In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 178:

Chapter 178:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 178

How could he take a picture so suddenly?

Woojoo was startled for a moment, but he quickly posed for the photographer’s shutter.

“Good! Good!”

He kept exclaiming in English.

The short photo shoot was over and it was his siblings’ turn.

It was hard for the photographer to give detailed directions like in Korea, so Woojoo wondered if he should translate for them somehow, but it was easily solved.

“Shoo shoo!”

The photographer raised his hand to his waist and roughly described the pose.

“Yes, yes.”

His kids nailed the pose perfectly.

They had taken so many photos for magazines, album covers, posters, etc. that they seemed to have gained a lot of experience.

Woojoo was proud of the fact that his siblings, who used to get scolded for their clumsy poses when they debuted, had grown enough to pose skillfully.

Rihyuk glanced at Woojoo with a sly eye as he smiled softly.

“What’s with that expression?”

“What?”

“You look like a grandfather who came to a kindergarten recital. You keep giggling at the other Hyungs.”

“…”

“He’s doing the same thing as the manager right now.”

“Seokhwan Hyung?”

Woojoo turned his head and laughed.

Seokhwan Hyung had the same expression as him.

He smiled at the corners of his mouth and his cheeks rose. Their manager must have been proud too.

Then their eyes met.

“…”

Woojoo grinned and said ‘ooh’ and he coughed and turned into a polite gentleman.

They finished the group shot and praised the siblings.

“You guys did a great job. You all did well.”

The responses were lukewarm.

“Really? I think I messed up the pose earlier. I should have lowered the angle a bit, but I got confused and did it differently.”

“I was a little disappointed.”

“Me too. I practiced like crazy in front of the mirror yesterday.”

Woojoo smiled at their faces full of regret.

They looked fine to Woojoo. They must have raised their standards and felt dissatisfied.

Bijoo said, “I was greedy because the pictures you took came out so well.”

“No way. I have a lot of things I don’t like. I made a lot of mistakes.”

At the same time, the four of them glared at Woojoo and snapped their heads.

“No, really…”

Woojoo made a wronged expression, but no one sympathized with him.

The photographer gestured for them to come over and showed them each of their pictures, giving them a thumbs up.

“Good picture.”

Their kids’ faces brightened.

Then came Woojoo’s photo collection.

“Oh.”

The members praised him for taking good pictures, but he saw only poses full of regret.

They all looked like B-cuts, and he scratched the back of his head with an awkward face when the photographer silently raised both hands.

“…?”

He gave Woojoo a double thumbs up and said with a serious expression, “Very good picture.”

Woojoo avoided the resentful gazes and stared at the air.

They finally got some free time after finishing the variety show and the interview.

They changed their clothes like crazy as soon as they checked in at the hotel and gathered in the lobby.

Seokhwan Hyung laughed at their excitement and happiness, almost ready to jump around.

“You know we have a schedule at dawn tomorrow, right? We’re not here to sightsee. Just go around lightly for an hour and come back.”

“Manager, I have a question!”

“Yeah. Jiho.”

“Is the hour you’re talking about from now on? Or is it from when we get to the city?”

“That’s…”

“Jiho. Why are you asking that?” Woojoo said with a smile, “Even the worst person wouldn’t say it’s an hour, including the travel time.”

“…”

“Right, Hyung?”

Woojoo winked quickly at his siblings.

‘Hold hands and open your eyes. Don’t lose heart.’

‘Yes!’

The five of them held hands and shone their eyes brightly.

“That…”

Brightly.

“That…”

Brightly!

Finally, their manager gave up.

“It’s only a five-minute ride anyway… Fine, let’s make it an hour after we arrive. Minki and Dowon will join us nearby, so contact us right away if anything happens.”

“Yes!”

“Don’t run! Hey! You’ll get hurt!”

Like puppies freed from their leashes, the five of them ran outside at the same time.

They took the hotel shuttle bus to the night market, and along the way, they recorded a simple video with a selfie stick.

“Hello, Soufflé fans. We finally got our first free time in Taiwan!”

“We’re so happy.”

“Please look forward to it. We’re going to have a blast in Taiwan.”

As the foreign tourists on the shuttle watched them go ‘wow’ and laughed, Woojoo turned the camera to Junghyun.

“Junghyun, how about we do a three-line poem with Taiwan as a theme to celebrate our night out?”

“Sure.”

“Ta.”

“Tire.”

“Yi.”

“Teeth.”

“Wan.”

“Peas.”

Rihyuk swept his bangs aside.

“…Junghyun Hyung, let’s think about the definition of our three-line poem again.”

Apart from that, the rest of them laughed and enjoyed their nonsense poem.

“Hahaha!”

Laughing like crazy, Woojoo was glad that there were no Koreans on this shuttle bus.

A cafe on the internet.

? I just rode the same bus with Korean idols in Taiwan… ?

There were five handsome guys on the hotel shuttle

They had such a celebrity vibe that I was stunned…

My friend said they were New Black?

They were singing a cappella and having their own free time, and they laughed like kids whenever a motorcycle or a car passed by…

It’s so weird.

Every time they make jokes, my friend and I are cracking up behind them, trying not to make a sound. LOL

Tall guy: Wow, a motorcycle. That looks fun. How about I try riding that later, Hyung?

Big brother: Uh… I can see it, I can see it…

Tall guy: What do you see, Hyung?

Big brother: I see the future of our group falling apart, Junghyun.

Tall guy: I won’t ride it then… (pouting)

And then they all laugh together. LOL

–LOL what is this

-Tell us more, this is hilarious

-Go talk to them and take a picture

-[Author] I think they know we’re foreigners. My friend and I are pretending to be Chinese.

–LOL that’s even funnier

5 minutes later.

-[Author] I took a picture, here’s the proof.

-Wow, you did it

-How did you take it?

-[Author] I said ‘one picture’ in broken Korean and they smiled and posed for me. They were so nice.

–LOLOL

-I want to hear more, please

-[Author] There was a guy who spoke Chinese really well. So I said I was Japanese and then the white guy started speaking fluent Japanese and talked to me. I panicked and ran away, saying ‘sorry, sorry’. They were teasing each other behind me and the white guy’s face was priceless.

-Why did you run away LOL

-LOL perfect ending

10 minutes later.

-[Author] Oh no… I ran into them again at the night market.

“Hey, there are those Japanese people. Rihyuk, go say hi to them again.”

“No way.”

“Maybe they ran away because they were embarrassed earlier.”

“…Ahem.”

Rihyuk waved his hand timidly at the two tourists he saw from afar.

“…!”

They looked shocked and quickly got up from their seats.

Woojoo didn’t know why, but they looked like they had seen something awkward and scary.

As soon as they saw their boy, who was steaming from his face, they burst into laughter.

“Hahaha!”

Rihyuk roared like a fire-breathing dinosaur, making them dodge and keep their distance.

“Ugh, seriously. How did I end up meeting these people?”

He sighed heavily, looking at the ground. Woojoo gently patted him and he soon cheered up.

They started to explore the night market.

“Wow.”

Everything was amazing.

Woojoo thought it wouldn’t feel much different since they were in the same Asian region, but foreign countries were foreign countries.

It felt different.

The Chinese characters on the signs that lit up.

The noisy sounds of Chinese.

The lanterns that hung on the streets, shining like gold, as if they were from a temple.

Woojoo’s heart was pounding and excited.

“Wow…”

“This is what it’s like to be a foreigner.”

It was chilly at night, but he felt goosebumps on his arms.

So this was it. He had crossed the sea and arrived at this unfamiliar island country.

Just a day ago, he was in Seoul, but now he saw these strange sights and people. It was weird.

Woojoo decided not to forget and took in the night market scenery with his eyes.

He was snapping pictures with his phone like crazy. Bijoo asked Woojoo with a smile, “Do you want to show your grandma?”

“Yeah.”

Woojoo had to tell their Kim Deoksoon lady everything he saw and was amazed by.

Bijoo was also taking pictures of the food, shops, and signs around them with his phone.

“I think I miss my family more when I go abroad. It would be nice to come here together.”

“I know, right. Too bad.”

“By the way, did you decide what to buy for your family?”

“I’m going to buy some snacks. They say everyone buys snacks when they come here.”

While Bijoo and Woojoo were thinking about what to buy, Junghyun was wandering around with a film camera.

He bought it as a celebration for getting paid. He looked pretty serious when he took pictures.

For the first 30 minutes, Woojoo wandered around the market with his siblings, looking at everything.

They bought and ate various things.

They also bargained for some simple souvenirs.

“That’s too expensive.” Woojoo asked the youngest, “Jiho, do you know how to haggle?”

“No.”

“You know, in movies or dramas, they usually show that the youngest sons of rich families have hidden talents. They like to have fun, but they turn out to be geniuses who inherited the merchant’s skills.”

“Hey, what are you talking about? I don’t have anything like that.”

Jiho looked confused.

“But why do you need to haggle when you have a lot of money? Just buy it.”

“Oh, right.”

“I’ve never haggled before. But instead.”

Their youngest charmed the shop owner with his cuteness and gestured ‘price down please’.

The lady who was selling the goods laughed and gave them a discount. They came out with their bags and grinned.

“Wow, cuteness is universal.”

“Good job. Our little one.”

They were happy that they got a good deal, but they soon got scolded by Rihyuk.

“You guys are too excited. I saw on the internet that you can buy it for half the price. You’re laughing so hard after you got it for two-thirds of the original price. Oh my.”

“I’m sorry.”

They bowed their heads to Rihyuk, but only for a moment.

Jiho and Woojoo said to each other, ‘You wanted to buy it, right?’, ‘It’s yours, right?’ and showed off their friendship.

It was a fun night out.

“Huh? Hyung, there are prizes over there! Prizes!”

There were prizes hanging along with a game of shooting arrows at a target. Woojoo asked the siblings who had bright eyes, “What do you want to get?”

“I want that fake Pokemon doll.”

“Hyung. I want that rhinoceros beetle doll. I want to make it my mascot.”

They approached the shop owner who greeted them with a smile, thinking they were clueless tourists.

“Welcome!”

He tempted them with a cheap challenge for the prizes, so Woojoo smiled back.

But the smile of the old man who thought he had caught a sucker was very short-lived.

Shoo! Thud!

“Wow!”

“Wow, even a worm can roll.”

Woojoo ignored the siblings’ comments and shot the arrows.

Shoo! Thud!

Every time Woojoo pulled the bowstring, the arrows piled up in the center of the target.

The shop owner’s face turned red and blue, and soon people gathered around and watched in awe.

Their kids murmured.

“I love it when people are amazed by Woojoo’s skills.”

“Me too. Ah, I’m not the only one who thinks he’s amazing.”

“Fine.”

“He’s good at using his body, you know. But the owner here doesn’t look too happy.”

The owner said as Woojoo swept up the prizes, “Oh, that’s it for today’s challenge!”

“But you said it was unlimited…”

“Shoo! Shoo!”

He was too impatient.

“Then I’ll take the prizes.”

Woojoo handed out dolls and gifts to his siblings as he left.

What a pity.

If he had more time, he could have cleaned out all the game stalls in this night market.

Like the game where you hooked a ring on a bottle neck and made it stand. Or something like bingo.

After finishing the sightseeing, he parted ways with his siblings.

“See you in 15 minutes!”

They said it was free time, but they couldn’t really enjoy ourselves as five people crowded together.

So they decided to split up for a while.

“Rihyuk, take good care of Bijoo.”

“Don’t worry. I installed a location tracking app on his phone. ‘Where is our kid?’ That one.”

“Good job, Bijoo. Follow Rihyuk closely.”

“Yes, Hyung. I’ll follow him diligently.”

Woojoo looked at them with a sour face, like seeing a young child on the street. Bijoo, who was dragged away by Rihyuk, waved his hand with a faint look.

“See you later, Hyung!”

“See you soon!”

Rihyuk got angry.

“Hey, really! Stop making a fuss when we’re going to see each other in 10 minutes!”

“Rihyuk will miss me too.”

Woojoo waved his hand and Rihyuk reluctantly waved back with an awkward face.

Now that he was alone, he felt lonely and sad…

“Who cares?”

Woojoo sang a cheerful song and went out for a walk.

His interest was mainly in the music that came from the street. What kind of songs would flow out of Taiwan’s night streets?

He heard some K-pop here and there.

He walked around listening to the popular music in Taiwan.

He didn’t mind the people who stopped and glanced at him as he passed by.

The problem was when he was walking and eating some street food.

A man followed him.

“Do you have any thoughts of becoming a celebrity?”

“What?”

“I’m not a weirdo… I work for a company. I saw your face and felt it right away. You have a face that should be a celebrity.”

He showed Woojoo his business card. It said something like a workshop in Chinese characters. Woojoo thought it was a work studio, but it was an entertainment agency.

He said he was active in mainland China and that he would do well with a face like mine. He started to persuade him.

He gave Woojoo his business card and left before he could say anything.

“Think about it!”

And that was the start.

After that, a few more people gave him their cards, but most of them went back with a sheepish face when he said he was already an idol in Korea.

Woojoo sighed as he looked at the cards.

Was this some kind of street-casting paradise that he didn’t know about?

There was no such thing when he was with five people, but when he walked alone, people stuck to him everywhere.

Some people came up and talked to him or gave him their numbers.

Whenever Woojoo stopped to buy some street food, someone came up and talked to him.

They said they didn’t know his face because he was abroad and laughed as he didn’t wear a mask, but that was uncomfortable in another way.

In the end, Woojoo decided to give up on music appreciation and turned around.

“Excuse me.”

Woojoo wondered what it was this time and turned his head with a gentle smile.

A camera?

There was a cameraman with a reporter holding a microphone.

The mark showed it was a Taiwanese broadcast.

“Yes?”

“We’re doing interviews with the citizens who came out to see the night market. How do you feel about your outing today?”

“Oh, sure.”

Woojoo briefly told them his impressions and ended the interview.

They asked Woojoo what his name was, but they said it was okay to go by a pseudonym.

Woojoo told them he was 21 when they asked him his age.

…Well, you know, overseas they counted by the international age.

Woojoo thought about reporting to his manager after the interview, but he decided not to bother since he only said a few harmless words.

It was when he arrived at the meeting point with his siblings.

“…?”

All five of them had the same expression of shock on their faces.

“…You too?”

“…Hyung too?”

They put together the business cards they each received and there were seven in total.

They laughed as they shared what happened in the last 15 minutes. It seemed like they also had some variety-like experiences.

“Hey, how did you guys pull off such a spectacle in 15 minutes? Seriously.”

“Hyung, did nothing happen to you?”

“Of course not.”

Rihyuk tilted his head at Woojoo’s words.

“No way. Aren’t you the most eye-catching person among us?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. The Street Boys Hyungs also said that about you. You’re the Kim Jeonil of the idol industry.”

“Call me Conan. And really, nothing happened.”

Woojoo protested to his doubtful siblings.

“Really. I just listened to some music and came back.”

The next morning.

The Soufflés of Taiwan, who were enjoying a peaceful breakfast, spat out what they were eating when they saw the morning news.

"Pfft…

Their idol was on the morning news of TTS, Taiwan’s terrestrial channel.

Seon Woojoo, smiling softly.

“Woo Jenmin, 21 years old”

“The weather is nice today, and the night market has a really beautiful atmosphere. It’s always a wonderful place.”

The interview video passed by in an instant.

“…”

They wiped off the cereal they spat out on the table and looked at each other with stunned expressions.

‘What just happened?’

Why was a foreign idol on their country’s morning news?

And with a fake name too.

They had no idea what was going on.