“My hair’s gotten pretty long.”
“Has it?”
“Yeah.”
Park Juu toyed with my hair.
None of Spark are great at ignoring other people’s scrapes, but Park Juu, especially, fussed over my visible injuries healing up.
“If you comb the top over it, you can’t even tell.”
“Still.”
He couldn’t stop worrying.
“You’re worried it’ll show?”
It was almost time to go live.
It had been a while since my last appearance. One incident after another meant Spark had been doing five-member broadcasts for a stretch.
To reassure him, I waved the beret the manager had just handed me.
Without a word, Park Juu settled the hat on my head and tidied my hair.
“It’s a relief today’s stream is just talking, but...”
He muttered.
Today’s concept was peaceful chit-chat.
That didn’t mean we did anything lazy like grabbing a company conference room. To match the concept, we booked a cozy, wood-tone studio, set board games all around, and stocked cute blankets.
Our Spark-dedicated team went all in to perfect the backdrop. Having a dedicated team is a blessing.
Outfits were coordinated as casual, old-school looks, with small variations inside the theme.
For me, a knit vest to match the beret was the main piece; Kang Giyeon wore a hoodie like a rebellious late-90s rapper. If we’d been in the same homeroom, we never would’ve been friends.
We straightened our clothes and gathered in front of the camera; the frame was packed.
Maybe it’s a growth spurt. These punks are shooting up at a ridiculous rate. No fat left to burn, so they can’t shrink sideways either.
I sat them down and adjusted the phone camera angle with the manager. Someone called out:
“Three minutes to Spark’s stream!”
Tension rushed in.
“Will the people who watched the five-member streams accept me?”
I looked at the five faces already seated, leaving my spot open.
Not a weak link among them. With those faces, they’d annoyingly left the center open. At least I was in the back row.
My heart thumped. I didn’t want to wedge myself between them.
“Hyung, what are you doing? Get over here!”
Lee Cheonghyeon waved me over.
I wanted to run. Like a convict, I let myself be dragged into the gap.
I couldn’t show a grim face, so I smiled hard while burning up inside.
I felt a kind of seasickness I’d never experienced.
Regardless of me, the stream began.
“Sparklers, hello!”
Jeong Seongbin greeted the chat with energy. Messages that had been queuing before we went live started to fill the screen.
≫ Hi guys hello ♥♥♥♥♥♥
≫ Hi~
≫ Hurry up and start hurry hurry
≫ It’s my birthday today lol please wish me!
≫ Royal Secretariat was so cool ㅠㅠ Spark are the best idols
I swallowed.
My eyes skimmed the chat fast.
If something like “It was better with five” popped up, I’d have to “oops I spilled water” my way out of frame—
≫ Gasp Iwol
≫ Iwol are you okay?!?!?!?!?!
≫ Iwol ㅠㅠ so good to see your face
≫ Finally all six ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
≫ Iwol if you’re tired, stream lying down, it’s okay for you
≫ Iwooooooool ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ my baby ㅠㅠ are you okay?! How’s your body???
≫ It’s Iwol ♥♥♥♥♥ I really missed you ㅠㅠ you worked so hard, baby ㅠㅠ
≫ First six-member live in a while hehe congrats on your recovery hehehehehe
≫ lol the others look way calmer with Iwol here
Kind words poured in.
Only after seeing that love stack up did I understand the root of my nerves.
I just didn’t want to be disliked. By the fans.
Today’s main content was a personality-type breakdown by member.
We know Spark’s “official” MBTI results. The problem is, they weren’t credible.
Back then the kids didn’t know themselves, got lost in the MBTI questions, and brought back wrong answers that fit the image in their heads.
≫ Hmm...? Jeho is an E?
Jeho, do you not know what extraversion is?
There was Choi Jeho, proudly picking “extreme E” just because he communicates well with the dance team.
≫ You plan your meals a week ahead but haven’t picked sauces yet so you think you’re a P?
Giyeon, we agreed people like that are Js.
After ages with hyper-planner Jeong Seongbin, Kang Giyeon had gotten harsh on self-assessment too.
So today, instead of self-tests, we did “your MBTI as judged by your members.”
This also spared me from playing executioner. There’s no “janitor of madness” slot in MBTI.
When the dedicated team asked, “Kids these days all take MBTI tests, right?” I played dumb and rambled on, and it paid off.
“Before we start—who knows their own MBTI?”
Lee Cheonghyeon asked, and no one raised a hand.
Good thing we banned casual internet surfing in the name of “monitoring.” Better they stay pure than go learn weird terms somewhere.
The chat was already spamming everything from “your MBTI is CUTE” on down. My punks didn’t even get it was a joke and asked if that type existed.
E vs. I was easy.
“Juu and Choi Jeho are Is. You both prefer to be alone when you rest.”
“Wouldn’t Juu-hyung be like 99% I?”
Kang Giyeon agreed with me.
“...Is that bad?”
Park Juu asked, dead serious. Thanks to that, we spent three minutes explaining that MBTI has no good or bad—just different preferences.
“Giyeon’s an I too. All your hobbies are solo.”
“If that’s the standard, aren’t you an I?”
“I love hanging out with the members too much for that.”
No sooner had we calmed Park Juu than the maknaes started bickering “you’re an I,” “no, you are.”
“Then what’s Kim Iwol?”
Choi Jeho pointed at me.
“He’s this: he thinks he’s an I, but he’s an E who can’t be separated from people.”
Without a beat, Lee Cheonghyeon answered.
Unfair. I like being alone. My little officetel nap time was peak happiness.
But he had no interest in hearing my defense, and the others nodded along, which annoyed me more.
With Sparklers weighing in, the consensus was that I, Jeong Seongbin, and Lee Cheonghyeon were Es; the rest were Is.
We sorted S vs. N decently too. Realists Choi Jeho, Jeong Seongbin, and Kang Giyeon were tagged S.
Me, who imagines the system falling on my head in the shower; Lee Cheonghyeon, who types on an invisible keyboard every night; and daydreamer Park Juu, whose thoughts are anyone’s guess, took N.
Do people like me—forced to overthink by a weird situation—count as N by default? Who knows what the standard is.
Up to here, things stayed peaceful.
The audio got loud at the T vs. F question.
“There’s a shortcut question, they say. If someone says, ‘I was down today so I bought bread,’ what do you say back?”
Jeong Seongbin asked. Lee Cheonghyeon cut in.
“Who’s saying it? Someone close? Or just an acquaintance?”
“Of course the N asks the fussy follow-up.”
Certified S, Choi Jeho, shook his head like he didn’t get it.
But who’s saying it... that matters, right? It doesn’t matter to you?
That was nothing, though.
“Assume it’s me. One day I show up with bread.”
“You already eat bread in the morning—are you okay with the carbs?”
The answer was more shocking.
“Jeho, you okay in there?”
“Is your empathy broken?”
One by one, Lee Cheonghyeon and I worried over Jeho’s busted empathy. Park Juu already looked more wounded than the hypothetical speaker.
Seeing our reactions, Jeho frowned.
“What?”
“He said he’s down, so he bought bread.”
“And?”
“At least ask why he’s down?”
He thought for a moment.
Then, apparently convinced this was better, he offered a new answer.
“Will the bread help you feel better?”
“I give up.”
I sighed and held it in. If everyone were the same, viewers would be bored. I’ll call it content variety. Even if my insides are boiling.
But there was another land mine.
“...Should I get you some milk?”
“Giyeon, not you too.”
“It’s Seongbin trying to cheer himself up with bread. I thought it’d taste better that way and he’d bounce back faster...”
≫ Dance line, confirmed T
≫ I don’t think Seongbin’s mood will improve...
≫ I figured Jeho and Giyeon do feedback like bullet points lol
≫ ‘Will the bread help?’ lolol
≫ If you eat bread without milk, you can’t cheer up—Giyeon’s right
“Th-then I won’t be sad...?”
ISTP Choi Jeho, ENFP Lee Cheonghyeon, and ISTJ Kang Giyeon argued like fireworks. ESFJ Jeong Seongbin smiled in monk-like resignation. INFP Park Juu spectated.
Looks like the MBTI fad will be blowing through the dorm for a while.
—
Profile
Name: Kim Iwol
Birthday: February 14
Birthplace: Seoul
Height: 183 cm
MBTI: ENFJ
Nicknames: Nagging Machine, Grim Reaper Cool Tone, Discipline Captain, Human CCTV, Gentle Troublemaker
Likes: bass guitar, pear–balloon-flower-root tea, short meetings
Dislikes: overtime, anything illegal, rude behavior
Motto: Handle your own business first
Favorite food: spicy chewy cold noodles
Preferred scent family: green notes
Music I enjoy: metal
Favorite sport: soccer
Body part I’m confident about: hands
My little habit: tapping my thigh or the desk when I’m thinking
