In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 50

Our faces hardened as we looked at the laptop screen.

Silence filled the studio.

On the monitor, Street Boys were having a blast on their debut stage.

“Ugh, this is annoying.”

Ri-hyuk said.

“It’s one thing for the companies to fight, but this is too much. What did we do to them that they diss us?”

“We don’t know what’s going on with them.”

Bi-ju said in a calm voice, trying to soothe the main vocal, but he didn’t look happy either.

Everyone felt the same.

The youngest bit his lip and watched the monitor, and Jun Hyun stopped eating snacks and glanced at the monitor.

Even if there’s competition, this is crossing the line.

The reason we were angry was not simply because they dissed us.

It was a kind of betrayal.

We had been thinking of DNS and Street Boys as separate entities.

No, we had tried to think that way.

It was the company that was doing the dirty work, not the Street Boys who were just following orders.

Of course, I had a part in creating that atmosphere.

In group activities, friendly competition was helpful, but not negative emotions like hatred or jealousy.

So I told them to treat Street Boys as colleagues in the entertainment industry.

Let’s not hate each other in this tough situation.

The kids agreed, and until a moment ago, we were watching Street Boys’ stage and complimenting them.

Until Han Jo’s rap came out.

-We don’t have Something. But what’s the big deal.

Honestly, it felt like a slap in the face.

I thought of them as friendly rivals, but they had been thinking of us like that all this time.

“Let’s watch the showcase until the end. There will be questions from the reporters during the Q&A time.”

I decided to watch for now, calming down the younger ones.

There would surely be questions about the rap during the Q&A time, so I wanted to hear what they would say and judge accordingly.

The debut stage ended and the showcase went smoothly.

A famous comedian MC was hosting, and Street Boys were acting stiff and awkward like rookies.

Finally, the Q&A time came at the end.

As I expected, the first question was about the rap.

-I’m Oh So Hee, a reporter from Entertainment IN. First of all, congratulations on your debut. I have a question about the lyrics of your debut title Hunger.

Street Boys grabbed the microphone nervously, and the reporter’s voice continued.

-In the song, there’s a self-written rap by Han Jo. It says, ‘People say we don’t have Something. But what’s the big deal.’ I personally thought of New Black’s Something when I heard it.

That was the question I wanted to hear.

-Right now, New Black and Street Boys are in a competitive relationship, and I wonder if that was an intentional lyric. What do you think about this, Han Jo, who produced the song himself?

A member in a leather jacket held the microphone.

He was tall and had a good-looking and kind face.

The leader Han Jo smiled like a picture at the reporter.

-I want to tell you that it’s not what you think. The context of the rap was related to our personal stories. We’ve been told by many people that we can’t make it, that we’re not handsome, that we don’t have the talent to be celebrities. The lyrics came from the meaning that we don’t care about what people say we lack.

That’s funny.

I realized that it was intentional when I heard Han Jo’s answer.

Usually, when you’re asked about a controversy you didn’t expect, you’re startled and lost in thought.

But he answered as if he anticipated it.

It meant that he or the company had prepared for this beforehand.

“This is ridiculous. If you’re going to diss, do it in front of us.”

Ri-hyuk muttered in displeasure, while Han Jo spoke with a smile.

-And you said that we’re in a competitive relationship with New Black, but actually, we don’t think of them as rivals.

Huh?

-They debuted earlier than us, so they’re like seniors in the music industry, and we respect them.

-You respect them?

-When we made Hunger as our title song, we realized how much effort it takes to make one song. So I got a lot of help from professional composers, but I heard that the leader of New Black composed by himself. Honestly, I wouldn’t have dared to do that.

It was awkward.

He was stacking up compliments for us, as if he was building up to say something.

-And not only did he compose Something with Jang So-won, but I also heard what he said on Music Cafe. Honestly, I think he’s much more talented and amazing than me.

On the screen, Hanjo smiled.

-How can I say this, it’s like looking at a real genius.

The moment I saw that smile, I realized that I had been thrown a huge shit that was incomparable to the diss lyrics from before.

***

-Street Boys ‘Hanjo’, “New Black Universe is a genius”

-Street Boys “New Black is not a competitor. Rather, they are genius seniors”

-They stuck together with hunger and ambition, Street Boys successfully finished their showcase

During and after the showcase, articles kept coming up for a long time.

It was a showcase of a rival company, but our company was busy.

As soon as the live broadcast ended, Yoon Seok-hwan left to attend a general meeting at the producer’s call.

It was because of the shit that Hanjo threw.

Of course, it didn’t seem like a problem on the surface.

He praised me as a ‘genius’ after all.

But if you look behind it, there is a hidden intention.

A subtle provocation.

Honestly, when an idol releases a self-composed song as a title, the public tends to look at it with a biased eye.

How much can an idol do in composing?

So even if the quality is a little good, they say, ‘Oh? It’s better than I thought?’ and evaluate it positively.

But what if someone praises you as a ‘genius’?

They naturally feel a sense of rejection.

How good did you do to be praised as a genius?

Or, wow, you must be really amazing, they might say.

Either way, it’s not good.

The original expectations are too high, and the song doesn’t sound good unless it’s really good.

“The fans are really angry.”

Jung-hyun said with a serious expression, looking at his phone.

“It’s obvious that he’s sniping, but he got away with it like a mudfish. He said he respects them, but he’s actually saying that they can go to hell. They’re all furious.”

The ones who were most angry were our few fans.

They were waiting for their favorite singer to debut, but some jerk dissed them in front of everyone.

And when you ask him if he did that, he said ‘no, I respect them’ and sneaked away.

“Idol sites don’t seem to have much to say. They just say the Street Boys song is good.”

Ji-ho handed me his phone.

[Group photo of DNS rookie group Street Boys after the showcase]

-What’s up with the costumes;; They’re a bit tacky

-Finally debuted, congrats

-The middle and the second from the right are my type

-Is the middle one the one who composed the title song?

-I didn’t expect much from an idol self-composed song, but it seemed pretty good

-There’s no visuals… No visuals…

-Did they not spend money on the coordi? Did they put all the money into the song?

-Yeah, the song is good

-I’ve been missing a hip-hop concept since Shitty and Tentee, hope they do well

-They have a strong concept, but they pulled it off well, hope they succeed

The reactions were as usual as when rookies debut.

There were also a lot of positive comments about the song.

-Isn’t there a problem with the lyrics?;; It’s blatantly dissing New Black

-?? There was something like that?

-It must have been something like ‘I don’t need something like that, what’s the big deal’… Didn’t an article come out earlier?

-Lol, that’s why the reporter asked him at the Q&A, and he said no

-Yeah, he even praised them as geniuses and respected them. He’s too cunning

-What’s cunning lol They’re already trying to grab the rookie’s hair

-Is he a fan of New Black? He seems to have increased his interest since their concept shot came out

-Hey, I’m not interested in either of them, but I’ve never seen anyone as noisy as these two before they debut. Just calm down, they’re not even Tentee or Shitty level, they just debuted

Most of the comments that said the lyrics were dissing New Black didn’t get much sympathy.

-But is the New Black kid who composed Something that great? Why is he a genius?

-It’s just lip service

-What genius lol They’re just drumming and playing instruments

-I’m curious about the song though

-Me too lol I might listen to it once lol

-Weren’t they competitors? Street Boys are generously promoting New Black… I’m curious

Most of the reactions to me becoming a genius composer overnight were curiosity.

It didn’t go as negatively as I thought.

Most people seemed curious about our song and wanted to listen to it.

It was going differently from what our rival intended.

Just when I thought this could be an opportunity, Yoon Seok-hwan, who had finished the meeting, came to us.

He explained the outcome of the meeting.

“We discussed various countermeasures, but there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do in this situation. We can’t publish an article saying we’re not geniuses, and we can’t say our song is that good either. Let’s just focus on the showcase for the remaining time.”

He was saying what we were thinking.

There was nothing more we could do here.

The director and the coaches had done everything they could, so the rest was up to the players who had to perform on the stage.

And Street Boys’ strategy helped me in a way.

I was wondering what to say to motivate the kids to practice for the next week, but now I didn’t have to.

They all had fire in their eyes.

“Hyung, let’s do this with the determination to break our bones.”

I smiled quietly as I watched my brothers say what I had to say.

***

A week later.

June 18, 2014, Wednesday.

Media Art Hall in Cheongdam-dong.

[New Black 1st Single Album ‘The New Black: First Chapter’ Showcase]

The reporters turned on their laptops while yawning.

There was still plenty of time before the showcase started, so they chatted with familiar faces.

“Oh? Mr. Oh, reporter? We met at the Street Boys showcase.”

“Hello.”

“What’s with all the showcases this month? Next week, there’s also a showcase for the rookies from Awl.”

The topic of conversation was naturally the rivalry in June.

“Who do you think will do better?”

“I’m for New Black.”

“Well, DNS doesn’t have much talent for boy groups.”

“Hmm? I saw the chart performance of Street Boys and it was pretty good. They charted at 99th or something on the first day of the music show.”

It was a difficult feat for a rookie who had just debuted to enter the chart on the first day in this era of fierce idol competition.

“The idol fandoms were buzzing about their fight. Honestly, it drew some attention.”

“But it’s impressive that they charted with a self-composed song.”

“I don’t know. From what I heard from the insiders, the leader only wrote the rap, and the composer wrote most of the melody. It was almost like they just borrowed his name.”

“Well, who writes songs by themselves these days? They all collaborate.”

“Right. What’s his name, the one who’s debuting today, Woo-ju? He’s the odd one. Usually, professional composers are involved in everything.”

They all nodded.

“I heard from the DNS side that the initial sales were good. I don’t know, but it must be impressive.”

“Good for them. I thought there wouldn’t be any hip-hop concept after Sixty.”

“We still have to wait and see. It’s only been a week.”

“But the song is good. Hunger seems to have nowhere to go but up.”

Soon, the reporters’ interest shifted to New Black.

“What about New Black? Does anyone have a source?”

“I had a drink with the PR staff a few days ago, and they casually mentioned that the song was good. They said you can expect it. Lemon doesn’t usually say they’re confident unless they are, so the song must be good.”

“Are they bluffing? I’ve never heard of an idol self-composed song being that good.”

“They must have real talent. His father was like that too, and I saw him play the piano at the music awards. He had a good reputation.”

Someone said.

“And this time, they spent a lot of money on Lemon, so they must be really determined. They even asked Hwang Tae-seon to do the jacket shoot.”

“Hwang Tae-seon? Isn’t he the one who only works with top stars?”

“The music video director is Jung Sung-moon. He’s the one who made the hit music video for TNT last year after working in the independent film scene. I heard about the people he worked with and they were not easy.”

“That’s amazing. It’s not easy to invest that much.”

“They must think this album is worth investing in.”

One reporter stuck out his tongue and said.

“Not only the producer, but Park Kyu-ho, the CEO, is not an ordinary person. He started out as a one-man agency, but now he’s one of the top three in the actor field. He also recruited a lot of actors who came out of FA recently.”

“True, he never jumped into anything he wasn’t sure of.”

“Right. Scarlet was also thought to be just a bunch of pretty faces at first, but they turned out to be talented.”

The more they talked, the more curious they became.

They thought it was too much investment for a small agency to debut a rookie group, but maybe there was a reason for it.

To be precise,

I wonder what kind of song is coming up next that they invested so much in it.

“Ah? Are they about to start soon?”

As the announcement asked us to take our seats, the lights in the hall gradually dimmed.

After it was completely dark, the screen lit up.

It was the music video that was scheduled as the first part of today’s showcase.

The opening scene of them with their arms crossed appeared.

-Drip.

The sound of water in the dark.

-Drip.

The screen brightened as the sound of water droplets continued.

Then, a girl appeared.

Daisy, the rapper of Scarlet, who made a cameo appearance, walked on the floor submerged in water.

She had a faint smile on her lips.

It was a mysterious atmosphere.

She walked in a space that was dark but brightened by the lighting, where only darkness filled below.

The girl who was walking leisurely stopped.

It was because of the transparent glass wall that blocked her way.

Daisy touched the glass wall and raised her hand to her mouth, smiling gracefully.

Then, she blew a breath.

With the help of the graphics, her breath sparkled like white light and scattered a bunch of light.

The light split into five colors as it passed through the glass wall.

Red, yellow, blue, green, purple.

The light that split into five rainbow-like prisms zoomed through the space that looked like a starry universe.

And then, they mixed again.

The five strands of light mingled with each other and the light turned black.

Finally, the logo appeared.

[The New Black]

Along with that, the darkened screen brightened in an instant.

A sunny sky.

Five young men showed themselves in an exotic sea.

The song that started at the same time.

It was a refreshing intro that opened my ears.