“Yes, of course he did… Like I’d be crazy enough to forget that. God.”
I felt like all the blood was draining from my body. I’d gotten so used to the seniors being nice that I’d montarily forgotten what a jungle this harsh world can be—I genuinely regretted that lapse.
“Wow, this is the first ti I’ve seen you flustered, Mr. Iwol.”
“I’m not flustered, I’m coming to terms with my impending doom.”
Polo burst out laughing.
“Was Yur hyung that intimidating on ‘IDC’? He’s not a difficult person.”
“Senior idols always exude an aura of authority, even when they breathe.”
Just then, Yur approached us for the relay race interview.
Polo nudged and whispered,
“Want to set the stage for so senior-junior bonding?”
“Pwease.”
Polo wiped away a tear from laughing so hard as I maintained a perfect smile while ventriloquizing.
Despite the fact that I hadn’t even returned a polite, ‘Let’s grab a al soti, sunbaenim!’ Yur was still warm and kind to .
“First runners, I’m sure you must be feeling the pressure. How about a few words for your teammates?”
Starting with the runner on the inside lane, each of us gave words of encouragent to our teams. Polo also gave a spirited interview, cheering on his juniors.
“Spark is performing remarkably well for their first ‘ISD’. We’re all curious to see if they can finish strong.”
“I’ll do my best. And Spark—let’s not get injured!”
At my words, Lee Cheonghyeon, the third runner, made a fuss beside . Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon, the second and fourth runners, simply nodded.
“Runners, get ready.”
The command rang out. With the sound of the starting pistol, the relay race, the highlight of the sports day, began.
***
The cheering for the final event was intense. Shouts of support for different idols echoed from all directions, and colorful banners filled my vision as I ran.
How long had I been running? A na tag that read ‘D Jeho’ ca into view.
Thank goodness. I really didn’t want to ram the baton into his head.
“Choi Jeho!”
As I called his na, his hand swiftly snatched the baton. His expression was far more desperate than it had been during futsal or basketball. Even from a distance, it felt like I could hear the wind rushing past.
“Why is he running so seriously?”
Perhaps hearing my mumbling, Kang Kiyeon handed my jacket and replied,
“Didn’t you say we didn’t have enough dals?”
“I said that out loud?”
Kang Kiyeon nodded. I thought I’d only thought it, but apparently, I’d said it out loud. My social skills had deteriorated.
Before I knew it, the baton had already been passed to Lee Cheonghyeon. He had changed from his suit into a tracksuit and was running with textbook-perfect form. It was like he had his own background music playing as he ran.
I moved out of the way so Kang Kiyeon could receive the baton from Lee Cheonghyeon. Then I joined Jeong Seongbin and Park Joowoo in cheering our team on.
『A fierce battle for second and third place, but Spark maintains a steady lead in first!』
Kang Kiyeon glanced back to check the distance between Lee Cheonghyeon and the next runner. As Lee Cheonghyeon approached, he started to get ready.
“Don’t stop after half a lap! You have a full lap to run!”
Lee Cheonghyeon yelled, passing him the baton with a barrage of nagging.
“Does he think I’m Jeho hyung?”
Kang Kiyeon muttered. Next to , Choi Jeho’s eyebrow twitched.
『Kiyeon won the sprint earlier. I wonder if he has any stamina left… Oh, he’s fast! He’s so fast!』
Before the comntator could finish expressing concerns about Kang Kiyeon’s stamina, he shot off like a rocket.
He’d been dancing for years—of course, he had stamina. If anything, he had stamina to spare.
Kang Kiyeon’s hair flew behind him, his na tag fluttering on his chest.
But all I could focus on were his legs.
‘I went to the hospital, and they said I don’t need to co anymore.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah, the inflammation is gone. They just told not to overdo it.’
I rember how strange I felt when Kang Kiyeon said that.
When UA bought sneakers for everyone, did you know that even while I chose the pair that seed least likely to slip, I wasn’t entirely anxious?
A white tape stretched across the finish line. Kang Kiyeon broke the tape with a relaxed smile.
With a final tally of five gold dals, one silver, and one bronze, Spark won the overall championship for the Chuseok season.
***
≫ Let’s stop calling them Northern Archdukes and start calling them Sports Idols now
Our boys have more dals than mbers. They could probably juggle with them
If this isn’t what you call a Sports Idol group, then what is?
└ Please stopㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Is that a spoiler?
└ Yeah, Spark won overall. Just don’t repost this outside the fanbase
└ So there was indeed a reason for the training camp
≫ Wasn’t Park Joowoo a baby chinchilla?
When did he beco a full-grown capybara?
And then when he asked if the lenses were expensive, he turned right back into a chinchilla. So sneaky
└ No, Joowoo is still a chinchilla. He only threw the arrow because it didn’t taste good. Protect Joowoo’s chinchilla character interpretation at all costs
└ Park Joowoo scoring 10-10-10, are you for real… Joowoo, let’s just shoot anyone who gives you cr*p from now on
└ Instead of ‘Do Not Feed’ signs, we need ‘Do Not Provoke’ signs
≫ What was it like seeing the oldest mbers play basketball?
Why did everyone who went beco basketball slaves?
No one talks about the score, only about sleeveless shirts
└ The score isn’t important… what matters is that they were in sleeveless shirts, sweating, and dribbling
└ Kim Iwol looks so calm, but he goes absolutely feral when playing basketball. It’s so hot, I watched the ga in just a t-shirt
└ Were you the one playing ga? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
≫ Hey, Seongbin
Do you know what happens when you casually turn off your eye sparkle out in public?
People think you’re a cold and distant guy and avoid you!
Our Seongbin is the warst person ever, but other idols part around him like the Red Sea!!
└ At this point, Sparkler fans need to admit it—your leader is not a warm and sweet type…
└ I thought this was a made-up story, but it’s real?? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Shut up, our Seongbin is still a mini bungeoppang, freshly baked and warm
└ What good is a bungeoppang if the mold is an ice tray?
└ Shut up
≫ The hyungs’ expressions watching the maknae in the relay race .jpg
Photo (1)
Aren’t they too surprised?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ They didn’t know our maknae was such an Amazonian creature
└ Look at the baby chinchilla’s wide eyes. Even though he was the one who broke eight lenses
└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Whoa, is this an official release?
└ Yeah, the broadcaster’s official account uploaded four preview cuts
└ Those cheapskates. How is it almost Chuseok and they only give us four cuts?
└ Guess they want us to watch the broadcast… Not like I can, my grandma has control of the remote
└ We’ll be lucky if she doesn’t put on a Chuseok special movie
Even before the broadcast, photos released by the broadcaster, Spark’s official outfits, and fan reviews caused a frenzy online.
More importantly, I had to check the system rewards.
In the car on the way back, I checked the system notifications one by one.
[SYSTEM] ‘Kim Iwol’ is awarded ‘Porcelain-like Fair Skin.’
▷ Effect: Reduces skin troubles and blemishes for ‘Kim Iwol.’
[SYSTEM] ‘Choi Jeho’ is awarded ‘Captivating Charm.’
▷ Effect: Increases ‘Choi Jeho’s’ ability to attract attention in gatherings of 10 or more people. (Permanent effect, no expiration date)
[SYSTEM] ‘Park Joowoo’ is awarded ‘Transparent Eyes that Convey Sincerity.’
▷ Effect: Increases ‘Park Joowoo’s’ ability to convey emotions during close-ups of 2 seconds or more. (Permanent effect, no expiration date)
[SYSTEM] ‘Lee Cheonghyeon’ is awarded ‘Luminous Inner Glow.’
▷ Effect: Maintains a luxurious and natural glow for ‘Lee Cheonghyeon.’ (Permanent effect, no expiration date)
[SYSTEM] ‘Kang Kiyeon’ is awarded ‘Mature Charm Appeal.’
▷ Effect: Increases ‘Kang Kiyeon’s’ depth of expression. (Permanent effect, no expiration date)
I felt a bit cheated that mine wasn’t permanent, but this was enough. What mattered was that they all received solid rewards.
And most importantly…
[SYSTEM] ‘Spark’ is awarded ‘Cara Massage.’
▷ Effect: Reduces the distortion between ‘Spark’s’ real-life appearance and on-screen appearance. (Permanent effect, no expiration date)
…we got the Cara Massage. Wasn’t this the whole point of winning? This alone made all the other rewards insignificant.
Thanks to Spark’s hard work, I could clean out the employee benefits mall. I couldn’t be prouder.
‘Is Lee Cheonghyeon’s glowing skin the only imdiately noticeable change?’
As soon as we got back to the dorm, I had to make him lie down and turn on all the lights. It was ti for the LED beauty mirror I’d ordered through the company, in anticipation of his self-makeup video, to shine.
Another thing that bothered was the ‘Starlight Smile’ that had appeared during the archery interview.
That phrase only appeared when I ntioned Heera. I smiled all the ti during filming, so why only then?
‘Are there special conditions? Or will it appear again if I smile the sa way?’
It was technically a system guide ssage, so maybe if I did the Starlight Smile ten tis, I’d get a KPI reduction or sothing.
With a sliver of hope, I called out to Lee Cheonghyeon, who was sitting in front of .
“You called?”
As Lee Cheonghyeon turned around, I tried to recreate the smile from earlier.
“What’s with that expression? It’s creepy.”
“…….”
Unfortunately, the phrase didn’t appear. Instead, I received a ‘dubious look’ from Lee Cheonghyeon.
What exactly was the Starlight Smile? The system had never shown anything useless before. Was I going to get hit with sothing unexpected again?
While I was lost in thought, Lee Cheonghyeon’s eyes widened. He turned his whole body to face .
“Who told you to sit with your back twisted like that? You’ll ruin your spine…”
“Hyung, you removed all your makeup, right?”
“Huh? Yeah, I thought it would be bad if it mixed with sweat…”
Before I could finish, Lee Cheonghyeon placed his hands on my cheeks. I heard a slapping sound.
“Whoa. This is the first ti I’ve seen you without dark circles!”
…What?
Even I have never seen my face like that.
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