In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

A pale haze settled as the first song, “Until Dawn,” began.

The New Black members walked down the stairs at the back of the stage and took their places, and the supples’ cheers grew fierce.

They wore princely outfits of gray cloaks.

“Everyone...!”

With their backs to the audience, they struck a pose.

The main vocalist, standing in the center under a spotlight, turned back, raised one eyebrow, and walked toward the back of the stage.

A huge scream erupted.

With a snapping-finger–like beat in the background, the five began to bounce their bodies smoothly. Under the groovy music, their dazzling dance held the fans’ eyes.

Until Dawn—true to its title meaning “until dawn”—was a song for those waiting for daybreak.

A song that felt as if they’d waited a long time to meet you.

At the end of the deep night

When even starlight disappears

The main dancer, wearing a headset mic, reached out into the air and sang the last line in a scattering voice.

The members gathered around him, hands on his shoulders and arms, and the first song ended.

As the song’s mournful atmosphere left the supples clasping their hands over their mouths or slowly waving their light sticks,

“Finally, the stage...! I really wanted to see the stage......”

they were moved by seeing their faves return with the new album.

“Hehehehe!”

The innocent laughter of the maknae made the fans smile warmly.

No longer the idol performing in distant, misty-eyed acting, their faves were back in their true selves.

“Hello, everyoone! Have you been well—!”

Like puppies wagging tails, the members waved their hands cheerfully.

“It’s really been a while, right?”

“Did you miss us...!”

“Um, let’s keep the comments brief for now. We need to greet them first, Jiho.”

The leader, soothing the excited maknae, signaled to the others.

“One, two, three—”

“Hello! We’re New Black!”

The audience replied with a roar.

The members scanned the crowd, and every time they made eye contact with a fan, they smiled brightly and waved.

“It’s been so long. How long has it been since our comeback? Our album ‘Falling Flowers’ came out on May 23...”

“148 days.”

“Well done, our calculator friend.”

Rihyuk, pleased at the praise, cocked his head at “calculator?” then opened his eyes wide in mock anger, sending the fans into laughter.

The leader laughed and said,

“About 150 days is almost exactly five months. Feels like a year, though.”

“Must be because so much happened in the meantime.”

Everyone laughed in agreement at Junhyun’s words. Even excluding the members’ individual activities, New Black had done major things: the Attention collaboration with Mr. Producer, the Fireworks resurgence, appearing on On the Stage, and recently Joo Sehan as a group.

Bijoo smiled kindly and asked,

“Have you all been well?”

“Yes!”

“Did you miss us a lot?”

They all nodded. Bijoo, seemingly relieved, placed a hand on his chest.

“Oh, thank goodness. We were worried that since we’ve been everywhere, you wouldn’t wait too eagerly.”

The fans laughed.

‘We’ve seen a lot of you.’

Turn on the TV and there’s a New Black ad; trendy cafés and restaurants play their songs. Wooju stars in a hit sitcom. Jiho appears in the scary web drama trending on MyTube, Bijoo on the dance variety show. Their OSTs for a hot drama and the Natural Mix Tape, too. MPN and Joo Sehan need no mention. Fans who simply followed them naturally kept up with the latest trends.

“This is our first full album, so you must have had high expectations. Thank you for waiting. Have you listened to all the tracks?”

They answered in unison, “Yes!”

The maknae’s eyes sparkled as he asked,

“How was it?”

Voices poured from all around, mixing into a rumbling clamor.

The rapper narrowed his eyes, nodded, and gave an OK as if confirming receipt.

“Did you listen to everything, hyung?”

“Yes.”

“But forgot it already?”

“No way. Supples’ words go in the left ear and out the right.”

“That’s usually what people call ‘forgetting,’ hyung.”

At Rihyuk’s remark, singer and fans laughed together.

And so the comeback show began in earnest.

A typical comeback show runs about fifty minutes, but New Black’s was a full eighty minutes, so the atmosphere felt relaxed.

“First, welcome to New Black’s full album comeback show!”

“Waaaaah!”

“Today’s comeback show has fun segments prepared~!”

A corner answering fans’ questions about the album, behind-the-scenes of composition and lyrics, and more—each segment made the supples beam with pride.

‘They’re producers themselves, so they can answer any question about the album.’

After an introduction to the musically rich segments, like on ,

Bijoo looked at his cue card and laughed.

“And today’s broadcast is being streamed live all over the world. Shall we greet them?”

“Yes.”

Rihyuk glanced at his card, looked into the camera, and greeted in English. Fluent, no doubt from his time in the U.S. Then greetings in Japanese, Spanish, and more flowed—tongues rolling in a way that made everyone laugh.

“Wow, amazing......”

At the maknae’s words, the fans laughed in agreement.

Beside a grinning Rihyuk, Wooju continued with a foreign greeting.

“dobryy vecher!”

He rattled off in Russian, as if possessed by a Russian.

Then the main vocalist, looking suddenly serious, added,

“s̄wạs̄dī khrạb!”

Thai, Hindi, Arabic, German, French—all in rapid succession, and everyone burst into laughter.

Bijoo marveled.

“You guys really prepared, eh?”

“Yes, we watched MyTube and prepared.”

The eldest, smiling kindly at Rihyuk, asked, “How was that?”

Rihyuk replied nonchalantly,

“...As I’ve said before, singers let their songs do the talking.”

Everyone laughed at the care he clearly took with his words.

With the mood soaring, the comeback show guide concluded.

“All right.”

Wooju clasped his hands and said,

“Shall we start the real comeback show now? Are you all ready?”

The fans answered with a roaring cheer.

The comeback show was a race against time.

“I’m going on!”

“Is my vision okay? Not getting blurry?”

“Can someone fix this for me?”

They touched up their makeup, took quick sips of water, changed costumes in a blur, and used the hand fans the managers handed them to dry away sweat.

Back on stage, the moonbongs (moonlight sticks) swaying in the darkness greeted them like stars in the Milky Way.

“Waaaaah!”

Even while performing, it was confusing—was I trembling with nerves, excited by the fans’ cheers, or thrilled that the album stage had finally come?

My heart pounded so loudly it echoed in my ears.

“This is it......”

The maknae, having taken a sip backstage, leaned against the wall with a dazed expression.

“I really waited for this.”

“Me too.”

“Me as well.”

Though they’d enjoyed the fun of variety and acting, the stage was an entirely different realm. Hard to explain, but something essential existed there. Dancing and singing together while shouts poured into their ears felt like being struck by a vast wave—like a cascade of brilliant light.

“Haha.”

I was so pumped. The others kept letting out soft “heh”s and grinning.

Bijoo said,

“I must really be feeling good. Junhyun looks good to me right now.”

“Same here.”

Usually treating each other like stones and rice cookers, Bijoo and Junhyun high-fived with delighted “wooah”s.

I looked at the maknaes.

“Shall we do it, too?”

“No thanks.”

“Be honest—did you debut just to oppose me?”

“You got me.”

Rihyuk smiled like a pleased cat.

Meanwhile, a behind-the-scenes video of the album’s composition played on stage. Every time their voices appeared, the supples laughed or cheered.

A staff member with an intercom raised one finger.

“One minute left.”

The maknaes immediately gathered around me in a circle, hands stacked, and I asked with a smile,

“You know what to do?”

They all nodded. In that moment of eye contact, each felt the chorus of voices in their minds. I love moments when no words are needed.

The staff began signaling.

“One, two, three!”

“Fighting!”

We patted each other’s shoulders and moved to our positions.

Now, the final stage of the comeback show and ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the album’s title track, “Empire,” was about to begin.

“Phew......”

We scattered across the set, gently rolled our shoulders, and stretched our necks. Locking eyes with my brothers one last time, I nodded.

At last, the stage lights went dark.

“Thank you. See you soon.”

The last VCR ended on the members waving from the studio, and until then laughing supples’ hearts began pounding.

“It begins......!”

The moment the first stage of “Empire,” waited for over an hour, was unveiled. Not only the fans gathered live but those watching the MyTube stream at home and overseas, each in different time zones, were equally thrilled.

Then:

Intro Performance : Thrones

With the logo on screen, the lights went dark again.

A pale haze spread ominously. Blue lights shone down, and the set, invisible from the audience, appeared on screen.

“Gyuho... how much did you spend on this, anyway?”

Fans, mouths agape at the set’s quality, soon screamed.

“Waaaaah!”

Cobwebs hung everywhere, ancient antiques were arranged about, and a dilapidated stone throne sat in the center. On it, the neatly black-haired maknae sat cross-legged.

As the camera circled from left to right, Jiho rose and tapped near his shoulder. His cloak slipped away to reveal the costume from the MV: a black uniform embroidered with golden thread.

The sub-vocalist, staring coldly into the camera, showcased his long legs as he walked forward; the maknae’s silhouette appeared through a gap in the set.

“Waaaaah!”

The other members made similar entrances. The main dancer, wave-like cloak gently billowing, strode out; the main vocalist clicked his fingers at his hair and shook it free; the rapper tore off his cloak with a dismissive flick; the leader removed his cloak, turned, and smiled faintly.

These princes of visuals each conjured their own backstory in an instant.

One by one, they emerged from between the set pieces onto the darkened stage. With the leader at the front and the others in line behind him, the caption appeared:

Empire

–Composed by Wooju

As the lights brightened and fans chanted their names, the five fanned out like shadows, moving as smoothly as if on ice.

The prelude began.

Under the intense trap beat, the members tilted their chins and advanced with aristocratic steps. After a brief opening dance,

Ring the bell

Let it echo far

the lead vocalist, arms high as if reaching the sky, spun, and the members began to circle the stage.

Standing at the center, Jiho murmured the lyrics in a languid voice:

It approaches

It draws near

Raise your flag

Show your name

As the soft, low voice of the sub-vocalist retreated,

Junhyun stepped forward. The music’s mood shifted, and the rhythmically delivered mid-low rap part fetched a roar.

Whenever I dream

I hear a voice

Something I’ve never heard before

Saying the crown is yours—

The rapper rapped the long verse with gestures pointing to head and chest, then stepped aside. Immediately, the lead vocalist stepped out, eyes alight.

It’s just a game

Win or lose

At the end awaits

Story of victory and defeat

His deeper-than-Junhyun voice continued the rap, the cheers growing louder.

Meanwhile, the other members gathered behind. Wooju, tapping his eye with a finger as if marking me in the camera, stepped back. The music began to build.

The main vocalist, eyes pleading, reached out again.

Now

The crown given to me

I will reclaim

Behind him, the others’ choreography quickened. Unlike their typically fast routines, this had a different air.

‘Truly elegant....’

Fast, but not frivolously so. The dance, fitting “Empire,” was like imagining real nobles dancing—each gesture refined. Unlike Nine or Falling Flowers, which emphasized large movements, these were smaller but precise, weighted with gravity, reflecting the song’s identity. At the same time, subtle, animal-inspired wildness—like a lion—permeated the choreography, prompting louder cheers.

Then, at the chorus:

I’m gonna build an empire

So I can rule your hearts

The main dancer delivered the chorus with powerful vocals.

“Waaaaah!”

The music exploded. A swift ascent followed by a refreshing drop. Not a merely fast dance, but deliberate, line-emphasizing movements centered on the main dancer. He spread his arms, stepped forward with a smooth wave. The others flanked him, advancing like nobles in a triumphal procession.

I’m gonna build an empire

Empire—

During the chorus, all five raised their hands toward the sky as if vying for a crown. Their expressions made it seem truly real; fans turned their heads in awe.

Junhyun then took over the first part of verse two. After the whirlwind of verse one, verse two flowed, and fans briefly regained their composure.

‘Wow....’

Things unseen in verse one began to appear.

‘Huh, that?’

I realized a gesture by Jiho echoed a move from “Masquerade.” It looked entirely different yet felt familiar. At the same time, I recognized the melody line.

‘Was that in the teaser?’

I recalled each member’s theme song flowing together in the teaser. Fans listening to Empire in their earphones gasped.

‘...I didn’t even notice.’

After hearing it, they recognized it with an “Oh?” but if no one pointed it out, they’d never know how naturally it was woven.

Empire’s fusion of each member’s color into a seamless whole drew admiration.

“Waaah....”

Fans clicked their tongues.

‘It’s hard for a genre like this to be so easy to listen to.’

As with other New Black title tracks, even without choreography, it would earn high praise. The concept could have made the song minor, but the chorus of Empire lingered like a powerful incantation.

Meanwhile, fans watching live cared only about what they saw.

‘Where’s that country? I’m moving there!’

They didn’t know why; they just wanted to live in the country their faves had built. As devoted idol fans, they restrained their strongest expletives and waved their moonbongs and kingbongs fervently.

During the third verse’s rapid dance break, the lead vocalist moved forward as the music calmed. His voice, like a whisper,

Shall fade brilliantly

All five raised one hand as if placing a crown on their heads. Center stage, Wooju’s voice continued,

Empire.

After punctuating “Empire.” the song scattered into a fading haze. The silhouettes of the five stood alone as the lights cut dramatically.

And then:

“Waaaaah!”

As always, the audience erupted in ecstatic cheers.

At that same moment, K-Net’s Director Ham Pilsu, watching the comeback show on his office TV, smiled.

‘Whenever New Black shines, the ratings soar.’

Exact ratings were hard to know, but the number of overseas fans watching the MyTube stream far exceeded expectations. They’d even run separate ads just for New Black’s comeback show.

‘They’re a true blessing.’

As Director Ham beamed, an internal call came through.

“Director.”

“Yes?”

“Haley Blue’s side called.”

“Oh?”

It seemed the gentle coaxing of Haley Blue earlier had worked.

“She says she’d like to speak with you directly, Director.”

“Patch her through—quickly!”

With a pleased grin, Director Ham swapped the handset.

‘This is a big catch!’

Today was certainly a lucky day.