Chapter 142:


    Trantor: MarcTempest


    Editor: Rxel


    Chapter 142


    Health problems?


    Woojoo wondered what was going on and quickly clicked on the news link.


    His younger brothers also saw his serious expression and came closer to him.


    Rihyuk narrowed his eyes.


    “TNT postpones theireback…? What happened?”


    “Let’s read it.”Woojoo slowly scrolled down the article.


    Fortunately, it was not about someone getting seriously injured.


    Flu.


    It was a story about Seok Jihun, the youngest and main vocal of TNT, who got infected with Type A influenza while juggling drama filming andeback preparations.


    ording to TJ Entertainment, they ‘n to postpone theeback by a week considering the artist’s condition’.


    Bijoo’s eyes were full of sympathy.


    “Type A influenza is really painful…”


    “Isn’t he the senior we saw before? When we video called with Taehyun. There was a hotel swimming pool then.”


    “Right. It was him.”


    Jihun was also one of the younger brothers Woojoo got along well with at TJ.


    They used to hang out together on their days off, and he taught him some vocal tips as the main vocal back then.


    But now they were distant.


    They would hug and greet each other warmly when they met at the broadcasting station, but they rarely contacted each other personally.


    It felt funny to contact him out of the blue, so Woojoo left a message for Taehyun to wish him a speedy recovery.


    On the other hand, after finishing his thoughts about the past connection.


    “This is serious.”


    Woojoo focused on the problem of reality.


    The situation of TNT postponing theireback.


    The younger brothers looked at their smartphones with worried expressions.


    Bijoo kept brushing his hair back, Rihyuk scrolled down his smartphone with his eyes squinted.


    Jiho rested his chin on Woojoo’s shoulder and bit his lower lip, then took his phone and started searching.


    ‘What is the difference between Type A influenza that TNT’s Jihun got and Type B influenza?’, ‘Fans are angry… TJ’s excessive schedule is on the chopping board again’ and other headlines popped up.


    Heavy silence.


    Even Junghyun, who usually sighed briefly while looking at his smartphone, was in a bad mood.


    The youngest spoke in a gloomy voice.


    “Hyung.”


    “Yeah.”


    Woojoo answered calmly and the youngest said, “You’ve been working on the second album since August, right? And we all practiced really hard too.”


    “We did.”


    “What do we do now…?”


    The youngest, who usuallyughed ‘ehehe’ even when something happened, muttered dejectedly.


    TNT’seback was pushed back by a week.


    So it ovepped with theirs.


    Of course, they were notpetitors.


    If Street Boys had ovepped with theireback again, it would have been a hassle.


    They were their rivals, so the focus would have been on thepetition.


    But New ck and TNT, who had been in the industry for five years, were in different positions, so they were not in apetitive situation.


    The problem was the attention itself.


    They were rookies who needed every bit of attention, so they had to promote themselves with teasers or music videos, but if a big group came back at the same time, they would take all the attention.


    It didn’t matter how much it actually affected them, it was not a good thing.


    But…


    Even so, there was no need to be this depressed.


    The younger brothers seemed to be very sensitive because they had put a lot of effort into preparing for the second album.


    “Uh…”


    Of course, Bijoo was rolling his eyes.


    He didn’t know what to do.


    It was Woojoo’s birthday, so they should have been having fun, but the mood was like this, so he seemed restless.


    His face looked sad, frustrated, and not like this.


    If Woojoo poked him with a needle, he would probably shed a tear, so he was more nervous.


    “Hey, guys.” Bijoo said, “Today is Woojoo Hyung’s birthday…”


    “Oops.”


    “Ah…”


    His other siblings, who were browsing the inte, blinked their eyes like they had just woken up from a dream.


    Then they looked at Woojoo with a bewildered expression.


    “Uh… uh, Hyung, do you want me to give you a massage…?”


    Woojoo couldn’t help butugh at the sight of the bear fidgeting with his front paws in confusion.


    While Junghyun was blinking his eyes, Woojoo tapped his shoulder.


    “It’s okay, no massage.”


    “Um. That.”


    Rihyuk scratched his cheek and said, “I didn’t want to ruin the mood today since it’s your birthday… but.”


    “Sorry?”


    “But… unfortunately, the situation is like this… ah, what am I saying. Anyway, I’m sorry for making the mood like this on your birthday.”


    “Sorry?”


    “I regret it.”


    He raised his hands and swept his hair back, but it was obvious that he was trying to cover his ears.


    Woojoo quietly held back hisughter.


    Then, their youngest lifted his face from Woojoo’s shoulder and said, “Actually, to be honest, I’m upset.”


    “What is it?”


    “Well… you see. Ever since you gave me this, you’ve been working hard and dreaming.”


    Jiho pointed out one by one with his finger.


    “You stayed up all night talking to the A&R team staff about the title song, and you came to tell me whenever you found something good on YouTube to help me with my facial expressions…”


    “So you’re upset?”


    “Yes. I feel like I’m losing my presence.” Jiho added, “Like… this is not TNT Sunbaenim’s fault, but I’m sure he doesn’t want to be sick either, but I still feel upset.”


    “He’s not good at talking, but I can rte to him.”


    “Yeah. I get what you’re saying.”


    Woojoo smiled at his siblings.


    They all looked upset.


    They had practiced together to make the album a sess, and Woojoo had put a lot of effort intoposing the title song.


    But suddenly, their schedule ovepped perfectly with a big group, and they were worried that their efforts would be in vain.


    ‘And on his birthday…!’ Bijoo’s eyes were full of exmation.


    Looking at his expression, he seemed to wish he had a time machine, so he could go to the future and get a universal vine for TNT’s Seok Jihun.


    They were all so upset that Woojoo felt like he had tofort them.


    “Ah.” Woojoo said with a smile, “I didn’t know you guys cared about me so much.”


    “We always do. I’m just short-sighted.”


    “Me too.”


    Woojoo nodded at the stupid brothers’ answers.


    “Well… I guess you can be upset, but don’t be too emotional about it.”


    “But…”


    Woojoo raised his hand at Bijoo’s words.


    “Do you remember when we made Something?”


    “Something?”


    “Yeah, we all worked hard back then, even if not as much as now. But the day before the release, Sixty Seconds’ recording leaked…”


    “That was a mess.”


    “Right. Compared to that, this is nothing.”


    Maybe it was because of Woojoo’s birthday.


    He spoke honestly about what he had been thinking.


    “We can’t control everything anyway. No matter what we do in the future, there will always be unexpected things that will pop up like this.”


    So.


    “Whether it’s good or bad, big or small, let’s not get too emotional and prepare calmly until theeback.”


    Woojoo smiled and said to his siblings who were staring at him, “We’ve done well so far, haven’t we?”


    “Yes.”


    Bijoo nodded his head, followed by the others who agreed with him.


    They resumed their meal in a more rxed atmosphere than before.


    The busy spoons and chopsticks.


    “Wow, the food is really good, by the way.”


    Woojooughed at Rihyuk’s grumbling.


    Under Bijoo’s proud smile, Junghyun and Jiho nodded vigorously.


    “I’m going to have another bowl.”


    “Eat a lot. I made plenty on purpose.”


    Then, Junghyun, who was fiddling with his phone, suddenly pushed the screen towards Woojoo.


    “Oh, right. Hyung. The fans prepared a gift for your birthday.”


    “A gift?”


    “I saw on the fan cafe that someone with golden hands made a video.”


    It was a video titled ‘To You, Our Universe’, and it seemed to be made by a Soufflé.


    “Wait, wait!”


    The youngest raised his hand.


    “Stop for a moment. We have to film this.”


    “Okay. I want to film it too.”


    “Bijoo Hyung, I’ll just film it for you.”


    “No, I want it for myself.”


    Woojoo smiled at Bijoo and the youngest holding their phones and looked at the screen where the video was ying.


    The calm melody of ‘Starlight’, which Woojoo made, was the BGM.


    It was aption of various videos from fancams, broadcasts, and YouTube that thepany uploaded.


    The first one was obviously the first-ce video of PBS Music On.


    -We, Soufflé, will also work hard in the future…


    “Ah!”


    His scream made the others p andugh, and Woojoomented.


    “Why did they start with this…”


    Then, scenes of me making mistakes, performing, and cuddling with his siblings followed.


    Woojoo remembered that time.


    The VCR they made when they had their first fan signing.


    The message they conveyed was that they were waiting for the fans, just as they were waiting for them.


    Woojoo felt the same message in this four-minute video.


    Whether he showed a cool, foolish, or any other side of him.


    The video seemed to say that they liked all of his aspects, as they twinkled like stars.


    Woojoo’s heart ached as he saw the caption ‘You are our universe’ with the date ‘11.9’.


    A pleasant thrill ran up his chin.


    Without knowing it, his cheeks rose slightly, and his tear ducts felt prickly.


    Woojoo fidgeted, not knowing what to do with his hands and feet.


    “Pfft…”


    Woojoo lifted his head, and the others were giggling at his reaction.


    The youngest, who was holding his phone like a cameraman, asked him, “Please give us ament, Seon Woojoo.”


    Woojoo took a moment to organize his thoughts.


    His heart was heavy, and he wondered how to exin thisprehensive thing.


    Time passed.


    Woojoo described how he felt.


    “I’m really happy since this morning.”


    ***


    The letter posted on New ck’s official SNS ount.


    @The_New_ck_Official


    (A picture of 22 candles burning on a cake)


    [It was a really happy day.]


    [I’m reading the letters you sent me whenever I have time.]


    [One of them said “Thank you for being born” and I wanted to say the same thing to you.]


    [Thank you for being here. My soufflés.]


    [We’ll work really hard until oureback and see you again]


    [Soon.]


    @The_New_ck_Official


    (A picture of Woojoo making a V sign with a rubber duck on his head)


    [Hello, Soufflés]


    A second post that came up after the first one was cut off by the character limit.


    It was supposed to be a continuation of the first one, but since they were posted separately, the Soufflés who were looking at the SNS ount were momentarily confused.


    A picture of Woojoo with a serious expression and a rubber duck on his head.


    “Hello, Soufflés” with a powerful greeting.


    They wondered what kind of new concept this was and felt bewildered, but soon realized what happened and burst intoughter.


    And then they started teasing him as usual.


    ***


    He regretted logging in after hearing from his siblings that a new joke was trending on the fan cafe.


    [I can’t wait to see you guys on music shows! So pleasee back soon…]


    He clicked on it with a warm smile at first.


    Right.


    I miss you too…


    -Hello, Soufflés


    He blinked his eyes at the post with a picture of him wearing a floral tracksuit attached.


    “…”


    “Hyung, what are you looking at? Hahaha! Ahh…!”


    There were dozens of posts like that.


    He sighed as he looked at them.


    No wonder Koreans were called the nation of wit.


    His Soufflés had created dozens of variations of the joke.


    Rihyuk made a satisfied face and said, “Unfortunately, I lost.”


    “What?”


    “The ranking of making embarrassing history. You’re number one now.”


    “Rihyuk. Look at this.”


    Woojoo showed him a post with a smug expression.


    “…”


    Posts that had changed ‘Hello, Soufflés’ to ‘Hello, piraruku’ and ‘Hello, genius’ and so on.


    He said he would never go to the fan cafe again, so Woojoo told him to do so.


    Then he went to a corner and tapped his phone screen diligently, but it was obvious that he was lurking on the fan cafe.


    “…Didn’t you say you would never go there again?”


    “It’s a reading cafe!”


    “I can see everything in the mirror behind you.”


    “Huh?”


    Woojoo smiled as he saw his flustered face.


    “But there’s no mirror behind you.”


    “Oh, really!”


    Woojooughed as he saw his face turn red.


    Lately, he had been teasing his younger brothers as a way of managing his stress.


    But unlike the rising stress, the days that passed after his birthday were peaceful as ever.


    Practice, sleep, practice, sleep.


    A cycle of routine.


    Of course, outside the practice room, there were a lot of noisy things going on.


    TJ Entertainment was pouring out press releases like crazy.


    A dance challenge event, a famous actor’s cameo in the music video, a message from a recovered member, and so on.


    It was a big issue in the music industry, which had no other news except for Scarlet’s domination.


    Meanwhile, in the entertainment section, there was talk of a movie about a corn farmer who rides a spaceship and goes through a ck hole, along with a parenting reality show.


    And in the social section, there was a heated debate over the unprecedented water SAT, and winter was showing its face.


    The weather suddenly got cold.


    The outfits changed to coats or paddings as the lowest temperature ranged between -3 and 1 degrees Celsius.


    The nkets in the dorm also changed to thick cotton ones that their parents sent them.


    Thanks to the members’ families who took care of Rihyuk, he ended up having four nkets by himself.


    And…


    “What’s that?”


    His thoughts were interrupted by the guy who was dancing in the practice room.


    Junghyun was holding a camera, and Jiho was dancing.


    “What is he doing?”


    Bijoo answered.


    “He said it’s a dance to wish for the admission of the high school seniors.”


    “No way.”


    Their youngest made a triangle with both hands as he danced.


    He said as if it was obvious, “It’s an S, you know. A dance to wish for early admission.”


    “What about regr admission?”


    “Wait a sec.”


    He then quickly spread his arms and legs to make a ‘J’ with his whole body, and they burst intoughter.


    Junghyun, who was filming with his phone, said, “Your head makes it look like a C.”


    “Then I’ll do this.”


    Theyughed again at the sight of their youngest, who shrunk his neck like a turtle.


    Really.


    For the sake of their kids’ human rights and the seniors’ eye health, he would never let him upload this.


    As he was shrunk like a turtle, Jiho saw Rihyuk and eximed, “Ah!”


    He then put his hands on his ears and pped them.


    “What’s that…?”


    “A red-eared slider.”


    “Hey!”


    “This is a pirarucu.”


    Rihyuk got up with a loud scream as he saw the youngest making an ugly face.


    They held their stomachs andughed.


    Soon, a Tom and Jerry chase began in the narrow practice room.


    They both got scolded by Bijoo and sat down, but.


    “Ah, but when will this be uploaded?”


    “They said it’s at 6 o’clock sharp.”


    “I hope it came out well this time.”


    What they were waiting for today was the group concept photo.


    It was the first step of the promotion schedule that would lead to the group photo reveal on Friday and the music video reveal next Wednesday.


    The information about their mini album that their seniors were eagerly waiting for on the fan cafe.


    Of course, they were also excited and waiting for it.


    They did monitor it once at the shooting site, but the photos that were retouched in the studio were different from the originals.


    As they waited for the upload at 6 o’clock sharp, they searched for New ck on the inte and surfed the web.


    -New ck, mini album promotion schedule revealed… warming up foreback