Chapter 75

The situation is turning strange somehow.

Maybe it's because I got drenched in the rain.

My head feels numb, and a lot is happening right in front of me, but my brain can't keep up.

It's like when you're so sleepy that you can't grasp the plot of a movie, and it slips away like sand.

The scenes keep flowing, but I'm just blinking in front of the TV.

No.

I'm blinking, and my hands are moving.

“What's your child's name?”

“It's Do-yeon, Lee Do-yeon.”

“Your daughter's name is really pretty.”

“It's a boy.”

“……”

I cleared my throat awkwardly and signed the paper that the man with the muscular arms offered.

My hands are trembling, maybe from the cold.

I said thank you as he left, and then a woman came and asked if she could take a picture.

“Sure, of course.”

I pushed my wet hair off my forehead and took a selfie with her.

I nodded and bowed to the person leaving, saying they enjoyed the song, and took a deep breath.

Looking around, I saw that my siblings were also surrounded by people.

I'm completely out of it.

It happened 30 minutes ago.

After the pump repair was finished and we returned to the vehicle, we changed our clothes and did a short interview with Gyeonggi TV.

Just as we were about to leave, we were stopped by others.

One was a city hall staff member who asked if we could wait a moment as the mayor wanted to meet us and express his gratitude.

The other was...

“Damn, you're so late!”

...a line delivered by the cute boys of TIN SPIRIT.

As we flinched, a member with golden-brown hair approached and asked if we could meet separately to apologize.

Of course, we said yes.

It wasn't a bad thing.

During this time, the TIN SPIRIT members running to the event area cursed, and I think they said about thirty curses.

So, we decided to wait about 30 minutes until the event ended.

The problem was that we didn't expect to run into the audience coming down after the festival ended while waiting.

The initial "huh?" quickly turned into an "ah!" and then the crowd swelled instantly.

It was a surreal experience.

It's not that fans approached us, but ordinary people rarely spoke to us.

They all looked at us with curiosity, approaching with friendly smiles and greetings.

They asked how old we were, what our names were, and said they liked our songs...

I was completely out of it.

I bowed to those who complimented our looks or our singing, smiled at those who laughed, signed autographs when asked, and took pictures.

I was very tired, but it was an opportunity to make a good impression, so we tried our best to be sincere.

I was starting to reach my limit...

My eyes were losing their strength, and I kept dropping the marker, so Seok-hwan hyung stepped in to manage the crowd.

“Sorry, but our kids have a schedule soon. We'll only give autographs and take pictures with the people here.”

Mingi hyung also joined in to disperse the crowd around us.

We left about a dozen people nearby.

We secretly gave signed CDs to those who complained and left.

But the crowd kept coming, so we eventually moved to a less crowded area.

I was completely out of it.

Only when we reached a quiet place could we finally catch our breath.

We got out of the car, which was a mess from the rain and sweat, and plopped down on the ground. My siblings gathered around me.

My butt almost got wet, but Lee-hyuk generously spread out a portable mat.

I asked why he carried such things, but he didn't answer.

As we sat on the mat and caught our breath...

“Wow.”

Ji-ho, who was sitting behind me, put his arm around my shoulder and pointed at the sky.

“Hyung, look at the sky. It's crazy. It's the prettiest thing I've seen recently.”

We turned our heads to the sky, laughing at the kid taking pictures with his phone to show his sisters.

Ji-ho was right; it was really beautiful.

The dark blue night sky was dotted with stars.

Maybe it was because the rain had stopped.

The weather, which had been hot all day, was now cool.

A night breeze was blowing, rustling the grass and trees, and the cool touch of the wind on my skin was tingling with the sound of insects.

It was a night that made me feel sentimental.

“...”

It's a strange feeling.

The events of today already feel faint.

The rain made TIN SPIRIT late, and we barely managed to continue the performance, which was embarrassing and hard to believe when I think about it.

While lost in these thoughts, my gaze fell on the member who started and ended all the events.

Jung-hyun was staring at the sky.

He's really handsome, you know.

He always makes funny actions and says silly things, but when he's serious like this, he looks good.

He looks like a handsome athlete.

The way he's looking at the sky now feels like something from an outdoor ad, and I was slightly impressed.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“I don't know if it's just me...”

Jung-hyun asked with a serious face.

“Are you not hungry?”

“...”

“I can't even look at the sky because I'm so hungry.”

It feels like a sudden mood swing.

I feel a bit annoyed with myself for being impressed just a moment ago.

On the other hand, I laughed because it was so typical of him.

“I'm hungry. Wait a moment, I'll see what we have.”

“I have snacks.”

As Biju reached for a bag in the car, Ji-ho rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a lot of snacks.

How did he hide them?

Even Seok-hwan hyung, who would usually scold him for not controlling his diet, just laughed in disbelief.

The managers were also hungry, so seven pairs of hands reached for the snacks.

“Wow, Wang Ji-ho, you've grown. You're even sharing snacks with us.”

“That's right. Be grateful, hyungs. I'm sharing the treasure I hid from the manager and the staff.”

“Where did you hide them?”

“That's a secret.”

“What kind of secrets do you have?”

“Having some secrets and showing unfamiliar sides makes you more attractive. Look, Jung-hyun hyung was cool today because of that.”

Someone looked proud at that comment, and we laughed.

“Anyway, you all worked hard. Jung-hyun too.”

I put a caramel in my mouth and looked at my siblings.

“You all worked hard. I couldn't say it before because we were busy, but I'm grateful that you followed me when I suddenly suggested we do trot.”

“Oh, it's starting. It's so cheesy.”

“...”

“Stop smacking your lips and eat first.”

“...”

I quickly melted the caramel and said again.

“Anyway, I'm grateful that you followed me when I suddenly went down from the stage. You helped create a good atmosphere, and it must have been tough in the rain.”

“It was really hard. I don't think I can do it again.”

“I enjoyed it.”

Biju said with a smile.

“It might feel like a good memory later.”

“Me too.”

“No, if you guys say that, what does that make me...”

“I really enjoyed it now.”

After he finished, a pleasant silence fell.

It wasn't just me; it seemed that they also found today's events surprising and unique.

You know, there are times like this.

When you're so tired that your eyes are about to close, but you have a feeling that it will be a good memory when you look back.

We silently shared this feeling, but Ji-ho changed the topic.

“Speaking of memories, it just came to mind.”

The youngest member took out his phone.

“The sky is really beautiful now, and I found a great angle earlier. How about we take a group photo?”

“A group photo?”

“It might have reached the fan cafe. We can reassure our Suples and take a memory photo.”

“Oh, that's a good idea?”

We nodded at each other and gathered in one spot.

The youngest member connected a selfie stick and opened the camera app.

“...”

He turned it off again.

“Hey, it's a bit difficult right now.”

“Yeah.”

“I didn't realize we looked this bad. Plus, it seems we look relatively worse because of someone.”

“Should we fix up and take it again?”

The five idols, who were badly affected by the wind and rain, quickly regained their confidence with a wireless curling iron, BB cream, and tint.

And, of course, the beauty filter.

“Okay, I'll take it. One, two, three...!”

The result was quite satisfying.

With Jung-hyun at the center, the five of us were huddled together, smiling brightly.

* * *

One hour after the 2014 Moonlight Festival ended.

Posts appeared on the official SNS of each group.

@The_New_Black_Official

A photo taken with the hyungs after the Moonlight Festival in Icheon today!! It was a really fun time!!

#Happy #ILoveYou_Suples #The_Best_Selfie_is_The_Youngest #The_Managers_are_The_Best #Why_Does_Ri-Hyuk_Keep_Saying_The_Best

@TSprit_Love

With the members of New Black. Today was really great.

Photos of the excited faces of the New Black members and a photo of TIN SPIRIT