In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 15

New Black?

Why?

Seok-hwan hyung tilted his head.

Is there a problem?

No. Not really.

There was no problem.

But I wondered if it was okay to use the name I made up on the spot based on the words on my clothes as the official team name.

It might be sudden, but the CEO came to the fortune-telling shop after the year-end evaluation.

A fortune-telling shop?

They asked what the name of the new boy group they were launching should be, and they said to keep it as New Black. They said it felt good.

But then Yoon Seok-hwan told me the name that the CEO and his staff had come up with before.

And I had to admit, New Black sounded way better.

I had a few candidates in mind. I'll read some of them to you. First, Guardians. I guess it means they protect their fans.

""

Flying Angels. Or FAG for short.

Hot Voice. The point was to emphasize the last sound to make it sound like Voice and Boys. Oh, this one was rejected in the middle.

I looked at the group names written on my smartphone.

With each name I read, our faces turned paler.

How did this company manage to survive without going bankrupt?

I knew something was off since Lemon Boys.

When the explanation was over, we desperately squeezed out our voices.

New Black sounds really good.

Yeah.

Now that I look at it, its like a gem.

Director Yoon Seok-hwan chuckled.

See? New Black is the best, right?

Yes.

The group name might not suit your taste, but its not that important. Even if the name is weird, it wont be a problem if you become famous. Look at the Americans. Have you ever seen them unable to pronounce Dostoyevsky because its hard?

We nodded our heads at his logical argument.

Thats how New Black became the official name of our debut team.

Yoon Seok-hwan said as if he had thought of something fun.

Do you know what?

What?

The fortune-teller that the CEO gave a generous tip to said something strange. Just listen to this for fun.

Yoon Seok-hwan said with a smile.

He said that you have to use the name New Black to achieve great success. He said that if you use that name, you will probably become the most famous boy group in the world.

We laughed at that.

It was a ridiculous thing to say.

***

That Sunday.

I dragged my suitcase along the alley in Gangnam.

I didnt have to go far before I saw my destination.

A four-story villa.

I heard that room 301 here was our new dorm.

Can you believe theres no elevator in this day and age?

I groaned as I climbed the stairs with my heavy luggage.

Ugh!

When I make it big, Im going to move to a place with the best elevator ever. Seriously.

I finally reached the third floor.

I entered the door lock password and opened the door.

The space was more spacious than I expected.

Not bad.

I smiled contentedly as I thought it was roomy.

But then I felt something was wrong.

Wait a minute. This is not spacious

I looked around the dorm in panic, but it was exactly as I saw it.

A living room and a bathroom.

That was all.

There was one bedroom attached, but it was hardly a room.

There were three bunk beds crammed in there, and I could almost hear the CEOs voice.

Haha.

Woojoo. If you want to get out of here, you have to succeed.

The place was barely furnished, so there were sawdust everywhere on the floor.

I lifted my foot and saw that my sock was blackened.

I need to clean this up.

Is there any way I can dump this on the others and get out of here?

I seriously considered it, but gave up.

It doesnt matter, right?

I turned on my smartphone and found the best angle to capture the living room. With my years of experience as a selfie expert, I took a picture.

Then I sent a message to my grandmother.

Me [Grandma~ This is our dorm]

I sent the picture that showed the living room in the best light.

I wanted to reassure my grandmother who might be worried, so I chose the best shot.

She replied right away.

KingGodKimDeokSoon [Looks nice]

KingGodKimDeokSoon [You have to work hard]

Me [What?]

Me [What kind of grandmother tells her grandson to work hard? Thats not my grandmother, right?]

Me [Give me back my grandmother, Kim Deok-soon]

She replied shortly to my playful message.

KingGodKimDeokSoon [Crazy kid.]

Wow, thats harsh. Really.

Is that our grandmother?

I sent a protest message, but there was no reply.

Should I call it a cool read receipt?

But I felt less worried when I sent her a picture.

I felt relieved as I thought that.

I switched the chat window and entered the group chat.

Seon Woojoo and his slackers (5)

Me [Im here!]

Me [Where are you guys? Are you coming?]

The 4 that was floating in front of the yellow message started to disappear one by one.

Kim Jung-hyun [I think Ill be late]

Seo Ri-hyuk [Eek, Ri-hyuk is on his way]

Me [Whats with that weird way of talking?]

Seo Ri-hyuk [Teehee]

What is this, I blinked my eyes as the chat window was filled up.

Seo Ri-hyuk [Wang Ji-hyo Mannerless]

Seo Ri-hyuk [That wasnt me who sent it]

Seo Ri-hyuk [Im so pissed off]

Wang Ji-ho [Lolololololol]

Wang Ji-ho [It was me, bro]

Wang Ji-ho [Were on the bus right now lol]

It looked like Jihyo had played a prank with Ri-hyuks phone.

I tilted my head as I saw the 1 that didnt disappear in front of the message.

Thats strange.

Usually, Bi-ju is the first one to read and reply.

As I wondered about that, I heard the sound of the doorbell.

Ugh!

A face covered with sweat appeared.

A decent height and a slender figure.

He looked like a young scholar, sitting on the entrance with his hands full of luggage.

Wow, I thought I was going to die. Bro.

Bi-jus hands were red from carrying so much luggage.

You should have called me if it was hard.

Huh? Why? I can carry it myself.

Anyway, you worked hard to get here. How about a glass of water Oh, right. Theres nothing in the fridge.

I brought some.

Bi-ju rummaged through the mart plastic bags and took out a bottle of water.

Wait a minute, Ill look for a cup in the kitchen.

Its okay.

You brought that too?

This time, a box of paper cups came out of the plastic bag.

I was sincerely impressed.

Youre amazing at preparing. Really.

While Bi-ju was drinking water slowly, I looked at the mart bags.

What did you buy so much?

The manager said theres only a bed and a fridge in the house. So I stopped by the mart on the way.

Whats this?

Mold remover.

Then whats this?

Deodorizer. Ill put it in the closet and the shoe rack.

I stuck out my tongue as I saw that he had brought all the cleaning supplies that I needed.

Hes really good at housekeeping.

As I watched Bi-ju neatly sort out the cleaning supplies by type, I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten.

How did you pay for this?

This? Of course, I paid with my own money.

Let me see the receipt.

Why?

Why? We have to split it by N.

Nah, its okay.

Bi-ju waved his hand with a smile.

Were all going to use these things anyway.

Because were all going to use them, thats why. It doesnt make sense for you to pay alone.

But bro, I bought these on my own. Isnt it a bit rude to ask the others for money?

No. Its not.

I said firmly.

Just give me the receipt.

Im fine.

Youll be in trouble if you keep letting yourself get ripped off like this.

How are you going to survive in society if youre so naive?

I uploaded the receipt photo and the amount to deposit to the group chat.

I was about to say, you take a picture of your account and upload it, when I put down my smartphone and met the eyes of someone staring at me curiously.

Whats up?

Oh, Im just amazed.

By what?

My sister always says that.

Really?

I asked with a smile and gave Bi-ju a brief guide on the accommodation.

After checking out the place, Bi-ju expressed a similar impression to mine.

It reminds me of the movie I watched with Jung-hyun a while ago.

What movie?

The Shawshank Redemption.

The one about escaping from prison?

Yeah

We laughed for a while, but at the end, it turned into a sound that I couldnt tell if it was crying or laughing.

A sad situation that was also funny.

We looked around the cramped place and started making a list of things to clean.

Are you going to start right away?

No. We have to wait for the kids.

I matched his calm smile with a warm expression.

Yeah.

We have to do this together.

As we skimmed through the cleaning list and wondered who to assign what to, the slaves arrived one by one.

Were here!

Our youngest, always cheerful.

Wow, whats with these stairs

Leehyuk, who came in with a half-dazed face, dropped his luggage and collapsed.

While he gulped down the water bottle that Bi-ju handed him, as if it was the elixir of life, the youngest looked around the place.

And then he showed a surprisingly identical reaction.

This is all the accommodation? 𝑓𝓇𝘦𝘦𝔀𝓮𝒷𝘯𝓸𝓋𝓮𝘭.𝓬𝓸𝘮

Yeah.

Its not bad if you look around.

Ive never seen him speechless before.

I comforted the youngest, who looked as desolate as a man who had lost his country.

There was only one thing I could say.

Lets succeed.

***

Human adaptability is truly amazing.

I adapted to the New Black Prison, which I thought I could never adapt to, as if it was my own home.

I got used to Jung-hyuns snoring every night, and to Leehyuk, who muttered Im going crazy in sync with him, tossing and turning.

I also got used to the youngest, who would always ask me Hyung, are you sleeping? If youre not, play with me. and wake me up, then fall asleep by himself.

We all adapted to the place.

And so, after a few days, we had a routine for our morning activities in this prison I mean, accommodation.

Hmm.

Early morning.

As always, I yawned and came out, and heard a clatter from the kitchen.

Bi-ju, who would always wake up before anyone else and prepare the meal.

Did you sleep well, hyung?

No.

I shook my head.

Jung-hyun snored like crazy yesterday.

It was no joke.

I couldnt sleep at all. Really.

Me neither.

I had a dream that I was defusing a bomb and cut the wrong wire. I woke up from the explosion, and it was Jung-hyun snoring from the second floor.

Bi-ju chuckled.

I put the water bottle back in the fridge and stuck my face in the place where the cooking was going on.

What are you doing?

Im making toast.

It was mostly simple cooking, but making five servings every day was still a very hard task.

Can I help you with anything?

Just set the plates, please.

Okay.

We spread the table in the cramped living room and put the plates on it. Around then, another member would wake up from his sleep.

Im up.

He opened his eyes wide and flopped down on the sofa in the living room.

The youngest.

Hed be better off sleeping.

He repeated opening and closing his eyes, nodding his head.

The reason why this guy, who slept the most among the members, got up so well was because of breakfast.

Ji-ho.

Hm? Yes?

Just sleep.

No. I have to eat the biggest toast.

At this point, it was a great obsession.

He would glance at the food when Bi-ju divided it with a frying pan and take the biggest one for himself.

Dont eat and wait. Ill wake up the kids and come back.

While the youngest and I drooled over the toast, Bi-ju went to wake up the members.

It was obvious who would get up first.

Im not eating, hyung.

Seo Ri-hyuk, the main vocal who always skipped breakfast because of his small appetite, went straight to the bathroom.

Bi-jus regretful expression.

Soon, when Jung-hyun, who barely got up, joined us, the four of us having breakfast was our fixed routine.

Kwarurur-

Jung-hyun looked at the ceiling and said casually.

I guess the upstairs bathroom is flushing water.

Yeah.

The dormitory was so poorly soundproofed that we could hear the upstairs bathroom flushing.

This was also part of our everyday life.

-Ah, hot!

Oh, that too.