In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe - C.159:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 159

Street Boys.

That was the name of the boy group that had been constantly linked to them as rivals. They nodded calmly at the mention of them.

They went outside to talk, so that no one else could hear them.

They huddled together in the alley, wearing their padded jackets.

“Well, it’s not bad,” Rihyuk said, blowing out his breath. “They have solid skills, you know. If we can match well with them, we can pull off a decent stage.”

“Yeah, they’re good. They beat us a lot.”

“…Don’t hurt our feelings. Jiho.”

Bijoo poked the youngest’s side and smiled.

They said they lost to Street Boys every time they had a joint evaluation before Woojoo joined.

The younger ones had bitter smiles.

It was as if the history of their long defeat flashed before their eyes.

They looked into the air with distant eyes.

Then.

They all turned their heads and looked at Woojoo.

“…”

Their gazes were all subtle.

As if they were looking at something adorable…

An object?

Guys?

“…What’s with these rude stares?”

“It’s nothing,” Bijoo said, shaking his head. Then he grabbed Woojoo’s shoulder with a serious face. “Hyung, you’re a treasure.”

“…”

Rihyuk added, “A totem-like existence. A totem for making songs.”

“…”

“Yeah, Hyung is the egg in the cold noodles.”

Junghyun’s final blow made Woojoo grab the back of his neck, and the younger ones giggled.

It was a shame that he couldn’t film this. He should show it to the Souffles.

Everyone. Look.

They were only fairies on the outside, but their hearts were goblins.

“It’s really amazing.”

The youngest rested his head on Woojoo’s shoulder.

“We used to be so eager to beat the Street Boys Hyungs. They seemed like an insurmountable wall.”

“And now they’re not?”

“Nah, it feels a bit different since Hyung came. Like, we can do it?”

“Hmm…”

There was definitely more ease in their expressions.

They were ahead in various indicators, and more importantly, their recent opponent was a worthy one.

After competing with TNT, any other group would seem relatively weak.

But that didn’t mean they could take other groups lightly.

The entertainment industry was a different place every day.

Even if they were ahead for now, it wouldn’t be strange if a competitor suddenly rose up with a hit fancam tomorrow.

Woojoo carefully looked at the younger ones’ faces.

He hoped they weren’t feeling too relaxed because they were doing better.

The source of confidence should be in something that didn’t change.

If you based your confidence on the results that could change at any time, you wouldn’t be able to handle your mental state when it got reversed.

That was a lesson Woojoo learned from elementary school when he started as a trainee.

Of course, their kids weren’t like that, but he felt a bit worried as a leader.

Woojoo was about to gently talk to them.

“Ah, geez. Wang Jiho.”

Rihyuk clicked his tongue.

“Since when did you become so arrogant because we did better? Geez. You’re full of yourself.”

“I know, okay?”

The youngest who had his chin on Woojoo’s shoulder pursed his lips.

“I just wanted to have some fun. And get some cuddles from Woojoo Hyung.”

“Cuddles?”

Woojoo turned his head in disbelief and he stuck out his hand and tickled his chin, saying “cuddles”.

Everyone burst into laughter.

While Woojoo grabbed the youngest’s collar and jokingly scolded him, saying “you little brat”, Bijoo scolded him more seriously.

“You know we were lucky, right, Jiho?”

“…Yeah, Hyung,” Jiho said with a deflated face. “No, I’m not stupid, I’m just immature. I know that too. We were lucky.”

He then made a whining sound.

“I just said one thing and you’re already nagging me. At least today Woojoo Hyung smiled warmly and didn’t say ‘Jiho, get your act together’.”

Woojoo pretended not to be embarrassed.

“…Ahem.”

But inside, he felt relieved.

Because ever since they won the Rookie Award and the music show first place, he had been feeling relaxed.

Woojoo snapped out of it right away, but he was tempted for a moment.

So he worried about the others too.

What if they thought they got these results because they were good.

Even their youngest, who was the most immature, thought they were lucky. That meant the other members didn’t need to be told.

Junghyun didn’t say anything, but…

He covered his mouth with his hand and made a ‘coo coo’ sound at the magpies.

“What is he doing?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s trying to summon magpies. As if they would answer him…”

Caw! Caw!

“…”

They all smiled warmly and went back to reading the document.

“The duration is about 2 minutes and 10 seconds…”

“That’s tight.”

They expected that.

They weren’t just doing a joint stage at the TBC year-end music festival.

Even if they excluded Something, they had a 2 minute and 30 second version of Masquerade prepared.

Maybe if they were from one of the big four agencies.

But no matter how popular a rookie they were, the broadcasters wouldn’t give them more than 5 minutes.

What should they show in that limited time?

As they pondered how to use the penalty, their eyes reached the topic.

“Cover songs from the 90s?”

“This is trendy these days. They do these stages on TV.”

It was the entertainment trend of December.

They brought back the singers from the 90s or the early 2000s who had made a name for themselves and reunited them. And the viewers cried and laughed with them as they performed.

It started with Around the World With Dice’s nostalgia trip special.

“There were some great songs back then.”

Woojoo felt good as he recalled the songs that were popular when he was young.

Maybe it was because he had his mom and dad then. The songs he heard as a kid were all good.

He could still memorize the lyrics of some songs from start to finish.

Junghyun blinked and asked Woojoo, “Hyung, aren’t you only two years older than me?”

“…Let’s see. What song should we do to make a good impression?”

They had to discuss their opinions among themselves first, before they could talk to the Street Boys side. They would have the final say anyway.

Soon, various songs came up.

Woojoo realized how many hit songs there were in the 90s.

While he was lost in nostalgia, Bijoo suggested an idea.

“Since it’s a joint stage, we should choose a song that matches both groups, right? Street Boys are more into hip-hop, so how about a song that mixes hip-hop and vocals well?”

Bijoo was right.

It would be nice to have a song that suited both New Black and Street Boys.

As Woojoo was deep in thought, Jiho sniffled.

“Ugh, it’s cold. Why are the managers not coming down?”

“Probably because of the logo song.”

“Wow. They’re really using that? I thought the seniors were just saying that as lip service.”

“You’re deaf, Wang Jiho. The moment I heard it, I knew it was perfect.”

“Me too. My ears are deaf.”

The youngest smiled brightly.

“But my color doesn’t change.”

“…Eek!”

The two of them started a bloody fight with their padded sleeves, when a huge figure pushed the front door and appeared.

“Oh, you were waiting outside?”

He was their bandit, no, road manager Seok Dowon. He looked even bigger because of the padding.

He scratched the back of his head with a sorry face.

“Did you get cold? I had to help the manager with a phone call… I came down as soon as I could.”

“Oh, no. It wasn’t cold at all…”

As Woojoo waved his hand and said that, Rihyuk sneezed!

“…”

Their manager’s face, which was already full of guilt, turned into self-blame.

“I brought these because I thought you might be cold. Here, take them.”

“Wow… Thank you.”

They thanked the manager as he handed them each a warm hand warmer.

Meanwhile, as they followed the manager with the car key to the parking lot, Woojoo’s mind was still full of thoughts about the joint stage.

At the same time.

“Call the team leader about the logo song. He’s in an external meeting right now, so unless it’s urgent, report it later.”

-Yes, I understand.

Yoon Seokhwan, the section chief, hung up the phone and put it in his pocket. Then he smiled at the person sitting across from him.

“I had an urgent call from the site.”

“Ah.”

Park, the section chief of DNS Media, took a sip of coffee and narrowed his eyes.

“The logo song… That friend named Woojoo must have made something again, huh?”

“Well, something like that.”

He gave a vague answer, and the other person licked his lips and stopped.

He was very curious about what Woojoo had done, but it was hard to ask more questions for the sake of his dignity.

Yoon Seokhwan smiled politely, but inside he was laughing brightly.

‘Good job, Woojoo.’

He was a guy who only brought good news, not even a sparrow.

He heard the rough situation from Seo Minki.

The logo song that Woojoo made as a trial for the idol show was liked by both the MCs and the production team.

But that wasn’t the real news.

‘The second part…’

Originally, the idol show was only promised to appear as a guest for one episode. They didn’t even think about the second part.

The fact that the production team on the site checked the volume and decided that this was the second part meant that New Black did really well on that show.

That fact was amazing.

The manager was basically someone who brought work to the entertainer.

That was why they felt the most proud and happy when the entertainer did better than anyone else.

Of course, in this case, it started with the suggestion of PD Bae Jonggeon, who met New Black at the broadcasting station lobby, but he was happy anyway.

He smiled and said, “Anyway, we met like this because of the TBC year-end stage, so please take good care of us.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

They were employees of competing companies, but the meeting started with a gentle smile.

The topic was only one thing.

The division of work for the TBC year-end music festival joint stage.

The special stage that was held at the end of the year was usually planned by the PD of the broadcasting station, who would send a proposal to the agencies saying ‘I would like you to do this kind of stage’, and the agencies would agree and prepare accordingly.

But there were many things to coordinate with multiple stakeholders involved.

Who would prepare the costumes, who would choreograph the dance, and who would select the song, etc.

As the managers of New Black and Street Boys were discussing the work division, the last agenda item, the song, came up.

Manager Park asked, “How are you planning to select the song?”

“First of all, we have to let the members of both groups share their opinions. They are the ones who are performing, after all.”

“…Excuse me?”

The other side tilted his head.

“You’re leaving it to the kids? This is something the company should decide.”

“Our company policy is to prioritize the artists’ opinions. We listen to their opinions first and then decide, whether good or bad.”

“Hmm, we have different opinions on this matter.”

There was a brief confrontation between Lemon, which was closer to laissez-faire, and DNS, which valued strict management.

But soon Manager Park nodded his head.

“Anyway, the song was decided to be chosen by Lemon, so I guess listening to their opinions is not a bad idea. I’ll arrange a time soon.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“But I’m a bit skeptical.” The other side asked with a doubtful face, “Is there any point in them talking to each other? I don’t think they have much to say or anything…”

“Ah.”

Manager Yoon Seokhwan smiled and said, “You’ll see when you watch.”

After finishing the afternoon schedule and returning to the company, Seokhwan Hyung handed Woojoo a piece of paper with a number written on it.

“What is this?”

“Street Boys’ number.”

“Oh.” …Woojoo said and looked at the paper with the number with his brothers, and then he noticed something strange.

“There’s only one number?”

“They use one phone together.”

“Oh, right.”

That was what they said when they met on the radio last July.

Their company was very strict with management, so they only used one old phone for contact.

“Wow,” the youngest said, looking at his own phone. “They’re so pitiful to not be able to use this…”

“Come to think of it, you guys almost couldn’t use it either,” Seokhwan Hyung said, as if he remembered something. “There was a talk about phones before you debuted.”

“What talk?”

“Shouldn’t we ban the kids from using their phones, like other agencies do? That’s what they were saying.”

They perked up their ears at this new piece of information.

“So what happened?”

“It was rejected right away.”

“Why?”

Seokhwan Hyung chuckled as he recalled the reason.

“Because you guys work too hard.”

“…?”

“Usually, when they give you some break time, you should at least have some fun. But you guys were crazy. You came to the company every day off to practice. When they didn’t let you in, you went to the nearby karaoke to practice.”

“We did work hard.”

They smiled proudly.

Maybe the company was touched by their dedication.

They expected a heartwarming story about how they let them use their phones, even though they thought they were pathetic. Yo, you losers! Something like that.

“We were really amazing, huh.”

“That’s not it…”

Seokhwan Hyung laughed.

“It’s because you guys live boring lives.”

“…?”

“That’s what they said. They don’t know what you do for fun on your days off. You just sleep in the dorm. You already live so dull, it would be inhumane to take away your phones too…”

They blinked at the unexpected truth.

There was a moment of silence.

“…They gave us phones out of pity?”

“No. It’s not pity, but more like…”

“…”

“Um…”

Seokhwan Hyung tried to salvage the situation.

“Of course, there’s also the fact that you guys are amazing. They wanted to reward you for working hard, something like that…”

“…”

But it was too late.

Realizing that nothing he said could cheer them up, the manager took a drastic measure.

“Food.”

“…Food?”

“I’ll order something expensive for dinner.”

“As if we would…”

But they couldn’t help but smile.

“Close your mouths before you talk. Kids.”

Seokhwan Hyung gave a hollow laugh as he saw their gloomy faces brighten up again.

After eating the sweet and sour pork and black bean noodles that their beloved manager ordered for them, they returned to the studio with warm faces.

The youngest, who was eating an apple that Bijoo peeled for him, said, “But I still can’t agree.”

“With what?”

“Who else can have as much fun as we do?”

Woojoo heard voices agreeing from all over the place. Rihyuk, who was reading an advanced Japanese textbook, said, “Well, do we really need to conform to other people’s standards? As long as I’m having fun, that’s all that matters.”

“Wow. Rihyuk is making sense for once.”

“I’m always right, you know.”

Woojoo smiled at the arrogant guy.

While he turned on his laptop and searched for 90s songs, he asked his siblings who were huddled on the sofa.

Something suddenly came to his mind.

“Hey, guys.”

“…?”

“What do we usually do for fun?”

There was a brief silence.

“…”

Woojoo searched his memory hard, but it wasn’t just him. Everyone else was the same.

“What’s wrong? Why can’t I remember…?”

“Oh, there was that time. That time.” Bijoo raised his hand and said, “We all got together with our family for Chuseok, remember?”

“When Woojoo collapsed and we all had to go back to the hotel without even having a party? When we had to nurse him by sticking close to his bed?”

“That was tough.”

“…”

They talked about this and that for a while, but there was nothing special except for the time they spent with their family.

Then Woojoo realized.

“…We were really boring, weren’t we?”

“But our activities were fun, right?”

As they were having this conversation, Rihyuk said with a nervous face, “But even if we had fun, it wouldn’t make much difference, would it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Tell me what you would do if you had a day off.”

Everyone said one thing.

“Play games all day.”

“Does it have to be something I can’t do at work? Then… I’d go to a famous cafe and have dessert.”

“Gardening.”

“I’d lie down and listen to music all day. Rihyuk, what about you?”

“I’d go to a bookstore and pick out books.”

After a moment of silence, they all realized with shocked faces.

“We were doomed from the start…”

They looked at each other with pity and contempt, then they nodded their heads with warm smiles.

“Let’s just work since we’re doomed anyway.”

“Yeah. I guess we’re born to work.”

It was about time anyway.

It was almost 7 p.m.

It was time to contact the Street Boys about the joint stage.

As Woojoo was looking through his phone’s contacts, the youngest one said with a worried tone, “How are we supposed to talk to the Street Boys? They don’t think we’re totally boring, do they?”

“I know, right?”

“This is bad. Really bad.”

Everyone looked worried.

At the same time.

Street Boys’ dorm.

Nine people sat in a circle, with a phone in the middle, wearing serious expressions.

“We’re in trouble.”

“What do we do? Hey, what should we say when we talk to the New Black people?”

“Exactly. They don’t think we’re boring, do they?”

Sighs filled the air.

“They all seemed so good at talking and having fun…”

“This is bad, bad. What should we say? Seriously.”

“What if they find out we’re no fun?”

The members were making needless worries.