Seo Yunseop’s arrest on drug charges was so well-known that even non-idol fans knew about it.
It wasn’t because Seo Yunseop was particularly famous.
It was because he hadn’t done it alone. He’d dragged others into it as well. Worse yet, so of those involved were his own group mbers.
Not one, but a whole bunch of drug users had erged from a single idol group. One of them was even revealed to be a distributor.
Naturally, the K-pop scene was in shambles. Seo Yunseop’s phone beca evidence, and every idol in his contacts suffered scrutiny.
Among those nas was Lee Cheonghyeon.
Lee Cheonghyeon and Seo Yuseop didn’t have any obvious connections in the public eye. At most, they had overlapping promotional schedules and appeared on the sa shows a handful of tis.
So, when Lee Cheonghyeon’s na surfaced, people assud he’d quickly clear his na, just as other idols had. But then…
≫ Is L○○ perhaps Lee Cheonghyeon?
└ Please tell it’s not him… I’m so tired of this
≫ What’s happening on the trending topics? I just woke up
≫ Mr. Lee Cheonghyeon becos a black sheep due to drug addiction
└ Delete this… There are other trending topics to joke about
Lee Cheonghyeon was indeed found to be addicted to drugs. Just not illegal drugs.
Since he hadn’t abused illegal substances, there were no legal repercussions.
However, amidst the arrests of fellow artists, the fact that he was also taking drugs didn’t sit well with the public.
‘What kind of drug was it?’
I tried to recall, but my mory was blank.
Maybe this whole regression thing had turned my brain into a sponge—my head felt full of holes.
Moreover, it was also puzzling why Lee Cheonghyeon was in contact with Seo Yunseop in the first place.
There didn’t seem to be any reason for them to interact—they had little in common, no real connection.
Before, I wouldn’t have cared about this sort of thing, busy making videos like ‘Other Idols ntioning Spark: A Compilation’, but the situation was different now.
What if, even if it wasn’t drugs, that bastard Seo Yunseop had coerced Lee Cheonghyeon into sothing…?
‘We’re screwed.’
I didn’t know how much Lee Cheonghyeon’s brilliance had ignited Seo Yunseop’s greed, but it seed I’d have to attach a 24-hour security detail to Lee Cheonghyeon during this retreat.
* * *
The bus, laden with surveillance, rivalry, and iron walls, soon arrived at a large pension in Gapyeong.
Gapyeong, of all places. It felt like just yesterday I got eaten alive by bugs while hiding treasure hunt clues in the yard of a pension here.
The dizzying mory mingled with the humid sumr air and clung to .
But I needed to focus.
While misplacing a note during the Hanpyeong Industry treasure hunt didn’t make headlines, failing to protect Lee Cheonghyeon properly could put Spark plastered all over the front page of entertainnt news.
I wedged myself between Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon as they walked towards the pension, each pulling a suitcase.
I slung my arms around their shoulders and said,
“My maknaes.”
“Yes?”
“What?”
“Don’t get distracted by the crowd and stick close to your hyungs, okay?”
Choi Jeho chided from behind, telling to take care of my own luggage. I turned to see Jeong Seongbin pulling my suitcase as well.
The retreat hadn’t even begun, and I already had a headache.
“The first mission is ‘Making Your Own Dinner’!”
“Gasp. We have to make everything ourselves?”
The cast buzzed as soone received and read the mission instructions.
It was understandable. There were over forty mouths to feed here. Even just making ran would be a huge task.
“Wow, with so many people, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
Soone from All Over said, scratching their head.
“Then shall we divide into grocery shopping and al preparation teams?”
Moon Yeongyu offered a suggestion.
“Having twenty people just focused on al prep seems a bit inefficient. I think a few people would be enough!”
Song Minil chid in.
That b*tch, he was just saying he didn’t want to do it. I saw you kicking around the soccer ball outside the pension earlier, don’t think I didn’t.
Suppressing a sigh, I joined the conversation.
“How about dividing into grocery shopping, al preparation, and dishwashing teams? Since we need to clean up afterward, it would be good to divide the roles. Plus, it’ll give us more footage for the broadcast!”
Even with this suggestion, so people would still try to slack off. But if they were going to play around, they might as well generate so content.
* * *
“We’ll be back!”
With cheerful goodbyes, the grocery shopping team departed. A mber of Log was driving.
anwhile, I found myself dragged along purely because soone decided I was the greatest intellectual of IDC.
‘Writer, how much can we spend?’
‘What’s the card limit?!’
Watching the idols bounce around like hyperactive rabbits, the writers had begged to keep an eye on them.
I had followed them, thinking pessimistically that my presence wouldn’t make much of a difference, but…
“How much ssamjang and gochujang should we buy? Two jars each?”
“I saw so gochujang in the cupboard earlier. Let’s just get ssamjang.”
“Should we buy ten bags of these leafy greens?”
“Since we’re buying in bulk, it’ll be cheaper to buy individual vegetables rather than the pre-packaged mix. Just lettuce and perilla leaves, please.”
Watching them toss items haphazardly into three carts, I began to understand why the writers sent .
But did I really need to manage the broadcasting company’s corporate card limit? It was not even a UA card.
“Whoa, they sell yukhoe here! Should we go for a full yukhoe bibimbap al with short rib soybean paste stew for dinner?”
“That’s insane. Buy it right now.”
…
“Hyung, want so beer?”
“Ah, I’d grab so right now if it weren’t for the minors. Too bad.”
“Why not let the adults drink while the kids stick to soda?”
…
“Don’t you think we’re buying too many snacks? These are definitely going to go to waste.”
“Eh, soone will eat them.”
Seriously, do these bastards never learn about how to be considerate of others in ethics class?
What if there are people who can’t eat raw at? Why are they trying to make everything into yukhoe bibimbap?
And there are so many minors here, yet they’re seriously considering buying alcohol? Are they trying to get all of us canceled in a teen drinking scandal?
Which one of you said soone would eat the leftovers? Do they think other people are garbage disposals for celebrity snacks? What a thoughtless thing to say.
My insides burned black. Dealing with Spark was never this maddening, but now I felt like my entire digestive system was being twisted into knots.
In the end, I had to sift through all three carts like I was wringing them dry.
Using the skills honed from confiscating the clicky keyboard the owner’s son had snuck into the cart, I managed to save up 200,000 won.
Consider it a donation to the stage production budget. But this is the last ti. Next ti, I’m turning a blind eye..
* * *
Is there anything more aningless than dividing roles?
I used to work in HR. Back then, my tasks included registering new hires, managing leave days, uploading job postings, scheduling interviews, headhunting, purchasing office supplies, processing terminations, managing building cleanliness, appeasing executives, and issuing various docunts.
But the HR manager at the Hanpyeong Industry had to do a bit more.
For example, stanning idols on behalf of the manager, installing building signs, picking locked doors, manually cracking passwords on PCs left locked by forr employees, running ran errands, reading the executives’ autobiographies aloud… F*ck.
Anyway, the point was, dividing roles didn’t an much in practice.
Look at now. I just got back from grocery shopping, and now I was wearing work gloves and arranging charcoal in a drum.
Perhaps because there were so many people that one or two slackers weren’t noticeable, most of them just said, ‘What can I do?’ and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing.
It was sowhat comforting that Choi Jeho, who learned how to light charcoal from in the last self-produced video, was handling the torch himself.
He skillfully lit the newspaper and transferred the fla to the charcoal. Finally, one mber was living up to the group’s na.
“Hyung, should I do it?”
“A kid shouldn’t play with fire. Kiyeon, go wash the vegetables.”
Even amidst this chaos, Spark took the initiative to find tasks. They were a far cry from the Spark of the past, who would freeze up on variety shows.
I was proud, but they shouldn’t be the only ones working. I wouldn’t stand for it.
Fuming like a raging yaksha, I was startled when Yeo Seongchan appeared with Moon Yeongyu.
“Hyung, stop that and go inside! Yeongyu and I will grill the at.”
“You two alone won’t manage. There are too many mouths to feed.”
“We’ll just call in reinforcents. Ah, the All Over hyungs said they wanted to try grilling.”
“No, I’ll grill. I’m really good at it.”
At the ntion of All Over, I quickly snatched the plate and tongs from Yeo Sungchan’s hands. I didn’t want to eat drug-laced samgyeopsal.
“Wouldn’t it be better to sit down and eat comfortably?”
“I take pride in outdoor grilling. Please let do it.”
After pleading with Moon Yeongyu, I finally secured a drum barrel.
As I was grilling, inhaling the acrid smoke, Moon Yeongyu spoke,
“Hyung, I heard you got scolded by Joowoo after our stage performance?”
“Who told you that?”
“Seongbin did. We were on the sa bus earlier. That’s when I heard it.”
It seed the leaders sat together. Couldn’t they have discussed sothing more constructive with that positioning?
“Don’t even ntion it. It was hard to appease him.”
“Still, Spark seems really close. Even just chatting with them for a bit, they all seem so kind.”
“The mbers are all kind.”
I couldn’t deny that they were kind, even if they caused so ridiculous trouble sotis.
“Aren’t the Berion mbers close too?”
“We’re all the sa age.”
Do they think there’s a big age gap in Spark or sothing?
…Wait, is there? Is there a big gap between and them?
As I pondered, soone held out a plate of grilled at. It was Jeong Seongbin.
“Hyung, eat while you grill.”
“What about you? Have you eaten?”
“There’s plenty of at over there. Don’t worry and eat. You too, Yeongyu hyung!”
Jeong Seongbin smiled kindly.
As expected of Jeong Seongbin, the true leader of our ti, ensuring no one felt left out, even around the charcoal grill.
I was enjoying the ssam, even with the scattered ash, when a completely unexpected guest arrived.
The Log mbers arrived wearing gloves.
“Here, Mr. Iwol and Mr. Yeongyu, go eat now!”
Log mbers pushed Moon Yeongyu and toward the tables. They each grabbed tongs, loaded the emply plates with grilled ats, and handed them to us.
“Sunbaenim, I can finish grilling…”
“No, no. We’ve eaten enough!”
“The dongsaengs were worried that Iwol hyung wasn’t eating. Hurry up and eat. Isn’t our maknae watching?”
“Co on, hyung always makes sure to eat well!”
With Log joining in, the atmosphere beca even more boisterous.
Glancing toward the table, I noticed Park Joowoo and three others—Choi Jeho was busy eating his own al—staring intently at .
It had been ages since we had samgyeopsal, they should focus on eating themselves.
I trudged over, took off my work gloves, and ate the at I had just grilled.
Perhaps because it had been so long, the fatty, smoky flavor was incredibly satisfying.
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