In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 291

It was amazing.

As soon as they heard the song, Jiho exclaimed.

“Wow…”

Rihyuk covered Jiho’s mouth before he could say anything. The youngest member expressed his feelings with his eyes.

‘It’s awesome, right?’

The song had such a splendid atmosphere that Woojoo could picture images in his head as he listened.

It felt like he was riding a boat on a lake where the Milky Way was reflected, and under the water, fantastical fish were swimming by and creating waves of light.

Every time the sound reached his ears, colorful splashes of water rose.

‘It’s good.’

‘It’s good, Hyung.’

They looked at each other with admiring expressions.

It was a masterpiece that surpassed the original numbers from the source material. It deserved to be the main title.

Soon, curiosity gave way to anticipation.

It would be a hit.

Woojoo had a feeling that it would be a hundred percent success.

His heart was pounding.

One of the strings snapped and he quickly grabbed it, but it felt like Jiho was holding a gold bar at the end and saying ‘Hurry up!’

When the male vocalist hit the high notes in the chorus, they cheered and enjoyed it.

But there was one person who was getting more and more nervous as the song played.

“…”

It was Rihyuk, who was turning pale in real time.

He couldn’t muster the courage to sing the song that was playing right now, ‘Falling Stars’.

“…”

They patted his back as he brushed his hair once every second.

When the song ended, the distribution company staff asked them, “How is it?”

They smiled brightly.

“It’s awesome. I got goosebumps listening to it.”

“I was worried at first because it was an original number that wasn’t in the source material, but this is good enough to be the main title.”

“I can see why the director chose Rihyuk. He fits the age and the tone.”

The staff agreed with their last comment.

The distribution company’s planning PD smiled and said, “We were surprised too. The director specifically mentioned Rihyuk, so we were curious, but as soon as we heard it, we thought ‘Ah, the Korean version has to be sung by Rihyuk.’”

“That’s right. His tone is really similar to Rihyuk’s. He sounds like the American Rihyuk.”

People laughed at Junghyun’s American Rihyuk joke.

Rihyuk smiled awkwardly at the compliments, but he asked with a worried expression, “Who sang the original song?”

“The main actor, Rupert Dean, recorded it himself in the studio.”

“Rupert Dean?”

Rupert Dean was a rising star in Hollywood in his twenties.

Woojoo knew his face well enough.

But his singing skills were too professional for an actor, so they wondered, and the planning PD told them, “His mother’s side is a famous opera family in Italy. The actor himself started his career from minor roles in Broadway since he was six.”

That explained why the song had some techniques and details that were quite professional.

They nodded as their questions were answered, and the distribution company started to talk about the work.

“The cover video will be overseen by us, but the final confirmation will be done by the US side.”

“Is there any talk about releasing the Korean version of the song?”

They perked up their ears at Seokhwan Hyung’s question. They nodded slightly.

“Yes, we had a consensus on that. The revenue distribution will be tight, but there won’t be any problem with the song release.”

“That’s good.”

They had one more reason to do well on this job.

If they made a good cover video and created demand for the Korean version, it would benefit them too.

Their manager chatted with the distribution company staff in a friendly atmosphere, discussing the procedures and the profits.

They were light-hearted conversations, but they were full of money.

They laughed and said things like ‘How much?’, ‘You go first’, ‘No, you first’, like a tug-of-war.

“The mood is good.”

Woojoo smiled at Junghyun, who was smiling happily.

While their manager was getting good conditions from the distribution company staff, they had a casual meeting at a corner of the table.

They were looking for things to improve among the questions they had prepared before coming.

“Then we’ll prepare accordingly. Manager.”

“Thank you.”

“I heard you’re in charge of the singers. You seem to know a lot about this industry.”

“I’ve heard a few things from the people who handle the actors at our company.”

The planning PD gave a calm answer to Seokhwan Hyung, who threw him a curious glance.

“Can we ask you a few things too?”

“Sure.”

Woojoo talked about what they needed.

Woojoo asked for a detailed description of the scene and the length of the section where the song would go, in order to write a simple song.

They also discussed the arrangement of ‘Falling Stars’, the cover video they were going to shoot.

“You can arrange it?”

“Yes. The production company said we can arrange it as long as we stay within a certain limit. As long as we don’t change the song completely.”

“Oh, that’s great.”

Woojoo nodded with a smile at his words.

He had assumed they wouldn’t allow any arrangement, but he was glad he could change it to a tailor-made song for Rihyuk.

The planning PD said, “By the way, I heard that most of the songs like Windflower and New Black were written by you, Woojoo. I saw you arranging them on Legendary Song Discovery.”

His kids nodded proudly.

“That’s right. Woojoo Hyung wrote them all.”

“We’re planning to tag along this time too.”

Woojoo made up his mind again.

He was going to make these guys work hard no matter what.

The planning team staff laughed and said, “It’s a short phrase, but I’m looking forward to it. I wonder what it will be like.”

“I’m looking forward to it too. I really like Windflower. I listen to it on my way to work.”

“I also liked Path, the one you arranged and sang on Legendary Song Discovery.”

Woojoo felt good listening to the people talking about their songs.

It felt real that their songs had received a popular response.

People who worked in an industry far from the music industry knew New Black’s songs.

“By the way, how much time do you need for the work? Two weeks?”

“I think a week will do.”

“…?”

“I already have the main melody.”

“Already?”

“Yes. I think it goes well with the main title, Falling Stars.”

Woojoo’s siblings looked at him with a surprised expression, then smiled as if they understood.

Woojoo awkwardly smiled at the staff who admired him, saying ‘You made it before you came’.

He didn’t prepare it beforehand.

It was a melody that came to his mind when he listened to Falling Stars, but he didn’t bother to correct it.

The staff showed curiosity.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Yes, I think you’ll like it.”

Woojoo answered with a smile.

It was a melody that he liked too.

It suited the scene they wanted, a lively feeling of sparkling fairies bouncing around.

As soon as Woojoo went back to the company, he made the song.

He was planning to make only one or two phrases as planned, but ideas sprouted one by one like leaves from a branch.

So.

“You wrote a whole song?”

“Yeah.”

His siblings looked stunned.

“Which part should I cut and send? Can you tell me after listening to it?”

“Um…”

They tilted their heads as they listened to the song.

Bijoo answered Woojoo with a puzzled look.

“They’re all good, I don’t know which part to cut.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I feel like this part would suit, but then I feel like that part would suit better.”

The other siblings had similar reactions.

“Um… it’s like a pizza cut into eight pieces. I think any piece would be delicious. Oh, I want pizza.”

“I’ll buy you pizza jelly.”

On the other hand, everyone agreed with Junghyun’s analogy.

The A&R Team, as well as Director Kang, stroked their chins and frowned.

-It’s not easy to cut anything out from here.

“Is that so?”

-Why don’t you just finish it as it is and send it to see what they think? I think that would be better. When I’m in a tricky situation as a sound engineer, I just leave it to the production company’s judgment.

So they decided to finish it first and then decide.

Since it was a matter of security, the A&R Team joined them instead of the external composers for the final work.

“I need you to do some arrangement for this part.”

“Which part?”

“From here to here.”

“…Oh, from the beginning to the end. Woojoo.”

They were the staff who put their hands on Woojoo’s shoulder and trembled their lips.

“I’ll buy you meat when the work is done.”

“Beef? Pork?”

“Of course, hanwoo.”

Woojoo lured them with meat and entrusted them with the work.

“But why are you working with ‘Men Go’ Part 1 on?”

“It’s healing to watch this. It warms my heart when I listen to it like a rainy ASMR.”

“…”

“Wow, this is great.”

They were the A&R Team composers who liked to see Woojoo ‘hurk!’ and roll down from the rappel or roll on the floor.

Well. It was good that they were happy…

While the staff were making the songs in a snap, they focused on their main job.

OST was important, but it was clearly a low-priority project.

It wasn’t like it would suddenly become a miracle and ‘Wow! Hollywood and Billboard entry! Bang!’ if they got a good response.

It would be different if they had planned to enter the US market seriously.

For them, who had not yet reached the top in Korea, it was not the most urgent project.

It was just a matter of doing well or not.

The important thing was their main job, so they left the latter part of the OST work to the staff and devoted themselves to preparing for the upcoming concert and album.

“Huh… Huh…”

“Oof, I’m dying.”

“Why is the human body so tough? I want to collapse, but why can’t I…”

The hellish choreography practice under the guidance of their main dancer continued.

No one could refute Rihyuk’s cry of why all the choreographies were like this.

There were points to watch out for in each choreography.

“This one, be careful with your waist. This one, your knees, this one, your neck…”

“What about you, Bijoo?”

“Um… whole body?”

“…”

The choreographies of the main title songs that would be the center of the concert were all tough.

“We have to do all this in a day…”

Plus, memorizing the lyrics of the album tracks that were on the set list.

It was literally a mountain of difficulties.

Woojoo couldn’t even get up from the nightmare, he just groaned.

He felt more and more exhausted as time went by.

“What were we thinking when we did this in the past?”

“I know, right.”

Concert, album, contents to be uploaded on YouTube and Y app, and OST that they accepted with a smile.

“There’s also the Dolympics.”

“…”

Woojoo decided to do it with a relaxed mind while complaining about their past selves with his younger siblings.

“Hehehehe! It’s practice!”

“Hehehe! Dance!”

“We’re not ourselves! So even if I’m tired, it’s not me who’s tired.”

“That’s right! Wow!”

They were them who ran around the company hallway cheerfully whenever they took a break.

The President rubbed his head with a worried expression as he watched them.

They focused on their work again after venting their fatigue and stress.

It was hard, but they could endure it.

It was similar to the feeling of climbing Everest and almost reaching the end.

It seemed like a shining summit was waiting for them if they just pierced through this blizzard that was tormenting them and took a few more steps.

“But when you climb a mountain, you have to come down afterwards.”

“…”

“Isn’t that logically invalid?”

Anyway, that feeling captivated them all, so they were able to do their work smoothly.

They had a lot of worries about the last album, like ‘Oh, what should we do with this album?’ But this time, they had less worries.

They were confident in themselves now.

That was why they were less emotionally shaken.

“Guys! Guys! Look at this.”

“What is it?”

“Teen Spirit is making a comeback with a repackaged album around the same time as us.”

“Ugh…”

They were all shocked by the news that Teen Spirit’s comeback, which was originally expected in early October, had been moved up to the end of August.

In other words–

“Teen Spirit Sunbaes are crazy with their schedule.”

“They’re coming back right after their world tour. How?”

“I saw the comments saying they’re recording for Dolympic the next day after they arrive in Korea.”

It seemed like Woojoo could see a speech bubble saying ‘This is so hard…’ behind Teen Spirit’s bright smiles in the article photo.

Their last concert was in LA. They had to appear on Dolympics without adjusting to the time difference.

Woojoo laughed at the fact that even a boy group of that level couldn’t escape the clutches of Dolympics, while feeling grateful for their situation.

“We’re pretty relaxed compared to them…”

Woojoo thought they weren’t doing too bad.

But strangely enough, it was different from when he felt his heart sink at the news of TNT’s comeback delay last November.

He was calm even when he heard that their comeback overlapped with Teen Spirit’s.

It wasn’t about who would win or lose if they met. Teen Spirit was Teen Spirit and New Black was New Black.

They wouldn’t be buried in any case.

Woojoo was confident in their song, but more than anything, it was possible thanks to the Soufflés who supported them from behind.

-A gif of Woojoo’s nose bleeding because of the special agents in the space station.

-So cute… Why do I like this…

-Lol

-The black history never ends~~

-Papa black

-Let’s walk the black path for life, Woojoo!! (fists x2)

…Sometimes Woojoo felt like they were the enemy within, but it was true that the fans diluted a lot of his anxiety.

It was similar to the feeling of relief when he was in the same team with a good student for the end-of-month evaluation.

And for those teammates of theirs, they brought out what they had prepared so far.

“Hey, hey, who took out the king bong. Put it back.”

“…”

Junhyun sulkily put the king bong in the corner and picked up the snail.

“It’s dalbong. You dummy.”

“Oh. Right.”

Woojoo cleared his throat and looked around at his brothers.

“Are you ready?”

The members nodded.

Today was August 1st.

It was time for their first live broadcast on Y app, which they had been preparing for.

7 p.m.

The rattling subway, the library where people started to leave one by one, the bus window seat with a night view, etc.

The eyes of the Soufflés all over the country sparkled.

[whY-App]

Surprise live start!

A radio show with New Black on your way home~!

They pressed the notification that rang with the vibration.

They felt a bit unfamiliar with the interface, as they had only done live broadcasts on SNS until now.

New Black members appeared on the screen.

‘Wow, it’s a real radio…!’

Lemon Entertainment must have paid attention, as the set where the members were sitting was the same as a radio studio.

Woojoo, who was wearing headphones, spoke into the mic.

His eyes were drawn to his half-neatly combed gray hair, and his pleasant voice flowed into the earphones of the fans scattered around.

[One of the youngest ones overslept and missed the morning practice and made an excuse.]

[I was looking at the night sky last night and it was so beautiful, so I stayed up late watching it.]

He smiled and imitated Bijoo’s lines, and Jiho next to him glared at him.

Woojoo continued.

[What a sentimental story, right? Hearing that, I thought maybe I had been living too rationally and lacked the emotional side. But…]

[Practice comes first.]

[Yes. Practice comes before emotion. Right, Jiho?]

[Yes…]

While the youngest one said ‘yes…’ sulkily, the older ones clapped and laughed.

Woojoo turned on the mic again.

[Of course, this is a fictional story. It’s not what happened this morning. Anyway, it means that working is important.]

Then he paused.

[We’re here with New Black for you who worked hard today. The first song. You did well today.]

When it was time for the song to come out and the Soufflés were listening.

Woojoo moved his hand and tapped the mini keyboard on the table. At the same time, Rihyuk sang.

The Soufflés wrote comments with laughter.

-Handmadeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-You are watching an idol who is doing radio like a cottage industry

-Rihyuk’s song is goodㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-Ohㅋㅋㅋㅋ you’re reading the comments Rihyuk your ears are red

-Ears ears ears ears babe babe babe

-As expected, it’s Threehyuk… He’s amazing at controlling his voice even in difficult situations. That’s why we need a dome practice room for our New Black, I can tell you that

The other members pushed the tablet to Rihyuk, who had temporarily turned off the real-time comments.

After the song ended, the New Black members greeted the camera.

[Two~ Three!]

[Hello! We are New Black! Wow!]

The Soufflés, who unknowingly waved their hands at the screen, lowered their hands and covered them with the surrounding eyes.

[Some of you are embarrassed by waving your hands. It’s okay. Everyone. You’ll forget that soon. I know it well.]

[I agree with that. If someone asks you about embarrassment, look up at Woojoo Hyung, there’s a saying like that.]

The Soufflés laughed.

After that, the live broadcast proceeded in a similar way to the actual radio.

[Woojoo Oppa let’s go on a picnic, we’re renting a radio studio right now. There are manager Hyungs behind the camera. Yes, have a good trip. I can’t go because of work…]

[You’re S, right? Thank you for congratulating us on the radio opening.]

[Ear bright bright, wow. I like your name.]

That was how the radio corner ‘Ask New Black. Recent Talk!’ continued.

As the questions poured in, Bijoo, who was reading the screen, found something.

[Oh! There are a lot of questions about the new song. New song spoiler?]

[Do you know what a spoiler is? Hyung? Spoiler?]

[Spoiler! Right?]

Then he smiled proudly at the camera.

‘I’m this kind of person’ and he was proud of himself. The other members clapped and laughed at Bijoo’s appearance.

Woojoo, who was sitting at the DJ seat, said, [Um… New song spoiler… it’s not supposed to be.]

[How about one second?]

[Oh. One second is good. Then our Bijoo will do a one-second dance spoiler for you.]

Soon, the manager behind the screen seemed to give an ‘OK’ sign.

Then Bijoo came out to do a one-second dance spoiler.

When the members were looking forward to the one-second spoiler with anticipation, Bijoo made a quick move.

[No.]

[Bijoo Hyung! That part…!]

[Hey! Hey! Stop it! That!]

The members’ hips twitched as if it was an important part. Woojoo called Junghyun urgently.

When Bijoo was about to dance.

Junghyun flew with a nimble body. His eyebrows fluttered as fast as the speed. While the Soufflés admired.

Then everyone blinked at the situation that followed.

[…?]

New Black in the screen.

‘…?’

The Soufflé outside the screen opened their eyes wide.

Junghyun lifted Bijoo up to the sky and pushed him out of the camera angle.

‘Oh, he’s gone.’

When everyone looked at him with stunned eyes, a comment from someone popped up on the chat window, which was silent.

It was because of a scene that reminded them of the angle.

-The Lion King…?

Then laughter burst out inside and outside the screen.