In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 210:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 210

But Woojoo couldn’t tell the PD the truth.

‘… PD-nim. I went to see the night market in Taiwan and became Jenmin…’ That was impossible.

It was a long story to explain here, so he just gave a vague answer.

“I had some episodes in the local area.”

“Oh, what happened?”

PD Baek Sunghyun smiled brightly.

“…Yes, I hope so.”

Woojoo was sure it would come up.

But not in the way the PD thought…

He looked like he was running a happy circuit in his head as he spoke.

“Well.” PD Baek said, “Considering the amount of footage you and Teacher Noh Jaehyun picked… It’s not surprising that there’s that much in other places too.”

PD Baek, who convinced himself, spoke with a pleased face.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Ah, me…”

‘I have something, but it’s not what you think…’ Woojoo wanted to say, but he was already gone with the call of the assistant director.

Woojoo reached out and spoke to the air.

“…Listen to me until the end. Jenmin is in there.”

“Just give up,” Rihyuk said, hitting Woojoo. “It’s all done with editing anyway. What’s the point of doing it now? Give up and accept Jenmin who’s coming.”

“Right. Calm down~ Breathe. Our Jenmin. Now, exhale when you say hoo… Haaak!”

Woojoo pinched the youngest’s nose with his index and middle fingers like a king crab’s claw.

***

After the song selection for <Challenge, Legendary Song Discovery Team!>, the weekend schedule continued.

Saturday noon.

Today’s schedule was an event at a large shopping mall in Ilsan.

“Aah. Five hundred won~ Five hundred won~”

Woojoo sang to the wall of the waiting room, loosening his throat. A high note seemed to rise from his locked throat.

He still felt sick.

He recovered his strength with meat power, but his throat, which had been tortured for two weeks, still showed no sign of returning.

“How are you guys? Are you okay?”

“Just so-so. A little stingy.”

After the youngest, Bijoo and Rihyuk also answered.

“Me too, a little…”

“I’m about 60 percent of my usual. It won’t affect the stage, so don’t worry.”

Except for the healthy rapper, the rest of them were not in good condition.

They ended up calling the manager.

“Minki Hyung. Please ask the sound staff to put a lot of AR today.”

“Okay.”

Minki Hyung, who nodded, suggested.

“How about putting the AR to the maximum? Your throats are not good, so you can just lip-sync.”

“Lip-syncing is harder.”

“True…”

They were used to live performances, so it was harder to just move their lips.

Minki Hyung went to deliver it to the site staff.

The stylists touched up their outfits and hair, and Dowon Hyung gave them a warm drink.

“Thank you. Hyung.”

Woojoo sipped the warm citron tea and loosened his throat. When the door opened, a group of people came in.

“Hello!”

They exchanged greetings.

There were people who looked like mothers, and some who looked like hair and makeup artists.

Among them, the one they focused on was the kid in the middle.

He looked like a lower elementary school student, with a young appearance. He had chubby cheeks and a cute face.

Kim Jiho.

He was an elementary school dance YouTuber who was going to perform with them today.

It was not their plan, but the shopping mall side asked them to do a joint performance, so it was a stage that was arranged.

“Hello. I’m Kim Jiho.”

He greeted them with a crisp voice.

His cuteness made the Hyungs speechless.

Jiho matched their eye level and pushed his palm forward.

“Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Wang Jiho. We have the same name.”

“Yes…”

Little Jiho shyly clapped his hands with him.

“Do you want to sit here?”

They made the kid sit in the middle of the sofa and tried to make him comfortable.

“Maknae! Get some drinks for Jiho here.”

“…Okay.”

“Jiho, this Jiho’s leg is uncomfortable, so bring him a cushion to sit on.”

“Why do I always have to do it?”

“Jiho.”

“What?”

“I called our cute Jiho here, not you.”

They laughed and clapped at the sight of their youngest trembling. Then they all high-fived.

When else could they tease their maknae like this?

They handed him a chocolate milk with a straw and talked to the little Jiho we had seated in the middle.

“Are you ten years old?”

“Yes…”

“What do ten-year-olds learn these days? Do you still learn about healthy living, wise living, and stuff like that?”

“What is that?”

“…You don’t have it?”

You don’t have wise living?

Rihyuk quickly searched and told them that the subject had changed to ‘Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter’.

He explained to Woojoo, who looked surprised.

“Just ignore this guy. He’s mostly harmless, but he doesn’t know what to do when he sees young people because he wants to be friends with them.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“That’s not it. We’re not that different in age. What year were you born?”

“My birthday is August 13th, 2006.”

At the mention of '06, the pupils of the Hyung line shook. The '93 and '95 borns looked at each other and said, “Hey… We weren’t Hyungs.”

“Hyung, we were uncles.”

“You can call me uncle or mister. Jiho.”

That was how they eased the atmosphere and the little Jiho, who was tense at first, started to smile comfortably.

When Woojoo was ten, he was acting like a fool, saying ‘Heheh, Kim Deoksoon, heheh’. He was a smart kid.

Was it because of smartphones? Or maybe kids these days were precocious.

In the relaxed atmosphere, the other person looked at them with curiosity.

“Do idols make a lot of money?”

“Well, I don’t know…” They looked at each other and said, “We’re earning right now, so we’ll tell you after we make some.”

The kid YouTuber said with a worried face, “I like dancing, so I started YouTube, but these days, people say I’m getting old, not cute, and subscribers are leaving, so…”

Little Jiho fidgeted with his feet in his shoes and spoke.

He liked dancing, but he was worried about what to do in the future. They gave him some serious career advice for a while.

He was interested in idols, so they explained it to him as best as they could without hurting his innocence.

“It’s time for us to go.”

At Minki Hyung’s words, they all got up and checked their outfits in front of the mirror. Woojoo exchanged a few words with his mother.

“Thank you. It’s been a long time since our kid was so comfortable in the waiting room.”

“Wasn’t he always like that?”

“Last time, we shared a waiting room with some other singers, and since then, our kid has been a bit hurt…”

Woojoo guessed the situation and smiled quietly.

Sometimes, when they shared a waiting room, there were some people who were not so nice.

They don’t even greet them properly, and when they talked to them, they acted like they were annoyed and say ‘Why, what, why’. And if they left them alone, they acted like they were ignoring them.

“Let’s go.”

They left the waiting room with the two Jihos.

As they pushed the door to the mall, they heard a noisy sound.

The crowd was no joke.

It was a large shopping mall with a central hall that was open to the top.

They walked towards the temporary stage that said ‘Winter Sale Mini Concert’ and waved their hands.

“Hello!”

People gathered on the glass railings of each floor where the escalators were twisted and looked down at them.

Some couples and students who were curious about the celebrities stopped and stared at them blankly.

“This way.”

With the help of the security guards, they made their way through the crowd and stood on the stage.

“Two, three, hello! We are New Black!”

“Woah-!”

A small cheer came from the area where the idol fans were gathered. It must have been from their fans.

There were many other fans at the event today, as other idols were also attending. They all recognized them.

Of course, not all of their gazes were friendly.

Some of them gave them a disdainful look with their eyes over their masks.

Woojoo didn’t know the exact reason why.

As he heard the clicking sounds of the huge cannon cameras, he thought they couldn’t make any mistakes today.

The MC introduced them.

-Please introduce yourselves.

“Hello, I’m Woojoo, the lead vocal and leader of New Black.”

Woojoo smiled brightly and made eye contact with each person.

“I’m so happy to be able to perform in front of so many people on such a nice day and on a weekend.”

Woojoo gently pulled the little Jiho to the center.

“Especially today, I’m more excited and nervous to share the stage with a talented dancer.”

The kid YouTuber looked at Woojoo with curiosity. His slightly round eyebrows raised.

When Woojoo winked at him, he quickly grabbed the microphone and greeted, “Hello~”

“Aww, what do I do? He’s so cute… Oh, what? The mic was on?”

Their youngest muttered with his hands clasped, and his voice echoed around. Laughter erupted from everywhere.

They had a pre-show talk in a cheerful atmosphere.

Curious eyes lingered on Woojoo and his brothers.

Like the audition on Wednesday, most of the public’s reaction was ‘handsome’. There were also some people who said ‘huh?’.

Woojoo had to admit that Around the World With Dice was amazing.

The impact of ‘Daegil’s friend’ was huge, but there was hardly any program that could make people say ‘wow’ after six months with just one appearance on a Chuseok Special.

But the programs they were going to appear on were not inferior to that.

The TBC Patisserie Korea, which would air tonight, was also showing high ratings as a follow-up special.

And they were confirmed as regular cast members of the Challenge, Legendary Song Discovery Team!, which PBS was investing in for promotion.

Woojoo hoped that by spring, not only idol fans but also the general public would know them better.

-New Black has a lot of TV appearances ahead, right?

They did their best to promote themselves to the mall customers.

“Yes, do you know Patisserie Korea? We’re going to be the special guests on their Taiwan episode today.”

People showed more interest at the mention of Patisserie Korea.

They also said that the Challenge, Legendary Song Discovery Team! would be airing soon and asked them to look forward to it, and they Woojoo himself with his brothers.

And then.

-Well, then let’s watch New Black’s Masquerade with Kim Jiho!

They performed Masquerade to match the opening theme.

Fortunately, there were no mistakes on today’s stage.

***

They finished their schedule and relaxed at the dorm for a while.

Woojoo lay on the sofa in a T-shirt with a tyrannosaurus on it and decided to do nothing.

“Junghyun.”

Pong!

Junghyun lay on the living room floor and threw snacks into Woojoo’s mouth like a basketball shot.

They all hit the target.

“Bijoo.”

Swoosh!

Bijoo, who was lying on the murpak, put a sweet dessert in Woojoo’s mouth.

Woojoo was happy.

Every time he smiled happily, brushing off the powder on his lips, Rihyuk put the crumbs in a tissue with a disgusted face.

“How old are you that you still spill… Hey! Hey! Wang Jiho!”

If he scattered the powder, Jiho was spreading the chicken leftovers from dinner all over the place.

As the two of them fought, they watched the TBC channel.

A simple logo that said ‘Patisserie Korea – The Tour’ appeared on the top right corner.

Actor Lee Gyeonwoo sipped coffee in the ad and recited the phrase ‘This is it’.

“Hyung, you look very peaceful.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. You were so nervous before the Idol Show last time.”

“Junghyun. There’s a level to black history. If I used to have a level 1 resistance to black history, now I’m at level 10. Jenmin is now a common thing for me.”

“You’ve grown a lot, Hyung.”

Usually, they say that means you’ve grown up…

While the TV commercial was running, Woojoo picked up his phone and opened the messenger. There were 800 unread messages from his contacts.

He had a lot of things piled up because he was so busy.

He checked the ones that were marked as favorites first.

Grandma [You were on TV again today]

Woojoo hated the family group chat of the members.

Because of that, their Deoksoon knew everything he didn’t want her to know.

Grandma [Why don’t you say anything? You have a lot of secrets]

Grandma [What did you do this time?]

Grandma [Last time you took a picture with a crow, did you spin a top with a crow this time?]

Woojoo replied.

Me [There’s nothing like that]

Me [Deoksoon, just enjoy your grandson’s beauty today]

Me [(Emoticon)]

Their Lady Kim Deoksoon sent a warm reply to the emoticon of a hippo waving a flower and posing coolly.

Grandma [You crazy bastard]

Woojoo felt a warmth in his chest.

There were also others like Han Taehyun who sent him a picture of him wearing 3D glasses and tearing popcorn, saying [What’s going on today?].

Just then, a telecom commercial came on TV, where the TNT members said ‘Yeah, Welcome to the brave new world.’ and struck a cool pose.

Woojoo took a picture of that and sent it to them, and they all shivered.

“Hyung, it’s starting.”

Woojoo straightened his posture at Bijoo’s words.

He lay down in a more intensely stretched pose and gulped down the drink…

“Puh!”

The drink went in wrong and he coughed for a long time. The kids laughed and giggled, and Woojoo felt a bit awkward for a moment.

He finally got up and drank the soda.

He looked back and forth between the TV screen and the laptop screen that the youngest was looking at.

-Today we’re going to see the second episode of the overseas tour

-Oh? Taiwan?

-[Patisserie Korea] Looks like they’re showing desserts in Taiwanㄷㄷㄷ

-[PTK] They should just stay in Korea, why go overseas…

Unlike idol shows or other broadcasts, this was a program that many general public watched, so there was a lot of community reaction.

There were also SNS and portal live chats.

They soon gathered in the studio, dressed up in their outfits, and the parties and mentors sat down and talked.

-This time, we’re going to see what happened when we went to Taiwan.

-What happened?

-It was really dynamic.

Patissiere Min Sejin and Chef Park Jaewoo.

The familiar faces talked as if to make them look forward to what happened in Taiwan.

The video started right away.

“Oh, here it comes. Here it comes.”

“We’re here. Hyung!”

The entertainers Yoo Changhyun, Patissiere Min Sejin, and Chef Park Jaewoo were chatting at the airport, and New Black appeared.

They waved their hands as they crossed the open gate.

The scene changed with a golden caption saying ‘New Black’.

Several scenes were inserted quickly.

Their music video scene, ‘New Black! Congratulations…’, ‘New Black!’ The award winners calling their name at the end-of-the-year Rookie Award ceremony, and white headlines popping up over them.

‘Star of the Year’ or something like that.

“Wow… Looking back, there were a lot of people. Hyung.”

They were introducing themselves in the crowd at Incheon Airport on the TV.

Woojoo looked at the live chat for a while.

-New Black? Are they famous?

-ㄴㄴ

-They were on Around the World With Dice beforeㅇㅇ Other than that, I don’t know

-This is a bit wrong. Patissiere Min is the winner, what kind of treatment is this? They put famous actors or entertainers on the other side, and here they have rookie idols?? TBC has been like this since before, they have a really strong tendency to favor certain guests

-Wow wow calm down, sir

-Min’s fans are starting again… But honestly, you have to admit that MSJ won because of her fandom, she’s not that outstanding

-If you only look at the skills, it’s rather Ha Jaekwon

-Ha fans, calm down, it’s over and it’s a special, you’re ruining the mood

-Jeong people are starting again, starting again

It was a survival program, and it was a popular program, so fights were easily started.

Their story was not well-known.

Other communities only had posts like ‘New Black? Who are these guys?’ or ‘New Black, are they that handsome group?’.

They started to get attention when they arrived at Taoyuan Airport.

-Wow…

-What is this

-[PTK] What’s going on here

They were surrounded by hundreds of people.

-Hallyu is really big

-Even considering Hallyu, they seem to have some overseas fans, right???

-NNN No need to be surprised, when new idols go abroad, they all gather fans like that

-But it’s amazing, so this is what it’s like when idols go abroad

From then on, people seemed to be more interested in them.

Especially.

-[PTK] Doesn’t that guy named Woojoo speak Chinese well?

-[Partico] My wife is Taiwanese and she says he’s good at itㅎㅎ

-His pronunciation is good

-Wasn’t he Korean???

The scene where Woojoo spoke Chinese fluently sparked people’s curiosity.

When he talked to the security officer.

When he got mistaken for a Taiwanese person and received service at the xiaolongbao restaurant, comments flooded the live chat.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ sb I was mistaken

-It was natural

-The lady was flustered

-Why is that guy so confident that he’s better than her ㅋㅋㅋ

-Phew… I was nervous that she would take away the service

-YY Me too, I was tense even though I wasn’t eating

Then, the mukbang started and Chef Park Jaewoo began to explain the dishes.

-Chef, why are you doing this to us ㅠㅠㅠ

-The beef noodles must be delicious…

-Sigh, if you do this, I have no choice but to order chicken, take responsibility

-Why chicken when noodles come out?

-(Roughly saying to have some sense)

-I already ordered, you fools

-Chicken shop owner: pleased

-Isn’t that mango shaved ice the one that came out on Around the World With Dice last time??

As the mukbang continued, there were cries of saliva exploding everywhere.

New Black couldn’t stand it either and decided to order pizza as well.

“Why are we hungry when we’re eating.”

This event proved that mukbang made even the participants hungry.

Meanwhile, their voracious eating also became a topic of discussion.

-They eat well…

-They eat wellㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Don’t they diet?? They look unprofessional

-Even if they gain weight, they’re five hundred million times better looking than you

-Why are you suddenly attacking them personally

-I like them because they eat well… Whether it’s girl groups or boy groups, I don’t like it when they come out and eat like sparrows

-If you search for the dance they do, you’ll see that they don’t need to do it. The difficulty level is Billy Bootcamp level

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why are they unbuckling their belts, I’m going crazy

The scene where they ate and ate again came out with a funny BGM.

At the end, with the words ‘Let’s loosen up’, they even unbuckled their belts and ate until they were full.

The reaction was not bad in many ways.

A small caption saying that the Taiwan Tourism Bureau cooperated passed by, and finally, when they were promoting on the street.

An unexpected scene appeared in front of them, who were waiting for Jenmin.

There was a close-up of a person.

“…Huh? Bijoo. Why are you coming out.”

“Right?”

It was Bijoo.

He was diligently stuttering in Chinese, ‘Please come’, and smiling brightly.

A caption flowed under him.

[Count how many times ‘Bijoo’ comes out from now on]

As they blinked and looked, similar scenes started to come out.

The scenes where Woojoo and the members, and the cast and staff shouted.

-Bijoo!

-Bijoo… why are you going there!

-Bijoo!

-Bijoo!

The scenes were counting down fast, and every time, their boy would get lost and say ‘uh-uh-uh’ timidly, wondering ‘how do I get back?’ and glancing around nervously, only to be rescued by someone else.

Then he would smile brightly and decide to ‘promote hard!’ with enthusiasm.

And then he would lose his way again.

“Pfft!”

They all burst into laughter when the editing was so funny that even the person himself laughed.

“Guys, look at this.”

At Jiho’s words, they all turned their eyes to the laptop screen.