Chapter 1162: Artist of the Year (5)

At the same time—

The Souffles were crying their eyes out.

Wooju…!

They were overwhelmed by the fact that Wooju, who had always mentioned only his grandmother during acceptance speeches, had finally spoken his parents’ names.

It was difficult to put into words.

They could feel that their singer had grown another step emotionally.

It truly felt different.

If Wooju had said, “I dedicate this award to Sun Myungjoo and Lee Myungeun,” at an awards ceremony just one year ago, no one would have felt much of anything.

They might have thought, Those were Wooju’s parents’ names.

Or perhaps, I heard someone named Sun Myungjoo used to be incredibly famous…

But what had happened in the space of a single year?

-Sound of the Sun becomes the fastest film in history to surpass ten million admissions… Sweeps the box office

The moment they heard the names Sun Myungjoo and Lee Myungeun, every scene from the film flashed through their minds.

The story of those two was now known to everyone.

So when their son won a Grand Prize and called out their names, it could not help but feel even more moving.

He really grew up well.

Why am I so proud of him?

The fans replayed the acceptance speech as they wiped away their tears.

Their hearts also raced at his declaration that NewBlack would accomplish even more than they already had.

As they left comments like those, the Souffles glanced around.

They wanted to see how people were reacting to NewBlack sweeping the Grand Prizes.

They remembered there had at least been some reactions last year saying, “Isn’t three a little excessive…?”

It’s clean this year.

There appeared to be no disagreement whatsoever over NewBlack’s sweep.

Even if people disliked it, no one could diminish or deny what NewBlack had accomplished that year.

It was a domestic digital-music awards show, but no one could claim the awards had been handed out solely because of their overseas success. Their domestic chart results had been overwhelming, and no one had generated more buzz.

So even the remarks meant as attacks were insignificant.

Under normal circumstances, the Souffles would have bristled.

What kind of bullshit is that?

The numbers proved otherwise.

Who had restored the idol industry’s mainstream popularity after it had gradually begun disappearing in the mid-2010s?

It was undeniable that other singers were also benefiting from the trickle-down effect of NewBlack’s success as the nation’s idols.

And that was not all.

They had also brought in overseas fans.

Do they not remember Pyeongchang?

NewBlack had drawn enormous attention through their Olympic performance, and the influx of new K-pop fans had caused overall album sales to grow rapidly in recent months.

After NewBlack had raised the entire industry that high, calling it boring was absurd.

Normally, the Souffles would have become furious.

But the Souffles of today were in a benevolent mood.

Ho ho ho. What pitiful lost souls.

Instead of wasting time writing comments like that, try writing them in English. You’ll get a TOEIC score of nine hundred like me. Tee hee!

Jealous, aren’t you? Angry, aren’t you?

While taunting the antis, the Souffles began consuming all the new content that had emerged from the awards show.

[There they go, having fun in the artists’ seating area again.gif]

The singers waved Dalbong around and shouted fan chants.

Thanks to them, the artists’ section had become cheerful, and footage showed everyone having a good time.

The Souffles lowered their heads deeply.

As various behind-the-scenes clips from the artists’ seating area circulated, the hottest video from the awards show was not a performance clip.

[Behold your ㅇㅇㅇ sun.twt]

It was the scene of the entire audience chanting “fucking awesome sun.”

The moment had felt perfectly serious when they watched it live, yet now they could not stop laughing.

Someone translated the clip into English and posted it overseas, prompting the American netizen who had written the original comment to appear and reply.

-Behold! My fucking awesome comment!

Everyone burst into laughter and pressed like.

After consuming every piece of new content, the Souffles finally caught their breath.

The Mango Awards passed without any particular trouble.

Their attention shifted toward another awards ceremony scheduled only a few days later.

-KMA.

The K-net Music Awards, hosted by K-net.

That’s where the problem is…

Perhaps because the event’s usual reputation was so poor, all sorts of scenarios came to mind.

-We will present all three Grand Prizes to NewBlack! Digital Song! Album! Artist!

-Okay.

-And two newly created Grand Prizes! Global Star Award goes to Street Boys! World Best Trendsetter Award goes to TeenSpirit!

-If there are five Grand Prizes, then the Grand Prize has no meaning.

-But we gave you three, didn’t we?

The Souffles were about to laugh at the ridiculous fantasy when their expressions hardened.

No. Those bastards are fully capable of doing that.

Somehow, even in our imagination, none of the girl groups won anything…

After that thought, the Souffles narrowed their eyes.

Their gazes turned toward Hong Kong, where the KMA would be held.

After the Mango Chart Awards ended—

We immediately boarded a chartered plane to Hong Kong.

“Khh.”

“Wow. Our juniors are the best. The absolute best.”

For reference, those affectionate voices belonged to the senior girl group from our company.

The four-member girl group sat in their seats.

They looked like Im Kkeokjeong

~Nоvеl𝕚ght~

sitting atop a tiger skin.

“Wooju?”

“Yes, noona.”

Ara smiled at me.

“You were thinking something disrespectful, weren’t you?”

“Actually… that was Ri Hyuk, not me.”

“!”

I sold Ri Hyuk out and quietly slipped away.

The plane was far more crowded than usual because Scarlet was not the only other act aboard.

Senior Yoon Chanhyuk sat leisurely sipping wine.

Hanbyul was beside him.

“Oh.”

Hanbyul adjusted the seat back with the control buttons and looked at me.

“This is nice.”

“Right?”

“Yeah. Should I buy one too? How much does this cost?”

“……”

Even I had yet to seriously consider buying a private jet, but he sounded as though he might purchase one on the spot if he felt like it.

I told him the price.

“We charter this one, but if you bought it as a private jet, it would probably…”

“Hmm. That’s pretty expensive. Not worth it once you account for maintenance costs.”

“Maintenance is the biggest problem.”

I could afford to buy a plane now too, but things like this generally cost far too much to maintain.

More importantly, I did not particularly enjoy flying.

Hanbyul reclined his seat and sighed.

“It’s been a really long time since I came to Hong Kong.”

“Are you nervous?”

“Of course. Thinking about seeing my fans again after so long…”

Hanbyul was attending the KMA as a presenter.

From what I had heard, he was presenting Album of the Year.

As one of the leading superstars in the Chinese-speaking world, he was perfectly suited to give a global image to the KMA, which branded itself as an Asian music awards ceremony.

For Hanbyul, it was also a good opportunity to announce his comeback.

But the prospect appeared to make him somewhat nervous.

“It’s my first time since taking a break.”

Perhaps returning to the place where he had spent most of his career and meeting his fans again after so long made him quietly anxious.

I smiled.

“There’ll be plenty of fun things once we arrive.”

“Yeah.”

“Until then, get some proper rest.”

“I should…”

Hanbyul held a hand against his pounding chest and put on an eye mask.

I patted his shoulder in gratitude.

One of the reasons Hanbyul was going to Hong Kong this time was to help me.

would not be released in mainland China, but it had secured a limited release in Hong Kong.

Hanbyul was joining the interviews as a guest to help promote the film.

With a superstar known by everyone in Hong Kong helping us, we probably would not have to worry about generating attention for the movie.

While I was thinking about that, the plane landed at Hong Kong International Airport.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

The awards schedule moved at a frantic pace.

Rehearsals.

Pre-event interviews.

And in between, we squeezed in interviews for whenever we had time.

“We have gathered the greatest stars in one place!”

“Hello.”

Bringing Hanbyul along turned out to be the best decision possible.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

An enormous crowd had gathered in Hong Kong from the moment Hanbyul arrived at the airport.

The excitement was so intense as people chanted Hanbyul’s Chinese name that even we were left speechless.

We were told they were fans who had traveled to Hong Kong from various regions just to see him.

Wherever we went, people welcomed the top star returning after a long absence.

“Gasp… I’m a fan!”

“My daughter is a fan, so could I have… an autograph…”

At one broadcasting station, staff members lined up in front of Hanbyul for autographs, and it took nearly thirty minutes no matter how quickly he signed.

I stared in admiration.

“You really are incredible.”

“It’s only because I’m coming back after a long time. It’s been a while.”

He played it down, but a broad grin filled his face.

At the same time, he seemed to have complicated thoughts.

Hanbyul leaned his head against the window of the vehicle carrying us and sighed.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m… starting to wonder whether this is really right.”

“?”

“No. It’s just that my fans have been waiting for me like this, and I’m wondering whether I spent my entire break thinking too much about myself…”

Hanbyul’s expression turned serious.

“I mean promoting in Korea.”

“Oh.”

“I said I wanted to work in Korea, but when I think about it carefully, most of my fans are here. I started wondering whether I hadn’t considered them enough.”

“That makes sense.”

I nodded.

“But you don’t need to limit yourself by deciding you can only promote in one place. You can work in Korea and here too.”

“Can I?”

“You have plenty of time ahead of you. Don’t worry too much.”

As Hanbyul typed a message for Weibo, I added,

“And I heard you stayed active on social media during your break.”

“That was only natural.”

At my look, which seemed to say he had continued conveying his feelings sincerely all along, Hanbyul tilted his head as though reconsidering.

If he were selfish, he could simply have declared, “I’m leaving to find my own happiness!”

But this issue existed precisely because he was such a kindhearted person.

He had worked alone for nearly seven years because he believed it would help TNT.

He had come to Lemon because he wanted to promote in Korea, but now that he was back in China, his feelings seemed complicated and unsettled.

“Hmm.”

Hanbyul thought for a few minutes, then grinned.

“I think you’re right, hyung. I can just promote in different places.”

“Exactly.”

After finishing the promotional work for both our company’s new artist and the film—

I headed to the venue with the members.

[Welcome to the 2018 K-net Music Awards~!]

[Welcome to KMA, the greatest K-pop awards ceremony!]

The 2018 KMA was being held at the Hong Kong World Asia Expo, just as it had been in previous years.

We reunited with most of the faces we had seen at the Mango Chart Awards, and the event proceeded with a similar atmosphere.

The awards that ought to go to each group were distributed appropriately…

Oh?

This is surprisingly reasonable.

My younger members and I exchanged startled looks.

Apart from a few awards packed with bizarre English, the winners generally seemed sensible.

The Grand Prizes were the same.

[Song of the Year! Congratulations! NewBlack’s Overcooked!]

It was slightly puzzling that they had awarded it to rather than , which had performed far better domestically.

But perhaps they had wanted to emphasize the event’s global image.

The next award followed immediately.

[Next is Artist of the Year.]

[NewBlack!]

The order was different from what we had expected, which left us slightly puzzled.

There was no absolute rule, but they generally proceeded in the order of Digital Song, Album, then Artist.

That made us wonder whether they intended to give the final award, Album of the Year, to another group…

[Album of the Year…]

The presenter smiled and called our name.

[NewBlack! Congratulations!]

Just as at the Mango Chart Awards, we swept every Grand Prize category at the KMA.

It was truly a magnificent ending.

The venue looked beautiful as gold foil rained down.

The instrumental of echoed throughout the entire hall.

Our acceptance speeches were filled with tears.

But…

When we finished our speeches and the awards ceremony came to an end—

“……”

I could not help feeling slightly confused.

The presenter looked at me in puzzlement when he noticed my stare.

“Is something wrong… Wooju?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

The person who had presented Album of the Year was a famous Korean actor who had become one of the year’s biggest stars.

The problem was…

Hanbyul had originally been scheduled to present that award.

The moment the awards ceremony ended, I returned to the hotel and went looking for my friend.

When I reached the suite on the top floor, Taehyun was already inside Hanbyul’s room.

“You’re here, hyung?”

“Yeah.”

Since it concerned a colleague, he appeared to have arrived before anyone else.

Taehyun looked unusually flustered.

“No, I was told he was presenting Album of the Year.”

“So was I.”

I was equally confused because I had no idea what had happened.

Yet Hanbyul himself sat on the sofa with his tie loosened, looking indifferent.

“What happened?”

Hanbyul answered.

“About six hours before the awards show began, they told me they thought they would have to cancel my appearance as the Album of the Year presenter.”

“…That’s strange. Did they say why?”

“They wouldn’t tell me. They only said it was due to circumstances on the organizer’s end.”

“……”

I could not understand it.

Inviting a top star of Hanbyul’s caliber and suddenly canceling six hours beforehand was unprecedented.

Treating one of the most respected stars in the Chinese-speaking world like this, especially in Hong Kong, was not a decision K-net could have made under normal circumstances.

If he posted even a few words on social media, the broadcasting station would descend into chaos.

Hanbyul tilted his head back and sighed.

“There is one possibility that comes to mind.”

“?”

“I did wonder about it. With you guys doing as well as you are lately, I thought about how people here might react if I released a Korean-language album…”

The moment he said that, Taehyun and I narrowed our eyes at the same time.

We both sensed something.

A moment ago, I had thought it was impossible for anyone to treat Hanbyul this poorly.

Because he was one of the leading stars in the Chinese-speaking world.

But what if he was no longer regarded as one of their stars?

“We’ll probably have to watch for a few days before we know for certain…”

Taehyun raked a hand through his hair.

“Hey, I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Jang Hanbyul.”

“Your instincts are probably right, Han Tae.”

Taehyun turned to me with the expression of someone trying to work out how to explain it.

“Hyung, this is…”

“I know what you two mean.”

The two singers, both of whom had accumulated various experiences while promoting in China, nodded.

I had also dealt with all sorts of circumstances overseas, so I could guess what would happen next.

Sure enough—

News arrived soon afterward.

Along with word that Hanbyul’s portions would be edited out of several media interviews in which the two of us had appeared.

-China’s National Radio and Television Administration bans Jang Hanbyul from entertainment activities in China… “Concerns over Korean Wave influence?”

Unbelievable news had arrived.