In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 285

『 Ask Us Anything! – Black List Teaser 』

A black screen.

The intro of Junghyun’s mixtape, which was included in the album, played.

Along with the low voice saying ‘It’s The New Black’, the performance videos of New Black appeared.

The refreshing Fireworks, sung in a light shirt.

The dazzling Masquerade stage, dancing in a red suit at the Mango Chart Awards.

The idols in glamorous makeup performing looked like people from a different world.

The members’ voices were narrated.

[Don’t be scared.]

[We’re nothing special.]

With a loud crash and the sound of glass breaking, the New Black members in the narration start laughing.

Woojoo chuckled and snapped.

[Hey! Who was that just now? Wang Jiho?]

[That’s right. No, are you stupid? How does ‘We won’t hurt you’ become ‘We’re nothing special’?]

[I was too immersed in the role.]

The screen froze on Bijoo, who was powerfully shrugging his shoulders, and a noisy uproar was heard.

The youngest’s annoyed voice.

[Ah. People who don’t even know the meaning of acting… Do you think I can make a better line with ad-lib?]

[Manager! We’ll stop and do it again!]

[Jiho. Why is our image so low? We’re elegant. And graceful. And cool.]

[Isn’t that redundant?]

[Rihyuk. That’s why you have no friends but us.]

[Hahaha! Look at Rihyuk Hyung’s face turning red because he likes being called a friend.]

The Soufflés smile warmly, thinking ‘As expected of our kids… They can’t be serious for a second.’

[Alright, let’s do it one more time!]

[Manager. You’ll edit this, right?]

As if to answer him, the voices of the members re-shooting the lines faintly disappeared.

Instead, Woojoo’s line from before fills the audio.

[Elegant.]

On the top right corner, TBC was blurred out, and Junghyun rolling on the dirt road with a black goat.

[Graceful.]

Woojoo, who drank a non-alcoholic cocktail and fainted, thinking he was drunk.

[Cool.]

Bijoo and Rihyuk, whose faces are covered with exploded kimchi soup from opening the kimchi pot.

And the youngest, who became Yeon Sangun and forced Bijoo and Woojoo, who were palace ladies, to do a dance break.

Lastly, loyal Rihyuk, who was dragged away by Junghyun while posting a rumor.

The opposite of the cool stage.

Scenes that felt more friendly than anyone else.

After the scenes ended, a text appeared on the black screen.

「With a comfortable mind, ask us anything…」

Along with the text in a somewhat detached font, the address of the site to post questions also appeared.

The video, which came out before the launch of the Y app, became a small topic in the idol community.

–ㅋㅋㅋㅋwhat is this

-What kind of drugs did they takeㅋㅋㅋ

-Lemon staff need a doping test

-If you’re curious, go thereㅋ

-But it seems fun…? ㅋㅋcan I also write a question

-Coals, can I also write a question as a casual fan (shy)

-Yeah, they said anyone can write a question related to the kids when they’re promoting!

-Wait. I’m rolling up my sleeves right now

That was the reason why not only the Soufflés, but also other people who liked them, participated in New Black’s first Y app content.

“How many, how many?”

“About 80,000.”

They looked at each other with stunned faces at Assistant Manager Hong’s answer.

Rihyuk calculated in his head and gave the answer.

“It’s 16,000 per person. An hour is 3,600 seconds. If we look at one per second, it’ll take about five hours.”

“…”

Woojoo laughed dryly at the absurd number.

It felt like the worry of what if the questions were low was meaningless when they filmed the teaser.

“We were more popular idols than we thought.”

“Maybe it’s because we’re so mysterious that the questions exploded. Who are those suspicious guys?”

“There’s a point. Junghyun.”

As they nodded in agreement, Jiho said, “I asked my dad to help me out in case there were no questions. If you see a nickname ‘Jiho’s Dad’, that’s him.”

“Really?”

Assistant Manager Hong searched for ‘Jiho’s Dad’ on the list using Ctrl+F and found zero questions.

They burst into laughter while the youngest one blocked his father’s contact with a snort.

When the laughter died down, Woojoo scratched his chin and said, “But what do we do with this…”

“I know, right.”

They came down to check the questions one by one after the deadline was over, but there were 80,000 of them. It was too much to handle with their busy schedule, no matter how much time they squeezed.

That was when Bijoo said, “Oh! Come to think of it, there might be some nasty comments in there. If we filter those out…”

“Ah, that’s true.”

There would be quite a few hate comments about them, like the ones accusing them of album manipulation. If they got rid of those too…

Assistant Manager Hong smiled and said, “I already did that.”

“…”

“I filtered out about 10,000 comments that were reported by your fans or that matched the keywords we set.”

They clapped and marveled among themselves.

Even the hate comments were at this level.

Assistant Manager Hong said with a smile, “There are also a lot of comments from other fans or non-fans besides yours. It seems like the promotion was successful. Y app even called us to show their interest.”

“Wow…”

“This is too much for you guys to review by yourselves, so we’ll take a look at it.”

Come to think of it, the PR Team’s office was quiet.

It was usually a busy place with phone calls, outings, and computer typing sounds.

Everyone was sitting in one place, marking the A4 paper list with highlighters.

“So what are you guys looking at now…”

“Yeah.”

“…”

The PR Team members lifted their heads and gave them a bitter smile.

“We’ve been looking at your questions all morning…”

“Bijoo, do you know that a kiss in French is bisou? Your fan wants to see you introduce your name to a French person.”

“Junghyun, how many burgers can you eat at most? I saw this 300 times.”

“Rihyuk, do you remember the foundation maker you used when you were an MC last time? There were a lot of questions about how good the coverage was.”

“Woojoo, what would you choose between 100 million and 10 billion while you’re in the military? They want you to choose carefully.”

“Jiho, I want to see your night time.”

They chuckled at the precious list of questions until they got to the last one and answered sternly that they couldn’t do that.

Only Jiho was sparkling and saying, “Why! It’s fun!”

“Right now, all the staff are working on your Y app and YouTube content.”

They said ‘oh’ at the word ‘all’ and noticed some empty seats.

They asked, “Where are Manager Bae and Assistant Ha?”

“They went to shoot with Scarlet.”

That was right, there was their senior girl group in the Y app this time.

“What are they shooting?”

“Mukbang.”

“…”

“They’re eating beef. 1.2 million won worth of special parts…”

They heard the laughter of Scarlet members clapping and squealing as they piled up a mountain of raw meat.

They loved meat.

Woojoo automatically imagined them wiping their tears and saying, ‘Unnie, I’m so happy’, ‘The world is full of meat!’

He felt a bit jealous.

“We should have done a mukbang too…”

“But do you think you can beat them in eating? Scarlet Noonas eat all day long.”

Woojoo thought about it and realized he had no confidence.

Then Woojoo handed out coffee to the PR Team members who were hitting the highlighters with a sour face.

The PR Team members thanked them and smiled as they took the coffee and cake slices and continued their work.

“Well, at least this is manageable.”

Someone laughed.

“It’s not like we have to deal with a bad situation or a big problem. You guys don’t have anything major to worry about for a while, right?”

“Yeah. Right. Our album and concert are not until the end of next month…”

They smiled along with the PR Team members who seemed relieved that they didn’t have much to do right now.

But none of them knew that they had forgotten something.

If Woojoo had to put a percentage on the progress of the album, it would be about 80 percent done.

After finishing the mixing and mastering of the title song, which was the result of countless composers’ tears and the souls of Woojoo and his brothers.

The album design concept was also out, and practically everything was ready for the physical album to be released.

It was a much faster pace than the previous album.

It was partly because of the tight schedule, but also because the President invested a huge amount of money in this album.

Now they were not behind any of the big agency idols.

They had enough money to install a swing in the air and bring an elephant to the comeback stage.

Most of that money went into hiring people.

They asked the best designer in the industry to do the album design, and Clay introduced them to a famous choreographer from South America for the dance. The result was amazing.

At this point, Woojoo started to think that they couldn’t fail even if they wanted to.

He didn’t know if they would hit the jackpot, but he had a feeling that they wouldn’t flop at least.

Of course, someone was flopping.

“This was supposed to be an easy choreography. An easy choreography!”

“Calm down. Pirarucu.”

“Do I look calm to you? Is this easy? Bijoo Hyung! You said we would go easy this time!”

“Hmm? Isn’t it easy?”

“Easy? Come here! I’m going to kill you today!”

It was Rihyuk who was suffering from the unprecedented choreography.

While they showed him his favorite idol with a ten thousand won bill to calm him down, Bijoo checked the choreography with a sincere look of confusion.

He twisted his body like a pretzel and asked softly, ‘Is it hard?’ Rihyuk flew around like a fly.

“But this is hard, Bijoo Hyung.”

“Really?”

“It’s harder than Masquerade. By 1.5 times.”

“Is it?”

Their main dancer looked like he didn’t understand.

“Woojoo Hyung is doing well, right?”

“Well, Bijoo. I’m doing well, but…”

He was exhausted.

This choreography was very fast and had a lot of footwork, so he felt drained after doing it once.

The sweat literally dripped on the floor.

He didn’t mind if it was always strong-strong-strong, but the choreography had changes in intensity according to the tempo, so it was harder to control the strength.

And on top of that, they started dieting again recently.

“Ugh…”

He collapsed and got up again and repeated the practice.

Then, every time they had a break, Woojoo admired Bijoo who checked his moves in front of the mirror.

“He’s improved more, right?”

“Exactly. He’s crazy about dancing…”

“What did he do during his personal practice? That Hyung.”

Each of them practiced their own specialties during their personal practice, and he seemed to have leveled up even more by practicing dancing like crazy.

The President who came to watch their performance practice couldn’t take his eyes off Bijoo.

As Woojoo watched him, he thought he wasn’t dancing, but just moving his body naturally.

He was in a state where he moved his body naturally to the music.

“Let’s work hard. Our Rihyuk.”

“…Wait for the vocal practice. I won’t let you go.”

Woojoo smirked at his bluff, but he really got scolded during the vocal practice.

“Who told you to make that sound? You’ll hurt your throat if you sing the low notes like that.”

“…”

“You have to answer.”

“I’m sorry…”

Woojoo practiced hard for the vocals, but the cut line was heavenly.

While he was working on the songs, everyone else’s skills had improved.

It felt like they climbed up step by step with each album.

At first, he didn’t notice the change, but as he prepared for the fourth album, he realized how much they had changed.

Junghyun’s rap had improved, and the youngest was becoming a master of facial expressions on stage.

The people who saw them knew the changes, even if they didn’t.

Junghyun shook his head.

“Hyung, you’ve improved too.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you’re like a worm that’s slowly crawling up to Kim Bijoo’s chin.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult?”

While Woojoo was writing songs in his personal time, it was hard to catch up with his younger siblings who had upgraded their skills in their own fields, but thanks to his diligent practice, he managed to rank second in each category.

His siblings were amazed and wondered when he had time to practice. When he told them he had to work harder, they immediately tried to stop him.

“Please, take a break, Hyung.”

“No, why do you keep trying to catch up?”

“It feels like a ghost is stuck to the car window and won’t let go, even when I speed up to 70 km/h.”

Junghyun kept contaminating Woojoo’s mind with his weird metaphors.

The other siblings also gave similar testimonies.

They said they wanted to rest comfortably, but they were scared to run away because Woojoo kept chasing them. He couldn’t help but laugh.

“What a joke.”

“…”

“Right…?”

They all nodded.

“Please, just rest.”

“The fans always call us the hexagon idols. Just be satisfied with that hexagon and rest.”

“…You mean hexagon, right?”

They warmly comforted each other to rest, saying ‘you first’, ‘no, you first’.

After a long time of bickering, they finally agreed to work hard together.

Then they poked the choreographer, Juye Hyung, who was lying in the corner of the practice room.

“Get up. Juye Hyung.”

“Hyung, you have to get up.”

“…”

He looked at them with a terrified face, and they gave him a bright smile.

“You have to watch us practice.”

While they were preparing for various projects in a hectic manner, the broadcast of ‘Men on a Mission’ also approached.

-‘Men on a Mission’ first outdoor special… “Police Special Forces Team” attracts netizens’ attention

-‘Police Special Forces Team’ teaser sparks interest ‘Will it make up for the low ratings?’

-From bomb terror training to police dogs, PD Men Go says “Look forward to it”

The teaser that came out for about a minute at the end of the most recent army special seemed to have drawn attention.

With the majestic BGM, bombs exploded, Special Forces in uniforms entered, and scenes of them rappelling down were irresistible.

The reaction was good, as the scenes from the army or navy specials were getting stale.

-Wow, Police Special Forces Teamㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ interesting

-I think I’ll watch it next week

-Lately, the army has been boring with the same stuff, I hope this time it’s different.

-They finally do something fun when the ratings dropㅋ

-Still not boring…? I didn’t watch the teaser, but it seems obvious.

-The guest is New Black

-Oh, then it’s different

-It’s different, I agreeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Watch the change of attitude

-New Black is not an idol. They are something else.

-I’m looking forward to it, my laughter bell

Woojoo was monitoring the comments from the articles that the PR Team had sent him, and he wondered how their image had been formed.

Meanwhile, on the internet, there was a buzz about the new special of Men Go.

They met with the ‘Men on a Mission’ Production Team in person.

“Hello!”

“Here you are. Our ratings boosters.”

“We haven’t even aired yet, we’re feeling pressured, PD-nim.”

Junghyun and Woojoo smiled at PD Do Joongi, who was shining his eyes at them.

PD-nim smiled as if to say, ‘What’s the matter?’

Then he glanced at Bijoo, Jihoo, and Rihyuk, as if to check their value.

Yes, PD-nim. They too…

“…?”

He shook his head.

He gave Woojoo a look that said they seemed unsuitable for the military variety show, then nodded at Junghyun and Woojoo again.

Woojoo decided.

After today’s recording, he was going to block that person’s contact.

“Haha, well, shall we start the recording? Who’s going to clap the slate? Junghyun?”

“Yes. I’ll do it.”

Junghyun clapped his hands in front of the camera, and the recording began.

People looked at them in the quiet hospital lobby.

The purpose of today was to find out about Junghyun’s strength, which the Police Special Forces Team had seen and told him to ‘get a checkup’.

Originally, Hanjo was supposed to come with them, but he couldn’t because of the Street Boys’ busy schedule.

While the camera was rolling, they made jokes and filled the airtime.

“How do you feel, Junghyun?”

“I’m nervous.”

“What are you nervous about?”

“I have to show my body to the whole nation…”

“Junghyun!”

They scolded him for using such a misleading expression, but the PD was laughing behind them.

“Um, I’ll be back then.”

They couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of their kid disappearing in a backward step, wearing a gown with a grim face.

Then they waited with the managers while Junghyun underwent the test.

In the meantime, they took pictures with or answered some people who recognized them.

An old man wearing a hardtack hat greeted Woojoo warmly.

“No Black! Juni!”

“Hello, I’m No Black.”

“Oh, nice to meet you. You’re Seon Woojoo. I’m also Seonwoo. Haha.” He glanced at the camera and asked curiously, “But what are you doing here?”

“We came here for our kid’s test.”

The old man’s pupils shook and he flicked his eyes at the camera.

“Oh, you have a child…”

“No, not that child, but a big one.”

“A big one…”

“No, bigger than that…”

Woojoo and his siblings gestured like a giant baby to show how big he was.

The old man nodded his head and said, ‘He’s very big…’

The more they talked, the more they seemed to sink into a swamp. The production staff burst into laughter.

Only after they showed him Junghyun’s photo did he accept it and say, ‘Oh, the bear cub young man.’

Their managers smirked and held their stomachs.

“Phew…”

Just when they could catch their breath, they heard that Junghyun’s test was over.

They waited for a while with Junghyun, who changed back into his casual clothes, and then entered the room to hear the test results.

“Hello!”

“Yes, hello.”

The doctor was clicking the mouse while looking at the monitor, and they sat nervously on two swivel chairs.

Gulp.

They swallowed their saliva and waited for the test results to come out.

“You said your job is an idol singer, right?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

He made a serious expression, and they also followed suit with a serious expression, waiting for what he would say next.

The doctor said cautiously, “I’m sorry to say this, but I think you chose the wrong job…”