In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 59

The studio erupted into laughter because of someone’s face that turned bright red.

With the help of frantic fanning and the water I handed him, Ri-hyuk’s face quickly returned to normal.

Of course, everyone had already laughed enough by then.

“Thanks to Ri-hyuk, we had a good laugh.”

The DJ’s voice made everyone chuckle again.

“Come to think of it, you were like this when you were active as Something, right? Whenever the lighting was a bit strong, your face would disappear and the lighting director would sigh every time. Next time, you should tan your face a bit before you come.”

“Yes. I hear that a lot these days when I go on music shows.”

As I was talking to Jang So-won, Hanjo joined in with a smile.

“Your ears are really red right now.”

“Oh, they are.”

“It’s a phenomenon we jokingly call the ears of truth. Ri-hyuk is actually very shy, even though he doesn’t look like it.”

“I know, I know very well.”

“His ears burn like that whenever he’s embarrassed.”

“No, they don’t.”

Ri-hyuk, who still had a flushed face like a drunk person, shook his head.

“I don’t get embarrassed easily.”

It was a blatant lie.

Anyone could see that.

Not only the people in the booth, but also the production staff who were watching from behind the glass had smiles on their faces.

Especially the writers, who looked like they couldn’t stand how cute our kid was.

I couldn’t understand it at all.

-Lololololol

-Liar

-We saw your face turn red lol

The listeners’ reactions were not bad either.

If Seok-hwan hyung was monitoring, he would probably be laughing out loud.

I felt it during the music cafe, but whether it was intentional or accidental, making people like us was not an easy thing.

The scene where he became an egg ghost was funny, but the twist that Ri-hyuk, who seemed cold, was actually a shy person seemed to appeal to the listeners as a good impression.

Of course, the person in question was still suffering.

“Ri-hyuk is Pirarucu…”

“Yes?”

“The ID that just commented is our group’s youngest, Ji-ho.”

“Oh, really?”

People showed interest at Ri-hyuk’s words.

I wondered if I should stop him, but I decided to leave him alone for now.

“He kept saying he was going to comment with that nickname before we left the dorm. I didn’t think he would actually do it.”

“So this was Ji-ho? That’s amazing.”

“Yes. I plan to have a sincere talk with him when we go back to the dorm.”

“Oh, poor Ji-ho.”

Jang So-won, who smiled like an older sister, changed the topic.

“But the nickname was Pirarucu, right?”

“Uh.”

“Is it a pet name?”

“Uh… well…”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

That’s why I wondered if I should stop him before he said it. Jang So-won sunbae, who had a high sense of talk, wouldn’t miss something like this.

-Pirarucu?

-What is Pirarucu?

-Someone please explain

Hanjo and Kiwon, who were on the opposite side, also seemed to forget about their talk and looked curious.

“Huh? Woo Joo, you look like you know something.”

“Ah, well…”

Don’t say it, really don’t say it, if you say it, we’re done, Ri-hyuk gave me a look.

Hey. Do you think people won’t look it up?

But before I could answer, someone pasted an encyclopedia entry in the comment section.

For the listeners who were only listening, Jang So-won read the comment.

“Pirarucu is the largest freshwater fish in South America. It’s a fish that lives in the Amazon River. I’ve never heard of this name before, why does Ji-ho call Ri-hyuk this nickname?”

“It’s not a nickname.”

Ri-hyuk explained.

“There was a time when I was so exhausted from practice that I collapsed, and Ji-ho looked at my expression and said I looked like that fish…”

“That’s too much. Our Ri-hyuk is so cute.”

“So, please remember this. I don’t look like a pirarucu at all, everyone. I’m not a pirarucu.”

People smile at his desperate denial.

I don’t know what the expressions of the people listening to the radio are right now, but I’m sure they’re good, just like the people here.

It’s amazing.

He was like that in an interview with reporter Oh a while ago, too. 

Considering that he couldn’t even fill his part at the music cafe and I had to feed him, it was a huge improvement.

I suddenly felt grateful to Ji-ho, who created this opportunity.

Well done. Our youngest.

Although he sacrificed Ri-hyuk, he got a meaningful amount of broadcast time.

The flow of the broadcast changed at some point.

The Street Boys, who had a fair share when they were introduced at first, were pushed aside, and Ri-hyuk and I were leading the broadcast with Jang So-won.

I felt thankful to the youngest who gave us this opportunity.

But that gratitude didn’t last even five minutes.

It was when Jang So-won brought up the album while introducing each member and leading the talk.

“New Black’s song is very hot right now, right? I checked again before I came to the station, and Fireworks entered the daily chart at 39th place.”

“Yes. We’re getting too much love.”

“There have been groups that have been noticed from their debut titles, but this is the first time that a member has composed the title song and achieved this much. How do you feel these days?”

“It’s hard to explain in words.”

It was like a dream.

“I feel like I’m floating in the air every time I see the chart.”

“I know that feeling.”

The DJ smiled as if he knew everything without saying anything. He started reading the comments that the listeners wrote.

“Africa Youth, ‘I love the song!!!’ There are a lot of exclamation points. And Gold Love, ‘You should aim for the music show 1st place candidate.’ Oh, really, if you go like this, you might be able to aim for the music show 1st place candidate, right?”

“Oh, don’t say that. That’s a big deal.”

He waved his hand and said.

“We think we’re enough right now. We’ve been getting too much results from the beginning, and it’s a very grateful thing that we’ve achieved this much.”

“Isn’t that too much of a broadcast comment?”

“I’m a rookie. Sunbae.”

She laughed when I threw a joke.

As if a shark appeared on the calm water, ‘Ri-hyuk is a pirarucu’ appeared again in the chat room.

The PD typed something in the notepad.

‘New Black member comment!!’ 

As the DJ nodded at the message, I felt a bad feeling.

What is it? What is it again?

“As the 1st place candidate talk comes up, the comments are coming up. Some of them are jokingly asking if you have any 1st place promises in the future.”

“Promises?”

“Yes, one of them is from Ri-hyuk is a pirarucu. ‘The leader of New Black has been to the army, right? How about re-enlisting as a promise?ㅋㅋ’ He says… Hahaha!”

Jang So-won burst into real laughter as she said the comment.

It was because of my expression.

***

“I really thought you were so young every time I saw you on the music show. But I never dreamed that you came out of the army.”

Yeah. I’m a veteran.

-Veteran???

-The expression just now ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Did you really come out of the army???

Yes. I’m a veteran, okay.

“Ah, I’m crying. The expression is really… It’s been a long time since I laughed so much on the broadcast.”

I’m glad you laughed because of me…

People laughed in real laughter as if it wasn’t a real laugh when Ri-hyuk laughed.

Jang So-won and Kiwon, who were nervous and only looked at the DJ, also burst into laughter, let alone the others.

There was a commotion everywhere.

Wang Ji-ho, you son of a bitch.

I won’t leave you alone when I go to the dorm.

The youngest is the youngest, but the guy who sits next to me and shakes his cheeks is also annoying.

He’s the only one.

The kids in the dorm must be giggling and pressing the capture button.

Bi-ju is probably making a gif file in real time.

Should I laugh or cry?

Personally, it was a shame level of embarrassment that I felt again after Souffle, but from the perspective of the rookie group New Black, it couldn’t be better than this.

We came out as rivals, but we ate all the broadcast time.

By now, Park’s manager of the Street Boys, who is listening to the broadcast, will be furious and snort.

I couldn’t believe he was bragging about it.

The atmosphere of the broadcast was more like a special episode for New Black, rather than a rookie boy group special.

Everyone was nice to us.

I could feel the warmth from the production staff’s expressions and the comments in the chat room.

Especially the engineer and the PD, who seemed to have a soft spot for me as a fellow veteran.

Well, let’s just move on.

But this is definitely going to be uploaded on the internet.

I don’t know how my facial expression changed, but judging by the people’s reactions, it’s bound to be a meme.

When I was in Souffle, I was so unknown that it was buried right away.

But this time, I debuted and gained some popularity, so I don’t know what kind of response it will get.

Whatever.

I just prayed that it would help the box office of Fireworks.

“Wow, I didn’t expect to laugh so much from the small talk that opened the third part. Did you enjoy it, everyone? Let’s give a round of applause to Woojoo, who made us all laugh!”

“Wow-”

“Thank you, everyone…”

That senior seemed to be trying to kill me with embarrassment today.

I even brought a gift for him, but I’m seriously conflicted.

Should I put it back?

I glanced at Ri-hyuk, who was giggling to himself, but he seemed to be having too much fun.

Fine.

It’s been a while since he smiled like that, so let’s just let it go.

Not you, though. Wang Ji-ho.

**

The schedule of Wonderful Night that we had to perform today was divided into three stages.

The first one was small talk.

It was a time when the DJ introduced the guests and chatted with them.

Thankfully, thanks to the hard carry of the younger ones, we got an overwhelming amount of airtime and a good image today.

But, as the name suggests, it was just ‘small talk’, so we couldn’t say that the broadcast was over!

There were two more important parts left.

The live stage was scheduled for the fourth part, which would start at 9:30, so now it was time to proceed with the main corner of the third part.

“Okay, let’s start the main corner of the third part. The name is ‘Tell me your~’”

“Troubles!”

We responded to the DJ’s cue and a bam! sound effect played.

‘Tell me your troubles.’

It was the second most important corner after the live stage.

The format was simple.

The production team selected the ‘trouble of the week’ and each team gave advice on it.

The winner was decided by text voting.

It was a simple format, but as soon as the corner started, the guests’ expressions became serious.

Not only me and Ri-hyuk, but also the Street Boys members.

They all looked like athletes facing a decisive match, rather than guests on a radio show.

But this reaction was not excessive.

There was a reward that they had to get.

If they won this corner, the winning team would get to put their name on the playlist of Wonderful Night three times next week.

An opportunity to introduce their songs to the general public, beyond the fixed audience of music shows composed of soldiers and idol fandoms.

It was like an oasis in the desert for rookies who were thirsty for promotion.

After Autumn Girl’s ‘Endless Season’ played, the DJ told us the trouble of the week.

“Hello, Wonderful Night. I’m a high school student who turned eighteen this year. I’m a regular listener of Wonderful Night, so I decided to send you this story. I’ve had a problem since a while ago.”

The story was like this.

The writer had a best friend who had been close since middle school.

A friend who always hung out with him, whether it was eating or playing.

A friend who was so close that they even knew each other’s parents.

The problem started in the second semester of last year.

‘Wow, you’re really a god of notes. I messed up on that subject, can I borrow your notes for a bit?’

The writer gladly agreed to lend his notes.

After the exam, his friend came back with a bright face.

‘Awesome. I got 90 points thanks to you.’

He was happy for him until then.

But as the final exam of last year and the midterm exam of this year came, it became a problem.

The number of subjects that he borrowed notes for increased.

And in the midterm exam, his friend who only slept got a better score than the writer.

“That’s when I thought it was unfair.”

The writer’s trouble was like this.

How should I behave towards my best friend of five years in this situation?

That was the dilemma of the writer who asked what to do in the midst of the final exams.

“That’s a tough one.”

As soon as I heard the story, the same thought that crossed my mind came out of Hanjo’s mouth.

The Street Boys, who got the first turn by drawing lots, took on the challenge.

The speaker was, of course, Hanjo.

“I personally related to this story. I had a similar experience when I was in school. I think I know how the writer feels right now. It’s frustrating when a close friend takes advantage of your hard work.”

He said calmly.

“But I think the writer should speak up about this problem. It may sound harsh, but it’s not something that can be solved by keeping it in your heart.”

“So you want the writer to talk honestly to their friend?”

“Yes. And I have some suggestions on how to do that…”

Hanjo’s answer was textbook perfect.

It was a softened version of what anyone would say when they hear this problem: ‘Why are you being such a fool? You should stand up for yourself!’

He showed some empathy.

And he added some concrete solutions.

There was nothing to fault.

Except that it didn’t suit him.

Maybe his words and actions didn’t match.

Even though it was a short encounter, I had a different impression of Hanjo’s personality.

He was not the type to give such advice.

He was careful with his words, and he preferred to keep quiet rather than cause trouble.

It didn’t resonate with me when he said, ‘Why are you putting up with it? Tell them how you feel!’

Besides, I had a different opinion.

While the ads were running, I was thinking about what to say to the writer.

By the time I had it sorted out.

A hand holding a pen appeared from somewhere and moved over my script.

At first, only the initial consonants ‘ㅎ’ and ‘ㅈ’ came up, then they were scratched out and disappeared.

It seemed like they were trying to write ‘Cheer up’ or ‘Good luck’.

But they hesitated, as if they didn’t know what to write.

Finally, the white hand produced a neat handwriting.

-Just relax.

I looked up with a smile and saw Ri-hyuk nodding his head.

He was returning the words he had said to me before the broadcast started, when he was shaking with nerves.

He probably thought I was nervous too.

But I wasn’t that nervous.

I had gotten used to the live show, and more importantly, I knew exactly what to say to the writer.

When the ads were over, and it was our turn.

At the DJ’s signal to start the consultation, I told the writer what I wanted to say in a calm voice.

“I don’t think you should tell your best friend about that.”