novelraw Chapter 238: Our Neighborhood's Study King (4)
Chapter 238: Our Neighborhood's Study King (4)
Lee Cheonghyeon’s performance was truly remarkable.
Without batting an eye, he fluently solved difficult biology problems, and when English questions came up, he put on a rare display of simultaneous interpretation.
‘That kid is a real genius.’
Not just me, but everyone else present must have thought the same thing. Even without looking directly, I could feel the cameras focusing on Lee Cheonghyeon.
So what if we didn’t have a cheat sheet? Spark had a human supercomputer.
This kid, even right after a survival program ended, caught a live octopus with a bright face, created all of the group’s songs, and was a filial son who could master any choreography in an hour.
In my life, I’d never seen anyone as smart as Lee Cheonghyeon in terms of brainpower. Not counting Mensa members or prodigies on TV—I was talking about real life. That was how limitless Lee Cheonghyeon’s talent was when the stage was set for him.
(TL note: Mensa members are people who belong to Mensa International, a high-IQ society. To join Mensa, you must score in the top 2% of the population on an approved intelligence test, such as an IQ test.)
“Mr. Cheonghyeon, you’re on fire today! Totally unstoppable!”
“It’s like magic! They’re only asking stuff I know! When I go home, I should buy a lotto… Hyung, can minors buy lottery tickets?”Of course not. From my seat, I made an X-shape with my arms.
“I guess I can’t buy a lottery ticket, so I’ll try to find a four-leaf clover instead!”
What a refreshing interview. As a reward, I should let him stop by a playground on the way home.
“Mr. Iwol is no pushover either. Was Spark secretly a brainiac group all along?”
“I just got lucky, that’s all. But I’m happy I could be a hyung that Cheonghyeon doesn’t have to be ashamed of!”
It was a lie. It was just that because of the years I’d lived, I was striving out of a sense of duty that I should do at least half as well as Lee Cheonghyeon. Having a smart younger brother was quite burdensome for a hyung.
* * *
After people dropped out one after another, and then more were eliminated after the loser’s revival round, the outline of the final 10 contestants took shape.
Those who were eliminated could cheer for their remaining colleagues, but Lee Cheonghyeon and I didn’t have that luxury. We were racking our brains, veins popping on our foreheads, because we wanted to prevent the sunbaenim with the answer key from winning.
Thanks to that, my head felt like it was about to explode. I never thought that keeping up with current affairs news during the interview season at Hanpyeong Industry would be helpful in a situation like this. Definitions of terms don’t change just because time passes, after all.
Even amidst this, Lee Cheonghyeon faithfully played his role of showcasing his uncontainable genius. When a classical music question came out, he even drew musical notes below the answer.
‘Is this the score for the part they just played?’
‘Yes, it had been a while, I figured I should try transcribing by ear!’
Naturally, the topic shifted to Lee Cheonghyeon’s past when he majored in classical music. I hadn’t intended for it to go this far, but since Lee Cheonghyeon himself would’ve easily predicted the flow of the conversation, I didn’t interrupt.
‘So, Mr. Cheonghyeon originally majored in piano?’
‘I changed my career path at a pretty young age, so calling it a ‘major’ feels like a stretch. Let’s just say I dipped my toes in!’
‘Still, you were the only one who wrote your answer in the original language while everyone else used Korean.’
‘Oh, you’re right?! Should I sneakily change it now? After all, unity is one of an idol’s virtues!’
After adding the Korean title to his answer, Cheonghyeon held up his answer board again, smiling like a page out of a Milan fashion editorial.
‘Shining Star, K-Scholar’ was gradually transforming into ‘Shining Lee Cheonghyeon, K-Face Genius.’ Not that the show was playing favorites—it was just the atmosphere on set.
But think about it. A handsome student, now only a sophomore in high school, who supposedly didn’t even attend school regularly due to his idol activities, once majored in classical music, was well-versed in current affairs, studied well, and even had a good personality – who wouldn’t be interested?
If I were the director, I would have already assigned a personal camera to Lee Cheonghyeon during a break.
Just as I was lamenting that everyone lacked sense, the MC flipped his cue card.
“According to information the production team heard during the break, Mr. Minil and Mr. Cheonghyeon are neighborhood friends, is that correct?”
They didn’t assign a personal camera, but they did dig up content. Not a bad topic for screen time. And since they brought up Song Minil too, MYTH should be pleased.
I turned around, pretending not to know, and Song Minil had a surprised look on his face as well.
“Have you two ever bumped into each other around town?”
“If I had seen a handsome man like sunbaenim, I would have remembered him from long ago! This is the first time I’ve seen him since debut!”
Lee Cheonghyeon played it off smoothly. Strictly speaking, he would have remembered because of his own memory, not Song Minil’s looks.
I expected a similar answer from the other side, but Song Minil gave an unexpected response.
“I haven’t met Mr. Cheonghyeon either, but I’ve heard a lot about him.”
“Really?”
The MC showed interest in the story.
“Yes. Mr. Cheonghyeon’s older brother is my older brother’s classmate.”
“Wow, you two are truly neighborhood friends beyond just being from the same region! Mr. Minil, is there any story about Mr. Cheonghyeon that you remember hearing?”
When the MC asked, Song Minil paused as if trying to recall something, then smiled brightly.
“Nothing special. At that time, it seemed like his family didn’t have high expectations for Mr. Cheonghyeon… But now, wouldn’t they be prouder of him than anyone else?”
With that, Song Minil gave Lee Cheonghyeon a thumbs-up.
He wrapped it nicely, but wasn’t that just another way of saying, ‘Your brother thought you were incredibly pathetic’?
Looking sideways, Lee Cheonghyeon was smiling like a bundle of gypsophila flowers.
But from my close-up seat, I saw it clearly—the faint blue vein throbbing at his temple.
Anyone in Spark knew that Lee Cheonghyeon wasn’t close to his family. For one, he himself didn’t hide it.
It wasn’t like me or Choi Jeho, foaming at the mouth with hatred. However, he didn’t feel much affection either. That was the distance Lee Cheonghyeon perceived between himself and his family.
Among them, he was particularly uncomfortable with his siblings. It was a different issue from being intimidated by his parents because they were adults, socially successful, and his guardians.
‘When I go home, it’s just obvious. Both my older brother and younger sibling ignore me.’
‘I don’t talk to my older brother at all. We didn’t fight or do it on purpose, it just ended up that way. With Lee Kangmyeong, I’m just glad when he doesn’t pick a fight.’
‘Both of them have no manners, no manners at all. In the past, I thought it was because they were just bookworms who only studied, you know? But Iwol hyung, you said you only studied during your school days too, but you’re not like them at all! So I thought, ah, there’s a problem with my siblings~’
He had said they seemed to look down on people who strayed from the typical path to success.
The reason Song Minil could say such things so confidently was because, even though he himself was an idol, he considered his situation different from Lee Cheonghyeon’s.
Because Lee Cheonghyeon lived in a thatched-roof house called UA, while Song Minil was with a major agency.
His own older brother was just as outstanding as Lee Cheonghyeon’s brother, and he himself had debuted earlier, plus his fandom was bigger – it was enough to feel a sense of pride. Especially at that age.
Lee Cheonghyeon, after finishing his friendly chat with Song Minil, turned around in his seat and muttered.
“I wonder what the next question will be.”
A murderous intent could be felt in his humming-like voice.
* * *
The recording time was longer than I had ever imagined. It made sense, considering they went around checking answers and doing interviews after every single question.
Nevertheless, the end was approaching.
“Finally! The TOP 3 of ‘Shining Star, K-Scholar’ have been decided!”
Lee Cheonghyeon, Song Minil, and I were the final three.
“I’d like to ask each of the three of you for your thoughts. First, Mr. Minil!”
“Phew… I can’t believe I’ve made it this far. I’m a little dazed right now.”
“You really didn’t expect it, did you? Your expression says it all!”
The MC laughed looking at Song Minil’s face. Being older than us, he probably found everything kids our age did to be endearing—but the corners of Song Minil’s mouth were twitching. What’s wrong, Minil? Feeling like the MC’s teasing you a bit?
Since there were only three of us left, our seats had been rearranged, and now I was sitting much closer to Minil than before.
I glanced over, amused at his discomfort—only to realize something unexpected: Song Minil didn’t look well.
I wondered if he was sick somewhere, but I soon found out the reason.
Unless you were a freak of nature like Lee Cheonghyeon, there were limits to how much a person could memorize.
And the longer the recording went, the more questions there were to answer.
‘Looks like he’s running out of steam.’
Who told you to steal the exam paper and cram last minute anyway? Even without that stunt, your company would’ve gotten you onto some popular variety show just fine.
On the other hand, Lee Cheonghyeon, who survived in the rough UA, maintained the same energetic tension as when the recording began.
“How about Mr. Cheonghyeon, the youngest of our TOP 3?”
“I must be ridiculously lucky today. I feel like I could find six four-leaf clovers!”
“I guess Spark has six members?”
“Yes! Even though Iwol hyung… is a rival now, I’ll still give him one. Don’t worry, hyung—you’ll get your clover!”
Cheonghyeon winked at me. There were too many cameras rolling for me to just say, ‘No thanks’.
“Lastly, Mr. Iwol. When we went to see the fortune teller together, the shaman said that Mr. Iwol knows the future… Surely you didn’t know all the questions that would come out today, right?”
At the MC’s question, Song Minil flinched noticeably.
Seriously, can’t you just sit still? Want to come join the acting academy Cheonghyeon and I go to? The instructor there is incredible.
“If I had known them all, I don’t think I would’ve struggled on the previous question…”
I said, recalling the situation a few minutes ago when I had narrowly avoided elimination. I knew the question, but I couldn’t remember the word, and it gave me so much trouble.
“But Mr. Iwol, you’re a great actor. Maybe it was just high-level acting?”
“It was a real situation without a shred of falsehood, but thank you for the compliment!”
I was putting on a sincere smile, trying not to seem sarcastic, when the teleprompter caught my eye.
[We will take a short break after this question.]
It was an instruction that couldn’t have come out unless they were certain no one would get the next question right.