Chapter 254: Back in My Day
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 254: Back in My Day
“My CSAT experience?”
Kim I-wol asked with a bewildered expression. He looked like he couldn't fathom why fans would be curious about something like that.
But Kim I-wol needed to realize.
Currently, in the idol scene, Kim I-wol was...
≫ Straight Grade 1s are just built different.
He actually ended up winning the whole thing.
└ If I know what sinecure means, can I get a Grade 1 in English too?
└ If you try that, a sine nomine situation might appear on the passer list.
≫ Seong-bin, hold hyung’s hand and let’s go take the CSAT together.
└ Wait, that’s too cruel to a high school senior about to take the exam.
└ Ah... Cheong-hyeon, hold hyung’s hand and let’s go take the CSAT together next year.
≫ Isn't exam knowledge supposed to evaporate the moment the CSAT is over?
Kim I-wol, it’s a problem if you keep giving professors hope like this.
Professors are trying their best to see us as talking potatoes, but you’re making it difficult for us.
└ Exactly what I’m saying. I don’t even remember what cosine or tangent are.
└ How can you remember cosine but not sine, friend? ㅠㅠㅠ
└ Wow, I didn't even remember until the comment above mentioned it lol.
≫ But how should I put it with I-wol?
He has a type of intelligence that’s different from the smarts you get from just building up basic academic skills.
I can’t express it well because my own IQ is low, but it’s just... something.
└ It’s like... high-intellect vibes. (Reached the limit of expression)
└ My mutuals' vocabulary is serious. Who wants to start Palmon with me from today?
└ Me.
└ Teacher, the shredder ate my homework. I swear I finished it.
└ Teacher: Bring in all the scrap paper by tomorrow. I’m checking.
≫ I-wol is smart, but... he’s a bit weird.
Makes a brilliant deduction → Let’s all resign and make the company go bankrupt!
Brilliantly solves the final problem → Just rolls his eyes with a "Why did I win?" expression.
Brilliantly plans an album → Gets too embarrassed about being the only one in a crop top, wraps himself in a blanket, turns beet red, and can’t get up from the corner of the sofa.
└ Why are all these anecdotes about Spark?
└ Isn't it so GOAT how he looks so cold but turns into an 'ㅇxㅇ' state when he's flustered?
└ Speaking of GOAT, it reminds me of when Je-ho was reading the live chat and asked, "Why do you guys like goats so much?"
└ The best part was Kim I-wol and Jeong Seong-bin barely holding back their laughter because they were the only ones who understood.
└ hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
└ Kang Gi-yeon in the back: "Did someone's representative animal change to a goat?"
└ It would be pretty shocking. An idol whose representative animal is a goat.
≫ Kim I-wol, please use your brain a lot.
Plan another MV like "With List."
Release more self-produced content like the member self-introduction one.
Go on Idol Dynasty Annals and create a narrative.
But make UA do all the busy work; you just give the orders.
And this is just my personal wish, but please do a Spark doubles table tennis match just once. I’m begging you. I-wol, are you watching? This noona is desperate. Give us 40 minutes of self-produced content. It’s fine if it’s boring. You don’t even have to wear mics. Just play table tennis once if you’re bored during practice. I’ll send table tennis outfits to UA. Please.
└ The interest in table tennis has been skyrocketing since the Idol Unity Sports Day...
└ But I’m seriously curious. How did that pass the censors?
└ I second that.
...That was how he was being perceived.
The fact that their oldest member was not only reliable but also brilliant became a source of great pride for the fans.
It’s one thing for an idol to be a bit lacking, but if they give off an impression of being too ignorant... well, it’s a bit much, isn't it? For example, using a single consonant where a double consonant should be.
In that regard, Kim I-wol was an idol who never grated on the nerves.
He didn't go on broadcasts and brag about being "the guy who got into S University" despite never actually enrolling—I didn't want to use that phrasing, but Kim I-wol's antis always insisted on it—and whenever someone praised him, he always said it was thanks to the help of those around him.
Kind-hearted. Polite. Smart. How could you not love an idol like that? At the very least, Baek Hae-won didn't know how not to love such an idol.
Anyway. In this situation, Kim I-wol's legendary CSAT review was bound to be a topic of interest for the fans.
Since a member had just gone to take the CSAT, the chat was flooded with requests for him to share some stories. After all, Kim I-wol's past remarks were precious.
『Hmm... there wasn't anything special. Let me try to look back.』
『When the exam ended, did you get a feeling like, "Ah, this is definitely a Grade 1!"?』
Lee Cheong-hyeon asked. He spoke with the dignity of someone in the top tier of the national mock exams.
『No. The exam was difficult, and there were questions I had to guess on, so I didn't think it would be a Grade 1.』
『Don't you keep worrying if the previous test went poorly?』
『You have to switch your mindset so you can make up for it in the next subject.』
Kim I-wol answered Kang Gi-yeon's question calmly.
So that’s how you get a Grade 1 on the CSAT. I shouldn't have been checking my answers during every break...
The conversation didn't stay perfectly normal for long. Occasionally, Choi Je-ho would throw out a strange question to satisfy some curiosity he had picked up from who-knows-where.
『Do kids who study a lot really get nosebleeds while studying?』
『I've never had a nosebleed because of studying. But I can't generalize based on just my case.』
『I have! A long time ago!』
『See, even Cheong-hyeon has.』
Lee Cheong-hyeon rubbed his nose. It was quite cute how he immediately took his hand away from his face upon receiving I-wol's gentle gaze... but who made young Lee Cheong-hyeon study until he got a nosebleed? Die, world.
Afterward, Park Ju-woo, who had been diligently reading the chat, threw out a new question as if he had discovered something.
『Why did you apply to the Department of Business Administration...?』
『I had a vague image that it would be easy to get a job. I didn't realize just how many different departments there were in our country's universities.』
『If you were to apply to a new department now! Is there anywhere you'd want to go?』
『To be helpful for our activities, shouldn't I go to something like a Cultural Contents department?』
『Not Applied Music?』
Lee Cheong-hyeon and Kang Gi-yeon took turns pouring questions at Kim I-wol. And Kim I-wol was taking them all seriously.
I love that side of you, but! Kim I-wol, stop studying content! I love that you're a genius producer, but I'm worried that one day you'll suddenly announce you're launching a new idol group under your name and neglect your main job! Of course, I know you'd never do that!
Baek Hae-won bit her lip. Losing Kim I-wol to another group?
Absolutely unacceptable. I will retaliate with blood...
After that, the conversation shifted from CSAT stories to what they should eat with Jeong Seong-bin using the exam as an excuse, or how it would be a relief if Seong-bin didn't immediately start checking their practice progress as soon as he arrived.
Finally, the members' heartwarming CSAT encouragement messages followed.
『Sparklers, by the time you see this, you'll probably be home after the exam. You worked so hard. Eat plenty of what you like for dinner, and sleep well without thinking about anything.』
Let's meet again soon.
With those words, Kim I-wol waved goodbye.
In the afternoon, we all went to the school to pick up Jeong Seong-bin.
To be safe, we took a van instead of the car we usually used, and fortunately, no one paid any attention to the khaki van.
Through the windshield, I could see rows of cars and families of test-takers standing outside the school gates.
"Ugh, they must be so cold."
Lee Cheong-hyeon said, unconsciously rubbing his hands together.
"Yeah. It would be nice if they could wait in their cars or a cafe..."
Park Ju-woo added.
"I don't think there'd be a seat anywhere right now. Look at the crowd."
Kang Gi-yeon slightly pulled back the window curtain with a serious expression. The franchise cafes visible across the street were all packed.
"It just shows how much they want to cheer on their kids."
For once, Choi Je-ho made a humane comment. Everyone's eyes focused on him.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No, I just realized you're capable of understanding human emotions."
At my words, Choi Je-ho frowned.
"When my noona took the CSAT, my mom went to pick her up. Happy?"
Ah. So it was learned behavior.
"Did you go along too, hyung? When Je-yeong Noona took the CSAT, you would've been living in Gwangju."
Lee Cheong-hyeon turned all the way around to ask. Choi Je-ho also had a large age gap with his sister.
"I went because she told me to come out if I had nothing to do."
No wonder this impatient guy wasn't getting angry about when Jeong Seong-bin was coming out. This is why people need to experience things.
Though I don't really know much about it, even though I was the one taking the test.
There were no emotional family hugs, no sense of relief that it was all over, or regret that I could have done better. It just felt like one of many mock exams had ended.
Leaving behind the students who were crying or laughing, I had gone to a restaurant with a "Test-Taker Discount" sign and ate dinner. Then I went to a PC Bang, searched for universities I could get into with my estimated grades, and went home.
Fortunately, the report card I eventually received was better than expected, so I chose the best option available to me.
March arrived after a cold November. The right to attend a place I had spent years striving for, a place everyone in it took pride in. A life of my own, starting anew away from home.
Because that was everything, I don't think my twenty-year-old self was particularly happy.
I saw Jeong Seong-bin in the distance. Even among so many people, there were students who recognized him.
While the manager dashed out to bring him back, Seong-bin was just smiling brightly.
The car door opened. Everyone welcomed him.
"Good job on the exam!"
Jeong Seong-bin laughed sheepishly, saying it wasn't like he'd done any real studying. Then he unzipped his bag and pulled out his lunch box.
"I ate all my food!"
His face, looking quite proud, was no different from the students lined up outside the car.
How much must the families waiting outside have wanted to see this expression? This pure, bright smile.
"Good job."
I couldn't help but chuckle.
I think I was more nervous today than I was for my own CSAT.