In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 226 

Actor Lee Kangjin.

The protagonist of GTV’s ‘Slip’ walked towards them with confident strides.

The power of makeup was amazing.

He was a famous actor in his thirties, known for his handsome appearance. But now, he looked like nothing but a sharp-featured detective.

His hair was messy and his beard was scruffy. He wore an old leather jacket.

If Woojoo hadn’t searched for information about Slip before he came, he wouldn’t have recognized him.

“It’s good to see you here!”

“Hello, Sunbae-nim!”

He said with a smile, “This is our second meeting, right?”

“Um, I think this is the third time.”

“Really?”

“I saw you once on the Around the World With Dice Chuseok Special, and you also came out as a Rookie Award winner at the HBS Awards.”

“Oh, right. Oops. Now that I think about it, we have a connection!”

Woojoo laughed along with the person who was smiling. Meanwhile, his siblings secretly sent Woojoo an SOS.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Why is he greeting us like this…?’

Woojoo wanted to answer them, but he didn’t know either.

He hugged Woojoo like a friend of ten years, but the total time he spent with him wouldn’t even amount to ten seconds.

He didn’t have any meaningful conversation with him at the Around the World With Dice either.

The only thing Woojoo did was give him some advice as a fellow failure of the Daegil raid, when he handed him the trophy at the year-end music awards and said ‘congratulations’.

He wasn’t the type to be sociable with just anyone. He didn’t even spare Woojoo a glance when they were all gathered at the grand opening.

There was one thing Woojoo could guess, though…

“Hahaha!”

“Hehehe!”

“Kyahaha!”

But since he acted so friendly towards Woojoo, Woojoo also joined in the lively conversation.

At some point, he asked Woojoo casually, after they had relaxed their speech.

“What are you doing here? Are you, like, making a cameo or something?”

“I came to meet our music director. I agreed to work on the OST.”

“That’s great. Since you’re joining our OST, pick some good songs for us.”

He smiled and took out his phone when Woojoo said he would do his best.

“How about we take a picture to commemorate meeting at the shooting site?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, then let’s all pose like we’re sleeping.”

Woojoo asked him why they had to pose like that, and he replied, ‘Isn’t it ‘sleep’?’

Rihyuk hid his shocked expression and cautiously explained, but Lee Kangjin burst into laughter.

“Oh, really? I’m glad you figured it out. I almost made a fool of myself at the press conference.”

Woojoo quickly took a selfie with the lead actor and exchanged phone numbers before parting ways.

When he asked Woojoo if he could post the picture on his SNS, his managers answered yes for him.

Woojoo admired his back as he disappeared, swinging his leather jacket.

“Wow…”

He was definitely an actor.

He walked with a clumsy detective vibe, as if he had practiced his gait a lot.

The bland protagonist ‘Park Chuljin’ seemed to have popped out of the real script.

Woojoo was admiring his cool disappearance, like the hero of a hard-boiled novel.

“Awesome…”

“Oh, Director! You’re here!”

The sight of Lee Kangjin running towards the director, rubbing his hands vigorously, as if the director had appeared on the scene.

“…”

Woojoo saw the actor smiling brightly and saying to the director, “You must have had a good day today, sir. You’re glowing like a million fluorescent lights!” The director laughed heartily in response.

Junghyun nodded his head.

“There’s a reason why he’s survived for so long in this industry.”

“It sounds disrespectful to say this to a senior, but, um…”

Rihyuk trailed off, but Woojoo could guess what he was going to say next.

He expected him to have a serious image, since he was a famous actor with outstanding acting skills. But he felt a bit…

On the other hand, it was surprising to see him cozying up to the director and flattering him, when he used to act friendly with them.

Bijoo sneered.

“I remember the opening of Around the World With Dice.”

“Me too.”

They were only two months into their debut.

They were gathered in front of the TBC Broadcasting Station, but no one talked to them except for the other cast members who were in the same situation.

They must have thought they had no connections.

Well, at least Woojoo was glad that the situation was different now.

Woojoo felt a strange feeling for a moment as he looked at the contact name ‘Senior Lee Kangjin’ saved on each of their phones.

(A photo of the New Black members and Actor Lee Kangjin doing a sunflower pose with their chins on their hands)

♡ Promis.Jang, Real_HanTH and 387 others like this

LeeKang Thank you to my New Black friends who visited the set of Slip!

#WishingDramaSuccess #GTVSlip #FlowerFlowerFlowerUncleFlowerFlower

“One, two.”

“Hello…”

“Please, have a seat.”

Woojoo muttered ‘New Black’ under his breath, trying to harmonize with the others as he sat down.

The office was set up in a corner of the shooting site.

The music director was a middle-aged man with a calm expression and glasses. He offered them a cup of warm green tea from the kettle.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Manseok.”

They introduced ourselves again.

He told them to speak comfortably, but he refused when they said ‘this is comfortable’.

Woojoo cautiously eyed the person who was scanning them with a calm face.

-PD Kang Manseok?

-A good person, right?

Woojoo had already asked around the A&R Team about the music director they were going to work with.

-A good person, indeed.

-Ah, that’s a good level. Director Kang is not a fairy, but a jade emperor among music directors.

-That’s true.

There were many music directors who tried to insert their daughters as lyricists or take some of the royalties when others made a song.

That was why he stood out more in this industry.

-The only problem is that he’s very picky.

-He’s really good at choosing OSTs, but I almost got cut off once in the process.

-If you’re a 1, he’s a 3 Woojoo.

SeonWoojoo and ThreeWoojoo?

The story of the A&R Team echoed in his ears.

By the way, who was the ThreeWoojoo drip? Who made that up? Woojoo should go back and work on the song with them.

“Did you watch the drama synopsis?”

“Yes, I enjoyed it.” Woojoo added, “And I also listened to the OST that the director worked on. I’m not in a position to judge, but… it was really good.”

“Really?”

“The score from the mystery drama was amazing too. It started with a loud clap… and then the strings played a tense tightrope walk…”

It was a popular mystery drama from the past.

There was a peculiar habit of the serial killer who targeted high-ranking officials in the Joseon Era.

He would clap his hands before killing.

Whenever the terrified victim looked around, two hands would suddenly reach out from the pitch-black darkness and clap loudly. It was kind of funny and there were many parodies of it, but the OST also became popular because of the chilling direction.

As Woojoo talked about these and other good points, the other person smiled softly.

“You’ve done a lot of preparation. I just listened to the song composed by Woojoo. I heard that it matches well with our drama, and it was really good.”

As he said that, everyone’s faces brightened up when he complimented their voice color.

After exchanging stories about their work, he brought up the main point.

“Well, of course, what I’m asking for this time is not a score, but a song.”

OSTs were commonly classified into scores and songs.

A score was something without lyrics, like the ‘bam bam ba ba bam!’ that cames out in a drama where doctors fought politically. A song was something that contained lyrics.

“You must have been curious after watching it. There’s no place for a song in the script.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So, here’s the thing. I’ll tell you in advance what scene you’ll be working on.”

He then gave Woojoo a brief overview of how the story would unfold.

He was so good at storytelling that Woojoo couldn’t help but react with ‘Wow’, ‘Awesome, so what happens next?’ as he listened.

Director Kang said, “…So, you need to compose a song for this part. A song that will play when the protagonist walks through the reed field.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“I called you separately without going through the production company because of this. You need to understand the context of that scene to make it easier to choose a song.”

Everyone nodded their heads at the request to be careful of spoilers.

Woojoo, who was taking notes, asked, “Director, do you know our song called ‘Night Sea’?”

“I’ve heard it.”

“How about we go for a similar vibe? The theme is different, but it should be more melancholic and calm.”

“Hmm… that sounds good.”

He asked Woojoo calmly, after thinking for a while, “Then what about the strings?”

“Maybe we can mix in some guitar… How old is the protagonist in the story? We can blend in some instruments that were popular when he was younger…”

“That’s a good idea.”

His partner smiled in approval.

Woojoo’s siblings started to look at Woojoo and the music director with uneasy eyes.

“And from here, we continue with humming. With a calm voice like Junghyun’s, who has a low-pitched tone…”

“So you want to go without any explosive parts. More like sorting out your emotions. Yeah. Maybe that would be better.”

“Yes, that’s right. On the same line as the original score…”

“Oh.”

“Here, we do it like this…”

“Then how about this…?”

“Oh, I like it. I like it.”

After a few words of conversation, Woojoo clapped his hands and exclaimed, “Director, how did you know exactly what I wanted to say…?”

“Woojoo, did you read my mind?”

They smiled at each other with satisfaction.

They were on the same wavelength.

Woojoo’s heart was pounding.

This was the first time he met someone who shared his musical vision so well.

Whenever he said something after listening to his explanation, he understood Woojoo perfectly and suggested alternatives.

Woojoo’s siblings had been looking at them with bored eyes for a while.

They exchanged glances among themselves, but Woojoo didn’t care about that.

Woojoo was too busy having a soulful conversation with the director.

And then, an hour later.

“Woojoo!”

“Director!”

“Where have you been all this time?”

“I admire you, Director!”

They grabbed each other’s hands and spoke with excited voices.

“Haha!”

“Hahaha!”

Woojoo heard the youngest whisper in his ear as they waited, “Are we doomed…?”

“Hmm hmm.”

Woojoo was so happy that he started humming a tune.

Woojoo had met someone who shared his musical taste so well. He wanted to share his joy with them, so he turned to look.

“…”

His siblings had fallen asleep in the span of an hour.

“What do I do? There are two of them. Two…”

“Can you hear that?”

“What sound? Wang Jiho.”

“It’s the sound of us splitting up.”

“…”

As Junghyun was saying “Oh, really?” and listening carefully, Jiho called Woojoo.

“Hyung, I just remembered something.”

“What is it?”

“OST is all about consistency, right? It sounds better if one singer sings with the same voice, don’t you think? If the voice keeps changing, it would be unnatural. In that sense, maybe the main vocal Rihyuk should sing solo…”

“Hey, we should all do it together.”

Woojoo smiled and nodded in agreement with Bijoo, who was looking at him, and then spoke to Jiho again.

“Don’t worry about the voice tone. We can adjust it.”

“…”

“We can do anything if we try.”

“…”

“Bijoo, what’s wrong? Did something get in your eye?”

“No. Hyung… I’m just happy…”

Woojoo smiled as he saw Bijoo’s moist eyes.

Meanwhile, they approached the set where the filming was taking place.

“Helloooo–”

They greeted the staff with a mosquito-like voice and took their seats.

-One of the reasons why we were called to the set was to feel the atmosphere of the scene. The songs in the OST are actually the characters’ dialogue or inner thoughts converted into lyrics.

He said he wanted Woojoo to see the character that the lead actor was playing.

And then.

“Hyung, Jiho’s eyes are on fire.”

“I know, right?”

As soon as they arrived at the filming site, there was someone who was watching the scene with more curiosity than anyone else. It was none other than their youngest.

His eyes sparkled as if he wanted to capture everything he saw here, and his ears perked up.

He looked as excited as a dog who had arrived at the best walking trail in the country.

He even took off his shoes and climbed on top of Junghyun’s feet, because he couldn’t see well due to the staff’s height.

He looked at his siblings with a serious face, as if to say ‘move aside, I’m totally focused’.

New Black and the managers swallowed their laughter at his sight.

Woojoo also threw his gaze to the middle of the set.

Lee Kangjin was standing in the middle of the detective team’s office, holding some documents.

The background was dusk.

The sunset light that split the office like a slash.

On the bright side, there were the detectives from the same team, and the protagonist was rummaging through the documents in a relatively dark place.

The detectives who were casually discussing the dinner menu in the gentle light.

The protagonist who glared like a hawk in the dark.

Flip, flip.

With each paper he turned, the protagonist’s eyes settled calmly. Then he grabbed his coat.

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Sure.”

The team leader, who was looking at the documents on the desk, spoke indifferently, and the protagonist put on his coat.

Thud.

The key fell to the ground at the same time.

The team members looked at him, but no one told him that he dropped his car key.

It was a scene that showed how the protagonist, who was branded as a troublemaker in the west, was treated. Soon, he rummaged through his empty pocket and came back to pick up the key.

A bland reaction.

A calm expression that made you wonder if he had any emotions.

As Woojoo watch such a character, he refined the feeling of the OST that he had to make in his head.

Junghyun asked Woojoo, seeing him nod.

“Why are you like that, Hyung? Do you have a good feeling?”

“Ah. You startled me.”

Woojoo asked him again, “Junghyun, was that a question or a statement?”

“A question.”

“That’s a relief. I almost messed up.”

“…”

Woojoo smiled and tell him, who was snorting.

“Yeah. I have a good feeling.”

***

From the next day, Woojoo started working on the OST right away.

He didn’t need to rush the work since the song would come out in the middle of the drama, but he had a sense of it after visiting the set.

He quickly built the skeleton of the song.

The music director also called Woojoo from time to time to exchange opinions, but he didn’t make any special comments on his work. He seemed to trust that that Woojoo would make a good result no matter what he made.

And.

“Wow-!”

A red-haired creature came up to Woojoo, who was clicking the mouse, and kept shouting ‘wow!’

“Jiho, I’m working, you know.”

“I’m happy, that’s why. Wow-!”

“I get that, but. Are you happy all day…? It’s time to be not happy, you know.”

“Wow! A cameo!”

The reason why the youngest kept doing this since morning was because the cameo appearance was confirmed.

Because of the SNS post that Mr. Lee Kangjin uploaded, the reporters kept asking the production and their company, ‘Is New Black appearing as a cameo?’

Coincidentally, an actor from Lemon Entertainment was also appearing in the drama. They decided that it would be good for the drama promotion on both sides.

The problem was the youngest’s reaction when he heard the news of the cameo from Seokhwan Hyung.

Of course, they were also excited at first and cheered together, saying ‘Our youngest is acting! Acting!’ But who would have known that he would be high-tension for more than six hours.

“Wow-!”

“…”

“Why did you change the wallpaper all of a sudden?”

Woojoo set the youngest’s Music Cafe gif as the wallpaper.

As the white rice cake spewed out snot, the youngest who was hovering around Woojoo ran away, shouting ‘wow!’

Woojoo laughed, watching him.

“Whew…”

Woojoo looked at the ceiling and took a deep breath.

Everything was going smoothly.

Thanks to the success of Legendary Song Discovery, the budget for their third album had increased, and they planned to spend a lot of money on the music video and the concept photos.

They also got into the main OST of a new cable drama that was generating a lot of hype.

The views of their Sok Sok! History Discovery Team was also good.

Among the happy news, there was also the fact that their teacher, Noh Jaehyun, who had appeared on the show with them, had become a hot topic.

PBS was also planning to make a special human documentary about him.

They heard that they had requested an interview with New Black too.

Bijoo said, “Hyung, let’s go with a serious concept this time.”

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

They made a firm decision.

Lately, people had been seeing them as either funny or weird kids.

They decided to show a more serious side of themselves in the documentary that featured Teacher Noh.

***

Jeju Island.

The residence of the veteran singer, Noh Jaehyun.

“So, I just have to talk to them. Is that it?”

“Yes, please show us how you and the New Black members naturally bond with each other. Like a grandfather and his grandson.”

“Well, then I have one person in mind.”

He cheerfully picked up his smartphone. Soon, a pale face appeared on the video call.

‘Please don’t let them know that this is for a broadcast. Just be natural.’

The veteran singer chatted casually while the camera captured his image from a distance.

-How have you been? How’s your health?

“I’ve been well, Rihyuk. I received your letter by email.”

-Uh, um… I got your reply too. The one that started with ‘To Rihyuk’.

“Ahem, ahem.”

They both looked embarrassed and didn’t know what to do. The production staff smiled at their sight.

It was the heartwarming scene they wanted.

They waited for the next story with a pleased smile. Suddenly, the two men started talking about a book.

“No, no. You see, this person. That’s a wrong interpretation.”

-What you’re saying is a revisionist perspective. This part should follow the established theory.

“I can’t agree with you. If it’s a new era, we need a new interpretation.”

They argued about history in a sharp tone, their faces turning red.

“I can’t accept that.”

-Me neither. I can’t agree.

They snorted for a while, and at the end of the call, they suddenly smiled brightly.

“It was a fruitful and enjoyable discussion today.”

-Me too. Teacher. Let’s do it again tomorrow.

“I’m looking forward to it. Haha.”

He ended the call with a farewell message, ‘Say hello to the Non-Alcoholic and the puppies, Rihyuk’.

Then he asked the silent production staff, “How was that?”

“…”

“Was that enough to show a warm and everyday conversation?”

The PD’s hand holding the proposal trembled.