In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 247

Woojoo’s mind froze for a moment. He turned his head and looked around, but everyone was gone.

“…”

The seats where the leaders of Teen Spirit and Wild were sitting just a moment ago were empty.

It felt like Woojoo could hear the sound of the wind whistling.

“Do you know me, Woojoo?”

“Yes. I received the wreath you sent me at the fan meeting and the showcase. Thank you very much.”

To be precise, the message on the wreath was a warning that said ‘I will catch you’.

The PD of ‘The Man Goes’ Do Joongi smiled awkwardly.

“I’m sorry. The message on the wreath was not written by me… The writers wrote it without my permission.”

“Oh.”

“Actually, I wanted to write ‘Please come out once, Woojoo. It’s my wish. Okay?’ But the writers changed it because they said it was too burdensome.”

Of course it was burdensome, Woojoo thought, but swallowed the words.

Woojoo threw a glance at Hanjo, who was standing next to him with a faint smile.

Hanjo…?

Hanjo. Hey. Hey, Hanjo.

He had no focus in his eyes.

He was rolling his eyes, as if he was trying to figure out how to avoid this situation.

PD Do’s eyes met Hanjo’s.

“Are you okay? You look pale.”

“I-I’m fine.”

PD Do smiled.

“Don’t be so nervous. All the idols are like that. Do you think I came here to eat you? I just wanted to talk to you a little.”

…That was what the PD who came to the filming set said.

Men Go.

It was a program on TBC that had a pretty good rating.

If Around the World With Dice was the prime minister of the TBC ratings, then Shintoki and Men Go were the left and right ministers.

Men Go was a program that many celebrities wanted to appear on.

There were quite a few cases of people who became famous after appearing on this show, so maybe if you shouted ‘Who wants to go on Men Go?’, it would be crowded like a snack bar during break time.

But there was a reason why senior idols avoided it, and that was because the main PD was notorious for being vicious.

The PD who was right in front of Woojoo, Do Joongi.

He himself had a career as a Special Forces sergeant, and he was so obsessed with the military that he would have stayed in the army if it wasn’t for his injury.

He was a person who was famous for being able to handle the cast well, because he had rolled around a lot himself.

He said that he could estimate the budget by filming. Whether the cast was acting spoiled or not.

…Woojoo had seen an interview like that.

Woojoo was crazy. He should have at least searched for his photo. He didn’t know his face, so he couldn’t avoid him in time.

He was still smiling brightly, but Woojoo felt like he was burning inside.

How could he escape from this?

Woojoo wanted to connect his brain with Hanjo’s and make it work 1+1.

“I don’t know what you heard from others, but most of it is a misunderstanding. You’re close with Taehyun, right? I saw you two video chatting while editing the broadcast.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“What did Taehyun say? He said it was okay, right?”

Woojoo remembered.

[♪Please come out. Come out. Come out now~♬]

He sent Woojoo a foreign song instead of answering when he asked him how he felt. It was a song that kept saying ‘Come out~!’.

Woojoo smiled and replied.

“Yes, he said it was a very good memory.”

Translation: He said he would never go out.

“Right? Actually, I liked Woojoo since he messed up at the audition. But I started to pursue him seriously because of Taehyun. He said he had a rookie idol he wanted to recommend.”

Translation: He is my pick, but also someone else’s pick.

PD Do smiled and asked, “I heard a positive answer from your company’s Director in advance. How do you feel about appearing on the show? I saw on SNS that the fans are already expecting Woojoo’s appearance.”

Translation: The camera is rolling. Let’s get a promise.

“Well, I want to go out too. But I can’t make a hasty decision without consulting with my company.”

Translation: No, no.

"Right. There must be some things to consider from the company’s perspective. It’s hard to confirm here. Is there anything you are worried about regarding our program?

Translation: Tell me if there is anything that bothers you.

“No. Of course not.”

Translation: How can I say that.

Then Woojoo asked the question I was curious about.

“Is there a reason why you want me? Why are you so interested in a rookie like me…”

Translation: Why me? PD?

“Does experience matter? I felt it the moment I saw you.”

Translation: I want you.

At that time, Hanjo, who was watching the warm ping-pong between Woojoo and PD Do, cautiously pulled out.

“Then you two can talk…”

Woojoo grabbed his arm.

“It’s awkward to be alone. Stay with us. Haha.”

Translation: Where are you going? We die together.

“…Now that I look at it, this one is also eye-catching. Are you Hanjo from Street Boys? You have a nice body.”

Translation: I want you too.

Hanjo was sad, thinking ‘This is not why I built these muscles’.

Soon, the camera was shining on them, and Woojoo, Hanjo, and PD Do hugged each other.

“Hey! Let’s all smile in advance to celebrate the appearance. Smile.”

“Hahaha.”

And the idol seniors who opened the studio door stepped back as a group at PD Do’s laughter.

“Puhaha!”

“Didn’t you just say it was really funny? You missed a rare sight.”

“How is PD Do? Persistent, right? His motto is ‘Make it happen if it doesn’t’.”

The MCs teased them and Hanjo waved his hand.

“Oh no, not at all. He is very kind.”

“I’m so grateful that he even called me, a rookie. It’s not an easy show to go out on…”

Hanjo’s eyes were moist.

Don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll cry too.

They said “The PD is so kind!” but they looked sad for some reason. Everyone laughed at their pitiful state.

Especially Gu Seonwoong, who was laughing so hard that he almost fell off his chair.

“Now, this call is from the members of TNT.”

“Here it comes.”

As Gu Seonwoong swallowed his saliva, the MC turned to Woojoo and asked as if he had remembered something.

“By the way, you said earlier in your introduction, right? That you and Woojoo were trainees at TJ Entertainment and knew each other from before.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Gu Seonwoong scratched the back of his head and continued, “As far as I know, that kid joined as a trainee since elementary school. He’s actually my senior if you count the years. I joined late, so…”

“He was the boss back then.”

“Woojoo had the upper hand, huh?”

Everyone burst into laughter at the MC’s remark, who was a former athlete.

“Then you must have known the TNT members for a long time, too?”

“Uh, well…”

“Yes. We’ve known each other for a long time.”

Gu Seonwoong stepped in for Woojoo, who was slightly embarrassed.

Woojoo was relieved that he did. It was a tricky part for him to answer.

Everything got sensitive when it came to TNT. Broadcasting was a public place, unlike their personal friendship.

It was hard to get involved with a top idol group with a huge fandom.

There were countless rookie groups who got buried after offending the big fandoms. Just look at the hate comments New Black got. Eighty percent of them came from when they competed with TNT for the first place.

The TNT members also kept their distance from Woojoo when they were on air.

They thought they were doing him a favor, but it could backfire on them.

Fortunately, now they had grown enough to get away with saying “We were very close” like this.

“Can we expect some differentiation here, too?”

“Yes. You can look forward to it.”

Woojoo smiled brightly, and soon the call was connected.

-Hello. Can you hear me?

-Hello.

-Is this working?

It was Taehyun, Jihoon, and Hanbin, in that order. He recognized them as soon as he heard their voice-changed voices.

Gu Seonwoong seemed to understand who was who, but he was a little nervous.

-Hello. Hello!

And there was one more. The one with the most perfect Korean pronunciation among the four.

Hanbyeol.

Jang Hanbyeol.

The only Chinese member of TNT.

His surname was Jang, but he had a five-letter Chinese name, so he made up a stage name of Hanbyeol, meaning he would use three letters too.

He made that name because he wanted to settle in Korea, but he was always in China.

He must have entered the country.

Meanwhile, everyone noticed that the four youngest members of TNT were together.

The only combination of four people who could get together privately on TNT was them.

“Wow, look who’s here.”

-Hi!

“Are you all together right now?”

They chatted briefly about how they came out to eat pasta and their recent activities, and then moved on to the topic of Gu Seonwoong’s ‘deer black history’.

The members teased the leader mercilessly as he looked miserable.

-You should have treated us better.

-Yeah. Karma!

-It’s all the bad karma you accumulated that’s coming back to bite you. Hahaha!

As the distorted voices mocked him cheerfully, Gu Seonwoong shivered and threatened them.

“I know who you are, so don’t mess with me.”

-What are you going to do if we don’t~?

As Gu Seonwoong turned his gaze, Woojoo whispered ‘Seok Jihun’ to him.

“Hey, Seok Jiㅎ…”

-Wait, wait. Hold on. Hyung. I think I just heard a very familiar voice.

-Is that Woojoo? Is that Woojoo?

-Is that Woojoo Hyung? What? Why is Woojoo Hyung there?

-It’s an idol leader special! Idiot!

At the harsh remark of ‘idiot’, everyone in the studio burst into laughter, and Woojoo greeted them politely.

“Hello, Sunbae-nims. I’m Woojoo from New Black.”

-…

A three-second silence.

Then, a deafening roar erupted from the speakers of the studio.

-Ahhhh…!

-I hate this!

-I can’t get used to it. From now on, calling us seniors is forbidden. Forbidden.

One of the MCs asked, “Do you feel uncomfortable with the senior title?”

-Yes. No…

It was Han Taehyun.

-We’re not just acquaintances for a day or two. We’ve known each other for a long time~ on TJ. But on official occasions, you’re so formal.

-Right. I feel hurt!

-We were close-!

-You should say it in the present tense. That’s the past tense.

-Ah, we’re still a little close…

Jang Hanbyeol, who hadn’t been in Korea much, said hesitantly, and they started laughing again.

‘Look how timid he is!’ They teased each other and then called Woojoo.

-Woojoo.

The card with the names of the four of them that Woojoo had suggested beforehand came out.

-Woojoo, do you know who I am?

Woojoo showed him the one that said ‘Han Taehyun Sunbae-nim’, and the people in the studio covered their mouths and chuckled.

-Hi there.

-Why do you greet like that? You look so bland.

-That’s how I have to be.

-Wow. You’re totally anonymous then?

As the names ‘Seok Jihun’, ‘Ji Hanbin’, ‘Seok Jihun’, and ‘Jang Hanbyeol’ alternated on the screen, everyone started laughing and holding their stomachs.

Especially Gu Seonwoong was laughing so hard he almost died.

During the conversation, MC whispered, ‘Who prepared those cards?’ and Yoo Changhyun pointed at Woojoo with his chin.

When MC nodded at Woojoo with a pleased face, Yoo Changhyun asked, “Since we’re on the topic, do you have anything to say to Woojoo? Or any embarrassing stories?”

-Um… I have a lot, actually.

-But I can’t reveal them because the person over there has a lot of cards in his hand.

-It’s like a gold mine!

As the TNT members chatted, Woojoo smiled quietly.

Actually, they had a lot to talk about from their perspective. There were not enough episodes to talk about all day about being clumsy.

But they didn’t bother to touch on the part that was his complex at the time, just to make the show more fun.

Woojoo felt grateful for their consideration…

-Ah! But there’s one interesting episode! It’s not an embarrassing story, but a fascinating one.

He guessed not.

Well, then.

“Oh. What is it? What is it?”

-People who didn’t live in Seoul stayed at the trainee dorm. I lived there with them at the time, and there was one weird thing that happened.

“Ooh.”

-Everyone was tired and sleeping, but as soon as it was dawn, that person would go out to the living room with a strange stick.

Oh. That was fine.

As he listened with a smile, the others looked curious.

“A stick?”

-It was a light stick that the seniors who debuted earlier gave us as a gift. It was very bright.

-It blinds you. Blinds you.

-But he would go out to the living room every night, turn on the flashing function, and stare at it.

Hanjo whispered to Woojoo, ‘What is it?’

-It was really scary. As soon as it was night, he would look at the light stick like a crazy person and mutter.

“Why did he do that?”

-I found out later that he had weak eyes. He said he couldn’t do celebrity activities if his eyes squinted reflexively when the camera flash went off. He said he was trying to adapt his eyes to the light.

“Wow…”

As they looked at Woojoo with admiration, he felt a bit embarrassed and nostalgic.

He did work hard back then.

But he didn’t work that hard. He felt ashamed when it came out so wrapped up.

-He was a hard worker. He made me think I should work hard too.

-We all learned a lot from each other.

-Every time I saw him, I thought, ‘He’s going to make it.’ I thought the same thing when his song did well this time.

As Woojoo smiled at the warm story, Han Taehyun wrapped it up.

-By the way, his nickname was Tinkerbell back then. He would sparkle every night.

Everyone burst into laughter.

The situation that was about to end in a boring way because of the warmth was wrapped up with a sense of humor. After that, the MC made a closing remark.

“You guys have known each other for a long time.”

-Yes! I’m glad it worked out!

-Awesome!

-I wish you would do better and buy us some food-!

-Right! When are you going to buy us food~!

-Food, food, food!

-Dubi duba!

Woojoo smiled gently at the talk that went on without a break.

“Well, then I’ll work harder to buy food for my Sunbae-nims…”

-Ahhh!

-He said it. I got pasta on my nose.

-Pfft!

-Excuse me! Can I have a handkerchief please!!

The guests laughed at the mess that happened on the other side.

Woojoo had been quietly smiling all this time.

He thought it would either be a low-level dark history or pass by without a mention, but he didn’t expect this warm comment to come back.

It felt like they had laid the groundwork for him to talk more comfortably about himself on the show in the future.

Woojoo was happy to read their intention.

It was when he smiled, remembering the kids who were bouncing around back then.

On the opposite side where the commotion was settled, the excited voices called out their leader.

-Well, let’s end the warm talk here.

-Gu Seonwoong-!

-Gu Seonwoong, come back out!

Gu Seonwoong made a bewildered expression.

“Hey. Come on. You guys are so sweet to Woojoo. But to me…”

-You’re a different case. Kyak kyak kyak!

-Let’s finish him off today! Gu-ssi!

After that, someone’s agonizing scream didn’t stop.

The recording atmosphere got more and more ripe.

As the motto of the show said, ‘Your embarrassment is our pleasure’, everyone was having fun.

The recording was long and tiring, but the mood was good.

There was a common saying that editing was everything in entertainment.

The same content could be more or less funny depending on the PD’s ability.

But the content that came out now was impossible to be boring even with bad editing.

The idea of going to the second part seemed to be more than a joke, as the production staff, including the PD, looked tired but bright.

“Today’s atmosphere is good.” The eldest MC said in a seasoned tone, “Usually, when the recording is long, I yawn a lot. It should be boring, but today it’s worth watching.”

“Our guests are working hard. They’re burning their bodies for the show.”

The idol guests laughed.

But unlike the production staff and MCs who were rejuvenated by the pouring broadcast volume, the guests had dark circles under their eyes.

Especially TNT, Teen Spirit, and Woojoo, who are famous for being busy and running around music shows these days.

Everyone was laughing, but they must be dying with only two or three hours of sleep.

If the recording continued at this pace, they might have to go straight to the broadcasting station without sleeping.

Well. The volume came first.

He could just take a nap on the sofa in the waiting room later.

“Woojoo, you look a bit tired?”

“Yeah, I lost my energy because of the testimony from my elementary school classmates.”

“No, I’m not. I’m very energetic.”

Woojoo deliberately opened his eyes wide and denied it, and the writers clapped and laughed.

Did he make a funny face?

One of the MCs said with a mischievous smile, “Since you look sleepy, we’re going to move on to your corner now.”

“You don’t have to. I’m very sin… energetic.”

He must be tired.

He unconsciously almost said the three forms of ‘sing’ that he learned when he studied English: sing-sang-sung.

He shook his head and appealed ‘I’m energetic!’ and the MCs connected the phone.

-Hello.

A male voice.

Who was it? It was a very familiar voice, unlike Junghyun. Yoo Changhyun, who was glancing at the MC script, asked, “First of all, I’m sorry to call you at this late hour.”

-It’s okay! The writer said that the later the call, the more generous the gift card… Cough cough!

Everyone chuckled at the happy laugh that stemmed from capitalism.

But he couldn’t laugh.

The moment he heard the laughter, he recognized who it was. And then he woke up completely.

“…!”

He sat up with a startled face.

A person who should never appear had appeared.