Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: This Life is Space Star 59
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Someone's face had turned bright red, turning the studio into a sea of laughter.
Thanks to desperate hand-fanning and the bottled water I handed over, Ri-hyeok's face quickly returned to normal.
Of course, everyone who was going to laugh had already done so by then.
"Thanks to Ri-hyeok-ssi, we got a good long laugh."
The DJ's voice carried a hint of amusement.
"Come to think of it, it was like this during Something promotions too, right? Whenever the lights got a bit strong, your face would vanish, and the lighting director sighed every time. 'Next time, come out with a tanned face.'"
"Yes. I still hear that a lot at music shows."
As Jang Sowon chatted with him, Han Jo chimed in with a grin.
"Your ears are turning bright red again right now."
"Oh, they really are."
"It's a phenomenon we call 'ears of truth' as a joke among ourselves. Ri-hyeok-ssi might not seem like it, but he gets super embarrassed easily."
"I know, I know all too well."
"Whenever he's embarrassed, his ears light up like that."
"No, that's not true."
Ri-hyeok shook his head, his face still flushed pink like a drunkard's.
"I'm not that easily embarrassed."
It was a claim no one would buy.
Not just those in the booth, but even the production staff watching from beyond the glass wore smiles.
The writers especially looked like they couldn't handle how cute our kid was.
I couldn't relate at all, though.
-Liar
-We all saw your face turn red lol
The listeners' reactions weren't bad either.
If Seok-hwan hyung was monitoring, he was probably grinning ear to ear.
I'd felt it during Music Cafe too, but whether planned or accidental, getting people to like us wasn't easy.
The egg ghost moment was funny in itself, but the twist that the seemingly cool Ri-hyeok was actually super shy seemed to leave a great impression on the listeners.
The person in question was still suffering, of course.
"Ri-hyeok is pirarucu..."
"Yes?"
"That ID who just commented is our group's maknae, Ji-ho."
"Oh, really?"
People perked up at Ri-hyeok's words.
Should I stop him? I decided to let it go for now.
"Before we left the dorm, he kept saying he'd comment with that nickname. I didn't think he'd actually do it."
"So it was Ji-ho-ssi? That's surprising."
"Yeah. When we get back to the dorm, we plan to have a heartfelt talk."
"Oh dear, Ji-ho-ssi's in big trouble."
Jang Sowon, laughing like a big sister, shifted the topic.
"But the nickname was pirarucu, right?"
"Uh."
"Is it a pet name?"
"Uh... well..."
I couldn't help but chuckle.
That's why I'd thought about stopping him beforehand. A seasoned broadcaster like Jang Sowon sunbae wouldn't miss something like that.
-Pirarucu?
-What's pirarucu?
-Someone explain plz
Han Jo and Gi-won across from us had forgotten about the talk and looked curious too.
"Huh? Woojoo-ssi looks like he knows something."
"Ah, well..."
I glanced at Ri-hyeok, who was shooting me eyes screaming 'Don't say it, seriously don't, or we're done,' and smiled.
Dude. You think that stops people from looking it up?
But before I could answer, someone pasted an encyclopedia entry into the comments.
For the listeners hearing only audio, Jang Sowon read it aloud.
"Pirarucu is the largest freshwater fish in South America, inhabiting the Amazon River. First time hearing the name—why would Ji-ho-ssi call Ri-hyeok-ssi that?"
"It's not a nickname."
Ri-hyeok explained.
"Once during practice, I collapsed from exhaustion, and Ji-ho saw my face and said it looked just like that fish..."
"That's too much. Our Ri-hyeok-ssi is so cute."
"Right? I don't look anything like a pirarucu, everyone. Please remember that. I'm not a pirarucu."
People smiled at his desperate denial.
I didn't know about listeners' faces, but they had to be good ones, like everyone here.
Good job.
It was a huge improvement from the Music Cafe where I'd fed him lines because he couldn't fill his airtime, or even the recent interview with Reporter Oh.
I suddenly felt grateful to Ji-ho for creating this opportunity.
Well done, our maknae.
Even if he sacrificed Ri-hyeok as tribute, we'd secured meaningful airtime.
At some point, the broadcast flow had shifted.
Street Boys, who started with equal billing, had been pushed aside, and Ri-hyeok and I were leading with Jang Sowon.
I felt thankful to the maknae who made this chance.
But that gratitude didn't last even five minutes.
It was when Jang Sowon, introducing each member to draw out talk, turned to the album.
"New Black's song is super hot right now, right? I checked before coming to the station, and Fireworks entered the daily chart at 39."
"Yes. We're receiving way more love than we deserve."
"There've been debut titles that got attention before, but this is the first time a member-composed title track has achieved this. How's it feel lately?"
"Hard to put into words."
It really was dreamlike.
"Every time I check the charts, I feel like I'm floating in the air."
"I get that feeling."
The DJ smiled like she knew exactly, then started reading listener comments.
"AfricaYouth says, 'Love the song!!!!!!!' Lots of exclamation points. And GoldQuickie: 'Could aim for #1 on music shows.' Oh, at this rate, #1 candidacy is possible?"
"Whoa, don't jinx it."
I waved it off.
"We're plenty satisfied as is. It was an overachievement from the start, and we're just grateful for this much success."
"Isn't that too much of a broadcast-friendly line?"
"I'm a rookie, sunbae-nim."
As she laughed at my playful remark.
Like a shark surfacing in calm waters, 'Ri-hyeok is pirarucu' popped up in chat again.
The PD typed something into his notepad.
As the DJ nodded at the 'New Black member comment!!' message, I felt a bad premonition.
What now.
"#1 talk has comments flooding in. Some are jokingly asking about #1 promises."
"Promises?"
"Yeah, and one from Ri-hyeok is pirarucu: 'New Black leader did military! How about re-enlistment as a promise? lol' They sa— hahah!"
Jang Sowon burst into real laughter mid-sentence.
Because of my face.
* * *
"Every time I see you at music shows, I always think you look so young. I had no idea you'd done military service."
Yeah. I'm a vet.
-Military vet?????
-That face just now lololol
-Did he really serve???
Yes, I'm a vet, I tell you.
"Ah, tears. Your expression... I haven't laughed this hard on air in ages."
Good. Glad I made you laugh...
People burst into real laughter, as if the Ri-hyeok laughs weren't genuine.
Even Han Jo and Gi-won, who'd been tense watching the DJ, cracked up—everyone else was chaos.
Wang Ji-ho, you little punk.
When we get back to the dorm, you're dead.
Not just the maknae—the guy next to me stroking his trembling cheeks was annoying too.
As if he were the only one.
Our kids at the dorm were probably cackling and screenshotting.
Bi-ju was likely making GIFs in real-time.
Should I laugh or cry?
Personally, it was mortifying on Soufflé levels since then, but from rookie group New Black's view, it couldn't be better.
We'd eaten all the airtime despite the rival setup.
Park Manager from Street Boys was probably fuming right now, listening.
Given how he'd bragged about them, yeah.
The vibe was less rookie boy group special, more New Black solo special.
Everyone was taking it well too.
Warmth from production faces and comments.
The engineer and PD, fellow vets, looked especially buddy-buddy with me.
Yeah. Let's roll with the positives.
But this is 100% going viral online.
No clue what my face looked like, but reactions said it'd be a GIF storm.
Soufflé era, we were nobodies so it buried quick.
Now with debut buzz, who knows the response.
Whatever.
I just prayed it'd help Fireworks' success.
"Couldn't have guessed Small Talk opening Part 3 would be this funny. Hope you all enjoyed? Let's give a round of applause to Woojoo-ssi for the big laughs!"
"Wooo—"
"Yess... Thank you, everyone......"
This sunbae was clearly out to humiliate me to death today.
I'd brought a gift to give later, but now I was seriously reconsidering.
Should I take it back?
I shot a glare at giggling Ri-hyeok, but he was laughing to himself like it was the funniest thing.
Fine.
Rare to see our usually stoic kid this happy, so let's let it slide.
You, though? No way, Wang Ji-ho.
* * *
Our Wonderful Night schedule today broke into three main parts.
First: Small Talk.
DJ introduces guests, casual chit-chat.
Thanks to the dongsaengs' hard carry, we nailed airtime and image.
But as 'small' talk, it wasn't enough to call the broadcast done.
Bigger second and third parts awaited.
Live was in Part 4 at 9:30, so now Part 3's main corner.
"Alright, let's kick off Part 3's main corner proper? It's called 'Tell Me~'"
"Your Worries!"
We responded to the DJ's lead-in, and bam! BGM hit.
'Tell Me Your Worries.'
Second to live stage in importance.
Simple format.
Production picks 'This Week's Worry,' teams give advice.
Winner by text vote.
Guests got serious as it started.
Not just me and Ri-hyeok—Street Boys too.
Just a radio segment, yet all faced it like athletes before battle.
Not overkill, though.
Sweet reward on the line.
Winners got their song slotted three times on next week's Wonderful Night playlist.
Chance to reach beyond military and idol fans to general public.
Oasis in the desert for promo-thirsty rookies.
After last week's winners Autumn Girl's 'Endless Season' played, DJ read this week's worry.
"Hi, Wonderful Night. I'm an 18-year-old high schooler this year. Big fan, so I sent this in. Recently, I've had a worry."
The story:
Writer had a BFF from middle school.
Ate lunch together daily, hung out after exams or whenever, parents knew each other—super close.
Trouble started last year's 2nd semester midterms.
"Wow, you're a note-taking god. I bombed that subject—can I borrow your notes once?"
Writer happily lent them.
Post-exam, friend came beaming.
"Awesome, got 90 thanks to you."
Writer was thrilled then.
But last finals and this semester's midterms changed that.
Friend borrowed notes for more subjects.
Slept through midterms yet outscored writer.
"That's when I started thinking this wasn't right."
Writer's dilemma: how to handle 5-year BFF in this.
Finals looming—what to do?
"Tough worry."
My instant thought slipped from Han Jo's mouth.
Street Boys drew first by lot.
Spokesman: Han Jo, naturally.
"Personally relatable. Happened to me in school too. I get the writer's feelings. Even best friends riding your effort for free? Infuriating."
He spoke calmly.
"But I think the writer needs to speak up. Sounds cold, but bottling it up won't fix it."
"So, be honest with the friend?"
"Yes. Here are some ways I'd recommend..."
Han Jo's answer was textbook.
The standard 'Why take it lying down? Smarten up!' softened.
Empathy plus concrete solutions—flawless.
If not for the mismatch.
Words vs. actions didn't align.
From our brief meet, Han Jo seemed far from that advice.
Careful speaker, prefers swallowing grudges over conflict.
So him saying 'Speak your mind!' didn't land for me.
Plus, I thought differently.
During the ad break, I mulled how to advise the writer.
As it sorted out.
A pen-holding hand appeared, scribbling on my script.
The first initials, then they were scratched out
Looked like aborted 'Fighting' or 'Do well.'
The fidgeting pale hand finally wrote neatly.
-Take it easy.
I looked up grinning; Ri-hyeok nodded.
Repaying what I'd told his pre-broadcast shakes.
Figured I was nervous too.
But I wasn't shaking that bad.
Adapted to live broadcasts, and I knew exactly what to say to the writer.
Ads ended; our turn.
At DJ's signal to start advice, I spoke calmly.
"I think the writer shouldn't tell their BFF about it."