In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 25

As the stage lit up, the set appeared.

Two benches.

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

On the left, Kim Bijoo and Kim Junghyun.

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

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

At the same time, the TV caption popped up.

[Jang Sowon 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 changed.

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

Jang Sowon and Seo Rihyuk.

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

The first verse was skillfully delivered by Jang Sowon, who approached Seo Rihyuk’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 it wasn’t annoying.

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

As Jang Sowon lowered her microphone slightly, the part switched to Seo Rihyuk.

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 Sowon and Seo Rihyuk 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 Sowon 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 Sowon and Seo Rihyuk’s live performance was saving the show.

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

The first part distribution.

When they recorded the song by dividing the parts equally according to 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 Sowon had no choice but to rearrange the parts after listening to the final version.

Jang Sowon’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 they 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 they 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 they put the harmony together in the chorus, Seon Woojoo smiled.

***

The tension was relieved as the debut performance ended.

Seon Woojoo was so nervous that he almost bumped into the boy group waiting to go up as he came down to the backstage with his guitar.

It was lucky that Kim Junghyun caught him from behind, or he would have caused an accident.

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

Especially Seo Rihyuk, who had a soulless expression on his face.

“Good job, kids!”

Jang Sowon, who returned to the waiting room, hugged each of them.

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 Seo Rihyuk.

“Good job, Seo Rihyuk.”

“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.

Sowon Sunbae intervened with a smile.

“That’s right, Rihyuk did the best.”

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

“Hyung, I’m sleepy.”

“Jiho, you can’t sleep now. Your face will swell.”

“Just five minutes.”

“No, you can’t.”

Seon Woojoo shrugged his 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 Seon Woojoo 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?”

Seon Woojoo shook his head at Jang Sowon, who was curious about the snacks.

They’re real.

Seon Woojoo 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 was really good.

What should he call it, a fluffy bread?

Seon Woojoo handed out some of the unusual snacks to his siblings.

They all had similar reactions.

“What kind of snack is this, Sunbae?”

“Ah. That.”

Jang Sowon said.

“It’s a dessert called soufflé.”

“Soufflé.”

Seon Woojoo memorized the name, thinking he should buy it later.

He had no idea what this would lead to.

***

The time to decide the first-place candidate.

As the ending approached, Jang Sowon and their members went up on stage.

Next to them was TNT.

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

They greeted TNT with their eyes and stood in front of the camera.

The front row.

Everyone around them was a senior, so they naturally shrank a little.

“This week’s Music On first place candidates are TNT’s Blink and Jang Sowon 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 they were watching TV, a comparison window would pop up on the screen and various scores would come up, but nothing was visible to them right now.

They were just waiting for the MC’s voice.

“Yes, Jang Sowon X New Black’s Something! Congratulations!”

The moment Seon Woojoo heard the word Something, he felt like time had stopped.

His heart was pounding so loud that it echoed in his ears.

Glittering papers fell from the sky.

Maybe it was because of how he felt right now.

It felt like he was seeing stars falling from heaven.

Seon Woojoo looked at the members next to him as he watched the glittering powder.

Kim Bijoo covered his mouth with his eyes wide open, Kim Junghyun choked on the glittering powder, and Seo Rihyuk 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 Sowon.

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 Sowon grabbed the microphone.

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

He was just blank.

He couldn’t believe it was real.

When he came to his senses, the microphone was in his hand in an instant.

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

His grandmother who would be watching TV at the white rice restaurant, Yoon Seokhwan and the people from the agency who would be watching from the waiting room, the singers and the audience on the scene, and their members.

The faces of the people passed by in a flash.

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

Seon Woojoo 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, he was a normal 20-something preparing for the college entrance exam.

But now, four months later.

He 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 he once dreamed of.

A place where he had to be humble.

Seon Woojoo finished his speech by naming the people from the agency and the people he was grateful to.

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

But laughter erupted from everywhere.

Why were they laughing?

Jang Sowon whispered in Seon Woojoo ear, “Leader, you just said soufflé.”

Did you know that feeling?

The feeling of every hair on your body standing up.

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

“Our tablet…”

Ah!

“Please love New Black a lot~!”

Sowon Sunbae took the mic from him and spoke on his behalf.

Seon Woojoo clearly made a slip of the tongue, but he received friendly looks from everywhere.

They must have found it cute because he was a rookie.

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

He was doomed.

This would be immortalized and haunt him forever.

He felt like he had overdosed on shame.

**

-Our tablet uh…

“What a jerk.”

At the rice restaurant, Mrs. Kim Deoksoon sighed as she peeled an onion.

“He always gets sick when he’s 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? Unnie, 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 Deoksoon 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.”

“Unnie, you’re 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 Deoksoon here?”

“That’s me.”

Mrs. Kim Deoksoon 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.

“Unnie, 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 Deoksoon 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 Deoksoon smiled sheepishly.

“He’s being sickly.”