In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

At the same time.

[Newridan Street right now]

(Photo of twenty people walking with padded jacket hoods pulled low to hide their faces)

Souffle who won the Newridan Street tour with the coin are currently suffering embarrassment punishment

—ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

—They’re not Souffle, they’re Embarassffle

—Embarassffle holy shit lol

—This is killing me

—What’s with the eunuch walking in front holding the lantern lol

—If you watch the video it’s even funnier lol people around them joined in yelling “The honored guests have arrived~~~!!”

—Whew thank god I got second place

Posts about the Newridan Street tour were popping up everywhere online.

“Uwaaaa....”

Meanwhile, the Souffle actually taking the tour offline were going crazy.

“This is good but... no....”

“I’m so embarrassed. What if I run into someone I know?”

“I bet Ri Hyuk insisted on the traditional music part. And they say his MBTI is I? That’s totally a lie. What kind of I enjoys this?”

Whispering among themselves, the Souffle followed the guide.

Every time they passed with the Joseon royal guard escort, more people gathered behind them saying “Wow,” and “What is that?”

‘Ugh, this is humiliating.’

Still, perhaps the organizers had considered that.

After putting on the masks and floral sunglasses they were given, their confidence rose slightly.

“Whoa!”

“These are the Dokkaebi sunglasses!”

The sunglasses were the same design used in the Dokkaebi music video.

As soon as they put them on, their cheeks twitched upward with excitement.

As the tour properly began, Souffle gradually started to feel excited.

“You haven’t eaten yet, right? This is the bulgogi rice restaurant the NewBlack members used to eat at when they were trainees.”

“Oh my!”

“The seats you’re sitting in are the exact same ones the members sat in during their trainee days four years ago.”

“Whoa!”

The Souffle sitting around the tables looked around.

‘I’ve heard of this place.’

It was one of the restaurants the members visited most often on Newridan Street.

It had appeared frequently as a favorite restaurant in their early reality shows, and now it was so popular that it only accepted reservations.

“This is amazing.”

“Isn’t this the restaurant from their first reality show? I think it was in It’s the NewBlack.”

“Wow, this is historic.”

Even the yellowed wallpaper stained with grease seemed to carry a sense of history.

And the food tasted incredible.

‘Our Gomchelin Guide never gets it wrong.’

It was indeed a restaurant approved by Kim Junhyun, the group’s gourmet expert.

Charred bulgogi rice, cabbage soup, ssamjang, and fresh vegetables.

It felt like heaven.

“This tour is amazing.”

“I know, right?”

...But the moment they stepped outside wearing their padded jackets again, the royal guards were waiting.

“Then we shall escort the honored guests to the next location.”

“......”

“Hear ye! Since you have eaten, you must drink coffee! Escort them to the place where coffee awaits!”

After the restaurant came a famous café.

“This is a café the members often visited.”

“This is where they filmed that scene from their reality show...”

“When NewBlack won first place on Music Hall for the first time.”

The tour continued as they introduced places on Newridan Street connected to NewBlack’s history.

But the most exciting moment was an unplanned surprise segment.

A tour inside the Lemon Entertainment building.

“Haha. Hello!”

“Waaaaa!”

Waiting for them in front of Lemon Entertainment like the owner of a chocolate factory was a middle aged man with a gentle face.

‘Gy... Gyuho!’

‘Light Gyuho!’

‘He’s literally glowing!’

Even the people watching from around Newridan Street were raising their phones to photograph him.

CEO Park Gyuho approached the stunned Souffle standing in front of the building and offered a handshake.

“Welcome to our company.”

Then he guided them inside as people nearby murmured with envy.

The Souffle walked in proudly.

Someone asked with a hopeful expression,

“Are the members... today...?”

“Ah.”

CEO Park Gyuho laughed.

“The members are currently out because of their schedule.”

“Ah, right.”

“Yes. You saw the news photos, right? They departed for the U.S. for the AMA. Their schedule is extremely busy.”

The Souffle nodded.

“But the members did leave a video message for you.”

“Grrrr!”

“Ah... yes. Right.”

Seeing the fans’ eyes suddenly turn feral like werewolves, CEO Park Gyuho coughed awkwardly and continued the tour.

NewBlack appeared on the screen in the large conference room.

[Hello, Souffle!]

“Waaaaaa!”

[How was the tour today? Did you enjoy it?]

“Yes!”

[That’s a relief.]

Ri Hyuk, who had been smiling as he spoke, then turned toward where CEO Park Gyuho was standing.

[CEO, did Souffle say yes when you asked if they enjoyed it? Only if they said yes should you continue this video.]

CEO Park Gyuho nodded and explained,

“There are five videos. Depending on the route.”

The fans burst out laughing.

It was such a Ri Hyuk style preparation.

After watching the NewBlack welcome video—

“Shall we look around?”

The tour continued through areas that could be publicly shown.

“Wow!”

“I recognize everyone here.”

“I feel like I’m filming a NewBlack TV episode.”

Whenever they passed employees in the hallway, the Souffle unconsciously felt familiarity and greeted them.

“Hello!”

They were faces they often saw on NewBlack TV.

Among them were even more familiar ones.

“Oh? Ah... the tour guests. Hello.”

“Hello....”

“Oh my. Nice to meet you... we’re happy... ah, sorry. I said it automatically even though you didn’t ask.”

Team leader Na Sangyoon from the producing team and arranger Kim Hyungseop.

And composer Yoo Ung, who had recently joined after finishing a song camp.

The three exhausted men received cheers.

‘They’re being squeezed dry by the composing monster!’

The fans handed them chocolate and told them to stay strong.

The exhausted composers thanked them and disappeared.

While Souffle smiled sympathetically—

Toward the end of the tour they encountered a celebrity.

“Oh? Oh?!”

“Hmm?”

Someone standing in the hallway pouring a bag of snacks into their mouth suddenly made eye contact with the Souffle.

‘It’s Daisy!’

Cute eyes and neatly braided hair.

It was Daisy, Scarlet’s main rapper.

“This is insane....”

“Wow... you’re so pretty.”

People who like handsome men usually like beautiful women too.

While taking a break from an album meeting, Scarlet members had come out into the hallway and ran into the Souffle.

“Oh, are you here for the company tour? The Newridan Street tour?”

“Yes!”

“I thought so. You’re all so cute.”

Scarlet was widely liked by both the general public and idol fans, and just looking at them made people smile.

“Kim Deokchun! Fighting!”

“Scarlet! Fighting!”

They posed together for photos.

The fans cheered for the girl group and promised to listen when their next album came out.

‘Still, this was worth it!’

At first it had been embarrassing.

But they ate at the legendary restaurant with impossible wait times.

They visited famous places.

They met people who appeared on NewBlack TV.

And they even took photos with the Scarlet members.

“Thank you so much for loving our artists.”

After CEO Park Gyuho left with a farewell message—

The Souffle completed the survey requested by the Lemon Entertainment staff and received their gold coins back.

The PR team leader smiled.

“You all worked very hard today. This gold coin will give you benefits if you show it when buying items or food on Newridan Street today. So don’t leave yet. Enjoy the area.”

The Souffle nodded.

Then they moved together with other Souffle they had become friendly with during the tour.

“They said there are benefits when buying things... where should we go?”

“Let’s just try a road shop. Maybe buy a lip balm or something.”

They entered a nearby beauty shop and bought a few items before presenting the coin.

“Excuse me, we’d like to use this.”

“This is....”

Immediately the items changed to a buy one get one deal.

‘Oh my!’

The Souffle’s eyes widened with happiness.

Then the employee said,

“One moment.”

The employee gathered the other staff members and bowed politely.

“Everyone. Honored guests have arrived.”

“Welcome!”

The employees tried to hold back laughter as they said “Honored guests!”

The Souffle, who had just been celebrating the buy one get one deal, turned red like tomatoes.

“......”

Kim Sutbul stared blankly into the air.

Somewhere she could hear the members laughing loudly.

Was this good?

Or tragic?

Next time she found something like a gold coin, she decided she would think carefully before picking it up.

LA hotel suite.

Jiho read something on the laptop screen and shouted in delight.

“They said they were extremely satisfied!”

“Whoa!”

“I knew it. I knew Souffle would be happy.”

What we were looking at was a document sent by the PR team.

It said Souffle gave the Newridan Street tour five stars out of five and were extremely satisfied.

“Well....”

Ri Hyuk interrupted.

“If they’re filling out a survey there, they can’t exactly say they didn’t like it, right? Anyone would probably write they were satisfied in that situation. There’s no need to say anything negative.”

“......”

“I mean... that’s all I’m saying.”

“......”

Because it wasn’t wrong, it was even more annoying.

Still, looking through the survey responses, it seemed clear that the fans were generally satisfied.

“Well, that’s good.”

We had wondered what to give Souffle as a gift.

And eventually we decided to give them a chance to participate in a project we were currently preparing.

The Newridan Street tour.

It was part of a project the company was preparing ahead of next year’s headquarters relocation.

“Lemon Entertainment, the center of Newridan Street commerce, will relocate headquarters next year”

“Debate over Lemon Entertainment relocation—‘What happens to us if Lemon leaves?’”

“Photo: Protest against Lemon Entertainment relocation”

The relocation had stirred controversy everywhere.

Technically we could simply move.

But Newridan Street had become too famous.

The media kept talking about its economic impact.

Recently even local politicians and district officials had become involved.

“Hey, Lemon. Don’t you think this commercial district has grown too big?”

Newridan Street had practically become a tourist attraction.

If Lemon Entertainment headquarters disappeared from it, the whole district might collapse.

And recently a Chinese businessman even offered several hundred billion won to buy our building.

“Why would they buy it?”

“We don’t know either. Apparently asking questions wasn’t allowed.”

Foreign capital with suspicious intentions had begun reaching out.

After meetings with the company executives, a decision was made.

A solution beneficial for everyone.

“Let’s make it a memorial space.”

Office work would move to the new headquarters.

But the existing building would remain and be transformed.

The name would probably be “NewBlack Museum.”

It would display outfits and memorabilia from our debut until now.

It would be a win win for everyone.

It would continue functioning as a tourist destination connected to us, while preserving the local business district.

The Newridan Street tour was one project created with that intention.

“Okay. It’s a good start.”

After calming the laughing members and sitting them back down, I looked at Seokhwan hyung across the table.

“What else?”

Even though we had come to the U.S. for the AMA schedule, there were many Korean related matters to handle.

Seokhwan hyung set down his coffee cup.

“K Net sent a cooperation request regarding the KMA held in Japan.”

“What kind of request?”

“They want to use footage of Sun Myungju at the awards ceremony. If we have suitable unreleased footage, they want us to send it.”

“Not asking if we can send it—just telling us to?”

Seokhwan hyung nodded.

Ri Hyuk muttered, “Are they crazy?”

I let out an incredulous laugh.

“How do they plan to use it?”

“Something like ‘Korea united before music.’ A concept where musicians of the past speak to musicians of the present...”

I could imagine the tone.

KMA’s typical “Asia’s greatest awards show” narrative.

They wanted to use my father’s footage for that.

Even the proposal they sent was absurd.

“What’s this ‘Immortal Icon Award’?”

They were creating a strange new award and planning to invite Hashimoto Kenji as the presenter.

Junhyun blinked.

“Is this real?”

Seokhwan hyung explained.

“K Net and the Japanese entertainment industry have complicated financial ties.”

“Ah.”

As I flipped through the proposal, it sounded impressive on the surface.

But looking deeper, it was full of empty substance.

“Tell them we decline the proposal.”

“Alright.”

Normally we might have worried about possible disadvantages.

But now K Net no longer had leverage over us.

If they blocked us from appearing on music shows, we simply wouldn’t go.

Whatever happened, they would lose more.

“Who do they think they’re dealing with.”

I laughed it off.

But Ri Hyuk beside me was still furious, so I patted his shoulder.

“What!”

“Calm down.”

“Okay.”

Then we handled the other matters Seokhwan hyung had brought.

“PBS and HBS requested documentary interviews.”

“Documentary?”

“Yes. About your father.”

My father’s performance teaser had become a hot topic.

Apparently they were producing documentaries like “Sun Myungju: Who Was He?” and “The Rise of a Genius.”

I gladly agreed to the interview requests.

After discussing our Korean schedules—

“Since the U.S. schedule is complicated, I’ll outline the order in advance.”

We listened carefully to the manager.

First, we would attend the American Music Awards at the Microsoft Theater in LA.

The next day there would be simple interview promotions.

Then we would immediately fly to New York for the Thanksgiving Parade.

Finally, there was a fundraising party in New York.

And one week later, the KMA in Japan.

“......”

“......”

Biju smiled warmly.

“Each schedule individually makes sense... but combined it’s amazing.”

“All of that in five days....”

AMA was great.

The parade was great.

But those individually good events had combined into a brutal five day combo.

“......”

“......”

Silence filled the room again.

Our youngest suddenly sang, “Crushed by the disaster we brought upon ourselves~~,” making everyone burst out laughing.

I laughed and patted Jiho’s head.

“Well. It’s already happened. What can we do? We just have to do it.”

“Yep.”

One by one. Step by step.

First, we needed to prepare for tomorrow’s AMA red carpet.

“Hehehehehe.”

“That sounds ominous again.”

“Hehehehe.”

I smiled happily while looking at the box on the table in front of the sofa.

To. My Sun

It was a special outfit sent by Jimmy Robbins, the head designer of LeBlanc, for the AMA red carpet.

“Yes.”

I smiled brightly toward the behind the scenes camera.

“The rising star of the fashion world, Sun Wooju, will be wearing this outfit at the AMA red carpet...!”

Microsoft Theater, downtown LA.

Security guards were patrolling as crowds surged outside.

“NewBlack! NewBlack!”

The red carpet covered with AMA logos.

Several blocks around the theater were packed with fans waiting for NewBlack.

“Hello! I’m Chloe Louise! I’m reporting live from the AMA venue, and the energy here is incredible!”

A local LA reporter held a microphone toward fans nearby.

Some fans had painted the Korean flag on their faces.

Others wore traditional cheek decorations.

They laughed excitedly.

“Some fans even have tattoos!”

One large male fan who looked like a biker showed a tattoo on his arm of NewBlack’s Junhyun alongside a goat.

If the members had seen it, they probably would have panicked and said, “Why is Daegil on his arm...?”

Amid that excitement, celebrities attending the AMA were arriving one by one.

“Kelly! Kelly!”

“It’s Cold Brown! Yo, Cold! Over here!”

“Leslie!”

From rising singer songwriter Kelly Nelson to famous reality star Leslie Thompson.

Photographers snapped pictures and then checked their shots.

“Hmm?”

Then they noticed something unusual.

“There are a lot of floral patterns.”

The deep neckline of Leslie Thompson’s dress was decorated with floral patterns.

Cold Brown’s all black shirt also had flowers and vines subtly embossed on his outerwear.

Even the white jacket worn by Kelly Nelson from the UK had a huge cartoon style rose painted on the back.

‘Was it called Granny Chic?’

Granny Chic.

A trend among American celebrities lately.

“Didn’t you know, Tom?”

Another photographer beside him said.

“Since Fashion Week, floral patterns and granny style have been trending.”

“Really?”

“Where have you been living?”

The photographer scratched his head awkwardly.

“So it was a trend.”

“Of course. Recently this—”

Before he could finish speaking—

An enormous cheer erupted as a limousine approached in the distance.

“Waaaaaaaa!”

The deafening noise made photographer Tom flinch.

His colleague who had teased him earlier said,

“There it is. The founder of Granny Chic.”

“The founder?”

Tom had only known NewBlack as a rising hot group.

But apparently they were the ones who had spread Granny Chic in America.

He raised his camera.

Click.

A security guard opened the limousine door.

A long leg stretched out.

Below the elegant curve of the leg appeared flower patterned shoes.

“Oh my...!”

And together with those shoes—

the god of flowers stepped out of the car.