In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 134:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 134

Saturday evening.

People who came out of exit 2 of Gwangnaru Station walked along the street dyed with autumn leaves under the clear sky.

There were people of all kinds.

They had different outfits, but as soon as they got off the subway, the Soufflés instinctively recognized other fans.

They had a feeling of ‘Oh, that person too…’.

Like a stream of water merging into one, a line of people tailing each other naturally reached the front of the concert hall.

[The New Black 1st Fan Meeting – Soufflé Day]

Reflecting the actual color of the Soufflés, the pastel-toned yellow and orange gradient captured the eyes of the fans.

Outside the concert hall, posters were everywhere.

The fans who lined up for the fan meeting bounced their feet with excitement.

As soon as the entrance started, the sales booth for MD products related to New Black and the photo wall of New Black members were crowded with fans.

Fans who smiled or made a V sign in front of the posters and panels.

Meanwhile, there were things that caught the eyes of the fans who were wandering around the live hall.

“Wow, this is awesome. There are so many wreaths.”

“Huh… There are really a lot. I think it was like this when I went to a friend’s wedding a while ago.”

It was the wreaths that were laid out everywhere.

♧ Jang Sowon & Wonderful Night – See you again on the radio…!

♧ Comedian Seo Jihyung – Work less and earn more…☆

♧ Heeyeon & Heechan siblings – New Black does better than the black and brown cows

♧ Maxi – Ugh… A fan meeting…

The fans laughed and took pictures as they saw the wreaths with funny messages from various celebrities.

Of course, there was one wreath that was the most photographed.

♧ TBC Men Go – Woojoo…? Just in case, I’ll send it…

It was from the production team who sent it as the fact that TNT Taehyun was a reserve idol became a hot topic through a video call.

The Soufflés burst into laughter and took pictures.

They thought they should post them on the fan cafe later so that the person could see them.

Thanks to the Soufflé Week that lasted for five days, the fans’ expressions were like those who were looking forward to the highlight of the festival.

And it wasn’t just the fans who felt the festive atmosphere.

There was also an exclamation of surprise at the place where the MD products were sold.

“Sir, manager.”

“What?”

“Some items are already sold out.”

“We just started selling…”

At first, they were confused.

And as soon as they grasped the meaning of the words, the expressions of the company employees also gradually spread with the festive mood.

It was literally the first fan meeting of all time, even before it started.

***

Live hall waiting room.

Woojoo checked his outfit in front of the mirror.

He was wearing a white shirt and jeans.

It was his stage outfit for the first time in a while, so he tucked in his pants a bit to look cool… and got scolded by the stylist manager right away.

“Woojoo, why did you make a belly pants?”

He said Woojoo was wasting this good body by doing something weird and gave him a hard time.

The youngest, who was watching Woojoo from nearby, burst into laughter.

On any other day, Woojoo would have chased him and said, come here, you son of a gun.

But today, he couldn’t help but smile.

He was nervous and happy, and happy and nervous.

He listened to the BGM playing on the scene through the in-ear and relaxed his body.

“Five hundred won… five hundred won…”

Rihyuk was in a corner, looking at the wall and loosening his throat.

His voice was so low that it filled the waiting room like a cloud of dry ice.

Junghyun and Jiho were caught by Seokhwan Hyung while secretly grabbing snacks from the waiting room and had them all confiscated.

Idiots.

They should have taken them earlier like Woojoo.

“Manager, what is that?”

“Oh, this? I saw Woojoo sneakily taking this earlier, so I kept an eye on where he put it.”

“…”

“Woojoo, did you think I wouldn’t know?”

Seokhwan Hyung shook the chocolate chip cookie bag with a smirk.

Seriously.

Woojoo had to buy that as soon as he came back.

He watched the company staff and the scene staff running around the waiting room and the hallway with hawk eyes, looking for a timing, but he couldn’t find any and gave up.

Woojoo flopped down on the sofa, and Bijoo came and sat next to him.

“Hyung, I’m really nervous.”

“Me too.”

Bijoo and Woojoo sat on the sofa and rubbed their palms together.

“Wow, you guys look like a bunch of handsome flies. Hyungs.”

“You son of a gun.”

Woojoo glared at him and then smiled and tapped the seat next to him.

“Come over here. Let’s do it together.”

“Okay.”

“Me too.”

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

While they were trying to relieve their tension, Rihyuk, who had finished loosening his throat, came over and looked at them with disbelief.

“What are you guys doing?”

“Relaxing.”

“Does that help?”

“A little?”

He hummed, and Woojoo could tell he was going to try it by himself somewhere out of sight.

Of course, this didn’t really relieve the tension.

It just felt a little better to be sitting together.

Bijoo said, “I feel strange. I’m not nervous because of the stage, but I’m still shaking.”

“It’s because you’re meeting the fans now.”

“They’re all here, right?”

Woojoo nodded.

He felt sorry that he could only hear the music from the stage through his in-ear monitor.

If there was a TV connected to a camera like in the broadcasting station, he could see what the fans were doing.

Well.

They probably had the same expression as them.

“Oh! The reality cam is here.”

“Hello!”

The HBS MTV production team came in and interviewed each of them.

They asked New Black how they felt about their first fan meeting.

Woojoo spoke in front of the camera.

“I’m really, really nervous. I’ve been doing a lot of broadcast activities lately, but I still feel like I can’t adapt. We’re meeting our fans for the first time in a long time. Actually, I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so excited…”

“Dubi-dubap-bap~ Dubi-dubap-bap~”

Behind him, two younger brothers danced like monkeys on the camera lens.

Woojoo ignored them and continued.

“Our fan meeting with Soufflés, we’ve been waiting and waiting for it! Today, we’ll have a really cool and wonderful time…”

“Dubi-dubap~”

“Hey!”

“Wow, it’s the cockroach king!”

Woojoo brushed his hair back as he watched them run away with a smile.

The cockroach king.

The writer held back a laugh at that weird nickname.

Soon, Rihyuk and Bijoo joined Woojoo and answered the interview, and finally, the two puppies who clung to Woojoo told their feelings.

While they were talking in front of the reality camera, the time finally came.

“The show starts in 5 minutes!”

“Let’s go!”

They left the waiting room with nervous faces, along with their managers.

The way to the backstage was so nerve-wracking.

As they moved, their kids also drank from empty water bottles or cracked their necks and shook their shoulders.

Woojoo asked with a smile, “Doesn’t it remind you of the showcase?”

“Yeah, it does.”

“We were so surprised then. We didn’t expect so many fans to come.”

“Today, there are four times more than then.”

The number of people seemed to make the younger ones nervous.

A thousand people.

Woojoo couldn’t even imagine or dare to think of such a number, so he was still shaky when he arrived at the backstage.

They had performed in front of tens of thousands of audiences at the Find Your Dream concert, but it was a different story when the audience was composed of only their fans.

But if Woojoo was nervous, they would be more nervous, so he smiled boldly.

“Let’s do it like we did at the first showcase. Be nervous, but don’t shake.”

Woojoo reached out his hand for a high-five when the reality camera was filming them.

They all gathered their hands and shouted “Fighting!” before going on stage.

“Let’s go on stage.”

Following the guidance of the staff who held the intercom mic, they quickly climbed up the stage.

The stage was dark.

Soon, a bright blue light illuminated the stage and the fans cheered loudly.

“Woah!”

The sound was so loud that it felt like there were ten thousand people.

The intro of their song played through the loud amp.

Their debut song, Fireworks, was always refreshing to hear.

They wore blue outfits and moved their hands and bodies along with the song, and the fans responded enthusiastically.

Woojoo felt goosebumps on his neck as he heard the familiar fan chant.

His heart was pounding.

And his whole body felt a pleasant thrill.

“Woah!”

After the song ended, their fans kept jumping around while their hearts were still racing.

-Wow, the reaction is amazing. Now, please greet everyone!

The MC said in a playful voice.

“Two, three.”

“Hello, we are New Black!”

New Black bowed their heads and the fans cheered again. Woojoo’s eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light and he could see the seats.

At the same time, his eyes widened.

“Wow…”

Woojoo unconsciously exclaimed.

During the rehearsal, he thought ‘Can our fans fill all these seats?’ and the seats were packed.

Not only the first floor, but also the second floor.

They made eye contact and waved their hands to every angle of the stage, and the MC smiled.

-New Black, you are very passionate from the start.

The MC for today was the comedian, Park Jaeshin.

He was an MC who was in high demand and hard to book for idol events, but thanks to Seo Jihyung’s introduction, they got him easily.

He led the talk skillfully while they greeted their fans.

They forgot all the lines they had prepared.

“Hello. I’m Woojoo. Uh, you are so… uh, really, there are so many of you. How did you… Did you see a lot of maple trees on your way here? I really thought it would be nice if our fans saw them too.”

His siblings chuckled at Woojoo’s rambling.

“Let’s have fun together today since we haven’t seen each other for a long time!”

-That’s right. We won’t let you go home.

The youngest cut in and the fans laughed.

After that, the fans reacted warmly to whatever their siblings said.

It was the same as their debut showcase.

They seemed to like everything they did and said, and clapped for them.

It was touching.

Even their Mrs. Kim Deoksoon didn’t treat him like this…

Meanwhile, there was one person who gave the biggest laugh to the Soufflés today.

-Hello, I’m Bijoo.

He was their main dancer who bowed politely with both hands.

-Uh… I really want to thank our Soufflés who came to this place. You must have sore throats from cheering, sore faces from smiling, sore arms from waving the light sticks, and sore legs from walking…

He listed one painful part after another.

Eventually, the fans who had been holding back their laughter burst out laughing as the MC made a comment.

-According to Bijoo, our fans have no painless parts.

-Oops.

He looked embarrassed as the live hall was filled with laughter. Bijoo glanced at Woojoo as if his mind had stopped for a moment.

Woojoo smiled and grabbed the microphone.

“Yes, we will make you feel refreshed when you go home today by making you healthy.”

Soon, a passionate response came from the scene.

***

After the official fan meeting began, the Soufflés who were sitting in the seats had no time to spare as they waved their mini light sticks.

Some of them tried to take pictures but were stopped by the security guards, but most of them couldn’t take their eyes off the stage.

“Wow…”

“Wow…”

They seemed to see the faces of the members enlarged even though they were far away.

Especially for those who became fans during the first album, unlike those who joined recently.

A member who gave a young scholar-like impression with his neat appearance.

A member who had sharp eyes but softened his expression when he smiled.

And.

If the previous two had a boyish vibe, then there were different kinds of handsome men after that.

A member who had a masculine line and a member who had a standard handsome face.

Finally, there was a member who stood out among them with his gorgeous appearance like a peacock.

It seemed like his facial features were shouting that he was here in every corner of the country as they watched.

‘His face does it all…’

The mini games in the beginning of the idol fan meeting were as boring as ever, but the members’ faces were interesting.

But unfortunately, they seemed to have no awareness of their appearance.

One was sitting blankly, and the others were sitting in a place where only their silhouettes could be seen from behind the screen, exposing the truth about the members, the so-called silhouette talk.

The distorted voices kept laughing.

[This is so fun. Kyakkyakkyak.]

[Hey, be quiet. Lower your voice.]

[Junghyun has a lot of stories, right? Let’s see~]

[Something to say about Junghyun? Um… I have a lot, but I’m a bit hesitant to say this. It might be embarrassing to talk about this in front of everyone…]

“Bijoo, is that you?”

[No… no, it’s not. Yo.]

[I’ll tell you. Junghyun Hyung is…]

[Hey, if you say Junghyun Hyung, people will know who you are.]

[You can tell by the way you talk. You fools. Hahaha. You have to change the way you talk like me, so no one knows who you are.]

“Woojoo Hyung?”

[No… um. I’m Wang Jiho.]

[Hahaha. That’s so funny!]

[You’re so pathetic, hahaha.]

Even though their voices were distorted, the fans could tell who was who from their talk. They laughed endlessly at their revelations of each other’s truths.

They also laughed at their hilarious antics in various games.

But that was only for a moment.

The stages that followed in between took the Soufflés’ breath away.

Junghyun’s solo rap performance, Bijoo’s dance stage where he danced randomly to the latest dance songs.

And the first duet stage of Night Sea, which was officially released.

Every time a stage left a lingering impression, another stage came with a powerful impact.

At the end, Jiho’s impromptu drama lesson followed.

While the youngest acted as the acting teacher, the members did improvisational acting according to the scenes.

Rihyuk and Woojoo acted according to the theme of ‘a boy and a girl on a country road at sunset’.

Woojoo said, tapping the air.

-Hyuksoona, do you want to ride a bike with me to school? Sit in the back.

-No.

-Why?

-That’s a unicycle.

-That’s why I prepared two. You ride one too.

-Okay.

-Ah, Hyungs! You can’t do it like this!

While the youngest made a crying face, the two older ones pretended to ride unicycles and walked across the stage.

The time flew by as they continued with such corners.

Meanwhile.

One of the things that the fans remembered the most from the first fan meeting was New Black’s cover stage.

It was a choreography arranged for a five-member version of Teen Spirit’s Gunflower.

The stage was filled with red lights.

The five members of New Black, dressed in suits, moved their bodies to the groovy dance song melody.

The movement of the center Bijoo and the others was like a picture, and the fans were distracted by turning their heads this way and that.

The members who had been smiling and having fun disappeared, and their expressions matched the dark and serious mood of the song.

Before the chorus, Rihyuk showed his upper body choreography, while two members on each side crossed each other with a smooth wave.

From the second floor, it looked like two wings crossing.

Then Bijoo slid to the front of the stage.

He flicked his hair lightly, and a graceful gesture popped out towards the audience, as if he was inviting them.

The cheers were only for a moment.

He withdrew his hand, and the members who had been standing in a line spread out like wings at the same time.

At that moment.

Bang-

The dark and red light changed to a different color.

A bright light.

As the members drew an L shape with their hands around Bijoo, a loud cheer erupted.

The cheers grew louder and louder every time the members smoothly waved their hips.

Their practice showed.

They had practiced so much in such a short time that their hip wave movements were razor-sharp.

It looked like soft waves were coming and going from side to side.

It was a sight they would never forget.

Even after the stage was over, the people who came with their friends whispered to each other excitedly.

“Wow, the choreography feels really different.”

“But Fireworks too, don’t you think something is different today…?”

“Yeah, yeah. The kids look like they’ve grown a bit.”

The fans who didn’t know that the members were working hard at the gym for their second album were clueless about this mystery.

They could only sigh and gasp.

‘I wish time would stop…’

As the Soufflés were thinking that, the last stage came too soon.

It was a special stage that Woojoo had prepared.