The inhuman cosplay concept that followed the fantasy theme was met with explosive enthusiasm. Fans who had been soothing themselves with edited mockups finally quenched their thirst by sharing high-resolution, delicately retouched photos. People loved it so much they looked ready to resolve all lingering regrets and ascend peacefully.
But it was still too early to leave this world. There was still a mountain of bait left to reveal.
No one knew better than Spark and everyone at UA just how much they had staked on this comeback. Even the choreography video I had already replayed around ten times was polished enough that, unless something strange showed up, I could send it off for editing as-is.
Everyone did great, but Choi Jeho in particular was exceptional. After tasting the sweet nectar of paradise through “Bright,” the bastard had started devouring attention greedily.
The clean physique and muscle lines I had specifically demanded also played a huge role. Expression, silhouette, dance lines—the trifecta was flawless. No matter where you looked in the video, once your eyes landed on Choi Jeho, you couldn’t look away.
Right as the flashy dance break where Choi Jeho dominated the screen was about to begin, a large hand suddenly planted itself over the laptop display.
The uninvited guest was none other than the owner of the part himself, Choi Jeho.
“Why?”
“Let’s shoot the video again.”
So that was why he came. A reshoot request.
I reset the playback and asked,
“Did something come out weird? From what I can see, even random screencaps would look good. The outfit fit stays nice all the way through too......”
“I don’t like it.”
He pointed the cursor at the dance break section I had been about to finalize.
Paused in the dead center of the screen was Choi Jeho himself.
“Here.”
Honestly, I couldn’t agree.
Separate from whether I wanted to admit it or not, Choi Jeho’s ability was absurdly consistent.
If he filmed a video ten times, all ten were good. Twenty times, all twenty were good. That was Choi Jeho’s strength—every take was so good it felt wasteful not to use it.
Nobody ever had to say things like, “This part is better in this version, but that part is better in the other one,” when it came to Choi Jeho.
That was how thoroughly he maintained peak quality in everything he did.
And his growth? If someone wanted to visualize Choi Jeho’s improvement, they’d have to draw a quantum jump graph instead of a gentle curve. Back when he debuted, he had been labeled a “monster rookie.” Now he had evolved beyond that into an actual monster, praised as an “ecosystem-disrupting species” that deserved its own category separate from ordinary fancams and stage videos.
His refusal to settle for reality was admirable.
But why was it that Choi Jeho desperately giving it everything he had felt unfamiliar to me?
Maybe because he always acted like nothing was a big deal? But that explanation didn’t quite fit either. Choi Jeho had always been serious. He built muscle so his power output would never fall behind, and no matter how many group practices there were, he never skipped individual practice.
All for the sake of dancing better.
At the same time, he would cut his muscles back down so his movements wouldn’t look heavy and so he could blend harmoniously with the team. And whenever it wasn’t his part, he knew how to tone down his own presence to a reasonable degree. Being born a star meant he could never completely disappear, but during group activities, Choi Jeho adjusted himself as much as he could.
Gifted from birth yet terrifyingly relentless in sharpening himself, Choi Jeho overwhelmed his peers in the industry with sheer ability. His enormous recognition and nonstop love calls proved his value.
And yet, he was bothered over the details of a single choreography video.
In the idol industry, where maintaining your original drive was directly tied to career longevity, that deserved praise. From the perspective of someone who had to share every hardship with him, it was both natural and admirable.
Wanting to do well because you needed to and wanting to do well because you loved it were similar, but fundamentally different.
Choi Jeho had entered this industry simply because he genuinely loved dancing. And he always just quietly did his job without complaining or hesitating.
It hit me all over again just how insanely obsessed this bastard was with dance.
Looking at someone who seemed to live in a completely different world from mine, I asked,
“Are there times when even you get desperate?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m asking if you’ve ever desperately wanted something in your life.”
People tended to be lenient toward themselves and strict toward others. Often, they treated other people’s effort as something obvious, something insignificant.
At the very least, I had to stay wary of that mindset. Especially because I knew how consistently Spark had always given their all, even back in the past.
Still, there was no need for me to reflect on myself here.
“I don’t really think about stuff like that.”
“......”
“But I’ve never half-assed anything.”
Because Choi Jeho naturally drew acknowledgment from everyone around him.
Whether he viewed himself negatively or took his own efforts lightly, the moment you faced him, he had the kind of overwhelming presence that made you click your tongue at the absurd reality that someone like this was your age.
In any case, if he wanted to dance and his body was perfectly fine, who was I to object? The most I could do was use him as motivation so my own discipline wouldn’t slack off.
After that, we rescheduled the choreography shoot and filmed it again.
It meant adding even more work right before the comeback, but not a single person complained.
And the reshot version was, as expected, even better than before.
Until now, Spark’s comebacks had always been handled at lightning speed. That didn’t mean UA was incompetent at their jobs. It simply meant every schedule had been unbearably tight.
When I poured ideas into the tteok-cutting machine, Lee Cheonghyeon ran the machine and produced songs like a factory churning out rice cakes. Jeong Seongbin and Park Juu took those freshly made rice cakes into the recording studio and stamped patterns into them with rice cake molds until they looked perfect. Then Choi Jeho and Kang Giyeon wrapped the finished songs beautifully so they could be presented properly on stage.
The fact that we managed that entire process within two months was practically a miracle.
Even while promoting, we had to make title tracks for the next comeback, and even working on multiple songs simultaneously never left enough time.
UA was the same. While managing promotions and support during active periods, they also had to finish the groundwork for future albums during downtime. Until the day Spark finally entered a long break, no one on the dedicated Spark team could truly rest easy.
With things like this, other groups could release two concept photos a week, but Spark had to drop concept photos on Monday, release the teaser on Wednesday, and upload the tracklist on Friday. If we wanted to avoid disasters like abruptly announcing offline schedules such as fan meetings and prerecordings, we had no choice but to work ourselves to death elsewhere.
≫ When does Spark’s MV come out?
└ 5...... 4...... 3...... 2...... 1......
└ Wait, in an hour?
└ It was posted yesterday. What were you doing while this place was on fire?
└ ???? Didn’t the tracklist only come out the day before yesterday???
└ Time moves six times faster for Spark
But now, we were finally able to do proper, heart-pounding textbook promotions.
Why?
Because my situation had delayed the comeback by a ridiculous amount......! Because nobody thought we’d be making a comeback in the second half of the year......!
Overwhelmed by complicated emotions, I swallowed my tears internally. I urgently needed one of those animal reaction images where the creature covers its mouth with watery eyes.
This time, instead of blatantly spoiling the album, we released a symbolic teaser image. We didn’t even use the word “comeback.”
Spark, a group that had always pursued straightforward promotions, suddenly started acting cryptic, and people everywhere began stirring.
≫ What’s that thing the official account uploaded?
└ Is that...... a flask?
└ Are they making a comeback?
≫ Hngh what is this my heart’s pounding
Is it self-contentisitaneventisitarepackageisaunitisita concertisitamini fanmeeting???Just tell me
└ Breathe first, lol
└ Pls let it be a unit
≫ Guys! Spark’s doing something!
Let’s spread rumors first and figure it out later!!!
└ LMAO “spread rumors first”ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ If it’s a concert, spread the rumors slower so I can secure my seat first
└ Didn’t they just do an encore concert recently? Would they really hold another one already?
└ If they hype us up this much and then go “Ta-da~ it’s an overseas tour announcement~” I’m plugging the fax machine straight into the outlet
When the third image went up at 24-hour intervals, most of the Sparklers had already started piecing the images together and trying to guess what they were.
≫ I think if you arrange them in two rows of three, it forms one big picture!
Is it a laboratory?
└ What variety show has flasks, notebooks, and beakers?
└ Maybe it’s a full-group music show with a scientist concept!!!
Once the puzzle was complete, a dark, antique attic bathed in violet air emerged.
A single ray of light pierced through the heavy blackout curtains and stretched across the desk. The lighting was so dim that the only thing clearly visible in the darkness was a feathered pen illuminated by sunlight.
The final image, placed in the upper right corner, had a small handwritten date scribbled onto it.
≫ It’s a comeback
IT’S A COMEBACK!!!!!!!
└ Since it says 2nd, everyone’s whispering that it might be a full albumㅋㅋ
└ Why are they pushing themselves so hardㅠㅠㅠㅠ But I love itㅠㅠㅠ
Right after the materials hinting at a comeback were released, a very short preview clip of the prerelease song went up.
≫ ?? Wait, am I the only one hearing this song for the first time?
Guess it’s not a repackage?
We sent them off to rest and they came back having raw-produced a full album?
└ They’re completely insane
≫ What’s the concept?
The props look pretty old, so I don’t think it’s connected to the Hwaro High School storyline
Is it the In My Office universe......?
└ In My Office felt like a fairy tale storybook, but this one feels more like some creepy secret experiment notebook
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Okay that description actually makes senseㅋㅋㅋ
As the teaser materials started dropping, I made absolutely sure none of the members spoiled anything on Bubblepop.
Fortunately, none of my teammates were careless with their fingers.
Then, after a weekend of complete chaos, Monday arrived.
At 6 PM, the teaser for the prerelease track “Dreamer” was revealed.
≫ Wait a second
Papers rained down over my head as I lay facedown on a desk. Choi Jeho’s hand appeared, drawing red liquid out of something outside the camera angle with a syringe. Jeong Seongbin’s face was obscured by black fog. Chess pieces rolled around at Park Juu’s feet. Kang Giyeon’s silhouette flickered faintly above a beaker filled with green liquid.
Then the teaser cut to a close-up of Lee Cheonghyeon’s right eye.
Golden tears streamed down his face.
Long pale fingers scratched over the tear stains. A crimson streak stretched out beside them, forming the title:
“Dreamer.”
≫ Was that really a Spark teaser I just watched?
Everyone was stunned by this completely new side of Spark.
D-4 until the MV and song release.
The countdown had begun.
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