novelraw Chapter 207: Book Support
Chapter 207: Book Support
The first debate topic was relatively light. Jeong Seongbin smoothly read the topic displayed on the large monitor.
“If you could gain a special ability but lose the most precious thing to you in return, which would you choose? 1. Gain the ability. 2. Keep the precious thing. Additionally, you cannot use the ability to regain what you lost!”
“That last condition was added by Iwol hyung, wasn’t it?”
“Otherwise, you’d keep nitpicking.”
Lee Cheonghyeon chuckled as if caught red-handed.
“What kind of ability are we talking about…? Anything goes?”
“Since Joowoo doesn’t like loud noises, how about noise cancellation? You could mute your surroundings at will.”
Park Joowoo’s eyes sparkled, seemingly persuaded by Jeong Seongbin’s suggestion.
“Isn’t that a bad trade-off for losing something precious? Just wear noise-canceling headphones.”
Choi Jeho poured a bucket of cold water on the idea, ruining everything.“That’s true…”
Park Joowoo slumped like a drenched puppy in the summer rain. It pained me to see him like that.
“Hold on. Fans are excluded from the ‘precious things,’ right?”
“They are?”
“How could you even consider including the fans in a condition like this? That’s not right.”
“Okay, then let’s just exclude all living beings!”
Responding to me and Lee Cheonghyeon, Jeong Seongbin hurriedly added ‘Excluding living beings!’ to the PPT. I must have raised these guys well. Their feedback implementation was faster than Manager Nam clocking out.
“Assuming fans are protected, I’d pick the ability.”
At my answer, Park Joowoo looked up. Seemed like he felt empowered by finding an ally.
“Hyung… Come to think of it, I’ve never seen you desire anything.”
“Is it because you don’t have anything precious, so you’re just getting the ability for free?”
Lee Cheonghyeon and Choi Jeho each chimed in.
Sorry, but I did have something important. It was just already taken from me. That was why I needed an ability.
“I choose 2.”
“Really?”
Jeong Seongbin’s eyes widened at Choi Jeho’s choice. He seemed quite surprised that someone who seemed devoid of human emotions had made such a compassionate choice.
“Why lose something just to get a power you could develop anyway? I don’t even need any new abilities.”
Yes, we’ve heard the genius statement of the brilliant center emperor, Choi Jeho. Thanks to you, the unrefined Kim Iwol feels like crying a little.
“Hyung, what kind of ability do you want…?”
Park Joowoo asked. My answer was already decided.
“Teleportation.”
“Why? Don’t tell me you don’t even want to waste travel time?”
Lee Cheonghyeon looked at me as if I was insane.
“No, I just don’t want to ride the crowded subway.”
“Aha.”
“That is tough…”
Students and office workers nationwide would agree with me. What ability could be better?
Jeong Seongbin also chose to maintain his current state. He said he was so happy now that he didn’t want anything more, nor did he want to lose anything. This made me the only ability-obsessed, lazy bum in Spark.
“Next topic. In ‘In My Office’, when Seon Guan realizes her ability is disappearing as she falls in love, she chooses work over love and breaks up with Team Leader Ji Seongin. Choose between work and love!”
Such a bold question in an idol’s self-produced content?
This won’t do. I’ll have to personally oversee the editing of this week’s episode.
As I was making plans to storm the UA office, Park Joowoo interjected.
“I choose love.”
We’re doomed.
If we were just going to waste filming time, we might as well cut it here and revise the questions…!
“Love?!”
That was when Lee Cheonghyeon slammed the table and shot up from his seat.
“How can an idol say that, hyung! I thought we were all serious about our work!”
He launched into a passionate speech.
Good job, kid! Give him more! Keep going! How dare an idol speak of love in public…
“But I love the members, and I love the fans… To me, being able to share the same feelings with the people I love is more important than what I do.”
Is that so? Did I misunderstand you, Joowoo? Should I go sit in the corner and reflect?
“Wow, that’s so touching!”
Lee Cheonghyeon covered his mouth with both hands, seemingly moved. It seemed Park Joowoo’s words had completely won him over.
“My reason is similar, but my conclusion is the opposite. I think I need to do my job well to repay that love. Interesting, right?”
Jeong Seongbin smiled. Fortunately, the conversation took a good turn. I was glad we didn’t have to stop filming.
However, the conversation gradually escalated in a strange direction.
“No, how can we choose work over love? How can we say that even after hearing what Joowoo hyung just said?”
Lee Cheonghyeon, fully immersed in Park Joowoo’s perspective, switched to the ‘love is great’ stance and began to preach the beauty of love.
“What were the lyrics when you sang the OST, hyung? ‘I need you, love.’ People need love to live! Idols are people too!”
“You know that’s a dangerous statement as an idol, right?”
I interjected, sincerely concerned.
“Hyung, that’s a very narrow-minded view. Do you think love is only about romantic relationships? Aren’t we working as idols to spread positive effects based on our love for humanity?”
And I got completely shut down.
This was bad. His eloquence had improved too much.
What was truly shocking was that even Choi Jeho chose love.
“Can anyone work hard at a job they don’t like? You have to enjoy it.”
His reasoning was that without positive emotions, there was no motivation to even start working.
You brat, apologize to millions of office workers.
Not all office workers in the world can live by only doing what they want. Sometimes, you have to do other people’s work, or work you hate!
“So, hyung, you’re saying work is more important?”
Lee Cheonghyeon asked.
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“What’s your ultimate goal as an idol, hyung? It’s to be loved and to love!”
“An idol who isn’t dedicated to their main job doesn’t deserve to be loved. Therefore, work comes first.”
“Modern society is harsh.”
Lee Cheonghyeon muttered with a bitter expression.
“So right now, the ‘love’ side is Jeho hyung, Joowoo, and Cheonghyeon, and the ‘work’ side is Iwol hyung and me?”
Amidst the chaos, Jeong Seongbin summarized the situation. I couldn’t believe Spark was such a love-filled group.
“Accepting even these workaholic hyungs is true love. Isn’t that right, Joowoo hyung?”
“Right.”
Lee Cheonghyeon and Park Joowoo smiled warmly at Jeong Seongbin and me.
They’re pitying me, aren’t they? They think I’m a dried-up, workaholic husk.
“Workaholic? I’m just diligently doing my work.”
Jeong Seongbin countered with a smile. Then he took out his phone from under the table.
How can an idol use their phone during filming? Especially the leader? Has the world gone mad?
“Spark has six members, how can we only ask for the opinions of five?”
“Huh?”
“We should hear Kiyeon’s opinion too.”
An unexpected person was mentioned. We all froze.
“Is that okay?”
I asked cautiously, gauging the situation.
“Kiyeon told me to call him anytime if needed. He wants to be involved as much as possible.”
If Kang Kiyeon was being unreasonable, Jeong Seongbin would have stopped him. Since the leader said it was okay, what else could I do?
The call connected almost immediately.
― Hello?
“Kiyeon? It’s Seongbin. Are you free to talk now?”
― Yes, hyung. Why did you call?
“We’re filming self-produced content right now, and a topic came up that we wanted to ask you about. Do you have a minute?”
― Yes. What’s the topic?
As Jeong Seongbin explained the topic, we could hear him pondering deeply over the phone. Right, it’s not an easy decision for you either, is it?
“Kang Kiyeon, it’s obviously love, right? You came this far because you love dancing.”
― Why is Lee Cheonghyeon so worked up?
“He’s been brainwashed by Park Joowoo.”
Choi Jeho helpfully answered.
After much thought, Kang Kiyeon made his decision.
― I’ll choose work.
“Why?!”
“As expected.”
Regardless of Lee Cheonghyeon’s shocked reaction, I clapped my hands in satisfaction.
― If you work hard, won’t affection follow? You’ll feel proud of yourself if you achieve something.
“Ha… I can’t argue with that.”
Lee Cheonghyeon indirectly admitted defeat. Thus, the conclusion of the heated debate, ‘Spark, which will you choose, work or love?’ was decided as ‘Let’s just work hard!’
* * *
When we returned to the dorm, Kang Kiyeon’s shoes were by the entrance.
I was sure his sneakers had been inside the shoe cabinet before we left for work. This diligent guy must’ve gone somewhere in the meantime
As we were about to head to our respective rooms, I stopped Jeong Seongbin for a moment.
I took the comic book out of my Spark official merchandise eco-bag and placed it in Jeong Seongbin’s hands.
“Seongbin, could you take this to Kiyeon when you go to your room?”
“Hyung, did you borrow a comic from Kiyeon?”
“Yeah, he lent it to me.”
I read it diligently in the car on the way. Memorizing the characters was a bit difficult, but thanks to all my web novel reading, it was much easier to remember the characters in the comic with the illustrations.
Since he lent me such a precious book, it felt rude to just read it, so I wrote a review on a sticky note and attached it. Things like ‘I enjoyed reading it’, ‘It was interesting’, and ‘I’m looking forward to the next part’.
“I’ll take it to him. Get some rest, hyung.”
Jeong Seongbin smiled brightly and returned to his room with the comic in hand.
And the next morning…
“……?”
Volume 2 of Kingdom Cafeteria ~Another~ had been delivered to my door.