Immediately after the MV and song release, Spark’s official channels began pouring out endless amounts of “Alight” content.
Group choreography videos, member-focused fancam versions of the choreography, recording and filming behind-the-scenes clips—comments recommending the best viewing order for maximum enjoyment shot straight to the top.
≫ Ever since “Bright” I thought the MV style changed a little but this is what they were preparing for huh
The cinematography is insane......
└ I’ve taken so many screenshots my hard drive’s about to explode
└ Forget everything else, I just love how well it matches the songㅋㅋㅋ
≫ The older members ○○○ seriously ○○○ there’s no way ○○○ this is even possible
○○○ curses come out of my fingers and drool comes out of my mouth ○○○ my humanity has been completely destroyed ○○○
You could’ve done this the whole time and never gave us this concept before?? ○○○ Is this all the loyalty between Spark and Sparklers was worth...... ○○○
I physically cannot watch this MV sanely
└ The fact this comment is this long and only one sentence avoided the filter is amazing
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
≫ They wore leather setups with their chests exposed and did synchronized waves together
I can’t believe this isn’t a dream
└ Didn’t Hyungwol say just the other day he’d at least wait until everyone’s ID ink dried before even considering a sexy concept? Time really flies
└ Watching “Alight” made me realize I can hold my breath for five entire minutes
≫ I’m trying to organize everything good about the choreography and my brain’s about to burst
Delayed timing choreo group waves floor sweeping lip rubbing belt grabbing sudden back exposure appeal lifting arms to emphasize upper-body muscles thigh tracing intentional power sexy dance
└ Character limit tq what am I supposed to remove here YOU people need to increase storage capacity
└ >sudden back exposure appeal<
└ An insanely intense dance for an insanely intense song...... praise accepted
└ There’s literally not a single resting section and somehow they get busier when it’s not their partㅋㅋㅋ
└ Seongbin and Juu are busy even during their own parts though
└ Save the main vocalsㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ It doesn’t even feel like they’re trying to seduce me, they’re just overflowing with insanity so it loops back around to sexy. It’s a weird kind of sexy concept
≫ Turns out I really love scary-looking men performing powerful dance tracks
└ The more powerful the music is the better......bb
└ I was already done for the second I heard the motorcycle ignition soundㅋㅋㅋ
└ I got shocked after reading a comment saying there weren’t any backup dancersㅋㅋ Their formations use huge space and because their arm and leg reach is so long the stage looks completely full
≫ Kang Giyeon was definitely just super cute Kang Giyeon though
When did he become King of Sexy. Authority of Sexy. Regal Sexy Kang Giyeon
└ The gathering of shy-Lee Cheonghyeon stans and people mourning the loss of cute pretty visually-era Cheonghyeon likes this post
└ Mr. Lee Cheonghyeon was truly incredible...... I briefly lost focus
└ Mr. Kang Giyeon was absolutely insane...... I’ve already stuffed him into my net bag
└ Excuse me give him back
≫ I’ve been going “raise the temperature let it burn melt everything let it burn” all day long
Get out of my brain
└ You’re still better off than me, I’m literally just going “let it burn let it burn”
└ I watched a few reaction videos, listened to people explain how good the hook was like “oh~ I see~,” turned my phone off, and then caught myself whispering “let it. burn”
└ Upper comment did you install CCTV in my house? Remove it before I report you
≫ I only checked the song out because people said a new track dropped, but then I watched the dance practice, then the fancams, then comment compilations, then reactions, then relay dancing
So anyway when do music show promotions start......?
└ Starting next week for three weeks!
└ Three weeks?? I desperately need cross-edits
≫ Jeong. Seong. Bin. Slicked. Back. Hair.
Kim Mihun lies here deceased
But seriously Seongbin stans are your hearts okay?? Our boy stopped being Spark’s exclusive warm handsome guy and became the vanguard of the Blue Flame Legion
└ Seongbin is...... Seongbin is way too much of a man now, Mihun......ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└ Getting multiple versions of slicked-back Seongbin is the most luxurious buffet imaginable
└ They gave us only sample tastings at the encore concert and now they’ve come back with a full-course meal
≫ The charting is insaneㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Are they getting first place on the first broadcast?
└ Holy shit when did these guys become this powerful
└ Sparklers are literally streaming machines
└ Mass streaming isn’t just lining up B-sides at dawn, it’s staying glued to the roof even in broad daylight
└ Looking at how stable the rankings are outside dawn hours, they’re definitely taking itㅋㅋㅋ
“Alight” generated overwhelming buzz.
In a way, it was only natural. The song combined the mass appeal of “Hideout” with all the know-how “Bright” had developed regarding the organic connection between song and visuals.
That said, nobody became arrogant just because they were receiving the results they deserved.
Even after watching the graph camp on the entry chart and punch through the roof rankings, the members still expressed wholehearted gratitude for winning first place during comeback week.
“This is all thanks to your incredible music, Teacher.”
“Oh please, thank you for dressing us up beautifully again this time.”
“Your face wasn’t made handsome by me styling it, but thanks for the compliment.”
Lee Cheonghyeon and I exchanged a warm handshake of victory.
Park Juu clapped with a pleased expression.
The moment promotions began, Spark’s road of suffering effectively reopened for business.
Like proper idols who knew they had to work relentlessly while people were paying attention, Spark accepted almost every schedule thrown at them......
Cutie Pretty Visually Lee Cheonghyeon
[OMG]
[Am I really the only one at the dorm today?]
......to the point where only one person ended up sleeping in the six-member dorm.
21-Year-Aged Metal Jade Marble Park Juu
[I’m coming back at dawn! ㅠㅠ]
[Wait just a little]
Cutie Pretty Visually Lee Cheonghyeon
[That still means I’m alone until 11:59 PM]
[Everyone’s overnight stays are getting excessive]
[Could you PLEASE stop ignoring your housemate’s loneliness in this shared living arrangement?]
Center Emperor Choi Jeho
[On my way]
Cutie Pretty Visually Lee Cheonghyeon
[Daddy Cheonghyeon is lonely]
Me
[You have to leave before dawn anyway]
[Go to sleep early]
Cutie Pretty Visually Lee Cheonghyeon
[Yes, Father......]
Me
[Why am I “Father” while Choi Jeho gets to be “Daddy?”]
Super Cute Kang Giyeon
[Please settle this, Dad.]
Me
[I genuinely can’t believe this]
Mental Pillar Jeong Seongbin
[Cheonghyeon, don’t you leave for work at 3 AM tomorrow?]
[It’s your special MC day]
Cutie Pretty Visually Lee Cheonghyeon
[The older members keep bullying me so Cheonghyeon is crying himself to sleep~!]
[Please send one kind message each for sleeping-while-crying Cheonghyeon~!!]
Me
[The sun won’t rise tomorrow because your face will rise first]
Super Cute Kang Giyeon
[I don’t know about that......]
[If he cries himself to sleep, maybe it won’t rise because it got waterlogged.]
Me
[Whoever arrives first is responsible for putting a heated eye mask on Cheonghyeon]
21-Year-Aged Metal Jade Marble Park Juu
[I’ll do it~ Vv^^vV]
Mental Pillar Jeong Seongbin
[Juu and I will be back before 2!]
And then before sunrise even began, everyone got loaded into vans together and sent off to music shows and group variety schedules.
The break we had taken beforehand helped immensely.
After fully recharging their stamina, Spark flew around nonstop from morning to night.
Having a full-length album with a variety of songs also made promotions more fun. Rotating between the prerelease track, the title song, and B-sides kept things from ever growing stale.
There was also another kind of event that kept people from mentally relaxing.
Unfortunately, the most recent major Spark issue had been “miraculously preventing a catastrophic outdoor-stage accident through unbelievable reflexes,” so no matter what variety show we appeared on, the incident got brought up.
And because nobody had actually been injured, people asked about it even more casually. The full-scale disaster behind the scenes was something only we knew about, so to outsiders it looked like a dangerous but harmless little mishap.
So we just answered pleasantly and farmed views off it.
The emotional damage had already been resolved, and since we couldn’t exactly make serious faces in front of rolling cameras anyway, we figured we might as well use it for promotion and talked our heads off.
Combine moderate tension, long-suppressed energy, and cheers exploding right in front of you?
Your endorphins go completely insane.
To the point where you stopped even feeling tired.
Even while chatting nonstop in the van after schedules because we wanted to show even more than we had prepared, it was still fun.
And that excitement came back to us as results.
≫ Their discipline is crazy
Those eyes are legendary
└ People seriously need proper rest periods between work, the kids came back looking completely different
└ Our kids have always looked good though?
└ Yeah but now they came back looking downright murderous
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is that supposed to be a complimentㅋㅋㅋ
≫ Mihun-nim GOLD Iwol appeared!!!!
└ WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
└ He was black-haired yesterday, when did he bleach it!!!!!
└ OMG Kim Iwol’s personal color was blonde this whole time and he never tried gold hair before?? Please understand yourself before styling your younger brothers
└ Sorry humans but why are you only telling us about Gold Iwol?? Are you all seriously gatekeeping Choi Jeho’s neo-purple hair from the rest of us because I’m literally crying from betrayal
≫ Seeing idols from other groups mention “Alight” makes me realize the song really is that good
Any idol who does karaoke livestreams sings it at least once
└ Even though it’s a super intense dance song, there’s never awkward silence during karaoke and I love that
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ That’s actually importantㅋㅋ
≫ Racing uniforms (dies)
You’re only giving us these precious outfits on stage......? Couldn’t you have used them in the MV too......?
One week later:
A teaser for the performance version MV dropped
I can die without regrets now
└ Idols who give you everything without you even asking
└ If you raid the storage room, these filial idols leave the door open and wait for you
└ There are so many interesting point choreographies and formation changes that I knew the dance practice would explode, but the fact they even prepared a performance MV means they probably predicted the word-of-mouth momentumㅋㅋㅋ
└ Jeho leader still producing legendary behavior...... slicked-back black hair and goggles? Yeah okay I’ll die for you......
From commute-time radio to every kind of broadcast and music quiz show, “Alight” played endlessly.
In a market where album sales didn’t necessarily correlate with chart performance or public recognition, Spark’s sales graph and buzz graph rose in nearly identical shapes.
“......How can we possibly repay this level of support?”
Jeong Seongbin asked seriously.
It seemed that because they had received so much, he felt compelled to give something more back in return.
So we all put our heads together to think.
“The easiest option is long-form self-content, right? We upload vlogs all the time already, so something different would probably be better.”
“Should we open the survey results from last time?”
Jeong Seongbin opened a Wexcel file from the shared drive.
It was the compiled results of the yearly survey Spark conducted asking fans what kind of content they wanted to see from us.
The number-one-ranked skit series and number-two-ranked observational-camera content had already been filmed before the comeback. The bizarre family skits where everyone had jobs like village guardian statue, village chief, and random nonsense professions had been popular for ages.
People also wanted to see Spark’s ordinary daily lives more closely, so we filmed a proper rest-day episode during break period too. That one was scheduled for upload tomorrow.
But the narrowly ranked third-place entry bothered me.
“‘Mission Failure Hardship Era’ is still consistently popular.”
“Mission Failure Hardship Era” was a self-produced web variety series originally created during the “MISSION” promotions to showcase Spark in various suit styles.
We needed entertainment value, and since Spark’s “office worker moments” were already known through scenes like the “Ah. Wang. Sil.” meeting clip, it felt pointless to repeat the same thing again. So although the members outwardly played office workers, the series was designed to let everyone’s real personalities show through completely.
Unexpectedly, it became an enduring hit.
Just recently, “Hardship Era” had gone viral again after six cold-faced handsome men who got hired through nepotism thanks to powerful backers demonstrated encyclopedic knowledge about the love triangle and perfect combo of fried snacks, tteokbokki, and sundae.
“Do people just like watching idiots......?”
At this point, it had become such a steady seller that apparently viewers found it memorable watching tall handsome men sitting on the floor on draft papers while dipping fried food into tteokbokki sauce.
Still, since we wanted to prioritize what Sparklers wanted most, I contacted the dedicated team.
Unfortunately, the response was that scheduling made it difficult.
─ Filming and editing aren’t the issue, but there isn’t enough time to rent an office space......
Apparently every location we’d previously used for filming was already fully booked. Finding somewhere on short notice wasn’t going to be easy.
“I see.”
There was exactly one place the dedicated team hadn’t considered contacting.
A place I had kept postponing visiting despite always meaning to go eventually.
“Jugyeong-nim, could you check one more company for me? It shouldn’t cost very much...... and if possible, they’d probably adjust the schedule around us.”
─ Which company?
I took a deep breath and answered.
“Hanpyeong Industry.”
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