novelraw Chapter 236: Our Neighborhood's Study King (2)
Chapter 236: Our Neighborhood's Study King (2)
Despite my internal screams of bloody tears, Lee Cheonghyeon’s and my KPI was set: ‘Shining Star, K-Scholar – Survive as one of the final 5!’
I guess I’ve been too lenient with you rascals lately. Starting today, I’m back in hostile mode.
Suppressing my anger, I was about to get out at the broadcasting station entrance when I saw a larger crowd than usual had gathered.
“Aren’t there a lot of people today?”
“Right? Maybe because several groups are appearing?”
As I chatted with Lee Cheonghyeon and opened the door to get out, camera flashes went off all around us.
Usually, hommas focused on taking pictures of the idols they liked. There were also those who, regardless of personal preference, only photographed idols who could make them money.
But it was different now. Besides the familiar faces of Spark’s hommas, many others were taking pictures of us.
In the past, I would have been tearing my hair out, frustrated that not a single one of these many cameras could truly capture Lee Cheonghyeon’s real-life visuals.
However, those painful times were now over. I would show them the power of the ‘camera massage’ that Spark earned by working like dogs.“Cheonghyeon, you’re smiling well, right?”
I asked brightly while facing forward, smiling. Lee Cheonghyeon, smiling dazzlingly like a silver foil mat reflecting sunlight, looked at me and replied.
“Of course. But why do you ask?”
“Because I’m looking forward to the preview of our arrival photos.”
For the photographers, too, today would likely be a historic day.
And a short while later, in the waiting room.
I confirmed that the legendary hommas — those who could create ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ idol photos with a single shutter press — were pouring out photos of Lee Cheonghyeon accompanied by all kinds of elaborate praise.
≫ 2X10XX Shining Star, K-Scholar Cheonghyeon Arrival Preview
Once again, these are unedited… real. true
└ Thanks to Jjae-i-nim’s photos, I gain the strength to live today… Thank you, truly
└ Cheonghyeon is a god again today ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Thank you for the pretty photos!!!
≫ 2X10XX Cheonghyeon
Sparklers slowly turning into girls…
└ Sparklers who keep becoming girls… (Special note: The ink on their ID cards is fading)
≫ The weather is nice, Cheonghyeon
Looks like even the sun came out just to see your face
└ The simping is strong here
└ It’s basic etiquette for Sparklers. If we don’t try hard every day, we lose to a certain Mr. Kim
└ That person is on another level, isn’t he?
└ Kim??: “What’s it like seeing Cheonghyeon in real life? It’s like feeling what happens when all the energy of the universe converges into one moment. At the same time, I realize just how small I am in this vast universe.”
≫ Cheonghyeon-nim’s arrival photos, coincidentally captured while waiting for same-age idols
Truly… amazing… To think this came from my hands…
└ Did our fandom’s ‘golden hands’ switch fandoms!??! I was thinking that, then saw it was Spark and felt relieved
└ I’m begging you, please film a Berion Spark friendship self-produced content
A handsome man acknowledged by those who’d seen their fair share of beautiful faces. Perfect composition crafted by a visual expert with impeccable taste. Add to that the clear weather and his striking face.
Even before the recording, SNS was filled with Spark’s Cheonghyeon. I had a good feeling about this.
* * *
When dozens of idols were filming at once, a lot of waiting rooms were needed. Even though it was a much smaller scale than ISD, the name tags attached to the broadcasting station’s hallway were reminiscent of a music show.
Since only a few members per team appear on this show, I figured that as a rookie group, we might have to share a waiting room with another group…
“Oh… it’s going to be a bit chilly in this waiting room.”
…I never imagined we’d end up sharing with Parthe. Lee Cheonghyeon, anticipating a frosty atmosphere, muttered drily.
Never thought I’d reach a point in life where I’d miss Berion. My stomach churned.
Fortunately, Parthe, true to their reputation for frequently being late, entered almost exactly on time for the recording. Song Minil, the member getting the most company push, was with them too.
“Hello, sunbaenims!”
“Noona, our outfits!”
These punks ignored any proper greeting and immediately scrambled to find their filming outfits. With the recording time just around the corner, they must have been in a hurry.
I had no idea how they hadn’t gotten into trouble for being so rude. Meanwhile, Spark couldn’t even send out Hong Unseop for fear he’d cause some kind of scandal. Perhaps the power difference between large corporations and small-to-medium enterprises regarding non-disclosure agreements revealed itself in places like this.
But MYTH… were they trying to create an elite image for Song Minil? When I heard him swearing by the Han River, his language didn’t exactly exude intellect. Wouldn’t it be better to promote Mr. Han Gawoon as a demure intellectual instead?
As I was harbouring such thoughts, someone hugged me from behind, putting their weight on me. Over the mirror, I saw Lee Cheonghyeon’s face, his chin resting on my shoulder.
Lee Cheonghyeon, pretending to be playful, whispered in my ear.
“He’s from Gangnam’s 8th School District.”
I was just thinking about it, how did he know?
When I looked at him with surprised eyes, Lee Cheonghyeon grinned. He snuggled up just to tell me this. His skill in deceiving the cameras was also top-notch; he was all grown up.
“His family home is in the same neighborhood as mine, apparently.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“It’s been floating around SNS lately. Some kind of ‘prestigious family idol ranking’ or something?”
I guess people really do love that kind of gossip.
Still, I didn’t expect that just living nearby would end up connecting two people who had never even properly met.
Then, suddenly, my first encounter with Parthe flashed through my mind.
‘What’s your name?’
‘It’s Lee Cheonghyeon, sunbaenim!’
At that time, Song Minil had specifically singled out Lee Cheonghyeon. Back then, I thought it was because the kid was exceptionally handsome and stood out in a bad way, but looking back now, he might have been wary of someone from the same area. That theory only held true, of course, if Song Minil already knew who Lee Cheonghyeon was.
“So. Are you burning with competitive spirit?”
When I asked, Lee Cheonghyeon smiled like a fool.
“Nope.”
It was an unexpected answer. Yet, the kid himself was nonchalant.
“What’s there to get competitive about in a quiz show? As long as I do my main job well, that’s what matters!”
The kid smiled like the sun blazing on a summer day. That mindset—and that face—so admirable and excellent.
Still, I sincerely hope you do your best even in this quiz program. Because if they start asking things like the scientific name of white coral, I’m out.
* * *
The cast members, dressed in Sungkyunkwan scholar outfits, gathered in one place. The palace backdrop banner draped behind the set was truly traditional and… nice. It definitely screamed ‘one-off holiday special cash grab’.
The host was also someone I knew. It was the MC I had visited a fortune teller with after the ‘In My Office’ filming.
So, he didn’t just do regular variety shows but also special MC gigs. I didn’t know since the only variety shows I’d watched were the ones that Spark appeared on.
Before the quiz show officially began, there was a simple ice-breaking session.
“I heard it’s trendy among idol fans these days to decorate photo cards. Shall we take a look at how our idols decorated their answer boards?”
Gasps of admiration erupted here and there at the amazing whiteboard decorating skills of several idols who were talented in drawing. How could there be so many talented people in the world?
Song Minil showed off a board overflowing with love for his fans and fellow members. The MC asked if he loved his group too much, but all I could manage was a fake smile.
Mr. Han Gawoon, are you still cleaning up after that guy these days? I hope you’ll be liberated in the not-too-distant future.
“Shall we take a look at Spark’s two members’ boards as well…? Oh my, what is this!”
The MC was startled upon seeing Lee Cheonghyeon’s board. On his board, written in neat Hanja, was ‘少不勤學老後悔’ – ‘If you don’t study diligently when young, you’ll regret it when old’.
“This is actually our family motto! Since we’re all here to study and improve our skills, I thought it was fitting!”
“It’s all lies that kids these days don’t know Hanja. Mr. Cheonghyeon seems to write Hanja better than I do.”
Right. I was also surprised when I first saw him write Hanja. His posture was so good I thought it was a visual trick, but it turned out he was just that good at writing Hanja.
“Mr. Iwol, why on earth did you write this?”
The MC asked, holding my board up towards the camera. The carefully written ‘Guys, I’m sorry’ was largely displayed on the monitor. Laughter burst out from here and there.
“My goal is to give the members a heads-up so they’re not too disappointed if I get eliminated.”
“Isn’t this the kind of thing you usually write after getting a question wrong?”
“You know what… fair point!”
The MC and I ended up completely aligned, which drew another round of laughter from the audience.
Not many people were eliminated during the basic general knowledge questions.
Most of the questions came from the provided study material, and everyone seemed to assume there would be a revival round, so no one was too upset about getting something wrong.
Lee Cheonghyeon, who had not only memorized the cheat sheet but also received a special lecture on basic knowledge from Jeong Seongbin, and I (I didn’t particularly need to listen, but I had sat next to him anyway) steadfastly held our ground.
“Spark, they’re lightning fast. No hesitation in solving!”
The MC commented, watching us write down answers as soon as the questions ended.
I’m fine either way, so please direct all your praise to Lee Cheonghyeon. He’s three years younger than me on paper, and incredibly bright.
After about 10% were eliminated, the difficulty of the questions increased sharply.
“Here’s the question. Which of the following is not a Sino-Korean word? 1. Podo (grape). 2. Jangmi (rose). 3…”
(TL note: A Sino-Korean word is a word in the Korean language that is derived from Classical Chinese (Hanja).)
When they suddenly dropped a question beyond general knowledge, a wave of eliminations swept the set.
How do they not know how to control difficulty? If they mess up like this, the education ministry should come out and issue a formal apology. They did that back in my day after the college entrance exam made the news for being too hard.
While I was grumbling to myself, the MC began checking the remaining contestants. The hell-level exam… no, the fiery difficulty of the questions had just eliminated Song Minil, and now fewer than twenty people remained.
“Oh, all the Spark members are still in?”
The MC praised us as if it were huge news.
But there were only two of us to begin with. And the kid next to me was practically headed for a gifted high school.
“I guess we got lucky! Right, hyung?”
From a few seats away, Cheonghyeon reached over with a long-distance high-five. I enthusiastically returned it.
And at this point.
“Due to far more contestants being eliminated than the production team expected… before we move on to the revival round, we’ll play a simple game where the MC can bring back as many eliminated players as there are remaining ones who answered the question correctly!”
The wording was different, but in the end, it was just another way to bring back the eliminated contestants.