Normally, Spark’s schedules were packed right before and after a coback, and during coback week. This was because, aside from booking related show appearances for promotion, there weren’t many places for them to go.
However, Spark’s recognition had now clearly risen. To the point where, on a public level, ‘the public had a positive image of this idol group.’
And when that happened, sothing interesting occurred.
“A solo comrcial ca in?”
Comrcials started coming in. From a fairly well-known brand, and for a solo mber.
The first solo ad went to Choi Jeho. A fitting move for the group’s center.
It was good news, so I wanted to congratulate him with a happy heart. If only the brand that had offered the contract wasn’t such a familiar one.
‘Here.’
‘What’s this?’
‘Birthday present.’
The brand of the tracksuit I had received as a gift from noona years ago.
The sa store whose logo had shown up in the promo materials when Choi Jeho modeled their sportswear line back then.
‘Even when so much has changed, so things stay the sa.’
My hand unconsciously went to the edge of the docunt. I fiddled with the innocent paper.
“So? What’s the concept?”
Lee Cheonghyeon asked for my permission before taking the materials.
I vaguely rembered him promoting sothing like a functional zip-up hoodie. He was a sportswear model back then, too.
“Um…”
Lee Cheonghyeon flipped through a few pages, his eyes widening as he read the title, one syllable at a ti.
“‘A sexy man looks different from the fit up’?”
“What?”
How utterly absurd. When did our house’s Center Emperor beco the Sexy Emperor? And the copy is so cheesy.
Sure enough, the paper said exactly what Lee Cheonghyeon read. My hands itched with the urge to update the Dotion work request page.
The references were bold, too. Poses and compositions straight out of n’s magazines. Even though it was supposed to be a clothing ad, you could barely see more than a sleeve, making it unclear what the ad was even selling.
“Are you going to shoot an ab comrcial instead of a clothing comrcial?”
Kang Kiyeon asked as he looked at the reference materials. Choi Jeho just shrugged his shoulders.
While there were those who walked the sa path as in the past—albeit with a different flavor—there were also those who didn’t.
Unlike the old Lee Cheonghyeon, who first beca known through sports drink and perfu ads, the new-generation Lee Cheonghyeon was offered a direct contract for a jewelry ad.
A jewelry ad—not even a watch ad—made the Spark mbers react in bewildernt. Lee Cheonghyeon was still too young to take on a watch comrcial. If the target was middle-aged n who buy luxury watches or young n who have established themselves in society, Choi Jeho or Jeong Seongbin would have been the right choice.
However, the key point that needed to be highlighted in a jewelry comrcial was a little different. As was the case with Indenia, extre beauty that could showcase the accessory to its fullest was an essential requirent for a jewelry comrcial.
A pure yet balanced face, glamorous but not artificial—those were rare. Celebrities already exposed to many markets had public recognition, sure, but they lacked freshness.
And in such a situation, a big fish in the free agent market appeared, satisfying all the conditions, possessing both recognition and freshness, and with a reasonable price tag (…). Who wouldn’t take notice?
“You’re going to shoot a pictorial for the new collection, right?”
“Yeah. They said it’s a necklace, bracelet, and ring set. Chanyoung hyung said we’ll be filming the whole day.”
“Sounds like a long shoot. Must be because it’s a luxury brand.”
Jeong Seongbin muttered, seemingly worried. He seed to feel sorry for his younger mber, who was being called out for work even though it was non-promotion period.
“Don’t worry, hyung. I’m a professional at being photographed! Have you forgotten the days when we all trained under Iwol hyung?”
“That’s right. If needed, I’ll help you practice too.”
“You heard what that hyung said, right? I’ll co back with a legendary pictorial, so don’t you worry!”
Lee Cheonghyeon flicked his hair with his fingertips and acted cocky. All those days of scolding him and drilling cara-training into him were paying off.
‘Are we starting to see a difference in individual schedules now?’
The situation was slowly changing from the days of the one-off variety show ‘Genre-Switch’ or ‘Unmanned Rest Area,’ where the cast was conveniently chosen from within Spark. Love calls, after all, usually targeted a specific person.
It would be nice if the balance of comrcials and variety shows was well-maintained, but in reality, that was difficult. No matter how hard the company or the planners tried, it was hard for all mbers to be chosen by the market.
‘There’s a saying that great talent matures late, so I hope they don’t get impatient over the imdiately visible differences.’
I tried my best not to be conscious of the other three as I skimd through the catalog Lee Cheonghyeon had brought. Then, Kang Kiyeon took the booklet from my hand and said.
“Don’t worry about us too much.”
“Huh?”
“You’re worried our prides would be hurt by the solo ads, right?”
“Well…”
“I already talked to Lee Cheonghyeon when he was sulking in the practice room, but aside from thinking that I need to work harder, I’m not jealous or anything. They pushed us so much in the full album, so there’s nothing to be jealous about.”
I was surprised by his unexpectedly mature comnt. Did the system give Kang Kiyeon ‘maturity’ itself, not just an ‘appeal of mature charm’?
“I don’t know what Seongbin hyung and Joowoo hyung think, though.”
“No, I was the one who went on ‘Genre-Switch’ alone!”
Jeong Seongbin waved his hands dismissively. All the mbers’ gazes turned to Park Joowoo, who had never been on a solo variety show and had yet to shoot a solo comrcial.
Park Joowoo blushed and said in a small voice.
“For , it’s enough that the mbers practiced their instrunts for …”
It was an incredibly modest statent. As no one could bring themselves to say anything, Park Joowoo seed to decide to be a little more ambitious and declared boldly.
“Since we all practiced together, soday, I’d like to be able to perform together on stage too…!”
Oh, Joowoo. Be a little more greedy…
* * *
Until the day of the comrcial shoot, Choi Jeho worked out like his life depended on it. Because I nagged him nonstop. I hounded him so much that neither the company nor the manager ever had to say, ‘Jeho, you need to get your body ready before the shoot!’. The fact that Choi Jeho’s self-managent cycle had never once faltered probably played a part as well.
As a result, the current Choi Jeho…
“Wow, this is truly worthy of acknowledgent.”
…had his physique acknowledged by 19-year-old Lee Cheonghyeon, his forr roommate, current teammate, and soone who had seen his hyung’s bare torso with his own eyes at their vacation spot.
Lee Cheonghyeon repeatedly clapped and gave thumbs-ups, while making noises like an old man. Smacking poor Kang Kiyeon’s forearm, he said.
“Before, hyung’s body was a sculpture, you know? Now, it’s an embossed leather seat.”
“Then isn’t the ‘before’ better?”
“No. A sculpture is just hard, but with an embossed leather seat, you can just imagine the soft touch beneath the firm surface.”
“You seriously have no filter.”
Kang Kiyeon grimaced in disgust. Ignoring his friend, Lee Cheonghyeon patted Choi Jeho’s back and chattered on, “How did your body get even better? Hyung, maybe you should have pursued working out! But then our team wouldn’t have a center, so stop working out now!”
“Hey, do I need to lose more?”
Choi Jeho asked . His voice was full of irritation.
“You weren’t aiming to lose weight in the first place, were you? Haven’t you built enough muscle? You look better than when the brand first contacted us, so I don’t think anyone will complain on set.”
“I’m hungry.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
It must be incredibly difficult for a kid who used to eat three containers of salad at a ti to reduce his food intake to a third of that. His face showed zero emotion when he ate chicken breast.
“Eat sothing after the shoot. Or should I order sothing in advance?”
“It’s fine.”
Choi Jeho leaned his head back on the sofa.
Still, Choi Jeho had really changed a lot. In the past, he wouldn’t have even noticed his younger mbers being mindful of him while he was dieting, but these days, when it was alti, he was the one who brought it up first—voluntarily!—telling them not to worry about him and to just eat. Kang Kiyeon’s eyes had gone wide.
Despite saying he was hungry, Choi Jeho packed his things to go to the gym, saying he was feeling stressed. I was pretty sure he already worked out at dawn. I truly didn’t understand what kind of algorithm his brain was running.
We all had PT sessions as a baseline, but recently, a new face had joined the little gym squad consisting of Choi Jeho and . Soone who wasn’t just Kang Kiyeon dropping by occasionally or Park Joowo being dragged in for extra lessons—but soone who had practically beco a regular.
“You hyungs really work out a lot.”
“The strength to work cos from physical fitness.”
“That’s true, but.”
The mont the promotion period ended, Jeong Seongbin was inducted as a new gym-goer. He made a firm resolution to shed more body fat this ti.
At first, I was against it. Jeong Seongbin was one of the mbers in Spark who had a hard ti building muscle. I didn’t really want to recomnd it, because if you lose fat the wrong way, you could end up looking haggard.
“If you lose more, won’t your body get too skinny?”
“Hyung, haven’t you seen the clip from the end-of-year music festival’s closing stage, where it’s just us?”
“…”
I’d seen it. When Spark was just among ourselves, Kang Kiyeon was the ‘super cute baby pebble.’ But the mont he stood next to mbers of other groups, he suddenly beca ‘the Portrait of Young David’, ‘the Owner of Boulder Arms’, ‘the Young Duke Returning After Slaying Monsters’. And that was the least extre comparison; Choi Jeho was simply being treated like a human tasequoia.
(TL note: tasequoia, or dawn redwood, is a genus of fast-growing coniferous trees. Source: Wiki.)
Jeong Seongbin’s situation wasn’t much different, so he seed to be trying to at least reduce his torso circumference…
“Seongbin.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“We’re not ant to be a skinny-type group.”
…Not a chance. Don’t try to force your blessed fras into soone else’s standards.
At my words, Jeong Seongbin accepted it without a single protest. Then he set off on a long trek to find an open spot for weight training. His shoulders, unbowed and proudly straight, were quite amusing to watch.
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