Mentions of Spark ticked up—still tiny, but noticeable—after the teaser dropped.
The instant the teaser hit the internet, my own debut became something I couldn’t wriggle out of.
Along with that, we all went into hell training.
Wasn’t the company not exactly the type to force practice?
“Guys, tough, right?”
“Yeah, hyung...”
“I’m tired too. But I can still keep my eyes open, so how about a little more?”
Yes, I pushed them. They were always good, but the more time we put in, the better ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) they got, so I’m squeezing them down to bone dust.
After the Park Juu incident, I even took the members’ condition into account and drove them delicately. At this level, it’s VIP protocol.
My accumulated fatigue is skyrocketing too... but I can still open my eyes in the morning, so I’ll live.
I was going to catch my breath with some water when Park Juu came over and asked:
“Hyung, tomorrow morning we practice the fansign, right...?”
“Yeah.”
Spark’s “practice” wasn’t limited to the debut stage.
I built a separate comprehensive onboarding program for my debut.
The moment the debut date was set, I got the company’s consent and had the members practice stage work in the daytime and fansign/fan meeting at night.
UA didn’t do much education related to fan service, and every petty controversy Spark tripped over at debut had come from their responses at fan events.
≫ Writing a post after going to a fansign and then un-standing
Honestly I knew my boys’ fan service was weak lol
When you’re a pure old-school stan you do the whole see-no-evil hear-no-evil thing, right?? I was the same
I just covered for them like it was cuz my babies are shy XX
But I spent tens of thousands of won to go to a fansign, and not one but all five only said “Ah... thank you.” and that hit me like a truck XX
They’re XXX carrying on the proud legacy of the bedbug idol. I stayed up the whole night and un-stood the next day
└ Hard same... I go full makeup, buy clothes, get my nails done to meet them, and the idols got fully set at the shop and rode a manager-driven car over, and they still show their tired XX? I’m livid
└ OP, can you at least tell us in initials whose fans you were?
└ spk
└ You spent your money and didn’t get the fan service you wanted so now it’s the idol’s fault lololol Did you entrust them with something?
└ I bought albums with my money and won the fansign, so I can’t even ask for that much? lol If you’re the commenter who orders a combo and only gets a single item, don’t complain; just shut up and eat what you get lol
Back then the community boards were full of scary takes. Manager Nam’s daughter was raging about whether to archive PDFs or not, too.
The reason Spark botched the fansign later came out of Jeong Seongbin’s mouth: the whole group was extremely nervous.
They’d seen senior idols get roasted for dead-fish eyes at fansigns, so they knew they had to do something, but had no idea what that “something” should be.
Some people accepted that honestly; others called it a cowardly excuse.
But I understood Jeong Seongbin somewhat.
Because sitting next to him at the time was Choi Jeho, who you never knew what he’d say or when.
Choi Jeho had never crossed the line with a fansign comment, but the members had said multiple times they were hurt by his tone back in trainee days, so I got why Jeong Seongbin worried.
Me, too—I’d sat in on interviews with Manager Nam and felt my back get clammy more than once.
Whether the eldest can be a pillar or not has a big effect. In that sense, Choi Jeho was a good center but not a good hyung.
On top of that, back then Kang Giyeon was the type who’d lose all strength once he got nervous, so what could Jeong Seongbin rely on? Probably only Park Juu, who scraped together every bit of his social skill and gave it his all, and the younger Lee Cheonghyeon.
How could they focus at an event like that. It was a blessing they didn’t babble nonsense.
That doesn’t mean we can justify inadequate fan service. If you take money, you’re obligated to do the work you were paid for.
Therefore, we proceed.
Spark’s mock fansign.
Last weekend I analyzed about two hundred boy-group fansign reports and post-its, made an FAQ list, and shared it in the group chat.
[★Notice★ 1. The last person to leave checks the gas knob 2. Trash goes in the visib...]
Me
[By the day after tomorrow, think up three answers
for each question.]
[We’ll practice answering
when random questions come at you.]
Cutie Pretty Visually Lee Cheonghyeon
[Maknaes have seen it~]
Spiritual Pillar Jeong Seongbin
[Seongbin and Juu have checked it. :)]
Spiritual Pillar Jeong Seongbin
[I also informed Jeho hyung! :)]
Me
[Jeho ^^ you didn’t make your dongsaeng reply because you were too lazy to answer yourself, right? ^^ You’re not that no-reply fossil, are you? ^^ If you are, I’ll be a little disappointed ㅠㅠ ^^]
Center Emperor Choi Jeho
[I didn’t make him do it]
Whether or not Jeho felt wronged, the day to check the kids’ readiness came fast.
To build realism, we brought a long table and chairs into the practice room and reproduced a location straight out of the photos in those reports.
From across the way, while putting a bottle of water on the table for each head per my instructions, Choi Jeho asked:
“But if we practice, who’ll play the fans?”
“Me.”
“You?”
He shot back, reluctant.
But think about it.
Me: signing for at most three months, or maybe never even attending a fansign.
You: who’ll be signing for at least seven years.
Which of us needs fansign practice more? Obviously, you punks do.
“Is that a good casting choice? It won’t be easy to meet a fan like you, hyung.”
“What kind of fan am I?”
“Do you want to hear it?”
Even Kang Giyeon backed him up.
Seems like everyone doubts my acting.
Unbelievable. I’ve replayed fansign focus cams so many times just to read your lip shapes.
I’ve seen maybe fifteen thousand Sparkler fans in videos alone. Thanks to that, I can copy the gestures of the fans sitting across from you without even looking.
It can’t be helped.
I’ll show you. The dignity of First Place in the Hanpyeong Industries HR Team Manager Nam Impression Contest.
The first batter in the First Spark (Mock) Fansign was Jeong Seongbin.
His two fists clenched tight—he was at least a little nervous.
Unlike the other kids, he seemed to be taking this situation somewhat seriously. As expected, he didn’t let me down.
Deeply moved, I held out the prop scheduler I’d prepared to Jeong Seongbin.
Then I beamed and shouted:
“Seongbin, I’ve made you my bias!”
“...Huh?”
About to pretend to sign, he froze up, creaked, and looked up at me.
How do you ruin the wholesome mood in under five seconds. I immediately went deadpan.
“Seongbin, a fan just chose you as their bias—are you spacing out? Are you trying to use this fansign to get demoted from bias to ex-bias?”
“No, I just got too flustered... I’m sorry!”
“Being flustered means under-practiced. Let’s remember that.”
I warned the other four sitting in a row beside him and sat back down.
Now the air between us moved past tension into a solemn mood.
“Post-its! Check off answers to the post-it questions!”
“Y-yes!”
Get your heads on straight, you lot.
We still have to practice talent bits for the fan meeting after this.
Up until the moment Kim Iwol said they should practice a fansign, Kang Giyeon didn’t think much of it.
Not that he didn’t care. It was just doing what had to be done, so there was nothing special to feel.
He was surprised they even had time to factor in things like this. Each time, he was reminded that the perfection-loving Kim Iwol’s tenacity could veer into the manic.
But they were well past the stage of finding his antics strange.
In fact, considering the personality of the perfectionist Kim Iwol, this elder’s oddities had become understandable.
It even felt natural watching Kim Iwol study photos on SNS and line up the table, water bottles, and chairs at perfect angles to match the pictures.
However...
“Gasp... Cheonghyeon, you’re seriously handsome...”
Right now, with the second member, Lee Cheonghyeon, Kim Iwol was obviously not in his right mind. Either that, or something had possessed him.
His acting—covering his mouth and wearing a moved expression—was award-worthy. If Kang Giyeon believed in folk spirits, he’d be sure the hyung was possessed.
“Hey, if you keep praising me like that, what if I get spoiled!”
And his friend who was playing along...
Was always a strange one.
Kang Giyeon gave up thinking.
“It’s fine. If looks decide power, our Cheonghyeon is the president.”
“Really? Then you have to tell the other members that later too, okay?”
“Sorry, you’ll have to pretend you didn’t hear that.”
He was having the time of his life.
Kang Giyeon almost shook his head, then stopped. If he cockily shook his head no during a mock fansign, who knew what terrible thing might happen.
But despite Kang Giyeon’s efforts, Kim Iwol’s head turned toward the remaining members.
In his deep black eyes, there wasn’t a glint of light.
“Guys.”
“...Yes.”
“Why did your smiles drop at a fansign? Didn’t I tell you to keep a bright smile unless there’s a legitimate reason? Do you want to hear ‘Spark’s first fansign looks like a discount bin full of frozen mackerel pancakes’?”
“Just smile, just smile!”
“Right. Especially you, Choi Jeho. If it’s that simple, why haven’t you been smiling so I have to repeat myself?”
“...”
“Understand me the first time, got it?”
Face radiating murder but eyes smiling kindly—that was Kim Iwol. The smile Lee Cheonghyeon had named the “False Kindness.”
Kang Giyeon swallowed. If he crossed that clearly fried hyung, there was no way he’d go home unscathed today.
And at this timing, of all people, the third member to step up was Park Juu.
Because he was the shy one who’d gotten an especially large amount of private coaching from Kim Iwol, everyone held their breath—while keeping their smiles—and watched the two.
Praying their proud main vocal wouldn’t be dragged to the vocal practice room for brutal one-on-one coaching.
“Hi, Juu!”
Kim Iwol’s chirpy greeting just wouldn’t die.
Park Juu answered with a faint smile.
“Hello. Hyung, that ring really suits you.”
What?
Park Juu... to Kim Iwol?
In that gentle, tender tone... what did he just say?
