In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

My head rang. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Weh?"

"What?"

"Ugh... no. Did you say we’re the stars of this special?"

"Yes. You got it right."

At Producer Do Junki’s wink and smile, my mind went blank.

Right then.

-Wooju?

Seokhwan’s voice came from the phone in my hand.

-Wooju? What’s going on with you?

I’d answered just in case because I didn’t recognize the number, and I was glad I had.

Producer Do nodded for me to take the call.

"There’s no camera, so talk comfortably."

I bowed in thanks and lifted the phone.

"Seokhwan."

-Uh... what’s wrong?

"What is this? Were we really booked for People on the Move?"

-Ah.

Ah?

Ahhh?

His voice suddenly went breezy, and a surge of anger shot up.

-It’s a schedule I grabbed for you. The concept draft the producer sent was so good I thought we had to fix this one.

Hearing there was a good reason, I drew a steady breath.

It was the week before the Lunar New Year holidays.

People on the Move sometimes has injuries because the work is hard.

That’s why I’d worried about injuries or a drop in condition.

If Seokhwan had OK’d it, it probably wasn’t one of those extreme-job specials.

-And it looked fun.

"The special?"

-No, seeing you flustered.

On the other end, the math demon chuckled with glee.

I squeezed the phone and my lips trembled.

"...What are you doing right now?"

-It’s my first day off in a while. I’m on a date.

"With a real person?"

The call cut off.

The younger guys, huddled around waiting to hear, asked:

"What did he say?"

"He’s on a date."

"With a real person?"

"I asked the same and he hung up."

After that, I relayed what I’d heard from the TF Team leader.

That the appearance had been agreed in advance.

Producer Do cut back in.

"Honestly, I wanted to tell you beforehand. But if I tell you early, it’s not fun, right?"

"No, producer. We can really act surprised very well."

"Still, the real reaction feels different."

Producer Do Junki grinned.

I don’t know how TV stations hire producers, but PD is a job with big swings in personal style.

Some are quiet and say little, some love to throw themselves in. Some want everything by the script.

Among them, Producer Do Junki is the one who loves genuine reactions most.

"Do you know why I like you guys?"

"No...."

"Because of the nature of this program, people’s true selves come out easily. So I try to cast people whose true selves are kind, and our NewBlack are exactly those people, right?"

"Thank you...."

"In that spirit, thank you so much for coming."

Producer Do, buzzing with excitement, shouted into his walkie.

"Everyone, come out!"

From all over the parking lot we’d thought was empty, people poured out.

Camera operators with ENG cameras on their shoulders, writers with papers, even laughing cast members.

In a flash, seeing the People on the Move crew surrounding our vehicle, I realized we’d been had.

"Ah."

I turned at Ri Hyuk’s voice.

"Ri Hyuk, what?"

"I thought something was off earlier. They said it was a round-the-world cruise special... but there was no cruise."

"Huh? You’re right."

Then all the odd bits started surfacing one by one.

When everyone else was saying, "You’re here?" Eunsung had played dumb and asked why we’d come, smiling with his eyes.

He was probably checking how much we knew coming in.

"Hey!"

"Sorry~"

I met Eunsung’s eyes through the car window as he beamed at us.

Junhyun, chewing jelly, said,

"We totally got fooled."

"We got fooled."

I reached into the jelly bag and pulled out one gummy worm.

Producer Do, who’d been laughing at us, said,

"Shall we get out first?"

"Yes."

It was a little flustering, but since we were already appearing, it was time to switch into broadcast mode.

When we opened the car doors, there was a roaring "Waaaaaa!" and they fired bakery poppers.

[Bang! Bang!]

With [tan-ta-da-da-dan! tan-tan!] BGM, the cast sang "Congratulations~".

"We warmly welcome NewBlack to People on the Move!"

"Welcome!"

The writers came up, hung flower garlands on us, and applauded.

The youngest rolled his eyes.

"You all knew from the start, didn’t you?"

"Of couuurse~"

Min Taewon, the bald one, answered.

He was one of the people we’d teamed up with for the special forces episode, the team’s designated hole.

"Man, my mouth was itching so bad."

"I almost died holding it in."

The eldest of People on the Move, Lee Pilseung, and the ace, Park Hobum, cracked jokes.

Those were the original members.

"Hello. Long time no see."

"Hello!"

We also exchanged greetings with actor Han Yeoreum, whom we’d met on the previous Ju Sehan special.

When I said it was funny meeting in midwinter, he burst out laughing—his humor seems to match ours.

Three men, three women. And Eunsung.

"Am I not a person?"

"Sorry, Kevin, I don’t want to see the face of the person who tricked me the most."

"Then should I show you my hand? I bought a new ring."

"Hey!"

At my made-for-variety outburst, the cast laughed that I was a spaceship.

While my younger members soothed me with "hold it, hold it," I froze.

"...!"

Two figures wedged between cast and crew popped into view like a close-up.

Our managers.

Not just me—my brothers, who’d been calming me, changed their eyes too.

"You traitors!"

"Ha ha...."

The two managers who sold us out waved awkwardly.

MC Lee Pilseung walked over to them and said,

"Everyone, please give a round of applause to the two managers who maintained strict security up to today."

"Great job!"

"As promised, you brought them in alive!"

Even Biju rubbed his neck and took a deep breath.

Surrounded by staff protection, the two managers heard the youngest shout:

"You traitors! How could you sell us out?"

"It’s not too late even now! Take the wheel and get us out of here!"

But the managers only shook their heads and waved.

Just then,

Min Ki smiled and climbed into the passenger seat.

"Guys. Do great variety."

"We’ll go on ahead."

Wonsuk waved with a warm smile too.

The cast, starting with Producer Do Junki, closed the door for them and sent them off with thanks for all their hard work.

"...They’re really going."

In a blink, the car pulled away.

All that was left was us in the desolate parking lot.

"Don’t be too down."

Producer Do gave us a big grin as we shivered.

"We’re going to do something really fun this time."

After seeing the managers off,

we lined up again in the opening formation for People on the Move.

We stood on the left, the cast on the right.

"Eunsung."

"Yes?"

"So what are we doing today?"

"I really don’t know."

I wondered if he was playing to the staff clipping a mic to my sweater, but he really didn’t know.

"A true real-variety pro."

"We really do it without knowing. Do you know we once went to an uninhabited island? We grilled fish and lived like that...."

I humored the excited chatterbox.

"So you actually caught fish."

"No. We paid the staff and bought them."

My brothers and I let out small laughs.

Thanks to that, I felt calmer.

They say even dog poop can be medicine; in a strange program, even Eunsung felt this reliable.

At the same time, I looked around and whispered to the guys.

"The location isn’t here, right?"

"A hundred percent not here."

Ri Hyuk whispered while checking his phone.

"There’s no departure schedule this morning."

"Okay."

Thinking of how they’d said Incheon Airport last time and took us to special forces, the opening location ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) probably had little to do with today’s special.

Of course, right now we had no clues about the content.

But we could guess some things.

First, there wouldn’t be hard labor.

If it required huge strength like fishing or had high risk, our TF Team wouldn’t have approved it.

They wouldn’t make a label’s singer heading home for the holiday risk injury, and above all, Goblin promotions continue next week.

That doesn’t mean it’s working at a police station either.

I whispered to Eunsung.

"Remember your honorary police special from before."

"Oh! The one that made my legend clip?"

"That one took a while to shoot, right?"

"It took forever~ If you’re worried it’s a long-term special, it probably isn’t."

I agreed.

I didn’t know the exact schedule, but it looked like two nights, three days.

Jobs like military or police that require professional training and deployment are impossible time-wise.

The fact they called us means they have a place to use our specialty.

There were too many ideas popping up, so I left it there and passed my guess to Ri Hyuk.

"You’re thinking the same?"

"Yes."

We two aligned and then gathered the younger ones.

"I don’t know what special it is, but it’s not going to a military unit or doing some grueling job."

"Yes."

"Don’t worry too much. If anything comes up, I’ll speak."

We exchanged looks to do our best and stood in opening formation again.

"Okay! Let’s start the opening shoot! The slate... Wooju, would you like to clap it as a memento?"

"Yes!"

With a crisp clap, filming began.

"Going! Going! People—"

"On the Move!"

The opening started again.

We talked from seeing the managers off to how we felt now.

How do you feel? It’s sad, but we have to work hard—like that.

After that chat, the special’s main broadcast began.

"Yes! As you know, we have a very special collaboration today. People on the Move and NewBlack TV, together!"

Even without a megaphone, Producer Do’s booming voice echoed.

"We’ll reveal the theme of this collab special. Please look at the screen!"

Power popped onto the monitor the staff had prepared, and a video played.

"A drama?"

"Is it a drama special?"

Under the TBC logo, a scene played of Han Yeoreum fencing with a shoehorn against a villain in a drama.

Then the screen flashed with static, and a scene from People on the Move rolled.

Like changing TV channels.

Now a group dance scene of A+V active on music shows and a scene from our concert played.

With it came the song.

[Become your entertainer~]

While we bobbed our shoulders to the lively tune, interviews with unfamiliar people appeared.

Lee Pilseung’s eyes went wide.

"Jungseok? Why is Jungseok on?"

[Hello. I’m Ma Jungseok, manager to Lee Pilseung.]

Then the caption ‘Q. How many years as of this year?’ and his answer rolled.

[About five years’ experience, and three of those with Pilseung.]

Other managers’ interviews followed in a row.

They talked about the hard parts and joys of being with their entertainers.

"Oh?"

"That’s Wonsuk and Min Ki!"

Our managers’ interview clips came up too.

[The joy of growing with your artist? That kind of thing. When people’s attitude changes.]

[There’s pride. If you say “manager?” and then add NewBlack’s manager, people’s eyes change.]

[When you look at your own singers? It tugs at you. When you see them half-asleep, sleepless, working on songs, it hurts a little. They really pour their lives into work more than people think.]

At the calm voices of our managers, a soft warmth gathered in my chest.

As nearby celebrities smirked at us fondly,

more stories flowed of managers talking about their artists.

[Her birthday is September 17.]

[She never eats anything that’s been opened where she didn’t see it. There was a bad incident long ago.]

[Her favorites are stir-fried squid and sundae. But she doesn’t like liver in the sundae.]

As those lines ran, a caption came up.

[How well do you know your own manager?]

Then came interviews of the People on the Move cast.

They answered personal questions about their managers pretty well, but stumbled with unexpected ones.

[The color of the clothes he’s wearing today...?]

[Uh?]

With that odd mood, the VCR ended.

"Yes!"

At Producer Do Junki’s cheerful voice, everyone snapped back to the set.

"That was a touching VCR, right?"

"Director! Then today...."

"Yes. That’s right."

Producer Do smiled.

"From today, for two nights and three days, you will become entertainment managers and run the field."

Managers are one of the extreme jobs that run on no sleep, so the concept fit.

Then Park Hobum pointed to both cast and guests and said,

"Then how are we splitting teams?"

"First I’ll explain the rules. Strictly speaking, from today you will become ‘idol’ managers."

"Idol...?"

"I thought about which managers have it hardest and decided. Alongside an actor in active filming, the toughest schedule is music shows! You’ll be accompanying idol singers currently running those shows."

It’s generally accepted that an actor’s filming schedule is the hardest.

But maybe because you wait ten hours for your scene, it’s hard to pull fun, so they chose idols.

Activities are the most varied.

The People on the Move members murmured.

"So which idols are active right now...."

As everyone tried to conjure the lineup, the producer continued.

"Let me finish. You’ll split into NewBlack TV and People on the Move and compete."

"What! Director, we’re competing?"

"Yes. That’s why it’s a collaboration special, not a guest slot."

At the word compete, our eyes and the People on the Move team’s eyes tangled in midair.

Ri Hyuk raised his hand.

"Then how do we decide win or lose?"

"We’ll show videos of your work as managers, and current managers will judge by category."

"Then is there a penalty...?"

"Of course! What fun is it without a penalty!"

No one responded to the producer’s shout.

"For the winners, an enormous reward; for the losers, an enormous penalty awaits! Hahahahaha!"

As Producer Do Junki laughed, high on his own fun, everyone just stared blankly.

Regardless, the other side spoke up brightly.

"Okay! Then from today we’ll tell each of you which team you’re in charge of. Team captains, come up and take your envelopes."

From People on the Move, Lee Pilseung stepped up; from our NewBlack TV team, I stepped up and took the documents in a sealed envelope.

I exchanged looks with my brothers.

"Not rookies, right? Please not rookies."

"I’d rather it be seniors."

If it was rookies on the paper, it could be a real headache.

Like if TNT members had come in 2014 to be our managers.

A rookie group frets over every expression and posture, and we wouldn’t know how to handle them.

Fans could be very sensitive too.

Breathing deep with those thoughts, the People on the Move side stirred.

"Huh?"

"What! Serenity?"

"If it’s Serenity, aren’t they the top girl group right now?"

At the name of the girl group that recently shot to the top, we exchanged bright smiles.

If they got Serenity, they probably matched the tier for us too.

There aren’t many boy groups on that level.

"Hurry, open it. Hurry."

At the youngest’s urging, I slid the papers out.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Seeing the profiles of a nine-member group inside, we burst into loud laughter.

I met Producer Do Junki’s eyes in the distance as he gave a thumbs-up.

"I told you it would be fun, didn’t I?"

We beamed and gave a thumbs-up back.

"People on the Move ‘NewBlack TV Collaboration’ Special, Episode 1 — excerpt"

Against a black curtain, a nine-member idol group sits in a lively cluster.

Production: You really had no idea NewBlack was coming?

At that, a clean-cut handsome guy in a T-shirt labeled [Hanjo] nodded.

Hanjo: We really didn’t know. We found out we were filming variety that very day.

Rex: You have no idea how shocked everyone was.

Hanjo smiled like a model class rep in college.

Hanjo: We were really shocked. From the moment they woke us up, it was like....

LB: But that day, something felt kinda sus? Can I say sus? Anyway, it felt off.

Giwon: They said new managers were coming, which was weird. We already had new hires a little while ago.

Yugeon: And a new chief manager was supposed to come too.

LB: Super weird.

After a moment of the rough-looking members chattering like kindergarteners,

LB narrowed his eyes and took something out.

LB: The name of the new chief manager was weird. Unfamiliar, but with a strangely familiar scent.

Rex: I didn’t think they’d go as far as making business cards.

Yugeon: It’s definitely a possible name, but it set me off.

LB handed a business card to the production.

At the name printed there—"Chief Manager Joo Sunwoo"—the production burst out laughing again.