In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

The news that NewBlack’s finale concert would be broadcast live on NBS drew the public’s attention.

‘NBS?’

The article read, “A new channel launched by Lemon Entertainment during the Chuseok season.”

At the unfamiliar name, people began asking those around them.

“Have you ever heard of NBS?”

“What’s that?”

Unless they were Souffle, it was only natural that Lemon Entertainment’s channel would be unfamiliar.

They had tried promoting it with NewBlack’s Fashion Week behind the scenes and awards behind the scenes as bait, but to the general public it carried little recognition.

Fans or fake Souffle might know.

But the public only cared about NewBlack’s appearances at awards shows, not the behind-the-scenes footage.

So NBS’s awareness had been extremely low.

However, as of today, that situation was changing.

[Real-Time Search Rankings]

NBS had risen to number one on real-time search rankings across various portals.

Netizens who searched began turning on their living room TVs one by one.

“Thirty-seven, thirty-eight... Oh. It’s really here?”

A shabby channel running an ion massage device advertisement.

After the commercial ended, a video played of Hollywood celebrities and domestic stars saying, “Congratulations on your launch!”

“Ah!”

Only then did they remember.

‘Oh, this is that one. The one that went viral because Hollywood stars appeared.’

Was it around Chuseok?

There had been talk that the video of American celebrities sending congratulatory messages for a domestic cable channel launch might be fake.

“That was this?”

Nodding, they left the channel number as it was and turned off the TV.

So they could just turn it on tomorrow as is.

There was a reason it couldn’t be missed.

It wasn’t simply because you could watch the NewBlack concert live.

[Exclusive] NewBlack Concert Live Broadcast, NBS Says “No Rebroadcast”

The public nodded.

‘So they’re pretending there won’t be a rebroadcast!’

It was obvious they would say afterward, “Moved by your support, we’ll air a rebroadcast!”

But since there was a real chance they might not rebroadcast it, it wasn’t something to gamble on.

Besides, there wasn’t much to do on Sunday evening anyway. Watching a concert live didn’t sound bad.

And so similar conversations began popping up everywhere.

“Mom! They’re airing NewBlack’s concert on TV tomorrow.”

“A concert?”

“Yeah, they said famous people are coming out too.”

“What channel? PBS?”

“It’s called NBS. It’s NewBlack’s channel.”

The name of a channel that had only launched a month ago was being imprinted once in the minds of the entire nation.

Watching that unfold, other idol fans clicked their tongues.

Among them, what idol fans admired most was the teaser Lemon Entertainment uploaded along with its press release.

[Teaser] NewBlack ‘RE-PLAY 2017’ (Sun) 6:30 PM

A perfectly high-quality teaser.

The kind that made your concert adrenaline surge just watching it.

It wasn’t something made overnight.

Which meant they had live broadcast in mind from the moment the concert was planned. As if they had seen the future.

‘They draw the big picture well. Thought they were painters.’

It was annoying how they pretended it was spontaneous, but in terms of execution, Lemon was truly admirable.

In fact, this promotion impressed not only idol fans but internal staff as well.

‘Wow, this is turning out like this?’

Assistant Manager Kim Daemyeong, who had transferred from TJ Entertainment to NBS’s promotion team, swallowed as his phone rang nonstop.

‘Didn’t we only launch a month ago?’

The channel had only been open for a month, and already the tide to row into was flooding in.

He had joined expecting it to take at least five years to stabilize.

Yet this was happening already.

This project, a joint effort between executive Jo Gyuhwan at headquarters and NewBlack, drew admiration from a promotion professional’s perspective.

‘This is... truly perfect promotion.’

It wasn’t just about promoting the broadcasting station.

Replay 2017.

Reminding the public through stage performance what NewBlack had done this year, solidifying their top image.

It was an opportunity to gain massive attention through concert performance rather than variety shows or single stages that had drawn attention before.

From next year, they’d probably pack Jamsil Main Stadium completely......

Kim Daemyeong shook his head.

‘No. That’s not my job anymore.’

Suppressing the vibe from his former idol promotion days, he looked around.

Now it was time to focus on his actual work.

As he checked his inbox, someone quickly scribbled an ad request on the whiteboard.

“We just got an ad request from Humans Furniture!”

There wasn’t enough space below, so an employee erased previous text and rewrote it smaller.

Looking at the dozens of listings above it, Kim Daemyeong chuckled.

‘Ads....’

One-time ads that had come in ahead of NewBlack’s concert.

Massage chairs.

Kimchi refrigerators.

Car commercials and more.

Seeing advertisements for products closely tied to the public flooding in, NBS staff glanced at the NewBlack concert poster stuck to the wall.

‘The true god of promotion.......’

From today onward, they thought they might start praying to that poster.

Second day of the concert.

After rehearsal, while waiting for the show to begin, a heavy silence flowed in the waiting room.

“......”

“......”

I meditated, clearing away my worries.

Then opened my eyes and smiled.

“Who suggested we live broadcast the concert on TV? Confess right now.”

“You.”

“Right! It was me!”

I smiled brightly, then quickly lowered my head with a gloomy expression.

“I......”

“......”

“Why did I do that. Why did I have that idea......”

“......”

The younger members shook their heads at me.

At first it had just been a vague idea.

“If we do it like this, it might create a big buzz. What if we try to aim for multiple advantages with a live broadcast?”

You know how sometimes.

When a performance suddenly gets massive attention, they do a special TV live broadcast, which pulls in even more attention, which creates a virtuous cycle.

A bit of national singer image-making too.

“Well. The plan was perfect.”

Ri Hyuk nodded in agreement, then lowered his head.

“The number of viewers just didn’t match the plan.”

“......”

That was the problem.

We didn’t expect people to show this much interest.

It was like preparing for a show thinking maybe a few hundred people would come because you handed out flyers, then arriving to find tens of thousands laughing in the venue.

Was it America? There was that story of someone posting on social media inviting people to their birthday, and celebrities saw it and all showed up.

“Hyungs.”

The youngest spoke.

“It’s too late to back out now. We just have to do it.”

“......”

“We already spilled the water. If you spill water, what do you do?”

“You wipe it up.”

“No. You just leave it and pretend nothing happened!”

Biju, who had his head lowered, smiled ominously.

“Jiho. It was you.”

“......”

A sudden cold gust of air.

It was like a scene from a horror film.

While Jiho rolled his round eyes, I looked at Junhyun, who was meditating peacefully.

“Junhyun. You......”

“......”

“Right. You’re sleeping.”

The third member had drifted off into a deep sleep during meditation.

For a moment, I envied him.

Then the four of us huddled together and trembled.

“Aaaaaah!”

“Aaaaaah!”

Even sixty thousand yesterday made our skin tremble, but thinking about tens or hundreds of times more people watching made us shake.

And today, the second day, was the finale of finales.

The fact that it was the last mattered enough, but there were also very important guests in the audience today.

“I’m going to Seoul tomorrow~”

It was none other than Kim Deoksun.

In front of my favorite.

An enormous crowd.

The final performance.

Pressure plus pressure plus pressure made us tremble together.

“Stop being dramatic.”

At Mingi hyung’s words, I whipped my head around.

“We’re not being dramatic!”

“You’ll do amazing once you’re up there, so why act dramatic?”

“If you keep provoking us, we’ll call you up on stage later. They said Lisa sunbae is in the audience today too. Want to try doing Lisa-joa?”

“......I’m sorry. I have committed a grave sin.”

The staff burst into laughter.

They told us we’d do great, patting us down, but my heart pounded so hard I couldn’t focus on anything.

“No. Let’s think positively.”

I told the lackeys.

“If we pull this off well, we won’t get nervous at any performance from now on.”

“Wembley Stadium.”

“Moscow Red Square.”

“New York Times Square.”

When I shot them a look, the lackeys pretended to zip their mouths shut.

We hopped around like that to shake off the tension.

Famous people had asked if they could come to the waiting room to cheer us on, but today we decided not to see anyone.

It was that important.

“Alright, let’s go.”

“Go go!”

The staff began clapping to hype us up.

As we headed backstage, the performance staff, dancers, and even security guards clapped for us.

“We’re going up. We’re going up.”

In front of the concert lift, we jumped around, singing or dancing.

To cool our nerves and boost our energy. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Matching the youngest belting “Woo-yeah—” in a high note, we bounced in rhythm and stepped onto the lift.

“Kyaaaaaah—!”

Souffle screamed because they couldn’t see us.

Once we rose on stage, they’d scream cutely.

“Countdown starting!”

While Souffle shouted “Five! Four!” at the venue, I put on my sunglasses and exhaled.

I flinched briefly at the vibration of the lift.

As we slowly rose onto the stage, the cool autumn evening breeze brushed against my skin.

“Waaaaaaaah—!”

Under the sunset sky.

In the early evening venue where tens of thousands of starlights glittered like a small Milky Way.

Suddenly, the tension washed away, and I found myself grinning.

“Everyone!”

I shouted with a smile toward the camera.

And beyond it, the audience.

“Are you ready?”

Enjoying the cheers returning to us, I exchanged smiles with the members.

As if by magic, the tension disappeared and excitement and thrill rushed in.

Yeah.

This is why we perform.

I spread my arms briefly, savoring the cheers and screams pouring over us, then lifted the microphone.

Thunderous cheers erupted one after another.

Fireworks shooting into the clear sky.

Perfect harmonies.

Even special guest appearances in between.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

As cheers and screams burst continuously, Kim Deoksun fiddled with her ear with a sour expression.

‘Goodness. So loud it’s splitting my ears.’

These fans must resemble their singer—voices like they’d boiled a train whistle.

She wondered if it was really that good.

But watching today’s performance, she was starting to understand.

‘They’re good. Really good.’

She hadn’t realized her grandson smiled so slyly while charming fans.

Every time he smiled with his eyes, screams erupted everywhere.

Seeing him show off his charm for his fans like that, it seemed he truly suited it.

And his speaking skills were good too.

“We actually have a story about the gold coins we received from Glenn Davis.”

“A big story.”

NewBlack members telling anecdotes about the gold coin episode that had been a hot topic earlier this year.

With VCRs in between, they continued their talk segments.

They were so eloquent that the audience went from bursting into laughter to wiping tears repeatedly.

“Sister, Wooju’s really good.”

“He is.”

At her friend Sukja’s words, Kim Deoksun nodded.

‘He really is.’

If anything, she judged him more harshly because he was her grandson, yet she could clearly feel how good the performance was.

Watching him run across the stage with a bright smile, her heart finally eased a little.

‘He looked worn out lately.’

Dark circles under his eyes, whatever he’d been doing at night.

She had felt pitiful.

But seeing him now, she felt relieved.

He looked so happy.

“Ahem.”

Her chest tightened slightly before she cleared her throat primly.

There had been many times she wondered what kind of hardship it was raising a grandson at her age, but moments like this melted some of that hardship away.

As long as he was happy, wasn’t that enough?

Even if she met her daughter later, she felt she could hold ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) her head high and say she had done what she could.

‘If he grew up happy, that’s enough.’

She had never wished for her grandson to achieve enormous success or hold some prestigious job.

A person’s fate could end in an instant.

So she had always told him to do what he wanted.

And seeing him doing what he wanted and looking so happy......

“The next song will make your heart go Deoksun-Deoksun! Deoksun~!”

‘You little rascal.’

At hearing her name, Kim Deoksun snapped out of her thoughts.

‘That cheeky brat!’

But the fans were just as cheeky.

“Kim Deoksun! Kim Deoksun!”

“Kim Deoksun!”

With sixty thousand people chanting her name, “Deoksun-ah,” the famous song from two years ago, began playing.

Watching her grandson dance to the jaunty rhythm, she burst into laughter.

It was laughter born of disbelief.

“Oh my.”

Not because she liked it.

The other members’ families nearby subtly held back laughter.

Then each looked at their sons and brothers with smiles.

Biju’s mother and family with hands on cheeks.

“Still, our Biju dances the best. Right?”

“Ri... Ri Hyuk sings well.”

“Dad, why can’t you say your son’s name?”

A professor embarrassed in front of his daughter.

Right beside them, a burly family member standing with arms crossed, showing off muscles.

“Oh dear. Our little chick grew up so well......”

“Yes yes, excuse me, do you see him there? Yes. That’s my son. I’m Wang Jiho’s father.”

The families wore soft expressions in the atmosphere of the concert.

Proud and moved.

Finally, when it was time for talk.

“Our families are here today too.”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

While the broadcast cameras turned toward the members, the spotlight briefly shone on the audience.

Then darkness again.

The members waved.

“My grandma. I love you~”

“Mom! Noona!”

“You should shout for Father too.”

“Daaad!”

Waving to their delighted families, Wooju spoke on behalf of them.

“I love you. Truly.”

No long words were needed.

With tears in his eyes, Wooju and the members made big hearts with their arms.

The families smiled softly and waved back.

Meanwhile.

“They’re really good to their families......”

“Why are Mom and Dad looking at me?”

“Sigh......”

“Where would you find a daughter like this. Be grateful~”

“I think I’m doomed......”

“Dad!”

In households across the nation, debates began: “NewBlack are so filial, what about you?” “Grandpa, say something to Dad.”

At the same time.

As NewBlack’s concert wrote cable ratings history never seen before.

“Wow......”

“All of those were NewBlack songs? Even Something was theirs?”

“They’re good. Really good.”

General viewers kept exclaiming.

‘There were this many good songs?’

Individually they’d thought, “Oh right, that was NewBlack,” but seeing them all together left their mouths hanging open.

They just hadn’t realized.

NewBlack’s songs had always been there beside them.

And that wasn’t all.

‘Unbelievable.’

Glenn Davis’s electric guitar performance and collaboration stage with Hayley Blue.

Even recreating a scene from the eight-million-ticket musical film Nostalgia with Broadway actors.

Massive stage devices kept appearing one after another, leaving no time for their eyes to rest.

‘This is like the American Super Bowl.’

The grand group choreography with nearly a hundred dancers left them stunned.

They understood why NewBlack concerts were receiving such huge attention.

“Can regular people even get tickets next year?”

“Probably.”

“I looked it up, fans get first dibs and then remaining seats go on sale. If there are any left....”

“How much is membership? We could just join.”

What had once been known among fans as a must-visit concert spot was spreading nationwide.

Fresh information for Koreans hungry for something fun to watch.

‘......This is good, but something feels screwed.’

As Souffle felt uneasy, like a massive swarm of locusts descending on Nile farmland.

There were also people watching the widely praised concert with sour expressions.

“You insolent brats......”

Veteran singer Noh Jaehyun trembled as he watched NewBlack duet with the old guitarist on stage.

“You sing trot and leave me out?”

Trot singer Baek Sanggyeo, who had sung on NewBlack’s special album.

“You sucked me dry when picking songs, and now you’re throwing me away?”

Pianist and famous producer Ha Seungju.

“So now you only duet with Hayley Blue?”

Even Jang So-won, who had collaborated with NewBlack before their debut.

Of course the theme was Replay 2017.

But that didn’t cross their minds at all.

Forgetting how they had once thought, “I won’t answer,” whenever NewBlack called.

‘Then what about Nostalgia? That was fifteen years!’

‘You get to have a concert that fun by yourselves?’

‘You didn’t invite me?’

Their hurt feelings exploded, and they opened chat windows and began tapping furiously.

Unintentionally for NewBlack......

A strange scene was unfolding of singers charging with all their might toward the sticky spiderweb of goblins.