In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

The airplane on the runway.

Feeling the sting of cold air as if my nose were freezing, I hurried up the plane’s stairs.

Then.

“Wowww......”

A scene fit for a hotel room unfolded before my eyes.

Plush sofas lined up, and deeper inside I could faintly make out beds.

In the cozy wood-tone interior I saw a TV and what looked like various amenities.

「So you’re NewBlack. Welcome aboard!」

I shook hands with the pilot who emerged from the cockpit, his mustache leaving a strong impression.

He winked as if he’d heard something about me.

「I’ve heard you’re sensitive to flying, but we’ll get you there safely and comfortably.」

“Thank you, Mr. Garcia.”

Seokhwan hyung and our managers also shook hands, then looked around the cabin with dazed expressions.

Everyone reacted the same way.

While the pilots returned to the cockpit to prepare for takeoff, we sat down and stared around with our mouths agape.

“Hyung, Wooju hyung.”

“Hm?”

Our maknae spoke up.

“Remember when we talked about pooling our money to buy our own plane?”

“We did.”

“I’m serious right now. We have to buy this.”

Our maknae beamed happily, saying he’d never get off this private jet.

The others weren’t much different.

“My goodness... these seats are so clean. I can smell a scent...! There isn’t a speck of dust on the windows!”

Our main vocalist, ever the neat freak, rubbed the window frame with a dazed look.

“They’re offering apples as a service! American apples!”

Our fruit maniac was excited.

“Huuuuuu......!”

Our little jelly bear broke into a broad smile at the sight of drawers full of cookies and jelly.

Such silly little brothers.

I sneered and found my seat. A special seat with a floral-patterned cover seemed to be mine.

“But it is nice.”

I said, looking around the plane.

“It doesn’t feel like I’m on a plane. Feels like walking into a hotel room.”

“Right?”

I liked it too.

Whenever I traveled abroad, the stress of flying plus everything else was never easy.

I liked that it was just our group on the plane.

And somehow it felt safer.

“This is great.”

“It’s nice to enjoy such luxury.”

Our managers, sinking into their seats, were pressing every button on the chair controls.

Junghyun chewed peanuts and asked,

“How much is this?”

“I looked it up—it’s about thirty to forty billion won.”

......

That matched Soufflé Bakery’s annual revenue.

About one hundred million won per day.

Ri Hyuk, who had been calculating royalties in his head, looked at me.

“Let’s work harder.”

“Got it.”

I drew an OK sign in the air.

Amid laughter, a hiss sounded and the pilots’ pleasant voices came over the speaker.

Ah, right.

I remembered something I’d forgotten.

While the announcement continued, I pulled a neck pillow from my bag and put it on.

‘Giseok hyung told me to bring this. He said to use it when going abroad.’

A gift from Fake-Play’s Chugiseok, whom I met as MC at the Mango Chart Awards a few days ago.

It was comfortable.

I closed my eyes as I watched the soft clouds outside and held onto Bruce, my in-flight mate.

Kraaaaaak—

The weather today en route to LA was perfectly clear.

Van Nuys Airport.

The airport north of LA, famous for stars arriving on private jets, was bustling with paparazzi as always.

“When did they say they’d arrive?”

“Sometime soon, I guess......”

At the spot the paparazzi were watching, a plane awaited takeoff.

Beyond the fence, they held cameras with telephoto lenses, looking bored.

They were waiting for the famous handsome actor Alec West.

Word that he was traveling today with his girlfriend had drawn paparazzi like flies to honey.

‘They’re later than expected.’

Since the plane still wasn’t preparing for takeoff, it looked like they’d have to wait longer.

Their boredom turned into that battle with time.

As familiar paparazzi tossed jokes back and forth, some of them fiddled with their phones.

“......Huh?”

They’d received reliable word that Hailey Blue’s private jet would soon arrive at Van Nuys Airport.

One by one, they heard this and took up their cameras, starting to run.

‘I’ll get the first shot!’

Hailey Blue was a celeb who could command fees comparable to Alec West.

Even a single sensational photo could earn thousands of dollars. A paparazzo once made around a hundred thousand dollars on exclusive shots of Hailey Blue.

They hurried forward, and finally the plane appeared.

With a whoosh, the sleek fuselage came to a stop.

But then.

“...What?”

The door opened, and descending the stairs was...

‘What’s with that strange flower?’

It wasn’t a flower.

A handsome man wearing a flower-covered blanket like a cape was stepping down.

He wore sunglasses, and even from hundreds of meters away his prominent nose told them he was famous—yet totally unfamiliar.

“Who is that?”

Even the paparazzi, versed in Hollywood’s celebrity lists, had never seen him.

But they didn’t stop shooting.

‘Shoot first, ask later.’

Better yet: a mystery hunk debarking Hailey Blue’s jet?

As they imagined all sorts of sensational headlines, their hearts raced—until they were startled.

“Waaaaaaa!”

Like a swarm of Minions, tiny figures followed behind the flowered blanket.

Their behavior was like kindergarteners.

“This is my first time at an airport! Kya-ha-ha-ha!”

“This is the arrival of the Grand Prize singer.”

They chattered in an unknown language to each other, clapped their hands, danced, even waved at the paparazzi.

‘This is so touching....’

It had been so long since someone waved at us in greeting rather than flipping us off.

‘No, wait!’

Confusion spread across their faces.

They couldn’t understand why an unknown five-member group had disembarked Hailey Blue’s jet.

When the mystery foreigners disappeared into the terminal, the paparazzi sighed.

“We can’t use this.” 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

“Who were they just now? Why did they get off Hailey Blue’s jet?”

“I sent the shots to a magazine, but the response was lukewarm.”

Though they inquired about buying them, the reactions were mostly unenthusiastic.

Only low-tier blogs and gossip outlets showed any interest.

Because they had no market value.

As they walked back toward Alec West’s plane, one of them said,

“They’re NewBlack apparently?”

“Who’s that?”

“They sang Blue Moon with Hailey Blue this time.”

“Oh.”

They realized the faces behind the Minions-like crew were the ones from the Blue Moon music video.

‘So that was them.’

Knowing their identity didn’t warm them up.

The photos had no sale value.

As they checked their memory cards and began deleting shots of NewBlack, someone said,

“Ah, that gave me a scare.”

The paparazzi paused as they reviewed the photos.

In each one, NewBlack’s members smiled warmly, looking straight into the camera.

They exchanged looks.

“Did you see that?”

“Me too......”

“How is this possible?”

They felt a chill at the sight of someone staring at them and smiling in each photo.

We had landed at Van Nuys Airport, a place we’d never heard of before.

In LA, we always got off at LAX.

Arriving without a crowd of fans was a novelty.

“There are so many cameras over there.”

“They must be here to shoot someone.”

Waving to what looked like paparazzi, we entered the terminal—and saw a man approaching with a group.

“Oh.”

He was a face I’d seen in movies.

A blonde handsome man in sunglasses walked toward us with someone who seemed to be his partner. When our eyes met, he smiled.

“Your blanket is cool.”

“Thank you.”

Watching him smile, I asked,

“Who is that?”

“He’s Alec West, hyung.”

“Oh.”

I had heard his name before.

I looked at Jiho, whose eyes were wide, and asked,

“He’s a really famous actor, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. But he’s awful at acting.”

I couldn’t help laughing at Jiho’s whisper.

Seeing a famous person right upon arrival made me feel like a tourist—and I loved it.

As Biju grabbed my blanket and rolled it up, I stepped outside and took a deep breath.

“Hmm.”

Like a plant photosynthesizing, Junghyun stretched and wore a satisfied smile.

“It’s warm.”

“The weather is nice.”

It was daytime in Korea when we departed, and it was still midday here.

The November when I wore a padded jacket felt like autumn here. A windbreaker would do.

Jiho exclaimed,

“If I lived here, I’d become such a good person. Why is Ri Hyuk hyung like he is?”

“Shut up.”

“I’m just curious. Curious~”

Our maknae clung to Ri Hyuk’s back, giggling.

Clearly pleased by the private jet, our little gentleman’s mood was at its peak today.

After his teasing, the car arrived and we got in.

“Hello!”

This was the car arranged locally.

We headed to the pre-booked hotel, dropped off our bags, freshened up, and headed out immediately.

We had a dinner appointment.

“Come over to my house.”

We talked about the talk show and to celebrate Blue Moon’s No. 1, she invited us to dinner.

“Do you have the gift with you?”

“Yes, I brought it.”

Biju lifted the gift bag.

After about thirty minutes on the road, we entered Malibu, and saw a cliffside mansion overlooking the ocean.

“Whoa... I’ve seen this in a superhero movie!”

“Yeah, it’s really that house.”

“But it blew up in the third one.”

“Don’t say that in front of Hailey.”

Tourists nearby posed for selfies with Hailey’s house.

It seemed to be a famous spot.

As the car entered the driveway, the grand two-story mansion came into view.

......

My brothers all looked at me.

‘Work harder...’

‘Go NewBlack.’

I felt exasperated as I opened the door.

“Don’t you guys do any work...?”

“Because you seem like the most likely to succeed, hyung.”

“That’s true.”

I laughed at my brothers’ giggles.

“Take a look inside, hyung!”

“Have fun.”

We said goodbye to our managers heading to a meeting with World Music Records and approached the entrance.

Ding-dong—when I pressed the bell, footsteps came running.

The door opened and a brown-haired child screamed.

“Hi!”

“Handsome people!”

Hailey’s daughter Summer pointed at us and said.

“My mom said that... you’re here!”

“There you are!”

Hailey ran over and scooped up her daughter.

It seemed Summer tried to say something just then...?

“Was the plane comfortable?”

“Yes!”

“That’s good. I haven’t ridden one before.”

“......?”

Did she use us as guinea pigs?

We all tilted our heads, about to think it over, when a kindly handsome man wearing an apron waved.

“Hello! Nice to meet you!”

It was Chris Kyle.

“Hello!”

I’d read on Wikipedia that he was a famous actor from a medical drama.

As we shook hands, I noticed what he was making.

“What are you making?”

“Soufflés. I’m making them for you guys.”

I laughed at the thoughtful dessert choice.

It looked like he did the desserts himself, while a hired chef handled the cooking.

“What’s Hailey in charge of?”

“I make the money.”

She mouthing “a ton of money” made me laugh again.

Even in a foreign land, her expression was familiar.

“Over here.”

Hailey led us to a backyard with a pool and an ocean view beyond the cliff.

Appetizers were already laid out on the table—colorful Mexican dishes.

“Wooooow!”

Meat, more meat, and more meat.

Hailey, with Summer on her lap, gestured as if to say bon appétit.

“Oh, right.”

I handed over the gift bag and said.

“Thanks for inviting us, Hailey.”

“No problem.”

“And congrats on your award at the AMAs.”

She smiled, crinkling her nose, then took a bite of an appetizer and said.

“I heard you guys won awards too. That whatever-you-call-it awards.”

“We won Album of the Year and Artist of the Year.”

“Oh.”

She congratulated us on being Artist of the Year.

The little pair of eyes on her lap turned to us.

“Was it a big award?”

“Probably...?”

“That’s cool. I want to go to an awards show too. But my mom said it’s not allowed.”

Everyone burst out laughing.

Soon Chris joined us in enjoying the meal, and talk of the talk show came up.

“Your agent probably told you, but the show we’re going on tomorrow is The Larry Gordon Show.”

“That must be a famous program.”

“Yeah, it is.”

Chris, standing nearby, added that it was a very big show.

Hailey nodded.

“Personally, he’s kind of a jerk, but he’s good at hosting. His questions are good.”

“But we’re just singing and leaving anyway... so we don’t need to worry about the talk part, right?”

“Right.”

Hailey scratched her cheek.

“But, well... since you’re singing with me, it’s fine, but even if the production is good, the treatment of singers there is kind of... meh.”

“Oh.”

“Well, Billboard No. 1 or not, it might not matter, but I wanted to warn you. I had a lot of bad experiences as a rookie.”

She meant that even if treated poorly, please roll with it.

I smiled and told the one showing concern not to worry.

“It’s okay. We won’t have to line up and greet the PD after the broadcast or anything.”

“Don’t they give you a room?”

“As long as there’s a room where we can lie down and rest, it’s fine.”

At our wistful smiles, Hailey and Chris blinked.

Summer whispered,

“You said those guys were from somewhere... Korea?”

When she asked about North or South, we all burst into laughter.

At the same time.

@thenewblack.official

(A photo of NewBlack members beaming in front of a sign reading Van Nuys Airport)

We came to America♡

The soufflés blinked blankly.

‘When did we go......?’

We’d heard there was a promotion schedule on an American talk show, but when we left was a mystery.

Usually overseas departures are accompanied by photo news.

Fans, stunned by the silent departure, soon heard other news.

Everyone’s mouth dropped at the news she sent her private jet.

Not just Soufflés but other idol fans too.

They seemed grateful ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) for the Billboard No. 1.

While posts speculated what model Hailey’s private jet was, or what her house looked like, interest in NewBlack’s promotion was minimal.

‘Just another overseas promo.’

Like idols doing variety shows in Japan, this felt like a US promo.

Soufflés were just thinking ‘Finally Blue Moon’s stage...!’

Because there was little info from abroad.

Felt like they were doing something overseas.

But....

‘NewBlack is performing on The Larry Gordon Show?’

For overseas Soufflés in North America, this landed differently.

It’s one of the six major network late-night talk shows, ranking in the top five for ratings.

One of the soft talk shows people often watch on weeknights.

‘They’re performing Blue Moon!’

Though invited by Hailey Blue for the collab, the fact they’d be on stage now was what mattered.

The chance to see one’s favorite up close.

Fans who applied for studio audience spots began thinking the same.

‘Should I go see them?’

If they were rejected, they thought they could head to the studio entrance and watch from there.

And cheer them on.

Fists clenched, fans packed their bags to meet their small singers in person.

‘...There probably won’t be many people. I should at least go cheer.’

Thousands of clenched fists.