In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 224 

The script that was picked up like a doll was ‘Slip’.

“Slip?”

“Yeah.”

The youngest answered.

“I think I would choose this if I were an actor. It’s my taste and it feels better written.”

He then threw a regretful look at the script.

“Ah, really. This would be fun even if I went as an extra. It also captures the character’s emotions well in between.”

He whetted his appetite like a person who had gold in front of him.

It was a tempting thing, but he couldn’t have it, so he fidgeted with his fingers. He was cute, bouncing his feet excitedly, even though it wasn’t the drama he was starring in.

“Uh, this…”

Everyone held back their laughter at the sight of the youngest making a sad face while rummaging through the script.

Woojoo asked him, “What did you like about it?”

“It was short.”

“Short?”

Jiho pointed to the phrase ‘10 episodes’ with his fingertip.

“These kinds of stories tend to collapse in the latter half. They said everything they had to say, but they still have to write more. Most dramas are like that, but this genre also tends to stretch more.”

The youngest explained seriously, “But if it’s 10 episodes, the density of the story will be much higher, and the script will be less likely to fall apart. And… if you look at the synopsis here, can’t you see that the writer has already planned the ending?”

He started to interpret the meaning hidden in the lines written in the synopsis.

They nodded with a nervous expression.

“Oh, I see.”

“Wow. Our youngest is smart.”

“Do you see this?”

He was amazed by his reaction and shook his head.

“The teacher who taught me acting a long time ago told me to analyze things like movies or dramas. I think I see a little bit after watching a lot.”

He continued to explain.

Woojoo pretended to understand, but honestly, he didn’t know what he was talking about.

Was it strange to see the youngest calmly explaining? He used to be their baby who always said ‘ebbebe’ to his brothers.

“So, do you think this drama is good for OST?”

“But I don’t know about that.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know if there’s a place for OST to fit in this script yet.”

That was true.

You couldn’t put ‘cause you are my love~’ in there when there was an unidentified primitive man killing people.

Jiho said, “I just judged by the script. If I only think about the drama OST, I think Fox Bead might be better. I prefer Slip more, but I enjoyed this too.”

“That makes sense.”

Rihyuk took over the baton.

“If you only think about OST, wouldn’t Fox Bead be better? The song has more weight, after all.”

“But didn’t we say our weight is higher in Slip?”

Junghyun pointed to Slip and asked, “There aren’t many OST songs here, so our weight will be a bit more.”

“Well… that’s true. After all, the other seniors take the songs with more weight in Fox Bead.”

It was a dilemma.

They both enjoyed it, but there were pros and cons.

Woojoo wouldn’t know about the story or the direction until the drama came out, but the choices themselves were subtle.

Assuming that both had a high chance of success, would you go for the tail end of a romance drama OST?

Or would you go for a genre piece with a lot of weight in OST?

“We’re not even starring in it, why is it so complicated?”

Everyone agreed with Woojoo’s words.

They weren’t actors choosing their next work, they were just making OST, but they couldn’t decide what to choose.

They used to just do whatever they were given, but this kind of fork in the road.

Of course, there wouldn’t be a big hit with one OST, but…

As their Mrs. Deoksoon said, the first step was a bad step, and since it was their first choice, they should choose well.

But the discussion didn’t come to a conclusion easily.

Woojoo had a headache and unconsciously thought, ‘I wish someone would do it for me’, but he thought it was right for them to make the final decision about their career.

Ask someone else…

Woojoo thought of Director Jo, who was famous for his good sense, but he thought of a better candidate.

No, he saw him.

“…!”

He turned his head and looked at Junghyun, who was rummaging through the jelly worms.

He flinched when Woojoo stared at him with a ‘this is it!’ look in his eyes.

“No way.”

“What do you mean, no way?”

“I’m too tired today. I don’t think I can work with you.”

“Hey. Anyone would think you do this every day…”

Woojoo was about to say ‘you know you do’, but the other siblings looked at him with wide eyes.

‘You did it every day.’

‘Excuse me? Where is your conscience?’

Woojoo coughed and opened his mouth.

“Let’s let Junghyun choose. He’ll pick based on his intuition.”

“Ah…!”

Everyone agreed as if it was a brilliant idea, while the person in question blinked his eyes. They quickly flipped and shuffled two scripts.

Jiho exclaimed.

“Wow, you’re mixing them so well. You look like those guys who shuffle cups with balls on the streets of Europe.”

“I practiced by watching YouTube,” he said proudly with a smile to Bijoo, “Bijoo, cover Junghyun’s eyes for me.”

“Okay.”

“Why do you have to cover his eyes just to shuffle them?”

Woojoo answered while shuffling the script in response to Rihyuk's question.

"I don't have the confidence to beat his dynamic vision."

"……I admit that my thinking was short."

Woojoo smiled at Rihyuk, who agreed. After shuffling the script, he handed it over to Junghyun.

"Now, Junghyun."

"Yes."

"Do you know what's in here?"

Woojoo wondered if he could tell by the slight difference in thickness, but as expected, he didn't pay attention and returned a response that he didn't know.

Woojoo rubbed his palms and smiled.

“Okay, you have to choose one here. Which drama OST should we do to make us more-”

“Better?”

“No, worse. Pick one script that you think, oh, this is a bit ominous.”

“…I’m not that unlucky. Hyung. I’m a symbol of luck, you know.”

No one agreed with the self-proclaimed ‘symbol of luck’.

Junghyun made a playful expression and reached out his hand to touch the back of the two scripts once without hesitation.

Woojoo quickly pulled out one of the scripts.

“That fast?”

“This one.”

“Did you have a bad feeling about it?”

“No. I just didn’t like the rough texture of the paper.”

Woojoo swallowed the words that almost came out of his mouth, questioning his choice based on such a trivial thing. But then he saw the script in front of him.

Jiho smiled happily.

“Wow. It finally happened.”

The script that their rhinoceros beetle chose was none other than ‘Slip’.

***

Woojoo told Seokhwan Hyung about their decision regarding the OST.

-Slip? Got it. I’ll contact the production company.

He seemed surprised, as if he expected them to choose Fox Bead.

-Did you have a special reason for choosing it? Hmm… Yeah, Jiho liked the script. What…? Junghyun said he had a bad feeling about it? Okay. I got it. I’ll proceed right away.

Woojoo smiled as he heard his excited voice.

After deciding to work on the OST for Slip, Woojoo decided to wait for the response from the production company.

In the meantime, Woojoo continued working on their third album.

“Oooh, my babies. Were you waiting for daddy?”

Woojoo heard his siblings’ whispers in his ear as he fiddled with the device.

“…I really hate this. Don’t you agree, Hyung?”

“Keep those thoughts to yourself, Rihyuk.”

“Be careful. I can see his ears perking up. He’s pretending to focus, but he’s actually spying on us. If we stand out even a little bit, we’ll become his slaves right away.”

They quickly turned their heads and saw that he was right.

They were panicking, muttering ‘ni hao’ as they wrote on their Japanese textbooks with the sharp end of their pencils.

Woojoo could see their awkward posture, as if they were reciting the national anthem.

His eyes narrowed as he watched them, biting their tongues.

“Stupid fools…”

The youngest one whispered that he could hear multiple commas in their speech. Woojoo ignored him and looked back at his device.

“Ha ha ha!”

He couldn’t help but laugh like the boss.

He couldn’t help it. Every time he saw the new equipment in the studio, he felt so happy that he wanted to jump around.

His face reflected in the glass of the recording booth looked like that.

The sofa jump meme on the internet.

But, looking at these devices, he had no choice.

The sound that distinguished even the slightest difference in tone.

The soft sound.

The sensitivity that responded sensitively with a little adjustment.

It was awesome. It was thrilling.

He thought of the boss as he looked at the round light bulb decoration on the wall.

“Thank you, President…!”

The equipment that the President promised as a winning pledge at the Olympics.

The latest devices that he handled in Director Jo’s studio.

Honestly, he thought it was okay not to buy them, but when he came back after the holiday, the equipment was ready as a New Year’s gift.

It was touching. It was touching again.

“Shall we have fun working with you now? Hahaha!”

“…”

“Oh, don’t be nervous. It’s not for you.”

As Woojoo reached out his hand, the stiff kids relaxed.

“Phew…”

“Yoo-hoo…”

“Who’s yoo-hoo? Come out.”

“I’m sorry. I won’t bother you.”

Woojoo looked back at the laptop.

There were five songs to work on in the [3rd Album Tracks] folder.

There were a total of 11 tracks to go into the 3rd album.

The intro and outro that showed the beginning and end of the album were planned to be Junghyun’s original songs.

The intro was a self-written rap, and the outro was a solo by Bijoo.

Of the remaining nine songs, five were Woojoo’s original songs, including the title ‘Dark Matter (tentative)’.

The other four songs were to be filled by composers who were outsourced by the A&R Team.

“Hey, can you listen to this?”

Junghyun, who was working on his laptop next to Woojoo, handed him his headphones.

“The drums sound a bit vague and I need your opinion. It seems a bit twisted in the middle.”

As Woojoo put on the headphones, Junghyun played the intro for him. He closed his eyes and listened quietly.

Tock. Tock.

Woojoo thought he knew what he wa stalking about. How should he put it, the feeling that some parts were annoyingly offbeat.

“I think it would be better to change the melody a bit rather than focusing on one kick or snare.”

“Yeah.”

“Wouldn’t a softer feel match the title better?”

Woojoo gave him a rough guideline on how to proceed, listening intently.

He thought he could fix it with a few tweaks, but he thought it would be better for him to do it himself to improve his skills.

They sat down and worked on the songs all night.

Of course, it wasn’t just the two of them.

They all shared their opinions when they were deciding on the overall concept.

“What kind of image would be good for this concept?”

“A meadow? Or the sea? How about something soft and poetic?”

“Isn’t that too drastic of a concept change for us? We were going hard at the Masquerade, and suddenly they hear birds chirping…”

“That’s right. The acting too. If we try to change our image too much, it might backfire on us.”

“Then let’s add another song here…”

They sketched out the outline of our third album as they each voiced their thoughts.

Woojoo was busy preparing for their third album comeback, which was scheduled for early April. Woojoo shared his ideas with the A&R Team and they gave him their feedback.

It was after the final performance of the Legendary Song Discovery project.

Their second album had come out last November, so it had been a long gap. Among their peers who debuted with them, they were probably the latest to make a comeback in 2015.

Woojoo felt sorry for their fans, Soufflé, who were waiting for their album.

The only consolation was that the Legendary Song Discovery project was a success and it gave them more opportunities to show their faces here and there.

-Will PBS’s Legendary Song continue their soaring ratings? ‘The rising star of Sunday entertainment’

-New Black, guest appearance on PBS FM’s ‘Radio More Than Flowers’

-Woojoo reveals, “I mistook a passerby who greeted me after my previous entertainment appearance for an acquaintance and greeted them warmly”

Woojoo also appeared on PBS radio and went out with the cast of Legendary Song for a late-night talk show.

“Their performance planning skills were not to be underestimated. I met these guys when they were more of rookies at an event in Icheon… No, wait. This is something that New Black should tell you. Why don’t you share some behind-the-scenes stories from then?”

Woojoo took Mr. Song’s cue and told them what happened that day.

Instead of mentioning Teen Spirit’s tardiness, he vaguely explained that it was a delay due to the situation at the scene, and they all showed interest.

Thanks to that, the views of the live cam of the event that went on the screen also soared.

Of course, it didn’t take long for the fan who filmed the video to suddenly turn it private and bury it.

“You guys have a new ad too.”

Woojoo could tell that they were on the rise, as Seokhwan Hyung also told him that they got an ad frequently.

Unlike the early days when they only got low-quality products like silver ions or jade plates, they had many good companies to work with.

Because they were popular among the middle-aged and older people, they also received a lot of filial piety products that targeted them.

Some of the companies that they had been a model for before suggested that they participate in on-site events.

And then…

“Two, three, hello! We are New Black!”

The number of people who recognized them when they appeared at the events increased a lot.

They used to be nobodies, except for the idol fans who would ask ‘Who are they?’ But now, more and more people recognize them and cheer ‘New Black!’ when they saw them.

The first day they got a proper response from the crowd at an event, Woojoo felt teary-eyed for a long time after he got off the stage with his siblings.

He didn’t know why.

It wasn’t such a big deal, but they were strangely moved by it.

“Actually, the adults recognize us more. Haha.”

Woojoo thought one of the event staff said something like that.

“Usually, the audience doesn’t respond well to trot singers or rookies. Especially idols, they can’t tell who is who and they all look the same to them.”

Woojoo thanked them for the compliment as he heard that they were gaining a favorable image among the middle-aged and older demographic.

It was different from the original plan, but Woojoo felt like they had made their name more known to that group by participating in Legendary Song Discovery, which received a lot of love from them.

Someone said in an online comment that they didn’t know who New Black was until their parents told them.

Woojoo was so happy that they announced their name, even if it was slightly biased.

It was when Woojoo was busier and happier than ever, continuing their activities, that he finally got the news he had been waiting for.

“I heard from the OST production company that the music director wants to have a meeting with you.”

They said that the music PD of GTV’s Friday drama ‘Slip’ wanted him to come to the filming site for a meeting.

And.

“This is a story that the production team of Sok Sok! History Discovery asked me to tell you. They said that a separate edited version of History Discovery will be uploaded to the HBS YouTube account this afternoon.”

“Wow…”

“I edited it in a fun way, so look forward to it.”

They looked at each other with happy faces.

“It’s finally out.”

“I’m excited. It didn’t come out weird, did it?”

“We broadcasted normally, so where would there be anything strange?”

“Yes, yes.”

Woojoo said that, but he felt a slight anxiety somewhere. Still, he waited for the broadcast of History Discovery with an excited heart.

***

The next morning.

On the subway to work.

‘I’m totally out of it.’

As a third-year office worker who had been struggling among the crowded people, he finally found a seat after passing through the busy station.

"Ugh…"

His whole body felt like it was screaming from exhaustion. Maybe he shouldn't have drank beer last night.

He plugged in his earphones and picked up his smartphone.

"Korean History Lecture – A Summary of the Three Kingdoms Period"

He listened attentively to the free Korean history lecture provided by YouTube.

It was a recent hobby he started because he felt like he had neglected his self-development since joining the company.

"Yawn…"

Was it because of the fatigue from working late yesterday?

He couldn't catch anything the instructor was explaining. He was delivering it clearly, but what should he say? It was just tiring to think of it as studying.

"…."

How long had it been like that?

"Squeak."

He woke up from a sound while he was dozing off with his earphones on.

Laughter?

Where did that sudden laughter come from?

He soon realized that the sound was coming from his earphones.

‘Idols?'

He had turned on the YouTube auto-play feature, but everything on the list was history lectures.

Out of nowhere, a boy group appeared.

-Today we're going to learn about the prehistoric era-

-Yo.

-Don't rap yo, Mr. Junghyun. You're interrupting the progress.

-Okay, yo.

He blinked his eyes and looked at the title of the YouTube video.

‘Sok Sok! History Discovery Team?'

On a boring morning commute.

Something that sparked his curiosity appeared.