In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 321:

the screen started to show the etiquette fairies appearing one by one.

-There they are!

-They came to save me!

The child looked up at the fairies who greeted him with ‘Wow!’ with a ‘What about me?’ expression.

Then the fairies said,

-We’ll guide you to your seat!

Soon, the title ‘Etiquette Fairies’ Guide to Theater Manners!’ popped up in a casual font.

The fairies held the child’s hand and entered the theater.

A bulky fairy who made way for the child to his seat by striding between the seats.

In the process, he bumped into the seats and almost made the person in front of him smash his face into the popcorn bucket.

With a ‘squeak!’ sound, the leader of the fairies who was watching the puppies turned to the screen with a fresh smile.

Then he held up an ‘X’ sign.

[Don’t kick the front seat~]

The people laughed with dumbfounded faces.

‘They’re your subordinates, fairy…’

‘Look how shameless they are.’

And the fairies who scattered to find the child’s seat by making phone calls.

-Are you there?

-No! Look more!

-I found it!

Woojoo held up an ‘X’ sign again.

[Manner mode is basic!]

[Whisper in the theater~]

The fairies who found the child’s seat said ‘Enjoy!’ and shouted cheerfully.

One of the fairies exclaimed urgently.

[It’s the police! Run!]

The members who ran away from the police who chased them with a horn.

The title that appeared at the beginning came up again on the screen.

The word ‘etiquette’ in ‘Etiquette Fairies’ Guide to Theater Manners!’ was crossed out with red lines and changed to ‘rude’.

The fleeing fairies shouted with bright smiles.

[Let’s make theater etiquette together!]

[This campaign is with New Black… Ah! Let’s go together!]

The New Black members dispersed with Rihyuk, who was panting. And with the fade-out screen.

The theater’s emergency evacuation guide came up.

The people blinked their eyes.

‘What is this? It feels like I’m looking at an escape route, not an evacuation route.’

‘It’s so eye-catching.’

‘It’s the first time I’ve seen an emergency exit so focused.’

The audience who unknowingly looked for the emergency escape route because of the exquisite editing.

Soon the screen went dark.

With the sound of ‘Bam bam bam~ Bam! Babababam!’ the globe started to spin with a bang!

Then the people said ‘Ah’.

‘Ah. I came to watch a movie.’

‘I came to watch Nostalgia, Nostalgia.’

The audience who shook their heads and came to their senses.

It was only a 40-second campaign, but it was New Black who always left a strong impression with ‘Kyahahat!’

I asked my brothers with a handycam in my hand.

“What are we doing today?”

“We’re doing a one-day part-time job at the theater~”

“How are we doing it?”

“We’re doing it well~!”

We jumped around with ‘Yo yo yo!’ with our brothers.

Seokhwan hyung, who was watching, said to the staff member of the head office, ‘They’re always like that’.

I said to the handycam.

“Yes, today we came to do a one-day part-time job at the theater. Ta-da!”

“Ta-da!”

We all stepped back and introduced the staff behind us, and the staff smiled shyly.

“Hello.”

“Yes, please introduce yourself.”

“I’m Kim Soohee, working at the Yongsan branch.”

“Wow!”

We asked.

“What’s your favorite song?”

“Nine by New Black…”

“Wow. What a coincidence.”

The other person laughed at the obvious acting that we had rehearsed.

“First of all, you’re all wearing your uniforms, right?”

“Yes!”

“Please check if you’re missing anything in your outfit.”

We looked at each other and gave an OK sign, wearing the theater part-time worker uniforms.

Today’s schedule was a surprise one-day part-time job.

We agreed to do it as a promotion for the newly released New Black popcorn combo, while filming an etiquette video.

“Let’s start from the ticket booth…”

We sat around the table like an orientation and listened to the part-timer’s tips.

We took out our notebooks and wrote down some important tips.

Meanwhile, Minki hyung filmed the video that would go up on MeeTube with a handy cam.

“Oops!”

Jiho covered his mouth with his hand and made a surprised expression, and the part-timer asked.

“Why all of a sudden…?”

“Oh. I was making a face for the MeeTube thumbnail. We need to have some clickbait like this.”

“Does that make a difference in the views?”

“Yes. Probably.”

The other person nodded, convinced by our explanation that ‘New Black, Theater Part-Time Job Experience!’ would get less views than ‘Five Spooky Secrets Hidden in the Theater’.

“That should be enough. If you don’t know what to do later, feel free to ask me.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

We scanned our notes again and memorized the highlighted points.

Then we got up from our seats.

We went outside to greet the PR team staff from the headquarters.

“But that person…”

Rihyuk whispered, squinting his eyes.

“Don’t you think they’re looking at us with a certain look? Like a side glance.”

“Yeah. Kind of.”

We felt something from the PR team staff’s gaze.

Bijoo narrowed his eyebrows and said ‘hmm’.

“I think it’s that kind of feeling.”

“Right?”

“Yeah. Me too. It’s that feeling…”

We exchanged those words and approached the PR team staff who was talking to Seokhwan hyung.

I smiled and bowed.

“Thank you for inviting us today.”

“Oh, no, not at all.”

“We’ll work hard and fast today since you invited us~”

The other person smiled when we said ‘leave it to us’.

While Seokhwan hyung went to talk to the road managers, our siblings looked at me.

‘Ask them. Quickly.’

‘Okay.’

I cleared my throat and asked.

“Excuse me, manager…”

“Yes?”

“I have something to ask you.”

We nodded our heads seriously, and the other person asked back with a slightly nervous expression.

“What do you want to ask…?”

We cautiously asked the staff who planned our etiquette video.

“0619?”

“…!”

New Black’s debut date.

The other person paused and opened their eyes wide, then covered their mouth and whispered to us.

“0718.”

“…!”

Soufflé’s birthday.

We made a face as if we knew it, and the other person asked with embarrassment.

“How did you know? Is it obvious?”

“No, it’s not that, but we have a certain expression when we find out. We can’t hide it…”

“Ah.”

“It’s because Woojoo hyung makes the same expression when he sees his mother-in-law. Like this.”

Jiho raised his hand to his chest and shone his eyes, saying ‘Deok-soon~’. The other person let out a small laugh.

Bijoo asked.

“So, did we get cast because…”

“No, that’s not it. After the music cafe broadcast, the team leader said he had to bring those guys, no, those friends.”

He seemed to be about to say ‘guys’ just now.

I had a hunch what he was going to say next, but we pretended not to know for the sake of the manager who was playing dumb.

Then we took a selfie together.

We smiled warmly at him, who was smiling happily as he looked at the picture we took together.

“But what did you say after ‘guys’ earlier?”

“…”

“I’m sure I heard you say ‘guys’.”

He picked up the phone.

“Oh, a call.”

“It’s not ringing.”

“I just remembered a place I have to call!”

“Where are you going? No, you have to tell us quickly that they’re not funny…”

As I shouted desperately at the manager who was fading away, Seokhwan came over in a hurry.

“What’s going on? What did you guys do to make him run away like that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Junghyun said calmly, waving his hand.

“We asked him if we were funny.”

“…”

“And then he left like that.”

Seokhwan smiled as if he didn’t hear the novel explanation that omitted the context.

Then he looked at me.

As I was thinking about how to explain it.

“He’s a Soufflé…”

“Ah. I see.”

“…?”

“I get it.”

He nodded as if he understood, and I blinked.

What?

I wondered for a moment what kind of image he had of us and the Soufflés in his head.

In front of the ticket office.

We bowed and greeted the people in front of us after finishing our one-hour part-time job.

“This has been New Black! Thank you!”

“Woohoo!”

The people around us clapped. There were also cell phone cameras filming from all directions.

“What? What? New Black is here?”

“Hey. Wow, it looks like New Black is here right now… No, no, it looks like they’re leaving now.”

“Is that him? Him?”

Couples who had just arrived, people who were talking on the phone, people who said ‘Button!’ looking at Rihyuk.

It was quiet when we started our part-time job because we came as a surprise visit.

-Wow! Awesome.

-Can I take a picture?

Maybe because of the pictures that were posted on SNS, people flocked in an hour.

It was so noisy that my ears were tingling.

While the theater part-timers behind us looked drained, we smiled brightly and waved our hands at the cannon camera.

The flash also flashed.

“We’re going!”

As we followed the managers, people looked at us with curiosity.

There was also a lot of talk about the music cafe.

“Why did they do a theater part-time job?”

“Don’t you know? They filmed something with the manner mode. There’s something in the theater.”

“That’s Woojoo. What did they say at the music cafe? The old man who cuts songs?”

As I heard the conversation that suddenly came up, I glared at my brothers, but they all pretended not to know.

Maybe because we showed a lot of composition and stuff at the music cafe, there were a lot of eyes looking at me.

But the real protagonist who got the most attention among us was someone else.

“Oh my, that’s him. Button.”

“How did he pop the button when he’s so cute? Amazing. I can’t even breathe.”

“What was his name? Churihyuk?”

As Rihyuk passed by, murmurs were heard.

Rihyuk, who the Soufflés called ‘the button of the music cafe’ after the novel of Notre Dame in France.

If it was the usual time, he would have been red-faced and said ‘Hurry up and die, this world’, but he walked by brushing his hair.

“Hehe.”

He had a very arrogant expression today.

‘Look at him. He’s cocky because he put on foundation.’

‘He wrapped his clothes up to his neck.’

Rihyuk, who seemed to think he had perfectly covered his red face with foundation, smiled leisurely.

As the people admired him, Rihyuk’s mouth corners were ready to smile.

“Ears…”

“Only his ears are red. Look at the cover power of the foundation. I want to ask where he got it.”

“Where did you get the foundation!”

“Hey, don’t ask so loudly.”

As the people laughed, Rihyuk ran away with his ears covered with both hands.

We also laughed.

After the music cafe was aired.

We did some extra promotions for Nostalgia, including the etiquette video.

And we also appeared on some radio shows that our manager had sensibly booked in advance and sang.

-This time, the improvisation was a big issue, right?

-Yes. That’s right. After the music cafe came out, we went up on the real-time search again.

-You guys are always on the real-time search. I’ve seen New Black three times. But is it more impressive this time?

-Yes, this time we became a hot topic for something cool.

-Yes? Yes…

The DJ’s reaction of ‘hmm? hmm’ was a laughing point, and the GIF of the radio that day also circulated.

Wow. You really churn out songs like a machine. I admit it.

But I also felt like I got some recognition for my ‘composition’ and ‘producing’ skills this time.

The radio DJs and the broadcasters showed some interest, too.

Thanks to the influence of the Music Cafe, ‘Fireworks’ suddenly climbed up to the 80th rank on the chart.

It wasn’t a reverse run, but it was proof that this broadcast attracted a lot of attention.

My manager also informed me of the online reactions.

“The PR team requested data analysis from an external agency, and it seems like your image has definitely changed.”

“Really?”

“They added keywords like ‘music’ and ‘composition’ to your existing image.”

It wasn’t a 180-degree transformation like I wanted, but I was glad that our musical aspect was accepted.

Of course, the Music Cafe wasn’t the only source of buzz.

There was another hero who made our broadcast time a hot topic.

It was the OST ‘Thousand Dreams’ of Nostalgia.

-‘Nostalgia’ tops the North American box office for the third week… “It’s a hit”

-Director Edwards sends a video of eating LA ribs to celebrate ‘4 million breakthrough in Korea’, “From today, Korea is my hometown along with Arizona”

-“The secret of Nostalgia’s success? The textbook of word-of-mouth marketing”… What the insiders say

The reaction was good for the first and second week, but it exploded in the US in the third week.

I heard they spent more budget than the action blockbuster that opened at the same time, but the performance wasn’t as good as they expected.

The box office boom and the reaction in Korea spread online in the US and created a word-of-mouth effect.

Anyway, thanks to the good performance of the movie, we had something to celebrate.

(new) Thousand Dreams – The New Black

It was the news that our OST entered the Billboard chart in the US along with the popularity of the movie.

I was stunned when I first heard it.

I heard that the movie was popular and it would go up, but I didn’t expect it to actually go up.

Rupert, who entered the 49th place with ‘Falling Stars’, also sent us a message of congratulations.

“I feel really weird.”

“Me too. I don’t know what to call this feeling.”

It wasn’t the song we released as the title, but I was touched by the result of the work we participated in.

But apart from that, it didn’t feel real.

I never expected to make a name for myself like this.

Just a few months ago, if someone said ‘You just make some music for a foreign movie as a fan service, and that becomes an OST and goes up on the US chart’, I wouldn’t have believed it.

And that was on the OST chart and the main chart.

“I’m confused.”

“Should we just be happy?”

So we decided to be happy for now.

“Yay!”

“Our OST is spreading all over the world!”

“Listen to the OST and come to us!”

I wondered how many people would search for the singer after listening to the OST, but I was happy anyway.

It was a good thing.

The amount of coverage from the domestic media also increased after the US chart.

-The New Black participated in ‘Nostalgia OST’, entered the US Billboard chart

-Who is Woojoo, the composer of ‘Nostalgia OST’ by The New Black?

-‘The New Black, an issue with the cosplay photo of the Little Witch’s Adventure, netizens ‘as expected of The New Black’

The articles were written as if they were reporting the achievements of a national representative in an overseas competition.

There were also a lot of interview requests.

I had a brief conversation with some reporters, including Mr. Oh, who often interviewed me.

They also wrote an article about our OST performance in the ‘culture section’ of the 9 o’clock news.

Overall, the reaction was bigger around us than us.

Even the A&R team, who usually didn’t call me, asked me to come to the office once.

“Woojoo.”

“Yes.”

“Look at this.”

The staff showed me a full mailbox.

“What is this?”

“Requests that came to you.”

“All of them?”

“Most of them came to you. There were a lot of orders after the Music Cafe composition, and even more after the OST news.”

There were requests for drama OSTs and songs for other singers.

I had some requests since I was promoted as a composing idol, but this was the first time I had such a serious surge.

My heart was pounding just thinking about making songs with them.

“Team leader.”

“Why. What’s wrong.”

I asked the A&R team leader.

“Can I do all of this?”

“I don’t think the producing team can cover all of this. I can’t handle it. Woojoo. Your stamina.”

“I’m fine.”

“Not ‘your stamina’ but ‘my stamina’ Woojoo…”

The A&R team staff were saying something like ‘we’re dead’.

They told me not to do everything and choose a few things carefully.

“You got on the US chart this time, and you succeeded in planting a composing image to the people.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s choose carefully and work. If you slip a little bit after you set the image like this, it will be a mess everywhere.”

I agreed with that.

I knew better than anyone that the more things went well, the more people would look at us with envy from somewhere unseen.

I answered with a smile.

“But if we do well, it will be a plus for us.”

“That’s true.”

“We’re a bit burdened by the next work, but… I’m trying to enjoy it these days.”

The team leader looked at me with a sad eye.

It was when he was carefully picking up the papers on the desk.

Thud.

The team leader’s thick hand and the A&R team staff grabbed my wrist at the same time.

“Joo.”

“Yes.”

“Just take a few of them upstairs. Only a few.”

“Okay…”

“Don’t carry them all at once. You might hurt your wrist. Your body is your asset in this job.”

The other staff members agreed.

“Yeah. You should know when to put them down sometimes.”

“Come on, relax your hand.”

They looked at me with pity as they took the documents away, as if I had a bomb in my mouth.

I should have known they would leave me alone.

Next time, I’ll definitely bring Junghyun with me. I thought as I lost my appetite.

“By the way, aren’t you guys going to the Philippines and Indonesia? Is it tomorrow?”

“No. It’s the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow we only have the domestic promotion event schedule.”

“Promotion?”

“Yes. We got another advertisement deal.”

When I told them about the event tomorrow, the A&R team people started to slap their cheeks.

Department store indoor event hall.

Among the crowd of spectators, the announcer who was in charge of the event grabbed the microphone and smiled.

-Yes, they are the talk of the town these days. They are the handsome men who show off their dazzling beauty every time they appear on TV.

The announcer said.

-Today, they are here for the launch event of the new product foundation. Shall we welcome them together? New Black!

The people exclaimed ‘wow’ as the five men in suits appeared with flower baskets.

Then, they made their own flower path and entered the hall.