In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 25

As the stage lights up, the set appears.

Two benches.

The members of New Black are sitting on them, divided into two groups.

On the left, Kim Bi-ju and Kim Jung-hyun.

On the right, Seon Woojoo is holding an acoustic guitar.

As his long and slender fingers move, the song’s accompaniment begins with a refreshing guitar sound.

At the same time, the TV caption pops up.

[Jang So-won X New Black – Something]

The staff of Lemon Entertainment’s PR team exclaimed in admiration.

“Wow, Seon Woojoo.”

“I heard he could play the guitar, but I didn’t know he was that good. When did he practice?”

“He’s always been good at playing instruments. It’s in his family.”

“Is that good? Honestly, if you go to a music school for three months, you can play like that.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“No, really.”

“He doesn’t have to worry about starving anywhere he goes. His face is working hard.”

Seon Woojoo’s appearance on the broadcast was very convincing.

A man sitting with his legs crossed, playing the guitar.

His handsome face and full makeup combined to create a beauty that surpassed any ordinary actor.

It was a close-up shot that made people say ‘oh’ in awe.

Then, the scene changes.

Two men and women in front of the three men sitting on the bench.

Jang So-won and Seo Ri-hyuk.

They are dressed like college students and looking at each other.

The first verse was skillfully delivered by Jang So-won, who approached Seo Ri-hyuk’s side.

She had a proficient stage manner and vocal skill, as well as a smooth delivery of the lyrics.

You don’t know my heart, I don’t know yours either

But you know it too

Our relationship is not ripe yet

Something that flows between us

It was a soft song.

It made the audience sigh with the gentle sound and the clear vocal, as if they were reminded of their first love without anyone.

A song that sounded like a little tantrum.

But not annoying.

It was what she said to the man who didn’t understand her feelings.

As Jang So-won lowered her microphone slightly, the part switched to Seo Ri-hyuk.

An icy expression.

He looked cold and aloof like snow in winter, and he seemed to have sharp thorns somewhere.

But when his part finally came, he made them feel like winter was gone and spring had arrived.

The coldness disappeared and a warm and soft smile appeared on his face. His voice that came through the microphone was like a spring breeze.

At first, I thought it was a spring breeze

Not the petals on my shoulder

Who are you, who tickles my heart

We said we were friends, but I’m different

His voice was stable and confident, unlike a rookie.

What are we, I’m still confused

So-

Jang So-won and Seo Ri-hyuk grabbed the microphone together and looked at each other.

The lovely eyes of the two who fell in love.

From today, I’m going to date you

I’ll catch you, who seems to be caught but not

I’ll narrow the gap between you and me

I’ll hold your hand, which seems to be held but not

I’ll walk the line between love and friendship

From the second part, the rest of the New Black members also joined in.

-It sounds better live

-But the main vocal does everything and the rest just do the chorus?

-They should have just come out as twoㅋㅋㅋ

-I knew Jang So-won was good, but they are amazing too… They harmonize well

There were some voices that wondered why the other New Black members came out, but the reaction was good both online and offline.

First of all, Something was a hit song that was currently running at the highest price.

Regardless of the participation of the members, Jang So-won and Seo Ri-hyuk’s live performance was saving the show.

Of course, there was a reason why the main vocal Seo Ri-hyuk got all the parts.

The first part distribution.

When we recorded the song by dividing the parts equally according to Park Aeju’s fairness, everything was perfect.

The vocals that brought out the individual colors of each member, as well as the harmonious song as a whole.

But both the New Black members and Jang So-won had no choice but to rearrange the parts after listening to the final version.

Jang So-won’s remark.

“Don’t I look like a fisherman’s girl no matter how you look at it?”

That was the problem.

The song quality itself was flawless, but the problem arose because we overlooked the fact that the theme was flirting.

Flirting.

The push and pull between men and women.

It seemed strange that four men with unique personalities appeared with one woman in such a relationship.

The woman seemed to seduce four men at the same time.

And the other four men seemed to be caught in the fisherman’s net and flirted with the woman.

So we had to divide it again.

One man and one woman.

The result was the current Something.

From today, I’m going to flirt with you

I’m going to catch you who seem to be caught but not

I’m going to narrow the gap between you and me

I’m going to hold your hand that seems to be caught but not

I’m going to walk the line between love and friendship

As we put the harmony together in the chorus, I smiled.

***

The tension was relieved as the debut performance ended.

I was so nervous that I almost bumped into the boy group waiting to go up as I came down to the back stage with my guitar.

It was lucky that Jung-hyun caught me from behind, or I would have caused an accident.

It wasn’t just me who was relieved, but the other members as well. 

Especially Ri-hyuk, who had a soulless expression on his face.

“Good job, kids!”

Jang So-won, who returned to the waiting room, hugged each of us.

But she was also exhausted, so she sat down on the sofa and gulped down water.

Her face was slightly flushed.

She had received the spotlight and the heat of the scene, so her face was red.

It was the same for Ri-hyuk.

“Good job, Ri-hyuk.”

“What do you mean, good job?”

“You did a good job. I was worried because you were so nervous since morning, but you were flying on stage. You nailed your debut stage.”

“When did I get nervous? Oh, what? Why are you all laughing?”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Especially the youngest, who had a smirk on his face.

Who was the one who sat in the bathroom for 20 minutes saying his stomach hurt since morning?

He tried to act as bold as possible with his words, but his eyes were so white and his face was red, it was kind of cute.

He looked like a fierce baby who put on his mother’s makeup wrong.

So-won senior intervened with a smile.

“That’s right, Ri-hyuk did the best.”

He completely fell for her praise attack, and while I watched him, something light was placed on my shoulder.

“Hyung, I’m sleepy.”

“Ji-ho, you can’t sleep now. Your face will swell.”

“Just five minutes.”

“No, you can’t.”

I shrugged my shoulder, but he didn’t budge and tried to sleep.

He was a hero who could sleep with a helmet on his head while bullets flew by in the battlefield.

“But your head is really light.”

“Is that an insult or a compliment?”

“It’s a compliment. You’re lighter than most girls, you know?”

“Hmm? How do you know the weight of girls’ heads, hyung?”

At his careless remark, the eyes of the other guys turned like hyenas.

They exchanged glances that tried to gang up on me in 0.1 seconds.

“You played a lot when you were young. You played a lot.”

“Tell me honestly. How many people have passed through that shoulder of yours?”

“Now that I think about it, Something was your story.”

“Really? Did you write the lyrics about yourself, leader?”

I shook my head at Jang So-won, who was curious about the snacks.

They’re real.

I smiled bitterly and picked up one of the snacks on the table.

“Wow, this is delicious.”

“Look at him, he’s changing the subject.”

“It’s true. You guys should try it too.”

By the way, this is really good.

What should I call it, a fluffy bread? 

I handed out some of the unusual snacks to my siblings.

They all had similar reactions.

“What kind of snack is this, senior?”

“Ah. That.”

Jang So-won said.

“It’s a dessert called soufflé.”

“Soufflé.”

I memorized the name, thinking I should buy it later.

I had no idea what this would lead to.

***

The time to decide the first place candidate.

As the ending approached, Jang So-won and our members went up on stage.

Next to us was TNT.

Some of them looked surprised when they saw me as they climbed up the stage. Maybe Han Taehyun told them something.

We greeted them with our eyes and stood in front of the camera.

The front row.

Everyone around us was a senior, so we naturally shrank a little.

“This week’s Music On first place candidates are TNT’s Blink and Jang So-won and New Black’s Something.”

The atmosphere was tense.

Especially because of the huge number of TNT fandoms occupying the front seats. Most of the placards they saw were TNT fandom’s placards.

“Digital music score, preference score, broadcast score, album score. Then who is the winner?”

If we were watching TV, a comparison window would pop up on the screen and various scores would come up, but nothing was visible to us right now.

We were just waiting for the MC’s voice.

“Yes, Jang So-won X New Black’s Something! Congratulations!”

The moment I heard the word Something, I felt like time had stopped.

My heart was pounding so loud that it echoed in my ears.

Glittering papers fell from the sky.

Maybe it was because of how I felt right now.

It felt like I was seeing stars falling from heaven.

I looked at the members next to me as I watched the glittering powder.

Bi-ju covered her mouth with her eyes wide open, Jung-hyun choked on the glittering powder, and Ri-hyuk bowed his head, looking like he was holding back tears.

The youngest was giggling, happy about something.

MC Jeon Yubin handed the trophy to Jang So-won.

The audience and the fellow singers on the side clapped on the stage.

The fans of the singers sitting in the red seats shook their cheering sticks along with the flowing Something.

In the situation where it seemed like time had stopped, Jang So-won grabbed the microphone.

She started to say her acceptance speech with tears in her eyes, but I couldn’t hear a word she was saying.

I was just blank.

I couldn’t believe it was real.

When I came to my senses, the microphone was in my hand in an instant.

It was a situation where I had to say the acceptance speech on behalf of New Black.

My grandmother who would be watching TV at the white rice restaurant, Yoon Seok-hwan and the people from the agency who would be watching from the waiting room, the singers and the audience on the scene, and our members.

The faces of the people passed by in a flash.

It was the thoughts that passed by in 0.1 seconds of blankness.

I grabbed the microphone and smiled and started the prepared speech.

“Thank you so much. It feels like a miracle has happened since before I debuted.”

That was the truth.

It was a touching moment.

Just last November, I was a normal 20-something preparing for the college entrance exam.

But now, four months later.

I was standing on the first place scene at the music broadcast of the oldest terrestrial broadcasting station in Korea.

The highest place on the stage I once dreamed of.

A place where I had to be humble.

I finished my speech by naming the people from the agency and the people I was grateful to.

“Please love Something a lot and we, Soufflé, will work hard to repay the love we receive now.”

But laughter erupted from everywhere.

Why are they laughing?

Jang So-won whispered in my ear.

“Leader, you just said soufflé.”

Do you know that feeling?

The feeling of every hair on your body standing up.

In front of my fellow singers and the audience, who were having a blast, I tried to grab the mic again to fix my mistake.

“Our tablet…”

Ah!

“Please love New Black a lot~!”

So-won sunbae took the mic from me and spoke on my behalf.

I clearly made a slip of the tongue, but I received friendly looks from everywhere.

They must have found it cute because I’m a rookie.

The TNT members standing next to me were chuckling, as well as the other groups. The audience was also in a similar mood.

I’m doomed.

This will be immortalized and haunt me forever.

I felt like I had overdosed on shame.

**

-Our tablet uh…

“What a jerk.”

At the rice restaurant, Mrs. Kim Deok-soon sighed as she peeled an onion.

“They always get sick when they’re doing well.”

“Why are you like that? If it were me, I would be dancing with joy if my grandson appeared on TV and won a trophy.”

“Don’t talk if you don’t know. Do you know how much he hurt me?”

“How did he hurt you?”

The kitchen lady who was peeling onions with her asked.

“He doesn’t look like someone who would hurt you. And so what if he did? Sister, these days, being handsome is everything. The first thing is the face, and the second thing is the face.”

“Is it all about the face?”

“If you look like that, even if you do something bad, you’ll be less hated. Look at our grandson. He’s so pretty. But when I went to visit him last time, do you know what he said? He said, stop coming, grandma. He said his mom is having a hard time. I almost cursed him out, but I held it in.”

“I see.”

He did inherit his good looks from his dad and mom.

“He does look less sickly when he does something sickly.”

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon looked at her grandson who appeared on the ending of Music On with subtitles scrolling by.

He really made a fool of himself.

He was already worth his face, but he looked even more handsome on the screen.

She felt a pang in her chest as she saw his red eyes from crying.

“The onion is so spicy.”

“Sister, why are you wearing glasses while peeling? What’s so spicy?”

“It’s spicy if it’s spicy! Why are you nagging me?”

“Oy, you’re so temperamental…”

Then, the door of the rice restaurant opened with a jingle.

A man wearing a motorcycle helmet came in with a huge wreath.

“Is Mrs. Kim Deok-soon here?”

“That’s me.”

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon took off her glasses and approached him.

“What is it?”

“Can you please sign here?”

“Huh?”

“I’m delivering flowers. The sender’s name is Seon Woojoo.”

“Oh, that’s my grandson.”

“Your grandson asked me to deliver it right at this time. You just need to sign here.”

The delivery man left the rice restaurant as soon as he got the signature.

“Sister, what’s that?”

“Ah, you don’t need to know!”

The kitchen lady who came over as soon as she saw the huge wreath that looked like an opening wreath exclaimed.

“What is it? Did your grandson send it?”

“Ah, I don’t know.”

On the left side of the wreath, there was a message saying [The prettiest Kim Deok-soon in the world, thank you and I love you.] and on the right side, there was another message saying [Who I am is a secret].

At first, she was dumbfounded, but she didn’t feel bad.

“Oh my.”

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon smiled sheepishly.

“He’s being sickly.”