novelraw Chapter 189: Office Opening (2) (2)
Chapter 189: Office Opening (2) (2)
For idols, long waits were just part of everyday life.
Delays in filming were commonplace, and sometimes, they were summoned with the expectation that they’d be waiting endlessly from the start.
During that downtime, Spark had done a variety of things.
Studying, coloring, exercising, learning other singers’ new choreographies, competing to see who could clean the waiting room the best…
And eventually, it came to this.
『Joowoo: Wine, whiskey, vodka, nothing quenches my thirst』
『Joowoo: I’m parched, pour your soul onto my lips…』
Park Joowoo sang a famous rock band’s song with all his heart and soul.『Cheonghyeon: Ah, I’m too short. Jeho hyung! Bring me the tablet on my bed!』
『Jeho: Which tablet?』
『Cheonghyeon: The gray one with the Pikachu sticker on the back!』 Lee Cheonghyeon opened a piano app on a spare phone or tablet and played the accompaniment.『Kiyeon: (Concentrating with all his might to keep the beat)』
Kang Kiyeon kept the rhythm by drumming on anything he could grab—in this case, it was a duster handle—banging it against a chair or table leg.And then it was my turn…
『Iwol: Doong doong doong doong, doo-doong, doong.』
I beatbox the bassline with my mouth. For extra flair, I played air bass with my hands, too.
This madness had been going on for a while, so I hadn’t realized, but seeing it on screen later, we really looked like a bunch of lunatics.
As if mocking me, a flashy caption appeared.
『☆ Limited-Time Band Live Performance Now On ☆』
“I’m so embarrassed right now.”
“Hyung, I know how you feel.”
“You don’t have to feel that way, too…”
I was about to say that, but stopped. Right, what would Lee Cheonghyeon have to be embarrassed about? He wasn’t playing an instrument with his mouth like me, he was just headbanging a bit.
And to top it off, as I watched the broadcast, I noticed something—Jeong Seongbin, that punk, was filming us from the side the whole time.
『Seongbin (19 years old / Leader who loves the members)』
How could you call that a leader who loved the members? He was a leader full of intentions to exploit the members’ weaknesses.
『Joowoo: …Can we do one more song?』
『Cheonghyeon: Of course, our band exists just for you!』
Even in this situation, Lee Cheonghyeon was doing a skit with Park Joowoo.
『Kiyeon: What are you doing, hurry up and choose a song.』
You’re all out of your minds. You’re really possessed by something.
『Iwol: Alright, let’s go!』
And me too…
* * *
Even after the wild band live performance, Spark continued to show an abundance of outrageous antics.
Kang Kiyeon, going into the shower, habitually only took his bottoms and then confidently emerged shirtless. Then, there was Choi Jeho, whose glasses fogged up while trying to drink beef bone soup, making the team’s center look rather silly.
My ‘Pororo’ cutlery set even made it onto the screen. Seeing the caption ‘Lovely……♡’, I gave up on thinking altogether.
After dinner, the black comedy hit its peak.
『Cheonghyeon: Can someone take my exam for me?』
『Iwol: Should I take it for you? But you won’t be able to go to college.』
『Cheonghyeon: I was wrong, hyung.』
『Iwol: No, I just meant you won’t get in because impersonating someone in an exam is illegal;;;』
『Jeho: Why is this thing so clunky?』
『Iwol: Me? I didn’t do anything?』
『Jeho: Not you, the power strip.』
『Iwol: Oh, right.』
It was almost like my own stand-up comedy show, honestly. I still didn’t understand why that day ended up like this.
Maybe because the fans saw an excessively realistic side of their beloved idols. The fandom was a sea of tears.
≫ Okay, I understand that they don’t care about their image at all
└ Idols with sexy faces and innocent minds? I actually love it even more
≫ Our Iwol’s cutlery is so cute. Did he buy it himself?
└ Seriously so cuteㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ That’s just what babies use for cutlery. It’s only natural
≫ I need a five-thousand-word explanation as to why only the oldest hyung is using such a cute cutlery set
≫ I somehow managed to endure Lee Cheonghyeon’s double piano playing, but I lost it at Kim Iwol’s mouth bass
Do you guys seriously play like this when you’re alone?ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└ At first, I was like, ‘Our oldest hyung is working so hard playing with the kids ㅠㅠ’ but later, Iwol was wiping off his sweat, looking refreshed… I don’t know who’s playing with whom anymore
≫ I changed my profile picture to this
(Picture of Choi Jeho with fogged-up glasses)
I couldn’t resist
└ I liked Jeho with glasses, but I didn’t expect him to show us the whole A to Z of glasses like this ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
≫ F*ck, Kim Iwol, don’t be discouraged
You’re the best klutz out there
└ You’re the worst
I felt like I had burned away into ashes. Like everything had combusted, and all that was left was wreckage. My body was fine, but my spirit was exhausted.
After the shocking, terrifying broadcast ended, as we were chatting a bit, Jeong Seongbin asked,
“Hyung, the shoot is almost over now, right? We should probably start getting ready……”
“Yeah, for the comeback prep, right?”
We’d been checking on the preparations during breaks in filming. And now it was time to start preparing for the comeback in earnest.
For Sparkler fans, that meant the group’s most charmingly clumsy member, Kim Iwol, would be dancing again for the first time in a while.
Since ‘appearing’ on ‘In My Office’ was the criteria for receiving proficiency, as long as the public release date wasn’t delayed, I could continue raising my dance proficiency during the comeback period. That was enough.
‘It’s a relief that dramas are released all at once these days.’
Otherwise, I’d have been stuck anxiously watching my proficiency crawl up by tiny fractions of a percent. Yep, pre-produced shows were the best.
“How’s the choreography this time? Is it difficult?”
When I asked, Kang Kiyeon hesitated.
“Difficult… it’s difficult, but also easy, I guess.”
“Who told you to say things like, ‘Buy me a drink that’s sweet but low in sugar because I need to watch my blood sugar’?”
As I frowned, Kang Kiyeon quickly tried to explain.
“No, it’s a concept we’ve never tried before. We don’t know if it will suit you, hyung, until you try it.”
“How was it for you and Choi Jeho?”
“I’m not sure about myself, but as for Jeho hyung…”
Kang Kiyeon shrugged. It meant there was no need to say more.
Well, it would be a problem if Choi Jeho didn’t shine in this concept.
It was Spark’s first ‘mature concept,’ even if there was the word ‘restrained’ attached to it.
* * *
Concept-heavy genres were always a gamble. If you pushed it too far, you might thrill a small group of hardcore fans but get ignored by the general public. But if you watered it down too much out of fear, you were left with nothing at all.
Until now, Spark had been promoting with the crisp, refreshing vibe of a winter night. And through IDC and fan meetings, we had been monitoring the fandom’s preferences.
As a result, the conclusion that the dedicated team and I reached was this:
‘We need a change of style.’
We would maintain our signature vibe – wholesome and emotionally cathartic. But the consensus was that there needed to be a change in style.
‘I know our fans want a sexy concept. But I think we shouldn’t go overboard.’
‘Huh?’
‘Kiyeon and Cheonghyeon are still in their second year of high school. Seongbin and Joowoo are also minors. I don’t want to push them too hard at such a young age.’
So, the concept we came up with was ‘Sexy Mature in Suits’.
It was not that Spark couldn’t pull off boyish charm — they just naturally looked a few years older than they were, which worked to our advantage.
We’d keep the younger ones under wraps and focus on getting Choi Jeho to balance things out. I believe in you, Workout Man.
Just putting them in suits would be enough to please Sparklers, but since it was our first comeback in a while, we decided to put some effort into the concept.
Secret agents. Hacking buildings, picking locks, infiltrating with wires, that kind of thing.
Everyone was already in good shape, so our dedicated team just needed to distribute the roles well.
As soon as he heard the concept, Lee Cheonghyeon immersed himself in the work for days. He listened to hundreds of samples, saying he wanted to add virtual instruments, and banged his head against the wall like a woodpecker while composing the bass line.
‘I’m going to use all the sessions I couldn’t fit into the OST here.’
Lee Cheonghyeon muttered with bloodshot eyes. He seemed to be possessed by a ghost cursed by his unfinished ballads. I was too scared to approach him.
After receiving the first draft of the song from Lee Cheonghyeon, Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon spent day and night in the practice room, focused on their discussions.
Sometimes their voices would rise, but they usually sorted things out before they came back to the dorm. Seeing Jeong Seongbin’s touched and gentle smile made my heart ache.
While the dance line bickered and debated ‘Where does sexiness come from?’, Lee Cheonghyeon finalized the song after intense meetings with the A&R team.
Park Joowoo was in charge of the guide vocals. Since he had relatively less to do compared to the other members and was bored, he excitedly pre-recorded the backing vocals and harmonies. This resulted in expanded parts for each member.
Jeong Seongbin was in charge of distributing the parts. I was fired from that role after the ‘Kim Iwol Part Deletion Incident’, and Lee Cheonghyeon entrusted Jeong Seongbin with full authority, saying he was busy composing the b-side tracks. Though I’d been ousted, I still offered kind advice when Jeong Seongbin asked for my input.
All of this happened while I was filming ‘In My Office’. Everyone was experienced with comebacks, so the process went smoothly.
Now all that was left was the final final arrangement of the title track, choreography practice, vocal practice and recording, MV filming, album photoshoot, b-side track recording… Whew, that was a lot.
“Hyung, you should start managing your dark circles.”
“Managing my dark circles has always been an ongoing process.”
Lee Cheonghyeon didn’t believe me. Instead, he handed me the moisturizer he’d been using.
I slathered the cream on my face and thought,
‘What should we do for the concept photos? For the photocards, close-ups would work well. If we have everyone holding something in their mouth, that could look pretty cool… Ah, this cream is nice. Hydrating but not greasy.’
As I was thinking about what to put in Spark’s mouths for the photoshoot and moisturizing my dry skin, the mattress creaked.
Lee Cheonghyeon was practically on top of me.
“What the—?!”
“You know, I just realized something really weird.”
“What? I told you not to surprise me like this. Especially with your face. Suddenly appearing like that could give someone a heart attack, didn’t I tell you that?”
“Sorry about that, but, hyung, your dark circles.”
Cheonghyeon pressed his thumb against my dark circles. His expression was serious, but his actions were anything but.
“Why aren’t they getting any lighter?”
“I was born this way, so what.”
“Hyung, you know how expensive the cream they use at the salon is. To be more specific, ‘There’s almost no sign of improvement’.”
“What?”
“Think about when you were a trainee, hyung. You barely slept back then. And when you were hospitalized. It was natural for your dark circles to be severe then because you were in bad shape. But now, you’re resting more than before, yet they don’t seem to be getting any better beyond a certain point.”
“…….”
“You don’t have rhinitis, so why do they stay the same regardless of your condition?”
Now that he mentioned it, it was strange. It wasn’t like I’d always had dark circles this bad.
When I was exercising regularly and not pulling late nights, they used to fade away.
‘Is this also an effect of the system?’
I hadn’t paid much attention to it other than noticing they were lighter than when I was twenty-nine. But with everything had happened, even this small detail bothered me.
There’d been a lot about total fatigue in the manual. I should probably read it over again soon.
Still, if they were going to force me to be an idol, they should at least fix this. Didn’t they know flawless skin was basic for an idol?
Having failed to get any meaningful answer from me, Lee Cheonghyeon climbed back into his bed.
Then, poking his head over the edge, he said,
“Don’t go overboard with drinking at company dinners just to test it out. You’ll keel over before we can even check your dark circles.”
“I’ll do what I can, so you, a minor, shouldn’t even mention alcohol.”
“Okay. Good night!”
Lee Cheonghyeon waved one last time and disappeared above the bunk bed.
My hand instinctively went to my eyes. I fell asleep absentmindedly touching my under-eye area.