In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

“Ha ha ha ha!”

I jumped up amid the laughter and reached out to the camera.

“Did you see that, everyone? That’s how you fall!”

The writers behind the camera burst into laughter.

I asked the MCs and my siblings, who were laughing like they were crying.

“What’s wrong with you guys? I just showed you how to fall.”

“No.”

The main MC Bang Moon-soo fanned his face with a cue card and asked.

“Why did you fall while doing the random play dance?”

“Oh, so you agreed to fly and fall when Jung-hyun pushed you?”

“That’s right.”

I winked and the assistant MCs turned their eyes to my siblings.

“Is that true?”

Jung-hyun opened his eyes wide and answered.

“Yes?”

Everyone laughed at his expression, which clearly showed he had no clue.

Meanwhile, Bijoo whispered to me.

‘Hyung, are you okay?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Let me see your hand.’

He grabbed my wrist and looked at it carefully, as if he was worried I might have hurt it when I touched the floor.

After checking my condition.

“Ha ha ha!”

He joined the laughter.

He smiled comfortably and giggled, forgetting his worries.

Yeah. You’re a New Black too.

The assistant MC Song-song caught that and asked.

“Wow, but you guys are really close.”

“Yeah?”

“I just saw Bijoo holding Woojoo’s wrist and worrying about him.”

“Oh.”

Bang Moon-soo asked.

“So Bijoo is like the mom of New Black?”

“Yeah.”

“Why did you check Woojoo’s wrist? Because you were worried?”

“Yes.”

Bijoo answered with a gentle smile.

“He can’t practice if he gets hurt.”

“…”

“Practice is so important that you lose your touch if you skip a day…”

I made a blank face, expecting a touching remark, and my siblings giggled.

The MCs exclaimed.

“That worry was not that kind of worry. Such a profound meaning…”

“He’s worried about his worker.”

“It seems like you guys practice a lot, especially Bijoo.”

I nodded.

“He never stops practicing. Even when he’s having fun. He goes to the arcade and plays Pump, and when he comes home, he plays dance games. You know, the ones with the remote control.”

“Yeah. I love those.”

“But he hates doing it alone, so we have to clap for him or join him.”

My siblings all agreed and Bijoo waved his hand at the MCs.

“Hey, no. You guys said it was fun too!”

“Hmm.”

Bang Moon-soo stroked his chin and looked at us.

“The members’ faces don’t seem to agree.”

“That’s right.”

The youngest said with a sad face.

“Last time, he said he would do it alone and we cheered, but he danced with a gloomy face in the living room, so we had no choice.”

“It’s like when Woojoo talks about the army.”

“Wait, what?”

“I’m the strongest person here, but I get weak when I see him.”

Bijoo and I made sad faces at the merciless exposure of our siblings, and the MCs teased us.

“New Black is known for their sharp choreography, and there’s a formula in the music industry that says that, but the leader was Bijoo.”

“But why do you hate doing it alone?”

Bijoo smiled awkwardly and hesitated to answer.

“Well, it’s just that I get lonely when I’m alone…”

“Is it less lonely when you’re with someone?”

“Yes. I guess so. It feels good and fun to do anything together, and I get more excited.”

He smiled brightly.

Song-song, the co-MC, was convinced by the sight of our kid, who smiled warmly like a spring flower with his eyes shining.

“I can see why you guys fall for him.”

“I’m falling for him right now too.”

“PD-nim, please add flower CG and touching BGM when Bijoo smiles here.”

We protested.

“No, we’re the ones who suffer, but what if the MCs get moved?”

“That’s right!”

“The MCs get the emotion and we get the pain.”

The MC Bang-mun-soo calmed down the angry public opinion with a ‘wow wow’.

He asked Bijoo, who was still smiling.

“The members are very resentful, do you have any intention to change in the future?”

“Yes, then I’ll consult with the members…”

“Hyung. It’s agreement. Agreement.”

The adults around him laughed at Rihyuk’s words. Bijoo nodded and said.

“Oh, then I’ll agree and… decide.”

We cheered near Bijoo.

“Woah!”

“It’s liberation!”

“We’re free!”

Everyone laughed at the sight of Jung-hyun, who spread his arms and closed his eyes, expressing ‘freedom’.

The MCs who were laughing together stopped.

“Wait, how did we get here?”

“The members’ resentment, the practice amount before that, and before that, the cosmic wrist… random play dance!”

“Oh. It was our random play dance time.”

“That’s right.”

We also said ‘that’s right’ and looked at each other blankly and laughed.

Bang-mun-soo chuckled.

“PD-nim, is our recording time okay? It might be longer than we thought.”

“It’s already gone a lot.”

“Oh, really.”

He looked at his wristwatch and made a ridiculous expression.

“No, really, time flies like crazy.”

“We feel the same way.”

“Hey. It’s because of you guys! You catch the wind every time you say something.”

“Hehehe!”

We giggled and laughed at the MC’s reaction for entertainment.

Bang-mun-soo quickly cleared the traffic.

“Well, then we have to proceed again. The time is very tight right now. It could be a two-part extension.”

“Woah!”

“Don’t woah! Only the PD is happy, we’re going to be late for work!”

“Oh my.”

The two MCs turned their heads and snorted at the different reactions every time.

Bang-mun-soo stuck out his tongue.

“Wow, it’s crazy, really. As you can see, we became close in 30 minutes. I regret it already.”

We gave a thumbs up and smiled ‘yoo-hoo’ to the camera.

Then the two MCs said.

“But I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere, this recording time that makes you go crazy… ah!”

“…?”

“New Black is from Lemon Enter, right? Scarlet’s junior group.”

“No wonder. That’s why. It’s amazing. Is this the vibe that passes on from generation to generation?”

They heard that our senior group, who appeared earlier this year, turned the studio upside down.

They laughed when they heard Lemon Enter.

“Well, let’s go back to random play dance!”

Bang-mun-soo explained the rules.

“It’s simple. You just have to dance to the title song that comes out randomly. There are five songs in total, including the double title Flower Dance, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You have three chances. If you fail, there’s a penalty waiting for you.”

The MCs smirked.

“Shall we show you today’s product first?”

A staff member wearing a mask brought a box and ripped off the wrapping cloth.

At that moment, a dazzling light poured out.

“Wow…”

We were mesmerized by the sight of the meat, and the MCs’ chatter reached our ears.

“Yes, it’s here~ It’s here~ The beef with full of marbling is here~”

“This is a assorted set of special parts of Hwaseong Hanwoo grade 1++, sponsored by the National Hanwoo Association. Let’s all shout together.”

“Thank you! Hanwoo Association!”

Even as we stretched out our hands and said the last words together, our eyes never left the meat.

Jiho’s face was already drooling.

“Slurp… So, that’s the prize?”

“Yes? That, that’s right.”

“Jiho, there’s fire in your eyes.”

“We get fired up when we see something delicious.”

Joonhyun, who was staring at the Hanwoo as if he wanted to pierce through it, nodded his head next to me.

Then, Rihyuk asked.

“Wait a minute. So, today’s punishment is…”

“That’s right. If you succeed in the random play dance within three tries, our staff will grill the beef for you.”

He grinned.

“But if you fail, then we’ll eat it.”

“You can just watch from the side~”

Joonhyun dropped his arms, which were crossed, with a disappointed expression.

We had a similar reaction.

The smell of meat was wafting from the side, and the MCs were waving their chopsticks, but we were in a helpless situation where we could only watch.

We didn’t even want to imagine how frustrated we felt.

Gulp.

Jiho swallowed his saliva and looked at us, and we responded with serious eyes.

‘Success.’

‘Must succeed.’

‘100 percent success.’

Rihyuk said.

“But what if you don’t succeed in the three chances…”

We waved our hands as he tried to say ‘fail’.

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t jinx it.”

“We’ll definitely succeed. Rihyuk.”

“That’s right. If we fail, Joonhyun will throw a tantrum. He’ll die in one fit.”

Rihyuk’s face turned pale at the sight of Joonhyun, whose eyes turned into triangles with the desire for meat.

We loosened our bodies and the MCs asked us.

“Are you all ready?”

“I’d like to request a practice game first.”

“We’ll give you three times.”

As soon as the song started playing, we began our practice.

“Ouch!”

“Woojoo, Rihyuk, roll over there!”

“Joonhyun, did you bounce again!”

Rihyuk, who collided with Joonhyun on the first try, rolled over.

“Does it hurt?”

“If it hurts, it’s youth.”

“Ahh… Don’t make me laugh and help me up!”

As we helped Rihyuk up, the MCs asked with a smile.

“Hard, right?”

“Yes, it’s really harder than I thought.”

It really was.

Whenever we saw the rehearsal stage at the broadcasting station, we would admire the teams that practiced hard.

Even those teams would bump into each other when they did the random play dance.

Now I understood why.

“It’s easy to do my own moves, but it’s hard to match the lines for each verse.”

“That’s right. It’s easy to stand still and do my own thing, but everyone moves in different directions.”

For example, in Flower Dance, there’s a choreography where we all gather in the center.

In my case, I move from the right to the left with Joonhyun, that is, towards the center.

The problem was that when I did the random play for the fireworks in front, I moved to the left because I was on the left.

Bangmunsoo waved the cue card and said to the camera.

“Most idols find this random play dance hard. Why? Because I don’t know, my body moves automatically according to the line.”

We agreed.

“It’s really harder than I thought.”

“That’s right. I practiced so much that I thought it would be easy, but it’s actually harder because I practiced.”

“But what are we going to do?”

My siblings and I looked at each other and Bijou.

“Um… The movements are all perfect, so there’s no problem.”

“The problem is the line.”

“The problem is that the line gets tangled.”

Bijou and I quickly changed our strategy after a brief consultation.

“Do you all remember the center for each choreography?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s gather around the person who is the center when they give a signal.”

We agreed and went straight to the second practice.

It was a much better strategy than fixing Rihyuk and gathering around him.

The problem was.

Clap clap clap!

Junghyun, who clapped three times solemnly as he went to the center.

The MCs intervened.

“Puhahaha!”

“Why are you clapping? I told you before, this kind of signal doesn’t work in random play dance.”

He asked me to send a subtle signal, but it was a reaction like shouting from the top of a mountain.

“Our kids!”

When I snapped my fingers to gather, their faces gathered in a circle.

The MCs made a joke saying ‘Are you serious about meat?’

“Let’s do it with our eyes. With our eyes.”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t a difficult thing to communicate with each other on stage with a slight eye contact, as we had experience of solving microphone problems or other communication issues with our eyes.

The more we repeated the practice, the better we got.

“You two were a little late at Rihyuk’s part earlier. Please do it a little faster, half a beat.”

“Yes.”

“And Kim Junghyun, you’re weak on your footwork. The floor here is weak.”

Thanks to our main dancer who coached us on the choreography considering the studio floor, our skills improved quickly.

MC Bangmunsoo, who was looking at us, made a serious expression.

“This is trouble. You’re doing too well.”

“That’s right. Last time, TNT said that New Black’s dance was the hardest among the rookies. So we gave you a lot of chances…”

“Then we need some adjustment.”

We shouted out loud as we wiped off the sweat that came out slightly.

“Adjustment? It’s unfair to penalize us for doing well!”

“We’ll just do it as it is!”

But they didn’t let us go easily, saying that we had too many practice opportunities.

They seemed to want to make the show fun, as it would be boring if we went on like this.

We immediately set up a classroom desk and started negotiating.

“You’re too perfect right now, let’s add a speed dance.”

“Then let’s choose one song instead of random… How about only Bijou does it?”

“Hey.”

Bangmunsoo narrowed his eyes.

“I just saw Bijou dancing. He’s more flexible than a squid, I can’t accept this.”

“Then I’ll give you me and Bijou as a set. It’s boring to have just a hamburger. I’ll do it with you like french fries.”

“…”

“Instead, I don’t care if it’s 0.5x or 1.4x.”

“What?”

Bangmunsoo scratched his head and said.

“If it was another team, I would say okay to 0.5x or something like that, but New Black makes me nervous. I feel like they can do it.”

“No. We’re nervous.”

We smiled brightly and answered.

Bangmunsoo opened his mouth with a look of ‘I don’t think so’.

“Ah, I’m nervous. They’re too good.”

The other MCs said.

“Me too.”

“Don’t you think they’ll succeed in three times? Then we can’t monopolize the meat.”

While the New Black members were cheering ‘Aja aja fighting!’, they stood in front of the camera and raised the mood.

“It was no joke when they practiced!”

Woojin, the assistant MC, tapped the cue card on the hem and said.

It was true.

‘The choreography is like that… They’re really good.’

It was New Black’s title song, full of dizzying choreography.

Even the songs with stronger vocal colors, ‘Fireworks’ and ‘Wind Flower’, were not easy songs to say.

Even as they sang, their hands moved without a pause.

He had watched the video beforehand, but he didn’t realize there were so many detailed movements.

-Is that all choreography?

-Yes.

-Do you do all of that?

-Yes.

They looked so natural as they started the random play dance right away. He was amazed by their performance.

‘They must practice a lot here too.’

There was a lot of talk that they would make it to the top 3 boy groups by the end of the year.

He felt the source of their strength as he watched them.

“Okay, let’s begin!”

“Fighting!”

The members of New Black clapped and cheered for each other. ‘Go!’ ‘Ki!’ ‘Sa!’ ‘Rang!’ ‘Hae…’ They shouted their slogan.

Then the song began.

“Oh, nice start.”

“It’s like fireworks.”

They moved like water, as if their bodies were on autopilot.

Jiho, who took the center, winked and sang in a refreshing voice.

He sang along with the random play dance, as if he was humming.

“It changed.”

“Masquerade!”

They focused their eyes, looking for any gaps.

But there was nothing to fault.

They moved like a mass game, all five of them. And the one who led the movement was the main dancer.

“Wow…”

The staff who watched the scene captured by the overhead camera exclaimed.

It was impressive how the five scattered and gathered again.

But from above, there was one person who stood out with his movement.

The main dancer, Bijoo, walked gracefully from his original position to the assigned one.

“It’s almost like the original choreography.”

Every move was connected without a break, as if it was a complete choreography itself.

And then the lead dancer, Woojoo, stepped up.

“This is where these two take the lead.”

“They’re good…”

The main and the lead acted like pillars, and as soon as the song changed, they snapped into position. Then the other members followed suit.

The PD behind the staff smiled with satisfaction.

“Do we have a fancam of this?”

“Yes.”

“Make sure to record it well. This will be another legend.”

He smiled contentedly as he saw the gray-haired member smile at the camera on the screen.

Meanwhile, as the random play dance continued.

“Ahhh!”

“No!”

“It was almost a success!”

The MCs reacted with ‘Ahh!’ while the staff relaxed their shoulders without knowing.

‘It feels comfortable.’

‘It’s surprisingly easy to watch.’

Usually, when they did this kind of mission, they would tense up and watch with ‘Uh’ and ‘Oh’.

But today was different.

They looked relaxed and expressive even as they changed their moves quickly.

The audience could enjoy it more because the performers were not nervous.

After the dance ended, with them singing along to the lyrics.

“It’s not a success yet!”

“That’s right! There’s still the speed dance for Bijoo and Woojoo.”

They smiled and danced freely, switching between 0.5x and 1.5x speed. The MCs blinked their eyes.

The writers were also impressed.

“They were good on the video, but they’re even better in person.”

“I know. They’re amazing.”

“But how are they so good?”

“When we did the research, we found out that they practice a lot with 0.5x speed. They said they wanted to see the details of their moves.”

As if to prove it, they showed off to the others who said ‘They’re too good. They cheated!’. The other members also backed them up from behind.

One of the writers said.

“But they look like different people when they’re on stage…”

And at that moment.

The members of New Black, who had succeeded in everything in one go, smiled at the camera for the ending.

“Meat! Meat!”

“Jeehee! Meat! Give us meat!”

“Hanwoo! Where’s my hanwoo?”

They ran to the MCs like woodpeckers pecking their beaks and bombarded them with questions.

Their faces, which had been like fairies until three seconds ago, turned into monsters as if they revealed their true selves.

“…They suddenly became so endearing.”

“They remind me of my nephew. He’s seven years old.”

“I thought they were my daughters.”

The ones who were laughing heartily turned their eyes to the sound coming from the side.

“Audio director?”

“Ugh…”

The audio director was suffering from listening to the endlessly rising decibels of New Black through his headphones.