Chapter 170: Customer Appreciation Event
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 170: Customer Appreciation Event
“Seong-bin, when was our lyric-writing deadline again?”
This was the twenty-seventh time I’d asked Jeong Seong-bin the exact same question.
“It’s the day after tomorrow, Hyung.”
Seong-bin answered me with his usual diligence. Thanks to him, I could feel Doomsday creeping closer with every passing hour.
I wasn’t the only one feeling gloomy.
Choi Je-ho, who had personally written out the instructions for using self-defense spray during our first reverse fan gift event, looked just as miserable.
Lee Cheong-hyeon, our rapper, and Kang Gi-yeon, our sub-rapper, had submitted theirs ages ago. Jeong Seong-bin was busy reviewing, and Park Ju-woo seemed to be in the final stages of completion.
I picked up a crumpled ball of paper that Choi Je-ho had thrown onto the floor.
“Can I look at this?”
“Go ahead…”
The permission came in a tone that suggested he’d given up on everything. As I smoothed out the wrinkled paper, the traces of his agony—lines of ballpoint pen marks slashing through words—revealed themselves.
[The lacking Spark and the lacking, insufficient, long-way-to-go Spark and]
You brat, just how ‘lacking’ do you want Spark to be? Your true feelings are leaking all over the page.
But I wasn't in a position to judge others.
[Because you were all here, Spark could exist.
Rejection Reason: Sounds too much like an award acceptance speech.
Spark is always by your side.
Rejection Reason: Sounds like an election campaign slogan.]
My own notebook wasn't much different.
The two oldest members were being absolutely useless to the team. At least when it came to Spark, the saying "the older brother is better than the younger" clearly didn't apply.
While the two elders were racking their brains in agony, our other roommate, Lee Cheong-hyeon, walked into the room.
“Oh, looks like you two are really stuck.”
“‘Really stuck’ doesn't cover it. We haven't made a lick of progress.”
At my words, Lee Cheong-hyeon burst out laughing.
Is it funny? Is someone else’s pain funny to you?
“But Hyung, you know it too,” Cheong-hyeon said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “The most important things in work are the deadline and the pressure.”
Those were the exact words I’d said to him when he first started composing.
That karma had now come back to haunt me.
“Hyung.”
Cheong-hyeon’s eyes, deep as a blue hole, sent me a soulful gaze.
The corners of his mouth were curved like a rainbow appearing in a clear sky after the rain, and his cheeks were rounded like premium organic eggs.
“Hyung, you believe that a person can do anything as long as there’s a sense of compulsion, right?”
“…”
“Let’s start with some brainstorming and put all that worry into it!”
Cheong-hyeon’s bright voice became a whip that lashed across my back.
Despite coming in to nag us with the face of an angel, Cheong-hyeon was actually quite helpful to Je-ho and me.
“It might be harder because you’re trying to write something from scratch.”
“Think of it as writing a reply to the fan letters the fans send us.”
Listening to the words of our star tutor, Je-ho and I poured our souls into writing the lyrics.
It was a relief that the vibe felt much less like a deathbed confession after getting his help…
“No, Je-ho Hyung. Writing ‘love’ ten times doesn't make it a lyric!”
…Actually, never mind. I’d better read mine one more time before showing it to Cheong-hyeon.
The music video concept for Spark’s first fan song, The Third Letter, was ‘The Boys We Loved Back Then.’
I didn't misread it. I read it exactly as it was written in the storyboard.
“We’re ‘The Boys We Loved Back Then’?”
I saw Kang Gi-yeon asking with a skeptical look on his face.
Yeah, I’m sure it feels weird to you too. No matter how I look at it, none of you have a ‘lovely’ bone in your bodies.
“Don’t worry, boys. With faces like yours, you can definitely pull it off!”
The staff member who was busy polishing up Jeong Seong-bin’s face chimed in.
Well… wouldn't we be better suited as the school disciplinarians guarding the front gate back in the day?
At least there was one guy who might actually evoke a sense of romance. That was Lee Cheong-hyeon.
But that love wasn't exactly the ‘crush’ kind.
The vibe Cheong-hyeon’s face projected was…
‘Agape.’
Except the direction of that love was reversed.
Just look at that face, receiving all the affection in the universe. Not just ‘us’ back then, but even the school playground back then must have loved Lee Cheong-hyeon.
‘Or should we push the K-drama male lead style like Choi Je-ho?’
Je-ho, who had tried every intense style from fully exposed foreheads to half-exposed ones, had his bangs down today. This was the ‘styled fringe-down Je-ho’ that Sparklers had been praying for.
Perhaps feeling awkward with his forehead completely covered, Je-ho kept messing with his bangs. He ended up getting scolded severely by the stylist.
Being pure and innocent is fine, but we couldn't leave out the physical appeal. I boldly made a suggestion to the stylist.
“Wouldn't it be better if Choi Je-ho rolled up his sleeves? I think it’d be better if his forearms were visible.”
“You think so too, I-wol?”
Je-ho looked at me with an expression that said he had a lot to say, but I ignored him.
You’re going to be bouncing a basketball in the MV anyway. It’s a cardinal sin not to show your veins while dribbling.
Park Ju-woo took on the role of the senior in the art club. The brown apron and paint stains blended harmoniously.
“I’m telling you, having paint stains on his face gives it a more vintage feel!”
“The boys’ faces are most perfect when left alone. You shouldn't paint over them.”
“Don’t you know that a slight flaw is what drives people crazy? Let’s just do exactly two brush strokes on his cheek, no more, no less.”
Park Ju-woo, the person in question, was peaceful, but the makeup artists around him were burning with passion.
I was also part of the ‘Spark’s faces are most beautiful when left alone’ faction, but since I didn't know much about the ‘First Love Aesthetic,’ I stayed silent.
Just then, the epitome of a first love came walking toward us with steady footsteps.
“Hyung, are you ready?”
A gentle smile. A neat school uniform. Even an analog watch on his wrist—a rare sight in this era where everyone wears smartwatches.
He had the image of the only man in Spark born in the spring. As expected, Jeong Seong-bin, you’re carrying the entire team’s ‘sweet and gentle’ quota on your back.
On the other hand, I… I won't bother looking at myself. I already knew I didn't look like someone who would easily become someone’s first love.
Kang Gi-yeon wasn't much better off than me.
I wondered if he’d sold his tie to buy piercings, as he showed up wearing a small ear cuff—he couldn't use actual piercings since he hadn't pierced his ears. He even had bandages on a few of his fingers.
And yet, he was clutching a pair of wired earphones and an MP3 player tightly in one hand.
“What did you say your concept was again?”
I asked even though I already knew the answer.
Gi-yeon answered without resistance.
“That kid who sits in the very back corner of the classroom and never talks.”
“The historical accuracy is magnificent.”
When I offered my praise, Gi-yeon’s expression turned sour.
I was looking forward to seeing just how much visual-explosion this music video would turn out to be.
Work is the kind of thing that might decrease, but it never truly disappears. Just as the fan song was wrapping up, the fan club issue came crashing in.
For a typical idol, the fandom name and lightstick should be revealed around the time the fan club is created.
But UA had a massive hurdle named Yu Han-su.
Because we’d revealed the fandom name right at debut to stop him from messing around, all that was left to do was create the official fan club kit and the lightstick.
Actually, even the fan club kit wasn't easy. The ID card and rolling paper were fine, but everything else screamed ‘cheap budget.’
‘I think there’s too much paper merch. People will definitely talk about the production cost. These are people who joined the fan club because they love Spark; we shouldn't let them feel like the management is being stingy.’
That was why I put everything on hold. I tossed the task to Jeong Seong-bin, who had a broader knowledge of idol culture than I did, so he would take the lead in improving the composition.
Furthermore, UA, which had little experience in officially releasing merchandise, decided to release official Spark goods as well.
When I saw the first lineup and drafts… I was speechless. UA was famous for being absolutely terrible at making goods.
Perhaps because a dedicated team had been formed, they looked a bit better than the goods I’d once bought as a proxy.
But that didn't mean they were ‘pretty goods.’
‘I agree that Cheong-hyeon’s face is like a gem even if you just hang it up.’
‘Yes, and?’
‘I don’t think the fans would want to hang a giant keychain of Cheong-hyeon’s face on their backpacks.’
The core of idol goods is how much they boost your pride and whether they allow for ‘discreet fandom’ use.
Just slapping a photo on something and selling it as ‘goods’? You’d definitely get dragged on community sites all night for being lazy.
In the end, I walked out after selling them a line like, ‘I happen to have a great idea~.’
Fortunately, the dedicated team caught on quickly, and from the second lineup onward, lists that wouldn't get us cursed at began to appear.
Everything was fine up to this point.
The problem was that UA was trying to do something atrocious: limited quantity sales.
‘Unrevealed total quantity and first-come, first-served sales?’
I’m not lying; I almost fainted. How much had Sparklers raged over this kind of behavior from UA in the past?
≫ Son of a btch, I’m trying to buy the goods but they won’t sell them, fck.
≫ I have money, so why can’t I buy it…? Please, just empty my wallet…
≫ Is your head just for decoration? It sells out in 30 minutes every time, so why do you post an apology notice every single time after it’s sold out? A goldfish would have better learning capabilities than you f*ckers.
≫ Selling limited quantities just because you don’t want leftover stock is so pathetic. Please, just trust your idols for once ㅠㅠㅠ I know you don’t want to lose a single cent, but increase the damn stock, you assh*les.
These people didn't realize how much public outrage was sparked by selling official goods in minimum limited quantities.
I understood the company’s desire not to lose money. But what was the point if it hurt the fans’ feelings?
So, I went and staged a protest by lying down on the floor at UA.
“There’s a great method called pre-orders, Team Leader.”
“But I-wol, if we end up with leftover stock…”
“I know a cheap warehouse. I’ll make all the reservations myself. So please, anything but limited sales!”
“You don’t have to make reservations, so just get up! Why are you lying on the floor like this!”
“Spark does all the work, the fans do all the suffering, and the resellers make all the money! Who are these goods even for?!”
I understood that they couldn't rashly go into mass production since the fandom wasn't yet large enough to keep factories running non-stop, but shouldn't everyone who wants to buy be able to? Especially for an entertainment business dealing with fans.
After going through this series of events, many thoughts crossed my mind.
I thought about it while sitting on the edge of my bed, and I pondered it while sitting at the kitchen table.
And then, I reached a sad conclusion.
I guess I’ll just have to keep working in the future too… was what I thought.