In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 26

We are Singers

Inside the car on the way back to the dorm after the first music show.

“Puhahahahaha!”

“Hahaha!”

“Hahahaha!”

Everyone burst into laughter as Bi-ju egged on the youngest.

“Ji-ho, do it again. That thing.”

“This thing?”

“Yeah, that thing.”

As everyone looked at him expectantly, the acting prodigy of the group cleared his throat and started to get into character.

“Ahem.”

Then he perfectly imitated someone.

“Please love our Souffle a lot~.”

The kids laughed like crazy.

I covered my face with both hands.

If I die today, maybe I should write on my tombstone [Seon Woojoo, died of shame].

It’s painful.

I’m so ashamed that I want to die.

“Wow, it’s exactly the same.”

I felt betrayed by Bi-ju, who was wiping away tears from laughing so hard.

“Bi-ju, what do you mean it’s the same?”

“Huh? It’s totally the same…”

“No, it’s not the same at all-”

“You don’t know because it’s yourself, hyung.”

The youngest cut in.

“Do you want me to compare it for you? The clip from Music On should be online by now.”

“No, no.”

“That makes me want to do it more.”

I snatched the youngest’s phone, but it was useless. Jung-hyun, who was sitting next to me, had already played the video.

The smartphone screen.

With the applause from the scene, a caption appears: [1st Place Something].

On the screen, I look very nervous. I have full makeup on, making my skin pale and my features sharp.

I look good, but that’s not the point.

The words I utter with teary eyes.

-We Souffle will work hard from now on…

The kids burst into laughter again.

I lamented.

“I’ve been so good to you guys.”

“You call that good? Just change your clothes, ajusshi.”

“Yeah. You don’t do anything and lie down, and always say ‘Ji-ho, get me some water’ and stuff.”

The youngest took the opportunity to butt in.

“Our youngest, you had a lot of complaints about me?”

“Yes, I hated you. You always bullied me, made me do chores.”

“I see. I did a big wrong.”

“Yeah. You should feel sorry for me now… Ow!”

The youngest, who got a flick on the forehead from me, clutched his forehead and made a pained face. 

The members laughed.

Ri-hyuk, who seemed to enjoy taking pictures, was a bonus.

While everyone was laughing, I saw Jung-hyun tapping the smartphone screen with a focused face.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m saving the videos.”

Jung-hyun answered with a smile.

“These are all memories. I have to keep them as records.”

“No… You don’t have to.”

I was already ashamed enough, but they were trying to nail me to the coffin.

Yoon Seok-hwan also seemed to enjoy the noisy atmosphere.

I brushed my hair back and said.

“Seok-hwan hyung.”

“What.”

“Can I cancel the contract? I want to get away from these ungrateful kids.”

“Woojoo, just endure for seven years.”

Yoon Seok-hwan’s tone was echoed by the kids.

“Ah, where are you going?”

Bi-ju hugged my shoulder with a smile.

“We can’t do without you, hyung.”

“Yeah. Who do you think made us successful with his songs?”

“Do they act like this even though they know?”

“Hey, it’s because they like you, hyung. Don’t they know any better?”

I tried to glare at the youngest who clung to me awkwardly, but I couldn’t help but laugh.

I felt like I understood how people who raised pets felt.

I was angry that they had made a mess of the house while I was gone, but when they came and cuddled up to me with their cute acts, my heart melted in an instant.

Ri-hyuk saw my expression and chuckled.

“You look like a grandfather who’s amused by his grandson’s jokes.”

“Our Ri-hyuk is so good at talking.”

“I know that too.”

“If only your heart was as good as your face.”

“Where can you find someone as kind as me?”

Ji Ho made a face as if he had lost his appetite at that shameless remark.

“How can you say that without a steel plate on your face?”

“Shut up, King Ji-ho.”

“Do you always tell me to shut up when things don’t go your way?”

While the fourth and fifth in the hierarchy were fighting like dogs, the hyungs watched them with a smile as if they were cute.

No.

Even the main vocal and sub vocal who were arguing had smiles on their lips.

Everyone was in a good mood.

Maybe it was the best day of my life.

It felt like my chest was wide open.

Every time I took a deep breath, the knots that had built up over time were released, and the chilly wind that blew through the open car window felt refreshing.

I wouldn’t want to trade this feeling for a million dollars.

The reward for all the hard work was really sweet.

I had passed through the invisible long tunnel and saw the light for the first time. How could anything not be exciting and happy?

Jung-hyun handed me his phone as I was enjoying the breeze.

“Hyung, have you seen this?”

“What is it?”

“Your story is quite popular on the internet.”

“Really?”

I looked at the smartphone screen.

[New Black? The leader has amazing charisma]

He looks like he can fit anywhere

-What is charisma lol

-Is that a joke lol

-I only saw the face of the guy playing the guitar while singing

-I’m a true fan of Jin Sung and I’m starting to stan him today

Thanks to my speech for winning first place today, my face was a hot topic.

I clicked on the post below with the award speech.

-Was Jang So-won always this pretty?

-So-won unnie, take me…

-They don’t look like rookies and they’re good at live ㅇㅇ

-I was eating ramen at home and I burst out laughing lol They’re so funny

Most of the reactions were positive.

Thankfully, the reaction of the TNT fandom, which I was most worried about, was not bad either.

-He’s the one who took a picture with Tae-hyun lol

-He said he almost debuted with TNT… It must be awkward for both of them.

-I still find the chart movement suspicious but well… They seem to like each other when they announced our kids right after

-I haven’t seen Tae-hyun smile like that in a long time lol Are they really best friends

The ones who were making a fuss about the music manipulation a while ago were showing a soft response.

It was probably thanks to Tae-hyun posting a picture on SNS.

No wonder he kept taking pictures at the broadcasting station.

I had a rough idea, but when I actually confirmed it, I was grateful.

Me [Thank you]

I sent a message to the number I exchanged earlier and the reply came right away.

Han Tae-hyun [^^]

Han Tae-hyun [If you’re thankful, buy me a drink]

Han Tae-hyun [Ah lol That’s right, you can’t drink, hyung]

Han Tae-hyun [Just buy me food]

Han Tae-hyun [Let’s get together with the B group kids]

Han Tae-hyun [I’ll make a group chat soonㅎ]

I sent a vague reply and felt a strange emotion.

Han Tae-hyun, a five-year idol.

The guy who had less sense than Ji Ho had become so quick-witted after living in the entertainment industry. I wonder if our clueless youngest would change like that someday.

Ji-ho chuckled softly when he felt my gaze.

“What?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you looking at me with such a loving eye?”

“…”

We still have a long way to go.

***

That’s what I thought when we won our first place on Music On.

We were lucky.

We kept topping the charts, but I wondered if we could compete with the senior groups who had strong fandoms behind them.

I hoped we could stay on top for two more weeks and then step down gracefully.

But reality went against my expectations.

-‘Something’ on a wild run, three consecutive weeks of music show wins

-Rapper Hesion’s comeback, will he end ‘Something’'s long reign?

-A breathtaking March music war, the final winner was ‘Something’

Music show grand slam.

We won first place on all three major networks and the music channel for three weeks in a row.

It was unbelievable.

Who would have imagined?

In March, when the chart competition was fierce, a collaboration between an unknown idol group and an unpopular singer took the first place.

It was beyond surprising, it was absurd.

To people who had no interest in the entertainment industry, the weekly music show wins might not mean much, but to us, the rookie group New Black, it was a huge achievement.

And we felt the results every day.

First of all, we started to get some schedules.

After the music shows, we got some minor invitations from various places.

There were some local festivals that we had never heard of, with potatoes or sweet potatoes as their themes, and there were also some music festivals that we had heard of.

The most common thing among them was school events.

The universities were quick to move to get us to perform ‘Something’ live for their festivals starting from late April.

The theme of ‘Something’ was exactly that, something.

It was the hottest topic among college students on SNS and elsewhere.

One music critic even analyzed that the success of ‘Something’ was due to ‘being the first to capture the popular subject of something’.

‘Something’, with its relatable theme and addictive melody, was expected to be the biggest hit song of the first half of 2014.

The hottest song in the college scene right now, ‘Something’.

In this situation, where everyone wanted us to come to their school, the tension between Jang Sowon and New Black was inevitable.

The competition was so fierce that I couldn’t close my mouth when I heard the event fees that the universities offered through Seok-hwan hyung.

When Junghyun was startled and squeezed the can, the soda exploded, and as we were wiping the floor, he explained.

“There’s usually an agency that connects the events. They grade you like beef. They check how many times you won on the music shows, what your chart ranking is, what your recent buzz index is, and they grade you accordingly. The music show wins are that important. Your senior Scarlet probably doubled her event fee as soon as she won.”

Yoon Seok-hwan added with a smile.

“You’re popular right now, enjoy it while you can. You can’t keep it, and you shouldn’t keep it either.”

What he said was not a sugarcoating, but a realistic congratulation.

You can’t keep it, and you shouldn’t keep it either.

It wasn’t a wrong statement.

The monthly chart first place and the three consecutive weeks of music show wins that we were enjoying now were miracles that we didn’t know if we could achieve again.

An album is like a sports game for a singer.

Just because you were the MVP in the last game doesn’t mean you’ll be the MVP in the next game.

Maybe it was like the independent trial probability that I learned in the college entrance exam.

Even if the previous result was a success, the next result was not certain whether it would be a success or a failure.

The popularity of ‘Something’ was the popularity of the song.

It wasn’t the popularity of New Black from the beginning, so it was a popularity that we couldn’t keep.

Then, what did it mean that we shouldn’t keep it either?

-Honestly, Jang So-won did everything, right? She used to be a singer-songwriter herself. Shee just gave the rookie group a chance.

-New Black only did the backing vocals without the main vocals on the music shows.

-I honestly don’t know why they’re there.

-It’s the adults’ situation, right? What do the kids know?

-One of them participated in the composition.

-The interview said it was a co-composition.

-Jang So-won was nice to say that, right? What kind of composition is an idol? The producers at the company do everything for them.

-They’re so eager to debut even though the song is doing well.

-Isn’t it because we didn’t practice singing enough? Lol

That’s what the internet comments I was reading said.

Our popularity depended on Jang So-won sunbae.

Most of our schedules were like that.

Whenever Jang So-won’s name came up at Hwai Entertainment, they would contact our management team and share the work.

All the schedules we had in March.

The magazine photoshoot and interview we did with Jang So-won sunbae, and most of the events we were invited to.

Even if they contacted us first, they would say something like ‘The condition is based on Jang So-won being with you.’

That’s what Yoon Seok-hwan meant when he said our popularity was not sustainable.

It wasn’t New Black’s popularity in the first place.

Now that I think about it, it’s strange.

We’re so popular right now, but it’s not our popularity?

Of course, other people might think it’s a luxury problem. It’s already a fortunate situation to receive this much attention when we haven’t even debuted yet.

The members seemed satisfied too.

Their expressions were so happy every day that I felt full just by looking at them.

But I still felt like it wasn’t enough.

Shouldn’t we row harder when the tide is high?

Since this was our chance to imprint New Black’s first image, I didn’t want the four of us, excluding Ri-hyuk, to be remembered as mere vases.

I wanted to show people.

That we had skills as singers.