The gist I heard from the manager over a short call was this.
Hellas—the group DJ Polo from Moonlit Talk belongs to—was heading out on an overseas tour.
So the station made calls here and there to fill in for Polo. Polo himself picked all the candidates, people who cared about his radio.
There was just one problem.
Hellas is such a global star that their tour would run way too long, leaving far too many empty slots.
Thanks to that, even after all of Polo’s acquaintances mobilized, one spot was still left...
— “Polo said he recommended you?”
Apparently he slotted me into that seat. I didn’t think Polo was that kind of person, but his eye for people must be bad.
I don’t have time for radio. I’m busy.
In the morning I have to toast bread, late morning I have to sing till my throat tears, lunchtime I have to fetch salads and carry them, afternoon I have to dance till my body breaks, evening I have to lay out low-sodium lunchboxes, and at night I have to wrestle with the system and figure out how to make Spark snatch a music-show win the sneaky way...
Even with six heads I couldn’t keep up with the math. The makeup staff begged me to please sleep a lot during the break. At this rate I’ll get scolded again after the comeback.
— “Plus the guest that day is Parte. The ratings won’t be that low!”
The manager said, excited. For an idol without strings, this was as good as it gets.
My mood, on the other hand, plunged to rock bottom.
I’m taking the seat left by Polo, when there are idols from the same label, MYTH?
And on that very episode, the rookie group MYTH should be fully backing shows up as the guest?
If you’re a Parte fan, you’re going to see this as weird. No video needed.
The moment the radio’s and Parte’s schedules leak, the communities will...
≫ Feels like the guest and DJ seats should be swapped ^^; lol ;;
└ Exactly... when our main dancers go on radio they do work for ten people every time... TT
≫ Hey, MYTH
Do you not know who you’re supposed to take care of right now??? ^^^^^^^
...turn into that. My vision’s going dark.
Parte, who wrapped promotions before us, all showing up—that alone gives enough merit to people eating from the same pot.
But giving solo hosting to a complete outsider? If I were Parte, I’d be salty too.
Still, a hole member of a rookie idol group in week three has no right to kick away a solo DJ shot.
It’s more my place to bow and thank them for the chance to promote the team.
I raised my voice so my enthusiasm would carry even through the phone to the manager.
"That’s truly an honor! I’ll do my best!"
Endure it, Kim Iwol. Think of it as fertilizer for that no. 1.
Honestly, it was a moment I missed my small, precious studio that would still be there, ownerless, nine years from now.
The day of the showdown arrived faster than I expected.
Because I was insanely busy in the meantime.
Even with added labor support services it wasn’t enough; I almost asked if they offered loans. Is this really an off-cycle?
"Iwol, are you really going to wear that?"
At a red light, the manager glanced over and asked.
"That" referred to my top: black base, loaded with dark-red geometric patterns.
"Of course."
I’d scoured the underground mall to find it.
Dark-red over black is Parte’s official color.
The pattern isn’t identical, but after days of /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ pounding the pavement I found something that would look pretty similar on camera.
"And you’re wearing that bracelet too...?"
This time he flicked a look at my wrist.
With Jeong Seongbin’s help this morning, I’d wrapped on a temporary bracelet made of fake bramble. Bought fake roses at the thousand-won shop and popped the blooms off.
"Naturally!"
I beamed. If I’m going to recreate the gloom of Parte’s music video, this much is the bare minimum.
I’m already leapfrogging seniors by months to host radio—there’s nothing to gain by getting on their bad side.
So I’ll push Parte’s promo hard, and during ads I’ll sneak in one Spark track. That’s the goal.
Wait for me, members.
I’ll make sure to get "Flowering" played on radio at least once.
My fashion, which thoroughly abandoned sophistication, gave the radio writers a big laugh.
"Mr. Iwol, don’t tell me that’s your own outfit?"
"It’s a guest-respect custom look!"
They asked where I found it, and when I said I bought it in the underground mall for 12,000 won, they burst out laughing again. As of today, I’m the local happy virus.
In that warm mood, I was getting a quick briefing from one writer when the studio door opened.
When Spark came as guests, we’d each arrive early to the waiting room, greet them, and get briefed.
But this time Parte arrived almost on the dot, so we exchanged hurried greetings in the recording booth. Not like location matters for greetings anyway.
"Hello! I’m Spark’s Kim Iwol. Thank you for having me today!"
"Ahaha. Sure."
Parte’s leader patted my shoulder with a friendly-looking smile.
Is it just me, or can you estimate someone’s old-man energy from their laugh alone?
My lively old-man radar was telling me this guy pinged hard, but I decided to ignore it. First do my job properly.
Then a little scoff came from behind. Song Minil.
He muttered after clocking my outfit.
"Trying hard to stand out, huh."
He was covering his mouth with his hand, but that punk was definitely laughing his head off.
But think it through, Mr. Minil.
If I wanted to stand out, I would’ve worn a golden crown—would I have worn the brambles that appear for two straight minutes in your music video?
And if you have time to watch me, look at your four members behind you. They’re so startled their livers must’ve shriveled.
I wanted to say, "I dressed like this for your team—why sneer?" but the kids shriveled like boiled ferns behind Minil looked a little pitiful, so I held back.
I waited to see how long Minil would keep his mouth running, and the leader stepped in.
"Minil, don’t say things like that. You’ll discourage our junior."
Kim Iwol, who debuted about two months later than Parte, was moved to tears by the senior’s kindness. Not sure you can call that a check, though.
"When you’re nervous you can mess up what you normally do well, so relax and take it easy."
Parte’s leader said.
I think he was trying to hide his true feelings and act nice, but I could already see it. The real meaning was: "Keep your head straight and don’t make mistakes."
"Not that we’d welcome mistakes either."
The nn presentations I did as a business-administration student, the nnn utterly useless decks at Hanpyeong Industries.
The countless Spark radio episodes I listened to while taking notes.
Plus today’s monitoring of Polo for a one-day DJ.
Sorry, but you’d better focus on not stepping on each other’s lines.
I’m already ready.
After the last show in Hong Kong.
In the van where the members, wiped out even after the after-party, were slumped in their seats, Hellas’s main rapper, Polo, took out his phone.
Seeing Polo then pull out his Bluetooth earbuds, Hellas’s leader, Yur, turned in the passenger seat to look at him.
Yur glanced once at the phone in Polo’s hand, once at Polo, and asked:
"Going to monitor the radio?"
"Yeah. The latest episode should be up by now."
At Polo’s words the other members asked if he wasn’t tired, told him to rest with the concert just over. Words that come from sharing a murderous schedule.
Polo answered their worried voices with pep.
"You still don’t know my stamina? I’m totally fresh!"
"Sure, you’re amazing..."
Everyone burst out laughing at a resigned-sounding quip from a teammate.
"Chaejun’s really attached to Moonlit Talk. On top of that, there’s a long gap this time—of course he’s anxious."
Whenever this came up, only Yur spoke up for Polo. Polo liked this gentle side of the leader.
"Juni, go ahead and listen to the radio. The rest of you should try to sleep till we get to the dorm."
"Yessir."
The moment the leader finished, the van went quiet.
Which was only natural. It’s nothing for a few kilos to drop off you after an overseas tour.
But Polo’s affection outstripped that fatigue—his love for the radio he’d DJ’d for years.
When even the agency that booked the gigs said, "A show run by an idol will only be listened to by idol fans," Polo thought:
"Idol fans aren’t listeners?"
That very day, Polo set a goal.
If you like idols, if you’re interested in celebrities, then no matter who the guest is, you’ll check this channel at least once.
In idol radio where ratings swing with the guest, Polo’s resolve looked meaningless. As everyone knows, how the show does is obvious from whether you can book a heavy-hitter.
But Polo really did work hard.
That effort bore fruit as Polo’s channel completely escaped the rude label of "guest-fueled" and settled in as a long-running program.
After many ups and downs, Polo couldn’t help but feel attached to radio.
So whenever an unavoidable reason arose, he would personally curate and even line up his own subs before stepping away.
In that sense, having a member of a rookie group host this episode was an unusual lineup.
When his leader first saw the DJ candidate list...
"You reached out to someone who just debuted?"
"Yeah. I hope he says yes!"
"He will. But that’s unexpected."
...that’s what he said.
Polo also knew Yur almost added, "I thought you didn’t recommend anyone unless they had a certain number of years in."
As Yur said, Polo’s choice was unprecedented. Even the radio writers we work with were surprised.
But unlike Yur, who hadn’t listened to Spark’s radio, the writers who had been on site that day quickly got interested in Polo’s pick.
"Polo, you felt it too? He has this crisp, reliable image, right? He spoke well."
"He even came for the interview sheet super early. No dead air at all—looked like the kids prepped a lot."
"For rookies, their audios didn’t overlap."
Leaving this level of impression on writers who work with different idols every week isn’t luck—it’s talent. That’s what Polo thought.
So he probed once.
Among six who all spoke well, the one who spoke exceptionally well and stood out the most.
The eldest of a rookie group with the guts not to wilt on his first radio—Kim Iwol.
When he hit replay, an empty studio with ads playing came up. Polo put in his earbuds and turned up the volume.
"I wonder if he wore that funny headband again today."
If you’re going to wear something anyway, since you’re the DJ this time, it’d be better to make one with the group name Parte instead of your own.
Entertaining that pointless thought, Polo looked up—and was shocked speechless at the sight of Kim Iwol entering in a flashy printed-pattern tee, script in hand.
