen, my grandmother’s eyes were wide.
“If you knew so many people would come, you should have told me in advance! I thought I’d die greeting customers.”
“I’m doing fine.”
“@#$%!%!!”
I mentally filtered out the string of curses.
Aunt ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Sookja and Grandma had been welcoming customers together, and apparently they had come in an endless stream.
“Was it really that busy?”
“I can’t even talk about it. When customers came, it was packed and I...”
“But it was good, right?”
“...Sort of?”
A smile I couldn’t hide appeared on her face.
“How does it feel to profit from your grandson’s fame, huh?”
“Well. It’s not bad... Who hates making money?”
Seeing the vitality in my grandmother’s lively smile warmed my heart. Her face radiated accomplishment and pride.
“I’m sorry to leave you alone on Chuseok, Grandma.”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for. Life is life.”
She waved me off gruffly, and I laughed.
I miss her.
If it weren’t for album prep, I’d go to Gunsan, play with Nabi, go shopping, hang out... ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
Swallowing my regret, I changed the subject.
“By the way, Grandma, I’m not sure yet, but... about releasing NewBulBaek merchandise...”
Her eyes went round immediately.
“You’re selling something like that?”
“They do when something goes viral online. We sold bread, right?”
“They sell bread and bulbaek. You really have a strange destiny.”
“Right? Didn’t I grab food at my doljabi?”
“You grabbed your parents’ hands at your doljabi.”
Oh. Right.
I wondered if that was why I inherited my dad’s composing talent, and my grandmother nodded.
“Well, I’m fine with it.”
“Grandma, if you’re okay, let me know so I can tell the company.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll tell them you said yes.”
Then she made a heart for her only family.
“Happy Chuseok~ Love you, Grandma.”
“Mm-hm.”
“You ‘mm-hm’? Mmhmm?”
“...Fine.”
I hung up with a huff and flopped onto the bed.
“Ah, this is nice.”
I pressed my cheek into the soft blankets and giggled. After a day of hard work, I felt so happy.
“So cozy...”
The maknae lying next to me tunneled under the covers too.
We lay in a row like skewers of tteokkochi: Junhyun, Biju, and me.
“I looked it up: wholesale price for about a ton of pork belly is around ten to twenty million won.”
“Hangjeong, galmaegisal... there are so many cuts.”
After worrying each month for two years and three months over what meats to eat, happiness washed over me.
It was a shame I couldn’t eat much during my diet period, but oh well.
“D-31 until meat.”
“Please, don’t describe our comeback like that...”
Ignoring Ri Hyuk’s words, we lazily danced while lying down.
Then I checked my phone calendar.
There really wasn’t much time left now.
With about a month until the comeback, the only things left were shooting the music video and album jacket photos.
Everything else—drama shoots, competition variety shows—was already in progress.
“Ri Hyuk hyung’s OST is supposed to come out in the drama airing the week after next, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
His OST was slated for the drama premiering at the end of September.
And Junhyun’s mixtape would also be released.
Most of those schedules were already prepared, so practically what remained was practice.
Practicing the choreography for the title track Empire from our full album.
“I really hope it goes well again this time.”
I nodded at Biju’s words.
Success in the entertainment industry is mostly stepwise.
If you can’t get past a certain stage, you stay stuck on that level.
We hoped this full album would push us to the next stage.
“Shall we practice the choreography a bit?”
We flapped around in our beds as if dancing.
Ri Hyuk sighed and closed the Spanish conversation book he had been reading.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Just rest. If you’re so tired, why are you dancing on the bed...”
“Because we have to practice~”
Ri Hyuk smiled at that.
“Why practice on my bed...”
“Ha-ha!”
We giggled as we rolled around.
“Your blankets feel so good, hyung. They smell nice too.”
“I wash them often, so they’re clean.”
“And the room is so pretty. It makes me happy to be here.”
Our laughter cracked the stern look on Ri Hyuk’s face.
“Get out of here right now, you guys.”
“We don’t want to~”
“I said get out...!”
Day after day flew by busily.
Practice, schedule, practice, and more schedules.
While perfecting the choreography before the music video shoot, the sitcom I’m starring in, Our Family Is Alien, was already in its late filming stages.
“You know today’s scene is important, right?”
“Yes.”
“It’s where Kim Wooju’s psychology needs to come through. I want you to focus on that.”
Our Family Is Alien is twelve episodes long.
At the end of episode seven, the secret between Kim Wooju and the aliens would be revealed.
The viewers had been curious since episode one.
The beads the alien leader Seo Noeul examined inside the UFO, and the bead that Kim Wooju carried—what was their secret?
“You can do it, right?”
“Yes!”
In episode seven, Wooju catches a bad cold, and his alien family cares for him.
I lay down on the studio bed.
“Okay, let’s check the blocking! The aliens place wet towels to care for Kim Wooju.”
Seven wet towels were placed on my forehead.
The weight and the dripping water running down from them into my eyes and mouth...
“Ha-ha-ha!”
The alien family erupted in laughter.
We changed it so the towels were only damp and began filming.
“Humans say they put these wet towels on their foreheads to reduce fever.”
“Really?”
“How do you feel, Agent? Should we put on more towels?”
“Ugh...”
“They seem to like it, right?”
Soon the towels piled up like a tower, making for a comedic shot.
We had multiple NGs because I fell asleep during the acting.
“Sss...”
No one who hasn’t experienced it knows that feeling.
I unconsciously lost consciousness and opened my eyes to see veteran actress Okbun and the senior cast and director looking down at me, smiling.
My heart dropped.
“Wow.”
Seo Noeul laughed.
“We praised you for your sleeping-while-acting, but I guess our maknae was really tired.”
“Sleeping while acting...?”
“In our day, we couldn’t even imagine it. The maknae sleeps?”
I apologized profusely, jumped up, and bowed, and everyone giggled and teased me.
“Did I... sleep a lot?”
“About thirty minutes.”
Okbun smiled.
“You were sleeping so soundly, we thought it’d be rude to wake you. So we let you rest.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“My manager told me you haven’t been sleeping more than an hour a day lately.”
“Yes. But I’m managing to sleep in pockets of time.”
Everyone, tired though they were, encouraged me, saying I worked hard.
Thanks to the steadily rising ratings of Our Family Is Alien, the studio atmosphere was always cheerful.
While I continued filming with the alien family...
Jiho’s web drama God and Biju’s project were both in their late filming stages.
“I’ve made up my mind.”
“What about?”
“Next time we comeback, I’m only gonna focus on comeback prep...”
I wholeheartedly agreed.
Thus, as we busily juggled comeback prep and schedules...
[3rd Souffle Week!]
To celebrate 800 days since the souffle’s birth, we held our third Souffle Week.
[About Junhyun’s intuition... tested with scientists]
[Surprise camera—What if “Wooju” appeared to astronomers visiting to see Wooju?]
[Supreme Souffle three-line acrostic contest—prompt: Park Gyuho]
[Ri Hyuk’s puberty has arrived: “Ri-puberty” Ep.1]
[Commentary with Jiho on “God”... today it’s “yo” not “ye”]
Pre-recorded content rolled out one after another.
During the anniversary live, we held various events, and the Souffles’ response was fantastic.
However, when we teased a surprise gift, the reaction was different than expected, which surprised us.
– Is the NewBulBaek recipe being revealed...???
– NewBulBaek recipe ㅠㅠㅠ
– A surprise event to reveal the recipe?
– Guys, is it the recipe reveal?
Normally you’d expect reactions like “Is it merch...?!” but.
Well, that was on us.
“Right. We should’ve done a proper activity.”
“Don’t you think that’s rich coming from the person whose button exploded? Ugh...!”
Anyway, it was true that interest in NewBulBaek was sky-high.
The hottest news in entertainment right now were two Sunday evening variety shows.
One was On The Stage, the national idol audition co-produced by HBS and KM Entertainment.
On The Stage, now in its third week of live broadcast, was a daily hot topic.
– On The Stage captures both ratings and buzz... “A legendary idol in the making?”
– ‘On The Stage’ to release music... “Can they break through the fortress NewBlack built?”
– Sunday variety ratings No.1, On The Stage... this week faces off against NewBulBaek
My face burned every time I saw the articles.
“Why don’t they just call me Jusehan.”
“I’m so embarrassed.”
Entertainment reporters were shouting, “The rival of the national survival audition On The Stage is none other than NewBlack...!” and I was mortified.
It felt like “The rival of the New York Yankees is the Cabbage Thunders!”
The original special title was “Let’s Do Business,” but somehow it became “NewBulBaek Special.”
– Jusehan NewBulBaek Special airs, will Sunday variety ratings No.1 reclaim?
– ‘Jusehan’ PD Gu Jaeyoung: “I was more surprised when booking TNT and Teenspirit”
– Jusehan X NewBlack Special, TBC: “We scheduled four episodes... you’ll see”
Promotions from Jusehan’s side poured out before airing, and viewers responded positively.
– Jaeyoung is serious this time lol
– Idol + top actor + mukbang + NewBlack
– We didn’t know what you liked, so we prepared everything hehe
– They’re using a cheat code
– Oh, it’s that. The rest area riot on the weekend lol
– Gu Jaeyoung >>>> Shin Murok for rebuttal in case of lack of variety knowledge
┕ Evidence?
┕ Fact) M!F scouted NewBlack after they became famous, but Gu Jaeyoung scouted unknown NewBlack from cable
┕ Oh, I admit that
Some said airing a month was overkill, but overall the mood was favorable.
Along with the live broadcasts with TNT and the rest area incident from last week, interest was high.
And our acquaintances were interested too.
Hwiyun [Bros]
Hwiyun [You know we’re all on Jusehan today]
Hwiyun [Please show lots of interest]
LB [Ok ok]
Eunseong [I’ll watch On The Stage]
Yeonhu [Wow]
Yeonhu [After all, not just anyone can piss off Wooju hyung]
I gave Yeonhu a thumbs-up for that.
“Great. Let’s ask them to send us feedback today.”
“Right. Nothing special.”
I asked those determined to watch to let us know if there were any fun moments throughout.
Then we returned to Empire choreography practice.
“Come on, let’s go!”
“Fighting!”
As the music started, we entwined like imperial princes fighting for the throne.
At the same time.
Viewers, excited for Jusehan’s “Let’s Do Business” special, turned on their TVs.
“This really should be fun.”
Expectations were high after the pre-Chuseok idol joint live, actor Lee Gyeon-woo’s NewBulBaek review, and the rest area incident.
– Don’t you think tonight will be really fun?
– We’ll see, but if NewBlack appears it’ll be solid lol
– But it’s a business special, so maybe less comedy, more emotion this time
– I’m rooting for the emotional points
– Do you think NewBlack can be the highlight?
As Jusehan’s loyal fans discussed this, the ad break ended and the show began at last.
The opening preview... was not what anyone expected.
Normally it would start with subtitles proclaiming “NewBlack is on Jusehan...!” and highlight clips, but.
– ??
– Isn’t that from the Chuseok special?
– Looks like the 2014 broadcast
They replayed the famous 2014 Chuseok special chase scene with legendary black goat Daegil, the goat bleating and humans running away, played so often it had become mundane. It passed like a flashback, then came a caption:
[After finishing the first special shoot]
[A.]
[Why?]
[I think I left my phone behind...]
[Phone?]
[I think I left it at the restaurant earlier... uh...?]
The production team panicked as they watched something.
[What is that?]
[What is it?]
[Hey, camera—film this.]
Just as viewers leaned in, the black-box footage shifted perspective to a 6mm camera recording from behind the vehicle.
Something in a black hood bounded alongside the car, then ran parallel to it.
[Junhyun-ssi...?]
Junhyun ran beside the car, smiling warmly as he held up his phone, and the footage cut smoothly.
Then, title cards:
[They return, all the more upgraded]
[Jusehan X NewBlack Special, starting now!]
“Wow, fuck...”
“That guy needs an English name like Jon Nasero.”
“This is insane...”
While boys in one dorm gazed dreamily at Junhyun, viewers blinked.
‘What did I just see?’
And from that moment, Jusehan’s live ratings began to climb steadily.
