In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

“Are we supposed to choose one of the two?”

“Yes.”

So it’s the difference between falling from the sky or going into the sea to become shark feed.

I raised my hand.

“PD.”

“Yes!”

“I want to confirm again. We have to pick either skydiving or the shark cage, right?”

“Yes. Due to time constraints, you can only do one.”

Tomorrow was South Australia.

It was far enough that we had to fly out of Sydney, so the schedule had to be tight.

Maybe we should be glad we could do even one of the two.

“Of course, there is a third option.”

“There is?”

“As a penalty, you skip lunch. To be exact, Junhyun will eat Wooju’s lunch as well.”

“......”

At my body deflating in real time, the kids burst into laughter.

Scratching the back of his head with a slightly sorry face, Junhyun called me.

“Hyung. If you don’t want to do either, we don’t have to. I figured the others might hate it too...”

“No. It’s not that bad.”

“That’s why I picked you when we drew lots.”

“Hm...?”

At that odd line, I looked to the crew.

“Wasn’t the lot draw random?”

“Yes. Random.”

“Then how did Junhyun pick me... ah.”

“Wooju. We can’t do anything about Junhyun manifesting superpowers.”

“True.”

It was a meaningless question.

While we kept dodging the point and talking around it, the youngest slipped in.

“So what are you gonna pick~? Shark cage?”

[Da-dun~ da-dun~ dun-dun-dun-dun~]

Biju did the baby shark dance.

“Skydiving?”

“Free fall~ fall-ha-ha!”

The kids circled me singing, “You have to choose one of the two~,” doing a ring dance.

I couldn’t think straight.

“Whew...”

The PD gestured “off the record” and cut in gently.

“Wooju.”

“Yes.”

“Choose without pressure. Junhyun’s course has more than just those. Your wishes are the most important to us.”

“Thank you.”

I figured they were mindful of my fear of planes. But that wasn’t what I was worried about.

I’m afraid of planes because of worries about emergency landings and such, not because of altitude itself.

“Don’t feel pressured, hyung.”

“I’m fine.”

“If it really doesn’t work, I’ll travel alone. I can have fun by myself.”

As the youngest’s eyes went wide at me, I thought it through for a moment and turned to Junhyun.

“Junhyun.”

“Yes.”

“Which do you want more?”

“Between the two?”

The wildflower bloomed back onto Junhyun’s once-droopy face.

“Mm. I like both. Anything’s good if I’m with you.”

“In that case...”

When I gave my answer, everyone jumped.

The next day.

To start the partner day, we scattered. We promised to meet again in the afternoon.

“See you later!”

“See you later!”

From early dawn, Junhyun and I headed out with the crew and boarded a plane at Sydney Airport.

Because we had to go to Port Lincoln, a city in the south of Australia.

On the first day of the trip I’d thought we could just drive.

It looked like the kind of distance you’d reach after a bit of driving from Sydney.

“It’ll take about five hours.”

I remember nodding at Ri Hyuk’s answer.

“Five hours by car...”

“No. Five hours by plane.”

“Huh?”

“It’s quite far from Sydney to there. Think of it as several times the Seoul–Jeju distance.”

“But on the map it’s about this much.”

“This continent is about seventy-seven times the size of our country. You have to think in different scales.”

It hit me in the gut how massive Australia is.

They say it’s sixth in the world by land area.

So to do a shark cage, we even flew down to South Australia.

“I never dreamed you’d pick this.”

“Surprised?”

“I thought you’d pick anything but the shark cage. Honestly, everyone’s scared of sharks.”

“They are scary.”

Thinking of the great white going Kuwaaang in Jaws, the shark cage hadn’t been appealing.

But—

“I figured, if not now, when?”

“True.”

“It’s hard to do a shark cage in other countries. Might as well do the thing you can only do in Australia.”

“I agree.”

There are shark spots around the world including South Africa, but Australia’s one of the most accessible.

Maybe he was happy I chose the shark cage—Junhyun kept smiling like sunshine.

“I’m so glad I’m here with you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yup. Kim Biju and Ri Hyuk would rather skip lunch than do this...”

“Right. Ri Hyuk would refuse point-blank—he can skip dinner too. And Jiho’s secretly a scaredy-cat.”

“He cried during the horror special. Jiho.”

Junhyun and I burst out laughing.

I remembered the snot-nosed kid on Jeju’s horror special, sobbing and sniffling asking where the hyungs were.

Meanwhile, South Australia’s brilliant sunlight greeted us.

With a “Port Lincoln” sign welcoming us, I lowered the window and asked Junhyun, who was photosynthesizing.

“By the way, Junhyun.”

“Yes?”

“Why do you like this stuff?”

I’d wondered for ages.

A kid who says a day sitting still looking at orchids is a happy day—but he loves extreme sports.

“Mm.”

Adjusting his snapback, Junhyun said:

“My grandpa told me something once.”

“Your grandfather on your dad’s side?”

“Yeah. He said people don’t age by the years they’ve lived. They age by memories.”

“What does that mean?”

Soaking up sun, Junhyun smiled.

“They say time goes faster the older you get, right? As a kid, a day feels like a year; as an adult, a year flies.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s because your brain starts skipping. When you’re young, everything’s new so even little things amaze you, but later you skip the little things—because they’re familiar.”

“I think I get it.”

Practice yesterday, practice today. After enough similar days, the memories blur.

Junhyun nodded.

“So you should try to make each day different. Like, take a different route to school than yesterday.”

“Make your memories diverse.”

“Yeah. But that’s not easy in daily life. No time.”

“True.”

When work is nonstop, there’s no time to consider things like that.

Junhyun smiled.

“So when there’s time, I try things like this. In the end, it’s not time that stays—it’s memory.”

“Wow...”

I held out my hand for a high-five.

“That was a cool line.”

“I thought so too.”

We shook, and he added:

“And Grandpa said—when you make memories like that, it’s best if good people are with you.”

“As expected, I think I’m a good—”

“I also think I’m a good—”

“......”

“......”

We both tried to pitch ourselves as the “good person,” locked eyes, then shared a warm smile.

You?

You, hyung?

Then we looked in opposite directions.

While the camera director and writer who overheard us smiled like we were cute—

“We’re here.”

We finally reached the destination.

A wharf lined with big two-story boats.

A street with dozens of companies specializing in shark cages. The one we were visiting was called “Love Shark.”

[ding-a-ling!]

We opened the door into a shop crammed with a model great white jawbone, shark tees, and keychains.

“Welcome, mate!”

The man who greeted us was huge, with brown hair.

He looked like a superhero who could throw a hammer well, and he laughed heartily.

“Wooju and Junhyun, right? I’m Dave.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Let’s start with a briefing, yeah? We’ve been waiting for you two.”

Dave led us to a briefing room and introduced the shark cage.

Diving, and all kinds of precautions.

Do not startle the noble sharks!—that sort of guideline.

“No sudden moves, please.”

“Yes.”

“It should be a safe experience overall. We haven’t had incidents.”

“Oh.”

“As of yet, that is. Hahaha!”

While I stared northward in Grandma’s general direction, Dave gave us a heads-up.

“You picked a perfect time to see great whites. The sea’s warmish. Sharks crowd in around now.”

“I see...”

“But I should add—you might not see any.”

“Pardon?”

“You might get skunked.”

Meaning there was no guarantee sharks would show.

“You’re here partly because we’re a government-certified eco-friendly operator, yeah?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

They said shark cage operators vary.

There are eco outfits like this one that use only a bit of boiled bait and don’t feed sharks, and there are the “ah, forget it—dump a bucket of blood—hahaha!” types.

“To be honest, our success rate’s lower than those blood-bucket operators.”

“That’s fine.”

“Right. Just keep it in mind.”

Dave stressed several times that sharks might not appear; we smiled and nodded.

“They’ll show.”

“Eh?”

“A friend told us what his hunch was today.”

“...?”

As Dave tilted his head at our words, a photo on the wall caught my eye.

A blue-haired beauty flashing a V over the shoulder of her crying husband.

“Hey, is that Hailey?”

“Yes!”

Dave said proudly:

“She came with her husband last time. Her diving skills—stunning.”

“I see.”

When Junhyun said Hailey there was our friend, Dave snorted.

“Funny joke. All right, let’s go!”

No, really. It’s true.

After the briefing, we boarded at once.

A big two-story vessel—looked like even a Jaws attack wouldn’t dent it.

Like if a great white bit the hull, its “corn” teeth would fall out cursing these filthy humans.

[vroooooom—!]

Wearing life jackets, we watched the sky as the boat carved white foam.

“A perfect day to bid farewell to this earthly life.”

Quoting a movie line, I sucked on a Chupa Chups; Junhyun placed a hand on me.

“Don’t worry.”

“Yeah...”

Then I squatted down.

“Why did I come.”

“Too late, hyung.”

“No, seriously. Why did I come.”

When I shouted “Let’s go! Shark cage!” I’d brimmed with courage.

Out on the water, my heart pounded; Jaws looped in my head.

I felt the Seo Ri Hyuk inside me awakening.

As I squatted and whined, other tourists’ eyes collected on me.

“Hey, honey.”

An elderly grandma smiled.

“Very scared?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t worry too much. Would a great white really come into the cage?”

“If it’s small enough, it can pop in! Hah!”

At Dave’s roaring laugh from the helm, my face went pale.

Grandma smiled to soothe me.

“Don’t fret. I’ve had quite a few brushes with death and I’m still here.”

“Thank you, ma’am. That’s very comforting.”

Then she said I was handsome, like her husband when he was young.

With a faraway look, she pointed upward.

“He’s in the sky now.”

“Oh no...”

“Skydiving. He can’t watch sharks; too scary.”

“So he’s alive...”

Maybe the vaudeville banter helped—I relaxed a little.

Breathing deep, I loosened up; at the spot we’d reached, we finished gearing up.

“Good luck!”

Junhyun went down into the cage first and gave a thumbs-up; I hesitated, then plunged in too.

Ugh. Cold.

It’s the hot season, so the water wasn’t that cold, but the chill still bit.

And once I went under—

[bub-bub-bub (Woooooah)...]

Bubbles foamed by my mouth, and the seascape spread wide.

Blue everywhere.

Below was blue too, but not a scary blue—bright blue. Waves of blue washing the world.

Sunlight scattered above the surface, and fish crowded around.

“......”

I thought, coming here was so right.

Maybe because it was such a unique experience—song ideas began to spark in my head.

As I watched a scene where the fish looked ready to sing Under the Sea, ideas for the title track “Coin” bubbled up.

After about ten minutes—

[tap tap]

Junhyun, in scuba gear, tapped my shoulder. Look over there.

And—

“......!”

In the distance, a streamlined lifeform came into hazy view.

With each sweep of its tail, a huge shark slid closer.

At the sight of the dignified great white approaching, all the tourists widened their eyes and gathered at the bars.

“Woooooow.”

The great white drew near.

Maybe five meters.

I’d never seen an animal this big. Mingling with other fish around the cage, it was an overwhelming size.

And—

It was cuter than I expected.

The shark in my head goes “Kuwaaang!” with jaws agape—this great white before my eyes looked like a giant chonky boi.

Like a chonk pretending to be solemn.

“......”

And then another appeared.

Two great whites nosed around the cage like, Hmm? Thought I smelled food, then—

They cruised past the cage.

As if people held no interest.

Soon, as if deciding it was a bust, they slid off and drifted away.

Even the vanishing silhouettes were beautiful.

“......”

I didn’t even think of taking a photo.

It was one of the most awe-inspiring experiences of my life.

[tap tap]

A touch on my shoulder—snapping out of it, I turned. Junhyun, still geared up, was smiling with his eyes.

How is it?

I gave a thumbs-up.

Best ever.

The shark cage was over in an hour.

Considering it took five hours to get here, we could’ve felt empty—but not at all.

“Insane...”

“It was insane...”

“Wow.”

“Whoa.”

Junhyun and I stared at each other with dazed faces.

“It was truly insane.”

“Worth the trip, right?”

“Agreed.”

“When the others come, let’s brag.”

I absolutely planned to.

We were in Adelaide.

After finishing at Port Lincoln, we reached South Australia’s hub city.

“Flowersss!”

“Wild flooowers!”

“Aussie wildflowers!”

After visiting the Flower Garden in Adelaide—the schedule I wanted—

It was time to eat, then head together to Kangaroo Island.

“Hyungs!”

The youngest came sprinting to where we were waiting.

“I was so lonely!”

“Were you?”

“Yeah. I had to do stuff all by myself and it was so boring. No hyungs, just me...”

“Aww.”

We listened as he complained about asking directions from Australians alone.

And then—

“We’re here too!”

“Arrived~!”

Ri Hyuk and Biju’s team arrived with satisfied faces.

Our main vocalist smirked and asked:

“Your faces are half their size. Shark cage must’ve scared you.”

“No. Not at all.”

We told him this was a look of dazed awe, but he didn’t believe it.

“It was seriously insane.”

“Suuure.”

“You really should go. The shark cage.”

“Yeah yeah.”

“I’m serious!”

No one believed how fun it was when we explained.

They seemed to think we were baiting them.

“Let’s just eat.”

“I’m serious...”

“Sure, sure.”

With a knowing smile, Ri Hyuk patted our shoulders.

Then Biju, studying the map, asked:

“Where should we go?”

“Biju. Hold on.”

We turned his phone from portrait to landscape, then picked a famous place.

There were several restaurants gathered there.

Compared to relatively quiet places, one restaurant looked pretty crowded.

“It’s called Freddie’s, famous for Hamburg steak!”

“Hamburg steak!”

Maybe the water had sapped our body heat; food was calling.

We stepped into the restaurant—and—

“No big cameras!”

It felt... ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) a little unfriendly.

They could’ve just said no cameras—yet they frowned and insisted in a harsh tone that big rigs weren’t allowed.

“Kinda rude.”

“Yeah.”

I’d heard this was the central city of South Australia with lots of tourists.

From the moment we set mini-cams on the table and sat with the crew, something felt off.

“Why no menu?”

“Should I ask?”

More than fifteen minutes and still no menus.

That creeping uneasy feeling crawled up my spine.

Unlike other diners around us, our table sat apart, like isolated.

At first I thought it was because we were a large party... but the oddly unpleasant feeling wouldn’t go away.

Ri Hyuk narrowed his eyes.

“Am I the only one thinking this?”

“No.”

For confirmation, I raised my hand and called a server.

“Excuse me, we didn’t get menus.”

“You’ll get them when it’s time.”

As the server zipped off, we and the crew let out incredulous laughs.

All at once, the kids’ heads turned toward me.

Their looks asked what I wanted to do.

I smiled and opened my mouth.