When I was young, I often went hungry.
It wasn’t because we were poor. I realized that our family wasn’t poor when I looked at the inco level for national scholarships.
It was simply because none of the adults in the house were interested in a child’s food and living care.
During that ti, if a single snack disappeared while the grown-ups watched TV, or if food in the fridge was reduced, I would get scolded like I had committed a cri.
The space called ‘ho’ at that ti was full of things I couldn’t understand.
Why couldn’t I eat even though we had food? Why did saying I was hungry result in punishnt?
No matter how much I thought about it, my questions were never answered, and my hunger only grew.
So, I would secretly cook a cup of instant noodles and sneak out to the apartnt’s recycling area to dispose of the evidence. I did this until I started making my own money and could eat outside the house.
Since then, the word hunger stirred complex emotions in . You could say it tugged at my heartstrings.
These guys starved even though no one would yell at them for eating food, it made feel sorry for them.
They weren’t exactly the kind of irresponsible people who would eat and then just lie down without a care in the world.
After so thought, I glanced at them and said quietly.
“…Then let’s order one and share it.”
“Huh?”
Jeong Seongbin looked at wide-eyed like a startled rabbit.
“Grilled chicken, but on the condition that we drink water instead of soda. If that’s fine with you, go ahead and order.”
“Of course, that’s fine!”
Lee Cheonghyeon shouted, regaining his energy as if he hadn’t been depressed.
Jeong Seongbin, though hesitant, started seriously researching which chicken brand to order.
In the end, they scraped together the last bit of their conscience and ordered just one charcoal-grilled chicken. From the place with the fastest delivery ti.
It was a stark contrast to my colleagues, who swore they would cut back on coffee, yet still put three packets of coffee mix into their tumbler the very next morning.
While they were busy setting the table, I opened the chicken box that arrived first. I carefully divided the steaming chicken into five portions, evenly placing them on plates.
As I was ticulously dividing the pieces, there was a commotion in the kitchen.
“What? What is it?”
When I asked, the guys surrounding the table turned around and looked at .
Lee Cheonghyeon called out to with a shaky voice.
“Uh, hyung.”
“Yeah. What is it?”
Lee Cheonghyeon put his hand into the bag that Jeong Seongbin was holding.
What ca out of Lee Cheonghyeon’s hand was… a cola.
“They said the owner threw it in as a freebie. We can’t not drink it… What should we do?”
“Yeah, nice try.”
So that night, we ended up having an unexpected chicken party with a bonus gift.
Oh, I didn’t eat any, so it would be more accurate to say ‘they’ had the party instead of ‘we’.
Still, I did my best by running with them along the Han River. In fact, I ran the longest, so that said it all.
That night, for the first ti, I had the precious experience of sneaking out to the recycling area with others instead of alone to throw away the late-night snacks.
And I went to sleep, hoping that the Spark mbers wouldn’t wake up with puffy faces from eating those extra salty pieces of chicken.
* * *
With only one person, Yoo Hansoo, out of the picture, things went smoothly. The Spark mbers rarely caused any trouble, so everything was satisfactory.
‘Iwol, you must have had a hard ti.’
‘Thanks to all the support from the company, I’m doing fine now…’
‘You’ve worked hard. Gosh, I didn’t expect that from PD Yoo…’
Except for the fact that I was burdened by sympathies from all sides.
Because of the whole situation with Yoo Hansoo, I couldn’t attend any eting without people first asking how I was doing before getting to the main agenda. It was an overwhelming amount of attention.
The eting room today was the sa way.
There were so many people patting my shoulder, telling to speak up if things got tough. I barely had ti to lift my head from all the 90-degree bows I was giving in in gratitude.
As I was returning to the practice room, receiving lots of warm gazes, Lee Cheonghyeon suddenly looked in my direction and waved his hand.
“Hyung! Great timing. Our teaser is out!”
“Teaser?”
I thought it felt familiar.
That line was exactly the sa as what Lee Cheonghyeon had said when Parthe’s debut song teaser ca out. It had been a long ti since then.
“Really? How was it?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen it yet.”
Then Kang Kiyeon moved aside slightly to make space.
“You didn’t see it? Why?”
“I thought hyung would be here soon.”
Could it be that he was waiting to watch it with ?
I glanced around and the guys were busy bustling around, saying, ‘Then should we play it now?’, ‘Should we watch it on the laptop?!?’.
I didn’t get it. Wouldn’t they want to see their own debut teaser right away?
I shrugged and sat down in an empty spot, telling them to do whatever they wanted.
As the chaotic atmosphere died down, Jeong Seongbin said.
“Then I’ll play it now.”
When Jeong Seongbin hit the play button, the dark screen split vertically.
Through the gap, Lee Cheonghyeon’s ankles were revealed as he ran in his mismatched canvas shoes with untied laces.
Next, Choi Jeho’s hands hesitated while placing pliers into a bag, then switched to grabbing a small hamr instead.
Then, we saw the back and shoulders of Park Joowoo, standing still in front of a fire extinguisher at a large supermarket, wearing a backpack. A grainy instruntal track played in the background.
Imdiately after, the cara focused on Jeong Seongbin’s eyes, engrossed in reading sothing.
Then, the scene shifted.
Kang Kiyeon’s hand, emptying the cans and bottles out of the recycling bin behind the school, and my hand, tearing up a notebook and throwing it on the floor in a dark space, passed by one after another.
The mont Jeong Seongbin, who reappeared, inserted the key into the lock on the door of the warehouse.
The screen suddenly turned black with the effect of suddenly being cut off.
Soon, the faint crackling of a match being lit was heard, and a small white fla appeared on the black screen, slowly dissolving into ash.
“Oh…”
With a small gasp from Lee Cheonghyeon, the others groaned softly, pulling away from the small phone screen.
Everyone seed nervous. Even though we monitored so much on-site, this felt like a new experience.
‘Still, it definitely feels different because it passed through the hands of experts.’
It was exactly the vibe I had wanted to go for. With this, my trust in the experts rose again.
“What do you think, Iwol hyung? Did it turn out the way you expected?”
Jeong Seongbin asked cautiously.
“Yeah. It’s appropriately vague.”
“Huh?”
“That’s exactly what I was going for.”
To put it nicely, it was a classic teaser featuring rebellious characters.
By only showing a part of the body, the sense of mystery and visual beauty stood out, and the sound harmony was also great.
To put it badly…
≫ I just watched Jang Junhoo’s music video. I support you, Jeho!
≫ I saw the profile pictures, but which scene was Lee Cheonghyeon’s? Cheonghyeon, please show your face! I’ve watched it three tis and still can’t figure out where you are…
You could say it lacked impact. Not including a synchronized dance scene certainly contributed to that.
“I’ll check the comnt first and then join, so everyone, go start practicing first.”
“Can’t we just check them and practice together?”
“I told you, Kang Kiyeon, that monitoring is prohibited.”
Was there any need for their self-esteem to take a hit before they even debuted?
I pushed the mbers away to the mirror and then sat in the empty corner. Then I placed the laptop on my thigh and slowly scrolled down.
As expected, there weren’t many posts related to the teaser in the comnts section.
There must have been many music videos depicting adolescent youth struggling through life.
Especially in today’s market, where strong concepts were trending, it was even harder to grab attention with a pure-hearted concept.
If this teaser made you expect such an ordinary music video, then this teaser was a huge success.
‘This one is a bit more interesting.’
I read the comnt I found while scrolling down the screen again.
≫ Hey guys, you guys are finally debuting ㅠㅠㅠ Please show lots of love to Spark, the famous group full of visualsㅠㅠㅠㅠ Please support them, everyone!!!
Kim Iwol♡ Choi Jeho♡ Jeong Seongbin♡ Park Joowoo♡ Lee Cheonghyeon♡ Kang Kiyeon
I had expected that so people would have picked their favorite mbers after the press release.
But I didn’t expect them to leave comnts like this for a group that only revealed six slightly edited ID photos.
And…
‘Why does my na have to be at the front?’
I fiddled with my na, which was placed in front of Choi Jeho’s.
The nas the comnter wrote were in the order of our ages and birthdays. They probably compared our dates of birth registered on the portal site one by one.
The oldest mber of Spark that I knew was Choi Jeho. Naturally, fans always started their cheer chants with his na.
So, seeing a comnt that didn’t start with Choi Jeho’s na felt oddly unfamiliar. Almost like it was directed at sothing foreign, not Spark.
A sense of guilt surged through my mind.
How should I deal with the complicated emotions that always co up at monts like this? This was also howork.
‘Isn’t it better to be stuck in the middle and then fall out later?’
I tried to slightly cover my na with my left thumb.
Then I pressed and rubbed my na, pretending as if I was wiping the dust off the LCD screen so that my action didn’t look strange.
≫ Hey guys, you guys are finally debuting ㅠㅠㅠ Please show lots of love to Spark, the famous group full of visualsㅠㅠㅠㅠ Please support them, everyone!!!
♡Choi Jeho♡Jeong Seongbin♡Park Joowoo♡Lee Cheonghyeon♡Kang Kiyeon
“…Yes. This is right.”
I smiled at the familiar sight. Maybe because of the heat, my fingertips were tingling.
After reading through the few comnts, I turned off my phone and got up.
“Hey, Spark Visuals, can I join you now?”
“Of course!”
But I still had to think about it.
When I left soday, what three-letter word would be natural to replace ‘Kim Iwol’ in the fan chant?
Author's Thoughts
Iwol-ah, this is only chapter 67. So transmigrated idol lasted for 600 chapters. You ain’t going anywhere, bud.
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