Chapter 109: Vacation
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 109: Vacation
I spread out a mat on a quiet section of the beach, as the vacation season hadn't quite started yet.
After setting up a parasol I’d borrowed from a nearby cafe, I nudged Lee Cheong-hyeon into the shade.
“There. Now go play or whatever.”
“Yes, sir!”
Once I set up the portable table we’d also borrowed, he pulled out his laptop on his own.
Gentle waves rolled in before our eyes with every breath of the sea breeze.
Does inspiration just gush out of geniuses the moment they see a nice view? I wouldn’t know, since I’ve never lived a creative day in my life—except for when I was writing my self-introduction letters for job applications.
While Lee Cheong-hyeon tapped away at his laptop, I caught up on some monitoring.
Even on the video of my bass performance, where my hands had gone stiff from lack of practice, the fans left nothing but kind comments. I was grateful.
Since I’d finished all the other minor tasks on the train, I became a free man much earlier than expected.
Meanwhile, Cheong-hyeon was focusing on his screen with terrifying intensity.
I wasn't sure if it was thanks to the Pomodoro Technique or the fact that I’d been dragging him around everywhere to work, but his concentration had evolved to a level worthy of respect.
If he kept growing like this, he’d eventually be able to compose music in the middle of a night market without noise-canceling headphones.
In any case, even if I couldn't help him, I couldn't very well disturb someone working so hard.
I sat there quietly, occasionally checking my phone to see if any messages had come in from the company.
Then, my gaze landed on something.
A cigarette butt was lying right in front of the mat. Of all things, it was the same brand Department Head Nam used to make me run errands for.
I’d brought the kid here for a "creative experience" in a place with good vibes, and now I had to see a cigarette?
The white cigarette butt stood out against the sand, looking incredibly eyesore-ish.
I tried to ignore it, but once I’d spotted it, it lingered in my mind like the smell of Department Head Nam’s smoke.
I barely suppressed a sigh rising from deep within. Grabbing my wallet, I stood up.
“Want anything to eat?”
“No. Are you going to the convenience store?”
“Yeah. Stay put and don't go anywhere.”
“You got it!”
I headed straight for the convenience store. I came back out with two heavy-duty trash bags and a pair of stainless steel tongs.
Fine. For today, I’m the caretaker of this beach.
Picking up trash by the sea was surprisingly rewarding—aside from the regret of wearing a ball cap instead of a sun visor. I realized there was a reason why volunteers always wore those things; they really save your face from burning.
I got a bit annoyed when a few passersby tossed their trash into my bag instead of using the perfectly functional trash cans standing right there, but I held it in.
I did this because some kids playing in the sand saw me and started gathering trash in groups of ten to give to me. It felt like my dying faith in humanity was being restored.
More than that, though, there were an incredible number of firework casings in the sand. Isn't setting off fireworks on the beach illegal? I swear I picked up more casings here than I ever did in the army.
Muttering to myself, I darted around like that "wasp-hunting old man" whenever I saw a cigarette butt, eventually wandering near someone else's mat.
Realizing I’d intruded, I apologized politely and turned to leave, only for the owner of the mat to shout, “Wait, aren't you Spark?!”
You seeing this, you Spark punks? You’re not nobodies anymore.
They asked for an autograph, but there was no way I—someone currently picking up trash—or they—people out for a stroll on the beach—had any proper writing tools.
I had no choice but to ask for their understanding and head back to my spot. I rummaged through my backpack, grabbed a few sheets of memo paper I’d tucked into my diary, and returned with Lee Cheong-hyeon.
While the women admired Lee Cheong-hyeon’s face, I shoved a ballpoint pen into his hand.
And so, after holding a makeshift fan-sign event using "I'm quiting this company" memo pads—Min Ju-gyeong gave them to me, saying they were extras—and filling two trash bags to the brim, the sun was finally setting over the horizon.
When I returned to our spot, Lee Cheong-hyeon was lying face down, staring at the sea.
“Hyung! It’s not that I’m slacking off, I just needed a moment of contemplation!”
“Did I say anything?”
It’s a vacation; I don’t know why he’s so jumpy.
Then again, back when I was at Hanpyeong Industry, vacations weren't really for resting. Back then, I was basically on five-minute standby for Department Head Nam.
“If you’re done with your work, just relax and do what you want. Who knows when you’ll get to rest again.”
“Wow, that’s terrifying.”
The truly terrifying thing is that you guys might end up resting forever in seven years. But since I’m an adult, I won’t say that out loud.
“Go dip your feet in the water or something. I have towels.”
“Just looking is enough for me!”
“How modest.”
Cheong-hyeon laughed. His face was glowing, so I could tell he wasn't just being polite.
“It’s not modest. I just checked something off my bucket list.”
“What? Spacing out at the ocean?”
When I asked, Cheong-hyeon’s expression turned awkward. He looked like he regretted bringing it up.
Should I press him on it, or just let it go?
If I pressed, I’d feel like a tactless jerk; if I let it go, I’d look like a cold-blooded manager with zero interest in his members.
But either way, if I had to choose, being a bit tactless is better than being cold-blooded. This team already has enough of a tactless representative in Choi Je-ho.
“What kind of bucket list item makes you act so shifty?”
“No, it’s just, um...”
Scratching his cheek, Cheong-hyeon looked away.
“...I thought it might sound like I’m being ungrateful?”
“Do you have to consider things like that when making a wish?”
“It’s not that!”
Sigh. Talking to these kids is so difficult.
“I just always wanted to come to a place like this and look at the sea at my leisure.”
“How is that being ungrateful? It’s perfectly normal.”
I gave a half-hearted response and sat down on the mat.
Considering he fled to the mountains when he ran away from home, this guy might just have a habit of restoring his mental health through nature.
Then, a thought occurred to me.
Right. He’s the son of a wealthy family.
If that’s the case, I can understand the "ungrateful" comment.
“Why? Were you afraid that if you said you never got to step on a sandy beach because you were busy riding yachts every summer, I’d say, ‘Wow... Lee Cheong-hyeon, listen to you being all ungrateful’?”
“No! That’s...!”
“Is it really not?”
“...”
“Why worry about stuff like that? It’s not like you were mocking me for never having been on a yacht.”
Actually, I was more curious if he really had been on a yacht. Do rich people really spend their vacations on those things?
Seeing the curiosity in my eyes, Cheong-hyeon backed away uncomfortably.
“Cheong-hyeon.”
“What.”
“Did you really ride yachts every summer?”
“What am I, some third-generation chaebol?! Why is a realistic guy like you acting like this?”
Cheong-hyeon grumbled that I’d watched too many dramas.
He tried to explain that he wasn't even a "gold spoon" to begin with, but since I’d once seen him ranked 13th on a list of "Gold Spoon Idols," it didn't really resonate with me.
“It’s the opposite. This is the first time I’ve been this close to the ocean.”
“Really?”
“My parents don't like traveling for fun. Even when we go somewhere, the destinations are always fixed. Libraries, museums, galleries.”
“So you had academic vacations.”
“When I was playing piano, we went to other places too...”
“Don't tell me you went to recitals?”
“Of course. Thanks to that, the closest view of the ocean I ever had was the one I saw while taking off from Incheon Airport.”
Even while grumbling, Cheong-hyeon kept checking my reaction.
I suppose he felt that talking about this was a form of bragging, especially since it hadn't even been a month since the story of me getting beaten at home came out.
“So. Do you like being here?”
I asked, looking at the kid who was now sitting with his knees pulled to his chest.
“I love it. My mind is at peace, and the view is great!”
“Then that’s all that matters. Come back with the other guys next time.”
“Why are you trying to slip away? If we come, we should all come together!”
“I’ll pass. I’m at an age where researching the real estate prices of tourist attractions is more fun than playing.”
“You’re unbelievable.”
Cheong-hyeon snorted.
But I was being serious.
If the day ever comes when you visit the sea again, I hope you’re with Spark, not me. And don't come back with your faces all sunburnt like last time.
Cheong-hyeon and I spent several hours in the sea breeze, having a deep conversation about music.
Well, Cheong-hyeon did all the deep talking and I just responded, but if words were exchanged, it counts as a conversation.
By the time we finished talking about Spark’s musicality, the members’ vocal colors and growth potential, and the catharsis of popular music, the sun had completely set. Thanks to that, we even got to see the night sea.
While Cheong-hyeon went to shower first, I checked the updates in the Spark group chat—everyone had arrived home safely—and turned on my laptop.
I intended to post something on the fan cafe, but the category where members leave one-line notes was being refreshed at a rapid pace.
I wondered if a sighting had been posted...
≫ I-wol, did you go to Busan with Cheong-hyeon??
≫ Guys, tell us about your Busan trip lol
≫ Holding my breath until the Producing Line trip vlog comes out (Day 1)
...It was about us. You guys really went straight home, didn't you?
As I scrolled through the fans' posts, I found the link to the original sighting.
≫ Saw a celebrity for the first time in my life
(Proof included)
I came to Busan with a friend to space out at the beach, and I saw someone walking around picking up trash.
I thought, "Oh, they're doing a good deed," but then I saw his face and he was soooooooo handsome.
My friend and I kept whispering, "Hey, isn't that a celebrity? Definitely an idol," trying to figure out who it was, and it was Spark's I-wol!
I was searching on my phone to make sure, and then he started running toward us.
My friend and I were like, "Shit, is he gonna tell us not to take pictures? ㅠㅠ We didn't even take any ㅠㅠㅠㅠ"
But he just came over to pick up a cigarette butt... so awkward.
He came so close that he even apologized for the intrusion. He has such a good personality.
I worked up the courage to ask for an autograph, and he told me to wait a second because he didn't have paper. Then he dragged over another member whose face was literally glowing.
It was kind of funny because they were both wearing those arm sleeves, but anyway.
They signed for me and my friend, but the state of the memo paper lol
(I'll blur my name!)
When I asked if he bought it, he said he just uses what the company staff gives him hahahahahahahaha
Then he thanked us for recognizing them and went back to picking up trash. The whole thing felt like a comedy skit.
└ What do they look like in person? I saw the concept photos and they looked handsome.
└ It feels like washing your eyes with mouthwash. My eyes feel so refreshed.
└ Understood perfectly.
└ The memo paper hahahahahahahaha
└ He handed it over saying it was all he had, and my friend and I just burst out laughing ㅠㅠ hahahahahaha
The review couldn't have been more detailed. I was just grateful they viewed it positively, even though it was full of potentially embarrassing elements.
Since the promotion period was over, there wasn't much else I needed to keep an eye on.
After organizing all the materials I’d prepared for the "With List" planning—including the unnecessary ones—everything I’d planned to do was finished.
'How long has it been since things were this quiet?'
To be finished with work.
It was a strange sensation. It was a feeling I hadn't experienced in a very long time, not since joining Hanpyeong Industry.
“Hyung, why did the atmosphere around you suddenly get so mellow?”
“Does it look that way?”
“Yes. The sense of cognitive dissonance is insane.”
I must have looked incredibly suspicious, because Cheong-hyeon pushed me toward the bathroom, telling me to just go shower already.
Strictly speaking, I hadn't even reached halfway to my final KPI.
If my predictions were correct, a signal related to that would arrive before long.
Until then, I should at least be able to take a shower with a peaceful mind.
And just as I finished that glorious shower...
“Hyung, I think you need to check the group chat right now.”
...The signal I felt was coming finally arrived.