When it was time to part, he did say it.

That later, he would bring plenty of people.

I’d heard the remark without giving it much thought—assumed he’d bring a few friendly elders from the village.

I never imagined he’d bring his four sons and their whole families.

As Grandfather Kang still held my hand, one of the middle-aged men spoke for the group.

“Father, shall we come sit at this table?”

“Yes—go to where these folks are. There’s enough food, right?”

“Of course, of course.”

Fifteen of them followed me inside the village hall. The other guests looked on dumbfounded.

Team A in particular stared wide-eyed—they’d had ten more guests than we did. Now we had five more than they did.

Yeo Hee-yeon pumped her fist in delight behind me.

After seating each family at their own tables, my teammates gathered at Grandfather’s.

“My father kept talking about you the whole ride here,” said his bespectacled second son.

“He said he thought no one would come, then someone arrived and listened to him for over thirty minutes—and left. He wanted to say thank you.”

“Thirty minutes, you say? We didn’t even get to hear his stories.”

“Quiet, you brats!” Grandfather Kang boomed, but the mood was cheerful.

Meanwhile, the brothers chattered back and forth. I felt something wonderful.

“I didn’t know your sons all lived in this village.”

“Did I never mention it?”

He hadn’t. I’d been jotting notes on everything he said whenever I talked with him and the other elders.

I smiled. “You did—but I must’ve forgotten.”

“Maybe. Anyway, these kids built this grand house and never come by. I have to come visit them.” 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

“...But, Father.”

One son spoke in astonishment. “Just yesterday you told us to go to bed early and not come.”

“Oh dear, I don’t remember that.”

I laughed at his easy mood. Once the meal began, I invited Bijoo to join us.

“Is everything tasting well? Our member cooked for you.”

“Wow, did you make this?”

One of the daughters-in-law asked.

“It tastes just like a restaurant—thought it was catered.”

“You—daughter-in-law! On TV these days, re.al.i.ty is key! Reality! That’s old TV.”

As Grandfather Kang animatedly spoke, one son interjected,

“Our father’s quite the TV expert now.”

They all laughed heartily. Our team glowed too, now feeling like champions. As we greeted our new guests, whenever Joo Se-han’s two members passed by, people exclaimed. And mothers and students squealed like dolphins at our K-star presence. We energetically worked the young fans.

“Wow, I’ve never seen an idol before—amazing! What’s your name?”

“We’re Newblack. How’s it—your first time seeing celebrities in person?”

“Yes!”

“Hey, Wang Ji-ho. How can you say ‘celebrity’ so naturally?”

The kids were entranced by us. After staring ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) at them twenty-four hours a day, it was neat to see them appreciate their looks. Even the eldest son complimented me.

“You’re really handsome.”

“Thank you.”

“My father said on the way here you look just like he did when he was young.”

“Oh....”

I blinked. “Really? Do I resemble him?”

“No.” The answer came from the eldest son’s youngest daughter—still missing her front teeth—nibbling bulgogi. “Grandpa looks like a steamed bun.”

Laughter erupted all around. And it only took five minutes to lift Grandfather Kang’s fallen spirits.

When the meal finished, we saw Grandfather Kang off. He held my hand and said,

“After filming, you’ll need to sleep.”

“Yes, grandfather. We’ll probably stay in that village’s spare rooms.”

“Is that so? Nobody told me that...”

Then he said,

“Then come stay at my house.”

“...Yes?”

“If you stay at some other old man’s or old lady’s place, you’ll only get a rickety fan. My house has plenty of spare rooms.”

“I... um, that’s unplanned...”

When I hesitated, his family spoke up.

“Go, as he says. He loves company, so it won’t be a bother.”

“Still...”

“Our house has great air conditioning.”

“Thank you so much.”

Everyone laughed at how quickly I bowed. My youngest stood on tiptoe, chin on my shoulder.

“Grandfather, may I come too?”

“Of course you may.”

“Can I come, too?”

Even Lee Gyeon-woo, usually quiet, raised his hand.

“I definitely want to come—Grandfather’s house.”

All of us, full of longing for that air conditioning, decided unanimously to stay at his home. He’d asked for us all to come. We exchanged warm thanks in the friendly atmosphere.

“May we have your autograph...?”

We signed for the children, slipping in a bit of promotion.

“Please tell your friends about our song, too.”

“Oh, of course—will do.”

“And don’t forget to say, ‘I saw Newblack on the show today in person—it was amazing!’”

“That’s too tame, hyung.”

“What do you mean too tame?”

“It needs to be stronger.”

Our youngest piped up with a bright smile.

“You could say, ‘Seeing you in person, your face radiates light. Wow, your celebrity aura is unbelievable!’ Or, ‘Seeing you in person, your character is amazing!’ How about those?”

“Jiho, they’ll feel embarrassed. Jung-hyun, go take him away.”

“All right, hyung. Take him—he won’t stop until he has my attention.”

We three adults laughed as the kids giggled at our sibling bickering. Our main vocalist sat out.

“Hey, why don’t you hide behind me too?”

“You’re too short for that, hyung.”

“....”

“Oh dear... our poor Ri-hyuk. Cheer up.”

We all burst into laughter at that half-hearted cheer. As Yeo Hee-chan, Yeo Hee-yeon, and the other guests mingled, we formed our own circle.

“I sort of want to brag to our fans,” Bijoo said.

“I know—it’s not even a big deal, but I want to boast to them that we won.”

“Me too.”

“Me three! I’ve only been away from the fan café half a day, and I’m so curious and anxious—I want to log in and write about it.”

I felt the same. Upon arriving in this Yeoncheon-gun village, I thought of our soufflé—this peaceful rural scene itself is healing. If only we could do a live broadcast, roaming the town chatting and interacting with fans—singing under the trees—they’d love it.

“I wrote to them at dawn,” Ri-hyuk bragged proudly. “I told them I’ll do well on today’s show before I left.”

“...?”

But we blinked. I asked,

“What are you talking about? I checked the fan café this morning, and I didn’t see such a post.”

“Huh?”

“Woo-joo hyung’s right. I looked this morning too—and saw nothing like that.”

“That can’t be.”

“Ri-hyuk, where did you post? Are you on the wrong board?”

“I’m not someone who mixed up... oh.”

I realized. It felt like watching red liquid fill a glass bottle in real time. My face blazed red in an instant.

“Why? Where did you post it?”

Lemon Entertainment PR Team.

“Pffft....”

Hong Seo-young, Assistant Manager in charge of Newblack, spat her coffee back into her mug, then choked and coughed. When the PR Team Leader raised an eyebrow, she bowed her head, wiping her mouth.

Early that morning, one of our actor talents showed up with a manager, ranting that the recent slump in weekday mini-series ratings was due to the PR team’s lack of effort—making for a tense scene. But that only made us laugh more.

[What’s going on?]

On the company messenger, Nam Seok-woo, in the next partition, asked and sent a link. Immediately someone else in the office began to cough.

—From the No.1 Reading Café “Book Is the New Black”

Title: I’ll do my best ^^

ID: MasterScholar

Hello fans, this is Newblack’s Ri-hyuk. ^^

We’re heading off to record a variety show today. ^^

I’m so excited and nervous, but thinking that I’ll show our soufflé an even cooler version of myself brings me indescribable joy. ^^

I’ll do well—see you soon. ^^

P.S. Does this post look a bit softer? Bijoo hyung says adding “^^” makes it look softer.

[Comments]

-?

-??

-What is this? This is a book-review board... MasterScholar, you’re an idol?

-Imposter or what?

-Haha just searched the ID—I think this is really the singer.

-Haha maybe you’re in the wrong café?

That post was screenshotted and circulated on other sites as “Idol who used the wrong fan café.jpg.” Meanwhile, in our official fan café, fans were stunned to discover:

Title: Reading International Relations Theory

ID: Newblack Ri-hyuk

Greetings.

Today I read a theory text on international relations—concepts like liberalism and constructivism, quite different from the biology or physics books I’ve read; very intriguing.

My prior view of social science... [excerpt]

P.S. Due to busy work, I haven’t visited for a while, but I’ll be back soon.

[Comments]

-Haha oh Ri-hyuk...

-Haha I’m dying here haha

-Oh dear, is our Ri-hyuk excited about reading...? haha

-By now he must be blushing “shwig shwig”

-I bet he’s teasing his hyungs for no reason

-And Bijoo must be calming him down

-And Jung-hyun is probably eating something right now...

-He’s not interested in that anyway

-But the posts about his book reviews are all over the café now

-Oho... link please

This unintended blunder was digging up the youth sins of the person in question as well.

Jung-hyun broke the ice.

“I want to become a singer. What should I do?”

“What else to do?”

I answered.

“You have to work hard. What other way is there? Like you, I dream of being a singer. Who knows? If we work hard, maybe someday we’ll stand atop the world’s stage. Huh.”

“Ah, shut up, seriously!”

“That’s the point—‘maybe’ and then a ‘huh’ at the end.”

“Hyung, shall we strike a pose?”

When Jung-hyun and I struck a pose and said “huh,” the others doubled over laughing.

Bijoo, about to nibble kimchi, checked her phone and said,

“Oh, here’s another one: ‘A child refuses rice—what to do?’”

“If they starve, they won’t get sick. They just aren’t hungry enough yet. Since childhood I’ve known how precious rice is, grown stitch by stitch by our farmers, and have never wasted it... Pfft! It got picked.”

“...I truly wish the world would end.”

We laughed at his denunciation. Nearby, Yeo Hee-chan, eating a dosirak, asked,

“What’s so funny?”

“Ri-hyuk’s youth sins are being unearthed online.”

“I swear, if I hadn’t taken cold medicine last night...”

Soon Yeo Hee-chan joined in our laughter at the postings. The raw past posts from elementary school spread quickly among the crew. Judging by their reactions, our HBS Reality team must be loving it. Ri-hyuk, the butt of jokes, stabbed his lunch with his spoon in frustration.

It was lunchtime now. We had about thirty minutes’ break between Mission 1 and Mission 2, so I checked the fan café and found it. The idol community had posts too. I’d been so stressed being on constant alert during filming, but now I felt oddly relieved.

Maxi gently asked,

“MasterScholar, what’s our next mission?”

“I’m not telling you.”

Now that she mentioned it, I was curious too. What was the mission, and what would the reward be? During the first mission, I’d just run around without thinking, but now I wanted to know.

“Hyung, you not eating that?”

“Hmm—doesn’t suit my taste. Want more?”

“...Yes!”

When Lee Gyeon-woo offered his lunch box with a smile, our third member eagerly grabbed it. Come to think of it, when he first received his dosirak, he’d stood awkwardly before peeling back the wrapper with a hesitant “ah.” His clumsy hands suggested his manager usually did everything for him. Not only he, but several celebrities showed the same. They’d wait, then suddenly realize “oh!” and take action themselves. One A-team actor even struggled opening a water bottle. Each time, I resolved I wouldn’t be like that if I became famous—but then laughed and shook my head. Who knows what I’ll be like?

The staff ate simple gimbap, while the celebrities ate lunch boxes. Filming resumed. It was past 2 p.m., and I sensed we’d shoot two more times here, wrapping up around 10 p.m.

“We’ll now give out the reward we couldn’t earlier. Team C, come forward to receive the giant golden key.”

It was about five times larger than the keys we’d won for Mission 1. They said its value matched five of the smaller keys.

Joo Se-han’s elder brother, comedian Oh Hyung-seok, asked,

“PD-nim, what is this used for?”

“Yeah, I’m curious.”

“You’ve never told us that—what can you do with it?”

As curiosity bubbled, Main PD Koo Jae-young nodded.

“To explain... the golden key opens a hidden treasure chest in this village. You must collect all sixteen keys to open it. The team that opens the treasure chest wins today’s mission.”

I saw. But honestly, I wasn’t especially interested in the golden key. Our goal was to secure as much airtime as possible. The golden key was nice, but secondary.

Just then—

“And what’s the first-place prize?”

“Since this is a Chuseok special themed ‘filial piety,’ we’ve prepared luxury package travel vouchers you can send your families so they can show respect to their elders.”

“.......”

As “oohs” arose, my teammates looked at me. I nodded. My mind changed. I had to win that travel voucher today.