In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 63

It was truly a day when everything went wrong.

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon rummaged through her closet, grumbling.

What a terrible day it had been.

“They’re raising the rent again, those bastards.”

She threw the thick blanket on the floor, cursing the landlord who wanted to increase the rent for her restaurant.

“Just take whatever they give you.”

She rubbed her sore back, cursing the customer who had asked her to remake the soybean paste soup five times for no good reason.

“Who do they think they are, the owners of this place?”

She found the old radio behind the spot where the blanket had been, and remembered the staff at the temple she often visited.

She had gone there to pray for her grandson’s success.

But they had been rude to her, saying that her donations had decreased lately.

All of this had happened in one day.

Sometimes there are days like that.

When luck is so bad that everything goes wrong, it goes wrong all day long.

Her stubborn mouth was set in a straight line.

“I should just take the bad luck for him.”

If she had a son-in-law, he would have scoffed at her for believing in such nonsense, but Mrs. Kim Deok-soon was sincere.

She thought that whenever something bad happened to her, she was taking the bad luck for her grandson.

That’s why she quickly calmed down.

When things went wrong, it meant that something good was happening to her grandson.

It had been like that when he first topped that chart thing and was so excited, or when he said some weird bread name as his acceptance speech on a music show.

She had also had some minor mishaps that morning, like dropping an egg or something.

Then maybe today there was something good too.

She nodded her head, thinking that good things are good things, and looked inside the closet.

“…”

There was an old radio in the corner, but she hesitated to reach for it.

It wasn’t because she was short or couldn’t reach it.

It was because of the owner of the item.

‘Myeong-eun loved it so much.’

The old radio was something her daughter had used before she got married.

She felt a pang in her chest when she thought of taking out something her daughter had used.

She should just install the program on her phone like Woo-ju told her.

But the smartphone was an unfamiliar and mysterious world to her, so she eventually decided to take out the radio.

“Ah, look at the dust.”

She wiped the dust off with a wet tissue and plugged in the cord.

Then she pressed the power button with a nervous heart.

She was worried that it wouldn’t turn on because it was so old, but it worked fine except for a slight crackling sound.

She tuned the frequency and a cool voice came out.

-Did you have a wonderful day today? Well, then, let’s start Jang So-won’s Wonderful Night!

She recognized the voice.

It was the woman who had been on the show with her grandson for a month.

She looked very fierce, but.

Her grandson said she was a very kind and nice senior.

‘It’s still an hour until he comes on.’

She heard he was going to be on with other singers.

They must not be bad people if he didn’t say anything.

She shook her head.

She didn’t know about that.

He was always quiet about that part.

Was it in elementary school?

Some crazy kid who was jealous of her popular grandson picked a fight with him, and in the end, he taunted him for not having a mom and dad.

He had a big fight because of that, and even when his parents came to school and made a scene, he was quiet.

He said he didn’t want to worry his grandmother, even at that young age.

How much harder would it be for him now that he’s grown up and entered that dirty and nasty world of those people?

He didn’t show it, but she was always worried about him.

That’s how parents feel.

“…I shouldn’t have turned it on so early.”

She got up, feeling restless.

She did some work when she felt uneasy, following the philosophy of Seon Woo-ju, which she didn’t need to say who had taught her.

She swept the room she had used in the morning again, mopped the floor, and gave some food to the stray cat that had been coming to play lately.

She was busy for a while.

Finally, it was 9 o’clock.

I turned off the fan, worried that it might drown out the sound, and sat in front of the radio, waiting for my grandson’s voice to come on.

-Hello! We are New Black!

There was applause after their energetic greeting.

-I’m Woojoo, the leader and lead vocalist of the group.

-I’m Ri-hyuk, the main vocalist.

I heard their familiar voices one after another.

Then.

Something sneaked in through the gap of the open door.

“Ugh.”

The cat that came in hesitated.

“That darn thing came in again.”

I waved my hand to shoo it away, but the cat only gained confidence and entered brazenly.

There were dirty paw prints on the floor that I had just cleaned.

I was about to curse and chase it out when.

Meow.

It came closer and flopped down, showing its belly. I missed the timing.

She licked her lips several times and then pointed at the radio with a stern expression.

“I’m letting you off today because of this. Next time, there won’t be any soup. Nabi, you promised to come in only for today with this granny, right? You understand?”

Meow.

She ignored the cat that cried out quickly and focused on the radio.

It was nothing special, but it was a healing time for Mrs. Kim Deok-soon.

How nice and warm was her grandson’s voice on the radio.

The fatigue of the day melted away.

She stroked the head of the cat that lay quietly and listened to the broadcast.

She laughed nonstop during the third part.

She couldn’t guess everything that was going on because she only heard it with her ears, but the situations that unfolded in there were vividly drawn.

Ri-hyuk who turned red, too.

When she heard that her grandson had a miserable expression because of the army, she laughed because she knew better than anyone what that expression looked like.

She enjoyed the broadcast like that.

Her ears perked up at her grandson’s words before the live performance.

-I grew up in my grandmother’s arms since I was young.

She opened her eyes wide at his explanation of how he made the song called Night Sea based on what memory.

‘Did he make the song for me to listen to?’

He kept telling her to listen to the radio, and that he would be mad if she didn’t. She wondered why he was like that.

It seemed to be because of that reason.

She felt proud, and managed her expression with a smile, even though no one was watching.

‘Well, he made a song for me.’

But she couldn’t help but laugh at his next story.

The old memories were so fresh.

She remembered putting him to sleep on the mat whenever he whined that he couldn’t sleep.

‘He was so cute when he was young.’

She smiled broadly at the thought.

He was disgusting now, but he was so adorable when he was young.

All the girls in the neighborhood would say, “Granny, let me take Woojoo to school” every time they went to school.

-Then, before we listen to the ads, would you like to say something to your grandmother?

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon swallowed.

She tilted her ears, waiting for what he would say.

-Uh, my Kim Deok-soon lady. I love you very much.

Oh my.

She clenched her fists awkwardly, and the cat stared at her.

For a moment.

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon burst into a chuckle.

-Since I made the song, please listen well… And uh… All the grandmothers in the country, fighting. You’ve worked hard raising your grandchildren.

He always had to say something silly at the end.

The bread from the last broadcast, too.

She laughed at his mistake, but felt a bit nervous.

‘I hope he sings well.’

It was because the S-whatever group had done well and left.

She didn’t like their songs because they were too fancy, but even she felt that they were good.

She wondered what would happen if he sang worse than them.

But that worry flew away as soon as Ri-hyuk hummed.

He was good, anyone could see that.

If someone else did it, they would have scolded him for humming so lightly, but the humming that flowed out now was calm and pleasant to listen to.

It also had a feeling that made the listener immerse themselves.

As if to soak the listener in the sentimental atmosphere.

When the 30 seconds that felt like 10 seconds passed by in an instant, the song finally started.

‘Flower play or something was noisy, but this is calm and nice.’

The grandson really had a lot of talent.

Just by listening, the images conveyed by the song came to mind as if they were drawn.

Splash-

The sound of waves inserted in the opening tickled the ears.

A familiar scene came to mind again.

On a summer night when the stars were shining, I opened the door to the yard and put my grandson to sleep on the porch. 

The memory of that time.

The grandson sang softly next to me.

When I walk in the old memories

The rusty gate and the swaying tail

When I take off my shoes and cross the threshold

I see your knees

Until the grandson’s part was over, Mrs. Kim Deok-soon was still and held her breath.

Her chest was warm.

She felt a deep longing in every word.

It seemed like he was saying that he missed that time too.

His voice was warm.

Her body felt hot.

The lump that had accumulated throughout the day was gone without a trace.

When she was looking at the ceiling for no reason and cooling her eyes.

Seo Ri-hyuk started singing.

When I lower my head and look at the night sky

Everything is a trace

This star is your scent

That star is your touch

His voice was as beautiful as when he hummed.

He looked cold and sharp on TV, but how could his voice be so beautiful when he sang.

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon smiled.

She felt a longing in her grandson’s voice, and somehow it seemed like he was saying this.

Thank you.

Maybe because they were on the same team.

Seo Ri-hyuk’s song was as dear as his grandson’s.

Anyone who heard it would think it was a song sung by brothers for the same person.

And,

The grandson took over the song.

Now the stars are not pretty

And I’m not afraid of the dark

While he was singing of longing, his voice was penetrating.

As if to express his gratitude.

He still thinks

The night sky you looked at

That night sea

As they approached the chorus, the two voices came together.

It harmonized and became one voice.

If there was such a thing as color in the song, she thought the color that was flowing out of the radio now would be very pretty.

That night sea

Your scent

That night sea

Your voice

After the chorus, this time the humming of the universe tickled the ears pleasantly.

Mrs. Kim Deok-soon snorted.

She looked down and saw something round looking at her.

“Grandma, I’m not crying. Nabi, you’re shedding fur.”

Something warm pressed its head against her leg.

At that touch, Mrs. Kim Deok-soon recalled the old days when she hugged her grandson tightly and fell asleep.

As she was doing that, she seemed to hear a hallucination.

Surely only the lyrics were coming out of the radio, but it seemed like she could hear her grandson’s words in it.

Thank you.

And I miss you.

“…”

She swallowed her saliva without saying a word.

I don’t know what to call this feeling that I have at times like this. Maybe I’ll never know, even at this age.

It’s a mix of complex emotions: pride, compassion, gratitude, affection.

She looked at the radio.

She couldn’t see his face, only hear his voice, but it seemed to convey his emotions more vividly.

Unlike TV, where he just spoke one-way, radio felt like he was communicating with both sides.

Maybe that’s why her daughter always had the radio on. She wondered.

As she thought that, her eyes moved to the frame on the desk.

An old and faded photo.

She stroked the face of her daughter, who was smiling with a bouquet of flowers.

She smiled and said, “Your son has grown up well, Myeong-eun.”

As the gentle guitar sound played, Mrs. Kim Deok-soon looked out the window.

It was a bright moonlit night.

Truly, it was a song that suited this ambitious time.

***

Somewhere in Gunsan, someone was listening to the song with tears in their eyes.

The warm atmosphere of ‘Night Sea’ touched the listeners’ emotions at this late hour.

A truck driver heading to Gyeonggi-do tapped the steering wheel unconsciously to the rhythm of the song.

Someone who was going up the escalator at the subway station leaned their tired body on the handrail and smiled.

The owner of the supermarket who was listening to the gentle guitar performance looked at the moon outside the window and thought about going back to his hometown for the next holiday season.

A student who was solving a workbook at home took off his earphones in the middle of the song and went to see his parents who were watching TV in the living room.

Meanwhile.

The DJ and the production staff who were watching the two singers who were singing ‘Night Sea’ on the spot had a soft smile on their lips.

***

He plucked the last guitar string and finished the song.

Whew.

His eyes were dry.

He felt a sudden wave of fatigue.

He came to his senses and realized he was back in the radio booth.

It had been a long time since he was so immersed in a song.

He felt a pleasant sense of relief and looked at the main vocal who was fidgeting next to him.

They exchanged smiles.

‘You did well.’

‘You did well too.’

They didn’t need to say it out loud. They knew.

It was the first time since their debut showcase that they were so absorbed in a song.

He honestly didn’t know how the song would be evaluated.

The A&R team said it was good, but he and Ri-hyuk were doubtful.

When they worked on the song for a week and listened to the same song hundreds of times, they couldn’t tell if it was good or bad.

But.

Even if the reviews were not good, he didn’t care right now.

He felt the same way as when he finished the performance at the end-of-year evaluation, or when he successfully completed the live without accompaniment at the debut showcase.

The feeling that they connected with each other while singing.

It was a valuable experience that he couldn’t exchange for anything.

He and Ri-hyuk looked at each other for a while and then turned their eyes to the monitor.

“…Huh?”

The chat room was quiet.

No comments were coming up, and he tilted his head at the strangeness.

Jang So-won, the senior who was about to react, also narrowed his eyes at the chat room where not a single comment came up.

Then, he saw the production staff behind the glass window.

Among them, a middle-aged man sitting on a chair raised his thumb.

As if to praise them.

They nodded and smiled back.

But then, the engineer bent his thumb down.

What?

He wondered if it was some kind of new diss, but soon he realized it was a gesture to look at the monitor.

And he and Ri-hyuk widened their eyes.

…What?

They realized why the chat room was quiet.

It was lagging.

The chat room that had been silent until a moment ago exploded in front of their eyes.