In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

The opening ceremony ended with the performances of the invited singers.

While the production team was busy setting up the wrestling stage, the idol members headed to their respective waiting rooms.

And then.

“Ha ha ha!”

“Where do you think you’re going, Sunwooju?”

“…”

“You’re in our palm~!”

I was running away in the waiting room hallway, but I was soon caught by the two guys from TNT.

I couldn’t move any further because of the guys hanging on both of my shoulders.

“My little brothers!”

“Us?”

“Not you. These seniors.”

As the two guys covered their ears at the sound of ‘seniors’, I desperately reached out my hand.

“My little brothers. Please save me from these evil monsters!”

“Me? Why me?”

“…”

As I lost my words at the sight of the youngest one being cheeky, Hantae-hyun smiled slyly and asked for a high-five.

Jiho and he slapped their hands together.

“Right? No, why should Jiho save you? Just leave him. This hyung.”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m going to do.”

“You’re all hungry, right? You must be on a strict diet during the album preparation period…”

Hantae-hyun and Jang-hanbyul rummaged through their pockets and took out some chocolates or candies.

Our little brothers fell for their generous bribes.

Even Junghyun was mesmerized by the sweets and said, ‘Seniors, you’re such good people…’ while being touched.

“…”

I felt betrayed as I saw our kids stuffing their pockets with snacks without being noticed by the managers.

“Have a nice chat and come back~”

“…”

My cheeks trembled with betrayal.

The two members of TNT who were giggling grabbed me and dragged me away.

We attracted attention from everywhere.

The people from other groups who were walking around the hallway looked at us with curiosity.

They seemed to wonder what kind of relationship we had.

In the middle of the hallway, we ran into the members of ACE and exchanged greetings with Jang-hanbyul. When they asked me what kind of relationship I had with him, the Chinese guy answered. ℟�

“We’re childhood friends.”

“Hey, Hanbyul.”

I felt like I knew how Rihyuk felt when he rubbed his temples every time Junghyun said something weird.

The Chinese guy, Jang-mo, looked puzzled as laughter broke out at his childhood friend joke.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Explain it to him. Taehyun.”

My loyal sidekick nodded and explained the meaning of the word to him.

“Oh.”

He was TNT’s foreign member who learned a new word today.

As we walked along the hallway and greeted the people we met, we finally arrived at a quiet lounge.

We got a drink each from the vending machine and handed them over. The cheerful faces opened their mouths.

“Everyone, let’s do the national exercise now. Ha!”

“Ho ho ho!”

“Ha ha ha!”

They laughed as they imitated someone.

“Hey. I didn’t do that.”

They shook their heads with round eyes.

“No. It’s exactly the same. I almost spit out my water when I saw you doing it backstage.”

“Yeah. Me too. I thought I was going to choke.”

I remembered how they laughed at me doing the national exercise while waiting.

I smiled as I watched the two of them gulp down their drinks.

They were like kids who had only grown in size.

They looked so serious when they were with other singers, as if they were saying ‘I’m a senior’. But now they were just like elementary school kids.

“How are the other guys? Are they doing well?”

“They’re always the same. Nothing much.”

I heard they were busy with their individual schedules after the overseas tour.

We chatted for a while about how things were going.

Jihun had joined a new drama as a supporting role, and Sunwoong hyung was working on his mixtape. Seungje was also preparing to debut as a solo artist. It was a light conversation about their lives.

“What about you guys? Are you preparing for a concert?”

“Yeah, we don’t have much time left.”

I had a little over two weeks left.

The two guys clapped their hands and bowed their heads in congratulations.

“Wow, congrats on the concert, boss.”

“Thank you, seniors.”

We nodded and congratulated each other.

Taehyun and Hanbyul stuck out their tongues and looked at the sky.

“New Black is already having a concert…”

“Didn’t they debut last summer? They’re really fast.”

“Why are you guys so bitter?”

I laughed at their sour faces and they retorted.

“You were the most excited about concerts since you were a trainee.”

“Whenever someone mentioned concerts, you almost shouted ‘Who is it, who’s talking about concerts?’”

“Hey, it wasn’t that bad.”

Taehyun said as if I was talking nonsense.

“There must be some evidence videos in the company’s archive, right? I’m a child from Gunsan… Pfft!”

“Oh, you look thirsty. Have a drink. Drink a lot.”

“Pffft!”

He lifted the bottom of the can with his finger and poured the drink into Hanmo’s mouth.

Hanbyul raised his hand.

“I have some evidence videos too! Here!”

“You drink a lot too.”

“Pffft!”

I snatched the phone that was playing the video.

It was a video of 17-year-old Sunwooju wearing a cone hat and yelling ‘Hurry up and make a wish for the 100th anniversary Silver Town concert before the candles go out!’ at a birthday party.

I was embarrassed.

The two guys watched the video together and burst into laughter.

“Wow, this is really nostalgic. Back then.”

“Yay~! 100th anniversary Silver Town concert~ Pfft!”

The two members of TNT were giggling and I rolled my eyes.

It didn’t seem that bad, but I had to admit that I always sparkled when someone talked about concerts.

It was because of what the other person said about having more evidence.

“Honestly, what singer doesn’t like concerts?”

They shook their heads.

“No, it’s just that you had a stronger passion for concerts.”

“Yeah, it was no joke.”

“That’s why I sometimes think of the trainee days when I prepare for concerts.”

“I also think of you when I see foreign grandmas wearing floral dresses overseas.”

I think I knew what he meant.

I also often thought of those days when I was preparing for concerts these days.

I had painted a rosy future with ‘concerts!’ when I was a trainee, and those memories occasionally flashed through my mind.

Was it because of those thoughts?

Behind the smiling face that was looking at me, I saw the old innocent face pass by.

“Come to think of it…”

I nodded and smiled warmly.

“You guys have aged a lot too.”

“…”

“Time is fair after all.”

They screamed as if I was saying something absurd.

We talked about the old days for a while and got up when we finished our drinks.

We had a busy schedule ahead of us.

There was an archery preliminaries soon.

And the two guys who were preparing for a special album, I sent them words of encouragement and they replied.

“You do well on the concert too.”

“You guys do well on the album too.”

“Thanks. We’re really happy that New Black is having a concert. We hope you do even better.”

Taehyun said jokingly.

“Of course, don’t overlap with our comeback.”

“Comeback?”

“It’s over if your group overlaps with our comeback. How can we win when your songs are always popular picks?”

Hanbyul also chimed in, saying that Teen Spirit, who overlapped with our comeback, must be nervous too.

I laughed and let it go, knowing they were just teasing me.

“Bye. See you next time.”

As they left, they kept congratulating me on the concert and I waved my hand with gratitude.

In the morning, women’s wrestling was held.

While a four-member girl group who were starving for meat swept the wrestling ring, we devoted ourselves to practice in a corner of the indoor gym.

“Bijoo, lower your chin a bit.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah, like that. And when you release, do it softly…”

I stuck to Bijoo and Jiho every time they pulled their bows and checked their posture.

Thanks to the experience of archery we had last winter, they both had improved their skills.

Every time they shot an arrow, it hit the 8 or 9 point zone.

And then.

“Wow…”

“I hate to admit it, but you’re really good at shooting.”

Every time I flicked my wrist, the arrows hit the 10 point target.

The members of Teen Spirit who were shooting arrows nearby clapped their hands and said ‘ooh’.

When the last arrow landed on the 10 point target, my siblings opened their eyes wide and cheered.

“Do you think we’ll win this time too?”

“We shouldn’t get too excited, but I have a good feeling.”

“Junghyun.”

“Ah, sorry.”

When we teased him, Junghyun scratched the back of his head.

But it was true that we had a good feeling, not just because Junghyun said so.

I turned around and looked at the arrows that were densely clustered in the 10 point zone.

“Do you see it, my fellow beings?”

“We see it!”

The members who answered with their hands together pointed to the target with their fingertips.

“What do you see?”

“We see victory.”

“That’s right. It’s our destiny to win.”

“That’s how it is~”

We laughed together with our siblings and sang a shabby cheer song, ‘New! Black~ Newbl! Ack~ Newblack~!’

Every time we clapped, the Teen Spirit members who were attacked by our spirit shook their hands.

We decided to be quiet for the other teams and approached Wonseok hyung who was filming with a camera.

“Our Soufflé fans.”

“Please look forward to it.”

“We’re going to challenge for the gold medal in archery again this time.”

“Challenge~!”

We all clenched our fists and showed a bright smile.

After filming the video that would go up on YouTube as a behind-the-scenes of the Dolympics, we stretched lightly and relaxed our bodies.

Wow-

The cheers of the audience faintly reached our ears.

The women’s archery preliminaries were in full swing after the wrestling was over, and judging by the cheers, the match was fiercely unfolding.

And right after the women’s preliminaries, the men’s archery preliminaries round one was our match.

Junghyun, who was making his arms like pretzels, asked.

“Hyung, who’s our first opponent in archery?”

“Who are we up against…”

I scanned the bracket on the wall.

Then I tapped the name of the rookie boy group right next to the ‘Newblack’ slot.

“Uh-hum~ Do you feel this air?”

We were standing at the entrance waiting for the women’s match to end, when Eunsung suddenly appeared behind us.

“What air?”

“The air of victory.”

Eunsung took a breath and smiled brightly.

“This humidity, this warmth, everything is pointing to my victory. Sergeant, I’m sorry, but I think I’m going to win.”

“Your confidence is always admirable, junior.”

“It’s confidence based on evidence~”

I looked around as I saw Eunsung holding his bow and saying ‘I’ll win for you’.

“What are you looking for?”

“I was wondering where your fans are.”

“Over there.”

“Where?”

“No. Over there.”

“Ah.”

It was the top fan seat that was so far away that you had to look through a microscope.

There were people holding placards and huddled together.

“You have a lot of fans.”

“That’s not all APLB fans. They just crammed all the fans of the group that debuted this year over there.”

“I see.”

“But why did you look for them? The fans?”

I turned my head and smiled.

“Be nice to your fans, Eunsung.”

“Huh?”

“They are the ones who like you for who you are.”

I chuckled as I watched him tremble.

But he only trembled for three seconds, and soon he muttered as if he had thought of something.

“Right. Do you want to say hello to our fans when we go out later?”

“…Me?”

“You’re quite famous among APLB fans, hyung. They call you Ubeoji.”

“Ubeoji?”

“It’s a word that combines universe and father. It’s a nickname that fans use to refer to the person who brought me into this world.”

Is that a good thing?

The person who brought Eunsung into this world.

By my standards, it felt like I had sprayed something harmful, but I was surprised to hear that he was grateful.

It felt like I had released a kraken into the Pacific and received a thank you.

“New Black, APLB. Let’s go.”

After the last match ended, we and APLB entered the stadium following FD’s instructions.

We waved our hands to the Soufflés who were shaking ‘Well done’ slogans.

And we greeted Eunsung’s fans.

We burst into laughter at the sight of the APLB fans who got up and bowed their bellies.

But the laughter was short-lived.

We nodded seriously to Junghyun and Rihyuk, who were shaking ‘Well done’ and ‘Well’ slogans from afar, along with Bijoo and Jiho.

“The match will begin!”

At the announcer’s words, one person from each side got up.

On the next seat, APLB’s youngest and leader Haru got up, and on our side, I got up.

“….”

It was my turn to start.

I took a deep breath and breathed in the cool air of the indoor gymnasium.

I calmed my chest with a few deep breaths and picked up the bow.

I felt the tense sensation at the end of the bowstring and looked at the target, then gently let go of my hand.

Thud!

I turned my head and smiled at the arrow that stuck in the center of the 10-point target.

“Wow…!”

The Soufflés and my siblings shook the ‘Well done’ slogan hard.

I laughed and high-fived Bijoo and Jiho.

I saw the camera director’s detached smile from afar and it seemed like I had hit it right in the center.

Meanwhile, Haru, who had swallowed his saliva while looking at my 10-point target, shot an arrow that scored 8 points.

New Black [10 10]

APLB [8 9]

That’s how it ended twice and we were ahead by 3 points.

Then it was my turn again.

And then, something unbelievable happened.

“Yes, this is the 2015 Chuseok special idol sports festival, the men’s archery preliminaries have begun.”

“Both leaders and aces came out from both sides.”

The announcer Baek Sang-jung, who was sitting in the middle of the commentary booth, said.

“This is the first time for the rookie boy group to participate. APLB. I heard they practiced a lot.”

“Yes, I heard they rented an archery range and practiced hard for a few days.”

“Their eyes are full of determination.”

The three faces sitting on the left with tense expressions were shown.

As they said, they had practiced hard, and the leader Haru scored 8 and 9 points.

“They’re good.”

“But… the opponent was too bad. They met New Black, the winner of last year, from the preliminaries.”

“The team that eliminated TNT, the favorite to win last year.”

The three members of New Black, who had a serious but somewhat relaxed atmosphere, were shown on the right.

Yang Hee-seon, the archery commentator and former gold medalist, said.

“Especially Woojoo, he was the member I paid the most attention to in the last Lunar New Year special. His posture was so good. I secretly watched him practice earlier… His posture has become more stable than last time.”

“That’s amazing. I wonder if he will not miss 10 points this time, too. That’s also a point to watch.”

The visual member of New Black, who had made a Jumong joke at the last Dollympics, was pulling the bowstring.

He closed one eye to pull the bowstring, and his long eyelashes cast a shadow.

The bowstring that he had raised on one cheek went forward with a whoosh.

The third arrow that Woojoo shot caused a miracle.

“Wow…!”

“Wow? Wow!”

Exclamations of surprise erupted from all over the indoor gymnasium.

The person who did it was also like ‘What? What is this?’.

The commentators buzzed.

“Did the arrow hit another arrow?”

“What? How did he do that?”

The third arrow he shot overlapped with the second arrow he shot.

It was what they called ‘splitting the arrow’.

Because of the angle, the two arrows looked like a broken branch joined together.

“Wow, what is going on here?”

“Commentator, what is this situation?”

The commentator, a former archer, said ‘Wow’ with a tone of wonder.

“That’s called a Robin Hood arrow. It’s a rare situation, I didn’t expect to see it here.”

“Oh, is it very uncommon?”

“It happens sometimes when you practice in the athlete village. I also did it once in the Olympics.”

“…”

The commentator smiled warmly and reminisced about the past, while the commentators looked stunned.

‘What? Then it’s super hard.’

Soon, the microphone in the stadium announced the situation to the audience, and that the score was also the same 10 points.

The fans of APLB shouted ‘Wow!’ and waved their slogans.

The members of APLB looked disappointed.

While Woojoo of New Black looked at his hands and said ‘It worked’ with a bewildered expression.

The camera captured the other idol members and fans who were smiling and amazed.

“I searched it and it’s a very rare thing, right? It’s less than 0.001 percent.”

“Wow. He did it.”

“Look at the expressions of New Black and APLB members. They are all close and curious.”

The members of New Black and APLB approached the target and widened their eyes at the sight of the two arrows joined together.

“Uh, what are they doing?”

“They are putting their hands together.”

“They are making a wish. This is irresistible.”

They laughed at the sight of the two groups making a wish with their hands together while looking at the arrow.

Then they murmured their wishes one by one.

While the indoor gymnasium became a place of faith, the MC Baeksangjung continued his comment with a pleasant smile.

“Three consecutive 10 points! New Black has the momentum.”

“Right. At this rate, even if the team members behind them don’t shoot well, New Black will win for sure.”

The commentators’ words didn’t reach the stadium, but the members of New Black on the screen also seemed to sense the victory and smiled relaxedly.

Outside the stadium.

“…Huh?”

The manager Seominki, who was eating a hot dog at the snack bar, blinked his eyes at the sight of the six people walking shakily.

It was Dowonseok and New Black.

“What? Why? No, how did you come out at this time?”

“…”

“What happened? What is that weird stick?”

“…”

Woojoo, who was holding the stick that looked like a broken branch, answered blankly.

“I succeeded in splitting the arrow.”

“What? You did that?”

“Yes. But… we lost.”

“Lost? Why?”

The members of New Black swallowed their tears and said.

“The arrows that Jiho and I shot…”

“The arrows…!”

They couldn’t finish their words, and Rihyuk stepped in.

“I’ll just say it for them. The two arrows they shot hit that lucky arrow and stuck to the white part.”

“…”

“The white part next to the target.”

Seominki, who lost his words, heard Dowonseok’s explanation.

“The other team was more shocked.”

“…”

“They won without doing anything…”

“…”

The members’ eyes became moist as they grabbed the lucky arrows and started to sob, saying “Oh my!”.

In the midst of that, Seo Minki blinked his eyes.

‘Should I be happy about this? Or should I not?’

He had achieved the best outcome of leaving work early before the concert, but the situation was too delicate to celebrate.