In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 221 

Riding the Flowing Rapids

After the Legendary Song Discovery show ended, the Soufflés were ecstatic.

-WaaahhhhhㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠWaaahhhㅠㅠ

-I’m crying for realㅠㅠㅠ

-Our kids are so amazing…

-Also so lovely

-How can this make me tear up… It’s not even a music show win, but I was so touched when Woojoo gave his comment

-Grandma, Woojoo stole Deoksoon’s heart!!!

The fans posted their real-time reactions on the community.

-Here are some screenshots of the internet news comments!

-Wow, our kids are on the trending searchㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Today’s Junghyun wearing a Roman cape.gif

-I analyzed Woojoo’s expression when he stole Deoksoon and it says happiness 100ㅋㅋㅋ

-I think mine would be 100 too if I took it now

The Soufflés couldn’t help but smile at their own grins every time their smartphone screens turned off.

They deserved it.

-Oh… Oh my god! It’s New Black everywhere! I need to lie down

Every article that came out had ‘New Black’ in the title.

The performance clip video views were skyrocketing.

And the trending search keywords ‘New Black’, ‘Noh Jaehyun’, and ‘Life’ proved their popularity.

Even those who missed the broadcast were curious and kept clicking on the links.

And the hot response was the same in reality.

“What was the name of that red-haired guy? He looks sly.”

“Rihyuk? He sings like a nightingale. His song is good. Hey, this is going to be online, right?”

“Do idols usually sing that well?”

The Soufflés felt dizzy as they watched TV with their families.

‘What is this. I can’t get used to it.’

Before, their families would just say ‘Oh, how cute’ and pass by when they saw them on TV. But now they were mentioning the members’ names.

It was a strange situation where their mom was saying their bias’ name.

‘It’s a hit.’

They didn’t know what the ratings were.

But one thing was certain: the name ‘New Black’ was now firmly stuck in the adults’ minds.

The recognition that had been flimsy like post-its from their appearances on Around the World With Dice and other variety shows was now sticky like glue.

-My mom asked me who my favorite singer was when she talked about New Black and I panicked and said Jenmin… What do I do

-My parents thought this was a live voteㅋㅋㅋ They asked me how many times I had to press

-Dad. It’s not No Black. Why do you keep saying No Black?

The reviews that kept coming up made them smile.

But the thing that the Soufflés were most happy about was something else.

-This is awesome… They are

-I totally get why the Legendary Song Discovery PD cast New Blackㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-I watched it and it was good, right? New Black are the ones who got bashed, right?

-Maybe it’s because I watched it with low expectations? I liked it

-The response is hot wow

-I watched it with my eyes wide open

-The Charcoal fans are lucky. I was so jealous when my dad talked about New Black

-To be honest, the controversy back then was weirdㅋㅋ

The atmosphere in the communities changed 180 degrees as if they were asking when they had bashed New Black.

The goodwill was higher than usual because of the vocal skills controversy last time.

Of course, there were still some who refused to accept it.

But those people didn’t need the Soufflés to deal with them. They were getting scolded by other fandoms.

‘It feels so good.’

It was like a toothache that had been bothering them was gone.

It was a refreshing feeling like drinking a whole bottle of soda and feeling the bubbles pop in their veins.

They were surfing the web with that feeling when they heard some unbelievable news.

-Look at the Mango real-time chart!

Those who clicked on the link saw the main page of the music site and stopped thinking.

Then they stared blankly.

‘What is this…’

The name of New Black that was stuck in the real-time chart rankings.

Everyone who saw it opened their mouths wide.

‘This is crazy.’

[2nd] New Black – Life (PBS Challenge, Legendary Song Discovery)

It was a huge hit.

“Are you done with the signatures? Do you need anything else?”

“Just a minute. Just a minute.”

“Yes?”

“There are more people in line. Wait a little bit!”

The flower shop owner, who had been showing his palm, rushed out and kicked the door open.

“Don’t go anywhere! Stay here!”

“Take your time! I can’t go anywhere right now.”

The people around laughed at the sight of him running to his own shop.

Monday morning.

Woojoo was having an unexpected fan meeting at the restaurant.

“To. Who did you say you are? His dad?”

“My son Seungmin.”

“Oh, Seungmin. How is he? He’s in middle school now, right?”

“You remember?”

Woojoo smiled at him, who looked happy.

Then he looked at the shop owners who were lined up next to him.

The broadcast reaction yesterday was hot.

Woojoo was about to leave after having some breakfast at the restaurant, when the snack bar owner who spotted him made a fuss. That was the beginning.

One person came to get a signature, then another one came. And then someone else brought someone else.

It was like a sugar cube that fell into an ant hole.

“Hyeyeon! Come over here and say hello. Do you remember Woojoo Oppa?”

“Hi.”

“Uh… hello…”

Woojoo took a picture with the mother and daughter of the pork bone soup shop.

He also answered a phone call request to let his family hear his voice.

And most importantly…

“Woojoo, let me take a picture with you too.”

“You’re a big star in Gunsan. You won’t be able to see your face anymore, will you?”

“Your song was amazing yesterday. How is it to see Noh Jaehyun-ssi in person?”

The adults loved it the most.

According to Seokhwan Hyung, the song ‘Life’ was getting a great response from people over 40. It seemed to be true.

Even the old customers who didn’t seem to know the idol names looked at Woojoo and said ‘oh’ and asked for a picture.

“Did you go on the show yesterday?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Wow, you’re my grandson. You look exactly like you did on TV. Your skin is so nice.”

Signature, picture, signature, signature.

Customer, flower shop, customer, snack bar.

When he felt like his soul was being sucked out, the grandmother who brought the rice bowl shouted, “Hey, eat some food, you guys!”

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon pushed the people’s backs.

As they left, the shop owners couldn’t take their eyes off Woojoo.

They looked interested in the fact that a celebrity was born in this neighborhood.

It seemed like Woojoo was getting treated like a real celebrity, unlike the time when they were just amazed that he was on TV.

After all, from the adults’ perspective, even if he was a singer, they would wonder what he sang, but yesterday he was properly shown singing on terrestrial TV.

“Phew…”

Woojoo ate in a corner seat.

“What’s wrong with them? They have nothing to do. Do they just live with the TV on?”

“How is it, Grandson? Are you happy to be famous?”

“Yeah. I’m happy, Grandma.”

Woojoo smiled and picked up some soy sauce beans. They were sweet.

“But I don’t know much.”

Grandma seemed a bit bored even though she was happy.

“They’re already coming to see you, your fans. And now those people too… Hey! Don’t you go!”

The shop owners who were posing with binoculars outside the window ran away from Grandma’s scolding.

Meanwhile, Woojoo stopped his spoon and asked, “Fans?”

“Yeah, your fans came and said they would help with the shop work. I don’t know how they found out.”

“What did you do?”

“Of course I told them to go away. Do you think I run a business once or twice?”

Woojoo laughed bitterly.

“I’m sorry for the trouble. Grandma.”

“What’s there to be sorry about? It’s your job, and the better you do, the better it is.”

“Oh, I’m touched.”

Woojoo winked and threw a hand heart.

“Next time I come, I’ll bring another fur coat?”

“Deal.”

His grandma, who shyly drew an ‘OK’ with her finger, made him clap and laugh.

Woojoo finished his meal happily and packed his stuff.

Grandma gave him food, blankets, pillows, and some unidentified charms.

“Grandma, then I’ll go.”

“Yeah.”

The cold wind greeted them.

Woojoo approached Grandma, who was hesitating in the freezing morning weather, and hugged her tightly.

“Grandma, I’ll be back soon.”

“…Yeah.”

Grandma’s nagging came into his ear as he hugged her.

“Make sure you eat every meal. You have to take care of your body before you get sick from making songs. If Bijoo comes to me again and says, ‘Grandma, Woojoo Oppa doesn’t eat…’ you’ll die by my hand. Got it?”

That Bijoo.

Woojoo pursed his lips and let go of the hug.

“I got it. Grandma, I love…”

“Oh, it’s cold. I’m going in!”

“You…”

What? She said her back hurt, but she was so fast.

Woojoo just laughed at the sight of Grandma running into the shop.

She waved her hand shyly from behind the window, and he drew a big heart to show her and moved his feet.

It was time to go back to Seoul.

***

“Hello, Hyung.”

Woojoo got in the car of Dowon Hyung, who came to pick him up at the terminal.

He looked at Woojoo’s face and smiled.

“You look like you rested well. You look good.”

“Yeah? Maybe it’s because I came back after being with Grandma. This must be the effect of filial piety.”

He smiled at Woojoo’s words.

“My parents are in the countryside, but they contacted me for a while. They said they liked the singer you’re in charge of.”

“Yeah? How did they like us?”

“They said they want me to get a signature when I come down next time. They became fans.”

Woojoo laughed, remembering that his father was a fan of Teacher Noh Jaehyun.

He was glad they left a good impression.

Woojoo turned on the radio channel to listen to some music.

" …This is how the American poet Robert Frost compared life to a road in his poem ‘The Road Not Taken’. It means how important choice is in life. What choice will you make today, listeners?"

The DJ gave the closing remark.

"As the last song, it was a big topic yesterday, right? We’ll end today’s broadcast with New Black’s ‘Life’. Have a happy day. This was Chae Jieun."

Woojoo checked the channel and it was PBS.

He didn’t expect the song they performed yesterday to be on the playlist right away, even though it was the same broadcaster.

It feels surreal that the intro he arranged was playing on the terrestrial radio.

“This is playing here.”

“I know, right?”

They both felt the same way.

“What was the exact rating yesterday?”

“Average rating of 17.1 percent.”

Wow.

“They said there’s a dinner party at the Entertainment Department today. The PD jokingly said you guys can come if you want. But I think he was half-serious.”

They didn’t have time to go even if he invited them, but it was nice that the production team was showing them some favor.

Woojoo felt a surge of reality that he didn’t feel when he was in Gunsan.

Third place on the real-time music chart during rush hour.

The highest clip views among yesterday’s performance stages.

First place on the real-time search.

From the New Black analysis article on the entertainment main page to the performance song on the radio.

Woojoo checked them one by one since this morning, but when he put them together, it felt unreal.

…Was this for real?

“…”

He smiled and drove the car as he thought and made an ‘oh my’ expression.

Woojoo looked out the window.

The busy Gangnam street.

Buses and cars spewing white smoke from their exhaust pipes. People with earphones crossing the street.

The last chorus of Life came to his ears from the radio.

Of course, not all the cars and pedestrians here were listening to PBS radio, but if he expanded the range nationwide, there would be a lot of people listening to this song.

And quite a few of them will think, ‘Oh, that’s the song from yesterday.’

As he expanded and expanded his thoughts, at some point his head stopped as the scope got bigger.

“Wow…”

“What’s up?”

“Yesterday was really amazing.”

“…You’re a bit slow to react. Yeah, it was amazing,” he said. “But you haven’t seen anything yet.”

“Huh?”

He smiled slyly and said to Woojoo’s question, “The manager will tell you when we get to the company. What happened since last night.”

***

When Woojoo got off at the front of Lemon Entertainment, he ran into the youngest who was getting out of a nearby luxury car.

His snow-white face wrapped in padding shone with joy.

“Woojoo Hyuuuung~!”

“Jiho-yaaa!”

They hugged and danced around.

Tey went into the company avoiding the fans from afar, took off their masks and cheered again.

“Jiho-yaaa~!”

“Woojoo Hyung!”

They held hands and made a fuss.

“Hey, we made it, we made it.”

“Hyung-Hyung, this is awesome. Do you know that I got contacted by my friends from elementary school yesterday? And my dad’s business partners also saw it and sent him a greeting text, it’s totally amazing, amazing, super amazing…”

“That’s right, I also signed a lot for my grandmother’s acquaintances.”

They laughed and talked about what had happened, when the sound of a card reader and a beanie-wearing durumi entered.

“What is this?”

His bumpy face turned to them.

“…What are you two doing at the company entrance?”

They ran to him right away.

“Rihyuk-ah~!”

“Rihyuk-ie hyuuung!”

“Let’s dance, we made it, we made it~!”

“…Embarrassing, really. I don’t do this kind of thing.”

Jiho and Woojoo sulked and said ‘Yeah…’ and slumped their bodies, and he stepped on them a couple of times.

“Yay!”

He snickered as if he couldn’t believe their excited faces.

“Let’s go up. The company said they have something to tell us.”

“Let’s go. But before that, let’s ask one thing.”

Woojoo asked with his finger, “What do we take to go up?”

“Elevator!”

“…I really don’t want to get involved.”

They used to insist on taking the stairs only because they were conscious of being trainees, but they enjoyed the taste of success once again.

Rihyuk also said ‘Hmph’ but his expression was secretly fluttering.

Ding.

The door opened and they got on the elevator with a happy face and went up to the third floor.

“Oh, right.”

As they entered the iron box with nowhere to run, Woojoo remembered something to do.

Woojoo opened his bag and rummaged through his stuff.

“What is that? That floral bag?”

“I bought it new when I went shopping with my grandmother. Isn’t it pretty?”

“…One more thing to put in the warehouse.”

“My grandmother picked it out for me.”

“That means it’s precious and you have to keep it well.”

Their youngest, who had avoided the crisis, told him to go shopping with him sometime.

Meanwhile, the door opened and Woojoo took out the problem item and handed it to Rihyuk.

Two envelopes with flowers drawn on them.

“What is this, all of a sudden…?”

“You wrote me a letter, didn’t you?”

His face turned pale.

He visibly flinched as if he had erased the memory of giving him a letter full of his inner feelings.

Woojoo smiled and handed it to him.

“Here, take it. It’s a reply from me and my grandmother.”

“…Wha, what are you talking about. I don’t remember writing a letter.”

“Right. Me too.”

He took out a postcard that said ‘Happy New Year!’ from his padding pocket. The youngest said with a serious face, “It plays a song when you open it.”

“Noooh…!”

They giggled as they watched their mayfly disappear like the wind.

Anyway, he was fast at running.

He ran into the conference room first.

“Noooh…!”

This time, he ran out again. Then the door opened and two figures popped out.

Bijoo reached out desperately.

“Rihyuk-ah! Why don’t you take the letter I wrote you! Then I’ll be sad!”

“Go away!”

Junghyun followed him like a terminator.

“Text came. Text came.”

“Ugh!”

Jiho and Woojoo lay down on the floor and sobbed at the sight of the two peers chasing Rihyuk.

He was going crazy. Kim Junghyun, really.

He was caught on the spot, his face all red, and they ended the story by handing him the letter.

“…I shouldn’t have written it.”

Woojoo exchanged greetings with the two guys, glancing at the one who was spinning his chair in the corner of the meeting room, trying to soothe his embarrassment.

“Did you enjoy your vacation?”

“Yes, I was so happy, Hyung. Mom was in a good mood and wanted to go to karaoke, so we all went there and played the tambourine… Oh, right, Hyung. I made a tambourine dance, do you want to see it?”

“I ate a little meat, but you told me to eat less. I was so upset…”

Woojoo calmly listened to the stories of his siblings, who were spitting out their own trivial tales.

From yesterday’s broadcast to their achievements.

They were occupying the meeting room and chatting away, when the door opened and two people came in.

It was Seokhwan Hyung and Assistant Manager Hong Seoyoung.

“Hello!”

They were momentarily startled by their overflowing tension, then smiled.

Seokhwan Hyung, who sat across from Woojoo, spoke with his fingers crossed.

“I called you here to tell you a few things. I don’t think you know what happened after the broadcast ended yesterday.”

Woojoo nodded.

They were wide-eyed, waiting for what they had to say.

“Oh, right.”

Seokhwan Hyung seemed to remember something he had forgotten and took out a letter from his pocket.

“Rihyuk, I got your letter. You asked me to act like I didn’t know, but that’s not my personality. Here’s my reply.”

“Me too.”

Assistant Manager Hong also took out a neatly folded letter from her file. They handed him the letters.

“…”

Someone covered their face with both hands and their ears glowed like light bulbs, making them laugh.