In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

The next day.

We woke up looking completely disheveled and held a meeting in the hotel room while eating breakfast we had ordered through room service.

"Ughhh."

Ri Hyuk sipped his black tea and rubbed his shoulders.

"I feel like I’m dying from body aches. Seriously. Am I getting old?"

"Stop whining, you’re young."

"Look at you getting worked up just because I mentioned age. Change Wooju to Oldju. Since you’re so petty."

"......."

Jiho and Junhyun, who were gulping down orange juice, parroted, "Princess Sun~ Princess Sun~"

It was a usual morning.

Thank goodness the people who saw us on stage yesterday could not see us right now.

Loose T shirts, huge yawns, swollen faces as we ate breakfast. It felt like the morning after a school retreat.

"By the way, it seems like the reaction was really good yesterday. Apparently our astronaut outfits trended on U.S. real time topics."

"Really?"

Biju quickly held out his phone.

While chewing on French toast dusted with sugar, I glanced down at the screen.

It looked like a community site starting with R. Comments were stacked in thread format.

"The reaction’s good."

"Seems like we succeeded. Our attention seeker image."

I smiled back at Biju’s bright grin.

The goal of making people think, ‘Those guys are fun attention seekers!’ had worked.

Junhyun spread strawberry jam on bread and said,

"I think we can show our true selves more comfortably now. The true selves we’ve been hiding......."

"That’s good."

"Wow, can we finally be more relaxed on American shows?"

"Yeah. Yeah."

It had honestly been tough appearing on American broadcasts.

We wanted to be cheerful like we were in Korea, but we could not reveal everything.

It felt like a blind date that started off wrong.

-Oh my! Just as I heard, you’re calm, handsome, and quiet! You look charismatic and reserved!

-Uh... yes.

Even the most talkative person would start self censoring after hearing that.

American broadcasts kept trying to present us only as ‘handsome, kind, good boys,’ which was slightly uncomfortable.

It was true we were handsome and good natured, but nothing was more annoying than someone defining your image for you.

Ri Hyuk nodded in agreement.

"Look at Teen Spirit. They picked the wrong concept once and have been suffering for six years."

"That’s true."

"If we messed up, we could’ve become the American Teen Spirit. Doing circus in Korea and then coming here acting like the world’s most wholesome pretty boys."

"Euuuuugh!"

"But circus is so fun!"

"Exactly!"

Maybe now we could freely do more fun things in America.

Of course, that did not mean drastically changing our existing image.

Like placing a strawberry on top of strawberry cake as the final decoration, we would just add a spoonful of ‘funny and entertaining’ on top.

From experience, a cheerful image never harmed anyone in the entertainment industry.

"Hyung. There are 500 memes already."

"Huh?"

"They made 500 memes from the zero gravity dance."

"......R really?"

There were edited videos of the zero gravity dance with dramatic sexy BGM and pink effects exploding.

There were clips of Junhyun spinning Biju like a windmill with meme captions added.

"It’s okay, Biju."

"This is kind of embarrassing......."

"You brought great laughter to 300 million Americans."

"There are memes about you too, hyung."

"These insolent people......!"

Biju looked at me with betrayal in his eyes.

Watching Americans turn my zero gravity jump into all sorts of memes, I rubbed the back of my neck.

"No."

I trembled slightly and shook my head.

"This is positive. It’s positive. Very positive......."

"Pfft."

"Who laughed? Who laughed?"

As I glared with fierce eyes, the members burst out laughing.

Clink.

The teaspoon Ri Hyuk had been stirring with fell onto the table.

When we turned, our main vocalist was covering his mouth, his phone dropped.

"M, m, m crazy!"

He jumped up and stepped back, and we looked at him blankly.

"What? Did CNN make a typo?"

"N, no! Th, this!"

"He’s starting again. Probably nothing."

"No! It’s something!"

Ri Hyuk frantically held out his phone.

"N, N NASA tweeted about our outfits!"

"NASA?"

The rocket launching NASA? I asked.

He nodded with wide eyes.

@NASA

What a jump!

My zero gravity jump video was attached.

Under a caption like, “What a jump!” there was a line congratulating NewBlack on the award.

And there was an explanation attached.

@NASA

The term zero gravity is not scientifically accurate! Gravity exists on the moon as well. The space station you know also experiences microgravity due to Earth’s influence.

Ri Hyuk said,

"That’s absolutely correct. If Earth were the size of a globe, the space station would be floating about one centimeter above it. It’s basically still within Earth’s sphere of influence......."

"Ahh......."

"Ahhh......."

"H, how did they write something so witty. I, I’m on NASA’s tweet!"

They say when a fan succeeds and appears on their favorite’s social media, that’s called achieving fandom success.

I smiled watching our main vocalist beam with joy over being featured on his favorite organization’s account.

At least he was normal most of the time.

"Hyung."

The youngest had found something else.

"Some Korean institute posted something similar too."

"Where?"

"Korean Aerospace Research Institute?"

"Huuuuuh!"

Apparently the research institute responsible for domestic space development posted “Congratulations on your award” along with the phrase “#Send a Korean astronaut to space!”

Ri Hyuk ran to the bed like a cat that smelled catnip, hugged a pillow, and writhed.

Junhyun muttered,

"At least he’s normal most of the time."

"Yeah."

I laughed at how happy he looked.

While watching Ri Hyuk roll around in his own flower field, we continued checking reactions starting from NASA’s tweet.

Then our expressions hardened.

There were not only positive reactions.

"The swearing......."

"Why is there so much swearing......."

We stared wide eyed at English posts practically spitting curses.

While everyone else was laughing cheerfully, some were pointing fingers and hurling insults like crazy.

At first, I swallowed hard and pulled my head away from the phone, unsure what was happening.

Then we realized everyone insulting us belonged to the same organization.

"W, where are they swearing from."

"L, let’s check."

We clicked the name of the organization.

The group insulting us was called—

[Association Demanding Investigation Into the Truth of the Moon Landing]

!! The moon landing is a lie !!

"......."

We exchanged dry smiles.

Suddenly, I felt at ease.

"If ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ it’s these people, they can curse all they want. Go ahead."

"It doesn’t even hurt."

Their arguments were similar.

-The moon landing is fake! You scumbags!

-The CIA invested massive funds into that American boy band to officially confirm the moon landing!

-It’s suspicious how a foreign boy band blew up like that! Congress must investigate!

-The NSA is manipulating music streaming!

-There’s no such agency as NSA! It’s NASA with an extra A, you idiot!

America truly had some unique individuals.

As I turned my gaze away from people furiously claiming the moon landing was fake—

"Who are these now?"

There were others insulting us alongside them.

They were—

[The Earth Is Flat!]

Did you know gravity does not exist?

Moon exploration and gravity are all lies!

"......."

"......."

My head suddenly hurt, so I decided to close the window.

By the time we reached the last post, they were fighting among themselves, and I smiled faintly.

"This is America......."

"They say ten percent of people actually believe the Earth is flat."

"......."

I shook my head while sipping iced chocolate.

While we sat there in cultural shock, Ri Hyuk, who had been rolling around on the bed squealing, came back.

"What’s wrong? Is there something?"

"N, no! Nothing!"

I hurriedly closed the screen.

If he saw that, he would be bedridden all day.

"Really?"

Still in a good mood, he simply captured the NASA tweet and set it as his profile picture.

We smiled at each other.

‘Let’s keep this secret.’

‘Until the grave.......’

After the Monday VMA ended.

Tuesday and Wednesday were a forced march.

Talk shows, radio shows, interviews across LA and the West Coast were packed almost minute by minute.

"Good morning. Welcome, NewBlack! You caused a sensation at the VMA with your astronaut outfits!"

In the morning, we appeared on a talk show popular with housewives, showed some cute antics, and sang METRO.

"This song METRO becomes stranger the more I listen to it. It’s clearly different from existing pop... the sound is very unique! How does NewBlack define the genre of METRO?"

"K pop. Of course."

"Oh."

At lunch, we appeared on an LA radio show and talked seriously about music with DJs.

We sang METRO again.

"Please welcome NewBlack!"

"Grrrrrrr!"

In the evening, we recorded TV talk shows in western cities and performed METRO.

We also participated in unique segments.

"This is where we film Mean Tweets."

"Oh."

It was the Mean Tweets segment from a famous talk show.

Celebrities read malicious comments from social media and laugh them off.

I had seen clips on MyTube before.

"Wow. So this is it......."

"But it’s really plain."

There was nothing special.

The brick wall background was just panels set up, and there was only one camera and a simple blue chair.

A producer wearing a staff badge whispered as if sharing something important.

"Countless stars have sat in that chair. Chris Banner, Logan Smith, Isabella Doris, Hailey Blue, and recently Ailo."

"I see."

At the mention of countless people’s backsides touching that chair, Ri Hyuk’s face turned pale.

Our fourth member quickly placed a handkerchief on his chair when the staff were not looking.

The youngest rubbed the seat and said,

"It’s a little greasy. Wow. Everyone’s backsides must’ve been sweaty."

"Don’t remind us of that."

Soon filming began.

We read cute comments that barely counted as hate and reacted.

They would probably air the one with the best response.

Maybe the tweet saying we looked so weak we would lose to elementary schoolers.

‘Caught!’

‘Sharp eyed American!’

We admitted it quickly.

The staff laughed, likely thinking it was a joke.

Anyway.

"Ahh. Busy. Busy......!"

For almost two days, we practically pulled all nighters running through promotion schedules.

And it was not over.

Next Monday we would return to the U.S. again, this time for East Coast talk shows including New York.

The scattered schedule was not ideal.

With jet lag, we would have preferred to finish everything in America at once.

But it could not be helped.

-NewBlack returning after U.S. schedule... First stop is K net music show

Domestic schedules were waiting.

The company had suggested skipping the second week of music shows due to condition concerns, but after discussing with the members, we decided to attend.

Even though we wrote English songs for U.S. promotions, our main stage was Korea.

Skipping a music show for the first time ever felt uncomfortable.

"Let’s wrap it up and go back quickly."

"Let’s go home."

Our bodies were tired.

But we thought it was the best choice we could make.

It was the worst choice.

"Cough!"

"Khehheh!"

"Ughhh... ahh... Mom... Wooju hyung... noona......."

Coughing and groaning.

Zombies staggering everywhere.

Biju pointed at me with wide eyes.

"Hyung! Your nose is bleeding!"

"My nose?"

As usual, I tilted my head back, and Biju took cotton from his bag and stuffed it in.

Manager Minki smiled as he watched.

"Guys."

"Yes."

"I told you it would be hard......."

"......."

"I said schedule it loosely and rest the first week. You finished awards and didn’t even rest a day. When a manager says rest, there’s a reason."

It had been an extreme schedule.

We landed at dawn and went straight from the airport to the K net station in Sangam dong with our suitcases.

Minki and Wonseok handed us headache medicine and jet lag remedies.

"If you collapse, our hearts collapse. And our income."

"I wish you’d listen."

We smiled sheepishly and squirmed on the sofa.

"Ughhh......."

"This time was a bit extreme......."

"No one can be perfect. We learn lessons one by one."

We nodded at Ri Hyuk’s words.

Junhyun’s face was slightly gaunt. The rest of us were not much better.

The youngest said,

"But we can’t help it. From your perspective you worry about our condition, which makes sense. But we have to do this. The fans are waiting......."

It was better for my body to suffer.

Saying, ‘We’ll see you next week because we’re in America!’ felt awkward and sorry.

Sniffling, I looked at the TV.

The youngest, copying a girl group dance from the screen, asked,

"Who’s nominated for first place today?"

"Scarlet and Trickster, probably."

"That lineup’s strong."

When we met our meat goddesses later, we should give them gifts from America.

"Hearing Scarlet makes me hungry."

"What should we eat?"

"Let’s go to the snack shop. I’ll treat."

After exchanging cheers with the minions, we left the waiting room.

After eating only hot dogs, nachos, and hamburgers at American stations, we craved Korean food.

Maybe some warm soy milk.

While walking toward the snack shop—

"Hm?"

At the far end of the hallway, we saw the backs of six people.

Colorful outfits.

"That’s Trickster."

The six member boy group from TJ Entertainment who had released an English song called Thunder like us.

Their anxious footsteps.

They looked extremely nervous.

"The vibe doesn’t look good."

"Yeah. Why?"

As we debated whether to greet them—

"Ice cream!"

The youngest’s booming voice echoed.

The Trickster members’ shoulders stiffened.

Like cats caught sneaking somewhere.

"......?"

Then their pace suddenly quickened.

They turned the corner and disappeared.

Like animals that chase when they see backs, we followed without thinking.

"Oh."

Junhyun said.

"They’re speeding up."

"They could enter a speed walking contest."

They pretended to walk naturally, but their feet seemed motorized.

Tatata tatata.

Whenever we almost caught up, they turned another corner and vanished.

They were clearly avoiding us.

"Is it because of the English song?"

"Probably."

It seemed like they were cautious due to tension with TJ Entertainment.

Biju smiled brightly.

"Why be cautious? They don’t need to......."

"Exactly."

"Unless they’re TJ Entertainment executives."

His tone turned slightly cold.

"Biju. That’s why they’re scared."

"Of me? Probably not. Maybe of you, hyung?"

"Me?"

The minions nodded.

"Most likely. Famous for being petty, and once you’re marked you can never escape......."

"Because you’re petty."

"Your generosity is like a paper cup."

I pouted, greeted the snack shop lady, and handed ice cream to the members.

While eating sweet chocolate ice cream, I said,

"I want to greet them comfortably. It bothers me if juniors feel uncomfortable because of us......."

"Should we go say hi?"

"Maybe."

But if I go, they’ll avoid me again.

After thinking carefully, I came up with an idea.

"How about this."

Crack! Crack!

Watching the leader twist his body strangely and pull up a hood and mask, the minions blinked.

"......."

"......."

Admiring the completely changed silhouette, the leader said,

"Now I look like someone else, right? Less scary."

The minions smiled warmly.

‘Not scary at all.......’