In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

The first day ended with some fantastic pork belly.

It was a really fun time since each other’s musical taste matched well with one another.  Unfortunately though, the process of the work was done sparsely.

It was because of both our schedules.

We had our lessons that we always did, and Jang Sowon seonbaenim was busy working on a drama OST that will be aired soon just like their other seonbaenims.

It was a busy schedule, but I enjoyed working on it once meeting up with them.

“Have a listen.”

In the studio, an acoustic guitar.

Before I knew it, I grab a guitar that I’m familiar with and tuned the string.  Whenever I slept at the dorm, my hands would move freely along the melody I envisioned.

At first, the members were amazed as if they were watching a monkey in a zoo.

“Hyung, do you play the guitar now?”

“I knew you’d play from the beginning.”

“The moment I forget, there’s new abilities from you I see.”

However, my members listen to me as if they are used to it.

They’ll nod their heads or ride along with the rhythm.

Jang Sowon also closes her eyes and listens to the melody I supplemented.

I asked after the performance.

“How about doing a top line melody like this?”

“I think it’ll be okay?  Give it to me.”

Now the guitar was handed over to Jang Sowon, and she immediately transformed the melody that I made and played it.

Of course, it was much better than what I made.

Should I say she’s a professional?

When I saw Jang Sowon, who immediately copied and transformed the melody I made, I was really impressed.

Jang Sowon, who finished playing after a while, smiled and asked.

“How was it?  Playing it this way?”

“It was really good.”

I said.

“I think it’s similar to, ‘Sunflower’ among your songs.”

“That’s right. I added a little bit of that sound to what you produce.”

“Yes. It’s definitely simple and acoustic.”

“Do you want to play it again?”

I take over the guitar again and start playing.

Whenever we were like this, the members reacted by turning their heads this way, turning their heads that way, then turning it back this way and saying, ‘Oh’.

In this way, the progress of the song proceeded like water.

Proceeded like water: proceed naturally

It’s like building a ship.

At first there’s only the structure, then wood is added, the iron plate covers it, and finally the flag pole comes up.

‘Something’, has been made that way.

It’s refreshing to work like this.

It was completely different from the song production process learned at the large company called TJ ENTERTAINMENT.  If you look at it, it’s a mess.

Just getting together, exchanging stories like at a neighborhood meeting, getting ideas for lyrics, making melodies, and fixing them.  It was a playful atmosphere rather than a solemn one.

Therefore, there were many advantages.

It was a pleasant atmosphere, so I had no hesitation in expressing my ideas along with it being fun.  I was able to keep trying new things.

A really fun experience.

It was the first time that the work itself was entertaining.

When I was severely scolded by my trainers during lessons, I used to come to the WHITE ENTERTAINMENT’s office and get healing through work.

At the same time, we were all feeling it.

No one talked about it, but we all felt it instinctively.

That there was a fair wind somewhere that blew.

***

Of course, not everything was smooth.

First of all, there was not enough time.

It was fun to make songs and write lyrics, but the schedule was quite tight when it was time to record.  The reason being because WHITE ENTERTAINMENT set the release date for early February.

This was the only crisis.

Even though we diligently rehearsed hard, the atmosphere almost became a little rough because the quality we wanted didn’t come out.

In the case with Jiho, he’ll shed tears at Jang Sowon’s reactions, who turned into a tiger-like teacher.  But in the end, we successfully recorded it.  

And when we heard the final version, we looked puzzled.

Because it was a little worse than we thought.

Jang Sowon asked with a smile.

“It’s not as good as you thought, right?”

“What?  No.”

“It’s written all over your faces. You squirts.”

She explained it to me.

“It’s because the mixing and mastering aren’t finished yet.”

“Mastering?”

“In short, it’s a task to balance the song. The engineers fix the slight difference in sound. It may not be a big difference, but once you hear the final version, you’ll know.”

“Ah…”

“You can look forward to it.”

She spoke with confidence.

“It’s going to be so different that you don’t even recognize it.”

***

February 2014.

It was evening, a day before the release of Jang Sowon’s album containing, ‘Something’.  It was the only Sunday of the week where I could relax in the dorm during the evening, so it was a relaxing atmosphere.

It seems like the prison inmates are resting well.

No.

Why does prison keep coming to mind?

As I turning on my smartphone and scouring onto the internet, I was able to shake off my miscellaneous thoughts. When I typed, ‘NEW BLACK’ into the search bar, the results appeared immediately.

– Jang Sowon is about to release her new single album, ‘Wishful Thinking’

– Rookie group, ‘NEW BLACK’ collaborates on, ‘Something’

– Who is the rookie boy group, ‘NEW BLACK’ that collaborated with Jang Sowon?

There were many articles themselves, but there were so many overlapping contents that it was actually about three to four. Most of them were promotional materials from WHITE ENTERTAINMENT or our company.

Of course, there are no comments.

Should I say there’s still no comment if there will be comments like, ‘Sowon unnie, good luck’.

I looked all over for the name NEW BLACK, there was nothing much to it, so I was a little disappointed.

I hope it works out.

As I put my heart and soul into how to decorate the melody every night, I wanted to achieve some results in the song.

Wait, is it too greedy to hope for success when you’re just a rookie?

No, but there’s a name value for Jang Sowon, so it might go well?

My thoughts were complicated.

It is said that humans naturally want to win the first prize without buying any lottery ticket, but I was being humble before the release. Actually, I think I’m unconsciously setting up a defense mechanism in case I’m disappointed.

I don’t know.

I lied down on the sofa in the living room turning off my smartphone. While staring blankly at the ceiling, a sweet and delicious smell came from the kitchen across the room.

Spicy stir-fried chicken.

Every time Bijoo, with an apron, stirred the frying pan with a spatula, the aroma spread.

“It smells good.”

The youngest, who was pushing the cleaning rag with his feet, grinned.

“Isn’t it good?”

“Um-hum, it’s very good.”

“My dad said he sent me the best chicken he keeps in the warehouse. Let’s eat it with the other hyungs.”

The identity of the spicy stir-fried chicken ribs was sent by Jiho’s father not long ago.

A large enough amount to fill the refrigerator.

Chicken meat.  There was so much that we’ll be eating it for the next year. It was filled full with parts such as breast and wings.

“Jiho.”

“Yes?”

“What did you say your father does?”

“A chicken restaurant.”

“It must be hard to own a business these days, is it okay if he sends us so many?”

“I don’t know.”

The youngest shrugged.

“My dad will take care of it.”

He shook his head childishly at the voice.

He’s still immature.

I’m sure his father is frying chicken because his son is working hard. Jiho’s parents are also very sincere. He’s the only son out of three older sisters if you couldn’t guess yet.

T-shirts and shorts with luxury logos.

A high-quality watch on the wrist.

He was the youngest who was pushing the cleaning rag with those clothes and accessories on.

WOOSH!

Something flew over my face while lying on the sofa.

“AHH-“

Covering my face, I was surprised and looked over after only to see that it was my underwear.

“What? Who was it?”

“Who do you think it would be?”

“Is it Rihyuk?”

The look of me lying on the sofa was pathetic.

“Hey, old man.”

Rihyuk, sitting next to a mountain of laundry, tapped on the floor.

“Why are you taking a break while folding laundry? Stop fooling around and come here and finish.”

“I am folding it.”

“Are you?”

“I’m trying my best.”

Lying on the sofa, I pick up the laundry with my left hand and lift it up. Then I hold it with my right hand and fold it lightly.  Done.

Rihyuk seemed speechless for a moment.

“You think folding it once is really folding it, hah, I’m speechless because it’s ridiculous. Do you fold clothes like that?”

“Yes.”

“Have you never done housework?”

“I did a lot.”

“Why do you fold the laundry like that?”

“It’s good for your mental health to do anything roughly unless it’s important. There’s no point in folding clothes anyway. Aren’t you going to wear it again?”

I picked another wash clothes with my toes.

“That’s terrible, really.”

“There are important and unimportant things in the world, Rihyuk.”

“What?”

“If you practice singing, you’ll be good at singing, and if you practice dancing, you’ll improve, right?”

“Right.”

“If your skills improve like that, you can perform well, and if you perform well, you will have more fans. If the number of fans increases, our popularity will increase, right?”

“But?”

“If you practice singing, you become an idol who sings well, but if you fold the laundry diligently, you’ll become an idol who folds laundry well. Also, it doesn’t help us with our work, so it’s choice and concentration.”

Rihyuk, who was following along with the logical structure of my words, concluded.

“You just don’t want to fold the laundry, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“You’re totally different from when you’re in the practice room.”

Rihyuk continues folding again as if he didn’t like my mess.

Even when folding the laundry, he folds like a craftsman without an error of 1mm, and when cleaning the bathroom, he cleans it without leaving a grain of dust.

It must be hard to live like that.

Stretching, I got up from the sofa. It was to go taste the spicy stir-fried chicken that was being completed.

I was just going to pass by when I saw Rihyuk thinking about how to fold a tricky piece of clothing.

“Give it to me.”

“What?”

Exactly in three seconds.

When I was in the training center, I folded my clothes recalling the memories of folding them neatly to get a rewarding score.

And I handed it over.

“. . .Huh?”

I smiled at Rihyuk who was staring blankly.

There was a murmur from behind, ‘What? How did he do this?’

I went to the kitchen after passing by Rihyuk, who’s studying the clothes that I folded as if it was a competitor’s brand along with the youngest who’s pushing the cleaning rag.

“Are you almost done?”

“Hyung, I’m glad you came.”

Bijoo welcomed me.

“It’s all done now, so I just have to taste it. Do you want to try it?”

“I would love too.”

Bijoo handed me the spatula when I said it gladly.

It was a wonderful taste.

I nodded and raised my thumb, and Bijoo turned down the fire.

“Jiho.”

“Yes?”

“Go wake Junghyun up.”

Finally, we sat around the table in the living room after Junghyun appeared scratching his disheveled hair.

Actually, there was no table.

No, it was more like I couldn’t put it down because it was too narrow.

Eating the spicy stir-fried chicken in the frying pan, we admired the taste.

“What do you think?”

Everyone was busy praising the chef’s question.  There was the proud Bijoo and the proud kid who provided the ingredient.

While we were having a meal, our conversation shifted to February.

“Wow, our youngest graduated from middle school.”

Bijoo was impressed.

“Time really flies.”

“When I first met him, he came up to my waist, but he’s grown a lot.”

“Don’t exaggerate it hyung. He’s already grown up a lot since then.”

“That’s right. Junghyun didn’t grow much at that time either.”

“There was a 2 to 3cm difference.”

I ate the spicy stir-fried chicken quietly because it was a story from the past that I didn’t know.

Our youngest member is 175cm tall. His face was young, but his body had already grown considerably.

“Jiho is taller than Rihyuk now.”

“Ah- Bijoo hyung!”

Everyone laughed at Rihyuk, who hated it as if he was losing his appetite.

But it’s real.

Maybe it’s because of his physique, but he looks slightly looks taller.

I asked.

“How tall are you two?”

“I’m 175cm.”

“I measured it at the health center yesterday and it was 174.6cm.”

“What?”

Junghyun stopped while inhaling the spicy stir-fried chicken.

“That’s not true, Jiho is taller.”

“You’re not 175cm, are you?”

Rihyuk is coughing because of my question.

The youngest asked as if he couldn’t missed the opportunity.

“Then get up and let’s measure it, hyung.”

“No.”

“Then I’ll take it that I’m the taller one.”

“Oh-ho, why are you fighting over your heights? Right, Junghyun?”

When I stuck out my fist, Junghyun laughs and bumps it.

Except for Jiho, the other two looked as if they were going to raise a riot with a steel ball right away.

Bijoo looked betrayed.

“You’re so mean, Kim Junghyun.”

“That’s right, shortie.”

“Do you want to eat some spicy stir-fried chicken Mr. Selfish?”

Didn’t you say that you’ll enter a cyber university together after graduating from high school this time?

It was a school registered because of the military.

While the two of the same age were quarreling, I talked to Jiho.

“That’s right, Jiho.”

“Yes?”

“What should I give you for graduation?”

“Me?”

Jiho thought about it and said.

“It’s not a gift, but I hope our song goes well.”

“Me too.”

“Our song will be released tomorrow. Will it be successful?”

“Well.”

The quiet ones are just looking at my mouth as if I was like a fortune teller.

Shouldn’t you ask Director Cho Kyuhwan, not me?

“You have to empty your mind.”

“I can’t do that.”

Bijoo laughed and said.

“I keep wanting a reward mentally.”

“It’s not up to us whether it goes well or not. Out of Jang Sowon’s songs, Sunflower was the best. Was it in the top 30th? I think so. To be honest, just charting in is a huge success.”

Frankly, it’s impossible.

You have to stream the song to go up, but Jang Sowon doesn’t have an active fandom to do it 24 hours a day. I don’t know the title song, but I think our song, which is track #3, will be difficult to do so.

Well.

I don’t know if there will be any sudden luck.

“Oh?”

The youngest, who was looking at his smartphone while eating, suddenly yelled.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Hey, look at this.”

Jiho showed me an Internet article on his smartphone.

We all opened our eyes wide.

It was because today, a day before the release of the song, a nuclear bomb-like issue erupted in the entertainment industry