In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

I sneered at the sight of Rupert Dean, who confidently explained the origin of ‘Chichipong’ on the screen.

“Seriously, he could have chosen a better word…”

“Maybe Chichipong was that impressive to him.”

While Junghyun answered like that, the talk show host was practicing the pronunciation of ‘Chichipong’ on the screen.

-It’s a fun word to say. Chichipong.

-Right? I heard it’s addictive these days.

Rupert Dean smiled and showed his white teeth.

-I’ve been spreading it to my agent and the people around me lately.

“Don’t do that.”

“Ah!”

The audience laughed as he said ‘Chichipong’ with a sly smile.

But we couldn’t laugh.

It was a sight of Korea’s ‘Chichipong’ spreading like wildfire across North America through a live broadcast of a talk show.

Rihyuk said.

“It’s okay. Rupert hasn’t said who he learned it from yet.”

“Really? But we’ll be busted as soon as we say something like that.”

And then.

-By the way, ‘Chichipong’? Who did you learn that from?

-New Black.

-New Black?

-They’re my new friends from Korea. They’re the band I mentioned earlier. I learned it from a friend named ‘Woojoo’.

We were screwed. Totally screwed.

It felt like people were pointing fingers at us and mocking us, saying ‘You’re the one who spread Chichipong, huh?’

I didn’t care about any other word, but Chichipong. It was embarrassing.

“Ah. What do we do?”

I ran my hand through my hair.

“I think I’m ruined.”

“Is that what the seniors from Tinspirit would call ‘losing’?”

“Junghyun.”

“I’ll be quiet. Hyung.”

He made a gesture of closing a lock-and-lock lid on his mouth. I shook my head and turned my eyes to the screen.

It was a video clip that the talk show channel uploaded for promotion.

“The views are still low.”

My siblings grinned at me and I raised my palm.

“Calm down. Guys.”

“Hm?”

Bijoo blinked and smiled.

“We’re more calm than ever. Hyung.”

“The views are low. It could be buried like this.”

“Really?”

As I tried to console myself, the youngest pushed his face in like a baby.

I was about to snap my fingers, and he was ready to take the hit.

Click-

…The door of the practice room opened.

“Hi!”

A four-member girl group, Scarlet, popped their faces in as if they came to visit. They had hot dogs in their hands.

Their faces were like white rice cakes. They looked around and found me. They smiled brightly.

“There he is!”

“Nayuna. Let’s do it. That.”

“Wait, unnie. Let me calm down.”

Daisy pointed a hot dog at me with a serious expression. Then she said like a magic spell.

“Chichipong.”

“…”

“Kyahaha!”

The rest of them laughed and said ‘Bye!’ and closed the door.

All that was left was the faint smell of hot dogs.

“Puhahaha!”

And my siblings who were rolling on the floor and laughing.

I couldn’t help but laugh too. I muttered.

“What’s with them? How did they know?”

“Well, of course they know. I sent it to them.”

“…”

I paused and then laughed and turned my head.

“Who did you send it to?”

“Um, not many.”

The youngest raised his eyes and remembered the list.

“The director and the manager hyungs, those noonas and school friends, the A&R team, the producing team, maybe?”

“…”

“And some acquaintances and the PR team… Aaaah!”

“Hey! That’s everyone!”

That evening.

-Rupert Dean, a passionate K-pop fan, confesses “I like New Black’s Nine”

-Rupert Dean shows off his Korean skills on a US talk show, “Chichipong”

“Have you heard of Chichipong?”… The actor of ‘Nostalgia’ loves Korean

The video of the American actor humming ‘Nine’ and ‘Chichipong’ on a talk show became a hot topic in Korea.

The video with Korean subtitles was uploaded in droves.

People’s fingers started to move as it appeared on the popular video list.

-Lolololololololololol I’m going crazy for real

-00:47 00:58 My face gets hot every time he says Chichipong lol Aww

-What did New Black teach him lololol

-You are witnessing the scene of Chichipong becoming known all over the US.

-What is this… Should I be flattered?

-Main character: (Wondering if I should start a business)

-I was so proud when a famous foreign actor said he liked Korean songs, but it all flew away with one Chichipong

-We need a word that’s the opposite of national pride for the Chichipong part., It feels like the opposite of pride is rising

-Chinese or Japanese people usually claim Korean stuff as theirs when it’s introduced abroad, but they’re so quiet lolololololol

-I wouldn’t take Chichipong either…

Soon, the captured images of the video were stitched together and spread everywhere.

They were posted on humor pages on SNS and various communities.

Most of them had similar reactions to the YouTube comments.

When Rupert Dean, New Black, Nine, and ‘Chichipong’ rose to the real-time search terms.

There were people who smiled innocently at all this.

-I felt a thud in my chest when I liked the older brothers, but why is my heart so comfortable now?

-This unshakable calmness even when it’s on the real-time search terms

-This is like… New Black

-Now I think I’ll only be surprised if I hear that our kids donated their hair to Kyuho lololol

-Our kids who fly and fall when others do relay da

-That sounds so scary lolololololololololol

-When other stones are smashed, Junghyun smashes the stone

-But how do I promote this…

-A year ago, if you told me that your favorite’s promotion would include a Hollywood actor’s Chichipong, I would have asked if you were crazy

Soon, the Soufflés who were pondering this and that with Rupert Dean’s SNS certification and Bijoo’s Hongdae fancam.

Meanwhile.

As they were wondering what to watch for the holiday movie before Chuseok, ‘Chichipong’ threw them a solution.

-I’ll have to watch Nostalgia

-I hated the national pride marketing so much, but if they do that much after-service lolololol

-I’ll only watch until the break-even point

-I don’t like musical movies, but I’ll watch it out of loyalty lololol

The moment when the reservation rate, which had risen steadily since the director’s visit to Korea, rose again.

Reservation rate 38.6%

The Chuseok theater where the big Korean movies were waiting.

It was unusual for a musical movie that was not well known in Korea to take the first place in the reservation rate.

“…”

The production companies, distributors, and PR agencies of the other movies that were about to be released had to be nervous.

There was silence in the office of the distributor of one of the movies.

“…It’s not a normal thing. What is that, the movie quality is good too?”

“The momentum is no joke. It’s because of the New Black talk show story that came up again.”

“Oh my…”

Someone said.

“We should have used New Black for the promotion side earlier. They had a good word of mouth for the animation last year.”

“Well. I don’t know about six months ago…”

“Team leader, they’re the ones who are doing the telecom ads right now. We can’t afford them with our budget.”

“How expensive can it be, ugh…”

Soon, the employees were shocked by the idol pay they found in the database.

“It has to be expensive. Among the male idols, they’re the best in terms of popularity, right? Their image is also likable.”

“Our parents knew them too.”

They were convinced by the pay that the boy group had a popularity like a famous girl group.

When the musical movie that was slowly approaching the movie industry like a storm made the officials nervous.

“It’s a hit…!”

“It’ll be a great response if the word of mouth is good too, right?”

The movie company ‘Forest’ that was in charge of the distribution of ‘Nostalgia’ was already in the mood to toast.

It was a movie that had enough attention to attract attention from abroad before its release, but it was a movie that had no expectations in Korea because no one was interested. Ŗá

When they heard the news that Nostalgia suddenly became the first in the reservation rate, their hearts couldn’t help but beat.

“First of all, contact the PR agency now. If you know any reporters, use your connections.”

The distributors who were working with excited faces.

Everything was perfect.

There was only one problem…

“Hey, by the way.”

“Hmm?”

“What do we write if we send out a press release. Do we have to write ‘The Power of Chichipong’?”

“…”

Their minds were troubled by the word choice for the article title.

“Please bow~!”

We all laughed and bowed deeply towards the phone camera.

Snap.

Jiho’s noble hat fell off his head, and Bijoo’s scholar hat dropped to the floor, making us burst into laughter.

We got up from the floor, where we were wriggling like cockroaches.

“Do we have to edit and go again?”

“Just go.”

“They might feel sad if we look too perfect.”

Hong, the director who was filming behind the camera, gave us an OK sign with his hand.

I smiled and said.

“The national holiday of Chuseok~”

“Is coming soon!”

“It’s getting colder, right? Please dress warmly and have a happy holiday.”

We all danced the Chuseok version of ‘Nine’ that we had prepared in advance, saying ‘Have a bountiful harvest moon festival!’.

It was our own Chuseok celebration stage.

We danced and added some ad-libs in between.

“Hey, where is Hanyang yo.”

Junghyun, who was wearing a Joseon-era doctor’s outfit, waved a medicine envelope, making us laugh.

Rihyuk, who was wearing a traditional percussionist’s outfit, swung his head and attacked the youngest with a rope.

I, who was wearing a silk outfit of a playboy scholar, shook my fan like a lizard’s frill and danced, making my brothers giggle.

“Woah~!”

At the end, we all bowed and said ‘Have a great Chuseok!’.

“Ugh, I’m tired.”

“I should have just said hello.”

We sat on the floor with our brothers for a while.

“Good job!”

“You too.”

We said goodbye to Hong, the director who left with the camera, and changed our costumes back to training clothes and lay on the floor.

“Tomorrow is Chuseok already.”

“Yeah.”

“Time flies so fast. I feel like last Chuseok was just yesterday.”

I nodded at Junghyun’s words.

“What did we do last year?”

“Didn’t we watch Jusehan with our families? It was so fun then.”

I remembered that time vividly.

Jiho’s father rented a whole meat restaurant, and we ate there while watching the first part of Jusehan.

“…Is it just me? I feel so nostalgic.”

“Me too.”

“Every time we saw comments like ‘Who is that?’ on the internet, we all clapped and cheered.”

It was amazing to contrast it with the situation now, where everyone recognizes our faces and says ‘It’s New Black!’.

This happened in a year.

We lay down for a while and smiled at each other.

“Ah…!”

“Ah, I have a sore throat.”

We all grimaced because of the sore throat from dancing hard, and then laughed.

Rihyuk said.

“I just like the situation itself.”

It was true.

We had concerts. People listened to our songs like this, and we were happy that we had recognition.

We still had a long way to go, but what we were achieving now was something we couldn’t even imagine at this time last year.

The only downside was.

“I miss my grandmother…”

“You talked to her for an hour last night.”

“No. I have to see her in person.”

The brothers laughed.

The only downside of this Chuseok was that we couldn’t meet our families.

We were supposed to go abroad for a tour, and each of us planned to go home and spend some time, but there were a lot of variables.

As the Soufflés increased, so did the sasaengs, and the company was worried about it.

Lately, there were even cars that jumped in front of us or followed us to the highway.

It was the first time the company had experienced this situation.

So we decided to stay in Seoul to prevent any accidents that might happen when we scattered for the holiday.

TNT, who had a lot of incidents during the holiday after they became popular in their second year, was an example.

We agreed to that, as we witnessed unfamiliar faces growing near our dorm every day.

It was better to avoid them until things stabilized.

And.

“Let’s get ready for the schedule.”

I clapped my hands and got the brothers up.

“Nooo…”

I showed the main vocal, who was struggling with his poor stamina, a ten thousand won bill with King Sejong on it and got him up.

I took care of the droopy brothers and moved from the company to the salon.

One of the reasons why we couldn’t visit our hometown this time was because of the busy schedule of Chuseok.

“Hello, Future Economy Newspaper subscribers.”

"Chichipong! We are New Black!

We also filmed greeting videos to send to various companies that asked us to greet them for Chuseok.

We also visited the radio and had a talk for about an hour.

And we also agreed to appear as panelists on various programs and special episodes for Chuseok.

-It’s time to meet some really hot people.

The auditorium of Taehwa High School, where we had our final evaluation two years ago.

We waited in the backstage, wearing our stage costumes.

It was a quiz show with a total prize of 20 million won, selected from high school students who had a knack for quizzes.

“I should have been out there…”

Rihyuk looked envious of the students outside the backstage.

The cheers outside grew louder.

-Let me give you a hint about them: the number 9… Wow. The cheers are amazing!

-Then let’s not waste any more time and bring them out right away!

The FD with the intercom gestured for us to go up.

-It’s New Black!

As we, dressed in stage costumes, went up on the stage, cheers poured out from the 200 students sitting on the floor of the auditorium.

The same expression came to their faces, wearing various uniforms.

“Woahhh!”

Every time we sang ‘Nine’ excitedly on the stage, the students responded by singing ‘Nine’ along with us in the chorus.

‘Hyung.’

‘Okay.’

We exchanged glances with the manager hyungs.

As we came down from the stage to the floor of the auditorium as agreed with the broadcasting station beforehand, screams erupted.

While singing in front of the students who were surrounded by fences, we snatched the phones that were taking pictures of us.

Then we took selfies together while singing.

“Woahhh!”

After doing such a selfie event, we went back up on the stage and sang the chorus of Nine.

“Huff, hello!”

I took a deep breath and greeted the audience on the stage with a microphone.

“Hello, we are New Black!”

“Woahhh!”

“I really didn’t expect you to respond so well, thank you so much. Did you enjoy the show?”

“Yes!”

Jiho picked up the microphone.

“Before we came up here, Rihyuk hyung said he was so jealous of the ‘High School Quiz King’ contestants, and he wanted to be on a quiz show like this too.”

“That’s right. I’m really jealous.”

Rihyuk said.

“I really love these kinds of quizzes.”

“So we prepared something.”

Bi Ju continued.

On the TV show ‘High School Quiz King’, there was a corner where celebrities would give quizzes along with a congratulatory performance for each episode.

Sometimes they prepared nonsense, and sometimes they gave difficult questions.

When the students sat down with tense faces and held their markers, Rihyuk smiled and said.

“I prepared a really fun quiz.”

Junghyun grabbed the microphone and read the cue card.

“The category is ‘Korean’. The following is the first line of a poem by the poet No Cheon Myeong. ‘You are a sad beast with a long head.’”

“‘You are always polite and have no words.’”

“Which of the following is the title of this poem?”

I read the answer.

“1. Elephant, 2. Giraffe, 3. Deer, 4. Dragon.”

A brief hesitation passed by.

But I thought this was pretty easy.

“The answer is 3. Deer!”

“…”

“Wow…?”

I thought only a few people would get it wrong, but 86 people were blinking their eyes with the number two in their hands.

Their eyes seemed to say something.

‘You said it was easy?’

‘Giraffe? Why is it not a giraffe?’

‘Am I eliminated?’

I felt like a duck watching the freshmen who were facing the final test.

The PD who agreed to our quiz saying it would be fun also looked flustered by the number of losers.

I smiled and said to the writer who wrote on the sketchbook.

“Yes, this was a practice question.”

“Ah…”

“Did you really think I would give such a confusing question?”

The ears of the culprit who gave the question turned red.

My siblings looked impressed by my smooth handling of the situation.

The students also laughed as if they were relieved.

“Now that you’re warmed up with the Korean quiz, shall we move on to the real question? The real question is about deer.”

After giving another question that most people could answer.

“Hey. I told you it was hard.”

“The PD also said it would be fun. You’re all quiz kings, so this should be easy.”

“I was so nervous earlier.”

They scolded the one who gave the hard quiz as they moved to the next schedule location.

The day before Chuseok.

The last schedule of the day was a promotional event where we watched the newly released ‘Nostalgia’ with the Soufflés at a small theater.

“Oh, there they are!”

“It looks like there are fans over there!”

As we drove, we saw the Soufflés gathered outside the theater.

They had different outfits, but we could guess their identity by the moon sticks they held in their hands.

“Should we say hello?”

And when we asked the manager hyungs for permission to lower the car window.

“…”

“…”

We saw the Soufflés dancing a weird dance and laughing with their moon sticks.

We quickly looked away.

I saw Minki hyung’s smiling eyes in the rearview mirror.

“You said you would say hello?”

“…Later, later we’ll say hello.”

The sight of the Soufflés dancing away faded.

“It feels like we did something wrong.”

“…”

It was a time for us to reflect on our actions.