In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

"Shall we leave?"

The younger ones nodded.

The production staff reacted the same. The camera directors, in particular, looked furious.

"This is ridiculous. These guys."

"Yeah, we should go. If we eat here, even the tastiest food will go up our noses."

I asked with a smile.

"Then should we move to another place?"

"Let’s do that."

Everyone hurriedly gathered their things and stood up. I picked up the self-cam on the table and, smiling, said:

"This place doesn’t feel right, so... we’re going to head to another restaurant nearby. See you in a bit~"

"Bye-bye~"

The maknae waved and cut in. We looked at each other, traded a grin, then shut off the camera and grabbed our backpacks.

The smile vanished clean off the maknae’s face.

"Let’s go somewhere tastier, hyung. Somewhere insanely good."

"Yeah. Let’s go somewhere that’s truly delicious and kind."

As the staff and we spilled out of the restaurant together, my eyes met those of the servers standing by the kitchen.

Even with the customers just leaving, they just stared.

With that look of, So what if you go?

Then they snickered among themselves with the chef, saying something I couldn’t quite hear, but it definitely wasn’t pleasant.

"No camera!"

[ding]

That voice followed behind us as we stepped out the door.

Back on a street lined with restaurants, the staff and we traded incredulous, helpless laughs.

"Our self-cam did record, right?"

"Yeah. They said the small camera was fine. Let’s check."

We gathered in front of the self-cam.

On the screen PD-nim was holding, the scene we’d just experienced played back vividly.

Still absurd on rewatch.

The audio director clucked his tongue.

"First time seeing someone act like that in front of a camera."

"They do seem a bit nicer overall, but... when you’re abroad, locals don’t really care about that sort of thing."

"Good grief."

After the unpleasant experience, all we could do was laugh in disbelief.

It happened from time to time.

I and the younger ones hadn’t really had this abroad, but we’d seen our staff or crew get treated badly plenty.

"Feels like it’s worse here than in Europe."

"Right."

It’s not like this never happens in the States or Europe, but it really does happen more often here.

Maybe because our stay is long.

Or maybe because we’re outside a big city like Sydney—either way, it wasn’t exactly important.

"They were saying something about us being Chinese earlier."

At Junhyun’s remark, I shook my head.

Then I clapped my hands to lift the spirits of the staff and the younger ones, who’d all gone a bit flat.

"Alright! Let’s keep filming! Fighting!"

"Fighting...!"

"Let’s hurry and find the next restaurant!"

With the camera in hand, we decided to search the area for other spots reputed to be good.

But the vibe didn’t feel much different from the first places, so we either didn’t go in or came back out again and again.

About thirty minutes went by like that.

"Hey!"

A shout rang out behind us just as we were about to head toward another street.

"Hey! You there!"

We turned our heads.

A stout Indian man in an apron was running toward us.

[huff, huff]

Catching his breath, he smiled at us.

"Do you like Thai food?"

"Sorry?"

"I asked if you like Thai food. I’ve been watching since earlier—you look like you’re going around looking for a place."

We traded glances with the bright-eyed man, then broke into matching grins.

"Where’s your place?"

Long story short, the owner was Indian.

More precisely, an immigrant from India.

"How did you end up making Thai food? Do you like Thai food?"

"Not particularly. The curry place I opened first went under."

"Ah...."

The owner, who introduced himself as Singh, laughed.

"To folks around here, it’s all the same. Some customers think I’m Thai."

Then he handed us the menu.

We lit up as we scanned a menu full of localized Thai dishes, starting with pad thai.

Maybe because you had to duck into a little alley to find the place, there weren’t many customers, but the smell soaking the place was the real deal.

Flipping the menu with a blissful face, Junhyun asked:

"Do you have any recommendations?"

"I definitely recommend ordering tom yum goong. For noodles, pad thai and chicken basil noodles..."

"Let’s see. We’re close to twenty people. Can you do thirty portions?"

"Of course! Everything’s possible!"

When we ordered plenty, the owner, his wife, and their daughter let out happy squeals.

And the food that came out was delicious.

Twisting noodles around his fork, Biju’s eyes sparkled.

"This is so good...!"

"Whoa...."

"You know how in shows there’s always that shabby little gem in an alley? I think we found one of those."

Heaven wasn’t far away.

As our empty stomachs filled, the faces of the staff and us softened.

Pouring water nearby, the owner asked:

"Did you say you’re singers from Korea?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"Then... could we maybe take a picture later...?"

"Of course."

When the maknae said we were very famous in Korea, Mr. Singh burst out laughing.

He took it as a joke.

At least until his daughter searched NewBlack on her phone.

"...!"

From a distance, the owner’s raisin-like eyes evolved into giant grapes as he stared at the screen.

Then he bolted into the kitchen like a madman.

In under five minutes, he came back with a mountain of piping-hot fried goodies.

"What... what’s this?"

"Complimentary shrimp tempura, dear customers."

"Oh."

"We treat our guests like kings here."

I don’t know how he fried them, but I’d never seen shrimp tempura gleam this beautifully.

[crunch]

The moment I took a bite—

"Ooooh! Oh!"

With the BGM of Cooking Master Boy in my head, all creation flashed before my eyes.

With a dazed face, Ri Hyuk said:

"I don’t even like greasy food, but this is really...."

"Biju, can you do this recipe at home?"

"Hm. Feels like there’s some coconut powder in there, but I don’t know the ratio."

The maknae asked blankly:

"What did they put in here to make it this good?"

"The owner’s ambition?"

He kept piling on extras as service to the point it was almost embarrassing.

After, coached by his daughter looking at her phone, the owner came over and shot a K-heart toward the camera.

"I love you, Korea. I love you, NewBlack."

"Hahaha!"

Still chuckling, Mr. Singh even brought the guitar hanging on the wall.

"Please sign here. I’ll hang it with your photo."

"Sure."

"And... if this place ever goes under later, is it okay if I sell it?"

"If that happens, you should sell it."

I don’t even know if our signatures would be worth anything.

"I hope lots of customers come after the broadcast airs."

"Thank you. Thank you so much...!"

"Thank you for the meal. Wishing you prosperity."

We shook the owner’s warm hand and left the shop.

Clear blue sky again.

The foul mood had melted into a fluffy one thanks to the warm sun and good food.

"Are we heading out now?"

PD-nim nodded.

"Yeah."

"Souffle, we’re off to Kangaroo Island to see kangaroos!"

"Go, go, go~!"

Laughing, we decided to move on to today’s new schedule.

After checking one thing first.

"PD-nim. Are you going to edit out that very first restaurant?"

"No. Absolutely not."

"We agree."

We decided to be a little petty.

Kangaroo Island.

We took a ferry to an island said to be overflowing with kangaroos. So many that they even barbecue kangaroo meat, apparently.

"...That’s more than I wanted to know."

Looking queasy, Ri Hyuk eyed the piled-high meat near the table.

"This isn’t kangaroo meat, right?"

"No."

"Seriously? I once got tricked into eating rattlesnake in Las Vegas—they told me it was chicken."

"...Ri Hyuk. That’s also more than we wanted to know."

Ugh. The pet python friend we met at the first-day lodging popped back into my head with a squeak.

I shook my head and focused on setting up the barbecue.

This was Kangaroo Island.

We’d finished an afternoon of sightseeing and had just watched the kangaroos come out to graze at dusk.

At first we were like, It’s a kangaroo! and freaking out to each other, but then their numbers started multiplying like crazy and we got jaded.

Like someone was mashing Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V right in front of my eyes.

Even the most awe-inspiring creatures get old after you’ve seen several hundred in one day—that’s what we learned.

Anyway.

"All set."

When we finished the barbecue setup and stood in front of the camera, PD-nim said:

"Okay. The outdoor barbecue you wished for has been prepared by our production!"

"We did the setup though...."

"We prepared the ingredients. If you don’t like it, we can switch to the healthy option—kangaroo meat..."

"A-ah, no! We have no complaints!"

Smiling, PD-nim looked at Ri Hyuk.

"And Ri Hyuk."

"Yes."

"I hear the stars here are beautiful. Your wish was to see the southern night sky, right?"

"Whoaaa...!"

At the keywords Milky Way and night sky, Ri Hyuk giggled.

"I love the universe so much...."

"Me?"

"The real universe, not you. The real universe!"

"Aagh! You could’ve just said no! Why hit me?"

I pouted at being told off in front of the real universe.

While the staff burst out laughing, PD-nim stifled a grin and continued:

"And today we’ll grant the maknae Jiho’s wish too. There was something Jiho said he most wanted to do on this reality."

"?"

"Let’s roll the clip."

In the video the staff played, our maknae appeared during the pre-meeting.

His mouth opened and out came the keyword “filial...”.

"Filial piety?"

"Finally filial duty?"

"Filial duty, seriously...."

"We invested, so it’s time to harvest."

With a preamble, the maknae smiled in front of his beloved hyungs.

"I want to drink with my hyungs!"

Ta-da!

Our younger-brother farming failed.

On screen, the maknae smiled {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} with pink cheeks.

"Now that I’m officially an adult, I want to have a can of beer with my hyungs! Junhyun teased me, saying I can’t drink. And Ri Hyuk hyung keeps sipping whenever he sees me even though he doesn’t even like it."

"Sun Wooju can’t drink, right?"

"Ehh~ Wooju hyung is, well~"

While everyone cracked up, I looked at the maknae and let out a helpless laugh.

"Hey, King Jiho. You talk all big when I’m not in the clip?"

"It’s a broadcast. Broadcast~"

He bumped my shoulder, all clingy, and I laughed.

While Ri Hyuk searched the legal drinking age in Australia and the maknae bounced chanting, "Alcohol! Alcohol!", the staff brought over a cooler and opened it.

"With that in mind, our Travel Diary team prepared non-alcoholic wine and Australian beers!"

"Wooow!"

"Tomahawk steak and all kinds of drinks. Do they suit your tastes?"

"Yes!"

"Alright. From here on, you’ll have to win the ingredients through missions."

"Sorry, what?"

Of course they weren’t going to hand them over nicely.

The writers, starved for games all shoot long, rose like zombies.

"Let’s play a round...."

"A fun, exciting game."

"How about we play something fun with us? Heeheehee...."

All trip long the writers had those gleaming game-hungry eyes, and we burst out laughing.

Naturally, we won every game in a landslide.

They were designed to give us the ingredients anyway, so the difficulty was low.

"Quiz time. You all have to answer at once. One food Ri Hyuk absolutely won’t eat?"

"Those already-unwrapped peppermint candies sitting on restaurant counters!"

"Correct!"

"Those have lots of E. coli...."

Regardless of our reactions, the staff stared like, How did they know that?

Not everyone got everything right, of course.

"Who’s the officially recognized Number Two, as acknowledged by leader Sun Wooju?"

"Me!"

"Me."

"That’s me."

"Not me. But I know. The way Wooju hyung looks at me..."

The correct answer was Biju.

While Ri Hyuk and Junhyun wore expressions of deep shock, Biju expressed his joy with a lovely ballet.

Even after the quiz ended, the two spoke with flat faces.

"You’re grilling the meat today."

"Find travel info on your own. No—go look it up with Number Two."

"Petty. So petty, these hyungs."

The staff exploded with laughter at the younger ones’ griping.

I laughed too and said:

"You’re all Number One in my heart."

"Don’t try to soothe us with a ridiculous lie."

Saying that, Ri Hyuk sat down with a coy little smile.

While Junhyun grabbed the tongs and sprinkled salt, the maknae took a beer from the cooler.

Like it was some priceless treasure.

"Wow...."

The maknae gulped and set the can down.

"What’s wrong?"

"I need to prepare my heart. It’s the gateway to adulthood."

"Since when is alcohol the gateway to adulthood?"

Breathing shallowly, he carefully popped the can. Then he gulped and lifted it.

We each lifted our own cans or bottles to toast.

"Congrats to our maknae on becoming an adult!"

"Congrats!"

Grinning, Jiho took a nervous sip.

Then—

"Blegh, ptui!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"Ugh. What is this. It’s really bad!"

As the maknae made a face like he was tasting death, we burst into seal claps and laughter.

Junhyun asked, laughing:

"What taste were you expecting?"

"I imagined sweet honey... nutty and sweet. Why do people drink this with chicken?"

"Because it’s good together."

"I don’t get it. Ugh. I’m offended. I waited all these years just to drink this..."

He took one sip and immediately switched to cola, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

Maybe because it overlapped with the way he used to eat tteokbokki, but seeing the maknae staring at a beer can with a mature face felt strange for a second.

Time really has passed.

Out of nowhere, I felt, We’re already year four.

"Not much to alcohol, huh?"

"Yup. But how do you know the taste, hyung?"

"You can feel it on the tip of your tongue before you pass out."

"Ah."

Either way, it was a good time.

We ate the barbecue the staff prepared, chugged drinks to bursting. And just as the barbecue party was wrapping up—

A lyrical BGM flowed from the staff’s speakers.

"Oh no, again...."

"Is it campfire time?"

"There they go. Again."

As we chattered at the cue meant to make us cry, PD-nim smiled.

"You can’t skip tears at a barbecue party."

"..."

"With that in mind, we prepared this. A time to share the feelings you normally can’t say to each other! Tell Your Heart!"

We glanced around, scratched the backs of our heads, and looked elsewhere.

They said it’d be nice if each of us said a line.

The sun had set, crickets were chirping, the weather was nice, and the beautiful music kept playing.

The mood was ripe, but we felt shy.

Then Biju raised his hand.

"Me. I... had something I wanted to share on this travel reality."

"Yes, Biju."

In the glow of the grill, Biju’s face flickered sunset-gold. Our second, with neatly swept brown hair, said:

"There was something I wanted to say to the members, especially to Wooju hyung."

"Me?"

"Yes."

Feeling bewildered, I mentally checked through the dozens of things I’d messed up recently.

Biju said:

"Remember when we filmed that sitcom? When I cameoed in ."

"Oh. That time? You were the alien from Planet Apple."

"Yeah. And in that scene, you and I were complete strangers."

True.

I was Agent Kim Wooju who ran a fruit stand, and Biju was a customer obsessed with apples.

Staring into the grill fire, Biju said:

"Back then I felt kind of... a little hurt? You acted so well it felt like we really didn’t know each other. I was restless all the way into that night. Because, for real, it could have turned out that way."

Biju looked around at us and said:

"Maybe the five of us might not have gathered like this. Wooju hyung showing up after the college-exam day. The other members gathering, including me. If coincidence had nudged the other way even a little, we might never have ended up together."

I remembered the maknae saying if DNS Media had been a giant company, he would’ve gone there straight, and Ri Hyuk saying he’d once trained at the same agency as Yoon Giwon.

There was also Junhyun almost becoming a baseball player.

And how Biju had thought about quitting because of family circumstances.

And for me, the other agency lists TJ director Han Youngjun had recommended, and the incident on exam day, all flashed by.

To the silence, Biju gave an awkward smile.

"When I think we maybe wouldn’t have gathered, I get a little blue. Because the five of us are perfect."

"..."

"But on the other hand, I’m grateful for the coincidence—the luck—that brought the five of us together. If it hadn’t been exactly us five, it would’ve been hard to become today’s NewBlack."

We smiled and nodded.

I wanted to add something, but my lips wouldn’t part from the embarrassment.

Then Biju wiggled his fingers.

"With that in mind, I wanted to share a self-composed song this time... I wrote it thinking about this. The title is ‘Cases.’"

As the staff got ready to play the track, I looked at the younger ones, sipping beer with awkward, shy faces, then turned to Biju.

My voice came out rough without meaning to.

"Biju."

"...Yes."

"Just asking, but..."

I asked Biju, who was now looking at me with dewy eyes:

"This one’s a finished version too, right?"

"..."

"No, I just need to know in advance so I can... react..."

"..."

Fierce looks started flying at me from the inching little grubs.