In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

“......An idol debut project?”

“Yes.”

The production team handed me a takeout coffee as they answered.

PD Shin Mu-rok smiled at me as I cautiously sniffed it.

“You ordered an iced chocolate, Wooju. Right?”

“How did you know?”

“At least when it comes to background checks, our team is the best at PBS. We saw from an earlier interview that you’re weak for coffee.”

I think that was from an interview around your debut days.

The producers joked that they’d collected terabytes of data on us.

PD Shin Mu-rok said, “First, take your time sipping the drink and go over the proposal.”

I sipped the cocoa and flipped through the project outline.

An idol debut project. It was a special segment where the members of Mister Producer would challenge themselves to become idols.

“Hmm.”

There were various details, but basically we would participate as idol mentors.

Mister Producer is one of TBC’s two flagship variety shows alongside “Around the World with Dice,” and it enjoys absolute support from viewers in their twenties and thirties.

If “Dice” has broad popularity across the general public, this show is known for its buzz and recognition specifically among the twenty–thirty demographic.

After a calligraphy special, for example, calligraphy academies spring up like mushrooms. It’s even popular overseas, holding fan meetings in China and Southeast Asia.

I asked, “So we’ll be acting as Mister Producer for this special?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

The format is simple. Each special invites a Mister or Miss Producer as a mentor, and with that mentor’s help, the guests experience something new.

They’ve brought in announcers to try their hand at broadcasting, photographers to learn how to take the best shots, food truck vendors to run a business—each project rewards first place or success, and punishes last place or failure with a humiliating penalty mission.

“This time, we’ve invited NewBlack as the featured producers and plan to debut some members as idols.”

“Are we training the members?”

“It’s more mentoring than training,” PD Shin Mu-rok said. “We’ll hire vocal trainers and dance trainers. We’ll hire a composer to give them a song. NewBlack will simply act as producers.”

It seemed our role was to set the overall direction and offer advice as senior idols.

I understood what he meant, but as I hesitated over my words, Ri-hyuk asked, “Are we even qualified for this?”

“Huh?”

“We’ve only been active since Something for two years at most. It feels odd for us to mentor anyone...”

“Ah...”

We all nodded at the producer, who sighed in response.

Honestly, Mister Producer had barely featured TNT before as a short guest slot, and TNT had basically said, “We’ll be there,” and that was it.

I continued, “There are famous seniors out there; it feels strange for us to step up as producers. And...”

“And?”

“Well, we’re pretty young.”

Four of the six Mister Producer members are in their thirties.

Mentoring means you can’t just offer praise.

Seeing us criticize veteran idols might look bad to the public.

As I voiced these concerns, PD Shin Mu-rok raised a hand.

“Hold on for a second.”

Under his drooping eyelids, a playful smile appeared.

He looked like the neighborhood older brother who always loses at games in the PC café.

We braced ourselves for the confident pitch he was about to deliver.

“So you’re worried about years of experience and age, right?”

“Yes.”

“There’s absolutely no need to worry about that. We’re Mister Producer, not some other show. Do you think we didn’t research that?”

The writers handed over a sheet of paper, and we leaned in.

“We conducted a netizen survey, and people felt NewBlack’s career felt quite long.”

“Oh.”

“Because the public sees you so often, they perceive your experience as greater than it is.”

PD Shin Mu-rok continued, “Some idol groups debut years ago yet still feel like rookies; others debut just one or two years ago and feel like veterans. NewBlack is the latter.”

“I see.”

“Worried about experience?”

We nodded.

Just as we prepared to bring up another concern, PD Shin Mu-rok pressed on.

“No need to worry about age, either. Who are we? Mister Producer, famous for angelic editing.”

“Oh. Right.”

“In every interview, producers say they ‘looked better than real life.’”

That was true. Experts from every field clamored to appear because of that flattering editing.

Lowering his voice as if sharing a secret, PD Shin Mu-rok said, “What if our live-streamed, unedited NewBlack meets Mister Producer’s editing?”

“Then...?”

He clapped, startling us.

“We’d skyrocket in ratings while polishing our image.”

“Ooh.”

“And we’d tweak your image a bit! Don’t you want to look even cooler than usual?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

As Viju nodded eagerly, the maknae said, “We always say we want to look cooler together.”

“That’s it. You’ll show some stage skills and exude senior vibes while guiding the Mister Producer cast.”

While the younger members responded with excited murmurs, the head writer took over.

“There are three reasons we chose NewBlack. First, among active idols, you have broader popularity and higher favorability than Daylight.”

Being more talked about than the generation-two top girl group Daylight was the first ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) reason.

The sub-writer added, “In our research for this special, no other idol participated in self-producing as much as NewBlack.”

It was rare for idol groups to take the lead in their own production.

PD Shin Mu-rok concluded, “Lastly, NewBlack won’t be the only ones on the show.”

“Who else will appear?”

“Other idols will come, too—TNT, TeensSpirit, Scarlet—they all have connections with NewBlack. Any pairing will create great chemistry.”

I asked, “So TNT or TeensSpirit might be invited?”

“Not confirmed yet.”

“But if we call them, they’ll come.”

His confident look left me in awe.

By then, my younger siblings were staring at me in a trance.

“Hyung, should we do it?”

“Yes, we have to do this.”

All three looked mesmerized.

Ri-hyuk furrowed his brow, testing the logic.

But a con man recognizes another con man, and PD Shin Mu-rok was smiling while I considered everything.

“Hmm...”

Honestly, for a show like Mister Producer, it was usually wise to agree when asked.

But the risk was significant.

If it were a one-off guest spot, it’d be fine; a full special could run over a month.

“How long will this special run?”

“About three to four weeks for the main special, five to six weeks including the mini-segments.”

As expected. It was a burdensome period.

Mister Producer’s editing would boost our image, but... the audience was fickle.

The show rode on guest popularity; if the segment dragged, viewers criticized the guest harshly.

That’s why the producers were so persuasive—they knew other idols would refuse a long-term project.

If it succeeded, it’d be a huge hit, but there was no need to risk hate for being boring.

And we felt the same.

“Wooju.”

PD Shin Mu-rok called me.

Noticing my siblings staring at my face, he targeted me.

“How do you feel, Wooju?”

“I have a question.”

After much thought, I looked at the producers and asked, “If we appear on Mister Producer...”

“Appear?”

“I mean, could we sustain entertaining content for several weeks, not just once or twice?”

The producers widened their eyes then burst into laughter.

Startled by their incredulous amusement, my siblings and I exchanged puzzled glances.

PD Shin Mu-rok and the writers chuckled together.

“Then we’ll take your agreement.”

The manager slid the consent form across the table.

“Let’s sign it right now.”

After the long meeting, our appearance on Mister Producer was confirmed.

The manager and producers would coordinate the practical details.

We began brainstorming the special with the production team.

Reviewing profiles of the Mister Producer cast, we offered ideas for concepts.

“See you at the recording.”

“Thank you!”

Recording with the Mister Producer members would start in April, at one session per week.

As we left the meeting room, the producers waved us off, looking relieved.

Apparently the members had already been receiving vocal and dance training for the idol debut project, and finding producers had been challenging.

Many had declined for the same reasons I hesitated.

“But is this really okay?” Junghyun said.

“In the room I felt hypnotized, but now I’m worried,” Jiho added.

“What if we’re no-fun and get criticized? I won’t sleep then.”

“It’s already decided, so why worry?”

“Then hyung, don’t clean up spilled water cups,” Ri-hyuk teased.

“....”

Before he could reply, he shook his head and said, “If it goes badly, we have one solution.”

“What’s that?”

At the mention of a solution, everyone looked to him.

“Let’s do the unicycle again.”

“No way.”

I shook my head. “That’s overplayed.”

“Then learn tightrope walking.”

My siblings cheered at the idea.

They suggested a weekly stunt—tightrope, fire hoop, putting my head in a crocodile’s mouth—to fill each episode.

...What do they take me for?

“Thinking about this makes me hungry. We should stop.”

Junghyun said calmly, “We can worry about the show when we’re on it.”

“Right. Let’s not stress for now.”

Just then, my phone buzzed as we headed to the PBS parking lot.

A notification from Han Tae-hyun [Hyung]

Han Tae-hyun [Please invite me]

What does he mean?

Me [Tae-hyun]

Answer came instantly.

Han Tae-hyun [ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Oh dear]

Han Tae-hyun [Not that, uncle]

Han Tae-hyun [You’re appearing on Mister Producer as a producer]

Han Tae-hyun [Please invite me as the instructor for the “show-off onstage” segment]

Is my name trending in his news alerts?

Just then, Jiho said, “Hey, there’s an article.”

“Where?”

“On the portal main page.”

We all opened the entertainment section.

At the top was a bold headline:

[NewBlack Confirmed for “Mister Producer” Idol Project, PD Shin Mu-rok: “NewBlack Is Perfect for This”]

The article appeared at lightning speed.

I could almost see PD Shin Mu-rok waving warmly above the PBS building in Yeouido.

Scrolling past the general netizen comments—

“Awesomeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“When does it start??”

“Mu-rok, tone down the PR and make the show fun—it’s been so boring lately”

“Boring? Look at the buzz metrics for twenty-thirtys”

“Here we go with the usual hype”

“Even with guest controversies, Mister Producer fans defend it”

—I looked for comments about us.

“Wowㅋㅋㅋㅋ I’m watching this time”

“Mister Producer idols always act nice and end up boring, but I’m curiousㅋㅋ”

“NewBlack doesn’t hold back, love it”

“The idol with no entertainment industry side romanceㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“If NewBlack’s on it, I’ll definitely watch”

“Guarantee it’ll be funㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

“That photo they used is a meme with the button poppedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ”

Most people were already excited, which made me more nervous.

“...Maybe I really should learn tightrope walking.”

My siblings nodded eagerly.

After meeting with the Mister Producer team, the day to leave for Jeju Island arrived.

We each wheeled a suitcase through Gimpo Airport, trailed by a cameraman holding a 6mm camera.

“I’m so excited.”

I shared my hopes for our first travel-reality shoot.

“It’s our first trip like this as a group. I’m nervous and thrilled.”

“I’m really excited.”

The maknae sighed happily.

“We first talked about a travel reality last summer, and now we’re finally going.”

“We’d planned a small theater tour in Jeju earlier this year...”

“But there was a heavy snowstorm.”

In January, a severe snowstorm shut down the airport runway.

So on the original four-day trip, we’d perform the missed theater show on day one, then travel for the next three days.

“Oh! NewBlack!”

“Hello!”

Fans waved as we passed, and we bowed in greeting.

Someone asked, “Where are you headed? You look so dressed up.”

“We’re going on a trip!”

Perhaps our excitement made strangers feel warm toward us.

The only downside was having to fly—but thankfully, the flight to Jeju was very short.

On the plane, Viju and I took a self-cam, chatting to calm our nerves.

“Hello!”

At Jeju Airport, we greeted people who recognized us.

“Wow. The weather’s perfect.”

“It really feels like the weather’s welcoming us.”

Familiar with the airport’s palm trees and scenery, we climbed into the vehicle.

The travel-reality PD explained the itinerary.

“This trip is tailored for NewBlack.”

“Ooh!”

“All the things you mentioned in the pre-meeting, we’re planning to fulfill them.”

“Ooh...”

A chill ran down my spine.

We exchanged narrowed glances, unsure of each other’s preferences.

“What did you want to do?”

“Hyung?”

“Am I the only one feeling uneasy?”

As we talked, the PD smiled warmly and said, “First, before we go to the lodging, we’ll grant Junghyun’s wish.”

“Junghyun’s...?”

“You’ll see.”

He turned back to the front, leaving us in suspense and trembling.

“Junghyun. What did you want to do?”

Junghyun hesitated.

“But if I tell you, you’d all say no.”

“That’s true.”

“So I want to keep it secret.”

We knew he’d requested something we’d hate.

“Tangerine farm?”

“Haenyeo diving? Definitely that.”

“Climbing Hallasan?”

Under guesses of strenuous activities, we finally arrived.

“Huh?”

A sign reading “Rent” marked a car rental agency.

I expected some escape-room setup, but it looked ordinary.

PD said, “Junghyun’s wish in the pre-meeting was... driving.”

“Wha...? What?”

We turned pale.

“Who’s driving?”

“Junghyun.”

He nodded shyly like a reluctant bear.

We looked back at the rental agency sign as if it were the gates of the underworld, then at Junghyun’s gentle smile.

“....”

This was our greatest crisis from day one of the trip.