Spark’s comeback notice dropped. Because the members who value confidentiality hardly ever toss bait, Sparklers had to get struck by lightning and take the comeback as it came.
Baek Haewon was no different. Finals were approaching, and Spark was arriving with them, doubling the strain on the heart. Spark—my handsome men who came to ruin my life.
‘I hope they show up with killer makeup and absolutely insane styling.’
This was the first comeback since UA created a Spark-dedicated team (excluding the fan song, since the kids did that themselves). No way not to feel anxious.
Up to now our Iwol has handled everything on his own—neat, tight, tasteful. Could we trust that incompetent agency?
But with a base like that, it’s not easy to mess things up. If they couldn’t even manage average with Spark, UA executives deserved a public caning, Baek Haewon thought more than once.
≫ If UA shows up with weird crap again, you’re dead
≫ Time to show the sincerity of that apology letter. Show how much you’ve reflected—with investment
≫ Kids, hurry back and clamp discipline down hard with your faces. But if you rush it out and do a shit job, UA is really dead
Correction. It wasn’t only thoughts—a post went up on SNS too.
‘If the comeback is this year anyway, I’ll finish studying for exams beforehand!’
With a grim vow, Baek Haewon solved math problems for about two hours on sheer passion.
And right as Baek Haewon’s concentration began to fray—
≫ @spArk_official
J / Leader
#Spark #spArk #Seongbin #MISSION
The first concept photo dropped.
The world is fair after all. Doesn’t it give a prize to the one who worked hard!
Baek Haewon’s spinal cord reacted to the alert.
Jeong Seongbin, lounging arrogantly in a chairman’s chair, filled the screen from the chest up.
‘A suit? A suit? SUIT? Three-piece, all-black suit?’
A leader in a dress shirt and vest with sleeve garters on his forearms.
In a space like a dark conference room, he’s biting a pen as he looks toward a light source.
Just the other day he was our group’s most tragic-beauty guy, and now he’s staring straight ahead with a completely expressionless face!
≫ tlqkf
≫ f**k
≫ No f**k, Seongbin
≫ No, sir—no, TLQKF what on earth is this
≫ UA, thank you. I believed
≫ What is it with the sleeve garter I’m so pissed I love you to death but you first
└ Sir, please calm down
Calm down? No time to calm down. I have to go show my baby’s concept photo all over the neighborhood like a lion king bragging on a cliff.
Baek Haewon reposted the concept photo, quoted it, and downloaded and re-attached the pictures to express the swelling heart.
They didn’t forget to newly crop and close-up all the insane parts and deliver a long oration on why this was good.
≫ Th... the way the pen tip is “as if bitten, as if not” makes a person obsessed. So did you bite it? Did you not? There’s a shadow on the lips—at this point that means you did, right? Say you bit it. Hurry
≫ Leather gloves
(sigh)
≫ Is this truly the upper-arm of a nineteen-year-old high-schooler? Is it? Stop going to the gym with your hyungs—no, keep going. Flaunting forearms like that with a milky-white face is a tease, a flex, and greed
└ The kids’ frames are insane, seriously ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Wear suits forever
└ What are you saying??? They also have to wear uniforms and rash guards. I’m going to see the kids’ shoulder lines from up, down, left, right, front, back, and then die
└ lolololololol
≫ Men are all about drape-bangs
└ Miheon, I feel like I’ve seen you for three years; you’re truly consistent
└ I haven’t lost my first mind
A big one is coming.
An insanely big one is coming!
The heart pounded like it might explode. Not even the comeback date—what mattered desperately was who would drop in the very next concept photo.
“Let’s just line up that part one more time.”
Jeong Seongbin stopped the music and dragged the play bar back. Rough breathing could be heard here and there.
Also panting, Lee Cheonghyeon raised a hand and stepped out to the side of the formation.
“Hyung, I’m gonna pass for a bit.”
“Hurts a lot?”
“If I rest once and go back in, I think I’ll be fine.”
Under the practice shorts, a taped knee showed.
It wasn’t an injury. The kid was just growing like bean sprouts in a steamer.
‘Ack!’
‘What the—?!’
In the middle of the night he woke up yelling, and it turned out to be growing pains. He rolled around, groaned, made a scene, and I stayed up the whole night massaging his legs.
No wonder he seemed to tear his hair out more than usual while working on the “In My Office” OST. It was an unfamiliar task, and with his legs hurting, I guess he was edgier than normal.
Anyway, now that we know the cause, we’re practicing with proper breaks. It’s not like Lee Cheonghyeon takes long to learn choreography, and a visual member’s height is more important than anything.
Our eyes met in the mirror. Rubbing his knee, the kid giggled.
“You said it hurts—what’s making you that happy?”
“Just thinking about looking down on you hyungs makes me smile!”
“Not a chance.”
A hollow laugh escaped me. Do you know how many centimeters you need to be to look down on Choi Jeho or me?
Still, everyone seems to be growing well, so I’m relieved. At least they’re shooting up faster than before.
From Kang Giyeon—who seemed like he’d never grow even if he died—to Lee Cheonghyeon, some members are sprouting enough that you can see it with your eyes, while Jeong Seongbin and Park Juu are the type who build from the inside first.
Since I quit that work-support whatever, my muscle’s been coming back again, which I’m satisfied with, but...
“Hey, after the turn—face front.”
“Sorry.”
A small problem came up.
Because Kang Giyeon volunteered to cover for Lee Cheonghyeon’s slower progress, my dance teacher ended up becoming Choi Jeho.
“No, I said turn and face front, didn’t I?”
“Hang on. I’ve at least got the turn down, right? Now I’ll face front.”
“Didn’t Kang Giyeon get stress ulcers teaching you?”
“They came out so much he made a necklace and sold it. That good?”
Maybe because I grind him so much, Choi Jeho’s been grinding me more too. So this is paying back a peck with a bushel. Next time I’ll flay him with a sack.
After repeating the [N O V E L I G H T] same move a few more times—
“You’re sleeping here today.”
Choi Jeho notified me. I accepted humbly.
“When does ‘In My Office’ drop?”
Hurry and come out and boost my dance mastery...
▶ Deputy Kim, how’s KPI attainment coming along?
Right, I’m a freelancer without employment insurance. I need to get my first settlement fast so I can at least pay into the national pension.
My old Hanpyeong Industries days had better old-age security than this. I gave the stock-sale cash to my sister, so I’ve basically got not a penny to my name—what am I supposed to do?
Maybe I should really get a heavy-equipment license, emigrate to Australia, live miserably in a share house, and grind for money...
While I was grinding my brain, Lee Cheonghyeon, climbing down from the bed, spoke.
“Hyung, what’s with you lying there and not getting up?”
“I’m thinking about the future.”
“Got a conclusion?”
“I decided I should study English harder.”
“Our homework packets are not going to survive for a while.”
Still, you’ve got to live diligently. I’ve done all sorts of things so far to hit those KPIs.
If we don’t win first with this album, KPI attainment gets pushed to next year. Like hell I’m letting that happen.
Today’s schedule is the music video shoot. Starting today we won’t be back at the dorm for three days and two nights. That’s what idol MV shoots are like.
Park Juu, Lee Cheonghyeon, and Kang Giyeon got in the car with their newly redone hair hidden tight for today.
We pulled hoods over and cinched the strings tight, and they all turned into webfoot octopuses. I kept good photos of the three-octopus squad so I could post them any time on the public account.
At the shop, everyone succeeded at rebirth. Faces and fits rewarded the sweat at the gym and the nightly upkeep.
To express a grown look, we poured effort into eye makeup. Couldn’t tell how many layers of shadow were stacked.
Not having worn heavy makeup many times, Lee Cheonghyeon kept going “Oh... ohhh...” at the mirror.
“Everyone take fifty selfies. I’m going to check.”
“Today’s quota is small...?”
Park Juu asked, puzzled.
“I’ll take the other fifty myself as I go around, so don’t worry.”
“Uhh...”
There’s also demand for photos of my babies taken by someone else, you know. When you’re facing the wall or sitting on the sofa, I’ll snap them solid.
For the first shoot, fitting the safe choreography shoot, everyone wore suits. With only small variations, we unified it with black half-palm gloves and plain-toe shoes.
“For the group-dance shots, we’ll shoot once on this gray background and once on that burgundy background. After the outfit change, we’ll shoot together on that set.”
The assistant director gave a brief explanation based on the storyboard they’d received ahead.
I looked back and forth between the two sets and asked,
“Our tones are all dark—won’t the subjects get swallowed if the background is burgundy?”
“We’re planning to push the lights harder on that background. You might actually have to worry about the makeup blowing out.”
Looking around in person, on one side was a gray set with nothing to distract from the members, and on the other a burgundy set spattered with black paint.
It felt like just the other day we were shooting an MV at an abandoned school we’d scouted on foot. Now we’re shooting on a proper set. Sentimental, that.
“And besides the group dance, there are individual shots for members three through eight, number thirteen is Giyeon’s blind shot, fourteen is Iwol’s half-body, twenty-seven is Juu’s conference-room shot...”
Ah. Not the time to be sentimental.
Honestly. With a mountain of work ahead, I was thinking about other things. I’ve gotten soft. Soft...
