Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: Rxel
Chapter 121
The Proper Attitude Towards Luck
When Woojoo woke up, he saw a strange ceiling.
A luxurious hotel room.
Woojoo looked at the dawn sky outside the window and calmly recalled what happened yesterday⊠Yeah, right.
âUgh!â
Woojoo threw off the bed sheet and ran to the bathroom. He clutched the toilet and gagged for a long time.
Fortunately, nothing came out.
The food he ate yesterday was 59,000 won per serving.
He didnât care about anything else, but if he threw up such expensive meat, he would remember it for a long time.
Woojoo wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and leaned his head against the cold bathroom wall for a while.
His head was throbbing with a headache.
At that moment, the light turned on and he saw Kim Deoksoon, the old lady, standing there in her pajamas.
âAre you okay?â
ââŠUh, Grandma. My stomach is a bit queasy. Itâs nothing, donât worry about it.â
âYouâre sick. Youâve been acting crazy since the barbecue place. How can I not worry?â
ââŠâ
Come to think of it, Kim Deoksoonâs eyes had dark circles under them.
At first, Woojoo thought she didnât remove her eye makeup, but it turned out to be dark circles.
No way.
âGrandma, did you stay up all night because of me?â
âNo.â
âJust sleepâŠâ
âI said no. Why would I stick to a drunk guy who passed out all night, stick to him.â
She said no, but it seemed like she did.
âWhy wouldnât you stick to me, Iâm not pretâŠâ
âAre you still drunk?â
âUgh!â
As he gagged again, Kim Deoksoonâs thick hand patted his back.
After a while, Woojoo sat at the table in the hotel room, lost in thought.
5 a.m.
The black night view of the city was visible through the window.
Behind it, Kim Deoksoonâs reflection was seen on the glass as she opened a cup noodle.
Woojoo smiled faintly.
âI was just about to have a hangover cure, goodâŠâ
âItâs mine.â
ââŠâ
âWhat, you want some too?â
âNo, I donât.â
Two cup noodles were ready.
Woojoo had a live broadcast later, so he drank the broth sparingly, but it still felt like his stomach was settling.
As he enjoyed the spicy and salty broth, he burped.
ââŠSo who brought me here?â
âJunghyun carried you.â
âHeâs worked hard. ⊠But did they cover my face when we entered the hotel?â
âI wore a mask. You were the one who came out like a chaebol chairman on a wheelchair, everyone was laughing at you.â
ââŠâ
He was doomed. How was he going to face the other family members in the morning? Woojoo covered his face with both hands and muttered.
âI wonât let you off the hook, Wang Jiho.â
ââŠDonât be too hard on him. He already got scolded by his sisters yesterday.â
âHe deserved it.â
How dare a minor drink alcohol? Woojoo felt the Confucian spirit burning inside him.
Grandma laughed.
âBut heâs a good kid. He stayed until one in the morning yesterday, didnât he?â
âReally?â
âReally. He said he would wait until you woke up, and the four of them were circling around you like puppies who lost their owner. I was so amused that I took a picture of it.â
ââŠPfft!â
Woojoo laughed at the picture that Grandma Kim Deoksoon took with her phone.
It looked like a scene where the grandchildren gathered around the bed of an old man who was dying. The siblings were sitting around the bed, looking down at him.
âI canât live, really.â
âThey said they were going to take a video with your phone and leave.â
Woojoo went into the phone album and there was really a video. He was curious and pressed the play button briefly.
The four of them bowed their heads to the phone camera.
-One, two, three, hello. We are the siblings.
-But why are we greeting?
-Isnât it weird if we donâtâŠ? I feel awkward if I donât greet before I say something to the camera.
-Is that so? Okay then.
-Itâs an occupational disease, this.
-You also greeted with us, donât pretend to be objective.
-Yeah, somaek.
-Grandma, please scold this guy!
-Kids. Donât fight. This is a letter of the heart for Woojoo Hyung. We donât know when heâll wake upâŠ
-Hyung, Woojoo Hyung is alive.
There was another 10 minutes of video, so Woojoo turned it off for now.
There was something more important on his mind than that.
Yesterdayâs Around the World With Dice.
Woojoo licked his tongue at the missed calls, messages, and notifications on his phone.
âIt seems that people watched more variety shows than I thought.â
âThe manager said they watched it like crazy. I was curious too, so I asked Bijoo to crack his smartphone, and there were a lot of articles too. I was amazed when I saw that.â
âOh, what part?â
âYouâre really brave, sir. You said that. Youâre going to have a lot of luck from this month onâŠâ
Woojoo proudly plugged his ears.
Seeing that, Grandma Kim Deoksoonâs mouth moved violently with consonants like â?â, â?â.
Of course, she was angry.
But Woojoo had a secret weapon to appease her.
âGrandma.â
âWhat.â
âI have something to show you. I got it from the variety show I went to.â
âWhat? You jerk.â
He opened his bag and took out a small box. He had wrapped it in several layers of envelopes to prevent it from getting crumpled.
âOpen it.â
âWhat is this? I canât see anything. The letters are too small.â
âItâs a luxury package travel voucher.â
ââŠ!â
Their Mrs. Kim Deoksoonâs eyes widened like she had touched a golden ticket.
Her pursed lips quickly relaxed, and her eyes softened. Woojoo smiled contentedly.
Money was the best.
***
6:30 a.m.
At the time when goosebumps rose on your arms from the chilly air, they said goodbye to their family at the hotel lobby.
They were going to have breakfast at the buffet and then go back to their homes, and New Black had to go to the salon for makeup.
âGrandma, please call me when you get on the bus at the terminal.â
âI know, I know. Keep your wits about you. Donât make a fool of yourself on TV by messing up the name of the bread again.â
They hugged for the last time and got on the van. Theyopened the window and waved to their family.
They could only return to their normal lives after they disappeared like dots.
Minki Hyung tuned the radio frequency and started a conversation.
âYesterdayâs broadcast was fun.â
âDid you watch it too?â
âI watched it for monitoring. I watched it with my parents at my hometown, and they were so happy when I told them I was in charge of you.â
The relativesâ kids asked him to get autographs for them, and the road manager laughed.
Then he pointed to his glittering phone with his chin.
âThatâs all the calls coming in related to you guys.â
ââŠWhat is it?â
âIsnât it amazing? The reporters who used to be hard to reach are now contacting me first, asking me what the schedule is like, or calling from some cable channel.â
It could change depending on how the second part of Around the World With Dice, which would air tonight, turned out, but for now, it was perfect.
Woojoo turned to the siblings to share the excited mood, but they were looking at something else.
ââŠWhy are you staring at me like that?â
Their pupils followed him every time he moved. They were like motion sensors.
âDid I get something on my face?â
âYou look too fine, thatâs why,â Rihyuk said. âThe person who collapsed last night is acting like this. Really, are you okay?â
âOf course Iâm okay.â
âOh, donât smile so smugly and say that. Are you really okay?â
âOuch, our Rihyuk was so scared?â
âYouâre fine. Totally fine.â
He turned his gaze to the window, annoyed. Woojoo chuckled as he watched him.
At that moment, a large hand rested on my forehead.
Bijoo was holding Junghyunâs arm as if it were a stethoscope and putting his hand on Woojooâs forehead.
Junghyun, who was chewing on a gummy worm, answered, â36.7 degrees.â
âHmm⊠thatâs normal. Are you sure youâre okay?â
ââŠWhat are you guys up to?â
Woojoo laughed incredulously.
Luckily, Minki Hyung had a thermometer in his car and lent it to him. Woojoo inserted it in his ear and it showed 36.8 degrees.
âHow do you match it so well?â
âIâm a bit versatile, you know.â
Junghyun looked proud, but Rihyuk clicked his tongue and said, âDonât succeed in weird things, Junghyun Hyung. Our fans always think itâs a lie.â
âThatâs right. I canât even talk about Hyung at school. No one believes me.â
âSo what? It doesnât matter.â
Junghyun and their brothers were chatting casually in the back seat.
Meanwhile, Bijoo was writing something like âlast night 37.3 degreesâ on his phoneâs memo app.
He met Woojooâs eyes and smiled sheepishly.
âItâs a habit from taking care of my brotherâŠâ
âAh.â
âBut are you really okay, Hyung? I heard you get drunk with just a drop of soju on your tongue.â
âWho said that?â
âGrandma did.â
ââŠShe talks too much, Kim Deoksoon.â
The brothers in the back seat laughed and Woojoo felt embarrassed.
âI can drink at least a sip of soju. The problem is when I go over that, I collapse.â
âYouâre really weak with alcohol.â
âRihyuk, are you old enough to drink?â
ââŠâ
âHyung, Hyung, then you canât eat rice cake with alcohol?â
âNo, I get drunk if I do.â Woojoo said kindly to the youngest who asked him, âI wouldnât have collapsed yesterday if it was just soju or beer. Someone made a somaek with cola.â
ââŠIâm sorry.â
He looked so dejected that Woojoo found him cute.
Woojoo must still be a bit drunk. He thought their youngest was cute.
âDonât you want to drink that much?â
âI donât want to drink, but when I go to school, the kids tease me like âEhehe, Wang Jiho has never drunk alcohol~â.â
âTheyâre weird kids. Donât mind them.â
âSo I was curious yesterday and tried to put some in cola. It was really hard to make. I had to sneak around my sister and momâs eyes and collect it⊠I didnât know Hyung would do a one shot.â
âWell, technically, itâs the fault of the person who did a one shot of someone elseâs glass.â
âOh, thatâs true.â
Woojoo smiled sweetly at the guys in the back who nodded.
âRihyuk, you said you slapped me yesterday.â
ââŠNow that I think about it, I guess the bigger mistake was making that soju-cola mix in the first place.â
âOh, right.â
As they talked, Bijoo grabbed Woojooâs arm and spoke with a serious expression. What did he want to say that he looked so earnest?
âHyung, Iâve been thinking about this since last night.â
âYeah?â
âFrom now on, you canât drink anything that someone gives you on the street. Got it?â
âWhat, why all of a suddenâŠ?â
âEven the drinks from the fans are off-limits. You have to let Junghyun try them first and then drink them.â
âIâll do the taste test for you.â
âBijoo, but if the fans give us something, we have to drink it.â
âNo, you canât. And donât drink if someone invites you for a drink either. From now on, you canât even have a sip of anything. No matter how close they are to you.â
His voice was sweet and pleasant, but his words were all gentle nagging.
Woojoo thought about covering his ears like he did with his grandmother, but he gave up.
He didnât have any travel vouchers to use on him.
***
Woojoo was looking at his phone the whole time, from getting his hair curled and makeup done at the salon to going to the waiting room at the PBS broadcasting station in Yeouido.
It wasnât just him, all five of them were like that.
-[Last Night TV] Around the World With Diceâs highest rating minute, the chase with black goat
-New Blackâs first variety show appearance, they captured both humor and emotion
-Who are the hot searchers âNew Blackâ?
No matter which portal site Woojoo went to, there was at least one article about them on the main entertainment section.
The comments attached to them were also at least 500 each, and they were all positive.
-???I watched it with my dad last night and we cracked upâŠ^^*
-As a fan of Around the World With Dice, I really enjoyed watching it. I thought it was weird that PD Gu brought some unknown idols (no offense, donât curse me) but he had a good eye after all. It would have been boring without the black goat.
-I liked them after watching yesterdayâs show ??
Sometimes Woojoo saw comments like âtheyâre desperate to get famousâ or âtheyâre too arrogant for rookiesâ when he sorted by recent, and he felt a surge of anger, but then he realized they werenât wrong and agreed.
They did want to get famous, and they did try to get more screen time. So what?
Instead, Woojoo and the others each downvoted them once. The comments with -5 disappeared like dew in the morning.
Woojoo went to various communities and searched for âNew Blackâ and there were quite a few posts.
-New Black seems like theyâll get a lot of ads
-They look like rookies but they hit the jackpot?
-I realized why the agencies are so desperate to send their idols to Around the World With Diceâs show
-They must be getting a lot of offers
-?? what⊠Then what about Girls On Top, they were Screen on Top
-But one of them made a meme of blowing up the food. As a fan of Girls on Top, Iâm very satisfied ???
Would they get any ads?
Woojoo doubted it.
When they filmed the school uniform ad, they heard the staff members say that the advertisers didnât spend their money on temporary fame.
They had to see at least a quarterâs worth of potential.
If they could keep this momentum going until their second album, then things might change.
But it was true that they were getting a lot of offers.
Several cable channels had already asked them about their schedule, and even one of the terrestrial channels had contacted them.
They heard at least four of them on their way to the station.
The company was also in chaos because of that, and they had a staff meeting on Chuseok day.
They said they would tell them the details after the recording was over, but it was all good news.
The only bad news was.
âAh, I want to leave a message for the fans.â
âMinki Hyung, canât we write a little bit? Just a small message to the fansâŠâ
âNo.â
âThen how about a proof shot on SNS?â
âNo.â
The younger ones looked at Woojoo with eyes full of regret.
Woojoo shook his head too.
âWe can post it after todayâs broadcast. Itâs not too late.â
âDonât you think the fans are curious about our reaction? I think we should at least leave a messageâŠâ
âI know how you feel. But letâs just wait a little longer.â
Woojoo wanted to brag to the fans and say âDid you see us on the show?â but the company wouldnât let them.
Woojoo agreed with them.
The reporters were looking for stories by digging through their fan cafe and official SNS.
They were re-examining everything from their appearance on the cable channel GBSâs âGo to the Sceneâ to our past remarks.
In this situation, they had to be careful about every word and action.
They couldnât afford to lose the luck that they had finally found.
His younger siblings looked sullen, but they soon accepted it.
It was a pity, but Woojoo thought the fans would understand.
Besides, today there would be many videos uploaded to the companyâs official account, such as greetings for Chuseok and reality shows prepared for Chuseok.
-[2014 Chuseok Greetings] Strong and Powerful Morning! How are you, we are New Black
-[Chuseok Special]
1. The Origin of Chuseok (feat. Expert Teacher Seo)
-[Chuseok Special]
2. Shall we make songpyeon? (feat. Non-Cook)
There were also videos of making songpyeon to send to the winners of the event they had done in advance, and other videos of us playing yutnori in hanbok.
They had a good laugh when Junghyun broke the yut stick.
Yeah.
For now, they decided to postpone the online meeting with the fans and focus on the schedule that was right in front of them.
âHello! We are New Black!â
They greeted the broadcasting staff with enthusiasm every time they met them inside the PBS annex.
They usually glanced at them and left, but sometimes they said, âOh, helloâ and went on. Then they laughed among themselves, as if they were talking about yesterdayâs broadcast.
They arrived at the public hall at 9 a.m.
Two hours before the broadcast started, they greeted the PD who was directing the complex camera equipment and cables.
âOh, New Black. Long time no see.â
He was someone they already knew.
The production team that planned todayâs PBS live Chuseok Special â2080 Music Quiz Showâ was the same one that made âHa Seungjuâs Music Cafeâ that they appeared on.
The PD, who had the script tucked under his arm, smiled.
âWow, you guys did well on the variety show yesterday. By this time next year, youâll be hard to book, wonât you?â
They all smiled warmly at his joke.
Then the PD immediately started to swear half-heartedly at another staff who made a mistake.
ââŠâ
Woojoo smirked and crossed the stuffy public hall studio.
The people who were going to appear today were waiting in the audience.
The concept was that celebrities and ordinary participants would join together, but when they approached, the people who were flipping through the script looked at them.
And the first one to react was not from the celebrity side.
âHuh? âŠNew Black?â
At that moment, they were the ones who were surprised.
It was the first time that people recognized them before they greeted others.