In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

The next generation fashion icon praised by the legendary fashion columnist Laura McConnell.

The muse of Jimmy Robbins, the head designer of LeBlanc.

The rising fashionista of 2017 praised by fashion magazines.

He stepped onto the AMA red carpet for the first time.

"Waaaaaaa!"

Shoes reinterpreting traditional Korean flower shoes.

Orange toned trousers.

A white shirt above them.

And over that, an orange jacket where Eastern and Western floral patterns intertwined, expressing harmony between East and West.

If an ordinary person wore it, it would become a meme people laughed at for the rest of their life.

‘Good grief, it suits him unbelievably well.’

The top K pop star pulled it off purely with physique and face.

He looked like a dazzling pop star.

The NewBlack members waved to fans while exchanging ventriloquist whispers.

"So what do you think, minions? Your leader’s fashion."

"I hate to admit it, but it’s pretty."

"Hahaha! That’s right!"

With their arms around each other, the NewBlack members posed once in front of the photographers.

Shutters fired rapidly.

‘Everyone here is a fashionista.’

Alongside Sun Wooju’s unique yet elegant look, the other members also showed off impressive suit fits.

Each was wearing suits sent by the luxury brands they served as ambassadors for.

Flashbulbs burst toward Jiho as well, who wore a checkered suit.

"NewBlack!"

"How do you feel today? Look this way!"

"Ri Hyuk! Did you put on foundation today? We can’t even tell!"

Photographers spoke to them casually, as if dealing with top stars.

Their attitude was very different from when NewBlack first appeared at the Billboard Awards.

Of course it was.

The NewBlack of then and the NewBlack of now were completely different.

After METRO, the English single that spent five weeks at number one on Billboard, the group’s overall value and attention had skyrocketed.

People even said that if it had been released in January instead of August, it would have ranked in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 year end chart.

They were now positioned as hot rising stars.

"Sunny! You’re nominated for Favorite Duo Group today. How do you feel?"

"So excited."

Wooju winked.

"I couldn’t sleep last night."

"A wink! Give us another wink over here!"

The five members stood arm in arm and winked again.

Photographers cheered.

‘These photos will sell for a lot.’

While happily snapping pictures of the perfectly handsome idols—

"NewBlack!"

"Wait a second. NewBlack just arrived!"

"Yo, my friend!"

Interviewers on the red carpet and singers being interviewed nearby slowly approached them.

It wasn’t simply because their songs were successful.

METRO had been a massive hit, but their position was still that of a hot rising act.

Usually artists in that position were greeted casually.

But—

‘They’re jewels.’

Right now, they were extremely valuable.

The group’s leader was a genius composer who had created two Billboard number one songs, and the son of a recently rediscovered artistic genius.

All the members were also gaining attention as fashion icons together with their leader.

They felt like hot cultural icons.

"Kyaaa!"

"Gyaaa!"

While Korean and American fans giggled together—

Korean viewers watching the live broadcast were cringing.

—Sun Wooju is a fashion icon lol

—I can’t watch this red carpet, it’s too embarrassing

—Did Americans get hypnotized or something

—Why are there so many floral outfits

—Sorry, this is entirely Korea’s fault

—Korea?? I don’t see any Koreans there. We have nothing to do with this

—Anyway they’re not Korean singers lol

Korean viewers avoided looking at the screen in embarrassment.

But there were people watching NewBlack closely on television.

New York, the center of American fashion.

A city filled with the world’s greatest skyscrapers.

In an office inside the tallest building in New York, a TV was showing the AMA red carpet.

"Wow."

They were watching a handsome young man stepping out of a limousine.

Sun Wooju.

The employees stared dreamily at how perfectly he wore the outfit Jimmy Robbins had carefully created.

"How does he wear clothes that well?"

"I can see why Laura praised him. Even his red carpet fashion looks amazing."

"The term fashion icon really fits."

This was the headquarters of the world’s largest fashion magazine.

The employees standing before the TV were praising Wooju and the other members’ outfits.

"Let’s begin the meeting."

At the senior editor’s words, the project staff headed into the conference room.

From the windows, taxis looked like yellow dots far below across Manhattan.

On the meeting room wall, next to a giant whiteboard with seating charts, the project title was written.

Met Gala.

One of the biggest fashion events in the world, held every year at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

And the event was organized by the fashion magazine itself.

"Let’s begin the third coverage meeting."

Because the event was so large, coverage meetings to select attendees began at least six months in advance.

The project staff member checked the documents.

"LeBlanc has Sun Wooju from NewBlack, Alec West, and Regina. Deschamps has Fumika Kondo, Lea de Luzignan...."

Luxury brands were submitting lists of celebrities they wanted to send.

The task was fitting around five hundred famous figures into the limited exhibition space of the museum.

Tables were not seats just anyone could have.

Tech companies or luxury brands paid twenty to thirty billion won per table to seat their CEOs or VIP guests.

"For the new invitations, we’ll decide once the editor in chief arrives...."

The project leader looked over the seating chart and spoke again.

"So all the NewBlack members are coming this time?"

"Yes. Each brand wants to send the member signed with them."

"Interesting. It’s the first time a whole group is coming."

Usually only one or two members known as fashionistas attended.

But this year the entire group would attend.

"Good."

The team leader nodded.

"We were planning to invite them ourselves anyway, so the issue solved itself."

Fashion columnist Laura McConnell had strongly recommended them.

And Isabella Doris, the co host of this year’s Met Gala, had also supported the idea.

The magazine had been considering sending an invitation themselves.

But the problem had already been solved.

One employee said,

"I’ve never seen this before. An entire boy band coming to the Met Gala."

"The brands competed to impress their ambassadors. LeBlanc gained a lot of attention from Wooju’s fashion show appearance. Now other brands want to show they can do the same."

When LeBlanc declared, "We’re sending Wooju," the other brands rushed to send the remaining NewBlack members.

They all wanted to show their ambassadors they were doing their part.

"I’m really looking forward to this."

An employee spoke with excitement.

"Watching the AMA red carpet today, it feels like men’s fashion is changing after that fashion show. If NewBlack shows something new at the Met Gala too...."

Expectation filled the room.

Another reason the magazine wanted them was because they were male celebrities.

"Please stop wearing boring black suits."

"Seriously."

"This is a costume party. A costume party!"

Every year the Met Gala had a fashion theme.

Female celebrities prepared dresses months in advance.

But many male celebrities simply showed up wearing tuxedos that ignored the theme.

—Wear something matching the theme!

—Okay. A tuxedo.

—No! Stop wearing tuxedos!

Some dressed properly.

But others stubbornly wore tuxedos out of macho pride.

The magazine staff had always found that frustrating.

Now it was time for that culture to change.

‘We believe in you, NewBlack.’

‘Please.’

As the staff prayed with shining eyes—

they suddenly heard giggling nearby.

Giggle.

Kya!

"Hm?"

One employee looked embarrassed and held up a phone.

"Sorry. I forgot to silence my phone."

"That ringtone is unusual. Is that laughter?"

"Yes."

The employee quickly turned it off.

‘That was close.’

The Souffle whose identity had almost been exposed cleared their throat.

Then they smiled at the photo in the meeting documents.

‘Hehe. Hurry and come, my favorites.’

Even today, Souffle were secretly operating all around the world.

"Minions."

"Yes."

"Now we can relax."

"Yeah."

The moment we left the red carpet, our expressions loosened.

The members who had looked like bright eyed pop stars suddenly turned into goofballs.

Junhyun nodded.

"Celebrity cosplay successful."

"Hey. We are celebrities."

"Ah, I can breathe again."

Stretching, I loosened my stiff shoulders.

Pretending to look deadly serious while Americans said things like "You’re a fashion icon!" had been exhausting.

While entering the venue, the youngest suddenly burst out laughing while looking at his phone.

"Hyung, look at this Korean comment. Every time you wink like that, they say they want to deal critical damage."

"Hahaha!"

I laughed loudly, then coughed when another celebrity walked by.

After returning to celebrity mode, we entered the Microsoft Theater where the awards were being held.

Rows of red seats greeted us.

"Over here."

We followed a large security guard to our seats.

We waved back at Souffle secretly cheering in the audience and sat down.

After briefly passing snacks and items the AMA staff gave us to Manager Wonseok—

"Have you been well?"

We greeted celebrities who approached us.

Most said they enjoyed our music or complimented our outfits.

But many eventually asked the same thing.

"I heard you’re hosting a big charity party in New York. About your father’s concert."

"Yes."

"If possible, could I get an invitation? It may be a bold request...."

"There’s room. Feel free to come."

Every time I promised to add them to the guest list, their faces brightened.

"What’s going on?"

Looking at the members, I said,

"Did news about my father’s concert spread that widely?"

"Looks like it."

Manager Wonseok answered from behind us.

"I heard from the team leader that the New York charity event got massive publicity."

"Really?"

"Yes. Many famous figures from the American art world connected to your father are attending. Legendary figures. So a lot of business leaders and celebrities want to come."

We had already heard some names.

A famous Las Vegas casino chairman.

A controversial big tech CEO.

A legendary jazz saxophonist.

And top musicians known as the “Sun Myungju Kids.”

—Trust us.

—We’ll make the scale huge!

The people we had spoken to during the video conference came to mind.

‘Isn’t this getting too big?’

"But honestly the biggest reason it grew so large is you, Wooju."

"Me?"

Manager Wonseok smiled warmly.

"You posted the teaser on NewBlack World TV. It became a global issue."

"...."

"They say it already has tens of millions of views."

The members giggled as I pretended not to hear.

Originally the plan had been a small gathering among my father’s acquaintances.

But things had taken a different direction.

—A classy charity party with famous artists! I want to go!

—I want a chance to act elegant too!

That was the atmosphere.

Among all the celebrities hoping to attend, there was one person avoiding eye contact.

"Hailey."

When we called her name, she only twitched her ears and looked away stubbornly.

I approached the obviously sulking celebrity.

"Hailey. Your friends are here."

"Friends?"

Hailey looked me up and down.

"In Korea, do you call someone who doesn’t invite you to an important party a friend?"

"Ri Hyuk sometimes hosts brunch parties and doesn’t invite us either. But we still call him our friend."

Ri Hyuk nodded in agreement.

But Hailey’s expression did not soften.

"That may be true, but my feelings are already hurt. I even canceled plans that day and waited. Do you understand the feelings of a hurt woman?"

How could we understand that...

Maybe Teen Spirit could.

Anyway, parties seemed to carry serious meaning for Americans.

When we said she could attend and even receive a gift, her expression brightened instantly.

"So how much money do you need for the concert?"

"How much are you prepared to offer?"

"Maybe this much."

She gestured for me to lean closer.

When I did, a flood of dollars poured into my ear.

"Enough?"

I nodded in shock.

When I returned, the members asked,

"How much did she say she’d donate?"

"That... we’ll talk about later."

Just Hailey’s donation alone was enormous.

If we added the donations from everyone else—

"We might even be able to do a world tour."

Our original plan had been moderate scale performances in Korea, the US, Japan, and France.

But now it felt like everything was spiraling beyond our control.

In my mind I imagined banners around the world.

[Sun Myungju: Last Tour]

"......."

I stared into the distance and laughed.

—Son?

It felt like I heard my father’s voice.

Dad.

I think a small concert is impossible now.

Unlike Korean award ceremonies that lasted three or four hours, the AMA ended quickly.

First came the awards.

We were nominated in two categories.

Collaboration of the Year for Blue Moon.

And Favorite Duo Group.

"Collaboration of the Year goes to...!"

The award went to a Latin pop song that had dominated Billboard earlier in the year.

And then—

"Favorite Duo Group!"

"It’s an honor to say their name. NewBlack!"

We won the award for Favorite Duo Group in pop and rock.

The American Music Awards were based on popularity, so we had expected it somewhat.

Manager Seokhwan had warned us.

"If you meet the nomination criteria, the rest is voting. So prepare a speech."

We thanked our families, the company staff, and Souffle briefly.

Then we stepped down.

Next was the stage.

"Waaaaaaa!"

The AMA stage concept was K pop singers suddenly appearing in America.

So the performance began with a VCR filmed at Manduk Station in Busan.

[B1... B2... B3...]

An elevator opened at B9.

We stepped out wearing sunglasses, boarded Busan Subway Line 3, and as the train rattled through darkness—

Lights flashed.

The scene transformed into the LA subway.

Then we appeared on stage from a subway set.

That had been the idea.

But judging from the Souffle reaction—

"Kyaaaaa!"

—it seemed to work well.

At first performing at an American awards show was nerve wracking.

But we were getting used to it.

After doing an eighteen minute ending stage at MCA, three minutes felt easy.

"It was a very impressive stage. The subway scene went down to B9. Was that CGI?"

We explained Manduk Station to an American interviewer.

Shared our thoughts about the award.

Took commemorative photos.

"It’s over...."

"Finally."

With Biju rubbing his sleepy eyes, we finished the next day’s interviews.

Then we headed straight to LAX Airport.

Next destination.

New York.

Thanksgiving season was waiting.

"We’ll see you in New York, son."

"See you in New York."

It was time to meet the people connected to my father.

The Thanksgiving parade.

And the charity fundraising party.

New York was waiting for us.