In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

The concept for this album is video games.

Not just Pump, Galaga, and Tetris we played as kids.

“I didn’t do that stuff when I was little.”

...We were basing it on BGM from the kinds of games you’d find in an arcade.

Fighting games.

Zombie shooters.

Whac-a-mole.

Punch machines.

It was going to be an album that captured the happy vibe of goofing off at the arcade with friends when we were little.

“Did you even play when you were a kid? Watching you, it feels like you’ve worked your whole life.”

“I had a time when I played.”

“Feels like a model student insisting he was a delinquent because he was late a lot.”

I shook my head at Ri Hyuk.

“Back in the TJ days I played a ton. When the month-end eval was over, we’d go crazy till midnight.”

“...”

“I’m telling you, we played hard.”

Taehyun, Hanbin, Jihoon, Hanbyeol—the five of us would meet up to watch a movie. Before the movie we’d try a bunch of arcade games.

If time was left, we’d ride bikes along the Han River.

After that kind of play, all the complicated thoughts in my head would clear right out.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“...Anyone plays after a month-end eval.”

Biju grinned and asked,

“Then after midnight you went back and practiced, didn’t you?”

“...How’d you know?”

“It just feels like you would.”

When Biju joked about founding the Sun Wooju Rest Committee someday, Junhyun shook his head.

“Then Sun Wooju rests, but the spaceship doesn’t. He’ll insist the ‘Wooju-ship’ stays working.”

“Wow. I can already see it.”

“...”

These kids knew me too well.

I shooed off my chattering underlings and put on headphones, catching the sounds in my ears.

The ruckus from our makeshift arcade.

— Boss. Zombie at twelve o’clock. You’ve got to shoot that! Oh dear. Why didn’t you shoot?

— That guy looked a little thin on top, so...

— Doesn’t look thin, looks shaved bald.

— Oh my.

The CEO and the head of division were rattling their plastic guns and mowing down zombies.

— Die, spaceship! Die!

— Blow up that spaceship now!

— Spaceships are best when they explode! Ha-ha!

Assistant Manager Seo Pilgeun from A&R and Team Lead Na Sangyoon from Producing were gleefully spamming bombs to pop the spaceship.

Arranger Hyungseop clapped behind them.

No way they were imagining me while they shot, right.

— Blow up every last spaceship!

Eh.

Probably not.

I tilted my head and watched the staff happily hammering away at the cabinets in our mini arcade.

Then I closed my eyes.

[clatter clatter]

The sound of coins rolling into slots, the [pling!] of systems booting, the layered ambience unique to an arcade filled the space.

“...”

In my head I picked each sound apart, sorted it, and recombined it, over and over.

To anyone else, it’d look ridiculous.

We’d built an arcade in the company basement and told the staff to go have a blast.

But there was a reason.

It was to give the upcoming title track Coin a vivid, rich feel. Not to drag-and-drop these sounds as is, but to study the combinations and recreate them with various virtual instruments like guitar or bass.

You could say, “What’s the point of sounds like that...”

— Music, when you break it down, is combinations of sound.

Glenn Davis in Australia had offered similar advice.

— Once, I spent days roaming beaches all around Australia searching for the right sound. Looking for the right seashell. The scraping noise at the start of my song “Shell” is exactly that shell.

It isn’t a strictly necessary element of composing, but it adds flavor.

Like a pinch of MSG or stock powder.

In the end, music-making is searching for appealing combinations of sound. There’s a reason film composers trek out to deserts or Africa to collect sounds.

“...”

A spectrum of sounds poured into my ears.

People talking.

Coins.

The click-click of joysticks and buttons.

Inside it, I found a steady pulse and kept layering flesh onto the skeleton of Coin that already existed in my head.

“Work going well?”

At the voice by my ear, I took off the headphones.

It was Director Cho Gyuhwan—alone in the arcade where everyone else was playing, sipping coffee with elegance.

“Yes, it’s going well.”

“Nothing inconvenient?”

“Not at all. Everyone’s helping so much... listening in real time while I sketch things out is great.”

At first I’d considered sampling the arcade sounds directly.

But asking everyone’s permission one by one felt awkward, and I didn’t love the idea of using other people’s sound without clearance.

“Coin’s in late stages now, right?”

“Want to hear?”

He took my headphones, listened to the current build of Coin, and nodded.

“It’s almost done. You can move into finalizing. And this right now is... what you’re doing it for?”

“Yeah. I’m going to collect ambience and add space to it.”

“How?”

“For the bass side, I’m thinking of playing the recorded sounds through a subwoofer and re-recording that.”

I wanted to lay the tiniest textures under the track so it would subtly feel like you were hanging out in an arcade.

Smiling at that idea, the director handed back the headphones.

“Good idea.”

He perched beside me.

A fragrant wave of coffee drifted over.

“How’s composing feeling these days?”

“So-so.”

“Anything you’re stuck on? Well, at this point it’s hard for me to say I’m better at composing than you.”

“Come on, I’ve got a long way to go to be like you.”

He chuckled.

“Still, I am your senior as a composer. I know the headspace around this time. This is about when you start feeling the loneliest and scariest since you began composing.”

“...”

“When people keep winning, they split into two types. The ‘I was always meant to win’ type. And the ones who get more anxious as the success piles up...”

His eyes smiled.

“You’re the latter, right?”

“Yeah.”

I grinned.

“But I’ve always been like that. I was anxious during ‘Wind Flower,’ then ‘Nine’ did so well I was like, ‘Is this allowed?’ Winter Sleep, Falling Blossoms... all the way to Empire. Honestly, I’ve never not been anxious.”

“Because the dip never comes?”

“Yeah.”

“Human nature. If you only go up, it feels wrong, right? You start thinking, ‘Shouldn’t I come down once?’”

Director Cho sipped.

“They also say this: you have to fail once. You learn from failure and do better.”

“True.”

“It’s a good idea. Learning from failure to move forward makes you a better person.”

I looked at him quietly, and the senior composer continued.

“But you don’t have to think of it only that way. Learning from failure is great, but it doesn’t mean you must fail. Some people learn from success and succeed even more.”

Maybe because it was what I wanted to hear.

Or because I worry the same way every time, his words slid right into my ear.

He patted my shoulder and added,

“Don’t let it weigh on you. Success or failure isn’t in our hands anyway.”

“Right.”

“I’m saying—don’t develop a compulsion that you ‘need # Nоvеlight # to fail once.’”

Even a perfect song can rise or fall depending on timing and people’s taste—that’s the market.

Right then—

[KWAAANG!]

Daisy smashed the kick machine and flashed a fresh smile.

“Director! Come quick!”

“Go on ahead.”

Director Cho waved to the Scarlet members and laughed.

Every time I see him, I think he’s a good one.

He once said he personally handpicked the members when producing the girl group. Maybe that’s why, when you see Scarlet and the director together, you can feel a thick, durable thread between them.

“You look close.”

“Close, yeah. Sometimes they feel like a flytrap though...”

“No.”

“Hmm?”

“Your mug. The coffee’s dripping—might get sticky.”

“...”

“...”

We both stared into the distance and cleared our throats.

Watching from afar as the Scarlet girls cackled and smacked each other’s backs with loud thwacks, the director spoke.

“Right. Wooju.”

“Yes?”

“The waitlist—the one for people putting their names down to get a song.”

“Oh, right.”

“Could Scarlet get on it? I’m asking not as a company director, but as Scarlet’s producer.”

“Of course.”

“If you have time later, I’d love for you to consider it.”

I nodded, then asked,

“Any particular reason you’re asking me? You usually oversee most of Scarlet’s tracks yourself.”

“It’s about time to change up the variation.”

“Ah.”

“They debuted in ’12 so... let’s see. Year six now, and it’s time to show change. Like moving from Act 1 to Act 2.”

When group activities run long, songs can start feeling same-ish, so he wanted a different composer to add variation.

He told me not to feel pressured and just think about it later, and I nodded.

I thought that was it, but he went on.

“Anyway, I lost my thread. The point is this. You seem pretty burdened lately.”

“Do I?”

“The members keep sneaking glances at you.”

“They always sneak glances at my face.”

Even now, Junhyun was wiggling his ears, trying to catch what we were saying.

He’d forget it ten seconds later with, “Oh, sweet potato chips,” so I wasn’t worried.

In one ear and out the other.

That’s our Junhyun.

“So I have a suggestion.”

“Yes.”

Director Cho said,

“How about bringing in an outside producer for this album?”

“An outside producer?”

“Bring in someone from outside to lighten the load. When it feels like everything rides on your two hands, even good work can go sideways. Pressure twists songs.”

“Ah...”

“Find someone to stand up front with you and share the credit.”

He was suggesting we bring in an external to share the work and ease the pressure.

“Good idea. I was thinking along those lines anyway. Someone whose musical lean lines up and whose work chemistry would click.”

“Have anyone in mind?”

“Yeah.”

“Who?”

I answered the curious director.

“You.”

“...”

— [Official] NewBlack 2nd full album ‘Hello, World’... joint project by Lemon Enter’s Producing Director Cho Gyuhwan and Wooju-ship

— Director Cho Gyuhwan to be credited on title ‘Coin’... “the Midas touch of showbiz”

— After gold coins, a stroke of album fortune... When will Lemon Enter list?

Souffle buzzed as the album news landed.

“They got him?”

They already knew Director Cho of Lemon Enter well.

He and CEO Park Gyuho had built Lemon Enter into what it is, and he was the capable producer who put Scarlet in the first tier.

Back in early NewBlack days, his fingerprints were on most projects.

Until Mister Producer aired.

— Hello, this is Wooju-ship.

From the moment Wooju-ship fully took the wheel, it looked like he’d delegated to Wooju and moved to the back.

Apparently, they’d finally reeled him back in.

— Smells like a big hit [laughs]

— From what I’m hearing, this one’s on a massive scale..

— Rumor says outside composers are doing boot camp like college entrance prep

— No such rumor

— It’s my wish, lol

— Surprised he has time. With all the Lemon ventures lately I figured his schedule was packed

Fueled by capital NewBlack drew in, Lemon Enter was expanding at a scary clip.

Last year they acquired a production company, turned Jiho’s web drama “Shin-i” into a hit, then jumped straight into content production.

They also acquired a game studio and were pushing a project there.

Fans joked that at this rate they’d launch a cable channel called “NewTV.”

‘...They’re really good at investing.’

They were picking up smaller, solid pieces with actual substance.

They’d signed the writer of the hit genre drama “Sleep,” were producing another series, and it was set to air on GTV soon.

You could feel the company’s will.

— From the way Lemon’s moving, they don’t seem to think another NewBlack will just appear

— Exactly

— For now they’re focusing hard on the idol they have and branching into fields that can create synergy

— Honestly, that’s smart

— Could you make another group like NewBlack? If I were a label head, I wouldn’t think that for a second [laughs]

— When’s Gyuho taking the company public

In the middle of all that chatter—

One result of Lemon Enter’s investments, “Travel Diary Season 2,” began airing.

They’d acquired the production house that used to make the reality show for K-Net.

Maybe because of that—

“The quality’s great...”

Unlike Season 1, where the tight budget was visible, you could feel a massive budget in Season 2.

— Every frame is a photobook [crying]

— Please post an edit with just the parts where they don’t talk

— If you mute the laughter our kids are unspeakably gorgeous... If you watch with the laughter muted they’re god-tier pretty and handsome

— Feels like a legit variety show

— Last year they were #7 on Gallup’s variety personalities list; what rank this year

Ten to fifteen minutes a day was a bit of a tease, but the stories were that compelling.

[NewBlack meet a former national track athlete in Australia]

(.gif of a bride in a wedding dress sprinting at top speed)

Turns out that was a fan

— So that’s what “meet” meant [laughs]

— Was that a meeting or a capture

— Wow, Kim Junhyun got seized [laughs]

— He had every right to be startled [laughs]

— I got startled watching—her face balloons in from the background at insane speed [laughs]

— Can’t pass up a free ride [laughs]

— Your foreign bias flew across an ocean? The national athlete in my heart awakens

— Everyone’s got a national athlete in their heart

— First of all, thank you for catching Biju before he got lost

— For real [laughs] no time to get lost today, Biju

As looped clips of NewBlack getting “Eh?” captured drew laughs—

Every evening,

With each new reality episode, NewBlack threads popped up across communities.

[PD: Folks, we have no travel budget]

(.gif of Australians tossing money into the hat while the members busk)

What production wanted: suffering while begging for missions

What actually aired: working holiday

— Working holiday [laughs]

— Are they duplicating money

— Basically a walking Bank of Korea

— When faces like that start to sing, that’s what happens... Dear kind netizens, please don’t copy this

— If we do it we get arrested

— Great, now MeTubers are going to run abroad to busk like NewBlack

— How much did they make??

— (.gif of the members sipping mojitos on a luxury cruise) roughly this much

— Not a youth trip, a golden-years cruise

— Watching the reality, it’s like a retired couple blowing money on a luxury cruise

— From Chief Joo Sunwoo’s perspective, nothing surprises him anymore

As NewBlack’s busking and cash haul drew admiration, the identity of the special guest also became a hot topic.

[We struck up a conversation with a grandpa busking for travel money, and he turned out to be a world-class guitarist who later met up and gave us a 19th-century gold coin]

(photo of Wooju beaming while holding the coin.jpg)

It’s real.

No, seriously, it’s real

For real

— [laughs] It looks ridiculous typed out like that—watch the video, it’s not that ridiculous

— [laughs]

— Is that guy really that famous??

— In rock bands, Devil Grills is legendary tier

— A lot of those crash-bang wall-of-sound rock tracks in movies are theirs

— That one director—Nostalgia—was a mega fanboy of that band

— They’re an older band now, but in their prime they were Australia’s NewBlack

— Australia’s NewBlack [laughs]

— That phrase hits perfectly

The views on MeTube skyrocketed to the tens of millions.

Fans watching the busking videos smiled warmly.

— I hope they do something like this again [crying]

— I love the busking

— I watched the episode from two days ago today—felt like a straight music reality

— Please busk again

— Yeah. Nobody knows who they are and they still get pure cheers—there’s a hit of “skill-high,” you know?

— Thanks to it I learned Ri Hyuk’s voice type is “Wooju’s taste” ♡

— But when you click to the next video, be careful—there’s a python

While Souffle flinched at the silhouette of a python floating in a pool with no warning—

The members laughed and healed together on their trip.

They earned money busking.

They enjoyed luxury with the money they earned—pure healing...

“Kyaha! Money! Money!”

“What should we earn with next time?”

...It really was a healing trip.

Thinking so, Souffle braced for the coming album drought.

“Content famine time. We’ll have to live on reality alone.”

With the daily reality drops, a flood of banked content sprouted like mushrooms, and Souffle rubbed their bellies.

“We’ll survive on this...!”

Even as other idol fans looked on in disbelief and quietly closed their mouths in front of the giant machine—

A new morsel of content went pop! into the hands of fans rolling around like grub worms, crowned Princess Charcoal of Baitland.

“Hmm...?”

It was a kind of content they’d never seen before.