Free Web Novel[udadadadada]
“ihihihihi!”
“huiik!”
On the second-floor hallway, Ri Hyuk adjusted his glasses and continued reading his book.
As he tried once again to focus on John Keegan’s explanation of the interwar period between World War I and World War II.
“ihihihihi!”
“huik! Get away!”
“hihohya!”
[udadadadada]
“.......”
Thud.
Ri Hyuk snapped his book shut and exhaled deeply.
I won’t lose my temper.
These people are always like this—making racket near someone else’s room when it’s almost midnight.
“Sigh.”
He muttered to himself, breathing deeply to maintain inner peace.
Despite that, the chase didn’t stop.
“huak! huaak!”
“hihohya!”
Ri Hyuk removed his glasses and moved toward his bed.
He buried his face in the pillow and let out a roar of anger, then opened the door and stormed out of the room.
[tudadadadada]
“Jiho-ya! Wait a second!”
“Ah, what is it!”
On the first floor, the maknae and the oldest brother were facing off across the sofa. Ri Hyuk sighed as he descended the stairs.
“What’s going on, making such a fuss at this hour?”
“Ri Hyuk, you’re just in time!”
“.......”
The leader’s eyes gleamed as he smiled, blood still at the corner of {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} his mouth.
At the thought, Finally they’ve revealed they’re not human...! Ri Hyuk wondered—when Wooju spoke up.
“I just told Jiho to stand still for a moment, but he absolutely won’t. I said I need to talk to him for a minute.”
“Clean the blood off your mouth first! Honestly, I thought you were crazy!”
Jiho, still wearing his gaming headphones, looked thoroughly startled. The headphone cable swung at his waist.
How did I end up on a team with these fools? Ri Hyuk thought ruefully as he pulled a tissue and handed it to the leader.
“First, wipe your mouth.”
“Oh, right.”
Meanwhile, in response to the commotion from the living room, Biju and Junhyun emerged from their rooms.
“What’s wrong?”
“Wooju hyung burst into my room with blood dripping from his mouth, shouting ‘hihoya! hihoyaaa!’”
“.......”
Biju blinked and moved closer, “Are you okay, hyung?” just as the leader addressed the gathered members with important news.
“I got word from Seokhwan hyung about our first-week sales.”
“First-week sales? Ah...!”
They realized it was Sunday night.
The term first-week sales made their hearts pound. Biju swallowed and asked,
“How did we do? Better than last time...?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, that’s a relief......”
Biju sighed and sank into the sofa.
Alongside him, everyone’s heart rate quickened. They’d heard it was better than last time, but by how much?
“So, how many copies did our album sell this time...?”
The leader finally handed them his phone.
The sheer length of the number caught their eyes: a six-digit figure in the hundreds of thousands.
“Oh...!”
The leading digit, six, made Ri Hyuk’s heart stop.
[613,8**]
Junhyun stared with his mouth agape.
“That’s six hundred....”
“Six hundred thirteen thousand....”
Jiho snatched the phone from his eldest brother and brought it close to his face. The other three did likewise.
They stared at the smartphone like Paleolithic humans who’d discovered the device for the first time.
Six hundred ten-thousand?
They’d sold 610,000 copies in a week.
Jiho pounded the sofa and asked urgently,
“And how many did we sell at ‘Falling Flower’?”
“That was 360,000 copies.”
They’d braced themselves for around 400,000 as a solid result.
But this was unprecedented.
If it had been merely good, they’d have cheered, but the overwhelming figure sent chills racing down their spines.
Their collective gulp echoed through the silent living room.
“.......”
They stared at each other in stunned silence.
Ri Hyuk asked,
“TeenSpirit sold... last time?”
“Around 560,000 copies, I think.”
“.......”
Could this be real?
That thought tangled in their minds. He remembered being awed by TeenSpirit’s first-week sales last summer.
How had this happened? Is this really okay?
Before joy could swell, fear gripped them—a fear of the unprecedented situation.
“Uh....”
At that moment, the leader, smiling broadly, opened his arms and said,
“Everyone.”
“.......”
“We hit a jackpot.”
Tension melted away instantly.
When Ri Hyuk regained his composure, he found himself bouncing on the carpet with the others, shouting in exhilaration.
“Waaaah!”
“Yaaaay!”
Arm in arm, they leaped across the carpet, joy and euphoria coursing through them so intensely it felt like it could withstand the end of the world.
It was their first genuine number-one in album sales—something they’d only dared imagine.
“Ri Hyuk hyung, are you crying again?”
“No, I’m not.”
He sniffled and shook his head, even as Biju exclaimed from among the bouncing members,
“But it’s past the time the downstairs neighbors should be asleep.”
“Oh...!”
They halted their celebration, hands still joined, and caught their breath.
“.......”
Smiles kept tugging at their lips for no reason.
Ten seconds later,
“......!”
“......!”
The five of them writhed silently like penguins in a joyous, wordless cheer.
As the singers celebrated their historic achievement, the Supple fandom felt similar excitement.
“Wow, wow.......”
Their voices rose in admiration.
[NewBlack 1st Full Album “DEEP BLACK” First-Week Sales Final]
Distributor Report: 613,8xx
Approximately 613,800 copies.
That was 50,000 more than the 560,000 copies TeenSpirit’s comeback album recorded this summer.
They really broke through 600,000...?
By day six of first-week sales, they’d wondered if they might surpass TeenSpirit’s record—but on the final day they rocketed past 600,000.
An absurd figure.
With NewBlack at number one on 610,000 copies and TeenSpirit at 560,000, the next highest was this year’s “Star : Into the Black” with 360,000.
Below that was in the 200,000 range.
‘Crazy...’
Fans everywhere were stunned.
Meanwhile, Supple members huddled together expressing joy.
In this industry where nothing’s certain until it happens, even the fans hadn’t predicted this.
They were elated but also worried.
‘This is going to cause a stir.’
Such a predictable reaction, given the circumstances.
Sure enough, SNS and idol community boards exploded with posts.
‘This really caused a stir.......’
TeenSpirit fans, furious, were in full revolt.
They argued that even in metrics where NewBlack had dominated, the album sales now gave them the final stronghold, and NewBlack had claimed that too.
They’d always said NewBlack was popular with the public, TeenSpirit had fandom—now even that line blurred.
‘I get why they’re upset.’
Number one can only go to one.
Moreover, TeenSpirit’s year-end album is a repackaged album—typically selling less than the original release, except in rare cases.
So until next year’s full album, NewBlack held the first-week record for the year.
And there was no guarantee TeenSpirit would dominate again later.
‘Momentum is what matters.’
After hits on national shows, NewBlack even scored with a studio album.
No matter the claim that NewBlack had mass appeal and TeenSpirit had fandom, the facts couldn’t be denied.
Fans narrowed their eyes reading the comments.
‘They’re crossing the line.’
Some started posting rebuttals and evidence against the fabricated rumors.
It would be best to let it lie quietly, but trolls stirring the pot only made the boards chaos.
While intense debates raged, most reactions leaned toward NewBlack’s lead.
Soon the comment mood shifted again.
Readers blinked at the false equivalence—“They started it!” they thought.
When they struck back, they were told to quiet down.
It felt like a strategy to paint fans as the villains since NewBlack’s rise was unstoppable.
‘This is hardcore.......’
Opposition that seemed mild before had turned into an all-out war.
‘It’ll be noisy until year-end.’
Maybe it was a rite of passage.
Similar fan wars had flared between TNT and TeenSpirit; peaceful handoffs never existed here.
As things settled somewhat, posts analyzing the situation began to appear.
[But it’s really astonishingㅋㅋㅋㅋ (NewBlack First-Week Sales Trend)]
2015: 70,000 (Wind Flower) → 120,000 (Nine)
2016: 220,000 (Winter Sleep) → 360,000 (Falling Flower) → 610,000 (Empire)
Crazy growth ㄷㄷ
The attached graph shot almost vertically upward.
From 70,000 to 610,000 in just over two years—nearly a tenfold increase.
Especially this year: triple growth in one year.
Everyone marveled at the continued upward trend—domestic and international fans alike kept pouring in.
‘What will happen next...?’
While adaptation was expected, Supple fans realized today that NewBlack had truly claimed number one.
And they wondered what could top this.
They felt unreal yet proud.
For artists and fans alike, it was a sleepless night.
It felt like they’d been up all night.
“Uuuaah......”
Their hearts raced until nearly 5 AM, reality feeling distant.
Stupid thought, but sleep felt like it would steal everything away, so they couldn’t rest.
In the morning, they woke sprawled on the sofa with their younger brothers.
“You’re up, hyung?”
“Uh......”
Junhyun, in sweats, towel-drying his hair, looked just out of the shower.
“You sleep?”
“No. Everyone else was asleep, so I went to the gym to work out.”
“I envy your stamina.”
Junhyun’s body seemed to emit a white mist in a lasting hallucinatory effect. freёwebnovel.com
Biju, checking if he was asleep, reached into the fridge and held up a water bottle.
“Want to see something cool, hyung?”
“No.”
Like a waiter, Junhyun poured water from the bottle into his mouth as if from midair.
Ignoring his proud gaze, Ri Hyuk checked his phone.
The charts still glowed with their full album entries, and “Empire” sparkled at number one.
Messages of congratulations lined up.
...From Manager Cho, a photo of the CEO rubbing his eyes and sniffling was attached.
“What should I reply?”
“‘The CEO’s crying face is adorable...?’”
He sent a thank-you message with an emoji.
Still surreal.
Of course, having great album sales didn’t necessarily mean they were finally number one forever, but it felt good.
“These are the things we dreamed about when we debuted two years ago.”
“Yeah.”
Junhyun smiled.
As they chatted, the others stirred on the sofa.
They shook the maknae awake.
“Get up, grubworm.”
“I’m going back to sleep. I’m staying a child of the new nation.”
“Wake up, Jiho hyung.”
“.......”
The maknae perked up, fully awake.
It was 10 AM.
After quickly eating breakfast with tired faces, they stopped by the salon for makeup before their schedule.
Today’s destination: Jamsil.
They’d perform at the Seoul Sports Complex Baseball Stadium next to the main arena they visited for yesterday’s duty-free concert.
“Cheer up, hyung.”
Jiho patted the tense Ri Hyuk on the shoulder in the car.
“Even if you get hit by Junhyun’s pitch, you won’t die.”
“Quiet......”
“Haha! This is so fun!”
It was Game 3 of the 2016 baseball playoffs: Ri Hyuk threw the ceremonial first pitch, then swung at empty air as if batting.
Though he didn’t have to hit anything, he was nervous.
“It’s been fun so far.”
Ri Hyuk gave him a kind smile.
“There were ups and downs, but these will be good memories. I’m glad we did this together.”
“Quiet.”
“Hmm? I think I heard a ghost talking...”
They all laughed with the maknae.
“Here, eat this.”
“Ah?”
Biju offered a lock-n-lock container of apple slices.
“.......”
Biju, why do you look at me with those pitiful eyes again?
Seeing his brothers treat him like someone crossing an uncrossable river made his eyes mist over.
He watched Junhyun still spinning the air with his shoulder.
“Junhyun, take it easy.”
“I’m good at baseball, hyung.”
Junhyun smiled warmly.
“I was on the elementary school team. I never once hit a person with a pitch.”
Then he added,
“I think the catchers got hurt sometimes.”
“.......”
“That’ll be fine.”
His reassurance did nothing to comfort him.
Jiho turned his head and asked,
“By the way, Junhyun hyung, you look really happy today.”
“Yeah, it’s fun to play baseball again. Plus I know someone on the team here.”
“Really?”
“We lost touch, but we were close.”
Today they were doing the first pitch for the KG Dragons, and one of their players from elementary school was on that team.
“I really want to ask if you were always that frail in school.”
The maknae’s bold determination made them laugh.
As they laughed, Ri Hyuk glanced toward the distant sign reading Seoul Sports Complex.
Crisp.
The apple Junhyun had held crumbled to powder in his hand.
“It exploded.”
“.......”
Without realizing it, Ri Hyuk called out to Wonseok sitting in the driver’s seat.
“Hyung, turn the car around. I want to cancel this schedule.”
“We’re already late.”
As their younger brothers clapped and laughed, everything before his eyes blurred.
