In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 237

The first ones to burst into laughter were the ones on the other side.

“Pffft-”

Starting with Seok Jihoon, Ji Hanbin and Han Taehyun cracked up. The two guys even held their stomachs and laughed.

“Hahaha!”

They were having a blast, grabbing each other’s shoulders and giggling. Woojoo couldn’t help but laugh too, seeing them. Soon, the laughter spread to the younger ones as well.

Grandma. Are you watching?

Not that I’m happy, though…

It took five minutes for the laughter to subside. The guys who had been joking around for a while greeted their staff.

“Hello.”

“Oh, hello.”

The makeup artists who came on the trip greeted them back with curious faces. The guys who greeted them nicely asked, “We came to hang out for a bit, is it okay if we stay here?”

Of course, they got permission.

The guys who were about to take a seat on the sofa in the waiting room were waved off by their members who got up hastily.

“Ugh, why are you trying to greet us so seriously? Just sit down. Sit.”

“Yeah. We don’t like that stuff.”

“Only Woojoo Hyung likes getting greeted, we don’t care about that.”

“…”

The younger ones sat down, laughing.

“Wow, this waiting room is spacious. Is it bigger than the one we used?”

“It’s a different room. That one is bigger.”

Woojoo snorted at the sight of them checking the sofa cushions.

They were the owners of this room, but they acted so natural. They were like Dooly’s gang who came into Go Gil-dong’s house.

“Hey, this is our Daegil’s waiting room.”

Woojoo almost made a slip of the tongue, but he managed to cover it up.

“Huh? Daegil?”

Han Taehyun started laughing again, holding his stomach.

“Daegil!”

“Oh my! Hehehe!”

…Woojoo should just shut up. These guys.

The guys who had been teasing Woojoo started talking to the younger ones.

Woojoo looked at them with a warm smile as they chatted in a comfortable atmosphere.

Woojoo turned his head to Han Taehyun, who was eating the candy on the table next to him.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“Oh, we’re on the panel today.”

“Panel?”

“Our company’s girl group is appearing as an idol guest on Legendary Song Discovery 2. They’re called NYX.”

“Oh.”

Today, on the Legendary Song Discover’s special stage, they would introduce the new members who would appear in the second season, along with the performances of the first season members.

Woojoo heard that a girl group would take their place, but he didn’t know they were from TJ Entertainment.

NYX.

They were senior singers who debuted at the end of 2013, a performance-type girl group that TJ ambitiously launched.

Each member was so talented that they were considered as skillful as Scarlet among the girl groups.

But they hadn’t made it big yet.

They were the only group that Producer Park Taejoon, the chairman, couldn’t make successful.

“So NYX is coming in this time.”

“They had a hard time getting in. They even auditioned.”

“Audition?”

Han Taehyun lowered his voice and whispered to Woojoo, “They said it was really tough to compete for your spot. They wanted to be the next New Black, so every decent girl group tried to get in.”

It was a valuable spot, after all.

It was a rare opportunity for idols to gain recognition by appearing regularly on a program that ranked in the top five in ratings.

It was hard enough to appear as a guest on a terrestrial entertainment show, let alone this…

They would have wanted to appear for a few more months if it wasn’t for their third album activities. They had to give up one of them because it was hard to juggle the competition preparation and music shows.

But apart from that, it felt strange to hear the behind-the-scenes story of how other people fought fiercely for their spot.

“I feel like I’ve become a mysterious popular idol.”

“You are a popular idol, right? Our Hyung-nim’s group is doing really well these days.”

The guy who put his arm around Woojoo smiled.

“I was shocked, you know. I was watching my fancam and suddenly Daegil’s friend was lighting a fire.”

Woojoo burst out laughing without realizing it. Junghyun raised his palm like a bear greeting them, as if he heard their conversation.

Han Taehyun bowed in response to his Buddha-like gesture.

“Why are you so cautious around Junghyun?”

“Didn’t you get traumatized when you played soccer with the boss and Seonwoong Hyung? You flinched at the sight of him. That day, at the dinner, you got so drunk…”

He mimicked someone’s aggrieved expression.

-How do you feel when a cannonball passes between your legs? I thought I was going to die. My liver was freezing.

“Wow. That’s exactly the same.”

Woojoo clapped like a seal and admired him. He smirked and looked proud.

Then he shook his head.

“Anyway, after getting drunk that day, he was so scared that he never played soccer again. Ugh.”

“Why, I understand. If I have to face Junghyun physically, I’ll surrender first.”

“Oh. Are you happy?”

“Surrender. Junghyun. Surrender.”

They burst into laughter at Junghyun’s random remark.

They hadn’t seen each other for two months since the Dolympics, so they chatted happily.

Seok Jihun, the youngest of TNT, entered his number on Jiho’s phone.

“Next time we meet, just call me Hyung.”

“Okay.”

“No, I mean… use honorifics.”

“Yes, Hyung-nim.”

Their youngest smiled and answered.

It was a warm scene, but the faces of Woojoo and the TNT ragamuffins were only awkward.

Han Taehyun asked me, “Did you hear that? He called him Hyung-nim.”

“It’s a bit surprising.”

Ji Hanbin opened his eyes wide and opened his mouth.

“You’re Hyung? Hyeong?”

“…”

“Guys. What happened when I didn’t know? Where is he going to be called Hyung-nim now?”

“Wow, these oldies…!”

He was the same age as Bijoo and Junghyun, but he was treated like the youngest. He looked resentful.

While everyone was clapping and laughing, Ji Hanbin whispered to Woojoo, “He’s been saying since he came, he’s going to be friends with Officer Heo today. He’s going to exchange phone numbers.”

“No…” He hesitated and said, “I watched Slip, and you acted so well…”

“Really? Did I do that well?”

“Oh, that.”

Seok Jihun was flustered by their youngest who came forward without backing down.

Rihyuk grabbed Jiho’s neck and pulled him away. He started to talk with a slight relief.

He asked where he went to school and mainly talked about acting.

“How did you control your emotions when you played Officer Heo?”

“Oh, that.”

The youngest explained with a ‘It’s so easy!’

“You just have to change one by one. You imagine it in your head. I adjust to the role I’m going to play. For example, if I take Officer Heo, I change my shoes from my self-image in my head to old sneakers…”

“…?”

“…like that, you change your appearance in your imagination to suit the character, and then, ta-da, you become someone else.”

“Is, is that so?”

 Eukyung was strangely satisfied to see Seok Jihun confused.

That was right. That was their kid.

 Eukyung held back his laughter at his dumbfounded expression.

It was like someone who came to hear the secret of getting a perfect score on the college entrance exam and heard the top scorer whisper ‘Just get them all right.’

“Can we talk about acting on KakaoTalk later?”

“Yes, I like that.”

He was excited to have an acting friend. Eukyung smiled and calmed the atmosphere.

The guests stayed for a long time, and the brothers seemed a little uncomfortable.

Especially Rihyuk.

The other brothers were talking comfortably, but it was different from Woojoo who played with them like classmates.

If they were similar in age like the Street Boys, it might be different.

Even if Junghyun’s friends, who were in their 40s, came to play and said ‘Make yourself comfortable, haha!’, Woojoo didn’t think the discomfort would go away.

If there was no connection like Woojoo, they would just be seniors and juniors.

It was fun to see them after a long time, but it was time to take care of the kids’ condition for the performance.

"We should get going soon."

Han Taehyun quickly took the lead, and the others followed suit, stuffing their pockets with candy from the table.

Woojoo escorted them to the outside of the waiting room after they finished getting ready to leave.

"Hey, when are we going to eat?"

"Yeah, you promised to buy us food."

"You promised to buy food? I want some too."

It was supposed to be just one person, but suddenly it became three.

"I'll buy you some when I have time. When I have time."

"Ooh."

Woojoo smiled as he watched them get excited about mooching off him.

After exchanging some nonsense, Han Taehyun said with a grin, "It's nice that New Black is getting some attention. Before, we felt awkward when we came to visit."

"Yeah, me too."

It was when they were joking about going to a joint space concert on Mars after their third album hit big.

A question popped into Woojoo’s head.

The pressure of the album.

Woojoo had asked Director Jo about it, but these guys had been on the same path as them for four years longer.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

Woojoo asked them with a curious face, "Lately, when I'm working on the album, I wonder, how do you deal with the pressure?"

Before Woojoo even finished his question, they froze like stones.

What was with this reaction?

They looked at each other with weird expressions, and silence hung in the air for a while.

"Ahh!"

They all started rubbing their arms at the same time.

"Ahh, I can't get used to it."

"Wow. Look at my goosebumps."

"Why are you asking us for advice? It's so awkward."

"Ah! Don't do that!"

They kept saying ‘ahh' and ran away when Woojoo tried to ask them again. They said they didn't want to hear it.

"……"

No matter how he thought about it, they didn't seem to realize that they were the senior group.

* * *

A few minutes after the brats of TNT ran away, Woojoo heard a polite knock on the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A person who introduced himself as NYX's manager came in and asked if they could greet them and take a picture with them.

He was very courteous.

"…Could I ask you for that favor?"

"Sure. That's fine."

Soon after, a six-member girl group in sophisticated stage outfits followed the manager in.

They were about to get up and greet them when they came in.

The big-name group quickly bowed to them.

"The night comes! Hello, we are NYX!"

"Uh, why are you bowing first…"

They were flustered by the senior girl group's humble greeting, and they bowed back at 90 degrees.

"Hellooo! We are New Black!"

"Oh, hello."

"Yes. Nice to meet you…"

"That's right. Yes."

Their staff started laughing as they did a seesaw-like bowing battle.

The bowing battle that started with who would bow lower ended with their victory.

No one could beat Bijoo's flexible 130-degree bow.

"Ouch!"

His mic pack slid down his waist and almost fell on the back of his head. It would have been cool if that didn't happen.

"Bijoo, are you okay?"

"Uh, I'm fine…"

"Phew."

"Don't blow on his wound, Kim Junghyun."

"Did you get a hole? A hole? Our Hyung's head is too pretty to get a hole."

While they were doing that, the other side was hesitating whether to laugh or not.

They had debuted six months earlier.

Woojoo didn't know what they had gone through, but all the members looked very intimidated.

They even asked them for a picture with a cautious attitude. Woojoo could guess what kind of treatment they had received from the people around them.

Woojoo saw some familiar faces in the crowd.

He had entered the company two years later than the leader, Muri, and most of the faces he encountered on the way were familiar.

He had never spoken to them because of TJ Entertainment’s strict rule of no interaction between male and female trainees, but they were all people he knew. They seemed to be more awkward because they recognized his face too.

While the members of NYX were standing stiffly, Muri spoke in a friendly tone.

“We are the idol contestants who will go after you, New Black.”

“Yes, I heard from TNT Sunbae-nims earlier.” Woojoo smiled back and said, “I didn’t know who would come, but I’m glad to see the seniors who sing really well.”

They laughed at Woojoo’s polite compliment, as if they thought it was insincere.

“I like ‘Harsh Mistress’ among NYX’s songs.”

“Really?”

“I love the bridge part where you go woo-woo-woo.”

Muri looked confused, and another member asked with her mouth wide open, “How do you know that? That’s one of the last tracks in the album…”

“Yes. I listened to it right after it was released.”

“Are you a fan of ours… Oh, that can’t be.”

Then Woojoo heard a snarky voice from behind the door.

“He’s a music geek who listens to all kinds of idol songs.”

Han Taehyun stuck his head out and spat out the line.

Why didn’t he leave?

Woojoo glared at him and he ran away with a squeak. But everyone nodded at the term music geek.

…Music geek? That sounded so different.

Even their staff were like, “Yeah, that’s right.” Woojoo was going to give them some drinks for their hard work, but he thought he would change it to water.

“Wow, you know our songs. We love New Black’s songs too.”

“Masquerade!”

“Oh, we love Masquerade too.”

Somehow, the conversation about music and their younger siblings’ cozy attitude made the atmosphere lively.

The way they looked at them also changed from cautious to favorable.

They seemed to relax and talk more comfortably after getting out of the tense attitude of not knowing what to say.

“Shall we take a picture then?”

The photographer was a top star, Mr. Mo, who was wandering around the area because he was bored.

He took a picture of them as a proof shot.

As they walked back, the other team thanked them over and over.

“Thank you so much.”

Muri gave Woojoo a signed CD as a final farewell.

“…”

They gathered around and stared at the CD for a long time.

Woojoo thought he would feel good if he was treated well, but he felt rather bitter.

The kindness that they took for granted from others might not be so common for someone else.

Woojoo couldn’t get rid of the thought that their level of gratitude was in their heads.

Finally, the final episode of ‘Legendary Song Discovery’ season 1.

It was time to show the special stage.

“Phew…”

Woojoo called his siblings together.

“We have to do well. We.”

Nod nod.

“This is a song that honors me and Kim Deoksoon.”

Nod…

“If we do well today and come down, I’ll buy you a late-night snack later.”

Nod! Nod! Nod, nod, nod!

The nutcrackers who lost their reason clacked as Minki Hyung calmly reminded them.

“Guys, you’re on a diet.”

“Ah. Right.”

They looked at each other with lost expressions and laughed.

It was the last recording, and they didn’t have to worry about the ranking, so everyone was relaxed.

All the participants were like that.

The production team wanted them to have a fun performance like a concert encore, rather than a serious competition.

For example, like Song Bohyung, who changed his rock music to a trot dance.

The audience clapped along to the cheerful arrangement.

After the stage, the celebrity panel and the judges commented, and Song Bohyung and the dancers came down.

“Good job!”

“Good luck!”

Song Bohyung gave them high-fives as he rhythmically walked down the stairs.

“New Black, you should get ready too.”

Woojoo stretched out his hand, and several hands piled on top of it.

“Alright, let’s each say one food we want to eat after our comeback. I want charcoal-grilled pork belly.”

“I want dumplings in soup and cucumber kimchi.”

“Five large orders of jokbal and bossam.”

“Dried sweet potatoes.”

“Tteokbokki.”

They shouted “Let’s eat for sure!” and cheered before going on stage.

PBS Public Hall.

MC Baek Sangjung, under the spotlight, stirred up the excitement.

-Next up is the team you’ve all been waiting for.

He smiled at the camera until the cheers of ‘Wow!’ died down.

The three members of TNT, who were already clapping like seals, appeared on the screen.

-I’m so looking forward to this, they said in a conversation that came from the panel seats.

Yoo Myeongdeok, the original singer of ‘Deoksoon-ah’, chuckled and looked on.

-They are the gem-like rookie idols that the Legendary Song Discovrey Team discovered. Please welcome New Black’s ‘Deoksoon-ah!’ with applause!

New Black members came up leisurely amid applause and cheers.

As the lights brightened and the five members appeared, another round of cheering erupted.

After greeting the audience, the leader Woojoo took the microphone as the representative.

-Thank you for coming today. We were really sad that this is our last stage, but we’re glad that we can perform in front of so many people. We hope this will ease our regret and sorrow.

Woojoo smiled and explained the song.

-The song we’re going to sing now is ‘Deoksoon-ah’, a masterpiece by Singer Yoo Myeongdeok. Let me tell you a little bit about this song…

His gentle voice told the audience the details of the song they should pay attention to.

-Now, if we sing it like this…

Their voices melted into the audience’s ears, asking them to respond in a certain way and chatting with them in a friendly tone.

Yoo Myeongdeok smiled contentedly.

‘How cute.’

Everyone, including the original singer, was looking forward to what kind of stage they would show. The public hall began to darken.

Woojoo’s serious narration.

-This is a song for all the Deoksoons in the world.

If someone had a keen eye, they would have noticed that New Black members almost slapped their cheeks when the lights went out.

The lights came on and the intro started.

The straightforward lyrics were somewhat modified, and the audience raised their eyebrows in surprise at New Black’s singing skills. As the intro ended and the song began in earnest.

The live band played vigorously.

Deoksoon-ah-ah-ah-ah-

…along with the members’ chorus.

The members were serious, the audience was amazed, and the managers below the stage were biting their lips with all their might.

The audience clapped along to the upbeat melody.

Among them, the people who saw New Black’s stage for the first time today couldn’t help but exclaim.

‘They really enjoy the stage.’

Among them, one member shone especially.

Woojoo, who sang each verse of ‘Deoksoon-ah’ as if he regretted the time passing by, put his all into it.

He smiled happily every time he spat out the lyrics, as if he really loved the stage.

And there was someone who watched this whole process more impressively than anyone else.

‘Oh, no…’

Yoo Myeongdeok’s eyes trembled.

‘The arrangement, the adaptation, the voice…’

Everything was perfectly reborn in a modern way. ‘Deoksoon-ah’.

It was a song that he had put a lot of effort into, but had never seen the light of day. It had changed perfectly.

It was a quality that would have been impossible if he hadn’t put a lot of effort into this song.

His heart was heavy.

He was so touched that someone had put so much effort into a song by a singer he had never met.

“This, this…”

He never thought this day would come.

As soon as the highlight of ‘Deoksoon-ah’ was heard, Yoo Myeongdeok jumped up from his seat and clapped.

He had to clap.

“Ah…!”

The middle-aged singer’s face, soaked in emotion, was captured by the camera.