In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 208

After singing the last chorus, Woojoo felt a sense of relief as he put down the microphone. He had been nervous about making any mistakes, but luckily the stage went smoothly.

“Whew…”

He took a deep breath and calmed his emotions. He didn’t know who the camera would focus on for the ending shot, so they all maintained a gentle expression. But inside, his heart was pounding.

As a singer, they knew better than anyone that they had done well. And they knew that they had shown the best they could today. There were some minor flaws, but considering the condition and the last order, it was a perfect stage.

As soon as the music stopped completely, a thunderous applause and cheer erupted from the audience. Everywhere they looked, they saw people clapping and cheering for them.

“…Thank you!”

They bowed to the audience in the midst of the prolonged applause. They also turned their heads and thanked the live band that had played passionately for them today. And they hugged each other lightly and patted each other’s shoulders.

No words were needed. They had practiced together for almost two weeks, and they had finished the stage without any errors. They exchanged encouraging glances with each other.

Then they greeted the audience again.

“Thank you so much!”

Woojoo finally relaxed and let out a breath. They took off their in-ears or brushed their hair slightly, and wiped off the sweat that had dripped down.

While the judges were talking to each other, the celebrity panels were talking excitedly.

-Jiho! Auntie is crying!

Someone shouted, and laughter came out. Their youngest responded with a cute hand heart, and the audience burst into cheers and laughter.

The compliments poured out.

-Aww, what do I do? You guys are so good.

-I thought of my mom for a moment.

-I was really mesmerized. At first I was like, ‘Huh? What? Look at them!’ and then I fell for them! I thought he was just a cute maknae, but he had a hidden punch!

The panelist who was spitting saliva with excitement made everyone nod in agreement.

The self-proclaimed ‘idol expert’ Bang Munsu also stood up and shouted.

-See? What did I say? New Black is a strong candidate for first place.

He said regretfully.

-Ah, what a waste. I should have bet on this!

-Munsu, you’re cheap.

-No, Hyung-nim. I mean… No, no, anyway! New Black! Keep your promise with me! Come on our show!

It was K-net’s ‘Show Show Show! Idol High School’.

Woojoo replied to his request, which was a mix of joke and seriousness, with a microphone.

“Yes, we’ll definitely go.”

-You see his face change when he hears the casting talk. I see why he said he was a rookie last year. They all have something shining in their eyes.

-I can tell by looking at their faces that they are ambitious.

They joked, but they were right. They sent them a look that said, ‘Thank you for the casting. We’ll work hard like cows.’

When the panelists exaggerated their impressions of the song, someone called another panelist.

-How about you, Yoonsoo?

-Uh…

-As a fellow idol, don’t you see something?

Yoonsoo, the only rookie idol among the panelists, smiled awkwardly. He was from Fantanis, a group that debuted last November and that they had met on a music show.

When they showed him a friendly look, he picked up the microphone.

-Honestly, I don’t know what to say. They are rookies like me, but… they don’t seem like rookies. When they harmonized earlier, I really got goosebumps.

He looked at them with sincere admiration and said, ‘You guys are awesome.’ They nodded lightly to thank him.

After the idol, a current singer was summoned.

-How about you, Deum? It was a ballad song, right?

The ballad singer Deum picked up the microphone. The man with a sharp nose looked at the other panelists and said.

-Honestly, I was surprised when I saw them. I thought, ‘These kids know how to do a stage.’ They were amazing. How did they sing like that there? I was really impressed. I couldn’t touch that kind of emotion when I was their age.

The celebrity panelists agreed with him.

Deum asked them.

-I’m curious, how old are you guys?

“I’m twenty-three this year. And our kids are one or two years younger than me.”

There was a small laughter from the audience.

The panelists were the same, they seemed to find Woojoo’s expression ‘our kids’ amusing.

Then, Bijoo grabbed the microphone and answered the question.

“Junghyun and I are twenty-one.”

Rihyuk and Jiho also introduced their ages in turn.

“I’m nineteen this year.”

“I’m eighteen.”

Dumun opened his mouth wide as he heard each age.

-No, I can understand Woojoo, but you two are still high school students?

“Yes.”

“Yep.”

-Can you… capture the emotions? In a song like ‘Life’?

Rihyuk held the microphone and replied, “We analyze the song carefully before singing. We make notes while imagining the emotional lines. We ask people around us who have a lot of life experience what it feels like at this time…”

Right.

That was why he asked Woojoo last time what emotion would be good for this part in ‘Life’…

“Huh?”

Woojoo blinked and grabbed the microphone.

“Wait a minute, Rihyuk. You asked me about emotions last time.”

“Uh.”

He paused.

“Could it be that the person you just mentioned was…”

“…”

“… Come on, answer me. It wasn’t me, right?”

The main vocal’s evasive gaze made the panelists and the audience laugh out loud.

Someone joked.

-Is Woojoo a bit old-fashioned?

While their younger siblings nodded their heads like crazy nutcrackers, Woojoo made a dumbfounded expression.

The audience clapped and laughed as if it was so funny.

‘Well, that’s why he did well with this arrangement’ Woojoo smiled sadly as the panelists pushed him.

He wanted to have an image of a fresh rookie idol leader here.

But he felt it was already ruined.

He smiled resignedly and looked around the people in the audience and the nearby panelists.

… Where did Teacher go?

Woojoo couldn’t see him after the song ended. He must have gone down for a while. Woojoo really wanted to see his expression.

Then, the MC came up on the stage.

-Yes, it was a stage full of reversals. I was really surprised as I watched.

The announcer Baek Sangjung asked with a smile.

-Shall we hear the judges’ evaluations at this point?

The composer Pyo Hyungwon, Jo Eulseon, and the famous ballad singer Im Sunghee were sitting in the judges’ seats in turn.

-New Black sang Teacher Noh Jaehyun’s ‘Life.’ How was it, our judges?

-No need for long words.

The composer, Pyo Hyungwon, with a cold expression, put down his pen and said.

-If I had to cast one vote today, I would vote for this stage without hesitation.

It was a rave.

The audience responded with a ‘Wow!’ at his words.

New Black raised their hands to their mouths and looked at each other.

They couldn’t stop their lips from curling up at the blatant praise.

The MC asked.

-Composer Pyo Hyungwon, you said the same thing about Cha Woohyun’s stage earlier, didn’t you?

-Uh…

The composer raised his finger after a brief pause.

-That’s why we need a one-person two-vote system. The only drawback of this show is that you have to vote only once.

The composer’s snake-like answer caught the audio of ‘Yeah, too bad!’, ‘They all did so well…’ from various places.

Composer Pyo Hyungwon continued his evaluation.

-I was shocked when I heard the intro. It was excellent and well-structured in itself. And more than anything, I felt that this guy really knows this song well.

The composer’s eyes turned to Woojoo as the panelists and the audience nodded their heads.

-You did it yourself, right? This arrangement?

“Yes, that’s right.”

-I have nothing to say but amazing. Really.

Woojoo was at a loss for words when they praised him so openly.

He felt embarrassed, but he also tried to suppress the smile that kept tugging at his lips and maintain a calm expression.

Maybe it was because the compliment was so good that it made his mouth sweet.

He felt both happy and slightly awkward.

Then, Composer Jo Eulseon also gave a rave review of the arrangement and the structure, and Woojoo smiled sheepishly.

But…

Why are you guys happy for me?

Woojoo was the one who managed his expression, but every time they said he did well on the arrangement, his kids looked happy.

The MC caught that right away.

-How come the members are pleased when Woojoo gets the praise?

“Yes.”

Bijoo took the mic as the representative.

“We feel really good whenever Woojoo gets praised. He’s our pride and joy.”

“That’s right. He’s like the dakgalbi of Chuncheon.”

The people burst into laughter at their youngest’s word choice.

Woojoo couldn’t help but chuckle.

After the praise for the song structure and the overall performance.

Finally, the vocalist Im Sunghee, who took the mic, looked at them and said.

-Like Deum said earlier, it was a sentiment that couldn’t come from that age.

They lovingly talked about what was good and what was lacking for each member for a long time.

Then they asked with a curious face.

-As I listened, I got the feeling that you were arguing with harmony and harmony. You can’t do that if you don’t know. Do you study this stuff normally?

“I learned harmony.”

-Really? From whom?

The eyes of the siblings all turned to Woojoo.

As if he wanted to testify, their youngest took the mic.

“We didn’t know because we wanted to know… We learned it locked up in the studio. You know those silver-shell chocolates? He piled them up and tapped the piano keys. With this face…”

-Puhaha!

He imitated Woojoo’s expression so well that he could have been an actor.

Woojoo laughed awkwardly at the sound of people’s laughter.

Really. This royal bastard.

I’ll see you after the show.

“‘Jiho, what sound goes well here?’ And if I got it wrong, he’d say, ‘You’re wrong.’ And he’d take away the chocolate. One by one, one by one.”

Woojoo looked embarrassed at the testimonies of the victims that followed.

Was his image good like this?

On the other hand, there was a separate star of the day that everyone was paying attention to.

-The main character of the stage was definitely Rihyuk. I’m amazed. It’s amazing that he can sing with such a sentiment at that age. And above all, his skills are growing right now.

Vocalist Im Sunghee sparkled her eyes and talked about Rihyuk for almost 10 minutes.

Woojoo remembered the choreographer Clay who looked at Bijoo before.

If it wasn’t for the recording time, she would have praised him for almost an hour, saying, ‘Our Rihyuk…’

She must have liked Rihyuk’s vocals on the stage.

But the real person didn’t know what to do with the compliment and just bowed his head with a flushed face.

Every time the compliment continued, he looked at the ceiling with a ‘uh-hum…’ and scratched his red ears and his face heated up.

“Th-thank you…”

Their tomato monster held the mic with both hands and bowed politely, and the audience clapped as if to cheer him on.

…He got redder.

He was strong in insults, but he had no immunity to compliments.

Then the MC tripped over Woojoo’s expression.

-Earlier, the members were like that when Woojoo was praised, but every time Rihyuk was praised, Woojoo’s nose seemed to rise by a centimeter.

“Yes.”

Woojoo nodded calmly.

“I’m really proud of our members.”

-You have a great affection for each other.

Woojoo smiled without saying anything.

Of course, he didn’t have no feelings for the siblings, but today he was especially happy.

He missed it.

Their kids are so good, and they could do this much.

But they didn’t have a chance to show off their singing skills.

It was a long time since they sang properly in front of the public and got recognized.

Woojoo smiled involuntarily at the sight of the audience sending them a friendly look.

When they started recording, he thought he’d be happy if half of them were like that.

It was more than he had ever imagined.

-Ah, the teacher is finally here.

Teacher Noh Jaehyun, who had been away for personal reasons, came back with the help of the lady.

As the old man with a grumpy face settled in his seat.

Baek Sangjung asked.

-How was it today, Teacher?

-Ah, um.

Teacher Noh, who had coughed a few times, looked at them.

-Well, it wasn’t too bad.

He said that, but his face was flustered as he rubbed his cheeks.

The MC smiled.

-You can’t hide your expression. Were you very happy?

-Ah, well… yes, I was.

-New Black kept looking at your empty seat. How about you tell us how you felt as the original songwriter?

Woojoo’s heart thumped.

They gathered around like the underlings waiting for the boss penguin’s words and turned their bodies toward the teacher.

The teacher, who met their sparkling eyes, looked embarrassed.

-Well, today I had this thought.

He said, as if he was going to close his eyes and say it.

-I wrote this song 20 years ago, but the finale was done by these kids today.

Applause erupted.

-What, that kind of thing… Ah, why are you clapping so shyly. You’re making me feel awkward.

They smiled and clasped their hands as they watched the veteran singer who didn’t know what to do with the enthusiastic applause of the audience.

It felt like a part of their hearts was filled when they heard the praise from the one they cared about the most today.

Teacher Noh Jaehyun grabbed the microphone.

-Anyway, I…

His expression looked like he was going to say ‘you brats’, so they were nervous, but what came out of his mouth was unexpected.

-…I have to say thank you. New Black, along with our Rihyuk.

‘Please don’t call me non-alcoholic.’

Teacher Noh, who met Woojoo’s eyes, gave a faint smile.

-…Woojoo, Bijoo, Junghyun, Jiho. Thank you all. Today, you made a memory that I won’t forget for a long time.

They smiled brightly and bowed politely, except for Jiho, who blinked his eyes.

He lingered his warm gaze on them.

***

The first place announcement.

As the recording reached the end, the tired audience voted for the stage they thought was the best with their remotes.

They stretched their fingers and promoted ‘number 5’.

-The long-awaited voting results will be announced!

Lisa, Cha Woohyun, Jo Yuri Band, Song Bohyung, and New Black lined up on the stage.

Everyone had different expressions.

Lisa and Song Bohyung smiled as if they were sorry but couldn’t help it.

Jo Yuri Band hid their nervous expressions with awkward smiles and tried not to meet their eyes.

Meanwhile, people’s eyes stayed in two places.

Cha Woohyun and New Black.

Unless something went wrong, it was everyone’s expectation that one of the two would be the first place.

-Now, the first place! I’ll announce it.

Baek Sangjung, who received a cue card from the writers, grabbed the microphone and shouted.

-Out of 633 votes, the team that got 305 votes and recorded a voting rate of 48.3 percent is… New Black! Congratulations!

As soon as Woojoo heard the ‘New’ sound, his fist tightened.

They did it.

It wasn’t like when they won the music show, where gold foil popped out with a ‘bang’, but the cheers of the audience in this place were enough.

“Hyung!”

“Guys!”

They couldn’t jump around in front of the senior singers, but they didn’t know what to do as they looked at each other.

When they were doing a half-hearted celebration that was neither a high-five nor a hug.

“Congratulations!”

“You really got first place. You did great today.”

Song Bohyung and Lisa were the first to greet them.

Jo Yuri Band awkwardly asked for a handshake, conscious of the others’ eyes.

Cha Woohyun tapped their shoulders with a calm expression, saying ‘I’m second.’

“You did well. You guys.”

He was the stone Buddha of the music industry.

He would have nodded calmly and said, “I’m number one.” even if he had won the first place.

They bowed politely once again to the panels and the audience who clapped and smiled happily.

-We’re not an audition program, and we don’t have any special rewards, do we? The writers prepared something because they heard it was boring.

A bright red cape that looked like something a Roman soldier would wear appeared.

They were in a hurry to give each other the cape, while they had moist expressions from the lingering feeling of being number one.

It looked like a scene of love, but in reality, it was a desperate struggle to avoid becoming a black history photo.

In the end, their shameless stag beetle wrapped the cape around himself and was proud of it.

And so, everyone was happy.

-…The winner will have a special stage at the end of the season. In this case, it would be Yoo Myungdeok’s ‘Deoksoon-ah’.

This was one of the biggest achievements of today.

They also renewed their own legendary stage.

They also took care of ‘Deoksoon-ah’.

It was literally killing two birds with one stone.

-You have another special story, right, Woojoo?

“Yes. My grandmother’s name is ‘Kim Deoksoon’. I’m already excited to sing for her. My heart is Deoksoon-deok… thumping.”

Good. Woojoo passed it off naturally.

…Or so he thought, but it seemed like he was the only one who thought that.

He ignored the reactions of my siblings who were laughing around him and continued with the first-place speech.

“I’m really unbelievable and happy to be number one among such amazing seniors. I will become a more diligent rookie.”

“Thank you!”

The audience who got up from their seats as the exit time approached clapped for them.

11 p.m.

The long recording finally came to an end.

***

At the same time.

Lemon Entertainment President’s room.

“First place in the competition?”

“Yes.”

“Our kids?”

“Yes, sir.”

“…That Junghyun’s cape king photo is done for now. Today, Woojoo’s arrangement was one of the biggest factors in the game, right?”

“Yes.”

Jo Gyuhwan, the director, answered Park Kyuho, the president, who kept asking the same questions he had already asked, while sipping his coffee.

“Two… no, Woojoo’s arrangement really appealed to the composers, I heard from Yoon Seokhwan, the head of the department.”

“…”

“Sir? What are you doing?”

Park Kyuho, the president, who looked deflated, swiped his tablet PC with his finger and pressed some item.

What popped up on the screen was a composing device.

He caught the director, Jo Gyuhwan’s eye.

“Are you buying it?”

“I already promised him… How can I not push him when he’s doing so well? I have to push him. Our kid.”

“You look sad.”

“No. I’m happy. I feel good.”

The middle-aged man took a deep breath with both hands up, as if he was mind-controlling himself.

Then he clicked on the cart.

“Our wallet, our Woojoo is the best… Money comes in when you put money in…”

The President, who was denying reality and brainwashing himself, made the Director smile and hold his coffee cup.

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