Free Web NovelA more astonishing event occurred next.
Screams rang out from the Korean tourists who had been staring in stunned silence.
“Guwahaaaaaak—!”
Though they thought they were shouting “Kyaa!” it sounded like a chorus of a hundred Tyrannosaurus.
From a distance, waves of cheering rolled toward them.
As something enormous approached and police exchanged frantic radio calls,
“Oh...?”
the vehicle that had been speeding forward slowed to a stop right in front of the studio entrance.
Click.
The door opened, revealing faces well known to the Koreans there.
“It really is NewBlack!”
Before they knew it, they almost waved frantically and shouted, “There they are!”
But there was no time: a tremendous roar shook Broadway in Manhattan.
“Guwahaaaaaak—!”
The Tyrannosaur-like cries of adoring fans.
The members of NewBlack felt their bodies tingle from the deafening cheers and waved back at their fans.
They greeted them in English, and each time the fans covered their mouths and let tears stream down their cheeks.
“They’re so moved.”
To Koreans they were just like beloved relatives, but to these fans they clearly meant something else.
No, even before that...
“Are all these people fans of NewBlack?”
“My goodness, it’s packed solid.”
“You know that guy who was on Joo Se-han’s show? The bald CEO must be doing a great job.”
Whether the agency was good at their job or not, they’d obviously piled up fans overseas too.
While the tourists murmured among themselves, the guide, having asked around, explained.
“This street is usually pretty quiet for Broadway, but today it’s a different story.”
“Guide! Why did NewBlack come here?”
“They’re appearing today on a famous talk show called The Ellen Dale Show, being filmed here.”
“Ohhh...!”
“They say even the police have never seen anything like this. They’re controlling traffic right now.”
The guide smiled, and the tourists finally laughed in amazement.
Meanwhile,
Junhyun, who had pricked up his ears, seemed to sense something and waved at them.
His “Hello...” buzzed like ultrasonic waves.
“Junhyun annyeong!”
“Do great on the show!”
Then the other members all turned their heads like squirrels and opened their eyes wide.
While Wooju, Biju, Ri Hyuk, and the others smiled gently and nodded, the maknae shouted loudly.
“Enjoy your sightseeinggg!”
“Jiho, do great on the show!”
“Yes, I’m healthyyyyy!”
Everyone smiled at the maknae’s random replies.
“Because it’s Jiho.”
While the tourists’ lips curved into smiles,
the teens and twenty-somethings in the group frantically tapped messages to friends.
[Hey hey hey]
[Look at this]
[(sent a video)]
[We’re in New York but these are all NewBlack fans; it’s insane here]
Soon posts titled “Why people are gathering on Broadway right now” began spreading like wildfire on social media.
But the news wasn’t only spreading in Korea.
“This is... what now?”
New Yorkers gaped.
“What on earth is going on?”
New York City, called the center of the global economy.
And Manhattan, the very heart of New York.
The thousands gathered there felt completely different from what had happened in Burbank.
“Who are they...?”
Every time the five idols in sunglasses waved, cheers erupted.
“Are they foreign stars I don’t know?”
They must be hugely famous in Asia.
New Yorkers raised their phones to film and shared the footage with friends.
Replies came back immediately.
– Is that Broadway??
– Who are those people????
– Don’t know who they are, but get good photos. They’ll be worth a fortune in a few years.
As similar astonished reactions arose,
New Yorkers were about to be astonished again.
It was because of the pop star who appeared after the unfamiliar five-member boy band.
“Hi! I’m your oppas’ friend!”
Under blue hair, a statuesque beauty in a long coat.
Hailey Blue, holding a coffee franchise cup like a wine glass, greeted them and the fans responded.
“Waaaaaah—!”
A cheer, smaller than before.
And the New Yorkers’ faces showed confusion.
“Why are there more fans for this person than for Hailey Blue...?”
Just as they blinked at the mystery,
their eyes caught the big screen hung by the studio.
Next to the mischievous smile of the famous talk-show host Ellen Dale was a long caption.
[Tonight’s Guests – Hailey Blue & The New Black]
The name “The New Black” looked strangely portentous.
“NewBlack...?”
“Who are they?”
“Some superstar I don’t know...?”
Confusion swirled in the citizens’ minds.
The plan of the fans gathered in New York had been a smashing success.
The Ellen Dale Show.
This talk show, recorded in New York, usually ranks fifth or sixth in the ratings.
Slightly lower than The Larry Gordon Show’s third or fourth place, but it’s extremely popular with younger viewers.
It’s often praised as very trendy.
“The building is really old, huh.”
“Right?”
Maybe because it’s also on Broadway.
It felt similar to the office of Frank Chow, producer of Nostalgia, which they had visited before.
“Hello, welcome to The Ellen Dale Show!”
A staff member guided them courteously to the green room.
They waved to Hailey as she went for makeup and entered a spacious room.
Then,
“Phew...”
“Uwaaah...” freewebnøvel.coɱ
They finally relaxed tense faces, huddled together, and shivered.
“What is this!”
“Seriously. What is this...!”
If this many fans had gathered in Korea, they’d have cheered wildly.
But it wasn’t Japan, and it wasn’t close by—it was America. Seeing fans gather like this repeatedly was bewildering.
And frightening.
The maknae said dejectedly,
“If I’d known, I’d have memorized at least one more priority English word...”
“You didn’t return the flashcards?”
“No, I tore off the plastic... Waaah... I’m so nervous!”
“Uwaaah!”
They were this nervous because of the upcoming talk segment.
Even when going on variety shows, they always prepared, but they hadn’t prepared at all for a foreign talk show.
Of course, after the talk was confirmed, Ri Hyuk and they had discussed all night and made plans, but...
“This is the first time we’ve ever had a schedule without prep.”
At Biju’s words they all nodded in agreement.
Then they huddled again and shivered like penguins. Junhyun patted them all on the back.
“Junhyun, are you okay?”
“I’m not thinking about anything.”
“Then who’ll think?”
“Hyung.”
Not wrong.
Gathering their composure, they said,
“Let’s just wing it. This isn’t the kind of thing you can prepare for. It’s a foreign talk show.”
“Right. Cultures differ.”
With different language and culture, they couldn’t crack jokes as on Korean ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) variety shows.
In an unfamiliar broadcast environment, no amount of prep could stop the nerves.
Min-gi hyung clapped and said,
“Don’t be scared. America’s not so different.”
“That’s right. We’re Daesang artists.”
Wonseok hyung and Seokhwan hyung, looking over documents on the couch, laughed.
They smiled brightly too.
“NewBlack TV rakes in tens of millions of views. Think of this as shooting NewBlack TV’s America episode...”
“Absolutely not.”
The managers spoke firmly.
“That’s harsh...”
“Don’t do any physical stunts. If you start off that way, Americans might be put off.”
At the TF team leader’s words, Wonseok hyung added,
“Koreans were flustered too. I was a bit scared when I first met you kids.”
“...”
Deciding to keep it simple, they agreed to open the Y app on the shared phone.
They’d update fans on the progress and chat to ease their nerves.
Just as they were about to press the Y app button,
Knock knock.
A cheerful laugh accompanied a man’s entrance.
“Hello!”
A man in a blue suit with brown hair—Ellen Dale himself.
Like Larry Gordon, he had a neat, gentle appearance that put people at ease.
On the street, if you asked what his job was, people would say talk-show host.
“Ellen Dale? He seems nice.”
Hailey had said on the way.
“He’s good at hosting... his only flaw is he’s not that funny himself, but he really brings out his guests.”
He treats guests kindly and plays the straight man to let them shine.
“I wanted to stop by and say hello before we went on air. Is this a good time?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Finally seeing the stars of Chichipong!”
“Chichipong?”
At that moment, a distant memory surfaced.
Rupert Dean, who played the lead in Nostalgia, had appeared on a talk show and taught a Korean word.
– “A Korean friend taught me Chichipong.”
– “Chichipong?”
Wonseok hyung nearly spit out his water laughing.
Covering their mouths, they asked,
“...That was here?”
“That’s right, and...”
He offered his hand to Junhyun.
“The star of our cow-moo video is here too!”
“Thank you.”
Watching Junhyun smile warmly, they all shot the host intense looks.
“That’s... a secret for now.”
“Got it. We have lots to talk about today anyway.”
As they exchanged pleasantries about mutual popularity,
Ellen Dale seemed to notice something and asked,
“I recall you wanted to do something...?”
“The Y app, the live broadcast. It’s a platform to interact with fans,” they explained, and his eyes lit up with curiosity.
“Mind if I join for a bit?”
When he asked if he could greet their fans, they readily agreed and opened the Y app.
“Hello, soufflés! We’re in New York!”
“And I’m Ellen Dale~!”
As the talk-show host appeared cheerfully, the soufflés, startled, suddenly felt shy.
Why they were shy on an online broadcast, no one knew....
After chatting with their soufflés about what had happened locally and their current situation to loosen up,
the main talk-show recording began.
It followed a format similar to The Larry Gordon Show in Burbank: a pre-MC to warm up the audience, then the host’s talk.
“Now please welcome Hailey.”
“She’s coming out.”
They turned up the TV volume and watched Hailey and Ellen’s conversation.
They were set to appear mid-show as a surprise guest.
If edited down, they’d get about five to seven minutes.
“Please get ready!”
At the staff’s cue they adjusted their outfits and left the room.
They followed a winding corridor to the dim backstage.
“Please wait here.”
A staff member wearing an intercom raised a hand to signal them, while on stage Hailey and Ellen continued chatting.
– “I can’t not mention this, Hailey. Your special single Blue Moon is having tremendous success.”
– “That’s right. It’s a number-one Billboard single.”
Hailey said with pride, and the audience applauded and cheered loudly.
Ellen leaned on the desk and asked,
– “Congratulations.”
– “Thank you.”
– “Your music video is also a hit. I hear it’ll soon reach 100 million views.”
Nodding in agreement, Hailey smiled, and Ellen said,
– “The singer who appears with you is also in the spotlight: NewBlack.”
At that moment, the planted soufflés in the audience cheered, and the crowd rustled as they turned to look back.
The two stars laughed and said,
– “They must be really popular.”
– “Right? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
– “Anyway, we’d like to discuss some scenes from the music video. If possible...”
– “You’re going to bring them out, right? NewBlack.”
Amid another brief cheer, the banter continued.
“It’s written in the script, but these two make it sound so natural.”
– “Then let’s bring them out. NewBlack!”
At the staff’s signal, they high-fived each other.
“Let’s go, minions!”
“Yes!”
The first thing they felt was the brilliant lights.
From the tiered audience the crowd erupted in cheers as they appeared.
The planted soufflés stood and applauded, and other audience members, caught up, stood and applauded too.
“Welcome!”
Ellen Dale rose from behind the desk and greeted them as if meeting for the first time.
They shook hands one by one and sat crowded together on the sofa beside Hailey.
– “Suddenly the family’s grown. You’re incredibly popular. Welcome, NewBlack!”
– “Thank you for having us.”
After brief introductions of their names,
Ellen Dale asked with a playful smile,
– “Wow, all the members speak English so well! What’s your secret?”
“Um...”
As at TJ Entertainment, their company had invited excellent teachers for private lessons.
During college entrance exams they studied English, and after debut they voluntarily studied with communication in mind.
Unsure how to explain such a complex background, they gathered their thoughts and smiled.
– “We learned from this friend here.”
– “That’s right.”
– “He’s our best teacher.”
They all pointed at Ri Hyuk and passed the credit to him.
They’d expected him to glare at them for dumping it on him, but when they said all their English came from him, his cheeks flushed with pride.
– “Yes... I taught them.”
As the host responded with an “Oh,” they burst into laughter.
The audience’s eyes turned to the five-member group from Korea.
Just as the host had praised their English, their words came through clearly in their ears.
Especially the fair-haired member and the leader with starry eyes—their pronunciation seemed more accurate than many Americans’.
– “Your fandom is incredible. When we heard NewBlack was appearing, our email was flooded.”
Ellen Dale joked.
– “Thousands of emails came in. ‘Let us say at least one word,’ ‘Are you just making them sing and sending them back?’ even warnings like that...”
As NewBlack members smiled sheepishly, Ellen pulled a printed letter from under the desk.
– “The most impressive one was this. Everyone, look. It’s from Lucy in California. She says she’s nine years old.”
As the audience smiled at its cuteness, the host read the letter aloud.
– “Hi Ellen Dale. I’m nine-year-old Lucy from San Jose. I’m a fan of NewBlack and I love them so much.”
As the members exclaimed “Oh my!” in emotion,
he continued reading.
– “So please treat them well. If you’re mean to NewBlack, I’ll sign your name up on naughty websites.”
At the nine-year-old’s chilling threat, both audience and NewBlack members roared with laughter.
The host, whose cheeks twitched, shrugged and said,
– “That’s why we prepared this talk segment. Can’t let my name be used like that.”
He turned his gaze to NewBlack.
– “Before we talk about the Blue Moon music video, I’d like to ask some questions about NewBlack.”
– “Sure, anything.”
“How...”, the host carefully chose his words,
– “How did this happen? It’s not common for thousands of fans to gather. Did you know you had this many fans in America?”
– “No.”
The leader Wooju said, “Honestly, we were also astonished.”
– “So it wasn’t a normal situation for you either.”
– “...Yes. We were truly overwhelmed.”
– “The police downstairs seemed to think the same. Living in New York, I’ve never seen looks like that.”
As audience members, who had witnessed the same scene on entry, chuckled,
Biju offered a gentle smile and said,
– “We’re very grateful. The support of fans like this is the driving force for us to promote in other countries.”
– “Do you know how it happened?”
– “No. Honestly, we don’t know yet how it happened. We can only express our gratitude.”
At their admission of ignorance, the mystery deepened, and Ellen Dale shifted the topic.
– “Let’s start with your group name! You could have chosen many names, so why The New Black? How did you decide on it?”
A simple question about the name.
But then...
They froze and stammered.
At such a straightforward question about the origin of their group name, they hesitated.
And it didn’t end there.
– “I’m also curious about your fandom name. Why soufflé? How did a Korean fandom end up with a French dessert name?”
“Um...”
Ellen Dale tried to hide his laughter, and the embarrassed members averted their eyes.
“What’s going on here?”
The audience’s eyes began to sparkle with curiosity.
