In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

The first thing the Souffle felt was a strange sense of space.

“Woah...”

Starting with the clatter of a coin rolling in during the intro, faint arcade sounds drifted up. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The racket of various game machines humming, people laughing.

“It really feels like we’re in an arcade.”

They were sounds Lemon Entertainment staff had created by literally playing games every day.

A honeyed arcade given to office workers who didn’t want to go to work.

With the office workers’ happiness gauge maxed out beneath that, the Souffle’s mood was getting oddly buoyant, too.

“Waaaaaaaaa—!”

Like mannequins, the NewBlack members had been frozen; at the sound of the coin rolling in, their arms and legs moved.

Bright, cheerful music.

Over those snow-white faces, each had a light swipe of their signature color on one cheek like an “Indian painting.”

Sunny smiles.

Even the opening choreography—hands up and then gliding backward like riding a wave—carried a playful streak.

“Cute...!”

Four years in, and yet our favorites felt fresher and cuter than many rookie idols.

As the members glided back, the maknae stayed alone up front.

The sub-vocal with sparkling eyes mimed tapping a wristwatch and smiled.

You woke up late again today

So what if you’re late

A total mess of a day

In a boring everyday

Let’s make one day a little different

The sub-vocal pantomimed pushing hair back in a mirror; the members mirrored the motion like a mirror.

A rapper bounced out and synced moves with the maknae.

Sometimes in this wide world

You feel like you’ve become a tiny speck of dust

It’s okay (keep going)

Step outside and

To the rustling breeze

Put your ear and listen

The coins in your pocket

Flip them, flip them, turn them over, coin

The last line landed with a rhythmic lilt.

[spin—]

[tak]

Still dancing, the rapper flicked a coin with his fingers and dropped back as the main dancer stepped in.

The mood went clear and exhilarating.

As Biju stretched his arms long and showed nimble footwork in his lively dance line, the Souffle’s cheers swelled.

Gather up, gather up

All together

Listen up, listen up

To the voice that’s calling you

Just as you thought how perfectly that bright-smiling main dancer matched the lyrics—

the leader popped out as the music rose,

picking up right where Biju’s part left off.

Feel it, feel it

This shining

fever of the moment we’re together

Without straining, the vocal pushed those high notes straight up, cool and clean, and the cheers grew even louder.

“How does Wooju do that every time...”

Just when you thought, okay, he’s reached completion—our lead vocal came back even more leveled up.

“Seriously...”

This must be what it means when people “shine.”

It was like that final scene in a music film where the unknown singer finally makes it and stands on a grand stage.

The maknae beamed, laying hands on the older members’ shoulders and riding a wave.

The main vocal cleared his throat, readying to step center.

The leader twitched a finger to the drum hits.

Centered on him, the rapper and main dancer matched the combo and met each other’s eyes, smiling.

A stage where five parts fused into one perfectly.

Right then—

as the main vocal walked out, the screen showed his face lightly swiped with a fresh blue paint tone.

A clear, slightly shy smile—screams erupted.

Take my, my coin

Now take my hand

Oh we, we are ready

It’s time to start

Right after, as the chorus echoed “coin coin, keep going,” the hook choreography flowed out.

Ri Hyuk, hair dyed vermilion, flashed a fresh smile and danced the chorus.

The others joined in with bright smiles.

It was a move that gently rolled the upper body while drawing a big round circle with the hands.

“Waaaaaaa—!”

Finishing by drawing a star in the air, Ri Hyuk winked; the Souffle grinned like fools.

“This is the life...”

Even from far away, it felt like you could see the singers’ faces clearly as they gently rocked their shoulders and smiled at the fans.

The first-chorus hook ended and the song slipped straight into verse two.

Like boys giggling and roaming an arcade, the idols swept the stage.

Smiles lingered at the corners of the Souffle’s mouths, too.

“This song is really good.”

After four winters, like a flower blooming brilliantly, the singers were radiating freshness on stage.

At a glance the vocals and choreo looked easy.

Which is exactly why it was hard.

In a fast-tempo track, you can mush a move and it flies by; in a slower-breath track, every tiny thing gets caught by the eye.

Every expression, every glance shows.

A setup where a singer’s raw ability has to show, unfiltered.

And yet...

the vocals and choreo the members showed on stage pulled focus perfectly, one by one.

“...”

For no reason, I felt proud.

I knew how long they’d prepared for each tiny move to draw the eye like that.

Not a result you get by prepping a few months—it’s what comes from grinding without a day off from trainee days till now.

Of course, it’s something fans sometimes forget.

“Right. Our kids... are hardcore workers.”

It’s also something we forget because we’re cackling through reality videos and NewBlack TV content every time.

We’d simply forgotten a moment because the cameras always show them carefree and laughing.

The singers, showing off the results for the fans to see, got an answer in the form of cheers.

At the same time, verse three’s hook rolled in.

Take my, my coin

Now take my hand

Oh we, we are ready

It’s time to start

Wooju, hands fluttering lightly, drew a circle with his fingers and smiled; the members shifted formation into a big round ring.

Like a coin smoothly flipping front to back, the singers glided through their paths.

Beyond the move where they crossed hands while gently swaying their torsos side to side—smiles shone.

“Waaaaaaaaa—!”

As the song ended, the members lowered both hands—just raised in the air—with soft smiles.

Under the gold confetti falling from above, those smiles bloomed like flowers and burned into everyone’s eyes.

For the fans, it was the finest kind of smile.

By the time NewBlack’s second full-length showcase ended,

the slightly chaotic charts had, by 11 p.m., settled almost perfectly.

The general public dropping into the music sites clicked their tongues.

“Wow...”

Even with the previous No. 1 sitting at No. 14 now, it didn’t look strange at all.

A big idol fandom’s streaming alone can wobble the ranks, and now the general public had joined in.

“...Huh? NewBlack released a song? When did that drop?”

As people who’d been busy all day piled in, Coin’s listener count kept climbing.

Just like the fans, the general public’s reactions were similar.

“It’s solid. It’s good.”

The song itself was easy to listen to.

Plain, in a good way.

But even if it first hit as “plain,” once you listened you kept hitting replay.

And again.

And again and again—and then you’d look up and thirty minutes had passed.

“What is this even.”

The Coin review box on Mango, the streaming site, was bustling.

┕ kid.. advice from a retaker senior: don’t listen to NewBlack starting 6 months before the CSAT.. ㅠ

┕ why?

┕ why do you think i ended up retaking..?

┕ ???: is it really because of us~?

┕ jiho, log off

Especially those who’d grown up hearing idol songs on music programs in the ’90s and ’00s felt a strange nostalgia.

Memories and nostalgia layered into the melody.

Maybe also because of the arcade sounds, listening brought back old times for no reason.

Coin was flowing into ears across multiple generations.

Even Souffle checking the charts were momentarily startled.

“The seniors...?”

In the by-age charts, Coin was in the ranks on the “seniors” chart alongside trot singers.

Souffle felt genuinely relieved the song itself was gentle.

Of course, most of the antis’ slams were that angle, too.

Honestly, saying NewBlack’s color had disappeared was the most absurd.

“If we’d tailored it to overseas fans’ taste, they’d be yelling about that instead.”

It was better that they’d set their own course regardless of overseas taste.

Call “Dokkaebi” the beta test of the final build—

now this Coin felt like the finished product, a concentrated showcase of the line NewBlack aims for.

Of course, there were takes you could nod along to.

A reason everyone could accept.

If they’d chased the concepts big-agency idols launch with at the start, there would be no NewBlack of today.

From a mid-to-small agency outgunned in capital and planning, bright and cheerful music wouldn’t give a comparative edge.

The fact they could put out a song with this vibe now was proof NewBlack had secured a fully irreplaceable spot.

Which is why the fans were deeply satisfied.

In every photo going up, those snow-white faces glowed.

You could almost feel citrus juice popping off the images.

If there were a Pulitzer in idolland, these would be nominees for “Idol Photo of the Year.”

“But... will people in other countries like it too?”

Grinning, Souffle turned their attention across the sea.

With the image stuck in their heads that “foreigners only like hard concepts,” they’d worried the reaction might be weaker.

“...Turns out they don’t ‘like hard concepts,’ they ‘like great stages.’”

There was no need to worry.

In the MeTube comments, people from each country were chanting “Coin,” giggling like crazy.

The view counter was going insane; English comments were flooding so hard Korean users were getting pushed aside.

“They said adults started coming in after Kids’ Choice...”

Seeing people jump up and down—“Were you hogging this good thing by yourselves?”—Souffle smiled with a wiser look.

No big deal.

Isn’t this just everyday life now.

“Ahhh... neighbors of the internet! I am a fan of this singer...!”

“I’ve stanned since early ’15!”

“The artists I stan are these people!”

Grinning, Souffle ran around every corner of the internet.

Meanwhile—

there were other clips running just as hot as Coin.

It was all about the Souffle Awards, the fan event.

Fans entering the red carpet lifting clothes to hide faces, or pulling mask and cap low.

Then came the part where, masked like a masquerade ball, they flipped 180 degrees in attitude.

People laughed at the photo of five King Sticks bundled with member autographs like a bouquet of Chupa Chups being presented to the Firefly winner.

And other stories flowed in.

[person being “theorized” as today’s Firefly winner]

(photo.jpg: the Squid Princess in distress on the nationwide small-theater tour, Ulleungdo stop)

people say it’s her

Naturally, the Moon Stick’s lumens brought on squid-fishing talk.

While fans chatted, others took interest in another angle.

Reading that, Souffle and other idol fans felt a pang.

“Must be really sad not to have made it.”

Midnight.

“Okay okay okay! To the success of our showcase—”

“Congratulations!”

“Waaaaaaaaaaaa—!”

Party poppers for the cake went pop-pop! here and there. The paper confetti settled softly on my hair.

We met eyes with the younger ones and giggled.

“Good work.”

“You worked so hard, hyung.”

We high-fived and laughed, loud and rowdy.

Normally we’d keep it kind of quiet for the sake of the floor below, but tonight the downstairs neighbors were at our party as guests.

“Congrats on the comeback, hyung-nims.”

“Ohhh~ thank you.”

We smiled, taking the orchids the Teen Spirit members handed over.

After a sincere three-second congratulations, the downstairs folks started poking pieces of boneless fried chicken and popping them into their mouths.

“You came here for chicken. You guys.”

“Yes.”

“Like, why would we come up at midnight just to say congrats. We’re not that close.”

“Try to be a little adult about it.”

With chicken oil glossing their lips, the pretty boys gripped paper cups in their palms and downed cola.

Exactly like elementary schoolers doing a birthday at Pizza School.

“Haa... this is fucking delicious...”

“You know we’re on a diet, right? Absolute secrecy from our manager hyung. Got it?”

“Please. If some clueless king-something like last time goes ‘that chicken was great the other day~’ in the elevator again, I will cry blood.”

“It’s a secret.”

“Yeah yeah.”

While the downstairs beauties ate chicken and shed chicken-shit tears,

we loosened up and ate chicken, too.

“How long has it been since we had chicken.”

“it’s sooo good...”

“So this is what ‘so good two people could eat and one could die and you wouldn’t notice’ tastes like.”

We poked boneless chicken and smiled in bliss.

We’d wrapped the showcase safely, and the album numbers were unbelievably good.

There was just one thing I regretted...

“Hm?”

Teen Spirit’s leader Huiyeon pointed to an envelope beside the coffee table.

“What’s this? A present you prepared for us?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, your merch is slick.”

As one of them reached for our goods with greasy fingers, Ri Hyuk’s lips parted—

and the neighbors’ eyes went to another envelope next to the bag.

“What’s this one?”

“Ah.”

The younger ones perked up.

It was a separate envelope Seokhwan hyung had handed only to me, so they didn’t know what it was yet.

“At today’s showcase we held the Souffle Awards. There was one fan who couldn’t attend... so I want to give this separately.”

“Ooooo.”

“What, someone couldn’t make it today?”

At Jiho’s question, I nodded, slipped the envelope up, and read the nickname written on it.

“Yeah. Not in the winners list. She didn’t respond to accept... let’s see, Rain... it’s Ms. Rain Alcohol.”

“Pfffft—!”

“Hey!”

Biju suddenly sprayed a cola fountain.