In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe-Chapter 94:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 94

Woojoo asked, hiding his nervousness, “A documentary?”

-We got a call from PBS. They want to cover the incident that happened on the day of the college entrance exam last year.

Professor Choi started to explain.

He said he received a call from PBS’s Current Affairs Department this morning.

A special documentary for the 50th anniversary of the station.

They were looking for interviewees on the theme of heroes and they were interested in what happened that day.

-They asked for your contact information, but I hesitated to give it to them because you are a celebrity.

Why did the word celebrity make him so embarrassed?

Woojoo’s face, which was frozen by the ice bucket challenge, was burning hot.

He should write it down somewhere. Listen to embarrassing words when it was cold.

-So, what do you think?

“First of all, thank you for letting me know. It’s a really great… offer.”

PBS was not just any place.

It was the channel that grandparents watched all day long in the countryside.

It was the most influential terrestrial broadcaster in Korea.

Being featured as a hero in PBS’s special documentary was an offer that any entertainer would covet.

But, there was something he had to think about first.

“Are you okay with it?”

-Yes?

“It’s a good thing for me, but I know it’s a bad memory for the professor and your family. I hope I didn’t cause any trouble…”

-What are you talking about?

Woojoo heard a light laugh.

-Don’t worry. It’s actually my father who insisted on doing this. He said he was grateful to the young man in the yellow padding.

“Oh, I see…”

-What do you want to do?

He didn’t hesitate for long.

He gave Woojoo the contact information of PBS’s Current Affairs and Culture Department after he agreed.

“Thank you very much.”

Woojoo thanked him.

“Thank you for everything you did at the hospital. I owe you again.”

-Not at all. It’s good to share good news.

“Thank you for your time. You must be busy.”

They exchanged pleasantries and agreed to have a meal together soon. Then Woojoo hung up the phone.

“Whew…”

Woojoo took a deep breath and sorted out the situation.

A PBS special documentary.

It was such a big deal that he felt unreal for a moment.

As he looked at the phone number of the PBS station written on the memo pad, he saw a bunch of meerkats gathering and buzzing.

***

-Are you the writer PBS, Jung Woojoong?

“…Yes, I am.”

She almost stumbled over her words.

It was because the voice on the other end was very soft.

How could there be such a person with such a nice voice?

-Hello. I’m Seon Woojoo. I got your contact from Professor Choi Yongjae. He said you wanted to interview about what happened on the college entrance exam day last year.

“Oh, yes! That’s right!”

He was the hero.

She smiled brightly.

-Sorry for the late contact. I had to consult with other people.

“No, not at all. I’m always grateful.”

-I contacted you first before our company called you.

She thought he would be studying again, but he seemed to have a job.

He said the company would contact her because of the documentary.

Was it a big company?

Come to think of it, he won the KG Group Hero Award, so maybe he got in with a special admission.

Anyway, it was none of her business.

Jung Woojoong laughed heartily.

“Thank you so much for contacting me. You heard about our broadcast from Mr. Choi, right?”

-Yes, I heard briefly.

“Let me explain it to you again.”

She briefly explained the outline and interview details of the documentary, and circled a list with a smile.

Now it was three.

The previous two cases were old, but this one was a recent event, so it was timely and topical.

Naturally, her voice softened.

“I want to set a date for the interview, but when would it be good for us to visit you?”

-Uh… Just a moment. I have a lot of schedules.

She noticed that there was a lot of music noise since earlier.

Then she heard various male voices.

Some of them sounded slightly surprised, but they were all good.

When she tried to listen carefully, Woojoo’s voice came in.

-I have too many events until Thursday….

“Oh, you must be busy with your work?”

-Yes, because of my work…….

He laughed.

He seemed to find the word ‘work’ amusing.

-Maybe Friday would be possible, but I’m not sure. Our events increased suddenly after we appeared on the news.

Which news did the company appear on?

But it was strange.

She felt like the conversation was going off track since earlier.

-Can I contact you through my agency for this part?

“Agency?”

-Yes, my agency.

By now, she was sure that something was wrong.

She asked cautiously, “Excuse me, Mr. Seon Woojoo, what are you doing right now…?”

-Ah.

He said casually.

-I’m a singer.

“…What?”

She was flustered.

It was a job she never expected.

“A singer?”

-Yes. I’m a singer, but… did you contact me without knowing? I thought you knew.

“Just a moment.”

She quickly turned on the internet.

When she searched for ‘Galhyeon-dong Hero’ on the portal, articles popped up right away.

Not far away, she found a title that said ‘New boy group New Black Woojoo, a hot topic as a good Samaritan before debut’.

She felt a surge in her chest as she looked at the article that was tucked away in the corner.

‘Why did I find this out now?’

…she thought, and then she realized why.

She had done a superficial research on the case, thinking that she just had to figure out who was cast.

She thought there was no need to search in detail, since it was such a famous case.

And who would have imagined that a student who took the exam last year would become an idol in half a year?

She was dizzy.

She almost missed this good material.

If the senior writers knew, they would have scolded her for doing a poor research, and they would have given her a hard time all day.

She calmed down her excited mind and searched for ‘New Black’.

-Who is ‘New Black’, the first variety show appearance on the special Chuseok Special?

-New Black, became the model for Everdream school uniforms

-New Black, participated in the ice bucket challenge to help Lou Gehrig’s patients “Very grateful…”

School uniform model, national variety show, and the latest campaign.

They seemed like a pretty successful rookie idol group.

And one of the members of that idol group was a good Samaritan last year, which didn’t seem to be well known.

‘Didn’t the company promote it?’

They left this good material alone.

She wondered and asked calmly, “Then, when can we do the interview?”

***

After contacting the writer of PBS, Woojoo left the rest of the work to the company.

Since he was an idol, there were more than a few things that he had to coordinate with the broadcasting station.

First of all, they were very busy.

After the news of the Chuseok Special came out, the number of events for New Black increased.

Woojoo wondered why they called them, who hadn’t even recorded anything, but they didn’t refuse and handled all those events.

He was busy with practice, songwriting, various management and lessons, so he had no time to spare for anything else except sleeping.

And now.

They were having a meeting at HBS MTV.

“Documentary?”

“Yes, I had a favor to ask someone last year.”

The faces of the people listening to his story were full of interest.

HBS Sangam Tower, 13th floor.

This small room was the team meeting room for the variety project ‘New Black Reality (tentative)’ that they were going to appear on.

“A benefactor…”

The PD fiddled with his pen.

“This is really good material, but is it already scheduled to be filmed by PBS?”

“Yes, I heard they’re going to start shooting next week.”

“We’re also going to be on it.”

The youngest one chimed in and everyone laughed.

“Wow, you guys must be amazed. You’re getting ads, documentaries, and even going to Around the World With Dice.”

“You guys have done a lot. You guys.”

“By the time we film our reality show, you might become superstars.”

The writer’s joke made everyone laugh.

The production staff and New Black had a fun first meeting for a while.

Then, the PD clapped his hands and cleared the table.

“Alright, I think that’s enough for the group meeting. Let’s have some individual interviews before we go to lunch.”

“…Individual interviews?”

“It’s your reality show. We have a lot of research to do on each member.”

Oh. This was new.

In the other programs they had been on, they always did the interview as a group.

But this time, it was an eight-part reality show featuring them, so it seemed like they needed individual data.

The first one to go was Jiho, who waved his hand at them.

“You guys will miss me.”

They laughed at his wistful expression.

He took it seriously and waved his hand back, and they laughed again.

But something strange happened as they did the individual interviews.

The expressions of the kids changed subtly as they came back one by one.

As if they were hiding a secret.

They didn’t tell Woojoo why when he asked.

What was going on?

He wondered as he was called last.

A small room with a camera set up.

Woojoo sat down and asked the PD and the main writer, “Are we starting filming already?”

“No, we’re just going to take a few cuts before the main filming. You know, like in the variety shows? The scenes where they’re having a serious meeting.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Let’s do some research on your personal life then.”

It was nothing special.

Woojoo briefly explained his background to the PD and the writer.

He lived with his grandmother since he was young and came here after being a trainee at another agency.

Of course, there were some things he avoided mentioning.

For example, that he was part of the TNT debut group, or that he was close to some of the idols who debuted now.

They were friendly to them, but they were still broadcasting people.

They cared more about the buzz or the ratings than their image.

So Woojoo deliberately avoided talking about his past.

He had looked at some of the rookie idol reality shows before he came here, and there were quite a few scenes like that.

The camera showed the idol sitting on a chair from a low angle, and the idol talked with a sad face.

-I was actually supposed to debut as Teen Spirit at MOP.

-Yes, all of my classmates who practiced with me there have debuted now. There are a lot of famous people too. Sometimes I feel inferior to myself…

-I’ve been friends with Liz from Autumn Girl since middle school. Now she’s active as Autumn Girl.

Something like that, and then they would shed tears at the end.

Woojoo didn’t want to end the scene in such a clichéd way.

But the writer and the PD didn’t care about that at all.

Instead, they just handed him a blank sheet of paper.

“This time, the reality show you’re going to film will be free of any clear theme, like guerrilla concerts or travel. You can do anything you want, like hidden camera, horror experience, water play in the pool, etc.”

“Oh, I see.”

“So, if you have anything you want to try with your brothers, just write it down. We’ll review it.”

They wanted him to provide some ideas.

That was why the others looked so uneasy.

“Can I ask what the members wrote?”

“Well, they wrote various things.”

…They said, dodging the question.

What did they write?

Ever since Woojoo was pranked by the hidden camera during the live show, his heart would pound whenever he saw something suspicious.

So…

Maybe he should write something fun too.

Lately, he had something he wanted to try with his kids.

Woojoo slowly opened his lips.

“How about this?”

They both loved his idea.

***

In the recording booth attached to New Black’s studio.

“Hyung, what are you doing?”

“What?”

Rihyuk answered with a sour face.

“I’m singing.”

“No. Sing without being conscious of the camera.”

“Hey. How can I not be conscious when you’re doing that?”

“What am I doing?”

…He said, lying on the floor with a camcorder.

Rihyuk turned his head sharply, as if asking Woojoo to say something.

“Tell him to stop.”

“You do it.”

“He doesn’t listen to me.”

“When did he ever listen?”

Zap.

“Well, you know… Jiho is the director now. His word is law on the set.”

“Ugh, I’m boiling.”

Rihyuk loosened his neck, as if trying to calm his anger.

“Five hundred won, five hundred won…”

Woojoo also stretched out to relieve his fatigue, while the youngest, who was sitting on the floor, gave him a signal.

When he put on the headphones and waited for the song to start.

What was going on? Why wasn’t it playing?

As he leaned his head to the side from the recording microphone, he saw Junghyun munching on snacks across the glass window.

Their eyes met.

“…”

The guy who received Woojoo’s fierce glare chuckled and pressed a button.

The MR started playing.

The moment he heard that warm intro, he smiled unconsciously.

It was the official sound source of ‘Night Sea’, which had changed surprisingly.

Maybe it was because the experts arranged it and the engineers polished it with mixing and mastering, but it still felt like a treat for his ears even after listening to it hundreds of times.

Soon, Rihyuk and Woojoo sang a duet.

The project they were working on now was the so-called Night Sea MV shooting.

It was only a practice video in reality, not a music video.

You know what he meant.

The one where idols sang with headphones in a booth in a black and white video.

That was the official music video of Night Sea, which would be released in two weeks.

The company gave them a tripod and a camera and told them to just film it, but they decided to entrust it to their youngest.

Woojoo also remembered how he cried last time, saying ‘I don’t have anything to do’.

It was also because he wanted to get some advice from him, who was burning with acting spirit these days.

And Woojoo regretted it very much.

How could he nag so much…

Earlier, Rihyuk almost sang Night Sea with anger without realizing it.

Woojoo was the same.

They sang a warm and fierce song as a duet. I’ll soak you in the night sea, that kind of feeling.

-Let’s stop for a bit.

Jiho lowered his head at them, who looked at him as if to say what now.

“It’s not me.”

Then Woojoo realized he heard a voice from the headphones.

Bijoo was standing on the other side of the glass window.

He had convenience store bags in both hands, swollen as if they were about to burst with snacks.

He pointed at the clock with his mouth, saying something.

6 p.m.

Woojoo remembered something he had forgotten for a moment because he was focused on the song.

Oh. That.

They took off their headphones and exchanged nervous laughter.

“It’s time for Around the World With Dice.”

Sunday.

Today was the day New Black appeared on TBC’s flagship variety show ‘Around the World with a Dice’.