Photo shoots took place outside.

I didn’t ask the caretaker, but having outsiders taking photos in the classroom didn’t feel right.

One August afternoon.

Wearing our uniforms, we wandered around the school grounds.

In front of the flower beds we struck the flower-petal pose, sat on benches with our legs crossed, and tried sitting in the pavilion.

We carried two selfie sticks.

One held the phone for photos, the other for live streaming to interact with fans.

“Okay, what’s our next pose suggestion?”

Comments poured in immediately.

–How about standing side by side in a line with your hands on each other’s shoulders?

–The Creation of Adam..?

–Do them all lol they’re all pretty hehe

–Your outfit matches your face. Astrophysics.

The last comment was odd.

It looked like someone ran “Your uniform suits you, Woo-joo” through a poor translator and pasted the result back into chat.

Imagining a fan typing a foreign phrase into a translator and pasting it made me smile.

Since there weren’t that many comments, I replied to each as much as possible.

“Line up side by side with hands on shoulders? We’ll try that.”

“Thank you for saying we’re all pretty.”

“Right? The uniform suits me, right? I know it looks good on me.”

When my juniors’ faces lit up at my basic English, I felt a flush of embarrassment.

Just then I spotted a notable comment.

“The Creation of Adam? I can’t remember it suddenly. What was it again...?”

“It’s a famous painting.”

Ri-hyuk explained.

“It’s Michelangelo’s work. On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, God and the first human touch fingers above the clouds...”

“Oh, I remember it now. That one.”

“That sounds fun. Shall we try it?”

“Woo-joo hyung, stay still. I’ll lift you.”

Jung-hyun hoisted me up like a prince.

“Hey, Jung-hyun, this pose is weird.”

“I’m fine, hyung.”

“I know, I mean me, not you.”

“Shh and just get into position. Raise your knee here, stretch your arm there. Angle...”

“Take it easy, Ri-hyuk hyung. To do it exactly like the painting you’d have to strip naked.”

We laughed as we posed.

I lay on the left, Bi-joo and Ri-hyuk lifted the maknae opposite me. We struck the pose.

Then we extended our fingers gracefully. Their expressions were so sacred and solemn I burst out laughing.

Looking at the selfie stick, I saw “ㅋㅋㅋㅋ” in chat.

“Oh, that came out well.”

The photo quality was superb.

When fans asked us to post them on the café and SNS, I nodded with a smile.

Of course we’d post them.

“Hyung, where should we go next?”

“Let’s head to the far end of the playground.”

I led them like taking kindergarteners on a field trip.

“Wow—these flowers are so pretty!”

They were more excited than me about taking my graduation photos.

Our second born especially beamed with happiness, as though nothing could be better.

I felt the same.

Surrounded by my juniors bouncing around like puppies, I laughed nonstop.

It was a fun day for the first time in a while.

At sunset.

In the car crossing the Han River Bridge bathed in twilight, we each held a canned drink.

“You’ve worked hard, everyone.”

I offered a can of zero-calorie cola with a smile.

The clink of cans felt like a toast, and laughter followed.

“Ah, it’s so hot.”

A breeze through the open window made the maknae’s shirt flutter.

No wonder—they were wearing winter uniforms with jackets in midsummer heat.

Ri-hyuk downed a swig of barley water from his thermos.

“With our clumsy hyung, you’ve done a lot of work.”

I nearly spat out my cola.

“Hey. Aren’t I supposed to say something like that? You guys should say ‘Hyung, you worked hard,’ and I’d say ‘What work?’”

“Look at his military-level feels.”

“You’re so old-fashioned, hyung.”

“...”

“What’s up, hyungs? Woo-joo hyung isn’t just old-fashioned—he’s actually old. Like, prehistoric. Our senior Old.”

“...I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll let it slide, really.”

I poked the maknae’s side teasingly, then laughed heartily.

As we chatted merrily about the shoot and the photos, Min-gi hyung handed me his phone.

“Our director wants to tell you something.”

He switched to speakerphone and we huddled.

–Hey, it’s me.

Seok-hwan hyung’s voice was as bright as a clear sky.

–I’ve got two pieces of news for you. Which do you want first? Good news or interesting news?

Jung-hyun answered immediately.

“Anything.”

–Then good news first. You know HBS MTV? Showtime?

“Yeah. Of course.”

That was our first music show where we’d been nominees for first place.

–HBS is launching a new program. An idol reality show starring New Black.

“Reality? Really?”

–It’s confirmed through the next programming quarter. Filming starts early September, and it’ll air around your second album release.

We all cheered at once.

An idol reality show.

We’d envied the Street Boys on K-Net for getting one.

It was every rookie idol’s dream.

To think we’d get our own TV reality show.

As we clapped and cheered, a tangle of organ music played like an echo in my ear.

“Hyung, what’s the interesting news?”

–It’s good promo news, but you’ll want to see it yourselves. Turn on your phones and check the official SNS account.

“Official account?”

–You’ll see a video tagged with you.

We navigated to the official SNS and quickly realized what the interesting news was.

PBS Current Affairs & Culture Department.

Behind cubicle walls, a woman held the phone to her ear.

“...I’m sorry, but would an interview be difficult? Our show isn’t that kind of weirdly edited program. It’s a documentary. Yes, teacher. A documentary. It’s not long—just five minutes—if you could spare us that—”

–I don’t particularly want to talk about that day on air. I’m sorry.

“Teacher, teacher! Please just hear me out—”

The call had already been cut off.

The youngest writer, Jeong Woo-jung, sighed.

That was her tenth call attempt.

This one seemed promising until the very end when the interviewee backed out.

“This special is unusually hard to cast.”

Even with a public broadcaster’s name, finding yeses felt like plucking stars from the sky.

It was because of the documentary’s subject.

This special focused on righteous heroes—people who acted nobly.

Men and women who risked themselves without hesitation at disaster sites or accidents.

A man who ran into a burning vehicle to save a crying baby, a college student who rescued a homeless man attempting suicide, a lifeguard who dived in after someone drowning—and so on.

The material was good, but securing interviews was tough.

At least firefighters or police who performed heroic acts were easier to book, but ordinary people were another story.

Victims’ families had to consent, and most found the request too burdensome.

Understandably, they didn’t want to relive painful memories.

Even when victims agreed, the heroes themselves often declined.

There were multiple cases where the victim said yes but the rescuer refused.

“Please, just hear me out—!”

And now she’d failed a eleventh time.

Sighing, she crossed out one contact and read the next.

‘Name: Choi Ik-hyeon. Agent: Choi Yong-jae, 02....’

A small note read ‘Galhyeon-dong Hero.’

It referred to the incident last year on CSAT day in Galhyeon-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, covered extensively in the media.

The summary was simple.

A driver had an epileptic seizure, accidentally accelerating toward an old man pushing a cart.

It could have been a disaster, but a test-taker risked his life to save the man, and no one was harmed.

The fact he’d missed his exam was a poignant detail.

‘Let’s give it a try.’

Taking a deep breath, she dialed.

When Choi Yong-jae answered, Woo-jung calmly explained the purpose: filming a documentary about the hero who saved that day, and asked if he’d agree to an interview.

He asked to wait, then called back 30 minutes later.

–Yes, my father has agreed.

Yes.

She clenched her fist. Only one thing remained.

“May I have the rescuer’s contact? His name... Ah, it says here: Sun Woo-joo.”

–Ah, I have his number, but—

He hesitated.

–I can’t give it without permission. I’ll ask him. I’ll tell him you’re writer Jeong Woo-jung from PBS. I’ll get back to you.

The call ended.

Woo-jung blinked. So it’s arranged or not?

And he’d offered to ask the rescuer himself.

“Is the rescuer someone famous?”

She imagined him an actor for a moment, then chuckled.

He’d been a student in November last year, so maybe now he was retaking the exam at some hagwon.

Woo-jung drew a triangle next to ‘Galhyeon-dong Hero’ and added a question mark.

The interesting news from our director was Senior Jang So-won’s SNS.

@ Promis.Jang

I was tagged by Lisa unni to do the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS patients. I donated to the Hope Foundation, hoping my small share helps. I’m so happy to contribute to a good cause.

Playing the video, we saw Jang So-won wince, then her manager poured a bucket of water over her head.

–Waa! Eep!

As she shook seaweed-like wet hair, she shrieked.

The Ice Bucket Challenge had gone viral worldwide this summer.

Participants dumped ice water on themselves, donated, then tagged three others.

And Senior Jang So-won, our partner in Something, tagged us.

“Sigh...”

“Ri-hyuk, stop sighing.”

“I said I want to sigh out loud, why?”

“You’ll get water in your mouth.”

“...”

That morning at Han River Citizen Park.

Five of us in short sleeves stood in a secluded spot with apartment buildings across the river and power lines in the distance.

After our greeting lines, we each lifted a bucket.

Splash—

The cold water jolted us awake.

Ugh.

I never thought I’d take an icy shower again after my discharge.

When filming ended, I wrapped myself in a large towel. The morning air plus icy water gave me chills.

“Hyung, here you go.”

Bi-joo handed me a towel and I dried my hair.

We all shivered as we climbed into the car in the parking lot.

Even with the heater on, my fingers trembled over the smartphone.

“My fingers are shaking.”

“Write it later, hyung. No rush.”

“But I’ve got to write it now so the PR team can review it.”

Soon the draft for today’s SNS post was complete.

The content was pretty good, but the question was whom to tag.

“Guys, who should we tag?”

“So-won unni already tagged us. How about Scarlet sunbaes?”

“Can’t tag idols from our own company.”

Even if fine personally, publicly they avoid interaction with same-agency idols.

Fans would overreact at the smallest thing: “Why did they do that for them but not for us?” “They only use us to boost the other group.” And so on.

Well.

That’s a different issue, but best to avoid any link.

My juniors nodded in agreement and we pondered further.

We hadn’t met Daisy from our agency personally; the Ju-se-han members were out of the question.

Jung-hyun stroked his chin.

“We really don’t know many people in the industry.”

“It’s only been two months since debut.”

“That’s true.”

“So what. We only need to be close among ourselves.”

At Ri-hyuk’s words, the others nodded.

After a long discussion, we decided to tag a fellow rookie idol group of similar tenure.

We messaged the contacts we’d exchanged on music shows; all three teams replied positively.

Among them, the leader of Soul6 was so eager she even thanked us.

“Hey.”

The maknae turned sharply to me.

“You’re close with hyung Tae-hyun from TNT, right? What if we tag him...”

“That’d be trouble.”

“Why?”

“Remember the backlash when we tied for first on a music show? His fans were sharp. He can pretend to be our friend, but we can’t do the same to his fandom.”

“Ah, this world is unfair.”

“And he’s already done it, I think. Who did he tag? Girls On Top, someone from Teen Spirit, and another team.”

“...Really?”

The maknae smiled smugly at the news he’d tagged Gil Chae-kyung, his longtime rival.

She seemed especially attentive after the recent news.

Girls On Top join Ju-se-han Chuseok special

Ju-se-han Chuseok special adds Girls On Top... excitement rising

Two idol teams join: Girls On Top and rookie New Black

Girls On Top’s agency, Why Entertainment, was aggressively promoting the special.

Girls On Top were Scarlet’s rivals and a top girl group.

When we first visited Something’s studio to work with So-won, we ran into them at that agency. Not a pleasant memory.

Anyway, Girls On Top, shaken by a dating scandal in February, had regained form with a full album release.

With their appearance on Ju-se-han confirmed, Why Entertainment poured all its promo resources into it.

As a result, we rookie guests were also in the spotlight.

Not the good kind of attention, though.

Rookie New Black stars on Ju-se-han Chuseok special—who are they?

PD Koo Jae-young: “New Black? We picked them as promising rookies.”

[Weekly Entertainment Editorial] National variety is different. From top stars to rookies, the guest lineup of Ju-se-han...

Most articles neutrally announced our appearance, but some had a sly tone.

Like: “They say Il Kwon-woo is on the Chuseok special, but there’s also a total rookie idol? Haha, just FYI.”

At least they used curses openly.

They sought clicks, and we were the easiest target.

As music show performers, we had no public image yet and a small fandom.

Reactions were bound to be mixed.

On a national variety show like Ju-se-han, there were many die-hard viewers.

Even non-fanatic ones wouldn’t be thrilled by unknown rookie idols.

Seok-hwan hyung, who skimmed article comments for us last night, told us not to read them.

Wait until the broadcast this Sunday.

I said okay, but...

Curiosity is a scary thing.

Even knowing it will hurt, you want to read it—like eavesdropping on someone talking behind your back.

Should I look or not?

As I hovered my finger over the article titles...

Bzz—

Ah! Jeez!

I thought someone was watching me and signaling.

Don’t do it.

But the moment I saw the name on my phone screen, thoughts of article comments or the Ice Bucket Challenge vanished.

[Professor Choi Yong-jae]

...What?

Why is he contacting me?

“Hello?”

–Long time no see, Sun Woo-joo.

His deep voice greeted me warmly.

Curious, I exchanged light greetings with him, then ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) heard something I never expected.

“ ‘A documentary,’ you say?”