In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 184

Chapter 25. Challenge, Finding the Masterpiece!

On Sunday morning, they arrived at their accommodation from Incheon Airport and fell asleep right away.

And Woojoo had a nightmare for the first time in a long time.

-You ungrateful bastard!

The pigs from Crayon Shinchan trampled on him.

‘Ah! Why are you doing this to me?’ he protested, but they said he didn’t know his sins and beat him up.

Repent and say you’ll eat beef from now on, they said. Then they hit him with their hooves, asking if he had any money left.

Woojoo got scolded for a while.

They must have felt sorry for hitting him so hard, because they offered him a disgusting soup while he was lying down.

-What is this?

-It’s dark matter cold soup. It’ll raise your HP.

-No way!

Woojoo screamed in his dream and finally woke up.

It was the most horrible nightmare he had recently, so he grabbed his siblings and shared the content with them as soon as he got up.

Most of them laughed, but there was one who looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

“So what’s the conclusion?”

“It’s your fault that I had a nightmare.”

“What did I do?”

“Rihyuk. It’s because you came up with this weird title called Dark Matter.”

“That’s your own fault for having a weak mental. Anyway, you always blame others…”

Of course, it wasn’t entirely because of Dark Matter that he had a nightmare.

To be exact, it was 70% because of the plane, but Dark Matter also had a significant impact.

At first, he thought it was a joke and tried to ignore it, but it turned out he was serious.

-How is it? Not bad, right?

He said with a pleased expression, but Woojoo felt suffocated.

Woojoo wondered how to reject him without hurting his feelings, but luckily, their youngest solved that problem.

With a bright smile, he said one word.

-Dog.

-Dog?

-It’s crappy. The title.

And so, the title went back to undecided.

They had a meeting while eating the breakfast that Bijoo prepared, and everyone agreed that anything would be better than Dark Matter.

“Well, we have plenty of time to decide on the title later. Let’s think about it slowly,” Woojoo said, pointing at the monitor.

On Sunday afternoon.

They were working on the song that would be the title track for their third album in the company studio.

Bijoo and Woojoo sat in front of the laptop and arranged the harmony and mood of the song to match Rihyuk’s lyrics, and Rihyuk tapped his notebook with a pen, thinking about the title.

“Should we go for a softer and more lyrical feel?”

“Hmm… I think the B part is better as it is. If it’s too lyrical, it might lose its edge.”

“Then let’s stick to the original plan.”

Woojoo worked on the song as if he was carving a gem, carefully discussing with their siblings every time they cut or added something.

Meanwhile, there were others who were doing different things behind him.

“What’s the problem, Hyung?”

“Here… I don’t like the bridge part. I need to make it smoother until the hook.”

“Uh, what should we do? I don’t know.”

“Oh, really?”

Woojoo heard Junghyun’s warm laugh.

“I’m glad. I thought I was the only one who didn’t know.”

Woojoo smiled quietly at the sight of the two fools looking at their laptop with their foreheads touching on the sofa.

Woojoo turned his head and asked, “Do you need any help?”

“It’s rap.” Junghyun shook his head. “It’s my field, so I’ll try it myself. Hyung.”

Woojoo threw an apple slice as a sign of support, and Junghyun caught it with his mouth.

He was amazing.

How could he catch food so easily from this distance… No, no, that wasn’t it.

He was impressed by his words that he would try it himself with his own strength.

Was it heartwarming?

The next album would have a title track that Bijoo, Rihyuk, and Woojoo participated in, but Junghyun’s mixtape would also be included as a track.

He told Woojoo that after the showcase in Taiwan.

-I want to do it on my own this time.

Of course, the A&R Team or an external producer would help him with the latter part of the work, but until then, he wanted to do everything by himself.

His eyes were shining with motivation, unlike when he used to work on his personal projects out of habit.

-…I also want to show something with my own rap when I go abroad next time, like you, Hyung.

He seemed to have developed some ambition after seeing the surprise gift Woojoo had prepared for their overseas fans.

It was a good thing.

He was more than happy to welcome Bijoo and Junghyun’s desire to make their own songs.

They would become a great asset to their group as they delved deeper into music. Even if their level wasn’t visible like in a game, it was clear that they would be a big help.

Right now, their work speed was incomparable to before.

In the past, they would have spent a long time talking about ‘um, the feeling is a bit…’ but now, when Bijoo said ‘the code progression in the back part is unnatural’, Woojoo fixed it in a breath.

Thanks to that, he was finally able to complete the final version of their song.

“Okay, let’s listen.”

They all gathered on the sofa and pressed the play button. They looked at the speaker with sparkling eyes.

“Wow… This is awesome.”

“Can you believe we made this?”

“Wow.”

They shivered with pride as the song flowed out.

Woojoo said with a smile, “How do you think the A&R Team will like it?”

“They’ll love it when they hear we made the title. They’ll cuddle our Woojoo cutie when we meet them tomorrow.”

“Right?”

Woojoo felt his chest swell and his heart flutter as he thought about talking to the staff about their new song tomorrow.

Lemon Entertainment.

The office with the A&R sign was gloomy from the morning.

“Ugh…”

“Sigh…”

Sighs popped out everywhere. Even considering it was Monday morning, their faces were too depressed.

“Ah, I should loosen up my throat beforehand.”

“Me too, please.”

The A&R Team leader gave a hollow laugh as he saw them unwrapping throat candies with sullen faces.

“Hey. It’s not like we’re going to die. It’s just our artist coming, why are you so scared?”

“Then you take care of him.”

“Hey.”

The other person glared at him.

“Do you want to die?”

“See? I told you, this guy is all talk.”

Someone grumbled and popped a mint in his mouth. Next to him, someone was soothing his stomach with iced americano.

The reason why the staff were showing collective stress was because of the passionate person who was about to barge in here.

‘Woojoo is coming.’

A phrase that sounded like a horror movie catchphrase echoed in everyone’s head.

“He’ll come in with a happy smile. ‘Everyone! I made a song!’ Holding a USB.”

“No, that’s not it. You still haven't figured out Woojoo’s character.”

The composer team’s Seo Pilgeun shook his head.

“Before that, he’ll show us a bag of souvenirs and tempt us.”

“Oh, right.”

“And then he’ll start whining as he gives us the USB.”

“…Hey, doesn’t this sound like we’re feeding hay to a cow before making it work?”

Sad laughter came from everywhere.

“But I miss him. It’s been a few days since we saw him.”

“Me too.”

They were talking affectionately about the singer they were managing.

“Good morning, everyone~”

A handsome man in a coat and a tumbler.

The person who wrapped a muffler around his neck stylishly was Jo Gyuhwan, the director of the A&R Team.

He sipped his Americano as if he noticed the gloomy cloud in the office.

“Why are you all so down?”

“It’s because of Woojoo.”

“Woojoo? Oh, he finished his Taiwan schedule and came back last night. What about Woojoo?”

“He texted us this morning. He said he finished the title song. He’s coming up to play it for us…. Why are you backing away?”

“Me?”

Director Jo blinked. Then he coughed as if he saw his own feet unconsciously stepping back.

“I just remembered something I have to do.”

“….”

“Let me see, I have to prepare for today’s meeting….”

The sound of his shoes tapping hurriedly was heard.

The sound of ‘pak, pak, pak’ followed, as if he was pressing the elevator button like crazy.

Someone tilted their head.

“Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t it seem like the Director has been avoiding the New Black kids lately?”

“Yeah. He’s been acting weird lately. Remember when he got drunk at the wine bar and cried out Gildong’s name?”

“Was that the name of the dog he used to have?”

They were each making their own guesses.

A staff member with sharp ears raised his hand.

“…He’s coming!”

The office was silent.

Footsteps began to be heard from the hallway.

Lively, heavy, prickly… Anyway, the footsteps of five people mixed with their personalities and announced their arrival.

Soon the door opened and five people appeared.

“Hello!”

Everyone smiled at the sight of the New Black members coming in with bright smiles.

They brightened up the mood as they wandered around the office.

“I missed you, really.”

Woojoo greeted each staff member and handed them something he had wrapped in both hands.

Seo Pilgeun, who had said ‘he’ll hand out a bag of souvenirs’ earlier, smiled slyly at the other staff members.

Woojoo began to unwrap the bundles like a grandfather who brought gifts.

“I thought a lot about our A&R Team when I went to a strange place. I missed you too. So I bought a lot of gifts.”

“We bought some too~!”

“Me too.”

The members each handed out various snacks and souvenirs, saying they bought them to celebrate their settlement.

The eyes of the A&R staff widened.

“Oh my, I really wanted to eat this Pungli-soo. Thank you. Let’s save this and eat it together.”

“Why save it?”

“Of course we’ll eat it together….”

“Ah.” Woojoo lowered his head and said, “It’s one box per person.”

“…!”

“We’re the kind of people who treat chicken as one chicken per person.”

“Woojoo….”

“Wow, he’s a learned man. A learned man.”

The A&R staff took the huge gift packages and made a sour face.

‘They’re good kids.’

The gift-giving time was over and a friendly conversation continued about what had happened on this overseas schedule.

When everyone burst into laughter at the Woo Jenmin happening.

‘I’m healing from Monday morning thanks to this.’

They nodded their heads with a smile.

Yeah. They were so nice to them, they could easily endure the torture of their eardrums when working.

They pictured the future in their head.

Now the other members would go down to the practice room and do their own things and Woojoo would stay alone and hand out the USB.

Then he would drag someone and ask questions like crazy and ask for opinions.

‘But…’

The staff felt uneasy at the sight of a different scenery than usual.

‘Why aren’t they leaving?’

Junghyun and Jiho left, but the other two stayed in the office.

Bijoo took out a notebook from his chest with a warm smile. It looked like he had prepared a hundred things he wanted to talk about.

‘By the way, didn’t Bijoo say he made a melody?’

It made sense to think that he was participating as a co-composer.

But Rihyuk…

‘What is that?’

They wondered as they looked at the dense list of ‘Dark Matter’, ‘Space Dust’, ‘Invisible Hand’.

As if to answer his question, Woojoo smiled and said, “Rihyuk is in charge of writing the lyrics this time. There’s a problem with the title. He said he had so many questions, so we decided to stay together.”

“Together?”

“Yes, all of us together.”

Woojoo smiled and put his arms around the shoulders of his younger brothers next to him.

Then they both smiled back.

One softly, one awkwardly shaking off the hand on his shoulder.

They looked like handsome young men on the outside, but what would the A&R Team say…

They looked like Cerberus from hell.

And that with a beagle, a schnauzer, and a cocker spaniel for each head.

“…”

Seo Pilgeun of the composing team felt dizzy for a moment.

Was it an illusion?

The faces of the two members standing in front of him looked like soft Woojoo, prickly Woojoo.

It was like an amoeba had multiplied.

Sparkling.

Members with glittering eyes like the leader. Rihyuk looked around with anticipation.

“Which studio should we go to?”

“It’s amazing how the position has changed. So this is how Woojoo Hyung felt. I’m already excited to work.”

Bijoo, who smiled like the sun.

‘…Can someone please take them away.’

The eyes of the A&R Team staff moistened as they looked at them, who had become three instead of one.

As they prepared for their third album, they resumed their normal lives and schedules.

Everyone was busy.

The video production team had edited the footage we shot in Taiwan and uploaded it as a reality show.

-EP3. What happened in Taiwan?! (feat. Woo Jenmin)

-EP4. Our kids are so pretty that the left and right hearts are flying

The thumbnails were full of colorful letters and B-grade vibes, which made Woojoo feel embarrassed as he watched them.

But he was glad that their fans enjoyed them.

The sad thing was that now there was no one who didn’t know about the Woo Jenmin incident among the Soufflé fans.

Jenmin was everywhere, whether he went to the YouTube comments, the fan cafe, or the official SNS comments.

If not,

-Woo, your sister is serious. Please refrain from wearing floral shirts. This is Gothic font.

-You are the flower, why do you keep wearing flowersㅠㅠㅠ

-Jenmin dresses well… The main character shouldn’t lose to the sub-character

There were only comments that asked him to take care of his body.

His grandmother looked pretty when she wore them, but sadly, they didn’t suit him.

Woojoo packed all the floral clothes except for pajamas, blankets, and tracksuits in a box and taped it shut and put it in the closet.

His siblings teased him that it was not a closet but a wardrobe, which made him sad.

Woojoo thought he heard Rihyuk say ‘Should we send it to the incinerator’ in his sleep, but that must have been a dream, right?

It was a Taiwan trip that made a lot of black history, but the company was very happy.

“Guys, you did a great job!”

When Woojoo went to the call of the PR Team, Hong Seoyoung, the assistant manager, gave him a thumbs up.

She turned her laptop and showed him the various numbers and articles on the monitor, and spoke in an excited voice.

“Your trip to Taiwan was a huge hit.”

The Woo Jenmin happening made them a hot topic on the internet.

And thanks to that, the other promotions got a boost.

The weekly magazine ‘HIT!’ in Taiwan, where they took the pictorial, also had higher sales than usual, and the MTV promotional interview and showcase video had high views.

There was also a reaction on the web.

It was a strange story that they got several times more results than one usually got from their first overseas schedule.

“…Wow.”

As she said, the number of subscribers and followers on their official SNS and YouTube account had noticeably increased.

“We’re going to Singapore and Shanghai this month, right? I’ll just ask you to do this much there. You really did a great job, everyone.”

“Yes, leave it to us.”

Then their kids looked at Woojoo. They had a look of expectation in their eyes, and Woojoo brushed his hair back.

“Hey, black history doesn’t just come out when you expect it. It just happens.”

His siblings’ eyes sparkled at his fake laugh.

“That was so cool just now.”

“Is this the vibe that comes from black history?”

“…You’ll see later.”

The assistant manager turned her head and twitched her lips. She couldn’t scold them in front of the staff.

Woojoo ignored the teasing siblings and asked, “Why did you call us?”

“Oh, I wanted to tell you this and that. There’s also the cat food ad and the video emoticon that you just got. And the stories that went back and forth with the History Exploration production team.”

They were everyday things, but there seemed to be more than usual.

As the PR Team was in charge of communicating with the public, they had a lot to say about their activities.

“But the most important thing is this.”

The assistant manager picked up one of the proposals piled up on her desk and handed it to Woojoo.

‘Sok Sok! History Exploration Team!’ was the title of the music competition program on PBS that they were going to participate in.

It was the most important activity and the project that the company invested the most in during this break.

Did something happen there?

“A little…” The assistant manager stroked her chin and said, “There’s something I’m worried about.”

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