In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 219

“Auntie, please take this.”

“Oh my!”

As soon as Woojoo entered the store, he handed a gift package to Auntie Sukja, who was in charge of the kitchen.

Grandma glared at him.

“Hey, you just got here and you’re giving her a gift first?”

“Oh, Deoksoon~”

“Are you jealous right now… Aaah!”

“You’re sick. You crazy bastard.”

“Aaah!”

Woojoo screamed as she pinched his side.

The customers turned their heads and glanced at them. Woojoo gave them an awkward smile and said, ‘Hello…’

They also greeted him with a sheepish ‘Oh, hi…’

Woojoo said to Auntie Sukja, who was holding the gift package and smiling, “You must have had a hard time dealing with Grandma’s temper while I was gone. It was tough, right?”

“Your sister’s personality is not normal.”

“What’s wrong with me, you guys!”

Woojoo laughed wickedly and high-fived her. He left the store with Grandma, who had finished preparing.

“Hey, Sukja! We’ll leave the store to you!”

“Sure. Have fun, you two!”

The cold winter wind of late February whistled by. Woojoo fixed Grandma’s fluttering hair and wrapped a scarf around her.

“Oh, my Grandma is the most beautiful woman.”

“You’re saying empty words that you don’t mean.”

“Empty words? They’re words filled with love. Our Kim Deoksoon is the most gorgeous woman on earth.”

Woojoo patted her back and joked, ‘Where did your angel wings go?’ She laughed and called him a madman.

Woojoo reached out his hand and said, “Shall we go then~?”

“Yes. Let’s go together.”

Their Lady Kim Deoksoon took his hand.

The warmth flowed between their wrinkled hands, and the winter wind felt like a warm breeze.

They chatted as they went out to the street to catch a taxi.

“How’s the store? Is it okay with just Auntie?”

“Everyone’s gone out to have fun because of the golden holiday. There are no customers. Just a few regulars come by.”

“I see.”

Woojoo nodded and then Grandma changed the topic.

“What about the kids?”

“The kids?”

“How are your siblings doing?”

“They all went to see their families. Like me.”

Woojoo remembered.

Jiho and his family went to their villa for the weekend to roast clams and have fun. He heard that Bijoo and Junghyun were spending time with their families.

Grandma asked Woojoo when he told her that.

“What about Rihyuk?”

“Ah.”

She seemed to be worried about Rihyuk, who lived away from his family.

“He packed his suitcase with books and went to a hotel.”

“Is he spending it alone?”

“I guess so. He said he didn’t want to go anywhere and told me not to look for him.”

“That’s too bad.”

Grandma clicked her tongue.

“It’s not good to be alone. Next time you come down for Chuseok, bring him along.”

“Sure, sure.”

Well, Woojoo was going to try to talk to him this time, but he declared it first.

‘Holidays are just social conventions. I don’t care about them.’

When Woojoo relayed his words that he would rather cultivate his mind than be bound by foolish customs, Grandma laughed and said he was sick.

“Anyway, Grandma. Today is Deoksoon’s Day. Don’t worry about the other siblings or me. Just think about yourself.”

“Sure, then where are we going now?”

“Just a moment.”

Woojoo took out an A4 paper rolled up like a scroll and tied with a ribbon from inside his coat. He unfolded it and smiled proudly.

“Ta-da!”

It had the title ‘Filial Master Plan – Deoksoon is Happy☆’ and the date course they were going to visit today.

It was a plan he prepared with Bijoo all night yesterday.

Woojoo showed an ambitious smile and asked, “How is it?”

Soon, a smile burst out of her sullen face.

***

It was a perfect day.

Moving from one place to another was as natural as water flowing, and the content was rich.

“…Can I really buy all this?”

“Your grandson is young and rich now, Grandma. You can really buy everything from there to here.”

His grandmother bought the shoes she couldn’t afford because she always saved money. She also splurged at the cosmetics shop.

He spent the royalties he earned from Something, Fireworks, Masquerade, and so on without hesitation.

At first, his grandmother was skeptical.

“Didn’t you overdo it last Chuseok? Are you really okay?”

“I made a lot of money, you know. Grandma, unless you ask me to buy this department store, I don’t care.”

That was true.

Except for when he did something for the members or the company people, he had no place to spend the money he had saved up.

That was the money he saved up for this purpose.

“So buy whatever you want, Grandma.”

They collected the things they wanted to buy at the department store one by one. They also stopped by the salon and got an expensive haircut.

At first, his grandmother said, “Oh my, I feel like I’m stealing from my grandson…” and looked around. But soon she hid her happy expression and grumbled.

Then they enjoyed the cultural life by watching a movie, and they ate the most expensive steak and pasta.

“Oh, it’s greasy. My stomach is so heavy that I’m going to die. I need to go and eat some kimchi and rice.”

“…”

“Don’t you feel greasy?”

Woojoo fed her what she wanted to eat since last time, but she said, “Koreans need kimchi after all.” She was their cheeky lady.

“…”

They moved their lips slightly and walked.

The luggage they left at the restaurant and the new stuff they bought were piled up like a mountain, but it was manageable when he shared it with his grandmother.

They got off the taxi and walked to the house on a quiet street.

Soon, the house appeared.

There was a wall stretched out and a slightly rusty iron gate.

Creak.

The sound of memories that made the hair on his arms stand up. He passed it and saw a simple and cozy two-story house.

Woojoo remembered this scenery as he approached the front door.

…It was pretty old.

It was the newest house in Gunsan 15 years ago, but after time passed, it was an old house without fail.

It was the house his dad gave to his mother-in-law when Woojoo was seven.

While his grandmother opened the door, Woojoo took a deep breath and smelled the winter wind.

Time was a strange thing, he thought.

The wind he smelled when he was seven was the same, but he had changed.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming in?”

“…Huh? Oh, yeah.”

It was when he entered the house with his hands full of luggage.

Suddenly, he heard a strange sound.

Woof!

It sounded like a huge dog running fast, and before he could say ‘huh?’, a slender figure ran on four legs and stopped in front of the entrance.

“…A cat?”

Oh. Right.

Woojoo was playing with his grandmother and forgot about the creature he had locked eyes with.

Its head and back were cheese-colored.

Its four legs were like white cotton balls, standing upright.

Its tail was sticking up, and its movement was like saying ‘what, what is it?’

“…”

The cat that was about to pop up in front of Mrs. Kim Deoksoon froze when it saw Woojoo.

Woojoo couldn’t tell what the animal was thinking, but he could tell it was flustered.

It appealed to his grandmother with its whole body, saying ‘what is that? what is it?’

“So you’re Nabi?”

Woojoo felt like he knew how the queen felt when they looked at the concubine that caught the king’s eye.

“You’re pretty, I’ll give you that.”

Woojoo didn’t know how beauty was determined in the cat world, but it was definitely cute in human eyes.

But his gaze was cold.

The sight of the Nabi that he always saw on Mrs. Kim Deoksoon’s profile.

The way it snuggled up in his grandmother’s arms and showed its belly every time they video called.

The way Mrs. Kim Deoksoon disappeared in a hurry, saying she had to feed the cat every time they called.

“Kim Deoksoon is mine.”

Woojoo declared confidently and hooked his arm around Mrs. Kim Deoksoon’s.

One of the bags he was holding fell to the floor with a ‘thud!’ and Nabi ran away in a panic at the sound.

‘I won’ Woojoo smiled triumphantly.

Mrs. Kim Deoksoon, who was watching from the side, gave him a look of pity.

“You must be so proud of beating a cat.”

Today, he had time to unpack the gifts he brought from Seoul along with the things they bought at the department store.

“Oh my… What is all this?”

“These are the gifts the kids bought for you, Grandma. This is the clothes that Junghyun and Jiho went out and bought,” Woojoo said as he unpacked them one by one.

“This is the side dish that Bijoo made for you to eat. He was sweating for days making soy sauce braised beef.”

“Oh my, how can I thank them enough. Those guys’ families already sent me gifts.”

“Really?”

“Your company also sent me a gift.”

Woojoo guessed there was a lot of exchange they didn’t know about.

There were boxes of agricultural products sent by Junghyun’s father, and the refrigerator was full of food sent by Bijoo’s mother.

And there was a clock gift with the old-fashioned handwriting of ‘President Wang Hyuntak’.

There was also a holiday gift box with a handwritten letter from their President and Director Jo. It said ‘Thank you for your child. We’ll take good care of him.’

“Our grandma is so popular and nice…”

“Did they give me these because I’m popular? They gave me these because you make money and they’re all saying thank you to me.”

Woojoo laughed at his grandmother’s cynical remark.

As he unpacked the gifts one by one, his grandmother’s smile exploded.

“This is the autographs of the singers you like, Grandma. I got them from the trot singers every time I went to the Night of Music. This is the autograph of Teacher Noh Jaehyun…”

As Woojoo handed over the collection of autographs full of messages like ‘To Deoksoon, with love’, something fell out of the package.

Two neat blue envelopes.

The handwriting was neat and tidy.

‘To Grandma Kim Deoksoon’ and ‘To New Black Leader Woojoo’ were written on the envelopes, and the sender’s name was visible below.

“Rihyuk…?”

“What is that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he wrote a letter or something.”

He must have slipped it in while he was packing. Woojoo opened the letter envelope and a neatly folded paper came out.

Grandma and Woojoo unfolded their letters.

“To Woojoo Hyung(?)”

[I’m calling you Hyung(?) because you always sing so much and asked me to call you that. I’m only calling you Hyung in this letter. (Remember that)

Seollal.

It’s a celebration of the first day of the Lunar New Year and a holiday widely accepted in East Asia. Honestly, I think it’s a waste to have both the solar and lunar calendars.

Anyway, have a good one. Thank you. Hyung.

I don’t express it, but I hope you know that all of our members are grateful.]

After that, the letter continued with ‘I’m not usually like this, but I’m telling you this specially because it’s a holiday.’

Woojoo couldn’t help but smile softly.

[PS. I wrote a letter to each of the members. So let’s pretend we don’t know. I won’t let you off if you talk about this in the group chat, Seon Woojoo]

Woojoo burst out laughing at the last postscript that was suddenly urgent.

His grandmother, who was slow at reading letters, was still calmly reading the letter.

Woojoo didn’t know what it was, but he could tell she liked it. His grandmother was letting out a sly smile.

“What a strange thing.”

Their Seo Rihyuk wrote a letter to thank them.

Was it last night when Woojoo went to the bathroom?

He was sitting on the sofa, writing something diligently with a light pen. Woojoo thought he was writing a death note, but it turned out to be a letter for the members.

It was admirable and heartwarming.

As he was thinking that.

“…?”

Woojoo felt a persistent gaze and turned to see a pair of round eyes staring at him from between the narrow furniture.

‘What are you. What are you?’ It looked at him warily.

As their eyes met, Nabi stiffened its body. It looked like it was ready to run away at any moment.

“Let me see.”

Woojoo rummaged through the envelope.

Woojoo was going to bring it anyway, but where was it?

“Ah, I found it.”

There was a can under the bag of Essential Light cat food that he got after shooting an ad for the feed company.

Pop-

Woojoo opened it and put it in a place that was far enough from him.

It stared at him as if it was watching his every move, and Woojoo backed away.

“Grandma, did you finish reading the letter?”

“I did.”

She had a wistful expression on her face, but he didn’t know what it was about.

What did he write? What?

Woojoo was curious as he unpacked the rest of the luggage.

A presence.

No, a meow.

Woojoo felt a meow and turned to see the cat cautiously approaching him. It looked at his face curiously.

“…?”

It didn’t like it when Woojoo looked back, so he quietly did his work. It circled around him, looking at him.

Then, about an hour later.

“…”

Woojoo’s body froze and his eyes blinked as Nabi rubbed its head against his thigh.

What was this?

【 The Five Misfits (5) 】

[Notice] Rihyuk wrote a letter!!!

[Notice] Wang Jiho is behind

Rihyuk [You guys are so pathetic]

Rihyuk [I wrote a letter with a big heart and you’re making fun of it?]

Rihyuk [Just wait and see]

Jiho [Eudeu deugeu beu~~~~~]

Jiho [(A gif of mocking him.gif)]

Bijoo [You did well!_]

Bijoo [I’m writing a reply, so I’ll give you a letter when I go back to the dorm]

Junghyun [Rihyuk wrote a letter?]

Junghyun [Oh, there it is]

Junghyun [Is this the one that ends with ‘Thank you for being my Hyung’?]

[Rihyuk left the chat room]

[Jiho invited Rihyuk]

Jiho [Hyung, the outside world is not easy]

Jiho [Do you think you can live on your own if you leave?]

Rihyuk [Shut up]

Rihyuk [You’re like the representative of the greenhouse plants]

Jiho [ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

Bijoo [But why is Woojoo Hyung not answering?]

Bijoo [Hyung, what are you doing? I’m curious]

Woojoo [Sigh…]

Woojoo [Guys…]

Woojoo [I think cats are really strange creatures…]

[Woojoo sent 37 photos.]

Woojoo [Cats…]

Woojoo [How can they be cats?]

Woojoo [They are cute even when upside down.]

Bijoo [Hyung?;;;]

Jiho [What is this concept?]

Jiho [It's normal for Woojoo Hyung to go crazy once in a while…]

Rihyuk [Leave him alone, he'll get tired eventually.]

Junghyun [Woojoo Hyung is talking nonsense.]

Junghyun [I'm going to eat.]

Woojoo [Nanannana]

Woojoo [I forgive Nabi and accept it as a Soufflé.]

Woojoo [Nabi-ya, Oppa will work hard to earn food~~~!]

Woojoo [Meow!]

Woojoo [Baa!]

[Rihyuk has left the chat room.]

Woojoo [Uh…]

Jiho [ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋl]

3 minutes later.

Jiho [ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

Jiho [Why can’t I invite Rihyuk Hyung? He cursed me in a private chat]

Jiho [Screenshot.jpg]

Bijoo [ㅋ.]

Bijoo [I’ll invite him]

“Nabi, do you like me?”

Meow.

“This is a picture of our kids. How do you like it?”

Meow.

“Yeah, they’re not as good as me, but they’re all nice, right? You’re a Soufflé too, I see.”

“…You’re really sick and tired.”

Grandma clicked her tongue as she saw Woojoo cuddling the cat while feeding it churu.

“I should have bought some cat toys if I knew this…”

Woojoo smiled sheepishly at the sight of the cat wagging its tail in his lap.

He liked cats.

He felt happy every time this cute and fluffy ball of fur meowed and tapped his body.

Should he say it was like a very cute baby?

“Ha ha…”

Woojoo caught himself laughing like Jiho’s father and restrained himself.

Grandma made a disgusted face, so Woojoo quickly went over and gave her a massage.

“Ouch, that feels good.”

“Right? You have no idea how much I practiced to do this.”

"I used all the massage techniques I learned from YouTube to loosen up Mrs. Kim Deoksoon’s stiff body.

“Ouch…”

As he lay down with his eyes closed, he felt someone tapping and massaging his body.

Meanwhile, the TV was still on, broadcasting the news.

Sunday, 5 p.m.

The second episode of PBS’s Challenge, Legendary Song Discovery Team.

The second half of the meeting between the original singers and the singers was briefly edited and aired, following last week.

As soon as they entered the public hall, Grandma clicked her tongue at the sight of the crowd.

“Wow, why are there so many people here? How many are they?”

“Probably more than six hundred.”

“Are they all here to see your face?”

“No, of course not. Most of them are just here to watch the live broadcast.”

Woojoo told Grandma some behind-the-scenes stories and interesting facts about the show, as she asked him various questions about it.

When the competition began, Grandma sat up straight and focused her eyes on the TV.

She looked so serious, as if she wanted to check out who his rivals were with her own eyes, that he couldn’t help but smile.

“How do you like it, Grandma?”

“You’re really good at this. Are you sure you did well out there?”

“You’ll see.”

They were going to be the best out there soon.

Woojoo swallowed those words and watched the TV with his grandmother.

As Lisa, Yuri Band, Cha Woohyun, Song Bohyung and others performed on stage, the singer who would decorate the finale with the VCR finally appeared.

A gentle piano BGM.

The caption “South Korea’s No.1 Music Site Mango” appeared on the screen, announcing the song.

Along with the caption “Life | New Black”, the words “Lyrics and Composition: Noh Jaehyun” and “Arrangement: Woojoo” followed.

“…”

Woojoo felt strange.

It was the first time he saw himself on TV with his grandmother.

His siblings, who were excitedly sending messages a while ago, were quiet.

They must be watching this with their families, right?

Woojoo followed the slowly moving camera work.

A full shot of the public hall.

As the intro played, the camera gradually moved closer, drawing attention.

A live band hidden in the dark played, and beams of light leaked out like slashes, tangled messily.

Five of them were standing below.

Then their faces as they sang the intro.

They closed their eyes or smiled softly as they held the microphones.

Lisa’s reaction cut was captured as she clasped her mouth and said “Oh…” with a faint voice mixed with breathing.

The celebrities sitting in the seats also looked at each other with “…!” expressions.

Their hair colors changed as the blue and green lights switched.

The sunset colored the background, as if they were singing in an unreal atmosphere.

The harmonies added up one by one.

Woojoo also held the microphone with a serious face, devoid of laughter, and controlled his emotions on TV.

As he faded away, the screen crossed with Junghyun.

Their rapper’s static face as he calmly told the story with his song, looking at the camera.

As Junghyun put down the microphone, the focus shifted to Jihoo.

The youngest’s face as he nodded his head and sang with emotion.

The main vocal’s face as he sang with his hand on his chest overlapped.

The original songwriter, teacher Noh Jaehyun, closed his eyes and nodded his head, adding a reaction cut.

The ballad song that flowed like water.

The atmosphere heightened as Bijoo opened his lips with a gentle gesture, soaked in the lights.

And then.

As they all held the microphones for the chorus, the cheers from the audience burst out on TV.

At that moment, something moved wildly on the screen and caught his eye.

“…?”

The comment section of the live chat on his smartphone was exploding.