In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 301:

The three-day concert came to a successful close.

-New Black, wraps up their first concert after debut… “They only have to soar from now on.”

-“We were happy for three days” New Black thanks fans ahead of new album

-New Black Rihyuk, reveals his shy love for Soufflé on SNS with ‘I love you… Soufflé’

“Nobody say anything. Seriously.”

“Pfft…”

“Aaaah!”

I laughed and held my stomach as I looked at someone who had made a ‘squeak’ face to the fans for three days in a row.

“Who confesses their love so boldly from the first day and creates this situation?”

“Crushed by the disaster you brought upon yourself~”

“Shut up, Wang Jiho!”

“Puhaha!”

Bi Ju and I giggled and rolled around the living room of our accommodation.

It was Sunday night.

We had finished our last concert at the handball stadium and were lounging around in our room.

The youngest, who was yawning, asked.

“Didn’t they say the music video will be released at midnight?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah, I’m sleepy… I want to see it, but I’m so tired.”

I looked at the youngest who said he was sleepy to death and turned my head to Junghyun.

“Junghyun.”

“Yes, hyung.”

Junghyun immediately gave Jiho a piggyback ride.

I smiled enviously as I watched the youngest who was flying on a plane and screaming ‘woooo’ at the age of eighteen.

Bi Ju, who was peeling an apple, bit an apple into Jiho’s mouth.

“Jiho, be quiet a little.”

“Yes, wooo…”

The youngest nodded obediently to the housewife’s words to be quiet for the neighbors on the weekend night.

While Rihyuk and Bi Ju sat quietly on the sofa, the rest of us rolled around on the floor.

The lights that I looked at while lying flat on the wooden floor turned into a hazy cluster of light.

“Are you guys spacing out too?”

“Yes.”

The lights felt like stage lights because of the aftermath of the concert.

-Wow!

It sounded like the sound of waves when I listened to the conch shell.

The sight of the Soufflés singing along to the fireworks was also vivid in my eyes.

The concert ended a few hours ago, but the lingering feeling was still there.

Is this why the seniors and TNT scumbags said you have to do a concert to feel it?

The youngest who was rolling around next to me said.

“But I’m a little sad too. It feels more and more as the days go by, but the previous day’s performance was so regrettable.”

“Right. Me too.”

“Really? There’s this thing. I could have done better, but I regret it…”

I sympathized.

It seemed that you had to accumulate real experience in the field of performance.

We had shown our skills that we had honed through competitions, year-end stages, college events, etc., but a solo concert had its own know-how, from the ment to the small gestures.

It felt regrettable when it became familiar to my body on the third day.

Of course, our fans were happy, but from the perspective of an artist who strives for perfection in performance, it felt that way.

“Well, it’s still our first concert. We’ll do better next time.”

“Right.”

Bi Ju smiled and handed me an apple with a fork.

“Let’s do better at the gymnastics next time.”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

We laughed with our siblings and said we would do a concert at a bigger gymnastics stadium than a handball stadium next year.

Then Bi Ju, who was looking at the wall clock, said.

“Oh, it’s 11:09.”

“Space time~”

“Space time~ Please make our album do well.”

They waved their hands and said ‘space time~’ at the same time as my birthday.

I burst into laughter as I watched my siblings.

The Soufflés who were waiting for the music video of ‘Nine’ were the same.

-Space time~~~

-Zen Min time~

-Space, be happyㅠ

-Sparkling grandpa time

-Woojoo, may your album be a hit

They were Soufflés who wished us success for our album, even though there were some traps along the way.

“By the way, what about our song?”

Rihyuk tapped the tablet with his finger.

“Do you think the general public will like it too?”

“Why not? This time, not only the Soufflés, but also our families said they liked the song.”

Jiho nodded.

“That’s right. My sisters only listen to the songs they know, but this time they said they would download Nine.”

“My father said he would recommend it to the people in the neighborhood as a work song.”

“Minjun also said he liked the song.”

It might have been because of the ‘a hedgehog thinks its child is soft’ filter, but our families’ reviews were very good.

Yein, who lives in the US, also liked it because it was trendy.

“Then maybe we can relax a little…?”

It was the question that came up every time we released an album: ‘Will this sell?’

Fortunately, this time we had already checked the fans’ reactions by revealing it at the concert.

It was amazing.

-What is Nine? I want to listen to it tooㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-What did Bijoo do in Nine’s dance break…?? Why can’t I see it…???

-They say it’s a banger, why can’t I see it?

-Every time I see the reviews, I feel like na na na na Nine in in in in

-I want to see Woojoo’s low rap… I want to hear the cave rap

The Soufflés who came back from the concert said ‘Everyone, Nine is really a masterpieceㅠㅠ’, which made the curiosity explode.

“Yeah. With such a good response…”

Surely the general public wouldn’t say ‘What is this?’

We smiled warmly at each other, saying ‘Hey, no way’.

“…”

“…”

Then we rushed to Junghyun like crazy.

“Deng-ah. Our Deng-ah.”

“The magic conch shell.”

“Tell us. Deng-ah. How do you feel about this album? Is it ominous? Is it bad and fiery?”

He was the one who always caused trouble whenever he said he had a good feeling.

When we debuted, Street Boys suddenly came out with a self-composed song concept, and at the showcase, there was a sound accident.

“Mister, I thought you didn’t believe in superstitions.”

“What are you talking about? I love superstitions.”

“…”

I hoped nothing bad would happen, and Rihyuk shook his head at me.

Meanwhile, Junghyun, who had been stroking his chin and saying ‘Hmm’, spoke.

When he was about to open his mouth.

“Ahh!”

We both raised our hands and warned him in advance.

“No! Good feelings are forbidden.”

“Deng! No. Kim Junghyun.”

We laughed for a moment at Bijoo’s baby-like ‘Deng!’.

Junghyun tilted his head.

“I don’t know. Half positive, half ambiguous.”

“Ah…”

“We’re in trouble. Junghyun hyung said he feels positive. Now a huge incident is going to happen.”

We were the ones who checked the social and entertainment news to see if there was anything wrong.

I hope there’s no bad news related to ‘9’.

“But it’s okay.”

“Why?”

“Because Woojoo hyung will cover it up.”

“Me?”

Since when did I agree to cover it up…?

The youngest looked at me with disbelief and said confidently.

“It’s the rule of New Black that if Junghyun hyung makes a bad prophecy, hyung will turn it around. Like when you fixed the sound accident at the showcase and said ‘We’re so talented~’.”

“That’s right. We have Woojoo hyung.”

Bijoo also looked relieved.

‘I trust you’ he said, opening his eyes wide.

I felt pressured when I saw the two of them.

Rihyuk said.

“Just because Junghyun hyung has a good feeling doesn’t mean something bad will happen.”

“Yeah. Listen to Rihyuk, guys.”

“It’s just that the scale is huge.”

“…”

As I put on my earphones and listened to ‘Duksoon-ah’, I saw Durumi, who was excited and chattering away.

The youngest one turned on the app for the electronic billboard and flashed the words ‘The youngest trusts the leader’ with a star.

“…”

The others laughed at my indifferent expression.

As we killed time like that.

The moment when it passed 11:59 p.m. and became midnight on August 31st.

“It’s out…!”

The music video was uploaded to the official MTube account ‘New Black TV’.

While New Black clicked on it, the fingers of the Soufflés who were scattered all over the country also moved quickly.

「New Black – ‘Nine’ Official MV (4:33) 」

Soon, the music video flowed on the screen.

The background was the subway.

‘Hmm…?’

As the subway stopped and people got on and off, they were illuminated by the lights, sitting with their hoods pulled over their heads.

Under the hood, Bijoo’s fingers, which were tidying up the wine-colored hair that had fallen out, were full of accessories.

Including Jiho, who was blonde, Rihyuk, who was blue-black, and Junghyun, who was brown.

And Woojoo, who was wearing a mask under his gray hair and closing his eyes.

‘That’s why they said they were unhealthy grandpas.’

The Soufflés agreed.

When they spoiled the album on the live broadcast, they said, ‘Woojoo hyung looks a bit sick at the beginning of the music video.’

He actually looked fine, but after hearing the members’ words, he somehow looked like that.

“Hmm…”

I shook my head and shook off that thought.

The subway, which was busy with people coming and going, started to empty out.

Along with the members who were sitting sparsely, the subway lights began to flicker.

As the subway made a clunking sound in the darkness.

The lights came on with a whoosh.

‘Wow…’

They had come out of a bridge somewhere, and a dazzling night view unfolded outside the window.

A CG-synthesized background.

It looked like Seoul, but it was a city with a strange impression.

The cyberpunk city with colorful neon signs was the place where the music video would unfold.

-The music video is awesome…

-The intro hasn’t even started yet and my heart is pounding ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Is Kyuho’s wallet okay?? I’m worried about him at this point

-Kyuho seems more sincere than us

-The rainy background has a nice vibe

In the drizzling rain, the neon signs of fluorescent colors glowed dimly in the alley.

It was a background that suited the title of the mini-album ‘Neon Black’.

The members, who were walking leisurely, changed their outfits and started singing as they took off their masks or hoods.

The reaction to ‘Nine’ was unanimously positive.

-Finally a sexy conceptㅠㅠㅠㅠ Grandma cries

-The song is really good… I think I know why the people who went to the concert were raving about Nine ㅇㅇ

-The addiction is crazy… Nine Nine Nine

-I like how they look rough

-I sincerely respect all the people who were in charge of Nine’s outfits and makeup

-Our kids who came down from heaven to do a world tourㅠㅠ

-New Black : Please make us three / Stylist :

Various scenes of the music video followed.

Jiho smiled and sprayed paint on the CCTV screen.

The members dancing on the rooftop where the power was cut off, with the background painted with fluorescent paint.

Especially, the highlight scene where Junghyun stopped the heavy rain at once received great praise.

As the views rose rapidly, New Black’s new song MV also went up on the idol community.

[The New Black comeback MV that is exploding among fans right now.metube]

As a hot singer who had a lot of interest from other idol fans, the music video soon became a hot topic.

-What’s wrong with the styling

-It’s a bit tacky… Is it just me

-They’re suffering a lot for an unflattering sexy conceptㅋㅋㅋ

-The song is good. I hope they compete fairly with their skills this time, not like last time ^^

After the people who followed the law of early comments and wrote malicious comments on New Black’s posts passed by.

The praises of other fans who watched the music video continued.

-What’s with the initial flow;

-But basically, they’re all handsome even if they do a sexy conceptㅋㅋㅋ

I couldn’t help but admire the way he played with a fierce expression on his face for almost 30 seconds.

‘How can he have such good lung capacity?’

Soon, a character with the English subtitle ‘The Goat’s Friend’ appeared and sang even longer, and Woojoo started to blow his whistle like a cobra for a minute.

I laughed at the sight of Blueguy shaking nervously.

‘What is this? It’s weird but funny…’

The people who entered the account called NewBlackTV clicked on the video list to kill time.

There were hundreds of videos there.

They were the videos that NewBlack had accumulated one by one since their debut, including reality shows.

And the highlight among them was.

‘What the hell is this?’

They were the strange things that appeared on the recommended video list.

A video with a thumbnail of a scene where someone lit a fire with a branch.

Below that, someone with a haughty face wearing a royal robe was causing trouble at a feast.

‘Historical adventurers?’

And below that, there were more weird things.

‘…They subdued SWAT?’

A video of someone in a black suit tormenting a special forces officer, along with a rappelling training video.

And even a scene of baking.

‘What is this? Do they have to do more than just singing to survive in Korea?’

As the foreign fans wondered about the bizarre things, the people in various places clicked on the mouse.

“…!”

And then, a new world unfolded before them.

11 a.m.

“Ugh, I’m dying.”

“They say your mouth will twist if you sleep on the floor, but luckily it didn’t.”

“Ugh…”

We smiled warmly at each other, showing off our faces that looked like swollen toads.

Monday, August 31st.

“Today is NewBlack’s comeback day.”

“Woohoo-”

“Our crazy kids, you worked hard.”

“My useless brother, you worked hard too.”

We exchanged compliments to celebrate our comeback day, and then we sat around the table to prepare for breakfast.

While Bijoo was rummaging through the fridge with an apron on, I yawned and asked.

“Hey, how many views did our music video get yesterday?”

“Just a sec.”

Rihyuk took out his tablet PC and started tapping his fingers.

Click.

Then he suddenly stopped.

He looked frozen like a statue, and we asked him.

“What’s wrong? Did someone make a spelling mistake in the comments?”

“Or did you see a comment that distorted history?”

“…”

Rihyuk stared blankly at the screen and stayed still. We snatched the tablet PC from him, puzzled by his petrified look.

And then.

“Ten hundred thousand… hundred thousand… times…”

“…What is this?”

“Wait, let me see again. Ten hundred thousand… Wait. They’re saying congratulations on 1m, what does that mean?”

“One million. That’s a million, right?”

Bijoo stopped his hand that was searching the fridge.

“…”

“…”

While we were silent, the fridge beeped as if to say ‘Close me! Close me!’

I swallowed my saliva and asked.

“How long has it been?”

“About 11 hours.”

“But the views are…”

The number ‘1,036,825’ that was stamped on our music video caught our eyes.

One million views in 11 hours.

We woke up to find that we had hit the jackpot.

-Wow, did you see what came out today?

-This is going to blow up for sure. The song is good and the music video is the best they’ve ever done. Seriously, this is the best music video I’ve seen recently.

-The quality is amazing. It’s like a movie.

-After Scarlet, Yeonseok hit a home run too. Was it true that Kyuho wrote the music video with his hair? He’s a genius.

-New Black always seemed like soft tofu, I didn’t think they could pull this off. But they nailed it.

As they reacted to the quality of the music video, they also started to talk about each member individually.

-That red guy is Bijoo, right? He looked quiet, but he’s got charisma.

-Danbe is cool. He’s got style.

-I felt butterflies when Daegil’s friend walked in.

-Woojoo? Wasn’t he a vocal member? He can rap too. Charcoal, did you guys know this?

-No, we were shocked too when they pre-released it.

-Really? Then let’s be shocked together.

-His rap voice is so sexy. I’m drunk.

-It’s so satisfying when it explodes after the bridge.

-The beat is insane. It’s been a while since I’ve been this excited listening to a song.

And there were some who gave their predictions about the music video.

-Looking at the views, it seems like it’s going to explode.

-The music video concept and everything is full of points that the fans will go crazy for.

-They won’t be able to sleep after seeing this.

-Considering the time difference, it’s not their usual sleeping time anyway.

At the same time.

In various parts of the world, people who were browsing K-pop related content saw an interesting video pop up as a recommendation.

It was New Black’s ‘Nine’ music video.

“Wow…”

And their reactions were not much different from the Koreans’.

‘What is this? What is this?’

Something dazzling was unfolding before their eyes.

A city with rain falling down.

The five members dancing their bones off in the dreamy neon signs.

Their beauty that made them swallow their saliva every time they saw them, and their explosive dance moves that made their hearts pound.

‘…New Black?’

If they knew anything about K-pop, they would all know the name.

They had already seen them once through the music video of Masquerade, which had a good response from overseas fans.

They were one of the most popular boy groups in Korea right now.

Whether they were in East Asia or Southeast Asia, or in North America or South America, if they were interested in K-pop, they had to know. Usually, the popularity in Korea was reflected in the popularity overseas as well.

But even if they knew about New Black, the music video they were watching now felt unfamiliar.

‘They’re so cool.’

‘Who’s that guy rapping?’

It didn’t take long for the stories related to them to start popping up on the community and SNS where overseas K-pop fans gathered.

The YouTube comment section also started to buzz in no time.

-If anyone knows the name of that red guy, please tell me who he is.

┕His name is Bijoo 😀

┕Got it. He’s my husband from today.

-I’m repeating this song <3

-Can someone please add subtitles? I’m too old to learn Korean now.

┕By the way, why do the Korean fans here call themselves ‘souffle’ and ‘charcoal’? Is there a reason they’re food and inanimate objects?

┕I’m Korean! I’ll give you a link for the reason why they’re souffle. There’s a sad legend of Woojoo here.

-How can anyone dislike this song?

-The surname of the gray-haired guy is Sun? I agree.

-I’m glad I got life insurance a while ago. I almost had a heart attack three times while watching this.

-I still can’t decide who to marry out of the five. This music video is too short.

-Korea goes to the army, right? These guys must have gone to the air force. They dropped a hot bomb in my heart.

As all kinds of jokes flew around, the people who watched ‘Nine’ music video started to spread it as if they couldn’t keep it to themselves.

As posts started to pop up on SNS one after another.

In the early morning of Korean time, when the five members who were lying around the living room like empty snack bags were tossing and turning in their sleep.

The views of New Black’s ‘Nine’ started to rise rapidly.

While YouTube was freezing the views after detecting a sudden change.

‘I’m curious.’

The people who had watched Nine music video started to click on the content of New Black that popped up as a recommended video.

“…?”

A content where they asked Q&A to New Black.

‘How is the lung capacity of Rihyuk, the main vocal?’ As the question was asked, the blue guy took a deep breath and started to play the recorder.