Chapter 1103: I am New Black, Class of ’18 (27)

My heart was pounding.

It was the biggest award we'd received since entering the American market.

[ARTIST OF THE YEAR]

The words sparkled across the giant screen.

In Korea, it would be the equivalent of winning Singer of the Year at the KMA or the Mango Chart Awards.

High-fiving the fans reaching toward us with deafening cheers, I made my way onto the stage.

"Congratulations."

The legendary rock star from the '90s who presented us with the trophy gave my shoulder a friendly pat as we shook hands.

"Thank you."

I instinctively bowed my head before I even realized I was doing it, drawing a laugh from him.

Turning toward the Souffles, who were still cheering at full volume, I passed the trophy to my underlings.

The background music, Overcooked, gradually faded away.

"Congratulations!! We love you!!"

"WAAAAAAAAAH!!"

My eyes met my members' as we waited for the cheers to settle, all of us smiling.

Biju's eyes were shimmering with tears, while Junghyun and Jiho grinned as they held the trophy together.

Ri Hyuk's face had turned bright red, and he was staring blankly into space.

[First...]

I looked around at the celebrities and audience members who had risen to their feet in applause before I began speaking.

"It feels like this year has been filled with nothing but miracles."

The main performance at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony.

The longest-running No. 1 song in Billboard history.

The global success of children's songs and English-language releases.

2018 had been a year unlike any other.

"So many things have happened that we couldn't even imagine a year ago. Isn't life strange? Last year, we were just making our first appearance here. And now we're standing on this stage."

The members nodded beside me.

"There were so many people whose dedication brought us here. My fellow members, our TF team, all of our staff... and the Souffles who made this moment possible."

I waved toward the cheering fans.

"I'd like to take this opportunity to thank every single one of you. And..."

I smiled and inclined my head toward the other artists nominated alongside us, including Cold Brown and Ailo.

"It is a genuine honor simply to have been nominated alongside such iconic artists."

Among the crowd of rappers loudly chewing gum, the lone rapper wearing a tuxedo elegantly raised a hand in acknowledgment.

I had no idea what the other nominees were really thinking, but they all wore warm, almost parental smiles, as though celebrating the success of a much younger artist.

I responded with a sinister grin.

"But don't get too comfortable. We're planning to be nominated in this category again next year. And we'll be coming back with a song even stronger than Overcooked."

My challenge made the veteran singers burst into amused laughter, finding it adorable.

Only Hailey and Cold Brown looked at us with expressions that clearly said, These little punks..., their guard immediately going up.

At that moment, my eyes met the members of Moonlight, who were listening to the acceptance speech with blank expressions from the audience.

"We'll keep working so we can continue standing on this stage."

Unlike most award shows, the AMA selected its winners through fan voting.

Whenever powerhouse artists were nominated together, the award ultimately went to whoever had the strongest fandom.

That meant our greatest rivals at future AMAs wouldn't necessarily be megastars like Hailey Blue, but rather the next breakout boy band capable of building a fanbase as passionate as ours.

"And we'll climb even higher."

Next year.

The year after that.

For as long as we were capable.

As I concluded my speech, I raised the trophy once more toward the cheering audience.

"This has been NewBlack. Have an incredible night, everyone!"

Bang!

The crowd erupted.

As gold confetti poured down from above, my members and I laughed together in pure delight.

After winning the AMA...

"Shouting Korean from the Center of Pop" — NewBlack Wins AMA Grand Prize

[Photo] NewBlack's Wooju Stuns in Floral Fashion

NewBlack Celebrates Hangul Day at the AMA: "King Sejong, Are You Watching?"

Countless articles flooded Korea.

Every time I refreshed the search results for "NewBlack" on the portal site, another ten articles seemed to appear.

Hanbyul: Congrats congrats

Hanbyul: You guys turned America upside down

Hanbyul: When are you coming back?

Blink.

Yeonhoo: Congratulations on Billboard

Woobin: It's not Billboardㅡㅡ

Yeonhoo: Congratulations on not Billboard then

Blink.

Blink.

Every time I tried to check something on my phone, another KakaoTalk notification blocked the screen.

"What are you looking at?"

"Our articles. But people keep messaging to congratulate us."

"Want to borrow my pho... actually, never mind."

Seokhwan hyung laughed just as he was about to hand me his phone.

"What?"

"My phone isn't any better."

He held it up for me to see.

Our TF team leader's phone was being bombarded with nonstop texts and messages.

The difference was that while most of my messages came from idols and fellow entertainers, his were mostly from people listed as "Division Director," "Department Head," and other executive titles.

"Who's messaging you?"

"Broadcasting variety directors, advertisers whose contracts just expired, people from production companies... all sorts."

I took off my sunglasses and looked through the messages with admiration.

"Wow. You've really made it, hyung."

"Right? It feels like just yesterday I was wandering around producers' offices carrying coffee, trying to get you guys booked. They always say a singer's success is a manager's success too. I guess it's true. I feel like I've become a global celebrity myself."

When he admitted his shoulders kept rising on their own, I grabbed both of his hands.

"Let's recite it together, hyung."

"...?"

"Prevent narcissism. Live a healthy life."

"You do it. I'd die of embarrassment."

I placed both hands over my chest and solemnly began my affirmation.

"My true identity is Kim Deoksun's grandson and the daughter of Sun Myungju and Lee Myeongeun, Sun Wooju."

"...Shouldn't that be son?"

"...See? Preventing narcissism really isn't easy."

Pretending nothing had happened, I gazed off into the distance as Seokhwan hyung and I continued walking through the studio.

We were currently at Silver Screen's headquarters in Pasadena, California.

The grounds were enormous.

With rows of palm trees and thick forests stretching across the estate, it looked less like a movie studio and more like the private domain of a medieval European duke.

If a bear suddenly wandered out of the woods, you'd probably just think, Wow. I guess the studio keeps bears too.

"Welcome!"

A Korean American man in a baseball cap, shorts, and a T-shirt greeted us with a bright smile.

"My name's Jason Kim. I work here at Silver Screen."

"Nice to meet you."

"And congratulations on winning the AMA yesterday. My wife and I watched the ceremony together. We were so moved. The first Asian artist ever to win the grand prize..."

He shook my hand over and over, unable to contain his excitement, and I smiled back.

Today's guide exchanged greetings with Seokhwan hyung before leading us toward a golf cart.

"The studio's huge, so from here we'll be getting around by tour car."

Under the clear California sky, the electric cart hummed quietly as it climbed the hill.

Listening to Jason Kim introduce famous spots around the studio, I enjoyed the cool Los Angeles breeze.

Ding.

I laughed after seeing the latest picture in our group chat and showed it to Seokhwan hyung.

The Math Ghost burst into laughter.

Biju: We made it!!

Biju: I'm so happyyyyyyyyy 😭😭😭 Apple paradise!!!

The photo showed Biju and Junghyun wearing straw hats, posing proudly in front of an apple orchard.

After the AMA, everyone had split up to enjoy some personal vacation time.

Biju and Junghyun had gone to experience apple picking outside Los Angeles, while Jiho and Ri Hyuk were touring famous restaurants.

Looking through the photos, Seokhwan hyung commented,

"Ri Hyuk really was born to be a homebody."

"He's just exhausted. His stamina isn't great."

One picture showed Mingi hyung and Jiho laughing as they stretched gooey pizza cheese, while beside them Ri Hyuk looked like an utterly worn-out cat quietly eating his meal.

Watching my members happily enjoying themselves, I looked up.

Silver Screen Studios was drawing closer.

Unlike everyone else, I was still working my way around Los Angeles.

The reason I'd come here today was for a series of film meetings.

One of them was about the upcoming promotion for Sound of the Sun.

"We're here."

As we followed the guide into the air-conditioned studio lobby—

"...You can purchase souvenirs over here, and the restrooms are at the end of that hallway..."

The guide addressing a group of studio tourists through a microphone suddenly froze, eyes wide as he looked at me.

"And at this very moment... NewBlack's Sunny has just entered!"

The tourists all turned at once.

An older man instantly raised his phone to take pictures, while several women let out piercing screams.

Hands flew to mouths as cries of "Oh my God! Oh my God!" echoed through the lobby.

"Hello."

I gave everyone a small wave before following our guide deeper into the studio.

Behind me, excited voices rang out.

"Did you see him?!"

"Did you just see that?!"

Click.

The moment the lobby door closed behind us, I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Hehehe!"

"They can still hear you."

"Hehehehehe..."

Covering my mouth, I giggled uncontrollably.

Then I whispered to Seokhwan hyung while staring at the closed door.

"Did you see that? They actually cheered when they saw me. I think I'm officially famous in America now."

Ever since Overcooked became a hit, I could genuinely feel that ordinary people recognized us differently.

Jason Kim nodded.

"Sometimes tourists react like that when they run into movie stars here. You're extremely famous now, so that's probably why."

Hearing that my public recognition was now comparable to some of Hollywood's biggest movie stars naturally put a satisfied smile on my face.

As we continued down the hallway—

"Hm?"

A familiar face approached from the opposite direction.

A middle-aged white man with a protruding stomach and closely cropped hair walked toward us with a folder tucked under his arm.

The moment I noticed the name on his employee badge—

Dwight Goodman.

Our eyes met.

"..."

With an anxious expression, he quietly averted his gaze before slipping into another hallway as though fleeing the scene.

I awkwardly lowered the hand I'd started to raise in greeting.

Jason asked,

"Do you know him?"

"Yeah."

"I only met him recently myself... I heard he used to work in marketing at headquarters, but now he's been transferred to studio tours. Maybe headquarters was just too stressful."

"Is working here easier?"

"Much easier. Just look at this smile."

He flashed a beaming grin.

"People working downtown never smile like this."

We both laughed as we watched Goodman retreat into the distance.

Jason asked curiously,

"So how do you know each other?"

"He's the man who cut Sound of the Sun's promotional budget by ninety-five percent."

"Oh! So he cut it by about five percent? That's pretty common."

Like a true American, he'd naturally assumed the budget had gone from one hundred to ninety-five.

I held up all five fingers.

"No. He wanted to leave us with five percent."

"..."

The realization hit him instantly.

"Complete garbage..."

Watching the cheerful California man's soul suddenly awaken into the spirit of Kim Gu made both of us burst into laughter.

The guide led me into a spacious conference room.

Sunlight poured through the windows, overlooking the beautiful studio grounds, making the room instantly calming.

The fact that they'd invited me here to the studio instead of Silver Screen's downtown headquarters probably meant...

"They must really need your help."

Director Kim Bora, who had arrived earlier, leaned over and whispered.

"This studio normally isn't this... accommodating. My classmates from film school all said they usually just notify people over the phone."

"Really?"

"Seriously. I'm surprised too."

Silver Screen was clearly going out of its way for us.

From everything I'd heard, the reason wasn't hard to guess.

"Chairman! Our multi-billion-dollar superhero blockbuster has completely bombed! What do we do now?!"

"There's only one answer. Fire the Budget Cut Beam!"

"Budget Cut Beam activated! Friendly fire within one hundred meters! New productions canceled! Marketing budgets slashed!"

After canceling numerous upcoming projects and gutting the marketing budgets of everything else, Silver Screen had informed us they'd only allocate five percent of the promotional budget.

So we'd counterattacked.

"Souffles! Help us!"

"Heh. Do you require our power, beloved favorite?"

At my request, Souffles around the world gathered their energy and completed a ten-million-person Spirit Bomb.

The situation completely reversed.

Before its release, Sound of the Sun had already reached the Top 10 trending searches on major platforms like Tumblr.

Word of mouth spread rapidly among musical film fans worldwide, online buzz kept climbing, and the performance video of Like The Sun surpassed one hundred million views in record time, turning the movie into one of the year's most anticipated musical releases.

My consecutive performances on Supernova Dodgeball and SNL had only fueled the momentum further.

According to film sites like IMDb, it had become the most talked-about musical in years.

Like any company, once success looked likely, Silver Screen's attitude changed overnight.

Click.

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting."

A blonde woman in her thirties entered with a faint smile.

Everything about her radiated competence.

Even at a glance, she looked like someone born to be an executive.

"It's good to see you again after SNL, Sunny. Mr. Yoon. And congratulations on your AMA win."

"Thank you, Ms. Cassidy."

Rebecca Cassidy.

The executive now overseeing Sound of the Sun.

Her appointment alone showed how seriously Silver Screen was taking us now.

She was considered one of the marketing department's star performers.

I'd heard that the studio's failed superhero blockbuster had eventually broken even through secondary markets and Blu-ray sales largely because of her work.

"I understand you'll be leaving for Japan soon. Since your schedule is tight, let's focus on the key points."

She pressed a button on the remote.

The curtains closed automatically as a projector screen descended.

[Global Premiere]

The screen displayed the worldwide promotional strategy for Sound of the Sun.

Premiere schedules centered on the United States, Korea, and Japan.

While Director Kim Bora quietly gasped, Rebecca turned toward me.

"Los Angeles, Seoul, Tokyo, Paris, London... we're planning premieres across all of them. But naturally, we need your help more than anyone else's, Sunny."

She spoke without hesitation.

"To be perfectly frank, the entire wave of attention surrounding this film originates with you. The reason we're even sitting here today is because of Like The Sun."

"If there's anything I can do, I'd be happy to help."

That was only natural.

I wasn't just involved in the soundtrack—I was one of the producers.

She nodded and began explaining the worldwide promotional campaign in detail.

"And among those, we're planning special performances in the three most important markets: Korea, the United States, and Japan, where Sun Myungju enjoyed tremendous popularity."

"A performance sounds great."

I pictured us performing Like The Sun together with the cast after the premiere while I accompanied them on piano.

"We'll also be incorporating each city's most iconic landmarks into the campaign."

"I see... For example?"

She clicked the remote.

Click.

"Tokyo Tower."

"While you're performing, Tokyo Tower will put on a special illumination show displaying Sound of the Sun."

"Oh... I see. Using one of Tokyo's symbols..."

I paused.

"...Wait."

The scale of this was...

Before I could react, the screen changed again.

This time it displayed one of New York's most famous buildings.

"During the New York special performance, we'll synchronize the lighting of the Empire State Building as well. While you sing, the Empire State Building will ripple with the colors representing your father."

"Uh..."

The sheer scale made me instinctively worry about another company's budget.

"Are you sure it's okay to spend this much?"

"If the movie succeeds, then yes."

"And if it doesn't?"

She answered as though the conclusion were obvious.

"Our studio will probably go under."

"Hahaha!"

I laughed, assuming it was a joke.

Her expression never changed.

"...You're joking, right?"

"I'm not."

"..."

"Silver Screen has staked everything on this project."

A dull ache spread through the pit of my stomach.

The sandwich I'd eaten for lunch cheerfully announced, Hello! I'm going to give you indigestion now! before twisting itself into a painful knot.