In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Behind Ri Hyuk stood a massive device.

‘A lottery machine?’

To most Koreans it looked exactly like a lottery drawing machine.

The only difference was its enormous scale.

If it were filled to the brim, it could probably hold close to fifty Ri Hyuks.

There was a giant transparent sphere where lottery balls would normally go, mounted on a large base with a monitor attached.

It looked like the kind of machine where you insert a coin and pull a lever to see what comes out.

“Wooooow...”

“What is that? What’s that supposed to be?”

While viewers watching on TV tilted their heads in confusion.

“Oh? Something appeared!”

On the monitor beneath the giant sphere, an emoticon appeared.

[ (❁ᴗ͈ ˬ ᴗ͈)⁾⁾ ]

Meanwhile Ri Hyuk, who actually had a flower tucked into his hair, stood smiling with a microphone like a boy of spring.

While the camera focused on the emoticon, he had already changed into a white shirt and jeans.

Ri Hyuk had delicately placed the pale blue balloon flower in his hair and held the microphone with both hands.

As the crowd cheered, a refreshing intro began to play.

‘Huh? This...’

It was “I’ll Give You My Star,” Ri Hyuk’s solo track from the full album that also contained Coin.

A song about shy feelings sent toward someone you like.

After the intro ended, Ri Hyuk walked toward the extended stage and raised the microphone.

Always behind your heels

I hide shyly

His fresh visuals and clear voice felt like they cleared the listener’s eyes and ears.

Bright blue lights flooded the stage as Ri Hyuk walked across the extended platform, smiling.

Whenever you turn around

I pretend not to notice and glance

My heart feels like it will burst

My heart goes Boom Boom

When he pointed toward the audience during the “boom boom” part, Souffle waved their light sticks and screamed.

Every time Ri Hyuk moved while singing softly, the audience cheered.

The response in the venue was extremely strong.

Metro at the beginning had been a familiar stage.

But the performance Ri Hyuk was showing now felt fresh to them.

‘Ri Hyuk really knows how to control the pacing...’

Recently the main vocalist of NewBlack had been associated with powerful singing, especially with keywords like “Korean Series national anthem.”

But now that same vocalist came out strategically with a gentle song.

It naturally drew admiration.

Because it was not a powerful explosive track, his vocal ability stood out even more.

He controlled the tension perfectly, as if playing a push and pull game with the audience through his voice.

His voice felt as if it might approach but not quite reach them, making the cheers grow louder.

‘It feels like a real concert.’

The singer’s breathing could be heard, and sometimes his laughter mixed into the song as he reacted to the audience.

More than ten thousand light sticks waved simultaneously inside the dark Gocheok Dome.

As the presence of the main vocalist filled the entire venue.

Here it is, my star

The one meant only for you

My one and only star

While Ri Hyuk raised the pitch and sang the chorus, the audience’s gaze gradually moved behind him.

The machine that looked like a lottery device.

‘...But why is that there?’

Just as people began wondering.

Between the end of the first chorus and the start of the second verse.

While Ri Hyuk held the microphone toward the cheering fans, the emoticon on the monitor changed.

[ (❁ᴗ͈ ˬ ᴗ͈)⁾⁾ ]

It blinked.

Then changed.

[ Thank You !! ]

[ ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶ ]

With the cheerful emoticon smiling brightly, something began filling the empty sphere.

Like lottery balls being loaded.

Small gold coin props began popping and bouncing around like popcorn.

“Waaaaaaah!”

The gold coins slowly began piling up.

At first the audience did not understand what it meant.

But as the second verse began, they realized something {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} surprising.

When the singer simply sang, nothing changed.

‘Wait... it reacts to cheering?’

Whenever the audience’s cheers grew louder, more gold coins slowly appeared.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

“Waaaaah!”

Souffle cheered louder and louder in response to Ri Hyuk’s gestures.

And the coins kept increasing.

No one knew exactly why, but everyone suddenly wanted to fill the sphere completely.

‘It’s halfway full!’

Their throats grew hoarse from screaming, but it was fun.

When Ri Hyuk’s solo stage ended.

A video game like BGM immediately began.

[ ✺◟(∗❛ᴗ❛∗)◞✺ ]

The emoticon changed again.

Meanwhile a VCR appeared on the giant screen showing colorful coins floating around.

“Waaaaaaah!”

As Ri Hyuk quietly caught his breath in the darkened stage.

The gold coin sphere on stage appeared in close up.

Then suddenly—

Pop!

‘Guys!’

Biju and Jiho popped their heads out from both sides, grinning mischievously.

Then Wooju and Junhyun peeked out behind them like playful kids.

‘So cute!’

They wore outfits reminiscent of 1990s idols.

Ski jackets, hoodies, suspenders.

But reinterpreted in a 2017 style.

Jiho, wearing a white shirt and red padded vest with a baseball cap pulled low, smiled brightly.

Even while walking toward the extended stage with the music, every movement looked like choreography.

‘Coin!’

The song that had been released earlier that year.

One of the biggest hits of 2017.

A refreshing track that felt like a bright cheerful 1990s idol song updated for 2017.

The members had painted one cheek with their symbolic color like Indian war paint as an homage.

As they ran across the stage, the cheers grew louder.

Clink! Clink!

[ $__$ ]

The coins in the sphere began filling again.

During the third verse choreography, when Biju performed the cute dance wearing suspenders, cheers exploded.

‘It’s almost full!’

The sphere was almost completely filled.

People expected something to happen soon.

But.

‘Huh?’

Even after the Coin stage ended and golden confetti fell from the ceiling, nothing happened.

“What? Wasn’t that thing supposed to explode or something?”

“It didn’t explode.”

“So what were the coins for?”

As Souffle murmured during the short break.

Before the excitement of Coin even faded, the lights suddenly went dark again and people rushed onto the stage.

‘Oh? Dancers?’

Dancers wearing masks resembling traditional Korean tal masks appeared.

Ugly masks.

Aristocrat masks.

Scholar masks.

Holding white cloths in both hands, they ran across the stage.

Then a trendy electronic melody with traditional Korean elements began playing.

A melody every Korean knew.

‘But where are the members?’

Just as the song seemed to begin without them.

One dancer wearing an ugly mask removed it.

‘Biju!’

Originally Ri Hyuk’s part should have started.

But Biju appeared instead.

His brown hair glimmered under the lights.

With glitter around his eyes, it looked as if stars shone in his pupils.

Did I take the wrong road

I guess so

Did I wake up at the wrong time

I guess so

After finishing his part, he quickly put the mask back on and slipped back into the dancers’ formation.

Like mischievous goblins popping their heads out as if saying “I’m here!”

The members appeared one by one, sang their parts, and disappeared again.

When the chorus finally arrived, the members removed their masks and robes.

They wore the same modern outfits from Coin.

But that somehow made them look even more like goblins.

“Gabi gabi goblin!”

“Odokkabi!”

Not only Souffle but other idol fans also sang along to the chorus.

And as soon as the first verse ended.

BOOOOM!

With the sound of compressed air firing.

The gold coins inside the sphere shot into the sky.

“WAAAAAAAH!”

It was like a real life magic spell producing gold.

The cheers people shouted seemed to return as gold coins.

‘Catch them!’

Fans in the standing area jumped and grabbed the falling coins.

They were light props.

But perfect souvenirs.

As fans ran around happily collecting them.

‘I couldn’t be happier than this!’

Junhyun’s rap part from Dokkaebi began.

The members placed their hands on each other’s shoulders like a train.

They bounced playfully toward the extended stage.

Fans right below screamed.

‘Ahhh!’

‘Gold coins!’

Junhyun’s deep voice rapped.

Gold appear, abracadabra

Here it comes

Silver appear, abracadabra

Nope

While the members tossed gold coins around, cameras captured the happy faces of fans.

Then.

As the members danced the third verse of Dokkaebi energetically.

More gold coins flew into the sky again.

NewBlack’s promise of showing a “fun stage” had completely worked.

“It feels less like a stage and more like watching a play.”

“That was fun.”

“So this is how young idols perform nowadays.”

Finally the camera captured a handsome man in a hoodie, breathing heavily with a bandana tied around his head.

The crowd screamed.

“Kyaaaaaaa!”

Souffle screamed with hoarse voices.

‘Today was really fun!’

‘I couldn’t go to the Sangam concert, but seeing this stage means I win.’

It was an eighteen minute stage that perfectly demonstrated what “idol” meant.

“Ah... I’m shaking...”

It was not my heart trembling.

Just.

My legs.

Shaking.

“Hyung... my legs lost strength...”

The youngest leaned against the backstage wall, his legs trembling.

Ri Hyuk was completely drenched in sweat and was already being carried on Junhyun’s back.

“Ri Hyuk.”

“Yes...”

“You did great.”

“My throat hurts so much I thought I was going to die.”

After singing nonstop for eighteen minutes, that was unavoidable.

And there was choreography too.

Metro alone was among our top five hardest choreographies.

But Coin and Dokkaebi were not easy either.

Sometimes people online said things like:

“NewBlack dances lazily now. They lost their passion.”

But honestly.

You had to try dancing it yourself.

Many people judged choreography difficulty only by speed.

But speed and difficulty were not the same.

Just because yoga movements are slower than intense sports does not mean they are easier.

“Biju, are you okay?”

“Yes... don’t worry about me...”

After patting Biju’s sweat soaked back, I bent down with my hands on my knees.

By the time we reached the third verse of Dokkaebi, my breathing had nearly given out.

Even when the audience cheered at the end, I barely saw it.

My vision had gone white and was spinning. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“You somehow managed to smile while walking off stage.”

“You did well, guys.”

Mingi and Wonseok patted our shoulders.

I grinned and asked:

“Did we do well?”

“You looked like Artist of the Year.”

“Hehehe.”

Standing up and taking a deep breath, I smiled.

“But it really felt great.”

“Because it was the ending stage?”

“No. That too, but... there are a lot of advantages to being last.”

The youngest answered for me.

“Because... at the end... we can use stage equipment freely...”

“Ah.”

“Since we’re the last, we can fire everything.”

I handed him a bottle of water and nodded.

The privilege of the ending stage.

You could use all stage effects to the maximum.

Fireworks.

Confetti.

Everything.

There was no need to worry about affecting the next performance.

“We really used everything we could.”

“True.”

Smiling at the members, our strength gradually returned.

Our legs trembled slightly like after intense exercise, but it was manageable.

After checking the members’ condition, I asked:

“Shall we go back?”

“Yes.”

About three minutes had passed.

The commercial break would be ending soon.

Only the three grand prizes remained.

Song of the Year.

Album of the Year.

Artist of the Year.

“Let’s hurry back.”

We had already asked Mango to extend the commercial break slightly because our stage would exhaust us.

Even so, we had used a lot of time.

As we moved quickly, staff adjusted our hair and outfits.

Then Junhyun suddenly smiled.

“Some people might be surprised right now.”

“Why?”

“The gold coins.”

“Ah...”

Something suddenly came to mind.

We all burst out laughing.

During the commercial break after NewBlack’s stage.

Online discussion exploded.

It was a perfect stage with no real criticism.

Metro showed mature charisma in suits.

Ri Hyuk’s vocal stage delivered powerful live emotion.

Coin showed bright refreshing energy.

And Dokkaebi closed the stage brilliantly.

They truly looked like the Artist of the Year.

Soon attention shifted.

With nearly one million first week album sales.

And the impact of performances at major American award shows.

They were obvious candidates for a triple crown.

But since there had never been a precedent, fans still felt uncertain.

‘Hurry up and end the commercials.’

Fans stared at TV screens and live streams.

Meanwhile.

Souffle at the venue simply looked dreamy.

The members’ faces floated through their minds.

‘Guys.’

Ri Hyuk, who looked like a spring boy with a flower in his hair.

Jiho, who looked like the handsome baseball team captain everyone secretly liked in high school.

Junhyun, who led the Dokkaebi choreography like a real goblin.

Biju, whose eyes shone brightly during Coin.

And Wooju... was just Wooju.

‘I’m the real winner.’

The Sangam concert with Glenn Davis and Haley Blue had been amazing.

But watching this stage in person made all the regret disappear.

“My voice is gone...”

Even though their throats were hoarse, they did not care.

After seeing a stage like that, what else could matter?

But.

Some people had something even more important in their hands.

Among the happy fans in the standing section.

A few Souffle looked nervous.

Gulp.

‘This is really...’

Kim Sutbul, nicknamed “Osaka Dome’s cleanup hitter,” swallowed nervously.

She held two gold coins.

Both were light.

One was a coin she had caught from the sky.

The other...

‘Junhyun gave it to me.’

It was the coin Junhyun had flicked toward her with a mischievous goblin like smile.

A very small thin gold coin.

But something about it felt different.

‘Could it be...’

Trying to hide her pounding heart, Kim Sutbul carefully turned the coin while no one was watching.

Then she saw the back.

[First Prize Winner!]

‘Th this is...’

Her legs trembled happily.

The cleanup hitter of Osaka Dome.

Had just evolved into the catcher of Gocheok Dome.