novelraw Chapter 193: Final Version Shared (2)
Chapter 193: Final Version Shared (2)
Previous Recap: The members’ clothes are captivating, and it’s suspected that Iwol is the mastermind, but it’s not certain.
This was the state of Baek Haewon’s mind.
She definitely needed to study some vocabulary. Her word choice was trash.
As the song ended, the screen returned to the meeting room.
A photo of a man being dragged appeared—same as before—but this time, there was a 24-hour countdown alongside it.
At the same time, the timeline of events began to rearrange.
During daylight hours, Kim Iwol had gone to the location where the man was taken. He rescued the protected individual and reported back to headquarters.
After confirming the man’s identity, Park Joowoo and Lee Cheonghyeon infiltrated the company, blending into the rush hour crowd, laying the groundwork to support Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon. Under the cover of darkness, their joint operation succeeded spectacularly.
As the two left, the sky began to brighten beyond the shattered glass window, and those who had been blackmailed frantically reached for their phones.
A belated order came down to eliminate the whistleblower. However…『A feeling of exhilaration
A reward that is
More than enough』
…The man in question was actually sitting safely in the meeting room with Kim Iwol, watching the news report about the information he had leaked being broadcast on morning television.
The sky was foreshadowing! She had been too distracted by their faces to notice!
‘Then who was the man in the fire?’
The surroundings had definitely been bright when the tied-up man was engulfed in flames.
As if reading Baek Haewon’s thoughts, flames consumed the screen.
Jeong Seongbin’s gentle voice echoed in his ears.
『I’ll stay
Backstage
Until you come
With a joyful heart』
As the camera zoomed in on the ear of the man trapped in the flames, a small, transparent earpiece became visible.
The man nodded a few times and then, without a hint of panic, untied the ropes binding his wrists.
The movement of the rope sliding off his fingers and him removing his blindfold flowed smoothly.
The man’s hand went to his neck.
The veins on the back of his hand bulged as he slipped it under his shirt collar. With the sound of tearing skin, artificial skin peeled away.
Jeong Seongbin, now revealed, brushed back his hair. The remnants of the fake skin clinging to his face were even more shocking.
『Hiding the traces, quietly
Behind your back
In the closest place』
Removing the earpiece from his ear, Jeong Seongbin calmly walked away to an area not yet touched by the fire.
The morning sun was rising beyond the flames.
『COMPLETE』
A stamp appeared on a black background, and the music video ended.
* * *
≫ Guys (150 million of you) Let’s watch the Spark MV
Don’t blame me later for not telling you about this masterpiece sooner
I clearly told you to watch it now
└ Where the heck did 150 million come fromㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ [Author] Includes the future population
└└ How far into the future are you looking, oh wise one…
└ Just grab anyone walking by and include them in the count
≫ So you’re telling me they hid a concept like this, while pushing the refreshing-boy-band angle this whole time
I can’t go back to life before I knew about Mission Spark. That’s it for me
└ So they were diligently crafting the refreshing image knowing this would happen……
≫ So Pep tied up Seongnen’s???? And even blindfolded him??
Think about it, rescuing the whistleblower > switching the whistleblower with Seongnen, timing-wise, Kim Pep has to tie up Seongnen for it to make sense
But in the MV, isn’t Seongnen the boss? Is this allowed?
└ Pep was just an ordinary office worker who wanted revenge on his boss
└ ???: Oh, Team Leader, you’re back alive? Oops, I misspoke;;; Welcome back
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
≫ I wish the maknaes would become adults soon
I just wish they would grow up quickly
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋThe first time I’ve seen someone so desperately want their idols to get older
≫ Jumpsuit Kang Kiyeon passes by, then blonde Lee Cheonghyeon appears
White-haired Park Joowoo passes by, then crop-top Kim Iwol appears
Lens-wearing Jeong Seongbin passes by, then wire-flying Choi Jeho appears……
└ The blessings of Spark are endless
≫ I was wondering what kind of flower was on Iwol’s back
I think it’s a white dogwood flower! Also called Cornus alba
It was hard to find because of the unique flower shape… haha
(I zoomed in a lot so I could be wrong!!! ㅠㅠㅠ)
└ I think this is right ㅠㅠ The flower language of Cornus alba is ‘I will protect you.’ It fits perfectly with the MV and lyrics.
└ White…… dogwood…… the bark is reddish…… and turns redder in winter……
└ This is literally fire. You pervs at UA
≫ But Spark is really consistent
With faces that look like they’d be in a noir film, they’re playing righteous roles
Even if the concept isn’t refreshing, they still carry this dignified, unblemished presence. It’s impressive
≫ I realized after watching the MV five times that the background of the group dance was just a vast f*cking wasteland
└ Well, their faces are basically the Louvre
≫ The MV is a secret agent spy operation, but the lyrics are romantic, it’s so funny
└ The lyrics are practically a love confession ㅋㅋㅋ
└ I was deceived by the MV and missed the important thing…
Ah.
Happiness.
Fulfillment.
Her fangirling heart was overflowing.
These handsome, cute, adorable, and sexy boys are my boys!
When she was overwhelmed with emotion like this, there was something she had to do.
It was time for an album unboxing.
Baek Haewon browsed various online shops, striving to find the best unreleased photocards. For a student with limited funds, choosing wisely was essential.
After much deliberation, the package from the carefully selected seller arrived three hours after the MV dropped. It felt like a gift, even though she bought it with her own money.
They said buying six albums would get you a complete set of member unreleased photocards—a Dragon Ball situation, so to speak. So Baek Haewon bought six without hesitation. Thankfully it was a mini album, so the financial hit wasn’t too severe.
‘They better not have just thrown in random B-cuts as unreleased photocards.’
The essence of fandom lay in photocards. Random photocards, photocards with versions from A to C, unreleased photocards, lucky draw photocards, fan meeting photocards, fan club photocards, season’s greetings photocards…
She knew it was a marketing ploy, but the desire to own the photocards surged every time she engaged in fandom activities.
Since Iwol had pleaded, ‘Everyone, I’m really grateful that you buy albums, but please only do so if your financial well-being is secure!’, this time, Baek Haewon made a relatively rational purchase.
It was a compromise; she gave up the clothes sitting in her cart in order to buy the albums. For the sake of being with them, she was willing to be a one-outfit wonder this autumn.
He really was a straight-up, upright kind of guy. A man like that deserved to be honored through nonstop streaming.
Looking at her phone, endlessly powered by a portable charger, Baek Haewon picked up another phone, currently streaming music, to record the unboxing video, just in case she needed it for a refund claim.
“Alright then~ Let’s unbox Spark’s new mini-album!”
Even though she didn’t upload anything to MeTube, she definitely wasn’t the only one who spoke in a vlogger tone while filming herself. Baek Haewon carefully cut the box tape with a utility knife.
Right on top were the unreleased photos. At first glance, they looked like they’d been shot in stage outfits.
First came techwear Kang Kiyeon, followed by Lee Cheonghyeon drinking a soda while wearing round-framed glasses and a hoodie, Park Joowoo in a white coat with his surgical mask pulled down, Choi Jeho in a tight muscle fit with a belt, choker, and other accessories, and Kim Iwol wearing a black turtleneck and wireless earphones.
“Wow, the photos are amazing… But wait, I’ve confirmed all six unreleased photocards, so let’s check the photocards.”
Speaking with a rawness unusual for a vlog, Baek Haewon flipped through the album. One card fell onto her pajama pants.
“Aaaah!”
Baek Haewon covered her mouth.
In her hand was a photocard of Kim Iwol (ver. A) wiping his lower lip with his index finger as if smudging away lipstick.
Defect verification and everything else became irrelevant. Baek Haewon stopped recording and quickly switched the camera to photo mode. She leaned the photocard against the wall where the fluorescent light shone brightest and started taking pictures.
Her unboxing haul wasn’t bad. Though Kim Iwol was her ultimate bias, most Spark fans were ‘all-member stans’, anyway.
Besides, the quality of all the photos was excellent.
Version A had a similar feel to the concept photos, while version B had a strong ‘off the record after work’ vibe.
Just Kang Kiyeon taking off the top part of his techwear to reveal the sharp definition of his shoulder muscles outside a halter neck, and Lee Cheonghyeon loosening his tie—those alone were enough to short-circuit her brain.
Then there was Kim Iwol, removing his in-ears with a languid expression. Even though he was dressed neatly, he somehow gave off an overwhelmingly mature, almost shocking aura.
‘Wait, did our Iwol get transferred to the design team?’
Reasonable doubts kept arising. She even checked UA’s website, but there was no organizational chart. Those jerk*ss, if they sent Iwol to the design team, she’d send a fax bomb.
Baek Haewon’s Spark high reached its peak. Now, she was in a state where she could do nothing but instinctively mutter her love for Spark.
But it didn’t last long.
‘I want Iwol’s version B photocard.’
A powerful desire for material possessions took over Baek Haewon’s brain.
‘Version B Iwol is earphone-removing Iwol!’
She felt like she wouldn’t be able to sleep if she didn’t get it. Eventually, Baek Haewon started searching for Spark photocard exchange posts. Album recipients were already posting early reviews and trade offers.
Pro-trader Baek Haewon scoured SNS and fan markets to check the current rates.
Thankfully, it hadn’t reached Banpo Xi[1]Banpo Xi is the name of a luxury apartment complex located in the Banpo neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea. It’s known for being one of the most expensive and prestigious residential areas in the country. prices yet. She knew they were popular, but she was still grateful.
But no need to worry. Once this trade went through, she might not be able to send them to Banpo Xi, but she’d get them to Sebitseom at least. She’d post 500 promo tweets a day on SNS, so just let it slide this one time.
Without hesitation, Baek Haewon sent a direct message to a post that read, ‘Selling Kim Iwol ver. B for 0.4 (convenience store pickup only)’. She even provided the convenience store’s name and address, and with that, her day’s work was done.
In the end, Baek Haewon’s judgment had been spot on. A few days later, she listened to her friends cry in despair as Spark member photocards soared past 10,000 won.
1. Banpo Xi is the name of a luxury apartment complex located in the Banpo neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea. It’s known for being one of the most expensive and prestigious residential areas in the country.