In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

At first I thought it might be too much.

If this went wrong, it could honestly look ridiculous.

I even worried that every time I went on a variety show, they’d roll the “Sun Wooju Greatest Cringe History” clip with me flying around.

“Waaaaaah—!”

As the fans’ roar brushed over my skin, chills ran across my whole body.

It meant it had worked.

Fans’ eyes flew wide at the footwork that moved as if I were climbing invisible stairs in the sky.

A cool wind skimmed the tip of my nose and my cheeks, leaving a fresh feeling. No wonder humans have wanted to fly since ancient times, I thought.

A quick, happy smile came out at the sense of freedom of flying through the sky.

“Waaaaaaugh!”

Exchanging smiles with the fans, I finished a short glide, paused in midair, and kept singing Raven’s lyrics.

I didn’t worry about pitch or breath.

Sometimes there are moments like that.

When everything flows perfectly and all you have to do is let your body ride the current. This was one of those times.

Don’t you dare-

Don’t you dare-

I finished the chorus and floated down to the ground at an easy pace.

While the dancers quickly detached the wires, I sat on the throne installed onstage and continued Raven’s lyrics.

I gave a smile to the fans staring up with dazed faces.

Of course.

“Waaaaaah—!”

The response to the solo stage was wildly good.

At the same time.

In the backstage area, sour looks started sticking all over the underlings’ faces.

The leader, sitting on a throne and singing like the world’s most elegant noble.

“Ah, it’s a little something, isn’t it.”

Seo Riyuk’s lips pushed out a little.

“I worked the room and he just swoops in and snatches it.”

“Say it right, man. Honestly I worked the room first so this is even possible.”

“Right. I danced too.”

“No, no. Me and Wooju did the coffin performance and that’s what worked the room.”

“It was a door, man. A door.”

While each one bragged that they’d been the one to work the room, the underlings’ eyes shifted elsewhere.

The wires the staff were reeling in.

Only then did the tension in their chests ease.

—What if I try this once for my solo stage? The concert director says there’s a device they’re buying from the States this time.

—Wire flying?

—If you attach a harness to a person, it lets you float around like this.

Used right, it was a cool setup.

But when we searched on MeTube, we saw a handful of bad videos, so the members had been worried.

You needed good athletic coordination first of all.

—Hyung! Look at this person. After they attach the wires they can’t control their body and just spin like a rotisserie, round and round.

There was a humiliating concert clip of a Japanese singer turning into a twirling rotisserie.

—I think this person’s making it a bit. This time they got, uh, pinched in the crotch.

The same singer, with the harness fitted wrong, doing a performance while zipping around squealing, “kee-yooot— kee-yooot—.”

And.

Most importantly, a video where a singer had only attached the wire on one side and rolled off the stage.

Because the wires are powerful enough to yank a person into the air in an instant, they ended up with broken ribs.

—By my math that’s like hitting the floor at fifty kilometers per hour.

—Guys... there are three hundred cool wire-stage videos and three accident clips, so why are you only talking about those.

—Uwaaaah! Don’t doooo it!

—Please don’t do it!

—You’re still perfectly fine, hyung. You’re our sunshine. If sunshine disappears the earth has no meaning.

—Just don’t if we say don’t!

......I remembered us whining and trying to stop our eldest when he said he wanted to try a new kind of stage.

The members cleared their throats and looked away.

Honestly, if you did it safely there’d be no problem, but we couldn’t help worrying.

“If Wooju gets hurt, who stands center.”

“Yeah.”

“We’d have to redo the choreo too.”

Of course, even as we said that, we watched with our hearts in our throats, but thankfully the leader crushed it.

Like a former circus performer, walking on air.

With ordinary athletic ability it wouldn’t even be close, but it was exactly the kind of coordination their eldest would have.

“How does he do everything so well?”

I felt proud for no reason, like it was my own achievement.

Facing the documentary camera filming nearby, Wang Jiho smiled and said,

“Are you getting this? Wooju flying onstage is something you can see exclusively at this Seoul concert~!”

Meanwhile, the members stretched and rolled their necks, finishing their warm-ups.

Like the leader in an outfit that seemed to symbolize a black swan, they wore similar costumes.

Time to head up soon.

The stage blacked out on the image of the golden-haired beauty seated on the throne, arm outstretched, singing Raven’s final line.

“Going up!”

At the staffer’s intercom call, the members went up into the dark onstage.

After the others seated Biju safely in his chair, they took their own seats and set their posture.

Five chairs in a neat line.

With legs crossed, the members looked at one another and gave faint nods in the dark.

“Hyung!”

“You’re here?”

They smiled back at their eldest, a silhouette that seemed to be smiling warmly.

My heart thumped.

Doing our own solo stages had been fun, but the most fun was, of course, when we were all together.

[Crown is mine. This should be mine. That throne.......]

As sly whispers overlapped without a break, tension built in the dark.

Red light washed the stage and the Souffles’ cheers swelled louder and louder.

Swallowing the smile creeping out, the five members parted their lips with sharp eyes.

[Daang—]

Ring the bell

So it carries far

Announcing the latter half of the concert.

As the stage for the title track of our first full album, Empire, began, the roar of thirty thousand shook Gocheok Dome.

Singing while going wild, moving, dancing, bantering—time flew.

Cruelly fast.

Blink and it was the last song, blink and it was the encore.

“Yes. Everyone.......”

The moment Biju took the mic, an outcry burst from the fans.

When our second-born put on a sad smile and looked like he might cry, the fans went “uwaaaaaah” and cried too.

“It’s really the last of the last now.”

A shout rose from the crowd.

“Don’t gooooo!”

“Really? Should we not go?”

Jiho hummed the hook, “Don’t go~ don’t go~ don’t go~,” throwing in ad libs.

A moment when it hurt to part for both the fans and us.

This was the moment that would crown the very last of today’s Gocheok Dome concert.

“Sadly, it’s time for the final stage of the day. Don’t cry. If you cry, we’ll cry too.”

“If you cry the concert gets longer—great? Who was that. We’ll put you on stage at the next awards.”

“Excuse me, what singer threatens to haul their fans onto the award stage.”

At Riyuk’s scolding we snickered and the Souffles laughed too.

I said,

“Alright. Then we should finish talking about the last song, right?”

“It’s Biju’s self-composed song. Everyone.”

As the Souffles answered with cheers, Biju shyly smiled and took the mic.

“As you know, the song is ‘All the Possibilities.’ It’s the one I showed on our reality show.”

“Let’s do it together~ to the grave~”

With Junhyun’s deep low voice tossing in an ad lib, the Souffles burst out laughing.

Poking his same-age friend in the side to punish him, Biju lifted the mic again and smiled brightly.

“As it went on the full album, a lot of the lyrics changed, and we revised many parts to hold our feelings. Of course, that process wasn’t entirely my own decision....”

When Biju’s deer-like eyes turned to me, the fans screamed about the evil spaceship.

“That’s unfair. If I’m guilty of anything it’s making a good album.”

“Boooo!”

While the younger ones booed and I shrugged and pouted, Biju kept going on the mic.

“I think the reason we can fly this high is because our members, the staff, and the fans all came together so well. The right people, at the right time... maybe that’s how a miracle like this happened.”

Biju smiled.

“A song dedicated to everyone who came to us like a miracle. And to everyone gathered here with us.”

“Thank you and we really love you.”

“Shall we go? All the Possibilities!”

As the intro flowed, the maknae slid out his in-ear with a prim look. As if to hear the fans’ voices better.

“Oh boy.”

“Look at him...”

Following the maknae showing off, we pulled our in-ears too and cleared our throats.

The stage, dim for a moment, brightened as a piano-led intro began to circle Gocheok Dome.

A melody that settled neatly into our ears and the fans’.

“Alright. Everyone together~ sing~ please!”

With the maknae’s brisk shout and all of us holding our mics out, Biju lifted his mic.

Strength gathered lightly in the slim neck above his black tee.

It was a beautiful high note.

Under the wide Milky Way

If there is a single star

That would be our star

Cheers rolled out at Biju’s wink-and-smile expression.

Right after, the maknae took the mic and picked up the part.

It really is a kind of miracle

At the right time

The right people

Because we gathered in one place

I closed my eyes for a moment to savor the sound of thirty thousand voices echoing like a refrain, then opened them.

Under ash-gray hair, Junhyun with a red bandana took the mic.

A single voice

Those voices gathering and gathering

Becoming music

Becoming love

And leading you and me

Junhyun paused his rap that he’d been half-singing and flashed a smile that made anyone who saw it happy.

Now it’s your time and mine

With the Souffles’ thunderous cheer, Junhyun smiled and passed the mic toward the crowd.

Watching that, I smiled too and took my mic.

All these possibilities

How many could there be

Until a dark night

Shines this bright

Singing the build into the chorus, I called, “All together!” and held the mic out.

Soon Riyuk, eyes closed, sang the chorus part, resonating with the Souffles’ voices.

You and me and

Our song

Will always be beautiful

As the melody swelled and burst, the chorus part continued.

We all lifted our mics together.

Forever Ever Ever

Ever-after

Exchanging bright smiles, we thrust our mics up to the sky.

As if answering our song, shining stars completed this amazing moment with each one’s own sparkle.

Forever Ever Ever

Ever-after

Forever.

For even longer, forever.

May this beautiful moment go on forever.

The three-day concert that ran Friday, Saturday, and Sunday ended beautifully.

On day two, each of our parents and families came, and we all bowed together onstage, laughing.

On day three, we filmed the concert film.

“Huwaaah.......”

A wrap-up after finishing the concert safely.

After finishing day three’s concert, we were back at the dorm, grinning happily at an array of late-night snacks.

“Wait! Just a sec!”

Biju came out of the fridge holding a chocolate cake.

He stuck in candles, and when Junhyun struck a match, he wrecked it.

“Guess I’ll need a lighter.”

“We don’t have one.”

“No?”

“All we’ve got is a leftover fire striker from a shoot.”

In the end, we flicked the striker—tak tak!—and lit the cake.

Filming on his phone camera to keep it as a memento, Biju cracked up, then dropped to the floor hiccuping.

“This is funny?”

“Objectively, it does look dumb.”

We stuck three candles to mark the third concert and blew—whooo.

“We sincerely~ congratulate~ NewBlack on finishing the third concert!”

“Waaaaaah!”

Each of us wearing a party cone hat, we blew out the candles.

We let the maknae do the cutting since he was making a fuss about wanting to, then we opened the late-night menu all together.

My Wooju-style spicy ramen steamed away in curls of vapor.

Chicken and pizza, jokbal and bossam, beef and pork sizzling on the grill—everything was spread out in a frenzy.

“Hyung! Hyung! Toast!”

Clinking paper cups with the younger ones holding their drinks, I said,

“Great work! Let’s eat till we burst!” 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

“Eat till we burst!”

Happy laughter floated around us.

We took photos and videos to post on the official socials and shared our joy with the younger ones.

Junhyun laughed and said,

“Thinking back to that moment makes me flinch a little. Hyung. Our door almost didn’t open.”

“Right.”

The door performance on day one that the Souffles loved.

Praise for the rap unit performance spread so wide that we ended up doing the same performance on days two and three.

Of course, the Souffles won’t know the truth. Not until the documentary comes out......

“So when’s our documentary coming out?”

“Not sure.”

At the maknae’s question, I checked the schedule and said,

“If we think through post, probably January next year.”

“Huh? Why so long?”

“Our tour’s long.”

After the tour that runs through Europe, North America, South America, Australia, Southeast Asia, and Japan, there’s even a Seoul encore concert.

That’ll be October.

If we finish filming by then and do about three months of post, it should come out around January next year.

“Ah. Right. Movies do take a long time.”

“It’ll come out with that much quality.”

While we chatted about the NetPlus doc film slated to launch around next January, Riyuk said,

“Speaking of which, our encore concert venue. I hear the outline’s taking shape.”

“Yeah?”

“Sounds like it’ll be either the Main Stadium or Sangam. From what I hear, Sangam... for about two days?”

“If it’s Sangam......”

Could we really fill that? But if you count the general public beyond our fans, I think it’s plenty possible.

If I remember right, a full Sangam is around sixty thousand.

I thought about the distant headcount and tensed up for a second, then shook my head.

“It’s fine. If it tanks, that’s future us.”

“Facts.”

We laughed hard and made a toast.

Even though the concert was over, there was so much to do that most of our talk was still work.

As soon as next week, at the Korea Arts Awards, both Our Family Is Alien and NewBlack TV are up, so we have to go.

The very next day after that, we have to fly out to Berlin.

In mid-May we have to meet Hailey on location to prep the Billboard Awards stage together.

And......

“Nothing strange will happen... right?”

There was one schedule practically the day after tomorrow.

The one circled red on the calendar.

— filming!

An observational variety show with an escape-room concept.

Each week the guests get trapped in a room with a unique concept, find clues, and escape—something like that.

As the top-rated HBS variety show currently checking Mister Producer and Jusehan, the budget was hefty.

They say they shoot long with at least two weeks of material per team.

“We should go a month.”

“Honestly we need to rank at least sixth in Entertainer of the Year. Seventh last time wasn’t enough.”

“Let’s aim for a top five in Entertainer of the Year.”

Pumping ourselves up like that, we soon ate our late-night snacks watching From Now On, We with worried faces.

Celebrities blindfolded and shut in a dark room.

It starts with them reading the invitation set on the table.

“‘From now on, we must safely get out of the Fox Spirit Den.’ Fox Spirit Den? It says we’re in the Fox Spirit Den?”

Watching them suffer in a den crawling with ghosts of all kinds, our appetites fell.

The road ahead already felt bleak.

“I hate scary stuff... can we do well?”

“In Jeju we screamed and ran from those goofy, cheap jump-scare ghosts, remember.”

“We should really practice for that kind of thing......”

It would be nice to get some info from seniors who’d already been on it.

Right then, as we were checking replies to messages we’d already sent out—

“Oh.”

“What is it?”

“A reply from Senior Lee Gyeonwoo.”

“Oh!”

A message had arrived from one of the top domestic stars who’d appeared before us.

My eyes went wide.

“Huh? Senior says he’ll help.”

“Ooooo!”

A dark room full of chains.

A man sitting there half-opened his eyes.

“They’re coming.”

Footsteps reached Lee Gyeonwoo’s ear.

At least five.

When there are three or more steps, a Hallyu star gets tense—his manager handed him a calming pill.

“Here. Take it, hyung.”

“Thanks.”

The Hallyu star took the pill, blew out a soft “hoo,” smiled, and waited for the NewBlack TV crew to arrive.

Before long, a five-member group in hoodies and masks came down to the basement.

“Hello! Senior!”

At the NewBlack members’ lively greeting as they led the camera in, Lee Gyeonwoo answered with a pleased ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) smile.

“Is this the place you bought, senior?”

“Yeah.”

To go on an escape-room variety show, the Hallyu star had purchased an escape-room café.

Having other people watch would be a little embarrassing.

Smiling brightly at lively NewBlack, the Hallyu star nodded.

‘And I need to promote my movie.’

At the sight of Lee Gyeonwoo’s photogenic smile, the NewBlack members giggled.

“Shall we start then?”

“Yeah.”

It was the moment the recording began for the NewBlack TV content with the concept .