Chapter 1154: The Warmest Season, Winter (26)

My heart began pounding wildly.

The audience burst out laughing at the sight of my pupils dilating, while I stared anxiously at the electronic board.

[Countdown: 19 seconds]

The question had appeared beneath it.

"Middle Korean indicated pitch by placing dots to the left of each character, distinguishing three types: low pitch, or level tone; high pitch, or departing tone; and a tone that begins low and rises later, or rising tone. What are the pitches of the relevant section in the following sentence? (30 points)"

A Middle Korean question.

The kind that had always taken me nearly ten minutes even on practice exams.

A sentence gleamed beneath it in an old-style typeface.

"A deeply rooted tree is not moved by the wind."

A voice came from the other end of the phone.

-Hyung?

"Junghyun!!"

-Yes!

"If you ran as fast as you possibly could to Ri Hyuk, who's in the bathroom right now, how many seconds would it take?"

-Ten seconds.

"!"

The audience roared with laughter when I squeezed my eyes shut and visibly mouthed, No!

[Countdown: 15 seconds]

"Can you try calling Ri Hyuk?"

-One second.

Soon, a booming voice rang through the phone.

-RI HYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUK-AAAAAAAH-AAAAAAAH!

"How is it?!"

-I think he's singing in the shower right now. Sounds nice.

"!"

I screamed and clutched at my hair, and Hanbyeol doubled over laughing.

[Countdown: 10 seconds]

It was funny to everyone else, but I had thirty points riding on this question.

My mind raced, but no matter how hard I thought, this wasn't the kind of question Junghyun could possibly answer.

Then, suddenly, something flashed through my mind.

"Junghyun!!"

-Yes!

I read him the question and told him to give me an answer.

"Anything's fine, just guess! The call cuts off in eight seconds!"

Junghyun fired off his answer in a rapid-fire rap.

-Low, high, rising, high. But, hyung. This...

"Junghyun! Thanks!"

The call disconnected, and the announcer smiled.

"Yes! The phone chance is over. That was such an urgent conversation that even listening to it made me short of breath."

"Hahahahahaha!"

Only then did the people who had been holding back their laughter openly burst out laughing.

I rubbed my temples.

"Originally, I was going to call Ri Hyuk and ask him. He's our resident Korean language expert...."

I shrugged.

"But Junghyun is fine too. Junghyun has a mysterious power."

"Oh! What is it?"

"He gets things right in reverse. When he guesses an answer, I often get it right by choosing the opposite."

"I see...."

As I said that, I casually checked Hanbyeol's expression.

I wanted to see whether he'd reacted to anything Junghyun had just said, but I couldn't detect the slightest change in his face.

Only then did I remember that Hanbyeol had been incredibly good at One Card and board

~Nоvеl𝕚ght~

games back when we were trainees.

"All right! Then will you give us your answer?"

"Yes."

I spoke confidently.

"It's a line from Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, right? The pitches in the last part, 'is not moved,' are high, low, rising, and low, in that order. I reversed everything Junghyun said that could be reversed."

"I see! All right, then let's check the answer!"

I was looking at Hanbyeol as though to say, How about that?

[BEEEEEP-!]

The buzzer sounded, and I whipped my head around.

The announcer sighed regretfully.

"Unfortunately, that was nooot the correct answer."

"??"

"The correct answer was exactly what Junghyun said: low, high, rising, high."

"???"

The audience burst out laughing.

Only then did Hanbyeol finally let his expression relax and laugh loudly as well.

Then the question caught my eye again.

I hadn't noticed in the rush, but now that I looked closely, I could clearly see why I had been wrong.

It was the sort of problem anyone with a little test-taking sense could solve immediately.

In other words, if I'd had one or two minutes to spare in an actual exam room, I could have inferred the answer right away.

"Ah...."

In the term for a low pitch, "level tone," the word "level" meant ordinary or flat.

Since it would naturally be the most common sound, adding a dot to indicate it would have been inefficient.

So of course it had no dot.

A high pitch was marked with one dot, and because a tone that rose later would occur least frequently by nature, it was marked with two.

Once I thought about it that way, the answer was obvious.

But what shocked me wasn't the problem.

It was the fact that Junghyun had gotten it right.

"How...?"

Amid the thunderous laughter, I was the only one wearing an expression of complete incomprehension.

No....

Seriously, what was that??

While Sun Wooju was thoroughly flustered...

The audience watched the quiz show with delighted laughter.

This is fun.

He hadn't been nominated for Entertainer of the Year for nothing. Even on a Korean language quiz show, NewBlack's leader was delivering huge laughs.

Wooju clenched his fist.

"We may have lost thirty points! But we still have a chance to turn this around. The match isn't over yet."

"For someone saying that, you look like you've taken quite a serious hit to your mentality."

"Mentality? Hanbyeol, are you using English on a Korean language quiz show right now?"

"'Quiz' is English too."

"...."

Everyone laughed as Wooju quietly closed his mouth.

Then they looked toward the person sitting opposite him, who was running circles around Sun Wooju with his Korean skills.

Jang Hanbyeol.

A member of TNT.

At first, the audience had looked at Jang Hanbyeol as though he were a stranger.

So that's Jang Hanbyeol from TNT...?

Back when TNT debuted in 2010, public interest in idols had been quite high.

That meant practically the entire country knew TNT, who had been the top idols of the time.

-They're the biggest group these days, right?

-I heard they're the most popular idols. Han Taehyun? My niece says he's the most popular one.

-Apparently the girls at school do nothing but talk about them.

Han Taehyun had been the member with the highest recognition among the general public, but Jang Hanbyeol had been famous as well.

Because of the news that came from overseas.

[TNT's Jang Hanbyeol Scores Huge Chinese Cosmetics Ad... "This Is the Power of the Mainland"]

Stories about how he was the member responsible for TNT's popularity in China and was supposedly raking in an unbelievable amount of money.

Other than that, he had barely promoted in Korea, so most of Jang Hanbyeol's image had become fixed around things like that.

The only news anyone heard was that he'd landed the lead in some Chinese fusion historical drama or ranked first in a Chinese popularity poll.

That image, neither particularly favorable nor unfavorable, had lasted until today.

More precisely, until this quiz show.

Hmm. He seems like a really nice person.

The impression of a young master who had been raised in comfort.

Hair neatly brushed back.

He gave off a generally gentle impression, but several different factors were also adding positively to the audience's opinion of him.

-Hanbyeol and I have been friends for a long time. Ever since our trainee days, he's been the kind of friend who relied on me....

-Don't you mean the kind you could rely on?

-Hanbyeol. Put your hand over your heart. Can't you hear the triangle of conscience spinning around in there?

First of all, the image of him being one of Sun Wooju's closest friends was a plus.

That was because Wooju's public image was simply too good.

NewBlack's leader was famous for having a huge network in the entertainment industry, yet there were very few people he personally referred to as friends.

[We met on set. But Wooju is kind of... colder than he looks? I tried to get close to him, but it wasn't easy. Usually when you ask someone to get a meal sometime, they say yes out of politeness, right?]

[Did he reject you?]

[No. He said he didn't have time.]

A second-generation idol who had appeared on Shin Rabbit had once taken indirect shots at his junior NewBlack, only to end up being criticized himself.

-Tsk tsk. Maybe think about your own behavior first.

-Would you want to be friends with you? LOL. Like a guy who's always working and studying would totally want to be buddies with some club addict.

-Explain the three-timing thing first.

-This guy really never changes lol. Still running his mouth everywhere.

-He was my old fave, but seriously, no words...

-(Disappointed, But Not Surprised meme.jpg)

Someone who kept his distance from badly behaved people in the entertainment industry and had a reputation for being diligent, competent, and levelheaded.

Having a nationally beloved idol like that personally confirm someone as his best friend was practically a seal of approval.

That alone created a first layer of goodwill.

And then....

"I'll give my answer. It should be 'callus formed,' not 'callus got stuck.'"

"Correct!"

"And in the next sentence...."

Jang Hanbyeol's astonishing Korean ability was steadily accumulating goodwill points for him.

During a break, the audience whispered among themselves.

"He's seriously amazing. How does he get all of those right?"

"Seriously. If someone asked foreigners which one of us was Korean, me or him, I feel like they'd all pick him."

"Exactly. He's no joke."

It was fascinating to watch Jang Hanbyeol effortlessly answer questions even most Koreans couldn't solve.

And that made the things he'd said at the beginning of the recording feel more genuine too.

-I've wanted to keep promoting in Korea for a long time, but circumstances didn't allow it. I really wanted to work in Korea all this time, so I never stopped studying.

When they'd first heard that, everyone had scoffed inwardly.

There has to be some reason he needs to promote in Korea. Why would a guy like that bother coming here?

He was supposedly making mountains of money overseas, yet he specifically wanted to promote in Korea with Korean-language songs?

Logically speaking, between "he had lingering regrets and wanted to work in Korea" and "something made it difficult for him to continue working overseas," the latter explanation sounded much more convincing.

That was definitely what they'd thought at first.

But as the recording continued, people's views were gradually changing.

Hmm....

He's genuinely good, though.

His Korean skills were simply too extraordinary to explain as a matter of money or practical circumstances.

And on top of that, he had broad knowledge of Korean history.

"'Because the speech of this country differs from that of China...' That's the preface to the creation of Hunminjeongeum."

Watching a Chinese American come out with the intensity of someone preparing for a naturalization exam, people couldn't help but warm to him.

No.

Even if it wasn't sincere, maybe someone who had put in enough effort and sheer determination to build skills like that still deserved recognition.

"Wow...."

Behind the cameras, the Lemon Entertainment TF team employees smiled as they watched the audience react that way.

"Think the response will be similar when it airs?"

"I'd say there's a hundred percent chance it'll be positive."

This Korean language quiz show had been an idea Wooju and the TF team employees came up with together.

-A normal variety show appearance won't be enough. It needs to mean something. Even if the show isn't famous, we need a program that can show what kind of person Hanbyeol is and how sincere he is about these promotions.

-Then what about an educational program, Wooju?

-I like that. Something related to Korean....

And the goal they'd intended was working on the public.

It felt as though Jang Hanbyeol's long-standing desire to promote in Korea, and the sincerity behind it, were finally reaching people.

A Korean language quiz show was the perfect program to demonstrate that.

"The downside is that it might be hard to generate much buzz...."

"But we have Wooju."

"Right. Our walking buzz generator."

"He can generate headlines just by wearing clothes...."

"That's not it."

Someone cut them off flatly.

"Wooju was making headlines for his casual clothes even when he wasn't famous."

"True.... I once saw his stylist open straight soju after Wooju accidentally pulled his pants up to his ribs that day."

"But looking at that outfit again now, it was pretty. The clothes are four years old, but somehow he was the only one who looked sophisticated."

"It did look good."

The employees stopped mid-conversation.

Huh?

Uh...?

The TF team tilted their heads, unsure whether he really was a fashionista or had simply stumbled into it by pure chance.

Either way, no one here was worried about the buzz potential of a Korean language quiz show that normally drew five to seven percent ratings.

Even if relatively few people watched the actual broadcast, clips and memes from it would soon spread all over the internet.

"Still, aside from that phone call earlier, it's been a little quiet...."

Someone had just said that when Jang Hanbyeol, wearing a serious expression as he answered a question, spoke.

"Wooju. Do you know what passage this sentence comes from? It's from a text every Korean absolutely should know. If you get it right, I'll share some of my points with you."

"Let's hear it."

"'Thus, from Incheon Port all the way to Seoul, officials and citizens of every rank welcomed him without end.'"

"...."

Everyone burst out laughing when Wooju kept a perfect poker face and subtly shifted his eyes toward the upper left.

He doesn't know.

He has no idea.

Wooju answered with a prim expression.

"Do I really need to know it?"

"At least try to guess."

"Judging by the part where everyone welcomed someone, it must have been a good event."

"Hohohohoho."

Jang Hanbyeol smiled.

Then, like someone flipping over a trap card, he revealed the answer.

"The answer is A Wail on This Day by Jang Jiyeon."

"...!"

Wooju's face went pale.

While the audience tilted their heads as though asking, What's that?, Jang Hanbyeol looked into the camera.

"Yes. The text containing the passage Wooju asked whether he really needed to know, and which he said sounded like a happy event, was A Wail on This Day, an article condemning the Eulsa Treaty."

"Hey!"

"Hohohohoho."

"Hey! No, no... This is...."

As Wooju shouted, "Hey!" with a dumbfounded look, the audience erupted in the biggest laughter of the day.

The TF team smiled as well.

A trap card that anyone would have fallen for.

They could practically see the memes and comments netizens would use to gleefully torment Wooju online.

"We don't need to worry about buzz."

"Apparently not."

"By the way, Wooju's taking quite a beating mentally today. First Ri Hyuk was showering, so Junghyun answered in his place, and now this."

"Right."

One employee spoke.

"But seriously, how did Junghyun get that question right? Usually if you tell him to guess, you reverse whatever he says."

"I thought that was strange too."

"How did he get it right?"

Even to the Lemon Entertainment employees, it was nothing short of a mystery.

NewBlack's dorm.

Fluff, fluff-

Ri Hyuk came out into the living room, drying his hair with a towel like a cat shaking itself off, then furrowed his brow.

"Ah. What the hell. Who touched my phone?"

Ri Hyuk frowned in irritation.

He polished away the fingerprints on his phone screen with a glasses cloth, then snapped his head around.

Junghyun, who had been watering a flowerpot, flinched.

"It was you, right?"

"Huh? No."

"These are your fingerprints. Who else in this house has fingers this size?"

"Sorry. Because of Kim Biju, I've developed a habit of denying things first."

Ri Hyuk nodded, then unlocked all three layers of security.

"Hm? Wooju called me?"

"Yeah."

Junghyun spoke while inspecting the flowers.

"He said there was something he had to answer on that Korean quiz show. He used a phone chance and was looking for you."

"Seriously?? Ah... I should've answered it."

Ri Hyuk really is affectionate at times like this.

"I could've held it over his head all day after getting it right and squeezed a song out of him...."

What happened during his developmental years?

While Junghyun was thinking that, Ri Hyuk asked him a question.

"So did he get it ri... Ah. Never mind."

"?"

Junghyun stared into space as Ri Hyuk pattered away to dry his hair with a blow-dryer.

"Come to think of it, I wonder if Wooju got it right."

For some reason, he had a feeling Wooju had done the opposite of what he'd said.

Junghyun set down the watering can and picked up the ancient grimoire lying nearby.

No.

The Jelly Bible.

"Did Wooju call out the answer exactly the way I told him? Jelly Jelly Supreme Jelly. Supreme seasoned chicken... I should eat that today."

Muttering to himself, Junghyun dramatically flipped the book open.

[Brotherly affection is like gold.]

He spun the book around.

[But what if one ton of gold bullion were placed between two brothers?]

An aphorism from the Jelly Book teaching just how shallow human trust could be.

Junghyun nodded.

He did the opposite. That hyung.

Junghyun gazed into empty space with a warm smile.

"Stupid Wooju."

He looked out the window with satisfied eyes.

I learned that in high school....

Even smart people sometimes needed to listen to the voices of fools.