In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 10

8:30 a.m.

I declared that the arrangement was complete in front of the gathered trainees.

What did you say?

Seo Ri-hyuk had a doubtful expression on his face, as if he didnt trust his ears.

How did you do that in one night?

Well.

Im kidding. It just happened as I did it.

He looked speechless and asked.

Are you sure you did it right?

Youll know when you listen to it.

The youngest one chimed in with a smirk.

If you messed it up, its invalid. You have to buy us snacks.

Hey, is snacks the most important thing in this situation?

Why, hyung. They say a well-fed ghost has a good temper. Of course, eating is important.

While the youngest and the main vocal were bickering, Kim Jung-hyun and Kim Bi-ju, the high school seniors, were talking among themselves.

It sounded like something along the lines of He finished it already?, I dont know, lets just listen to it.

I took the USB that I got from the director and plugged it into the speaker.

Im a bit nervous.

The director said he did some computer work, but I never actually heard it.

I made such a bold claim, but what if it suddenly sounds like a mess?

Okay, Im going to play it now.

They all looked skeptical.

How high could the quality of an arrangement that was done in a hurry in one day be?

But the atmosphere changed as soon as the accompaniment started.

Kim Jung-hyun made an o shape with his mouth at the neat introduction. He nodded his head, and Kim Bi-ju also nodded.

The youngest one stopped chewing his chocolate and listened attentively.

Seo Ri-hyuk also listened seriously.

The first 30 seconds were the time for evaluation.

But after 30 seconds, the trainees were fully immersed in the song.

Two different songs.

The part where the melody that connects the middle of the song comes out, which goes straight from the first verse to the second verse.

They tilted their heads in confusion at the somewhat unfamiliar section.

This is where Jung-hyun will rap.

They all nodded, and especially the rapper Jung-hyun smiled with satisfaction.

He said it was a good melody for writing lyrics.

Soon, the rap part ended and the second verse began.

The second verse was composed of a different music from the first verse.

They all listened with nervousness, but they all marveled at the smooth transition.

How was it?

I asked for their opinions after the song ended.

Its amazing. I was a bit skeptical when you said youd do it in one day, but I didnt expect it to be this good.

I like the rap part. It fits well.

Im sad about the snacks, but I like it too.

They all seemed genuinely satisfied.

I was relieved.

To be honest, I wasnt confident.

It was the first time I did an arrangement in two years, and I made it hastily overnight, so I was worried about the reaction, but it was better than I expected.

Well

Seo Ri-hyuk opened his lips last.

Lets say you won the bet.

Yeah.

Im conceding because the quality is good.

He looked reluctant but helpless, and I smiled at him.

Now I got what I wanted.

I didnt rely on my age or trainee experience, but I gained their trust naturally through my arranging skills.

As promised, Ill have full authority over the performance.

I recalled what I had planned in advance.

Lets start with the role assignment.

***

The choreography was done by the main dancer Kim Bi-ju.

The vocal directing was done by the main vocal Seo Ri-hyuk.

Kim Jung-hyun, the only rapper in the group, naturally took charge of the rap part.

What about me?

Uh well.

I was momentarily at a loss as I looked at the youngest member, who was staring at me with wide eyes.

It was hard to say he was useless.

I couldnt say anything bad to a budding sprout, so I came up with a good excuse.

Youll be in charge of supplies.

Huh? What are supplies?

Its taking care of snacks so that no one goes hungry.

Oh, Im confident in that.

The youngest nodded his head as if to say he could handle it.

By the way, Woojoo hyung.

Kim Bi-ju took out something from his bag.

It was a spring notebook.

He flipped open the notebook that said practice notes and skimmed through the densely written words until he reached the middle.

Whats this?

I heard your plan yesterday and I roughly sketched out some choreography. What do you think of this if you havent divided the parts yet?

Really? Let me see.

On several pages, there were crude drawings of figures moving along different paths.

The drawings were rough, but they conveyed what he wanted to do well.

As I looked at them, I saw him with new eyes.

You made this in one night?

Yes.

Youre amazing.

It was a sincere compliment.

When I was at TJ Entertainment, I had to make choreography for the monthly group evaluation, so I knew how hard it was to make choreography.

And he did it in one night.

And the quality was better than I expected.

No wonder he had dark circles under his eyes.

He was different from the other trainees. Why did he have shadows under his eyes? It turned out he went home alone and made this.

Okay, then lets go with this

I was about to continue when I stopped.

Huh?

I noticed something strange as I looked at the choreography distribution that Kim Bi-ju made.

It was too natural that I didnt notice it. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝓮𝓌𝑒𝒷𝘯ℴ𝑣𝓮𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Wait a minute, I divided the parts yesterday.

Part distribution.

The first thing to do when doing a group performance is to divide the parts of the song.

And then you have to make choreography.

I took out the part distribution outline that I saved on my phone and compared it with Kim Bi-jus choreography distribution.

Wow.

Whats wrong?

The youngest, who couldnt stand his curiosity, joined in.

Look at this.

I handed him my phone, and the four of us gathered around to look.

Just like me, they looked back and forth between Kim Bi-jus choreography distribution and my part distribution, and then blinked their eyes.

What? Why are they the same?

Kim Bi-jus choreography distribution and my part distribution matched almost 90 percent.

It was an unrealistic thing.

It was as if we had telepathy.

It was hard for Kim Bi-ju, who divided the choreography by himself on the bed, and me, who arranged the song in the practice room, to have the same frequency of thought.

At that moment, we all felt a strange conviction.

It was like a sign before a big hit.

We all nodded quietly as we looked at each other, feeling that everything was falling into place.

Shall we go with this then?

They all nodded at my question.

It was the moment when the part distribution, choreography distribution, and role allocation were decided in less than a day.

That meant that the basic framework was completed.

By the way, what are we going to call our team?

Team name?

Kim Bi-ju smiled at my question.

As we belong to different agencies, we have to make a team name before we debut. We also have a new member, so we want to change it.

What was your previous name?

Lemon Boys.

Why does my face feel hot?

Its a bit weird, right?

Its not a bit, its very weird. Who came up with that?

The CEO did.

Now that I hear it again, its a nice name.

The trainees chuckled at my change of attitude.

Even though it was temporary, making a team name was a difficult task.

Devils, Yellow Green, Five Star, and all kinds of nonsense came out, but none of them stuck.

It was like choosing a late-night snack.

I needed something that would capture my appetite, but nothing came to mind.

Lets just decide on something. Its only temporary, right?

How about Five Star?

Not that one, Jung-hyun.

I shook my head at Kim Jung-hyun, who had been insisting on Five Star.

He looked at the others with pleading eyes, but soon deflated at their unanimous rejection.

Seo Ri-hyuk delivered the final blow.

Just go with Five Star.

Really?

I can always quit.

I never thought choosing a name would be so hard, after we had arranged the song, divided the parts, and learned the choreography.

As we were struggling, the youngest spoke up.

Woojoo hyung.

Yeah?

Hyung, where did you buy that sweatshirt?

This one? K-mart.

I asked with a smile.

Do you like it?

No, I only wear expensive stuff.

Wang Ji-ho said sarcastically, pointing at my sweatshirt.

Hyung, theres something written on your sweatshirt.

This?

Yeah, what does it say? Jung-hyun hyung, read it for us.

Chicken is the new black.

I looked at the words on my sweatshirt, hearing Kim Jung-hyuns fluent English pronunciation.

Wang Ji-ho said.

How about that? New Black.

New Black?

How is it?

Every time a name came up, there was always some criticism, but surprisingly, there was no objection this time.

It was decent.

I even searched the internet to make sure it didnt have any weird meaning in English, but it seemed fine.

The New Black.

An expression used to mean a new trend.

Who agrees to go with New Black?

Everyone raised their hands at my question.

Thats how our temporary team name New Black was decided.

All that was left was practice.

***

December 2013.

While everyone was busy wrapping up the year, we were also immersed in preparing for the end-of-year evaluation.

Thankfully, all the members of team New Black did their jobs well.

Okay, lets check the choreography first.

Kim Bi-ju came up with an amazing choreography in a few days.

It might not be impressive to an expert, but it suited our taste.

But because of the higher difficulty than expected, the other members, except me, were dying every day as if they had entered hell.

Especially Seo Ri-hyuk, who was a dance hole, his face turned paler by the day, but he was like a fish in water in his own field.

The vocal tone is not clear, Bi-ju hyung. You told me to do it as usual. Youre not using your voice properly.

Sorry. I think I messed up the breathing at the beginning.

Ill go back to the beat.

It was a terrifying directing, more so than any tiger teacher.

We had to improve our skills by force, because if we made even a slight mistake, we would get a sharp criticism.

Hyung, can you listen to my rap?

Kim Jung-hyun, the rapper, also did his role well.

His lyrics had a rhythm that made me nod my head, and his flow was full of rhythm and rhyme.

When the rap was over, the youngest came over like a paramedic and gave Kim Jung-hyun a chocolate.

It was a cute scene every time I saw it.

We were all doing our best in our own areas.

December 28th.

For the upcoming final battle.

***

On December 27th, the day before the year-end evaluation.

I wanted to hear her voice after a long time, so I called my grandmother.

After a few rings, a Busan-like voice and a cheerful voice rang in my ears.

-Is it Woojoo?

Yes, grandma. Its me.

-What are you doing at this time?

When did I ever call you for a reason?

I answered with a smile.

Ah, I just wanted to hear your voice, grandma.

-Youre sick.

Dont curse.

-You deserve it for doing such things.

Thats too much, really. I called you because I missed you, grandma.

I smiled at the grumbling that came from the other side of the phone.

Are you ready to come tomorrow?

-Im all set.

If youre not feeling well, just stay home. Its not a big deal to come all the way to Seoul.

-I have to go, then.

Right?

-Yes. If I dont go, youll regret it later, right? Youll say, Grandma, I was sad back then, how could you not come?

Well. Thats not wrong.

Actually, Id be happy if you came to see me, grandma.

-Right?

Yeah, yeah, thats why I prepared a gift for you this time. To give it to you, grandma.

-What? Did you buy me another nutrition cream or something?

No, something else.

I had bought a clothes for my grandmother at a department store a while ago.

Of course, it was a secret until tomorrow.

How about the nutrition cream I gave you last month? Are you using it well?

-Im saving it. Its good because its foreign.

I felt proud at the sound of her liking it.

Tell me if you want to buy anything else. I got a signing bonus this time, so Im rich.

-Youre sick again.

Its true. Buy a lot of cosmetics, too. Then you can get date requests from grandpas at the senior center.

-Enough, you. If I were a man, Id be sick of you. You dont know how much I suffered, bleeding and crying, until your grandfather died

I guess I chose the wrong topic.

My grandmothers voice, spitting out her complaints about my late grandfather like a machine gun.

Grandma, I think I have to go now.

-Why? Dont you want to listen?

No, its time for practice. The kids are calling me.

That was true.

The youngest was running towards me like a puppy from afar, while I was talking on the phone in the hallway.

See you tomorrow, grandma.

With that, I hung up the phone.

***

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon sighed after hanging up the phone.

Ugh, what a sick kid.

It was pitiful that he had to do this until this time.

An idol, huh.

Whats that, that hes clinging and crying like that.

She was secretly happy when he said he would give up.

But then he said he would do it again.

What can I do? Hes twisting his own fate.

Ever since he was young, he dreamed of being an idol.

And now, He finally made it this far.

Tomorrow is the day of the evaluation.

What was it called again?

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon laid out the clothes she would wear tomorrow and applied some skin cream on her face before going to bed. Then, she suddenly remembered something.

Something in her vanity drawer.

In the second drawer, there was an old picture.

An aged paper that showed the passage of time.

[Seon Woojoo, 2nd grade, class 1]

Under the clumsy handwriting, there was a drawing.

A child was playing the piano and singing under a yellow spotlight.

[Future dream: Universe Superstar]

[Teacher, I will be the most famous person in the world]

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon looked at it and prayed deeply in her heart.

Dear Buddha in heaven.

Please.

Please let my grandson succeed this time.