novelraw Chapter 267: Metamorphosis (3)
Chapter 267: Metamorphosis (3)
Cheers could be heard from beyond the screen. When did her idols grow up so much that the number of fans coming to the public broadcasts also increased? Baek Haewon, who could easily distinguish between synthetic cheers and real ones, was greatly moved.
These days, just seeing the six of them sitting with their backs together was enough to make her heart swell. Ever since Spark came back with yet another masterpiece, Baek Haewon had long become a full-blown ‘my idol is the best’ type of fan—an ultimate Sparkler.
How eagerly had Baek Haewon waited for the music show, watching the pre-released choreography video over and over again? If she couldn’t witness Kim Iwol stepping forward like a musical actor, one hand on his chest and the other reaching out dramatically—something the music video, which mostly showed only their faces, had failed to capture—she wouldn’t be able to rest in peace, even in death.
‘F*ck, look at how much weight Iwol has lost.’
She hadn’t noticed because the music video outfits were so flashy, but it was noticeable on the music show. Kim Iwol’s body, which could do one-handed push-ups with ease, had become thinner overall.
Kim Iwol didn’t have any body fat, and Spark wasn’t aiming for a skinny aesthetic, so it was unlikely that a diet was the cause.
In such cases, the most likely cause would be stress. Fans liked to see their idols often, but idols also had their limits.
If it turned out to be weight loss from fatigue due to an overloaded schedule, Baek Haewon swore she’d burn UA to the ground if that was what it took to get the boys a break.
While Baek Haewon was making a firm resolution, the song began. Jeong Seongbin’s sweet voice filled the living room.
‘It feels more… exciting than when I watched it in the music video?’Belatedly, Baek Haewon recalled a masterfully written post from a Sparkler that had been on her timeline.
≫ Spark’s ‘The Words I Want to Say’
I can’t believe they can create such a December feeling without using the words ‘winter’ or ‘snow’ at all
I can’t believe it can be so much like a festival eve without using the word ‘Christmas’…
└ Didn’t notice at all before seeing this post
└ Just went to read the lyrics again… there are words like ‘cold’ or ‘frozen’ but no direct words like ‘snow’ and ‘winter’
If you were to talk about a festival-like song for Spark, Flowering was undoubtedly the representative one.
And so, Spark had quietly embedded traces of their past promotion cycle into ‘The Words I Want to Say’.
To a casual listener, it might seem like just another typical year-end seasonal song—but if you dug deeper, you’d come to know Spark’s entire year.
Just like in ‘The Third Letter’—which was overt in its message—or ‘MISSION’, where they openly said they wanted to stand beside you, the lyrics here, too, felt like a confession of the heart.
Even the deeply idol-like mindset of ‘only show the shining sides’ was part of it.
There wasn’t a single disappointing aspect. From ancient times, idols full of love for their fans were said to be the pride of the fandom.
Moreover, now there were even people compiling and organizing ‘teasers’ without her having to do anything. It was a new feeling. Our kids, they’ve really made it. They’ve become stars…
Baek Haewon was moved. And watching Kim Iwol’s white hair flutter, she quietly covered her mouth.
It was a really good song. To listen to and to watch. She resolved not to change his messenger profile song until the year ended.
She couldn’t be sure if the song was good or if the kids were good. But seeing as her mother, who had thrown her a dry towel, telling her to at least do the laundry while watching TV, said, ‘Is it a carol? The song is nice’, she figured it wasn’t just her biased fan-ears hearing things.
* * *
On their first music show, Spark didn’t make a single mistake. Rather, as the fans’ reviews said, their live performance was truly amazing, and their live ad-libs were incredible.
As the song went on, in the extremely difficult condition of a high-note party, Park Joowoo, who sang peacefully while dancing like a swan swimming on a lake, and Choi Jeho, who translated the moment a firework explodes into a dance, were particularly noticeable.
And…
‘Kim Iwol’s face is seriously a national treasure…’
…the scene where the shimmering face cubic under his swaying white hair shone along with Kim Iwol’s eyes was something Baek Haewon could never forget.
When they gathered for the comeback interview, his beaming smile was so cute she thought he looked more like a snowball fairy than the Snow Queen. If he weren’t over 180 cm tall, she’d have just called him a snow fairy outright. But maybe it was because of that height that Kim Iwol felt so genuinely lovable.
The sight of the members looking even closer was also nice to see. They’d always been a tight-knit group, but now Spark looked like they were desperate to look after each other.
Watching them pass the mic around, each trying to give the others more speaking time, warmed Baek Haewon’s heart like the metaphorical fire under her feet as she waited fo her report card.
‘Our kids need to go on a bigger stage… The world needs to recognize Spark’s amazing moments…’
Baek Haewon—though this was nothing new—wanted to gather the entire town and shout from the rooftops about how amazing Spark was. Sure, she’d bragged plenty on social media, but it wasn’t enough.
She needed something big. An opportunity like ‘ISD,’ where fifty million idol fans watch, yet also like ‘IDC’ where they can show off an amazing stage performance.
Baek Haewon glared at the innocent calendar. The year-end stage season was about to begin.
‘They’ll perform this song at the year-end stages, right? Please do. Please do it in an amazing all-white suit. Don’t cut the song, sing the full version.’
She knew that whether they could sing the full version or not was up to the discretion of the broadcasting station, but still, Baek Haewon prayed earnestly.
If you guys really want to hold a global music festival, you have to air this! Don’t you want to advance globally? Don’t you want to show the flame of K-Pop?!
With her chest full of emotion, Baek Haewon turned off the TV after Spark’s appearance ended. Then she stayed on SNS for a long time, talking about how beautiful Spark was, how their voices were like nightingales, and how awesome their dancing was, and in the midst of it all, how someone seemed to have lost more weight and someone seemed to have gained more muscle.
≫ Iwol, you don’t have to lose weight. You look cool with muscles. If UA is making you diet, shake a carrot. Carrots aren’t that expensive these days
└ Did Mr. Iwol lose weight??
└ He doesn’t say so, but he looks a bit gaunt heheㅠㅠㅠ I didn’t notice in the music video because his clothes were so flashy, but watching the music show, it feels like he lost muscle
└ No, the eldest hyungs should be tanking for their dongsaengs, what is this?
Exactly. Het heart was about to be torn apart too.
After talking about this for about an hour, a new topic emerged.
≫ Miheon-nim, are you going to watch today’s self-produced content?
When she checked, there wasn’t much time left until the upload time. Baek Haewon left a reply saying, ‘Isn’t it obvious?’, and thought.
‘I hope it’s a content where the kids talk a lot amongst themselves.’
Spark was known for their chemistry, so the highlight was when you gathered them together and let them talk.
Baek Haewon meant it sincerely. It wasn’t just about ogling their faces. Wasn’t it a law that when there were a bunch of strange people, they did strange things even if you just gathered them together?
They were only in their first year, but Spark had filmed a lot of self-produced content during that time. So much that they’d done almost every variety concept. Informal speech time, what’s in my bag, cooking for themselves, a training camp, a dorm reveal… and so on.
Well, if they were out of ideas, they could always do something like ‘Spark’s 202X Highlights Compilation’. Or, since the informal speech time was short, they could do it one more time. One way or another, Baek Haewon trusted Spark’s ability to create self-produced content.
Moreover, this time they had white-haired Kim Iwol and pink-haired maknae Kiyeon. Just sitting the two of them together would make anyone crave less sugar while watching.
And when the clock struck the hour.
≫ @spArk_official
Spark, ahead of moving out, begins their new roommate search for the new year!
Who will your roommate be next year?
Find out now!
[Spark] 2X12XX Seeking My Roommate
“They’re changing roommates?!”
Baek Haewon, astonished, connected to Metube faster than anyone. Her blood sugar, which seemed to have risen enough with the kids’ dyed hair, felt like it was skyrocketing.