In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

“One, two, three,” I called out, and my siblings opened their mouths in unison.

A song began with a clap of hands.

“Thank you~ Thank you~”

“Thank you, Ryuk, for clearing my indigestion~”

Silence followed.

Amidst our child bowing his head, Bijoo and I added harmony to the song—a parody of “Congratulations.”

The eight students attending burst into laughter.

“Wowwww!”

“What’s with the wow, you guys!”

We all clapped together to finish.

In a place filled with boisterous laughter, I spoke up.

“I heard that everyone here helped Ryuk with his indigestion on the day of the college entrance exam. Thank you so much.”

“Really, thank you. If he had kept feeling sick and messed up the exam, he would’ve come back and taken it out on us big time.”

We all nodded in agreement.

“Ugh, just the thought is horrifying.”

Jun-hyun grimaced and shook his head, saying, “Horrible.”

To the still-laughing students, I continued.

“That’s why we invited you here as a token of our gratitude. Feel free to order anything you’d like today.”

The youngest shouted as if remembering something important.

“Except Hawaiian pizza!”

“Ah, right. No Hawaiian.”

Laughter filled the pizzeria.

A pizza franchise in Gangnam.

We rented out the place during a quiet time to invite the good Samaritans who helped Ryuk on the day of the exam.

We wanted to treat them to something more expensive, but they all waved it off, saying it was too much. They just wanted pizza or chicken.

“Is it good?”

“Yes, yes…”

“Eat a lot. Should I ask for a cola refill?”

I was talking to the students eating pizza across from me, and each time, they seemed incredibly burdened.

Bijoo poked me in the ribs with a smile.

“Bro, they’re all going to get indigestion.”

“I was just trying to make conversation…”

The high school seniors across from us laughed awkwardly.

They seemed extremely uncomfortable around me and my siblings, probably because they were shy.

Bijoo whispered to me.

“Bro, you look like a dad trying too hard to be friends with his son’s friends.”

I fell silent.

It seemed my overly kind smile was the problem.

I bit into a slice of potato pizza without a word, and the youngest snickered at me.

I ate my pizza sheepishly, and every time I looked around, there was a reaction.

Everyone flinched and glanced at me, often dropping their pizza toppings.

“Am I making you uncomfortable…?”

“No, it’s not that…”

One student spoke up.

“You’re just really handsome…”

“Oh, thank you.”

“It feels so different from seeing you on TV.”

“Right? Please spread the word to the other students.”

“What about me? What about me?”

The youngest pushed his head forward.

The student who was answering said “Oh,” then looked back and forth between me and him, and his expression changed to “Hmm.”

“You’re handsome too.”

“Ah, whatever. You ruined my mood.”

I teased the youngest, who was grumbling, and laughter filled the room again.

The atmosphere quickly became more comfortable.

At first, they were awkward around us, but soon they felt a sense of familiarity with our unimpressive appearance.

That’s when the conversation really started flowing.

“You seemed to have a lot of indigestion that day, did you do well on the exam?”

“Ah.”

Ryuk wiped his mouth with a tissue and answered the question.

“No, I thought I did really well, but maybe because I wasn’t feeling well, it didn’t go as well as I expected…”

“Ah…”

The students made sympathetic faces as Ryuk continued.

“I bombed the math because I didn’t study, but luckily, I got top grades in Korean and English.”

A sudden silence fell over the room.

Ryuk laughed and said, “Ah.”

“And in Korean history too.”

“You did really well then…”

“Studying in between schedules must have paid off.”

The students eating pizza laughed with a sense of self-deprecation.

“I was doing this while he was…”

One of the students suddenly said.

“When I was summarizing Korean history, I used the materials from the History Expedition website.”

“Really?”

“Yes, our history teacher said it was better than the EBS materials and distributed it to the whole grade.”

“Proud.”

We all burst into laughter as Ryuk, with a flushed face, signed the History Expedition summary book.

As the conversation turned to that topic, we asked a question.

“Who’s popular at school these days?”

“Uh…”

“TNT? Teen Spirit?”

At our question, they looked at each other blankly before answering.

“New Black.”

“…?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“They’re really popular at our school. There are even kids who follow the Nine dance during breaks.”

“Oh…”

“Girls who like idols seem to prefer Teen Spirit, but… it seems like New Black’s songs are heard more often.”

They murmured, surprised at our curiosity, “I thought you knew…”

Then they shared that probably next year, at events like retreats, the ‘Nine’ would be a huge hit.

I turned to my siblings sharply.

“Guys.”

“Brother…”

“We made it…!”

Our hands clasped together in shared emotion, those drinking cola burst into laughter at our display.

After the popularity survey conversation.

“By the way, about that time in the saga when you were taken away by the special forces. Did they really not tell you anything and just took you?”

“How do you shoot something like a variety show?”

To those curious about the entertainment industry and broadcasting, we shared various stories.

Their reactions were of awe, even while eating pizza, “Wow.”

Amidst the enjoyable conversation, I also brought up a question I had prepared earlier.

“What kind of music do you listen to these days?”

“Music?”

“Yes. What seems popular around you? Or what do you think is popular?”

“Recently, it’s the Nostal OST.”

When asked about something other than that, the answer was ‘Nine.’

Eventually, we gathered opinions on what songs are popular these days, excluding ours.

It was a precious opportunity.

Because everyone around us was an insider, it was hard to hear the opinions of the general public.

The A&R and producing teams were veterans in the industry with unique tastes.

Managers and staff were well-versed in songs unknown to the general public due to their work on music shows, making it hard to call them the general public. ř

“It seems you listen to a lot of tracks with an electronic feel.”

“Yes. They’re exciting to listen to.”

I asked someone twirling spaghetti.

“So, is there a ‘kind of song’ you want to listen to these days?”

“Hmm…”

The students pondered before answering.

“Maybe something calm?”

“Looking at the charts, it’s either thumping club songs or ballad OSTs.”

“A song that starts calm and then explodes?”

Calm songs.

Reflecting on this, I realized incorporating such a track into our idol activities, which are dance-focused, would be challenging.

Then someone’s words clearly reached my ears.

“Maybe because it’s winter, I want to listen to winter songs.”

“Hm?”

I removed my chin from my hand and asked.

“Winter songs?”

“Yes. Because it’s winter.”

“Are you talking about a winter love song? Like, ‘When this winter comes, I think of you~’”

“No.”

The person replied firmly.

“Not a love song, just a song that feels like winter.”

Everyone laughed at the reaction that said, ‘I really hate love songs.’

Winter season songs, though.

That was a good idea.

It’s good to have meetings among ourselves, but sometimes it’s refreshing and nice to hear the opinions of strangers.

Afterward, we chatted about various things and left the pizza place.

The chilly November weather.

We handed out envelopes we received from our managers to those bundling up in their paddings and coats.

“This is a gift we’ve prepared for you.”

“Wow. Thank you.”

“It’s cold, so make sure you all get home safely. We’ll be rooting for your success when you write your college applications.”

“Thank you!”

As we waved goodbye and were about to leave, someone asked.

“Can I post this on Facebook?”

“Hmm…”

It seemed fine, but I looked at the managers for confirmation, and they gave the OK sign.

I answered with a smile.

“Yes, you can.”

“Thank you! I’m going to brag about this at school.”

“We appreciate the promotion.”

I smiled at the faces of the students who were quietly enjoying themselves.

Soon after, the students who attended the event began posting their photos with New Black on SNS.

Posts of the fountain pens, blankets, and eco-bags they received as gifts also appeared.

Public posts on SNS quickly caught the attention of the Soufflés and spread across various communities.

-LOL, what’s with the state of these gifts?

-Blanket LOL, how do you even use that?

-You can’t possibly use it LOL

-It’s not a gift; it’s like they’ve thrown the first punch

-But that blanket does look really warm

-Isn’t that fountain pen expensive?? Wow

-Compared to what they earn, it’s probably just pocket change

As posts like ‘Typical Idol Repaying Kindness.jpg’ spread across communities.

Entertainment reporters quickly picked up the story as well.

On the day of the college entrance exam, an amusing incident turned into a heartwarming anecdote that spread across the internet. The members of NewBlack, whom everyone thought were just quiet high school seniors, were busy with their promotional activities.

In a high school corridor, a student draped in a blanket printed with the faces of NewBlack members walked confidently, causing a burst of laughter among his peers.

“Take that off!” his friends urged, tired of the mockery from students of other classes. But the student, unfazed, simply flicked his finger, declaring, “I can’t hear you, Black.”

He had decided to end every sentence with ‘Black’ as his new signature style.

Reaching the restroom, the student regally removed his ‘cape’ and handed it to a friend, who grimaced in disgust. “This place is unclean. Hold this for me, Black.”

The student’s precious blanket was soon in the clutches of his friend, and he wailed in mock agony.

Elsewhere, students from other schools who had received gifts were doing similar antics.

After school, in an internet cafe filled with high school seniors, one student changed his gaming ID to ‘NewBlack Rocks,’ despite his friend’s threats to delete him if he didn’t.

As they played, every enemy defeated was accompanied by rapid keystrokes and triumphant shouts of “Do you know NewBlack? They’re awesome!”

The students, now finished with their exams, were spreading the fame of NewBlack in their own unique, slightly mad ways.

The encounter with the high school students on the exam day seemed to have spread far and wide.

Han Taehyun [Excuse me for a moment.]

Han Taehyun [I’m looking to buy a NewBlack blanket, how much is it?]

Han Taehyun [Is it possible for four people to make a joint purchase?]

Everyone seemed to covet the blankets featuring our members’ faces. When Mr. Han asked if there were any blankets printed with my face, I had to disappoint him with a ‘no stock’ response. Instead, I offered him a pot holder with the NewBlack logo.

Meanwhile, we almost landed an advertisement deal.

“An antacid commercial?” I asked.

“Yes,” our manager replied. “The story of Rihyuk’s drink has spread, and they wanted to shoot something quickly for an online viral campaign.”

But when the advertiser heard our rates, they vanished without a trace.

Our hit songs and variety show appearances had skyrocketed our value, and now only the major players approached us for endorsements.

Our manager shared the exciting news of upcoming fan meetings in North and South America in November, and we headed to the studio.

“Come, take the seat of honor,” we said to Rihyuk, seating him at the head of the studio. His opinion was crucial for our next album.

“So, any ideas?” we asked.

“No dancing,” he began.

“No high notes that are too challenging,” another chimed in.

“And definitely no songs without rap,” added a third.

“But… I thought my opinion was the most important,” Rihyuk protested, bewildered.

We all laughed. “Just kidding, just kidding.”

“So, what do you want to do?”

Rihyuk rummaged through his new black eco-bag and handed me something.

It was a 14-page A4 document titled ‘Next Title Track Proposal.’

After a prompt to read it, we scrutinized the pages and remarked, “Wow, you’ve written 14 pages just to say you don’t want to dance, in so many different ways.”

“Shouldn’t we respect this level of dedication?”

“Dancing is that hard for you, Hyuk?”

Rihyuk scratched the back of his head, avoiding eye contact, at Bi-Joo’s question.

“No, it’s not that it’s too hard.”

The main vocalist looked at us and said, “Honestly, we haven’t really had a chance to showcase our vocals properly. We did perform at the Song Festival, but those were other senior singers’ songs.”

“That’s true.”

“I was thinking, maybe this time we could really show off our vocals.”

“But we did that with ‘Wind Flower,’ didn’t we?” I asked seriously.

“Take a look at ‘Mango.’ ‘Wind Flower’ is also classified as a dance track.”

“It is a dance track.”

Initially planned as a vocal track, ‘Wind Flower’ turned out to be more of a trendy pop song.

Honestly, if you ask whether dance or vocals are more important, dance takes precedence.

It was an inevitable choice for a title track as idols.

“If we go with a vocal track, the fans might not like it as much. Especially if it has a ballad feel.”

“I know that.”

Our musical color and ballads weren’t exactly a perfect match.

“But honestly, there are so many good unreleased songs. There are dozens just on the hard drive.”

“Right, there are so many good ones that it’s a shame.”

Bi-Joo agreed.

He was referring to the unreleased songs on my studio computer.

They were good, but a bit ambiguous for idol songs, so they were just stored on the hard drive for now.

I nodded in agreement and asked, “So, you’re suggesting we polish those songs and release them?”

“Yes. Not ballads, but something that can highlight our vocal color, and…”

He continued, “When I met with the students who helped me recently, they mentioned something like this.”

“Ah, a winter song.”

“It might be nice to release it with a seasonal song vibe. Plus, we’ve somewhat succeeded in building our artist image with Music Cafe.”

It seemed like a suggestion to solidify the image of ‘those kids who make music’ we showed in the Music Cafe with our next song.

“Hmm…”

As I pondered, the youngest member asked, “But wouldn’t it be odd to make such a song the title track? After all, our idol activities come first.”

He had a point.

Rihyuk’s intention for a vocal track was good, but it was too much of a stretch to structure the next album that way.

It might work for a one-time event.

We couldn’t gamble on an album that cost millions to produce.

“What about a digital single?” Rihyuk suggested. “Since our comeback is in spring, we could release one song in winter as a trial.”

A digital single.

Instead of a physical album, it was a suggestion to release the music online.

The album cover would be blue, and the comeback album in the spring would be purple, centered around me.

“I had thought about that…”

I pointed to our albums on the studio shelf.

“Then there would be a gap in the rainbow.”

“…”

“The fans are diligently collecting them. It would be strange to suddenly switch to purple after red, yellow, and green.”

“That’s true. It would be quite a shock if the collection suddenly had a gap.”

We all burst into laughter at the youngest’s comment.

But the dilemma deepened.

“The idea is good…”

A discussion about releasing a digital single with our unique music during the winter.

Because of the Japan tour early next year, our comeback would be in spring at the earliest anyway.

It wasn’t a bad idea to fill the gap with a digital single.

However, it felt odd to have a gap in the middle of the color series we were doing.

“We should discuss this with Director Cho.”

Lately, since we’ve been producing everything ourselves, most things end with internal discussions.

But for such a concerning matter, it seemed best to consult with Cho Kyu-Hwan, the executive producer.

“Let’s talk to Director Cho first.”

I opened my diary and said, “It would be better to hear various opinions rather than just having an idea meeting among ourselves.”

“That’s right. I think so too.”

“Shall we call some people to work with through the A&R team?”

The younger members nodded happily at my suggestion.

And the A&R team members, upon receiving my opinion, also picked up the receiver with happy expressions.

Some time later.

Phones scattered across various locations began to ring.

“Oh.”

“Oho…”

“My goodness.”

People of all ages smiled at the purpose of the call.

“Sure, that sounds great.”

“When is the meeting scheduled?”

“Um, just a moment. Let me check the schedule.”

Those introduced to New Black through the veteran singer No Jae-Hyun beamed with joy.

‘They really want to work with us.’

‘Oh, that’s great.’

One of the most musically successful boy groups among the current idols was requesting album participation.

As I step into this situation, I know it’s a good one for recognition and my career.

Among these people, there is one who stands out.

“Mr. Ha, why such a look? Is there something good happening?”

“It’s nothing.”

There was Ha Seung-Joo, a composer and the host of the music cafe, wearing a smile brighter than anyone else’s.

‘I bet it’s going to be interesting.’

Recalling the impromptu composition of New Black I saw last time, I was filled with anticipation.