In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 27

How could he show the singing skills of their members?

How could he create that opportunity?

That was the problem he had to worry about as the leader of the team.

After appearing on the music show for three weeks, the feedback he summarized was roughly like this:

-The visuals are top-notch. They have their own personalities and could be actors.

-Why does only the main vocal sing?

-What are the rest of them doing? Can’t they sing?

-Is this a group push?

It was a problem that started from an ambiguous situation.

The composition of Something was practically done by Seon Woojoo and Jang Sowon.

But when they went into recording, a problem occurred.

It was weird to deal with Something with one girl and several boys.

That was why they unified the vocal and it was Seo Rihyuk.

But then, when they decided to name it ‘Jang Sowon X Seo Rihyuk – Something’, it was a bit subtle.

They all contributed.

To be honest, it was something that happened because they didn’t know the song would do so well.

When the first music show appearance was confirmed, the two agencies were thinking of sending only Seo Rihyuk.

But then they met with Jang Sowon’s strong opposition, saying ‘I won’t do it if you do that’, and they ended up going together.

It was good in the end, but on the other hand, it left a question of ‘Why do so many guys come out and just put in harmony and go back? Can’t they sing?’

It was a tricky situation.

Their kids could sing well.

The problem was that there was no chance to prove it.

Seon Woojoo couldn’t change the music show repertoire to show off their skills.

When he was lost in his own worries, the road manager, Seo Minki, glanced at Seon Woojoo sitting in the passenger seat.

“Are you tired?”

“No.”

“Was the interview hard?”

“The atmosphere was okay.”

It was a solo schedule after the music show ended.

It was an interview with Jang Sowon Sunbae, the co-composer of Something, and there was nothing special.

“There were a few awkward questions, but I guess I got used to the interview. I was less nervous than the first time. And even if a difficult question came up, Jang Sowon Sunbae supported me from the side.”

“Sowon did that when she was in Sugarfish. She helped her juniors.”

“And the reporter was very responsive to whatever I said. I thought they would be harsh because I’m a rookie, but they were very kind.”

“I think I know why.”

“What do you mean?”

“The reporter was a woman.”

Seon Woojoo made a face that he didn’t understand, and Seo Minki chuckled as if it was enough.

“Never mind, kid. I just asked because you looked tired. I wondered if it was because of the interview.”

“That’s not it.”

Seon Woojoo was about to talk about his recent worries about showing off New Black’s skills, and he looked at him.

He was someone Seon Woojoo hadn’t met for even a month.

Seon Woojoo smiled as he looked at the passing trees.

“I guess I’m less tense.”

“You should be. You’re number one for three weeks in a row, so what.”

“But I’m still a rookie. I have to be nervous.”

Seon Woojoo looked at his face and remembered something he had forgotten, and rummaged through his pocket.

“Hyung, Jang Sowon Sunbae asked me to give you a gift today. She said it’s for her fan.”

“Really? Where is it?”

“Here.”

Minki Hyung blinked his eyes at Seon Woojoo’s empty palm.

He had a what-is-this expression.

When Seon Woojoo folded and unfolded his palm, a chocolate appeared.

“Ta-da.”

“Hey, what was that?”

“It’s magic.”

“You can do that too?”

“I learned it from watching YouTube a while ago. But I had nowhere to use it.”

Seon Woojoo learned magic by imitating the movements.

Honestly, except for dancing, he had nothing to use it for in his daily life, so he played with it as a hobby.

He smiled brightly as Seon Woojoo handed him the chocolate.

It looked like his fatigue for the day melted away.

“She said you looked low on sugar because you were busy with the schedule these days, so she asked me to give you chocolate. Belgium? She said she got it from a friend who lives there.”

“Belgium? That must be Lisa.”

“Really?”

“Sugarfish Lisa, you know, the musical actress who quit and went to Belgium.”

Right, Minki Hyung’s favorite was Sugarfish’s Lisa.

Seon Woojoo laughed incredulously.

“Don’t you have to switch to Hwai Entertainment?”

“Hmm, maybe I should have.”

“Hey, where are you going? You have to keep working with us.”

Minki Hyung smiled at Seon Woojoo’s playful retort and focused on driving.

The street lights flashed by as the car sped along.

10 p.m.

They were on their way to the company.

“Can’t you go straight to the dorm? You have a music show early tomorrow.”

“I have a meeting with Director Jo today.”

“At this hour?”

“Yes, we’re both busy, so this was the only day we could find.”

The purpose was obviously to show off their skills that he had been worrying about lately.

Maybe he would give Seon Woojoo some answers to his questions.

Bzzz-

As he was lost in thought, his phone rang.

-A-Yo. Soufflé man~

The cheerful laughter of the youngest came from the other side of the phone.

-Did the interview go well?

“It went well.”

-What a lack of enthusiasm. Your cute maknae called you and you answered with such a cold tone?

“Cute maknae? I don’t have a maknae like that.”

-Why not? I’m right here.

“I’m hanging up.”

-Wow, I’m so hurt. I raised you so well.

Seon Woojoo burst out laughing at his ridiculous words.

“Hey, when did you raise me?”

-I fed you, I put you to sleep. Hyung, don’t you remember anything?

“I think I do.”

-Right?

“Yeah, I remember. Was it two weeks ago? You came to me and said ‘Ha… please lend me one.’ because you had no underwear?”

-Why do you have such a good memory?

“It’s a family trait. My grandmother is even better.”

“Who are you talking to? Wang Jiho?” Minki asked Seon Woojoo.

Seon Woojoo nodded.

His voice on the other side of the phone became gloomy.

-Did the manager hear it too?

“Yeah.”

-Please tell him this is a secret. If the Hyungs find out, they’ll boil me like a bone soup until I die. Especially Seo Rihyuk, that venomous bastard…

“You’re asking for it.”

-Aww.

“Who should I text first? Rihyuk?”

-Stop! Stop! Have some manners, Woojoo Hyung…

Seon Woojoo chuckled as he heard the youngest member’s voice of surrender.

What a cute kid.

Seon Woojoo felt a bit less tired thanks to the conversation with Wang Jiho.

“Why did you call me? Did we agree to have a late-night snack today?”

-No, we decided not to eat today.

“Why?”

-Rihyuk Hyung said he thinks he’s going to get pimples if he eats.

“You guys can eat without him.”

-Bijoo Hyung said that’s not polite. He said we shouldn’t eat without someone when we have food.

Seon Woojoo roughly guessed what he wanted from his words.

“You want a snack, don’t you?”

-Yes.

“Send me the list on KakaoTalk. I’ll buy it for you when I go to the company.”

-I love you, boss~

As soon as the call ended, a message came on KakaoTalk.

It was a list of items like instant tteokbokki, sausages, and snacks that were sold at convenience stores.

Seon Woojoo glanced at them and tilted his head.

That was strange.

The menu was a bit simpler than usual.

It didn’t seem like it would cost more than 10,000 won in total.

Usually, they spent almost 30,000 won on snacks every time. What was going on?

***

Lemon Entertainment.

It was past 10 p.m., the time when most employees had left, but the lights in the practice room would still be on at this time.

There was no time to rest.

Music shows took up the whole day, from dawn rehearsals to evening broadcasts.

And they couldn’t relax in the remaining time either.

They had to keep practicing.

They couldn’t slack off on their usual dance or vocal practice just because they performed Something live.

They would know if they tried.

The dance line would get rough if they skipped stretching for a day.

In that sense, they, New Black, were always devoted to practice after returning to the company from music shows.

Well.

That was how it used to be.

“Why are the lights off?”

Something was weird today.

The stairs leading down to the basement were also dark, except for the green emergency lights, and Seon Woojoo couldn’t see anything.

He stumbled down the stairs and wondered.

Did the lights go out?

He had been going up and down these stairs since last December, so he didn’t fall.

Maybe it was because of his imitation ability.

Sometimes, when his senses became sharper, he would automatically perform the actions needed for the situation.

The hallway was dark too. Where were they?

There were several practice room doors, but today all the lights were off.

That was odd.

If they weren’t in the practice room, they would have told him.

Ssssh-

Seon Woojoo heard something as he was about to turn on the phone light.

It sounded like a cockroach scurrying fast.

What the…?

Ssssh-

This time it was behind him.

Fear crept up on him.

Something was wrong.

Seon Woojoo was about to take a step back when something jumped on his shoulder.

“Aaah…!”

Before he could scream, his body reacted again.

It was the same as when he awakened his ability on the day of the college entrance exam and tackled the policeman.

The same movement flowed out of his body.

Thud-!

Seon Woojoo heard something fall to the floor.

This time, something reached out to grab him from the darkness.

Again, his body reacted naturally.

The martial arts moves that he had watched on YouTube when he was bored came out automatically.

Slipping.

It was a boxing technique that involved swaying the upper body from side to side to dodge the opponent’s attacks.

But that wasn’t enough for his adrenaline-fueled body. He grabbed the opponent’s arm and threw him like a judo player.

“Ugh!”

Ugh?

“Hey, hey! Turn on the lights! Lights!”

“Why?”

“Hey! Wang Jiho! Turn on the lights if I tell you to!”

“Are, are you okay, President?”

Along with the familiar voices, the hallway lights turned on with a bang.

And then, Seon Woojoo’s vision blurred.

A middle-aged man with a bald head and a gentle face was groaning on the floor, clutching his waist.

Director Yoon Seokhwan was in the same state.

Director Jo Gyuwhan was stuck to the wall like a magnet from a chicken shop, looking shocked.

And then.

“What is this…?”

The New Black kids, wearing bewildered expressions.

The guys with straw hats were holding a cake, standing awkwardly as they watched the scene unfold.

They were so surprised that their eyes were wide open like rabbits.

What was going on?

Seon Woojoo was just as confused.

No.

What was this situation without any warning?

Seon Woojoo looked for the culprit who had sent him downstairs on an errand.

“Wang Jiho, where are you?”

“…Yes?”

“Explain what’s going on.”

Only after Seon Woojoo helped the two men up, was he able to hear the details.

Seon Woojoo didn’t need to hear the explanation.

The kids were holding a cream cake.

On top of it, it said ‘Congratulations on 3 weeks in a row at number one!’.

Surprise party.

It was a plan to throw a surprise celebration for the 3-week streak of number one on the music show.

Seon Woojoo frowned and asked, “Who came up with this plan?”

“The President did.”

“Oh, great plan.”

It was a bit chaotic, but luckily no one was hurt.

After the songs and congratulations were exchanged, the adults handed them the late-night snacks they had ordered in advance and left.

Seon Woojoo felt a pang of sadness as he saw Director Yoon Seokhwan and the President walking away, arm in arm.

As the kids were wiping off the cream on Seon Woojoo’s face, someone handed him a tissue.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

Seo Rihyuk asked him, “Why do you look so flustered?”

“I was surprised.”

“We should be the ones surprised. The President almost smelled the incense behind the folding screen.”

“Someone grabbed me from behind all of a sudden…”

Seo Rihyuk’s expression was like a personification of ‘tsk tsk’ as he saw Seon Woojoo scratching his head, feeling embarrassed.

“Anyway, I was surprised. They said they were celebrating for me.”

“Why do you think?” Their main vocal said sarcastically, “Since you composed the song, they wanted to thank you with a celebration…”

“Really? Were you grateful to me?”

“Do I have to say it out loud?”

“You have to say it, not be grumpy. Since you brought it up, let me hear it. Come on, say thank you.”

“Tha…”

As he was about to say it, Seo Rihyuk picked up a convenience store bag that had fallen on the floor.

“I bought some sweet potato chips. I’ll enjoy them.”

“Hey.”

He ran away with the bag of sweet potato chips.

Seon Woojoo couldn’t help but laugh at his ridiculousness.

Kim Bijoo came over and smiled as if it was a curious thing.

“Rihyuk is a bit clumsy at expressing his emotions.”

“That guy’s personality is really weird.”

“Still, the more you look at him, the more kind he seems.” Kim Bijoo said to me with a smile, “Hurry up, Hyung. There’s a lot of bossam and jokbal. The President said not to worry about the amount and bought a lot for us today.”

Seon Woojoo saw Kim Junghyun and Wang Jiho setting up the bossam and jokbal set on the newspaper on the practice room floor.

It was a perfect combination with kimchi and bibim noodles.

“Bijoo Hyung, can I eat now?”

“Not yet. We have to eat together.”

“Wow, Hyung is totally a communist…!”

Kim Bijoo smiled at Seon Woojoo as if to tell him to hurry up.

“Uh, Bijoo…”

“Yes?”

“I don’t think I can eat with you guys. I have a meeting soon…”

Seon Woojoo had to change his words when he saw his expression turn gloomy.

“Maybe it’s better to eat a little and go?”

“Good thinking, Hyung.”

His bright smile returned.

As he was led by Kim Bijoo’s hand, Seon Woojoo thought to himself, ‘Something is weird about everyone.’

One who couldn’t be satisfied unless he did everything with everyone, one who couldn’t sleep outside unless he took off his shoes, one who had trouble expressing his emotions.

And the youngest one was… sigh.

He was the only normal one in this group.