In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 71

“Is it going to rain?”

“Yes.”

Junghyun scratched his cheek as he explained.

“I’ve lived in the countryside since I was young, and I heard a lot of weather talk from the adults who went to the fields. I also experienced it myself.”

“Then?”

“The smell of the air is also a bit strange. And the wind is blowing a bit…”

He moved his big hand around as if he wanted to explain something, but he seemed frustrated that he couldn’t find the right words.

“It’s like that feeling you get before it pours down. You know, that kind of thing.”

“Rihyuk, didn’t you check the weather earlier?”

“I did.”

Rihyuk tapped his phone and showed Woojoo the screen.

“Look here. It says ‘clear’ for today’s weather. And there’s no mention of rain for the next few days.”

“Isn’t it because of the typhoon? They say there’s a typhoon coming.”

“That won’t come for a few more days.”

It would take at least another day or two for the typhoon that was coming to reach the southern region.

So this place, which was in the central region, was far from the influence of the typhoon.

And the weather bureau said it wouldn’t rain.

Well, Woojoo honestly didn’t trust the weather bureau, but it was hard to see it raining when he looked at the clear sky in front of him.

The problem was the weight of Junghyun’s words.

He was always saying silly things, but when he was serious, he was the one who made the most accurate statements.

When Woojoo was wondering if he should go to the Music Cafe and talk about his dad, or when he spoke sincerely to the fans before the fan signing event.

Of course, this weather forecast was a different matter, but most of the stories that Junghyun told seriously were worth listening to.

That was why they all frowned.

“Minki Hyung, don’t you think we should tell them if it’s really going to rain like Junghyun said?”

“I don’t know. That’s a bit…”

Minki Hyung scratched the back of his head with a troubled expression.

Of course.

How could they go to the organizers and say, ‘The weather is clear and the forecast is good, but our kid says it’s going to rain.’

“Let me go and talk to the manager first. You guys go ahead and get in,” Minki Hyung added as he walked toward Yoon Seokhwan.

“It’s a big deal if it rains a lot.”

He was right.

Rain was a very fatal factor for outdoor events.

Especially for singers.

Even ballad singers who didn’t move much couldn’t perform their best because of the rain, let alone idols who had breathless choreography as a basic.

To think that they had to roll their feet on that wet stage…

Ugh.

It was dizzying just to imagine it.

Woojoo was worried as he recalled the videos of idol singers falling that were circulating on the internet.

“Can we trust this, Junghyun Hyung?” Rihyuk asked again as if to confirm.

“I can’t say for sure, but I have a strong feeling.”

“Ah, what is this? Is it really going to rain?”

“But don’t worry too much. We have a good hunch.”

“Hyung, we agreed not to use that word.”

“No. The jinx was broken because of Woojoo Hyung.”

“Didn’t the sound system break down suddenly when you made that joke last time?”

He shook his head and looked at Woojoo with his innocent eyes, as if asking for help.

“Junghyun is right. There’s no such thing as superstition in this world.”

No one agreed with him.

As Junghyun and Woojoo walked with sad shoulders, the little ones ahead of them started to have a worried conversation.

Of course, Woojoo was worried too.

But it didn’t feel real.

Because the sky was very clear right now.

Woojoo couldn’t believe it, so he had to ask him again.

“Junghyun, can you feel it when it rains?”

“No. It’s not like that. Sometimes the weather bureau says it won’t rain, and the day is clear, but the adults who go to the greenhouse say, ‘Junghyun, cover the pile over there today.’ And on those days, it always rains…”

“Really?”

“Yes. Today is a bit similar to those days.”

Was it really going to rain?

It was when Woojoo tilted his head while looking at the sky dyed red by the sunset.

"Hyung. But…"

"Yeah."

"Did I say something weird? Everyone is worried, and it seems like Minki Hyung got in trouble with the manager because of me…"

He scratched the back of his head with a complicated expression.

He seemed quite bothered.

He didn't mean much by what he said, but everyone overreacted because the event was coming up.

Unlike his calm face, his eyes showed a whirlwind of emotions.

Woojoo was wondering what to say to him when a serious voice called him again.

"Hyung."

"Hmm?"

"I said all that…"

Said what?

"What if it doesn't rain?"

Woojoo couldn't help but laugh at that moment.

He felt a sudden relief.

On one hand, he was glad.

This was Kim Junghyun for you.

He tilted his head as if he didn't understand the context. ‘What's wrong with that?'

Woojoo tapped his shoulder and laughed.

"What do you mean, what if? It's good if it doesn't rain, dummy."

* * *

But that actually happened.

"…"

They came out again after the rehearsal and stared blankly at the sky.

They weren't the only ones.

The other singers and performance teams were also looking at the sky.

"This doesn't look good."

As someone muttered, the sky was not normal.

Dark clouds were gathering from the far west against the dark blue sky.

The black clouds slowly marched over the wide field, making them swallow their saliva.

Soon, the worried voices of the performers filled the venue.

"Hey. Do you think the equipment will be okay?"

"What do we do, Unnie? Don't we have to change our choreography?"

"What's our order? I think we should ask them to move it up."

The rock band was worried about their expensive equipment getting wet, and the boy groups and girl groups were discussing the choreography changes.

The most worried ones were the folk music team.

They all looked serious, imagining jumping and tumbling on the slippery floor.

As the worry spread like wildfire, the staff on the scene were out of their minds because of the fire on their feet.

"Hey, maknae! Is this all the waterproof cloth we have left?"

"Bring some more cable ties and tidy up the wires here! I have to do everything myself… Hey, hey! How are you going to set up the tent there, you idiot!"

"Pump! I'm going to install the drainage pump now!"

Under the flawless direction of the general director who was in charge of the event, the staff ran around in all directions.

The more Woojoo looked, the more amazing it was.

Sometimes on TV, they showed the construction site and fast-forward the scene of the building going up. It was similar to that.

When Woojoo blinked, there was a tent set up there.

When he blinked again, the waterproof cloth was neatly covered.

He didn't have to worry.

Seeing the staff checking the curtain on the stage and every corner, he felt less worried about the external factors of the stage.

On the other hand.

Unlike the other teams who were raising their voices over the choreography or costume issues, or the staff who were running around frantically, they were relatively calm.

"You all understood the choreography we changed earlier, right? Like this. Don't rotate your feet as usual, but shake them off like this."

They all nodded to Bijoo, who showed them the footwork as an assistant.

They practiced a few more times to confirm.

"Bijoo Hyung, it's not that I can't do it. But this movement seems a bit weird."

It was obvious to anyone that he was the weird one, and he was the only one who couldn't do it, but Bijoo didn't say anything and gave Rihyuk a one-on-one lesson.

Meanwhile, the rest of them stretched and loosened their bodies.

"Wow, we really owe it to Junghyun Hyung. We're lucky we knew it was going to rain, otherwise we would have been fighting like crazy."

"Junghyun did a big thing."

The reason they were relatively relaxed was thanks to the human weather station next to them.

An hour ago, after finishing the talk with the event agency, Yoon Seokhwan came back and suggested changing the choreography after thinking for a while.

Woojoo was already worried about the members getting hurt, so he agreed with them wholeheartedly. They called the choreographer and changed a few slippery moves over video chat.

The result was successful, except for the main vocal who struggled with the simple movements, just like Woojoo used to.

Woojoo was about to thank Junghyun for his suggestion.

“Junghyun.”

“…Yes?”

“What are you looking at?”

He was staring at something again, making his heart sink.

Woojoo wondered what it was this time.

It wouldn’t be strange if he said, ‘I think a wild boar will come out later.’

Was it just his imagination that he seemed a bit odd?

He said it was nothing.

“Over there, the staff seems to be doing something wrong.”

“Where?”

“The one installing the pump.”

He pointed to the youngest staff who was setting up a drainage pump in the corner of the concert hall.

“I’ve seen adults use that thing, and they have to make it more vertical…”

He explained in a low voice, and Jiho and Woojoo looked at each other.

Their kid sometimes seemed strange, to say the least.

Jiho whispered in Woojoo’s ear, ‘He’s a weird Hyung.’

Woojoo chuckled, and he suddenly realized something and blew into his ear again.

“Come to think of it, you’re weirder, Hyung.”

He always did that.

Woojoo rolled his eyes at him, and then Bijoo and Rihyuk joined them after their rehearsal.

“How was the rehearsal?”

“It was good, there were some regrets, but Rihyuk followed me well. It’ll be fine on stage.”

“…I’ll just think it’s fate if I fall.”

Bijoo tried to put a positive spin on it, but Rihyuk’s troubled face said it all.

Woojoo didn’t try to comfort him, fearing it would backfire.

Bijoo changed the subject with a smile.

“When is our rehearsal?”

“They said they’ll start soon. They’re checking the curtain installation. I heard the order might change a bit too.”

“By the way, Hyungs. The event is starting soon.”

The youngest, who was looking around, asked curiously, “Don’t you see Teen Spirit sunbae-nims?”

“Well, they’ll come right after their other event. We did that too when we were Something.”

They probably had three or four events a day at that level.

It was a common thing.

They chatted with the younger ones like that.

Vroom-

A thunder-like sound echoed from the dark clouds.

The sudden silence.

As everyone on the scene froze, swallowing their saliva at the meaning of that sound.

He felt suffocated.

“Hey, guys.”

Woojoo said to the eyes that looked at him blankly, “Why do you always stick to me?”

***

8 p.m.

The 2014 Moonlight Festival, hosted by Icheon City, Gyeonggi Province, finally began.

A skilled announcer led the event, and cameras from the broadcasting stations were scattered around.

They mostly had marks like ‘PBS Gyeonggi’ or ‘Gyeonggi TV’.

It seemed to be a bigger event than Woojoo thought.

Especially under the tent that looked like a VIP seat, the mayor and his wife and the staff were seated.

It was a big event, and the seats were full of people, even though it was drizzling.

There were many families who came out for a picnic, and many elders.

There were also many young faces, but most of them wore masks or held large cameras, the unmistakable signs of idol fans.

They were probably Teen Spirit fans with a high probability.

Soon the performance began.

The first order was the folk play team, which was originally the last.

The sound of janggu, drum, and gong.

The lively sound flowed and the audience’s reaction was good.

After that, various performances followed.

There were idols, bands, and dance teams.

-Wow!

But the person who received the loudest cheers from the audience was a young trot singer.

His name was Song Bohyung, Woojoo thought.

He was a senior singer whose name he didn’t recognize, but he got the best response from the middle-aged and elderly audience today.

Of course, he also did a great job of leading the mood.

-Ladies! Give me a clap! Clap clap clap, gentlemen too! Clap clap clap! Okay, then let’s go!

His rich voice flowed along with the upbeat trot intro.

Every time, the audience erupted in applause and cheers.

Maybe it was because of that enthusiastic reaction, but the Street Boys, who were next after them, looked troubled as they waited.

They kept glancing at New Black, and Woojoo wondered why, but soon he realized the reason and smirked.

That was right.

They beat them with trot at the end-of-year evaluation.

They seemed to be reminded of that trauma, and Hanjo was busy comforting the demoralized members.

They exchanged light eye greetings as their eyes met.

New Black also warmed up their bodies and prepared to go on stage, when a camera appeared somewhere.

It was a local broadcasting station called Gyeonggi TV.

Woojoo answered sincerely to the reporter’s question about how he felt before the performance, and he calmly waited for the stage.

He hoped nothing would go wrong today.

***

“The rain is getting worse.”

The raindrops started to get thicker as Street Boys went on stage, and now it was pouring.

Yoon Seokhwan looked at the stage with a worried eye.

Seo Minki, who was holding an umbrella next to him, asked, “Are you very worried?”

He nodded.

He had told them to be careful, since their bodies were their assets, but he was also concerned as a guardian who looked after the young kids.

-Hello, we are New Black!

New Black greeted the audience as they went on stage.

The reaction was perfunctory.

The appropriate and polite applause that new groups received when they came to events.

The stage of Fireworks started right away.

And when they reached the chorus part, Seo Minki let out a sigh of deflation.

“…Oh!”

Rihyuk almost slipped on the slippery floor during the choreography.

“Uh…”

And Woojoo, who skillfully caught him.

It wasn’t just Rihyuk.

Bijoo, the main dancer, also wobbled several times on the slippery floor that exceeded his expectations.

And every time, Woojoo appeared swiftly and held him up, continuing the stage.

It was natural.

Anyone would think it was the original choreography.

Yoon Seokhwan smiled as he watched him smile brightly, not caring about his wet clothes in the rain.

‘Well done.’

He still wondered how he became so good at using his body without losing his balance.

But the fact that he, who used to be a klutz, was now leading the members skillfully, made him feel very proud.

He had watched him since he was in elementary school.

It was when he looked at him with a warm eye, not as a manager looking at a member, but as a brother looking at a younger sibling.

‘…What’s going on?’

He saw the staff of the agency talking in serious voices behind the venue.

Seo Minki came back soon and told him the situation.

“Manager, it’s about Teen Spirit. They’re next after us.”

“Oh, they were almost here.”

“That’s…”

The road manager bit his lip with a troubled face.

“They had a fender bender on the wet road.”

“What?”

He had just relieved that there was no accident, but now there was a problem outside the stage.