In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 109:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 109

The village hall was bustling.

The guests who had returned with the ingredients greeted each other happily, and New Black were also having a family reunion.

The moment Woojoo locked eyes with the youngest, who was sucking on an ice cream from afar.

“Jiho!”

“Woojoo Hyung!”

He ran towards Woojoo like a soccer player doing a ceremony. Woojoo also responded with a warm welcome.

“Really?”

“Yes, I think I might move here later.”

Woojoo laughed at that.

Rihyuk looked at Woojoo with a sour face.

“Why are you two making such a fuss? You were only apart for two hours. Anyone would think you haven’t seen each other for a year.”

Jiho looked at Woojoo blankly and asked, “Why is he like that, Hyung?”

“He’s jealous because you only ran to me.”

“Oh, I see. Are you feeling left out, Rihyuk?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Right, right.”

Rihyuk sighed as he watched them exchange such words.

“Can you two just go away… Oh, why are you dancing?”

They played rock-paper-scissors with Rihyuk in the middle.

While they were doing that, someone joined them. It was Junghyun.

They looked like monkeys dancing around a bonfire, and the people passing by laughed.

“Please… Stop it, you’re embarrassing us. We’re going to be known as gag idols if we keep this up.”

“It’s okay. Our cool image was already ruined by Junghyun.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jiho doesn’t know yet. The black goat.”

Woojoo was about to tell him about it, when the door of the portable toilet opened and someone came out with a phone.

He squinted his eyes in the sunlight and saw them. His eyes widened.

They waved their hands and greeted him first.

“Bijoo!”

Bijoo ran to them happily.

“Did you all do well? How was it, Hyung?”

They each said a word as they were excited, and Junghyun also started his story.

He said he had a chase with a black goat named Daegil, and they became somewhat friendly.

They laughed for a while, but their expressions crumpled at the end.

One was Woojoo.

“Junghyun, you didn’t tell the camera that I hugged a pillow and explained jiujitsu techniques, did you?”

“…Well.”

“No, right?”

“Hyung, hypothetically. If I really did that, would it be a big deal?”

“Hey!”

And the other one was Bijoo, who looked unusually serious.

“Junghyun, you ran into the road when a car was coming?”

“…Ah.”

As he was about to scold him, Woojoo and the two brothers quickly ran away.

Rihyuk chewed on the bulgogi in his spoon and said, “Come to think of it, we now have two heroes in our team. The Galhyeon-dong hero and the Yeoncheon-gun black goat hero.”

“Puhaha! The black goat hero.”

The team members who were helping with the cooking laughed. Woojoo smiled as he saw Junghyun looking pleased with that nickname.

“Junghyun, don’t be happy about something like that.”

“I’m a hero now, too, Hyung.”

He grinned, and the youngest, who was pouring soy sauce on a spoon, lit up his eyes.

“Speaking of which, why don’t we give each other nicknames?”

“What do you want to be?”

“Hmm… Hannam-dong Fire Fist? Isn’t that cool?” he said he made up the name after his favorite comic character, but it was so random that everyone just laughed.

Ye Heechan, who was listening, joined in.

“Then I’ll be Heukseok-dong Sloth.”

“Hahaha, that suits you.”

“I’ll be Cheongdam-dong Reggae Hair then.”

The adults started to join in the fun with one word each.

Woojoo laughed at Maxi’s crazy talk about LA, which was meant to be a diss, and the situation became funny when Ye Heechan teased Ye Heeyeon.

Somehow, the others seemed more excited.

And Woojoo wondered what kind of magic their youngest had done, because Lee Gyeonwoo, who used to be quiet, suddenly became more talkative.

Well, it was fun to talk when he gave such a seal clap reaction to everything.

“Why is their team so cheerful?”

“Maybe they just gave up on cooking and focused on filling the time?”

“Things are going weird. I thought Lee Gyeonwoo would be the center, but isn’t it New Black in the center?”

…That was what the other team members whispered, and their celebrity with good ears relayed everything to them.

He asked Woojoo if he did well, and Woojoo gave him a thumbs-up.

As the other team said, their team’s atmosphere had changed to revolve around New Black.

It wasn’t because they were very funny or had great entertainment skills.

Maybe it was because of the guest lineup.

Everyone wanted to have a comfortable conversation, and the easiest person to talk to in this place was the young New Black.

And since they were having fun together, it was easy to have a conversation with just a few words.

They felt like a matchmaker who connected people who wanted to get closer.

Anyway, a meeting place was opened around them.

When they got excited and talked, the other guests added a word or two and had a conversation with each other.

Heysion said with a smile, “It feels like I’m getting younger when I talk to them.”

“Ugh… I don’t think so…”

“Hey, stop saying that all the time.”

Thanks to that, the other guests also became friendly.

But the other team had a misunderstanding.

They didn’t give up on cooking and just tried to fill the time.

Rather, it was going so smoothly that they had time to chat.

“Ah, really! Be careful. Ha… Soy sauce… Who spilled the soy sauce?”

“I’m sorry.”

Team B had some close calls.

You know what he meant.

They laughed and fixed it right away because it was a broadcast, but their expressions froze for a moment.

And there was a faint tension between them.

There were scenes where the people around them were nervous.

On the other hand, Team A had Seo Jihyung and Han Yeoreum doing the hard carry, but the atmosphere looked bleak.

Handling the bossam and steamed fish was like a flawless surgery.

The two chefs handed over the scalpel when they said ‘scalpel’.

In many ways, their Team C was unique.

And unlike Team A, which had two main chefs and confusion, they had one head chef, which was an advantage.

“Bijoo, how do I do this?”

“Bijoo, should I turn off the fire now?”

“Chef Bi, can you check the seasoning for me?”

At times like that, their second youngest ran around the table like a fairy of cooking.

When the cooking was almost done, Bijoo picked up some bulgogi and came to Woojoo.

“Hyung, can you taste this for me?”

“Sure, okay.”

His gloved hand fed Woojoo a piece of cooked bulgogi.

It was sweet and savory.

Woojoo widened his eyes.

“This is really good, you know?”

“Really?”

“But this tastes familiar… Oh, you…”

“Yes, that’s right.”

It was his grandmother’s recipe that he had tasted somewhere before.

It wasn’t just Woojoo who felt it was delicious, the others who tasted the seasoning also raised their thumbs and opened their eyes wide.

It was like a scene from a cooking manga with BGM playing in the background.

“Wow, this is exactly like what you get at a restaurant. Do you want to open a restaurant with me later?”

Maxi, who was tasting the food, made such a proposal.

As the bulgogi, japchae, and soybean paste stew were completed one by one, a warm atmosphere filled their team.

They thought they had a chance.

And they had an extra menu.

“Oh my… are they sweet potato sellers?”

“Junghyun helped them feed the black goat, so they gave us this.”

It was three boxes of sweet potatoes.

They immediately used the leftover ingredients to make various desserts with sweet potatoes.

Sweet potato fries, roasted sweet potatoes, boiled sweet potatoes.

“30 minutes left until the deadline!”

As the end time approached, they finished cooking and gathered together in a circle for a meeting.

Ye Heeyeon said, “The elders and the villagers will be coming soon for lunch, so let’s think about how to attract them.”

The remaining task was to solicit customers.

The mission was not to make the most delicious food, but to attract the most customers.

Woojoo cautiously said, “How about offering roasted sweet potatoes as a sample menu in advance?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.”

“We have skewers, so we can cut them small and say, ‘You don’t have to come to us, just have a bite and go’ like this…”

“Then they’ll feel too awkward to go anywhere else.”

“Yes, that’s the key.”

The others laughed at Woojoo’s words.

“Have you ever done business in the universe?”

“My grandmother ran a restaurant. I grew up watching how she did business since I was young.”

To be more precise, Woojoo saw a lot of nearby shops go bankrupt.

Woojoo told them various stories that he had seen, and Maxi also listened carefully to the know-how that Seo Jihyung, the food business owner of Team A, spouted.

When they synthesized the results and came to a conclusion.

“The cooking time is over!”

It was time for the outcome of the mission to be decided.

***

In front of the village hall.

“Oh, I’m hungry. When are they going to let us in?”

“Grandma, you have to wait a little. It’s not time yet.”

“I don’t care about that. My legs hurt, and I want to go to the car and sit down for a while.”

“Dad, where are you going?”

“I’m going to take a look inside.”

People started to gather 10 minutes before the scheduled time.

It was a rare opportunity to have a meal made by the TV program participants, and to appear on TV, so most of the villagers attended.

The age groups were very diverse.

There were children who came holding their mother’s hand, middle and high school students, and middle-aged people.

They all waited for the door to open with anticipation.

The FD came out and gave instructions.

“Our meal menu is ready.”

A paper with a large menu was attached.

“You can go in and have a meal at the team you like. Once you choose a team, you can’t move to another team.”

Along with some minor notices such as prohibiting filming, the entrance began.

“Hello!”

Everyone’s eyes widened at the sight of the celebrities they had only seen on TV.

It was different from when they greeted them earlier, their faces were right in front of them.

“Our steamed fish is really delicious!”

“Do you crave some tender pork belly? Come and have a bite here.”

Team A, filled with actors and models, was competing with their faces and their food’s visuals.

Team B also had six girl group members who were cheerfully attracting customers with their smiles.

Meanwhile, three men approached from Team C, each holding a plate of sweet potato snacks.

“Please have a taste.”

With his tall stature and warm appearance, he was Ye Heechan, who had once been famous on the internet as the handsome instructor meme from a variety show.

“Would you like to try this?”

He was Lee Gyeonwoo, who had played the male lead in a drama that boasted an average rating of 31.9 percent.

“Please come and try our food, it’s delicious.”

And he was the idol with a gentle expression and a surreal beauty.

Thanks to him, Team C had a strong start.

Song Jinwoo, a member of Team B, sneered.

“They would have won even if they had shrimp crackers instead of sweet potatoes.”

But soon, the other teams copied them and the competition became a tie.

Then, the food evaluation began and people flocked to Team A and C, who had decent flavors.

Overall, Team B was lagging behind.

Team A had the upper hand, and Team C was chasing after them.

After some time, Team A was celebrating their victory, while Team B and C decided to change their direction and chat with the elders to get more footage.

“A feast is not complete without a congratulatory performance!”

The comedian, Oh Hyeongseok, was hosting the event and lifting the mood.

As he said he was looking for a guest singer, someone quickly volunteered.

“Me! I want to sing!”

“Okay, we have Jiho from New Black. Let’s hear him sing.”

As the people who were eating clapped and cheered, a handsome and young member stood in the center of the village hall.

He had a tissue in his hand that fluttered like a rag.

Soon, a trot song played from his phone’s BGM.

Wang Jiho sang the trot song and waved the tissue like a handkerchief, making everyone laugh.

And behind him, a tall member danced like a store opening mascot, making them laugh again.

After the performance ended and the encore stage followed, the audience smiled as they watched the idol members act cute to the elders.

Starting with Jiho, more volunteers came out.

The youngest of Girls on Top, Gil Chaekyeong, also sang a trot song with her sisters, unwilling to lose.

Seo Jihyung also sang a legendary song that he had released and flopped.

Since they were the most talented and fun people in Korea, it was easy for them to liven up the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, the competition also settled down.

“Team A is going to win,” Ye Heechan said calmly, and his sister shook her head.

“Wait and see. The production staff said they haven’t come yet, about twenty of them.”

“Hey, do you think they will all come to us? Just accept that we lost and eat comfortably.”

“Are there still people who haven’t come?” Lee Gyeonwoo asked, and Maxi nodded.

“There are still some people who haven’t come. Earlier… I think I didn’t see that grandfather. The rich grandfather.”

“Rich grandpa?”

“You know, the nice-looking house in the middle of the village.”

Woojoo realized that Grandpa Kang Moonsik hadn’t arrived yet.

Was he busy?

Woojoo thought he said he would definitely come.

“Hyung.”

His youngest brother rested his pointy chin on my shoulder. His face was flushed with excitement from the audience’s cheers.

“How was it? Did I sing well?”

“You did great, the elders loved it.”

“Really? Was I better than her?”

“Of course. No doubt.”

He was trying to compete with Gil Chaekyung, who was receiving compliments from the elders in the distance.

“Hyung, let’s go back soon.”

They also went around the tables with the elders, along with the other members.

They answered with smiles to their question of whether they were enjoying their meal.

They said it was as good as eating at a restaurant, and their second brother, who was in charge of cooking, kept smiling brightly at that.

Yeah.

It was fine as long as the elders liked it, even if they lost the competition.

Woojoo thought it was a good experience to make people happy in this way, even if it wasn’t on stage.

And then.

“What’s that, there are so many cars coming in?”

“Four of them!”

The celebrities who were chatting with the villagers at the tables looked outside and widened their eyes.

Everyone was surprised and went out.

There must have been about twenty people in those cars.

The situation could change the outcome of the mission depending on where they were going.

Everyone ran out of the village hall.

And people started getting out of the four cars.

They looked like five families related by blood.

“Oh, my leg!”

And Woojoo blinked at the familiar voice.

Grandpa Kang Moonsik, dressed in luxury clothes, got out of the car.

When he showed signs of pain in his leg, one middle-aged man asked, ‘Are you okay, Father?’

And the oldest-looking man among them asked Grandpa, “Father, where do you want to go? We? You like bossam, don’t you? Do you want to have some?”

Team A’s faces brightened for a moment.

“No, I have a place I promised to go to.”

Grandpa Kang Moonsik looked at Woojoo, Rihyuk, and Maxi, who were staring blankly among the people, and laughed heartily.

“Oh, my! You were here!”

He came over and grabbed Woojoo’s hand, happy to see him.

The other team members looked at them with wide eyes, especially Mr. Seo Jihyung. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out.

Woojoo asked nervously, “Grandpa, then who are they all…?”

“They’re my sons.”

He smiled and held Woojoo’s hand, which was stiff with surprise.

“I told you. I’m bringing a lot of guests.”