In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Soufflés logged onto NewBlack TV with hearts full of excitement.

‘It’s special album bait!’

It was the special album bait that had only ever been rumor until now.

There were predictions they might be releasing another winter song like “Hibernation,” which came out early this year.

Debate over the name of the next special album had been such a hot topic that it was at the very top of fans’ interests.

“NewBlack dropped a new album teaser!”

Not only Soufflés but also entertainment agencies across the industry were on high alert.

“Please, please don’t overlap with our timing. Please......”

“I hope the genres don’t overlap this time.”

“I get scared whenever they say they’re trying a new genre. The boss tells us to bring back the same thing.”

Every time they released music, NewBlack shook up the charts.

Unless you were a very big name, releasing an album in the same period was like gambling with your survival.

One thing music agencies had been paying attention to recently was not overlapping release timing with NewBlack.

‘You can’t beat them whoever you send.’

In the sound-source arena, NewBlack had no competitors.

So the best move was to avoid the period as much as possible. Or follow after with a similar song as a latecomer.

‘What are they doing this time?’

A&R teams at each agency and composers logged onto NewBlack TV.

When they clicked the uniquely titled video “~Giyi (Oddity)~,” a bright moon immediately slid across a dark sky.

“A thatched house?”

A thatched house so neglected it was practically a haunted place appeared as the backdrop.

A broken bucket sat at the well, kitchen tools were strewn about the kitchen, and the hearth was empty.

Wind slipped through torn paper windows.

As the obviously uninhabited thatched house sat quietly under the moonlight—

“Mmm.”

Like a scholar headed to take the state exam, a man with a pack on his back stepped into the yard.

“Excuse me. Is anyone there? I need a place to sleep for the night......”

But no answer came.

Feeling the chilly wind, the scholar carefully slid open the paper door and looked inside, but of course no one was there.

“I definitely saw a light. Did I see a phantom.”

As he wore a conflicted look about staying in a strange haunted house, a tiger’s cry sounded in the distance.

With no choice, the scholar went into the room, unpacked, and soon fell asleep.

Right then—

“Kyarururuk. Kyaruru.”

With the sound of children giggling, the outside of the thatched house came into a full shot.

Blue will-o’-wisps rode the wind and drifted in one by one.

As the ghost lights passed the well, the bucket restored itself; as they passed the kitchen, the hearth lit and tasty dishes began to cook.

As the house regained its liveliness......

“Kim seobang has come.”

“Kim seobang is here?” 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

“Where?”

“Here.”

“Who?”

“They say it’s Kim seobang.”

As mischievous voices whispered and the startled scholar’s face filled with wary vigilance—

Hooo.

Someone blew and snuffed the oil lamp flame the scholar had lit.

“Wh-who’s there!”

At that very moment—

As the trembling man stood there, light rose slightly behind him and five shadows were cast on the wall.

“Well now.”

A soft voice whispered.

“Who could it be?”

The screen cut to black, and over the darkness a short, playful, impish melody chimed.

“Goblin”

With a heavy thud the words “Coming Soon” appeared.

Right after, autoplay rolled into a video of Kim Junghyun DJing while wearing a goblin-horn party hat.

“No way......”

Composers watching in various places, and A&R teams or PR teams at each company, all said the same thing.

“...So what kind of song is this?”

The immersive video ended and a melody played, but no one could guess the song’s genre.

Same for the concept.

‘The title track name is Goblin...?’

A refreshing boy concept, cyberpunk, retro, and so on—just from the video, it was impossible to predict.

And—

Fans were in the same boat.

—What genre are we this time??

—lol I heard the melody and can’t guess a thing

—Honestly you only know when it drops. You never predict anything from teasers anyway

—But I feel like it’ll be good.. I only heard like an intro? melody and my heart is already bounce bounce

—If it’s Goblin is it gugak-style? Falling Blossoms might be the closest similar one

—But why is the title Goblin

—Even the silhouettes alone are eye candy fr lol they’re best at their main job

—That last voice is Wooju, right? I keep replaying it

Soufflés kept replaying the low, playful yet imposing “Well now, who could it be?” line.

Then they checked the comments.

‘Looks like the overseas kids are confused.’

With no explanation and only a scholar appearing, ending with the brush-written word “Goblin,” they seemed not to know what it was.

—Soufflés of the homeland. Please educate our overseas Soufflés.

—In Korea there’s a sacred being called a goblin that loves playing tricks on humans and such

Who is the guy in the hat walking around at night. Is the exam he’s taking like the SAT. Are they calling him Kim seobang because his family name is Kim.

Soufflés kindly explained these things.

‘It’s fair they might not know.’

At the same time, it felt quietly satisfying.

Their overseas activities in the US and Japan had gotten good reactions lately. Blue Moon even hit number one on Billboard.

Because of that, fans had been quietly anxious.

‘They’re not going to suddenly push for the US, right?’

If they said they were entering the overseas market and flipped the target to overseas fans, it would feel a bit sad.

As if to say that worry was unfounded, a new title, “Goblin,” was waiting.

‘Nice......’

As they looked around the comments with pleased faces—

One comment racking up likes came into view.

—Stealing Japanese culture again. Isn’t the Korean goblin derived from the Japanese oni?

Soufflés’ napes went stiff. Judging by the profile picture, the person wasn’t even Japanese—Canadian.

‘This jerk.’

Soufflés hefted their comment clubs and swarmed in.

Another peaceful day in the Soufflé kingdom.

The teaser response was quite good.

—NewBlack, new album “Goblin”.. teaser hits 1 million views

—Curiosity explodes at NewBlack “Goblin” teaser.. “What kind of song is it?”

—NewBlack to drop special album mid-January “Return of the sound-source titan”

Starting with blowing past a million views in a flash, there were more comments than anyone could read.

Maybe Blue Moon had brought in more overseas fans this time; there were tons of English comments too.

Overall, the slope of view growth had changed again.

“The other MVs are going to hit 100 million soon too, right?”

“Really?”

We’d heard that Falling Blossoms had just hit 100 million following Nine not long ago.

The other MVs’ view counts were also climbing steeply.

“Business is good.”

“Feels like the store is blazing... yo.”

“Yo?”

“YO~”

We all teased the maknae, who’d been trying hard to fix his speech lately, and left the waiting room.

December 31.

Today was the last day of 2016.

And the corridor we were walking down was warm and cozy.

“Hoooo......”

We stopped in place and savored the heater’s breeze.

“Do you all feel it? This air? This humidity......”

“Perfect. Really.”

Biju dabbed the corners of his eyes.

“I think I teared up from emotion. Hyung.”

“Isn’t it because you’re about to dance with the dancers?”

“Those are crocodile tears. Hyung.”

At my and Ri Hyuk’s words, Biju narrowed his eyes, then looked elsewhere and steered the topic back.

“How nice......”

We savored the sunlight coming through the corridor windows made of full glass.

Broadcast staff walking by laughed at the sight of us photosynthesizing like plants.

It looked silly but there was no helping it.

Moving back toward the rehearsal site, I said,

“First indoor year-end stage.”

“We must have really made it.”

Today, December 31, TBC was broadcasting its year-end music festival that caps the year.

At the same time, it was our first indoor stage.

We said goodbye to the past when we shivered out on the Sangam outdoor stage two years in a row, in ’14 and ’15.

LB [Sorry for bragging last year that we were indoors]

LB [We crossed the line]

Hanjoh [lolololololol]

Hanjoh [Even typing lol is hard]

Rex [Is this weather fit for humans to perform in]

Giwon [I miss my mom]

Street Boys, wrapped in long padded coats like penguins of the Antarctic, sent a proof shot of themselves shivering.

They were on a special stage on Yeongdong-daero, apparently.

Last year they bragged about being indoors, so this was very satisfying.

When we sent a picture of us taking off sweaters and wearing short sleeves, trembling reactions came back.

We cackled and teased our debut peers to our hearts’ content.

“This is why you have to live right.”

“Like us~”

Maybe we were getting this luck because we lived right.

As the entrance to the open hall at TBC Ilsan approached, we looked again at the cue sheet on the wall.

Three words attached above the ending joint ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) stage.

[29] NewBlack — Falling Blossoms, Empire, Fireworks

Just like the PBS Music Festival, the ending of the TBC year-end music festival was ours too.

8:55 p.m.

With rookie boy group Trickster from TJ Entertainment opening, the TBC year-end music festival began.

“Hyung.”

Yeonhu, seated next to me in the singers’ section, whispered.

“When will the 90s and 00s cover party end.”

“Not in our era, probably.”

Like last year, this year too was dominated by 90s and 00s cover specials.

Watching for about three years, you could see the pattern.

“Music is memory. So 90s nostalgia songs, shall we call it?” “Let’s become one through music. Shall we be one with 00s songs?” That sort of thing—every year the repertoire felt the same.

GirlsOnTop in retro outfits sang 2005’s “Hot Girl.”

Then Wonder Child came out in black suits and sang a cover like “I’m the sexiest,” rolling their bodies.

“Never thought I’d hear that again.”

Since middle school, these had been monthly evaluation songs, so all the choreography was familiar.

We clapped or followed the choreo and laughed.

They were old songs, sure, but hearing them again felt good. We exchanged smiles with the early-90s-born idols bopping in the singers’ section.

“But listening now, I feel like it’s a little similar to our song this time.”

The maknae whispered to me.

“I think this is similar to Goblin.”

“It does have a bit of that feel.”

That was partly intentional.

This Goblin title used current-day sounds but also had a retro feel.

Like the hook songs people used to sing along to back then.

—The age of retro is coming soon.

It was something we’d agreed on while writing Hailey and Blue Moon. That influenced writing Goblin this time as well.

While thinking that and watching the stage—

“Hyung, Kim Biju is on now.”

After the trot singer Baek Sanggyo’s stage ended, the VCR we’d been waiting for started.

—Waaaaa!

—It’s happy practice time~!

Members from the dance competition show that had good ratings this year were gathered in one place.

Biju was sparkling with the happiest face in the world.

—A joint stage with everyone... I’m so excited!

Normally that would be a perfunctory line. On our kid’s face was a smile full of sincerity.

Then the scene flowed into choosing a stage concept and practicing.

Sparkle sparkle.

As everyone else grew haggard, one person stood out, giving off light alone.

At first I thought it was CG.

“You were really happy, Biju.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Good. As long as you were happy.”

It wasn’t us who would be judged anyway.

We only sent a sympathetic smile toward the people rolling around in the practice video.

“Was the stage pre-recorded?”

“Yes. We shot it at dawn yesterday.”

Since it was a stage pulling members from various groups, it seemed they’d recorded it in advance.

The recorded stage rolled on the screen.

In a set that looked like an alley, Biju, wearing a jacket and boots studded with metal, walked with a steady clomp.

“Oh.”

The delinquent expression was extremely natural.

“How did he learn that now.”

“TeenSpirit taught him.”

“They taught him well......”

The camera tracked Biju as he moved in street fashion, shrugging his shoulders with a delinquent vibe.

In the middle of the alley, dancers split into two sides, facing each other and growling.

With a sense of crisis as if a bloodbath might soon unfold—

Someone started to dance, and both sides began to dance like a battle.

“Oh.”

I think I know where the dancers took the motif from.

There was a famous music video by the world’s greatest pop star where conflict was solved with dance. The story was so famous there was even an anecdote he filmed with two feuding gangs and danced in front of them.

Then the maknae said,

“I think this is that. The scene from West Side Story.”

“Yeah?”

“They fight like that there.”

Apparently there was a similar scene in some movie too.

When I asked Biju which one was right, he gave a gentle smile.

He meant neither.

“Then......?”

Biju flicked his eyes.

Behind the six people standing with arms crossed watching the dance, shadowy shapes slithered... slithered...

“Aha.”

Saying okay with a laugh, I kept watching.

AeflB’s leader Ha ru finished a breakdance move and went in, and Biju came out and started to freestyle.

Slim arms and legs drew soft curves under loose clothes, then at the end he snapped his waist, rose, and thrust his hand out.

“Waaaaa—!”

With the Soufflés’ thundering cheers, we clapped and whooped too.

Right after, the mass choreography on screen was so good.

‘As long as it’s not us.’

‘Exactly.’

‘Dancers who worked so hard, we send you Joy.’

Mass choreography that felt like bones being ground on a millstone.

As we watched the sweat and tears of the main dancers contained within, we and the younger ones applauded, moved.

Before we knew it, 11:55.

With five minutes left until January 1, 2017, all performers came up on stage.

“Junior, stand here.”

“Oh my. Thank you.”

Standing in the very front row with TNT, TeenSpirit, and Serenity, we waved to the Soufflés in the audience.

Jiho held up five fingers like, “Five minutes left!”

On the screen we were all watching, Sangam Studio and the Yeongdong-daero site were connected.

—This is Yeongdong-daero! Hahahaha!

They were all trembling.

Street Boys chattered their teeth like delinquent penguins. We clicked our tongues at the sight of every singer on screen puffing steam from their mouths.

—Yes! Our Street Boys, who received hot attention this year! Please give us a New Year’s acrostic for the Year of the Rooster with your resolutions!

—Right. First our Co... Co-Co-Concrete, we love you. (Oh so cold! Ah ch ch ch!) We really are doing a stage on the street now.

With their souls halfway out from the cold, Hanjoh and the members launched into their Rooster-year three-syllable poem.

It seemed like an event prepared to fill time.

“Should we prepare something too?”

“Let’s just go with whatever comes out.”

TeenSpirit, standing next to us, started whispering among themselves, “Get it together... are you kindergarteners?”

Soon the mic went here to the Ilsan site for Serenity, then the Rooster-year acrostic passed to TeenSpirit.

“We really love you!”

“You are my precious!”

“Be happy at year’s end and New Year’s! Soul~!”

TeenSpirit showed the textbook version of a three-line poem and smiled brightly, and then the mic came straight to us.

—You’re national idols. Let’s hear a New Year’s blessing from our NewBlack!

The MC asked for a blessing.

“Yes, everyone worked really hard in 2016. Please spend a wonderful year-end and New Year’s, and we hope the Year of the Rooster is filled only with happiness!”

—And a three-line poem! Please.

With no time to prepare, we decided to go with whatever came to mind.

“Jeong-” Jiho thought for a moment, then smiled wide and gave the first line.

“I lived honestly!”

Not a bad start.

As I nodded at the attention-grabbing opener, Junghyun grabbed the mic.

“Yujwe? Guilty, for what.”

A huge laugh broke out from audience and stage at once.

The MC guffawed at the suddenly variety-show vibe, and the singers around us looked at me with faces full of curiosity.

As Jiho and Junghyun, who’d just let it fly, laughed merrily, I took the mic.

“Yeon......”

At my briefly stumped face, everyone started laughing.

What should I do with yeon.

After thinking, I benchmarked the bright smiles of the pretty boys next door and smiled.

“Is it a crime if we stole Soufflés’ hearts from the start of the year~?”

When I winked and smiled, the Soufflés welcomed it with thunderous cheers. Thankfully, we got through safely.

As I raised a hand to my hot cheek, a certain Mr. Han was clutching his stomach laughing.

As the mic passed to TNT, I slung an arm over Junghyun’s and Jiho’s shoulders.

“You two, just wait.”

“We believed in you, hyung.”

“Me too.”

But when did Jiho get taller than me.

As I put my arm around his shoulder, the height felt a little different and unfamiliar, and Biju rose onto tiptoe and slid in.

Ri Hyuk also side-stepped in like a crab and joined the penguin huddle.

—Okay! We’re starting the countdown! Ten! Nine......!

I wished quickly.

Grandma’s health, our health, the CEO’s hair, success... I recited them one by one quickly and opened my eyes.

On the screen, the Year’s End Bell boomed with a heavy tone.

—Yes! The Year of the Rooster, 2017, has dawned!

Amid the pop of falling gold foil, my younger ones and I who’d greeted the first day of the new year looked at one another and smiled.

“I cherish you.”

“Me too.”

May the new year be filled only with good things.