Chapter 1126: Welcome to Alaska (12)

Anchorage's central plaza.

My brothers and I walked onto the stage before a sea of people.

“WOOOOOOOOOO!”

There was every kind of person imaginable.

The mayor stood among the crowd waving a Souffle flag.

A little boy sat on his father's shoulders.

A police officer smiled over a cup of coffee.

Chefs grilled sausages over barbecue pits.

“Wow.”

Holding our microphones, we couldn't help staring.

The crowd stretched as far as I could see.

Shielding my eyes with one hand, I looked toward the back.

“Wow. I can't even see where it ends. Can everyone in the very back hear me?”

“YESSSSS!”

“Perfect. Then let's introduce ourselves. Two, three!”

I counted in Korean.

The others greeted everyone together in Korean as well.

“Hello! We're NewBlack!”

“WOOOOOOOOOO!”

“First of all, thank you all so much for coming today. We know this festival came together very suddenly, so we were honestly amazed by how enthusiastically everyone embraced it.”

I looked around.

The streets had been completely transformed into a festival.

Christmas lights hung overhead.

Alaska state flags fluttered from storefronts.

Even leftover Fourth of July fireworks had somehow been dug out for tonight.

“Before anything else, I should probably explain how this festival came to be.”

Looking into the eyes of the people in the front rows, I continued.

“A few days ago, this city experienced an earthquake. Many of you suffered real losses.”

People holding LED candles quietly nodded.

“Fortunately, thanks to everyone's help, we've overcome everything the earthquake left behind.”

The citizens immediately began applauding the Souffles.

Our fans scratched their cheeks shyly.

I smiled.

“But even now... I'm sure many of you still carry memories of those days. The confusion. The stress. That's how memories work.”

I paused.

“And that's exactly why I thought we needed a festival.”

The audience listened intently.

“Let me tell you something personal.”

“When I was younger, I had many painful memories too. I tried very hard to overcome them.”

“But memories like that... don't disappear easily.”

“So after struggling with it for a very long time... I finally realized something.”

I smiled toward my brothers.

“The answer isn't to erase bad memories.”

“It's to create so many wonderful memories that they outnumber them.”

I turned back to the audience.

“So tonight...”

My smile grew wider.

“Let's create a memory none of us will ever forget.”

“WOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Just for tonight...”

“Forget your worries.”

“Live only in this moment.”

Jiho grabbed his microphone and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“ANCHORAGE! ARE YOU READY TO HAVE SOME FUN?!”

“YES!”

While everyone else kept the crowd energized, I took one quiet breath.

“Now then... we actually don't have that many English songs you can all sing along with.”

“Blue Moon...”

“Thousand Dreams...”

“Answer...”

“METRO...”

“Overcooked...”

“Uncle Bunny...”

“Like The Sun...”

The audience burst into laughter.

Most of those songs had reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts.

Embarrassed, I scratched the back of my head.

“...Now that I've listed them... maybe we have more than I thought.”

“Still, filling an entire setlist with only English songs would be difficult.”

“You all know we're K-pop singers, right?”

“YES!”

“So we'll also be singing some Korean songs.”

“Even though... you'll probably have absolutely no idea what the lyrics mean.”

Everyone laughed.

“But even if you don't understand every word...”

“I hope you'll still understand ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) the feelings behind them.”

“You'll stay with us until the end, won't you?”

The response was deafening.

At this point...

I had a feeling we could stand on our heads and perform the Crayon Shin-chan dance, and people would still cheer.

Everyone had been longing for something exactly like this.

Even though it was only October...

With the cold breeze and festive lights...

It somehow already felt like Christmas.

I brushed the windblown hair from my face.

A staff member handed me my guitar.

I strummed it gently.

A familiar melody echoed through the plaza.

It was one I'd often heard during my father's performances.

The melody the jazz pianist Sun Myungju always played whenever he wanted the audience's complete attention.

Immediately...

Everyone fell silent.

“I spent a long time wondering what our first song should be.”

“Then... I happened to see a fallen leaf.”

“And suddenly... I knew exactly which song it had to be.”

The Souffles instantly erupted into cheers.

The other audience members looked puzzled.

“The title is Falling Blossoms.”

“In Korean.”

“It's a song about flowers falling.”

“But... just because flowers fall...”

“Doesn't mean they won't bloom again.”

The guitar melody gradually transformed into the opening of Falling Blossoms.

“So... while we wait for the spring that will someday return after this winter...”

“Here's our first song.”

Amid thunderous applause...

We began to sing.

Cheers.

Laughter.

Happiness.

Joy.

Delight.

“WOOOOOOOOOO!”

If someone had cast a butterfly net into the air above Anchorage at that moment...

Those were probably the words they would have caught.

Every time NewBlack sang...

Thousands of phone lights swayed together.

It didn't matter whether the lyrics were Korean or English.

All that mattered was that breathtaking music continued pouring from the stage.

Yes...

Someone quietly nodded.

This is what we needed.

Just because the city had been rebuilt...

Didn't mean everyone had recovered.

Buildings had been repaired.

People's hearts had not.

Stress.

Fear.

Lingering anxiety.

The melodies and harmonies gently soothed wounds that couldn't be seen.

Families.

Couples.

Friends.

Everyone watching NewBlack gradually found themselves embracing the people beside them.

Warmth.

That was what they had needed.

And on that stage...

NewBlack was giving it to them.

With every song...

Shoulders relaxed.

Rigid bodies slowly loosened.

Now I understand.

I finally understand why they have so many fans.

More than six hundred Souffles sang every song together with NewBlack.

At first...

The rest of the audience hesitated.

But before long...

They joined in with every song they recognized.

And surprisingly...

They knew almost all of them.

“The next song is Blue Moon.”

“We recorded it together with Haley Blue.”

“Even if you don't recognize the title...”

“You'll know it the moment you hear the first line.”

Our main vocalist...

His face pale beneath the stage lights...

Softly sang the opening.

Climbing onto the moon at midnight...

You cast your spell on me...

Goosebumps shot across the audience.

I KNOW THIS SONG!

It had been the huge Halloween hit.

Then came METRO.

Then Thousand Dreams, the smash musical number.

Each song brought another wave of surprise.

“Wait... NewBlack sang that too?”

“I guess they did.”

For people who barely knew NewBlack...

It was shocking.

Wait... they're Uncle Bunny?

When Uncle Bunny—the children's song beloved by kids around the world—began...

Eyes widened everywhere.

...This too?

Then came Like The Sun.

Then Answer, the song Cold Brown's radio stations played every single day.

Someone quietly muttered,

“I know I shouldn't...”

“But they suddenly seem completely different.”

“Same.”

At first...

They'd seemed like a hot new group riding the success of Overcooked.

But this setlist...

This was the setlist of genuine superstars.

Perhaps because of that reputation...

The excitement in the crowd kept rising.

This might be our only chance to ever see them.

No one knew where NewBlack would be ten years from now.

But somehow...

It already felt like the sort of concert people would someday tell their children about.

"Back in my day... I saw NewBlack live."

As one legendary song followed another...

Ironically...

The crowd's favorite performance turned out to be one of the Korean songs.

“You can all sing the chorus with us.”

Junghyun raised his microphone.

“Ready?”

“Gabi gabi dokkabi odokkabi.”

“Gabi... gabi... dokkabi odokkabi.”

“One more time.”

“Gabi gabi! Dokkabi! Odokkabi!”

“Well done.”

Junghyun winked.

Then Goblin began.

The lively rhythm kicked in.

The members twisted and bounced playfully.

They shuffled sideways like children playing follow-the-leader.

Our main vocalist shaded his eyes dramatically while pretending to search the horizon.

Did I take the wrong road?

Seems I did.

Did I wake at the wrong time?

Seems I did.

The other four chimed in cheerfully behind him.

"That happens."

The rhythm was intentionally syncopated.

Hard to follow.

Wonderfully fun.

A song that somehow captured everything NewBlack stood for.

Jiho tapped the top of his head while singing.

I woke up with horns today.

...Except I don't have horns.

They say we're swinging clubs at people.

That's us.

Wow...

His voice...

I have no idea what they're singing...

But it sounds beautiful.

Instead of shouting traditional Korean cheers...

The audience simply answered with,

“YEAH!”

Then...

Biju casually slipped off his padded jacket.

Now wearing only a sweater...

He stepped to the front.

His dance resembled something shapeless.

Almost supernatural.

Without the thick jacket...

Every elegant line of his movement became visible.

“Wooow...”

Not cheering.

Just genuine amazement.

Grinning, Biju sang,

But what does any of it matter?

This isn't exactly the first time.

Shall we dance?

Who do you think we are?

Junghyun gestured excitedly.

“Now!”

The audience shouted together.

“Gabi gabi dokkabi!”

“Odokkabi!”

“That's it!”

The members laughed brightly.

I love this.

Was the song called Tteokbokki?

Hehe... I think I ate that recently.

This is wonderful...

NewBlack danced joyfully.

The festival's energy climbed even higher.

Only one song remained.

Overcooked.

“It's hot.”

“Seriously...”

Despite the freezing air...

Everyone was flushed from singing and dancing so hard.

Without realizing it...

Nobody was thinking about the earthquake anymore.

People had linked arms with complete strangers.

Jumping.

Laughing.

Singing at the top of their lungs.

Everyone eagerly waited for the final song.

Then...

Something nobody expected happened.

Tap.

A cold sensation landed on someone's nose.

Tap.

Something touched another person's jacket.

It happened everywhere at once.

NewBlack.

The audience.

Everyone looked upward.

Then shouted together.

“It's snowing!”

“SNOW!”

Thunderous cheers erupted.

Watching the snowflakes drift gently from the sky...

The members laughed.

Then looked around in surprise.

“Does it always snow this early?”

An Anchorage resident immediately answered.

“Our first snow usually comes in October!”

“Whoa...”

Mid-October was usually when Anchorage saw its first snowfall.

Everyone gazed upward.

No concert production.

No stage effect.

Could ever recreate something so beautiful.

Couples kissed.

Families hugged.

Romance filled the air.

Why does this feel so...

The audience burst into laughter.

Wooju had quietly begun playing romantic background music on his guitar.

He caught the eyes of a couple who had just kissed.

Grinning mischievously, he asked,

“Are you happy?”

The embarrassed couple laughed.

Wooju looked toward the falling snow.

“Well...”

“Since it's the first snowfall...”

“It would be a shame if we just played Overcooked and went home, wouldn't it?”

“YES!”

“It might be a little early...”

“But let's sing a Christmas carol.”

An instantly recognizable melody filled the plaza.

The opening of the 1957 American Christmas classic...

Jingle Bell Rock.

Biju smiled.

“Everyone, give yourselves a little space.”

“Make sure you're not bumping into anyone.”

After making sure everyone had room...

He beamed.

“Now...”

“Let's dance.”

The members began singing.

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock...

Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring...

Snowflakes landed softly in people's hair...

Then melted into tiny droplets.

Everyone danced.

Badly.

They stepped on each other's feet.

Bumped shoulders.

Laughed harder because of it.

Even the members danced in pairs, spinning happily across the stage.

“Everyone together!”

And...

Far in the back...

One journalist finally finished writing.

The title...

That's the difficult part.

The feature article itself was complete.

Only the headline remained.

He stared thoughtfully at the screen.

Then looked up.

People danced together beneath the falling snow.

Onstage...

NewBlack wore colorful, wonderfully ridiculous outfits.

They suddenly reminded him of Christmas elves.

Christmas...

October...

He quietly began typing.

Then smiled with satisfaction.

Christmas in October — The Miracle of Anchorage

Saving the draft...

He closed his laptop.

Then ran laughing into the crowd.

It truly was...

Christmas in October.

He couldn't imagine a more perfect title.

Talent agencies...

Were much busier than most people imagined.

"What does the agency even do??"

Even agencies constantly mocked online for "doing nothing" regularly worked overtime...

Including weekends.

There was one company, however, that everyone already knew worked nonstop.

Lemon Entertainment.

Naturally...

If agencies that looked lazy were already drowning in work...

Then an agency whose workload was obvious even to the fans...

Didn't need further explanation.

“Oh, my back...”

Yoon Seokhwan, leader of the NewBlack TF Team, punched his aching lower back.

When is this ever going to end...

Just because NewBlack had gone to Alaska to film a travel reality show...

Didn't mean the TF Team got a vacation.

Even now...

Emails and messages continued flooding in.

[Recording Request for MTV EMA Acceptance Message]

[North America: People's Choice Awards Attendance Notice]

[Sound of the Sun Korean Premiere Event]

[Draft Concept for College Entrance Exam Encouragement Video]

[Mango Chart Awards Choreography Revision (Final Version)]

[It's Gu Jaeyoung. When should we schedule the Antarctica special meeting?]

There was far too much to handle.

Junghyun's upcoming album alone was enough to fill an entire schedule.

He looked toward Assistant Manager Hong Seoyoung, who was practically collapsed nearby.

“Manager Hong?”

“...Y-Yes?!”

“Never mind.”

“Go back to sleep.”

“...Okay...”

She had practically collapsed from exhaustion after dealing with all the earthquake-related publicity.

Rumor control.

Press inquiries.

Media coordination.

Once he looked away...

Yoon Seokhwan leaned back in his chair.

I wonder how the kids are doing.

By now...

They were probably finishing their volunteer work and preparing to return to Korea.

Life really is strange.

They'd gone to Alaska for a survival show.

Met Moonlight.

Experienced an earthquake.

Sometimes he wondered whether NewBlack attracted disasters the way Conan attracted murders.

The thought made him chuckle.

Just then...

His phone vibrated.

An international call.

He immediately recognized the number.

“Hello?”

It was D'Angelo Costa.

NewBlack's North American agent.

The moment he answered...

An excited voice exploded through the speaker.

“What?!”

“What happened...?”

“You're sending me article links?”

A moment later...

His inbox filled with emails.

Television news clips.

Major newspaper articles.

Links everywhere.

Christmas in October — The Miracle of Anchorage

NewBlack Gives Anchorage an Unexpected Christmas

"Merry Christmas" Echoes Across October

“What in the world...?”

Yoon Seokhwan blinked at the bizarre headlines.

He shook Hong Seoyoung awake.

She blinked groggily.

Then rapidly searched through the news.

Her eyes widened.

“Team Leader.”

“Yes?”

“Our boys...”

“I think they've just hit it really big.”

“Huh?”

She turned the screen toward him.

What he saw...

Was almost impossible to believe.