In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 249

“Hyung? What’s wrong with your face? Did you not sleep at all on the way here?”

“I had a reason to.”

As soon as they arrived at the shop, Bijoo looked at Woojoo with a worried expression.

Woojoo felt like he had become a cameraman in an Antarctic documentary. The penguins that had been lying on the sofa got up and followed him.

“Hyung, did you do well?”

“You look so stressed, Hyung. Who annoyed you there? I’ll curse them with you.”

Woojoo took the jelly that Junghyun gave him and sat on the sofa, chewing slowly.

Considering that he had been recording until dawn, the atmosphere was more cheerful and welcoming than usual.

His shoulders, which had been tense, gradually relaxed.

Woojoo remembered that a senior who had debuted from TJ Entertainment once said that the members who had debuted with him were the best. He understood what he meant.

It felt like he had returned to his family.

“Guys…”

They looked at Woojoo with worried eyes when he spoke with a gloomy tone.

Woojoo sighed deeply and told them what had happened with PD Do Joongi from ‘Men Go’.

“I have to go to the army again.”

“Hahaha!”

They really were his family.

Some of them were so sad that they were about to cry, while others were laughing so hard that they had tears in their eyes.

Only Bijoo had a different reaction.

“Oh my, really? What should I do…”

“Bijoo, put down your hand from your mouth.”

“Hey, stop it. Kim Junghyun.”

When Junghyun grabbed Bijoo’s hand and pulled it down, Woojoo saw his lips curling up in a smile.

“I knew it.”

But instead of glaring at him, Woojoo smiled warmly.

He grinned at the members who were ecstatic, saying ‘He’s going to the army~’.

“I knew this would happen, so I told the PD that I would take one person with me.”

They all looked anxious.

“What a weird person!”

“Why! Why! Why do you have to take our Woojoo Hyung! Huh? This is really unacceptable!”

“Really, why do you take such a good person? I can’t accept it. Don’t go, just stay.”

“The army is a bit…”

Even Junghyun, who had no preference, expressed his dislike for the notorious program.

Woojoo put his hand on his shoulder.

“Ouch, it’s sore.”

“Yes.”

“My legs are aching.”

“What are you doing? Hurry up and massage them.”

Woojoo made his younger siblings massage him as he felt his tense muscles relax.

He told them what had happened at Shintoki.

“Hanjo became a muscle monster.”

“…?”

“I was resting during the break, when the producer of Men Go came and asked me to take a selfie with him.”

“…?”

“My army junior called me and said he was going to expose my dark past, but he was actually trying to debut as an idol.”

“…?!”

His siblings’ expressions changed strangely every time he told them a story.

Yeouido. PBS Broadcasting Station.

From dawn to the commute, he had no mind for anything but the live broadcast rehearsal.

He felt a peculiar drowsiness when he was tired, and everything seemed to whizz by.

He had no energy to care about his facial expression, so he wore a mask.

He searched for photos of his commute and saw a headline that subtly mocked him, saying ‘Covered with a mask! Protecting the bare face’. Woojoo wondered if it was the reporter who shouted at him to lower his mask earlier.

He shrugged it off.

Fortunately, he was able to get back to normal quickly after sleeping a bit while waiting.

“Hello!”

“Hello.”

A girl group member with a ponytail greeted them.

Jeon Yubin.

She was the MC of Music On, and a member of ‘La Vie en Rose’, since they were active as Something.

Woojoo nodded and greeted her.

“Please take good care of our youngest ones.”

“We will, thank you.”

Rihyuk, who was next to Woojoo, nudged his side as if he was whispering. Jiho glared at him.

Today’s MCs were Jeon Yubin, the original MC, and Rihyuk and Jiho, who joined as special MCs.

It was supposed to be Actor Kang Hyunmin, but he had to quit because of a drunk driving incident a while ago. He said he was depressed by the low ratings of the drama he was starring in.

“We didn’t hear if you had a meal or not, so we brought some food for you.”

“Wow, thank you. I love pizza, I’ll enjoy it.”

Jeon Yubin’s round eyes sparkled with gratitude.

As Woojoo handed over the box containing the homemade pizza, the manager on the other side took it instead.

“I prepared zero cola for you,” Woojoo said as he handed over the PET bottle, and they both laughed for some reason.

“Please take good care of Jiho and Rihyuk. They’ve never done MC before.”

“Brother Woojoo… That’s not true.”

Jiho smiled brightly with his mouth, but glared at Woojoo with his eyes. Whether he did or not, Bijoo, Junghyun, and Woojoo begged them earnestly.

“Rihyuk gets very nervous…”

“Jiho is also quite shy. I was worried about him, so I wanted to ask you to take good care of him.”

Jiho and Rihyuk looked at them with ‘Oh, please!’ eyes.

It was like the eyes of a student looking at their parents who greeted their homeroom teacher with ‘My child is weak.’

“Ah! Hyungs! I’m not a baby!”

“Go and rest! Hurry up!”

In the end, Jiho and Rihyuk, who couldn’t stand it, kicked them out of the MC waiting room.

As they were pushed out, they bowed to Jeon Yubin and her manager.

“Please take good care of our kids…!”

“They are good kids…!”

“Ugh, really!”

Rihyuk, who turned red as a beet, pushed their backs. As soon as they got out, Jiho grabbed the door handle.

They made fists and cheered ‘Fighting!’ until the door closed.

“Jiho, Rihyuk! Don’t feel pressured! We trust our siblings!”

“You have to chew the pizza well.”

“Let us know how it was after you eat it.”

Rihyuk shivered and whispered, “…Don’t pretend to know us from now on. All three of you.”

The door slammed shut.

They heard the two men and women inside laughing like crazy.

They needed popcorn.

They all huddled together in front of the TV screen in the waiting room while the commercials were playing.

The manager, the staff, and the three of them.

Everyone had an excited look on their face.

As soon as the commercials ended and the stage of the rookie boy group was over.

-Phantasis’ ‘Lord’, New Black’s ‘Windflower.’

-Who will be the winner of this week’s MusicON?

They all started laughing at the familiar voices spitting out the lines.

“This is crazy.”

“Look at them trying to act serious.”

“Jiho’s voice sounds different, right? Is he acting?”

Soon, the two youngest members appeared on the screen. They were smiling, with Jeon Yubin in the middle.

-Hello! We are the center of K-pop that unites fans all over the world!

-Live music show, Music~

-ON!

Then, the talk show that made their limbs curl up involuntarily began.

-Ah, I want to go see the flowers.

-No. Yubin-ssi.

Jiho said.

-Why do you need to go see the flowers? We are here.

-Look. Isn’t this a flower garden?

Everyone on the waiting room floor burst into laughter at Rihyuk’s ‘Isn’t this a flower garden?’ remark.

Woojoo would have laughed out loud too, but Jeon Yubin was truly a pro.

She barely twitched her lips, but she didn’t show any reaction and continued the talk.

-You’re right. There’s no need to go anywhere to see the flowers, right? Then, shall we all do the flower pose together?

-One, two, three~ Woo woo~

Bijoo almost started crying.

They all held up their smartphones and took pictures of the three men and women who were doing the flower pose with both hands on the TV screen.

Woojoo watched the screen as the corner introducing today’s order continued.

They were good.

They didn’t look inferior next to the girl group member who had been an MC for over a year.

And their youngest had a different tone of voice than usual, making him look like a different person.

Junghyun smiled briefly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Jiho is imitating Hyung.”

“Really?”

Bijoo also giggled and said, “I guess Hyung was Jiho’s model of maturity.”

“Do I sound like that?”

Woojoo wouldn’t laugh like that.

But the staff also saw it and said, ‘Oh, it’s Woojoo. Mini Woojoo.’ and Woojoo was flustered.

The managers also confirmed it and Woojoo tilted his head for a moment. That couldn’t be…

-Yes, on this week’s live music show, Music ON…

Their youngest was smoothly delivering his lines on the screen.

He was good.

His pronunciation and vocalization were so good that his voice sounded clear and crisp. Like an audiobook.

“Rihyuk is good too.”

“Yeah. He’s good too.”

“He practiced a lot yesterday. While Hyung was recording, they wrestled with the script for a long time.”

He looked stiff at the first rehearsal, but Rihyuk also looked skillful.

But there was one thing that wasn’t solved. His ears that looked red. And there was one more noticeable part.

Woojoo asked the makeup artist, “Teacher, didn’t you put too much makeup on Rihyuk today?”

“Huh. Yeah…?”

As he spoke, his face turned red with embarrassment. That was why he asked the makeup artists to apply a thicker foundation than usual on Rihyuk today.

Thanks to that, his complexion looked the same as always.

A cool face with a relaxed smile.

His ears were slightly red, but it was hard to notice unless you looked closely. He also applied some BB cream on his ears.

But…

“Hyung, look at Rihyuk’s neck.”

Bijoo pointed with his finger.

As he said, Rihyuk’s neck was blazing red, unlike his pale face.

The internet forums were going crazy.

–ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Is anyone watching Music On right now?

–ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋI thought my phone had burn-in and kept rubbing it

-Look at his neck color

-I thought he drank alcohol ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Is he from New Black? Charcoal, explain please

-Passing by charcoal) He’s known for being very shy and can’t stand those kind of comments.

–ㅋㅋㅋㅋHe seems to be the only one who doesn’t know

Sure enough.

They started laughing as they saw Rihyuk smiling leisurely and snorting.

They were so excited.

He felt like he was playing with their Soufflés who were making screenshots and gifs in real time on the fan community.

The scenes of his neck turning red and then white again with every comment were everywhere.

Woojoo should send this to Teacher Noh Jaehyun too.

Woojoo had a really good time until the last stage of Music On.

When they were backstage for the ending stage, their kids who came down from the MC seat ran to them.

“How was it? Did I do well?”

“You imitated me well.”

“…No. That was me imitating someone else.”

The youngest, who was consistent in playing dumb, received praise from them.

And then they moved their eyes to the crane who was coughing softly and looking for compliments.

“How about me? I did well too, right?”

He seemed to be excited and craving for praise.

They just answered him with a warm smile.

On Friday, they won first place on PBS Music On.

It was the same on Saturday and Sunday.

Next week, they were fixed as the first-place candidates for all the music shows we appeared on.

They clearly felt that they had succeeded.

The keyword ‘rookie’ that was in the article titles was gone.

They were treated like popular singers wherever they went.

The number of people who gathered for their mini fan meetings near the broadcast station or for their events was different.

-New Black ‘Windflower’, top of the music chart

-‘Windflower’, still number one on the weekly chart after two weeks…

-‘Windflower’, ‘Something’ is unstoppable. New Black, the new music powerhouse?

Windflower, which didn’t budge from the daily chart and the weekly chart even after two weeks.

And Something, which revived as a spring song like a miracle.

It felt like the world had changed.

“Oh, hello. You’re New Black’s manager, right?”

Maybe it was because they had more places to go.

Their managers also looked better.

Woojoo used to feel sorry for their manager Hyungs who only got dirty looks, but now the event organizers and advertisers called them ‘manager-nim’ and treated them well.

As they sorted out the pile of event lists, they hummed and sang.

Woojoo felt good every time he heard them.

“Oh my, I hope I didn’t come to a busy person.”

“No, not at all. Director-nim.”

And Woojoo was with the music director of the drama ‘Slip’.

He looked around the studio and exclaimed.

“The president is a very nice person. These are the things I couldn’t afford to touch…”

“Right? Do you want to try them?”

“Wow…”

As the Director and Woojoo fiddled with the equipment and said ‘hahaha!’, the A&R Team staff nearby shivered.

“Well, shall we finish the work?”

While the company engineers were finishing up their work, Director Kang and Woojoo exchanged comments.

The song was already done, but it needed some fine-tuning.

That was because it contained the voices of the five members of New Black, the popular idol group.

Since each of them had a different voice, they had to adjust the minor details to give it a stable feel.

“Wow,” Director Kang exclaimed as he listened to the final version. “Isn’t it great? I think this is the best OST I’ve ever heard.”

“Really?”

“The song itself has power,” Director Kang said seriously. “Usually, OSTs are more fun when they are combined with the drama, but this one is amazing on its own. It has a force that you can feel.”

“Do you think it will get a good response?”

“I think you can expect a lot.”

He received compliments that it was a song that made them want to join the lyrics or composition.

Woojoo even heard jokes that the OST would climb the charts.

“So, it will be on air next Friday?”

“Yes. It will probably be inserted in a very important part of episode 7. I have to talk to the chief director, but…”

Slip, the drama that had aired six episodes this week, was already in its second half.

As the episodes went on, the ratings went up, and there was talk that it would soon break the record of GTV, the cable channel.

Their OST was scheduled to be played for the first time in episode 7.

Woojoo was excited for the long-awaited moment.

Maybe he could hope for the charts.

He hadn’t seen many cases of OSTs from genre dramas becoming popular, but he couldn’t help being thrilled.

The music director himself certified that it was a good song.

“Then let’s contact again next week.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work, Director.”

It was when he was seeing off Director Kang, who was leaving with his coat, along with the A&R Team staff.

Director Kang, who was looking at his phone, tilted his head.

“One of the songs sung by New Black entered the chart again?”

“What?”

What was he talking about?

As Woojoo opened his eyes wide, he handed Woojoo his phone. There was an article on the entertainment section of the portal site.

“…?”

The A&R Team staff next to Woojoo took the phone and checked the Mango real-time chart.

“…”

And Woojoo made a dumbfounded expression.

That was right. There was this.

Woojoo had turned off his phone and focused on the work for the past few hours, so he had completely forgotten about it.

The new song that topped the chart by clicking on the Windflower.

When he was looking forward to the results of the OST for ‘Slip’, something unexpected popped up.

1st. New Black – Deoksoon-ah (PBS Challenge, Legendary Song Discovery Team)

Woojoo blinked his eyes as he looked at the chart.

What was going on?

Gunsan.

Under the bright spring sky, there was one person who walked around with a sour face all day long.

-Deoksoon-ah!

“Damn it.”

While a doll danced in the phone shop, a cheerful trot-style song ‘Deoksoon-ah’ played from the speaker.

-Deoksoon-ah-ah-ah! Deoksoon-ah~

“Damn it, it’s everywhere.”

When she went to the mart to buy groceries, ‘Deoksoon-ah’ sang merrily while the staff announced the discount sale.

On the street, a car selling cassette tapes blasted ‘Deoksoon-ah-ah-ah!’ with a loud voice.

The song was catchy and addictive, making her feel excited every time she heard it.

On the internet, ‘Deoksoon-ah’ was so popular that it was nicknamed ‘the labor song’. But she didn’t care about it at all.

“Eek!”

Mrs. Kim Deoksoon suppressed her rising anger.

“Why is it Deoksoon everywhere I go?”

‘Deoksoon-ah’ was playing from every corner of the world. And it was her grandson’s voice, as if he was winking at her.

As she was about to explode.

A song came out from a cafe in front of her.

-Don’t frown your face~ Deoksoon~

Mrs. Kim Deoksoon sincerely wanted to throw away the bag of groceries she had bought.