In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe-Chapter 79:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 79

Are you good at digging?

Woojoo asked the PD, hiding his confusion, “Digging?”

“Um, I just wanted to check that first.”

“I don’t know if I’m good at it, but I’ve done it quite a bit.”

“Really?”

He crossed his arms and fell into his thoughts.

While Seokhwan Hyung went to the counter to order coffee for the PD, Woojoo recalled what happened yesterday.

‘Guys! You’re fixed for the variety show!’

Last night, Seokhwan Hyung called Woojoo with a hoarse voice and rambled on.

He said he had a hard time for a month, he would make them famous, he loved Seon Woojoo, he would be mad if they didn’t work hard, variety shows were difficult, etc.

He had a lot to say, but they only heard two things.

Around the World With Dice.

Chuseok Special.

Woojoo couldn’t believe it and asked him several times.

Around the World With Dice, aka ‘Roda’, was a national variety show that was so popular.

It was the undisputed top in terms of ratings.

If PBS’s ‘Mr. Producer’ was popular among young viewers, Roda was a program that was popular among all age groups.

And they were going to be guests there. It was hard to believe.

At first, Woojoo thought he was joking.

Make some sense.

How could they be on the Chuseok Special of Roda, a program that even Kim Deoksoon, who didn’t know much about TV shows, knew?

Honestly, they were still skeptical.

It was too unbelievable.

But seeing the grim man in front of Woojoo lost in thought, it felt real.

PD Gu Jaeyong.

The star PD who created a national variety show with a very simple format of rolling dice to decide the next filming location and mission.

He was so famous that there were more cafe customers looking at him than New Black.

By the way…

What he said in the interview was true.

Woojoo skimmed through some articles beforehand to get to know him better, and they matched his current appearance.

He said he only thought about the show all day, and he said things that seemed natural to him, but the other person was confused.

“Ah.”

He seemed to snap out of it and smiled when he saw the coffee.

“I’ll enjoy the coffee, sir.”

He looked at them and scratched the back of his head.

“Did you guys get confused?”

“Not at all.”

“I’ve been thinking about the special all day, and I have a rough sketch in my head, but I need someone who can dig well to get the captions and scenes I want.”

“Oh…”

“Anyway, I’m sorry for the late introduction.”

He smiled and greeted them.

“Nice to meet you. New Black friends.”

“Hello! We are New Black!”

They all smiled and bowed their heads.

The atmosphere was friendly.

It was their first meeting, and it was a light occasion to get to know each other over a cup of coffee.

“Do you feel nervous?”

“Yes, really.”

“All the rookie guests have the same expression.”

“I’m especially amazed. I was watching Roda in the army barracks this time last year.”

“Us too. We thought they were lying, sir.”

He laughed and said to Seokhwan Hyung, “Be nice to him. He worked really hard. He came to see me every day with coffee and cake.”

“…I did bother you a lot.”

“Thanks to that, we have this good connection.”

The PD said with a compliment.

“When I meet guests as a PD, I usually get a sense of how they will be on the show. But New Black is especially good. I’m not lying, I feel like something will come out well.”

He rubbed his mustache and looked at Junghyun.

“Junghyun, right? I especially feel something from you.”

“Me?”

Woojoo burst out laughing at his face, which was sniffing his clothes with his head tilted.

The PD, who had been smiling politely until then, showed a genuine grin for the first time and asked them, “Is he always like this?”

“Yes, he’s really hard to control sometimes.”

“Good, good. We need characters like this.”

That seemed to spark his interest, and he started to ask Junghyun various questions.

Where he grew up, whether he worked on a farm, and so on.

As the conversation went on, he drank his coffee less and less.

When he turned to them with questions, he even took out his phone and made notes.

“Bijoo, you said cooking is your specialty?”

“Yes, I learned a lot from blogs, TV, books, you name it. I also love it, and I’ve been used to making my own meals since I was young.”

“Do you know how to make holiday dishes too?”

“Yes, I have a video of me making jeon for Lunar New Year this year.”

Bijoo showed him the evidence on his phone, and he nodded and wrote it down.

“Let’s see, Rihyuk. Singing, quizzes, cleaning…?”

“Yes, yes! I’m the main vocal, so I love cleaning!”

They tried to hold back their laughter at Rihyuk, who was saying anything out of nervousness.

PD Gu Jaeyong frowned.

“Really? You love cleaning?”

“Yes, that’s true…”

“Wow, that’s great. I can picture the scene perfectly.”

While Rihyuk was feeling uneasy in the strange atmosphere, the PD who was thinking hard by himself looked at Jiho. 𝓯𝑟𝓮ℯ𝘸ℯ𝘣𝑛ℴ𝘷ℯ𝓵.𝘤𝑜𝑚

“I don’t need to ask Jiho.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t think you need to do anything. You’ll be popular with the elders just by standing still.”

He was sharp.

Woojoo was a bit annoyed by the youngest’s expression of pride, saying ‘I’m cute after all’.

“And Woojoo…”

Maybe because of the military, the PD who had been listening to Woojoo about what had happened since last November until now spoke.

“I’ll have a lot to show you, or rather, show you. With Junghyun.”

You just said you’ll squeeze it out.

The person who looked like a bandit gave Woojoo and Junghyun a look of interest. It was scary, but it was a good thing.

National entertainment, and even something that could be on the Chuseok Special. That was the best situation they hoped for.

The meeting that was supposed to last for about 10 minutes ended when the ice in the coffee melted.

“When TNT was a rookie and came on our show, it felt just like this. This feels good,” the PD who was getting up from his seat said.

When PD Gu Jaeyong, who was talking to Seokhwan Hyung about the main shooting schedule and the pre-meeting, turned his head to say goodbye to them, he said as if he remembered something.

“I forgot to tell you that.”

“Yes?”

“You said you were worried about the doll costume promise earlier.”

Wow, they told you a lot of stories today to a stranger.

He said, scratching his mustache, “I’m saying this to repay you for the free coffee I’ve been mooching off you, but our team has a prop that we’re throwing away. Do you want to take it? It’s something we made for filming but didn’t use.”

“…?”

“It’s very unique and cute.”

“…!”

And ten minutes later.

They went to the prop room warehouse and shouted, “Eureka!”

***

The streets of Myeongdong on Friday afternoon were always crowded.

Not only Koreans, but also Chinese and Japanese tourists who came here for summer vacation were chatting in their own languages and making the street lively.

People who set up stalls were selling ice cream and snacks, and the street was crowded with customers looking for various cosmetic shops and duty-free shops.

Around lunchtime, when the staff with menus in foreign languages were busy moving around the restaurants, some electric wires and amps were installed in front of a building.

“What’s that? What are they doing?”

The passers-by started to look with curiosity.

They didn’t know what it was, but they had a feeling that something was going to happen soon.

They stopped their steps and naturally formed a semi-circle around it.

What were they doing?

Some tourists wondered if a Korean singer was coming out, some couples thought that there might be a puppet show because the place was spacious, and some people hoped for a prize event.

Along with the majestic BGM.

The door of the building opened and what appeared was something they never imagined.

“That, right now…”

“Is that a penguin?”

They were giant penguins.

They were strange penguin dolls with different species and expressions, walking and waddling.

Someone burst into laughter and people took out their smartphones.

They had a feeling that it would be fun.

The penguins showed themselves one by one.

A baby penguin with fluffy fur walked out, followed by a gentoo penguin that looked mean.

Then came a noble penguin that waddled elegantly and a king penguin that waddled boldly.

And lastly.

Everyone laughed at the appearance of the emperor penguin with a crown on its head.

‘What is that?’

It was amazing to see.

While the others felt like they were watching people walking in costume, the emperor penguin seemed like a real penguin.

It was customized to look like a human, but somehow it acted like a real penguin.

It looked like it came out of a documentary about Antarctica.

People laughed at its huge waddling.

A couple who was laughing uproariously whispered to each other.

“What are they doing?”

“I don’t know. Is it a children’s event?”

“It doesn’t look like it’s for children. The penguins look scary, don’t they?”

It was because of their awkwardness that Gu Jaeyong ordered them for a special feature on Antarctica and then discarded them as unlucky works.

But considering the atmosphere, they thought that a penguin animation song would come out.

The prelude that came out with the thumping of the amp was unexpected music.

“Isn’t that TNT’s song?”

“Yeah, it is.”

The first song that came out was BLINK, the most popular song in East Asia by TNT.

As they heard the familiar song, the tourists’ eyes were drawn to it.

But the song composition was not only TNT’s.

There were Teen Spirit, Autumn Girl, and Scarlet.

It was a medley of K-pop songs that had been popular in the music industry recently.

And then.

“Hahaha!”

The reason why people couldn’t help but laugh was because of the dance moves that the five penguins followed.

They were elegant but somehow cute because of the costumes.

The moves that stretched out their arms became flapping wings, and their heavy bodies shook every time they bounced their steps.

It was not smooth, but rather bouncy.

But there were two unrivaled beings among them who wore those costumes.

One was the noble penguin that looked beautiful.

It was a penguin that caught the eye even though it jumped around and moved its wings like cheerleading.

Many people’s eyes followed it from the start of the show.

They had never seen such a graceful dancing doll before.

And then, the noble penguin stepped back and switched places with someone at the center.

They high-fived each other by clapping their wings.

The emperor penguin emerged with a haughty strut.

They were amazed by the noble penguin, but now they burst out laughing.

“What is this, they look like real penguins.”

It felt like they were penguins who learned how to dance from idols.

Someone joked that they were masters of describing movements.

Then, a sudden incident happened.

The crown of the emperor penguin, who was dancing breakdance fiercely, fell off.

“Oh no…!”

He knelt down and picked up his crown, carefully putting it back on.

The people laughed again at his sight.

The penguins’ dance continued for five minutes and ended.

The people who were there laughed at the ending scene.

“Aww, how cute.”

The baby penguin, who was in a good mood, ran to hug someone, but the grumpy-looking gentoo penguin slapped him away with his wing.

The baby penguin fell over.

The noble penguin, who was going to help him up, also tripped and rolled over.

The king penguin walked over and lifted them up by putting his wings under their armpits.

And then, the emperor penguin walked over and bumped the gentoo penguin with his plump belly, getting his revenge.

The penguins bowed their heads together, holding their wings.

It felt like watching a comedy skit.

The people clapped and laughed loudly.

“Hey, don’t push me!”

“My phone!”

The crowd had grown in no time.

And half of them were filming with their smartphones.

“Excuse me.”

A man with a grim expression appeared, pushing through the crowd. He approached the penguins.

He looked like he was related to them.

‘Are they a dance team?’

The people felt that their identity would be revealed soon.

Most of them thought they were a dance team.

If they were idols or celebrities, they wouldn’t need to wear those costumes.

They would have shown their faces right away.

Then, they must be ordinary people.

But their dance skills were too good to be non-dancers.

That was what everyone thought.

Especially, the noble penguin and the emperor penguin.

No.

Actually, the emperor penguin was the most interesting.

Who was the owner of that posture that looked like a real penguin walking out?

A comedian?

Soon.

The staff appeared and helped them take off their doll heads.

Pop-

And when the faces covered in sweat emerged from the steamy costumes, everyone swallowed their saliva.

Someone exclaimed.

“Wow…”

Inside the costumes were actors.

No.

They were faces so handsome that they could be mistaken for actors.

One by one, as they revealed their faces, cheers erupted.

The atmosphere of the audience changed drastically from the cute one they had before.

The cute baby penguin had a bright smile and a youthful appearance, flapping his wings happily.

The penguin that had a sharp face and was cooling off his sweat with his wings.

The noble penguin and the king penguin had a refined boy and a man with bushy eyebrows, respectively.

And the last one, the most anticipated one.

The emperor penguin who had captivated everyone’s attention throughout the event took off his costume and there was a moment of silence.

“…”

He was wiping his wet hair with his wings, and his face was unrealistically beautiful.

He smiled awkwardly at the audience and admiration flowed out.

‘He was that penguin…?’

‘Hello, we are the rookie idol group New Black!’ Even as they heard the greeting, people were staring blankly at their faces.

When their images were imprinted in their minds like afterimages.

The five members received microphones, as if they were preparing for a new performance.

When they wondered what they were going to do next.

A very refreshing melody flowed out of the amp.

That day, it was a Fireworks song that everyone who was there would never forget.

***

The reaction on the scene was really good.

Woojoo was so happy that he felt like jumping, because it was unexpected.

They prepared this project with the intention of being as cute and funny as possible, since they didn’t have confidence in meeting the expectations of their fans.

Woojoo felt inferior while watching penguin videos on YouTube and imitating their movements, but seeing the response made him think it was worth it.

And their efforts also paid off.

“My name is Woojoo, like the greatest star in the universe, that Woojoo.”

Woojoo explained his name in Chinese characters to a Chinese tourist, and in English to those from the West.

He always wondered when he would use the English and Chinese he learned from TJ.

But he finally felt like it was shining.

With that communication, Woojoo repeated New Black enough to engrave it in the ears of those who came from abroad.

“Did you enjoy it? We are New Black.”

“It was fun, right? It was our first attempt as New Black.”

“Goodbye. We were New Black.”

Woojoo was in charge of interpreting other languages except Japanese, and there was a funny episode when he interpreted Chinese.

“He’s asking if you’re a Chinese descendant?”

“Hyung, what’s a Chinese descendant?”

“I’ll translate it for you.”

Some people were puzzled why Wang, a Chinese surname, couldn’t speak Chinese.

Woojoo decided to explain to Jiho later what an overseas Chinese was.

Meanwhile, Woojoo felt like a Hallyu idol, being in Myeongdong where there were many tourists.

Maybe that was why he was in such a good mood.

After fulfilling their promise for being a first-place candidate, Woojoo felt like they finally wrapped up their music show activities.

Their first album was really over.

Woojoo felt relieved and exhilarated.

It all started when he found a source in May, and it snowballed into this ending.

It was a new feeling.

If he had met his past self and told him this story, would he have believed him?

That the song Woojoo made would rank within the top 100, that the rough sketch of Night Sea that he made back then would receive love as a demo version on the radio.

That Junghyun fixing a pump at an event would lead to a national variety show appearance.

And that they would be lucky enough to be a first-place candidate on a music show.

He would never have believed it.

Woojoo couldn’t help but laugh cheerfully.

Of course, it was only the end of their first album activities, and they still had a long way to go, but he wanted to enjoy this moment for now.

‘You did well, guys.’

As Woojoo looked at his younger brothers who were busy talking to the people around them, he saw the sunset sky behind the crowd.

It was red like fireworks.

Woojoo smiled at the sight.

July 25th, 2014.

With the dance moves of five penguins, their long first album activities came to an end.