In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

Chapter 107:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 107

“Huff… Huff…”

The three men gasped for breath.

They had been chased until they reached the entrance to the back mountain of the village.

They looked around nervously, and when they saw nothing, they sighed with relief.

“Phew, shi… oh shi…”

VJ rubbed his chest. Then he seemed to snap out of it and checked the camera.

“…You remember I ran in front of you, right?”

“I do, but… Ugh. Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

Unlike the two men who were soaked in sweat, Junghyun looked calm. Heysion stuck out his tongue and said he had a monstrous lung capacity.

“Are you not tired?”

“No, I just ran at the speed I jog.”

“…”

“I don’t really know, but you two suddenly ran, so I followed you. But why did we run?”

“Yeah, why did we run?”

Actually, there was no reason to run away.

Even when the goat raised its horns like a seizure, the grandfather of the house didn’t look worried. Usually, when dogs threatened people, the owners got scared and stopped them, but he said something like, ‘That guy is doing it again.’

That meant there was a reason.

VJ and Heysion laughed and said they felt unmanly.

“Ugh, really. Why were we so scared of a goat? Now that I think about it, it was nothing.”

“Exactly. It was just a small goat… Aah! That scared me!”

With the sound of a chain dragging on the ground, the black goat Daegil came walking over from afar.

Junghyun looked back and asked, “…Why are you hiding behind me?”

“You’re the one in front of us.”

“Yeah, we’re not hiding. It’s because of the camera equipment.”

It was strange. They were laughing heartily in front of him just a moment ago.

Behind Junghyun, VJ turned on the camera and filmed the goat.

Then, Daegil stopped walking.

He stared quietly at the humans like a lion watching the hyenas he chased out of his territory. The black goat turned his body and disappeared.

He was truly the king of the jungle, or rather, the countryside.

Junghyun blinked.

“He’s just leaving?”

“He is.”

“…He is.”

They looked at each other and laughed.

Of course, they looked pathetic.

They had run from morning until the end of August on a hot day, and their faces were showered with sweat. Especially Heysion, whose dreadlocks were fluffy.

Under the shade of a tree, Junghyun fluttered his T-shirt and looked at the two men.

“…But what should we do?”

“What do you mean?”

“Grandpa and Grandma will look for the goat. Don’t we have to take it home?”

“Hmm… Then…”

Heysion asked VJ, “Director, can you contact the other production staff? Let’s tell them first, and meanwhile… Well, let’s just follow it for now.”

They followed the black goat that was trotting down the bumpy road. When they reached the paved road, the goat had slowed down considerably.

“It must have been hard for it to chase us all the way here.”

“It’s brave to run here with a stone on its head. I’ve never seen a black goat with anger issues in my life, man.”

But compared to before, it was a peaceful scene.

The black goat walking with a heavy stone on its collar, and the two men following it leisurely.

VJ captured that on camera.

Especially Junghyun.

The idol member who smiled happily at the wildflowers that bloomed on the border of the road and the fields.

Heysion followed his gaze and pointed at a flower.

“This flower looks really pretty. It has purple buds on its leaves that look like bells.”

“It’s called a perilla flower.”

“…You know the name?”

“I used to see it a lot when I was young. My grandfather told me that it was a flower that the elders used a lot as a herb in the old days.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, and this is easily confused with the season when sesame leaves grow, but they are actually different species.”

Heysion blinked his eyes as he watched him explain the wildflower in a naive tone.

Then he put his arm around his shoulder.

“Hey, you’re like a wildflower expert now. How do you know all this?”

“My dream is to become a farmer after I finish my idol activities.”

The two adults laughed as if they couldn’t stop him.

When Heysion pointed at another wildflower, Junghyun answered right away with a detailed description.

The rapper with dreadlocks said to VJ, “This is being filmed, right? It’s awesome.”

VJ made an OK sign with his hand.

While following the black goat, Heysion asked Junghyun various questions to get more content.

Why he dreamed of being a farmer.

What was growing in that field over there.

Little stories about the countryside.

And every time he explained, Heysion felt moved by the happy expression on Junghyun’s face.

“I feel like I’m filming a healing show with you.”

“Really?”

“If it wasn’t so hot, I would have kept walking like this… It reminds me of my father.”

“Your father was a farmer too?”

“He had an orchard… He would sparkle his eyes like you when he talked about fruits.”

“I think I know how he felt.”

Heysion smiled at the sight of the idol shaking his head.

Meanwhile, the houses of the village came into view. They just had to pass this road and they would reach the entrance of the village.

It was then that Daegil walked along the road with familiar steps.

“We got in touch with the other team,” the VJ said as he put down the phone. “They said not to worry about the goat. It will find its way home by itself.”

“Are you sure? What if it runs into something and causes trouble?”

“They said it’s fine. That black goat is the terror of the neighborhood dogs, but it never attacked a human.”

“Then why did we run away?”

“Exactly. The old man laughed and asked why we ran away too.”

“…”

The three men looked at each other in silence.

Then they exchanged warm smiles.

It was a tender camaraderie that only men could share when they realized they had done something stupid.

Heysion unfolded the map and said, “Then let’s leave that anger management disorder goat alone and move on to the next mission…”

But then they heard a clanking sound. It was the sound of a metal rod caught on the iron grate of the drain at the edge of the road.

To be precise, it was the metal rod attached to the cement block that the black goat had around its neck.

Clank-

The black goat struggled and twisted its body, but it was still stuck. It kept moving forward like a bull, only looking ahead. And they saw a car coming at a fast speed from afar.

It was a white truck.

It would hit the goat if it kept going like that.

Even if it slowed down, it would be the same.

The black goat seemed to see the car too, as it blinked its eyes. The problem was that the accident seemed to have stopped. It could have turned back, but the goat was still trying to move forward, flailing its legs.

“Hey, hey! Come here!”

And as the two men desperately called the goat, Junghyun ran out.

He ran quickly and grabbed the goat, and then.

“…”

He started to wrestle with the goat.

***

Junghyun’s decision to run out was not the result of a complex accident.

‘Should I save it? Or not?’

What if he saved it?

He could save it, but Bijoo would scold him terribly.

It was okay if Woojoo Hyung and the two younger brothers followed him around all day and said, ‘Rihyuk, scold this careless guy.’, ‘Careless? He’s the epitome of carelessness.’, ‘Haha, Junghyun Hyung. Look at this meme!’

But Bijoo’s scolding was… ugh.

He would sit him down in the living room and whisper from one to ten, ‘So, tell me what you did wrong.’ That was scary.

But.

If he left it like that, it would get hit by a car.

The face of his same-age friend who would gently scold him and the face of the black goat in front of him spun around.

Uh…

That was why he made up his mind.

The most important thing was a life.

As soon as Junghyun decided, he ran out. Then he picked up the black goat in the middle of the road and ran back.

The startled goat twisted its body this way and that.

Junghyun thought about letting it go, but if it struggled like this, it would be hit by the truck that was coming. He had to hold on to it, but he didn’t know how to catch a four-legged animal.

When he was young, he saw his grandfather subdue a black goat. He laid it down and pressed its neck slightly with his knee to immobilize it.

But that was hard to do at this angle.

So Junghyun thought of one thing in his head.

‘Oh, that.’

A while ago, when Woojoo and Rihyuk appeared on a radio show, the youngest teased them in the chat. When they came back that day, Woojoo used some kind of jiujitsu or wrestling technique on the youngest.

That came to his mind.

So Junghyun lay down and applied the technique to the black goat. The goat still bleated and twisted its body, but it couldn’t resist his strong force and soon calmed down.

Meanwhile, a white truck zoomed past them.

***

“Hey, you bastard! How can you run like that when a car is coming?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Junghyun. Shooting is important, but if you get hurt like this, you’ll ruin the show even more.”

“I’m really sorry, Director.”

Junghyun scratched the back of his head as the two men scolded him. He also pulled out the iron rod that fell into the drain. The tame black goat looked at him briefly.

Junghyun stroked its head as if he was petting a puppy. He looked at the others and apologized again.

“Well, you did well anyway.”

Heysion wrapped his arm around the slightly sullen man’s shoulder and smiled.

It was a good thing after all.

He was partly responsible for this commotion, and the VJ also didn’t want to see a pet goat die because of the guest’s carelessness during the shooting.

So the two who were scolding him soon thanked him.

“By the way, did you get this on tape properly?”

“Just a moment.”

They gathered together and checked the recorded footage.

“…”

From the first time they met Daegil until now, they realized that everything was recorded perfectly. They were captivated by a strange certainty.

“Director, this will go on air for sure, right?”

“Unless another team makes a dog sled and runs with it, nothing better than this will come out.”

“Really?”

Junghyun was the only one who looked puzzled.

“This is going on air?”

“How can it not, you idiot.”

They laughed hollowly as they saw Junghyun smiling brightly and saying he had to tell the members quickly.

As they returned to the village, they noticed something unusual.

“…But Junghyun.”

“Yes?”

“That goat, it seems to be following you, doesn’t it?”

The black goat Daegil was trailing behind Junghyun with a clingy sound.

***

[● REC] 2014-08-30 10:48:31

Heysion: But, you know. There’s something I’m curious about.

Junghyun: Yes.

Heysion: The thing you did to the goat… Where did you learn that?

Junghyun: (Bright expression) Oh, that? There’s a member in our group who’s good at physical stuff.

Heysion: Woojoo?

Junghyun: Yes. I learned it from watching him. (Looking at the camera) Woojoo Hyung, did I do well? Remember when I asked you how to do it, you explained it to me while hugging a pillow. Thanks to that, I was able to subdue the black goat.

Heysion: Puhahaha!

Junghyun: (Giggling) Why are you laughing?

Heysion: (Wiping tears) Nothing, just ask the person himself later.

***

Grandma Im Soonhyun’s house.

Woojoo covered Grandma’s eyes with his hands as they stood in the middle of the yard.

“Do we have to do this much?”

“Surprise gifts are always more fun, Grandma.”

“Oh, my. How much did you clean up?”

Grandma didn’t know the state of the living room.

They had to move some stuff around, so they all cleaned up together for the last 15 minutes, but the dust was too much, so Grandma went outside for a while.

And when she came back with some chicken feed, it was time to reveal the result.

“It must be amazing, amazing.”

“Just a moment.”

The door opened and Rihyuk, who was standing in the living room, gave Woojoo a thumbs-up. He smiled brightly and said, “Now you can go in.”

Woojoo led Grandma into the living room.

As soon as he removed his hands, Grandma Im Soonhyun’s thin eyes scanned the living room.

Then her eyes widened.

“Oh, my…”

“It’s neat, right?”

While Grandma looked around the living room, Woojoo sang the BGM that they used to use in the old home improvement programs.

“Ta-ra-ra-ra~ Ta-ra ra-ra-ra~”

Rihyuk joined him soon. As the cheerful BGM echoed, VJ and Maxi laughed.

It was because of the harmony they added.

They laughed at the song that sounded like a two-person acapella group. Woojoo explained to Maxi, “It’s our occupational disease.”

They used to play like that in the car, too. If one of them sang, the others would join in with harmony.

Meanwhile, Grandma, who was looking around the living room, seemed touched.

“It’s so clean. So clean.”

“Right?”

Rihyuk smiled proudly.

Woojoo would have teased him for being smug on any other day, but not today.

It was understandable.

The living room had changed remarkably.

It looked like a warehouse before, but now it was a neat interior with a touch of human care.

There was still old wallpaper and furniture, but it was the most dramatic change that could be shown in a short time.

It looked much more spacious just by rearranging the stuff.

Woojoo said to the grandmother who looked impressed, “It’s very pretty, right?”

“Don’t be so cocky.” Rihyuk interrupted with a snort, “I did all the cleaning, and you’re taking the credit?”

“We helped you move the stuff.”

“…”

He kept saying he was fine by himself, but in the end they had to intervene.

He was sweating so much while moving the stuff that he looked like a red-eared turtle.

Maxi, who was gently scratching the chin of the Pomeranian in his arms, added as if he agreed, “Weak… Rihyuk.”

Woojoo held back his laughter as he saw his face turn red.

***

Grandma Im Soonhyun held Rihyuk’s hand and thanked him, saying she would give him something… He didn’t refuse and took some.

The production team said it was okay.

Thanks to that, they left the house with a bag full of money.

Then they went around the village to get other ingredients for cooking. The first mission to get beef was the only difficult one, the rest were all things that ended quickly and easily.

The production team was actually encouraging that.

They made sure that none of the teams would suffer from lack of ingredients, but instead, they made them visit each house where the elders lived alone.

“Oh, thank you. It’s so hard to go up and down the attic. I couldn’t even get what I needed until my son came.”

The last mission place they visited, another grandmother grabbed both of Woojoo’s hands and said.

Then she handed him a red ticket that meant mission success, and it said ‘soy sauce’ on it.

That was the system.

When they completed the mission and got the certificate, the ingredients were delivered to their cooking team at the village hall.

And they would start cooking as soon as they got the ingredients.

Team A, who chose a dish like bossam that took a long time to cook, started cooking as soon as they got the pork.

Maxi, who was checking the chat room for them, said, “Your members are doing well.”

“Really?”

“They said they all did well… One of them became friends with a black goat.”

“Maybe it was the goat from before.”

“I guess they always get along by fighting.”

He smiled warmly as if it was a happy ending.

Woojoo smiled as he looked at Maxi.

Woojoo shook his head, trying to erase the image of Junghyun dancing with the black goat in his mind.

Rihyuk asked Woojoo, “How did they become friends with the black goat?”

“It’s Junghyun.”

“That’s very convincing.”

He chuckled and looked at his wristwatch.

They had 40 minutes left until the mission was over.

They had gathered enough ingredients, and they had plenty of time. So Woojoo suggested to Maxi, “Excuse me, Sunbae-nim.”

“Call me Maxi.”

“You lost to me in rock-paper-scissors earlier.”

“…Hmph.”

He was stubborn about the honorifics, so Woojoo proposed to settle it with rock-paper-scissors.

Of course, Woojoo won.

Woojoo used his mimicry ability to make scissors every time he was about to throw fast. By the way, Rihyuk lost too.

“Excuse me, Sunbae-nim. We have some time left. How about we go there?”

“Turmeric grandpa?”

“Yes, him.”

“Sure. Can we stop by there?”

The VJ nodded at the question.

It seemed that no one had gone there yet. Well, turmeric was not a useful ingredient anyway.

They approached the grandpa’s house.

Unlike the other houses, it was a neat one-story house that looked new.

As they got closer, they saw that the lawn was well maintained, and a Labrador retriever with a graceful coat was sitting in a doghouse painted in pastel tones.

What was this?

The aura of wealth that emanated from somewhere…

Woojoo felt something was strange when the door opened with a bang.

“Oh, you’re here! Welcome!”

The grandpa, wearing luxury brands all over his body, came out waving his hand.

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