Chapter 192: Sharing the Final Version (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 192: Sharing the Final Version (1)
Every member of Spark appeared in this concept photo biting something.
Jeong Seong-bin had a pen; Kang Gi-yeon had a mask string—he created an incredible shot by hooking one string around his index finger and pulling it taut; Park Ju-woo had a syringe cap; Lee Cheong-hyeon had a plastic card; and Choi Je-ho had leather gloves.
Finally, Kim I-wol bit a lipstick cap.
Let me say that again.
Kim I-wol bit a lipstick cap!
His black "comma hair" cast a shadow over his face. Due to the thickness of the case, his mouth was parted slightly wider than the other members, creating greyish shadows at the corners of his lips.
The inside of the black, glossy case was painted red. In the overall dark photo, that single splash of color became a point that commanded the viewer's gaze.
≫ Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick? Kim I-wol lipstick?
└ Everyone, calm down and let’s just lipstick together. We’re all lipsticking right now. For grown-up lipsticks to be lipsticking about lipstick like this, it feels like a blatant lipstick trap, and it’s very lipstick.
└ It’s scary in here.
Wait, what do you mean Kim I-wol lipstick?????
≫ Is Kim I-wol actually insane?
≫ Things to check when this album drops: The producer's name.
You can never leave now. Bury your bones at UA.
└ But what if I-wol’s name is the only one there again...?
└ Then UA dies.
≫ Spark’s last concept photo is out!
But I-wol...
I-wol... The world is a dangerous place these days...
If you do a concept like this and the noonas kidnap you, what are you going to do? Seriously.
└ Honestly, at this point, I-wol basically listed himself on Karrot Market for someone to take him. The noonas are innocent.
≫ Pale, bloodless skin + red lips + black hair + suit = High stimulation confirmed.
My baby is showing the dignity of the adult line. I’m so proud I could f*ckin' cry.
≫ Ah, I’m getting dizzy.
I’m filled with despair that I can only own this digitally.
└ I wish they’d just release this as a photocard... I want to buy a toploader and decorate it with lipsticks.
└ Whoa, is your "knowledge strap" 3 meters long?
└ It’s 214 meters long.
≫ I have no idea what the concept is, but I know I have to buy the album.
UA is good at business... They make you buy the album immediately without a single line of spoilers.
≫ I’m actually really looking forward to the photocards.
Can I be excited? I’m getting excited, okay?
As a result, Baek Hae-won found herself waiting endlessly for Spark’s new song and music video to drop.
Even the title track she’d heard briefly in the recently released highlight medley was amazing.
The atmosphere was quite different from Spark’s usual songs, but that only heightened the fandom’s expectations.
It was an omen that something big was coming. She felt a surge of exhilaration.
Please let the outfits be legendary. Please don't let the set look cheap.
While she was offering up every prayer imaginable, her phone buzzed.
Spark’s new music video had been released.
A dark meeting room with only a drum beat and electric guitar playing in the background.
Jeong Seong-bin sat at the head of the table. To his left were Park Ju-woo and Lee Cheong-hyeon; to his right were Choi Je-ho and Kang Gi-yeon.
At a gesture from Kim I-wol, who stood on a small platform, the beam projector flickered to life.
A photo of a man, a brief resume, and the words "Needs protection from threats due to whistleblowing" appeared on the screen.
Jeong Seong-bin, who had been twirling a pen, leaned back. The back of his chair tilted slowly.
The camera zoomed in on the tip of the pen tapping on paper, then showed Seong-bin’s fingertips removing the cap.
The sound of a scratching fountain pen was layered over the guitar.
Black ink flowed from the nib, and the title 『MISSION』 was written in a scribbled cursive as the camera cut away instantly.
『I want the last person
Standing by your side
To be me』
Kang Gi-yeon, wearing a techwear-style jumpsuit, was sitting on the hood of a black foreign car.
Because he was sitting with one knee bent, his pant leg had ridden up, revealing his ankles wrapped in sharp walkers and the line of his calf.
‘Fck, fck, fck, fck.’
Baek Hae-won debated whether to pause the MV or not. But hesitation was a luxury.
『Hold your breath and wait』
As soon as the line ended, the group choreography part began.
Everyone was in grey suits with black accents.
Leather harnesses with silver ornaments.
And...
『The moment
You call for me』
...Kim I-wol’s mind-blowing exposure.
Baek Hae-won frantically slammed the space bar. Then, she clasped her hands together, leaned her forehead against them, and took a deep breath.
She glanced away for a moment. She could clearly see the title of a self-help book on the top shelf of her bookcase—one she didn't even remember buying. Her eyesight hadn't gone bad.
‘My heart feels like it’s going to explode.’
What was she supposed to do with this overwhelming emotion?
She wanted to scream right now. She wanted to yell to her fellow "Handsome Hunters," "Aaaagh, Spark has done it again, everyone!"
But she couldn't. Baek Hae-won hadn't even finished half the music video yet.
‘Don't start talking on the timeline without me, friends...’
Praying fervently, Baek Hae-won calmly dragged the playback bar back. She felt she needed to see Jumpsuit Kang Gi-yeon again.
Seeing him a second time, Kang Gi-yeon was truly incredible. The tightly cinched belt, the polished walkers. Nothing was lacking.
Then came the long-awaited group dance scene again.
First, Kang Gi-yeon, the center of this part and the one in charge of the intro, wore a tight black halterneck knit under a matching grey suit.
Every time Gi-yeon stretched his arms out for the choreography, the edges of his collarbones were clearly defined under the lights.
Silver piercings glinted through his teal hair, which was slicked back without a single stray strand. The piercings, connected by thin chains, swayed along with the movements of his head.
Lee Cheong-hyeon, of the same age, wore a similar suit, but his inner layer was different. He wore a mock neck. A sturdy harness was strapped tightly over it.
Park Ju-woo’s outfit didn't seem much different from Lee Cheong-hyeon’s.
However, Baek Hae-won’s trained eyes immediately caught the glimpse of white skin visible through the open jacket.
‘He’s wearing a crop top inside!’
Baek Hae-won cursed UA internally. You put him in a crop top and then hide it? You tasteless bastards.
Then she immediately flipped her stance and praised UA.
How did they know that showing just a hint like this would drive people crazy? You absolute connoisseurs.
Jeong Seong-bin seemed to be bundled up in a three-piece suit, but there were slits in the jacket sleeves and pant hems, revealing his wrist and ankle bones with every movement. Perhaps because the rest of his body was covered, those rounded bones looked particularly prominent.
Kim I-wol had said it at a fan meeting, hadn't he? That they’d only consider a sexy concept once the younger members' IDs were issued and the ink was dry.
‘Did that mean the older members would take charge of the sexy concept themselves?’
Take Choi Je-ho, standing right behind Kang Gi-yeon.
A harness on bare skin.
A harness on bare skin.
It was so shocking she kept chanting it in her mind. A harness on bare skin.
Choi Je-ho’s body was far too sturdy for a single jacket button to contain. Every time he moved, his bare torso was clearly visible inside the jacket. His abs reflected the light with a subtle glow, as if he’d applied oil.
The quality was insane. Baek Hae-won once again felt the painful limitations of her vocabulary.
The dark grey suit, deeper than the younger members', was also highly stimulating. On top of that, the leather harness that connected from a choker down the line of his chest...
Seriously, how did this MV pass censorship? Was it because as long as the jacket button was closed, even a Choi Je-ho like this could be released for all ages?
It was so absurd she felt a headache coming on. She realized for the first time that a human could suffer from being too happy.
And then there was the protagonist of the number one shock point, surpassing all other members: Kim I-wol.
Baek Hae-won hit play. As Kang Gi-yeon’s part ended, Kim I-wol appeared just like before.
In an absolutely stunning outfit.
Baek Hae-won paused the video again. Not even two seconds had passed.
Her hand instinctively flew to her mouth. Her survival instincts screamed that she had to cover her mouth if she wanted to maintain any shred of human dignity.
Like Choi Je-ho, he was bare-chested, but Kim I-wol’s skin tone was extremely fair.
Perhaps because of that, instead of a harness, Kim I-wol wore a silver body chain under his cropped jacket. It was a detail she’d missed earlier, blinded by the fact that he was bare-skinned.
Even after making everyone’s eyes pop, Kim I-wol apparently wasn't satisfied. That must be why he dared to expose his back like that, seemingly unaware of how dangerous the world is.
With his back to the camera, the jacket repeatedly lifted and fell as he danced. Every time a shadow fell over his spinal muscles, Baek Hae-won’s heart dropped with it.
And when he turned around? She’d heard he was strict about his diet and exercise, but who could have imagined his muscles would be so sculpted?
Mom, the vampire leader of our group is an "abs hottie"... Baek Hae-won felt like she was going to lose consciousness.
The most infuriating thing was that blasphemous back tattoo.
What was a tattoo doing on a model idol like Kim I-wol? Did he want to see how scary ferocious Sparklers could be? And to engrave a bouquet of flowers on the white, broad back of a 183cm giant? I haven't even done anything good lately, so why do the gifts keep coming?
Baek Hae-won rushed to a search portal. She searched frantically to identify the flowers that supposedly dominated Kim I-wol’s back. But since there were still over four minutes left in the MV, she had to come back.
Once I finish the MV, someone will have found out what flowers are blooming on Kim I-wol’s back. Trusting her fellow fans, Baek Hae-won focused on the music video again.
The scene returned to the meeting room.
Footage of a man being blindfolded and forced into a car appeared on the projector.
『All the way to the stage
I’ll escort you
I’ll wait
To match your pace』
Jeong Seong-bin, dressed like a third-generation chaebol, pulled a black file from between some high-end books.
When Seong-bin spread the papers from the file onto a wooden desk, a massive blueprint appeared.
‘I guess the story is about saving the threatened man.’
Lee Cheong-hyeon, having entered a building with a forged ID, scanned the lobby with a relaxed expression among the people leaving work.
Cheong-hyeon’s field of vision was edited like CCTV footage, connecting to a laptop being watched by Choi Je-ho and Kang Gi-yeon.
While individual cuts of the members in charge of the parts were mixed with the main story, the Spark members scattered to their respective zones.
After Park Ju-woo knocked out a staff member in the video room with an injection to the neck, Lee Cheong-hyeon entered and shut down all the CCTVs.
Following that, Choi Je-ho and Kang Gi-yeon, who were waiting in the dark, received the signal and entered a high-rise office from the building's exterior. Breaking through the city's night view, the two cornered the individual who appeared to be the target.
Meanwhile, Kim I-wol was shown walking through a port filled with containers under a clear sky.
A crosshair appeared as if someone was aiming a gun at Kim I-wol from behind a container.
The moment he pulled the trigger.
Thwack!
With the sound of something bursting, the screen was dyed red as if hit by a paint bomb.
The one who wiped away the stain was wearing a black glove...
『The goal is only one
To remain by your side
That is all』
...It was Kim I-wol’s hand, accompanied by a smiling face.
Sitting atop the fallen men, Kim I-wol skillfully spun open a magazine.
Looking at the magazine, which was a mess of lipstick, Kim I-wol twirled a lipstick he’d pulled from his pocket.
Kim I-wol walked back the way he came.
The background showed open containers and spilled boxes of lipstick labeled "For Export."
Soon, Kim I-wol came face-to-face with the man who was still tied up at the port, unable to remove his blindfold.
‘It’s a movie, a total movie.’
Baek Hae-won’s touched reaction to the heartwarming rescue was short-lived.
The story, which seemed to have ended beautifully with fantastic choreography and Park Ju-woo exiting after spraying sleeping gas, took a new turn.
Under a dim dawn sky, a trashed executive office was revealed.
Powerful figures who had been threatened during the night made angry phone calls here and there.
Then, on the laptop screen Choi Je-ho and Kang Gi-yeon were watching from the building's rooftop, a scene was transmitted showing the man they thought Kim I-wol had saved still tied up.
At that moment, the boxes surrounding the man began to burn.
‘Don't tell me Kim I-wol was the mastermind? Is that the plot?’
Please. Spark is one! You tasteless UA bastards!
Baek Hae-won was indignant.
But just before she could grab her monitor.
The music stopped. It was an artificial silence.