Chapter 358: Filming Begins (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 358: Filming Begins (1)
Ahead of the shoot, we made the rounds to the other groups' waiting rooms to say hello, just like we did in Season 1.
The atmosphere was generally warm. Instead of immature power struggles, the air was filled with encouragement. They acted like teams that had survived the entertainment industry for years.
"Why did you come all this way just to say hello? We appreciate it! Good to see you!"
...There was one group that showed us an exceptionally large amount of goodwill. It was Onde.
"Gi-yeon, I found out you're my high school junior! Is the new cafeteria finished? They said they were building a new one when we graduated."
"The waiting room feels so full now that Spark is here. How big is yours? Is it the same size as this one?"
"Je-ho, have you received an offer to be a fixed cast member on Unmanned Rest Stop yet?"
Onde was the first group to have memorized all the Spark members' names before even meeting us. Their excessive interest was both overwhelming and dizzying.
The last place we visited, Parte’s waiting room, was as cold as ever. Han Ga-un was the only one who welcomed us.
"Cheong-hyeon, I heard you haven't been home lately?"
I don't know where he heard it, but Song Min-il was back at it, tirelessly picking a fight with Lee Cheong-hyeon. He was still acting so confident despite getting utterly crushed on that quiz variety show. I was starting to wonder if he had a serious memory problem.
"I've barely been able to stay in touch because of my schedule. But I've been hearing so much about you through my brother, sunbaenim!"
Lee Cheong-hyeon didn't back down and landed a blow of his own. The guy who used to shut down whenever family matters came up had just pulled the "Your brother told my brother about you" card.
The reason Song Min-il fell for the provocation was likely because he knew Lee Cheong-hyeon had gone viral as the "idol whose entire family attended prestigious universities." An idol younger brother who went to Kaisuit and said, "Please take good care of my big brother!"—how heartwarming that must have looked to the public.
The desire to know what they had talked about was written all over Song Min-il's face. Lee Cheong-hyeon just kept a beaming, innocent smile on his face, feigning ignorance.
After returning to our waiting room, I approached him and asked quietly.
"Are you in touch with your brother?"
"No."
And that was how I found out Lee Cheong-hyeon had been bluffing.
"Oh, did you think what I told him was true?"
"Uh... yeah."
"It was a lie. He sent a few texts, but I didn't reply."
Cheong-hyeon spoke calmly.
"He seems to be trying in his own way, but like you said, I think I need some time. It's not that I hate him or anything, it's just..."
"I get it. Your feelings are what matters most."
When I patted his shoulder, Lee Cheong-hyeon gave a wide grin.
"Besides, I have four 'brothers' right here for now. I'll see how it goes and think about it if I feel like I'm lacking!"
"I don't think you'll be lacking anytime soon."
"Right?"
The mischievous guy then ran off excitedly at the news that our custom in-ears had arrived. His steps looked so light that, despite his height, he seemed to be floating through the air.
Shortly after our appearance on A.Wang.Sil was confirmed, UA had suggested getting custom in-ears for Spark.
These guys, unaware of the Sparklers' demand for custom in-ears, had almost rejected the company's favor, claiming the ones we were already using were good enough. I had to practically scream at them, telling them I’d send the design requests by next Monday.
Me
[bat.ly/re8]
[This is an image reference site.]
[Decide on your keywords and colors by today and attach three reference images each by Saturday.]
Cute.P.Visually Lee Cheong-hyeon
[I can send mine right now.]
King Cute Kang Gi-yeon
[Color - Black // Keywords - Matchstick or Firework or Birthday cake candle]
Cute.P.Visually Lee Cheong-hyeon
[Ayy.
That's too predictable.]
King Cute Kang Gi-yeon
[Let's see what kind of amazing thing you come up with then.]
Mental Pillar Jeong Seong-bin
[Hyung, would it be okay if I organized mine by tomorrow?
I'll handle the final compilation instead!]
Me
[It's not urgent, so take your time~]
Center Emperor Choi Je-ho
[Red for me.]
Me
[You didn't read my post, did you?]
2019 Vintage Metal Jade Bead Park Ju-woo
[This message has been deleted.]
Me
[Ju-woo, I saw that.
You didn't read my post properly either, did you?]
2019 Vintage Metal Jade Bead Park Ju-woo
[Sorry... 8ㅅ8]
After a long discussion, each member had decided on their desired design. The design team had produced the final drafts beautifully, and everyone had been pestering Manager Chan-yeong about when the in-ears would finally arrive.
Those in-ears were finally making their debut. On a TV program filmed with high-definition cameras, where dozens of screenshots would be taken!
"Whoa!"
An exclamation escaped Lee Cheong-hyeon's lips as he opened the case.
"This is mine, right? It looks exactly like the mockup!"
"It really does. It turned out beautiful."
Jeong Seong-bin didn't hold back his praise either.
Lee Cheong-hyeon's in-ear had a pale blue body with pink accents scattered throughout, sparkling as if it were covered in a hologram. The color was 'Hologram,' and the keywords were 'Round-cut Diamond,' 'Glitter,' and 'High Jewelry.'
Park Ju-woo had six small grey dots lined up on a pure white in-ear. I thought he would go with plain white without any patterns, so I was surprised when he said he wanted a design on the right side.
"How is it? Do you like it?"
"Yeah..."
Ju-woo nodded at Seong-bin's question, fiddling with the round grey dots.
Right next to them, my in-ear was as black as if it had been dipped in glossy all-black paint. It was an in-ear perfectly suited to the philosophy that 'simple is best.'
At least Jeong Seong-jun—speaking through Jeong Seong-bin—had advised that a little point would be better than something too plain, so I had added a very dark wave pattern. It was a deep, navy-colored wave with large particles, so dark that it was only visible when caught in the light.
Just as everyone was about to take their respective in-ears, the stylist's hand blocked us.
"We have to do some post-processing today."
"Pardon?"
Does the buyer do the post-processing, not the manufacturer?
What kind of "manual labor is cheaper than automated machinery" Hanpyeong Industry-style statement was this!
While I stood there in shock, the stylists pulled out a bunch of items: scissors, knives, and mother-of-pearl stickers printed in the shape of the in-ears.
"There's a concept for the opening stage, and if everyone wears something different, it might ruin the visual harmony. We don't usually mess with the in-ears, but for the sake of the performance, we thought it would be better to give them some uniformity. You can show off the new in-ears in the next stage."
They added that if we didn't want to put stickers on the new in-ears, we could work on our old ones instead. We huddled up and discussed it for a bit, but since the new ones had better performance, we decided to use the new products. It wasn't like they'd wear out just from a few stickers.
Once they put us in our stage Hanboks, everyone looked like elite bodyguards who ruled their respective neighborhoods. The only problem was that it looked like they were about to perform something other than our choreography.
"Have all six of us ever performed with black hair before?"
Lee Cheong-hyeon asked, looking around the waiting room.
"Never. As an idol—"
"—you should promote with the mindset of trying every single color on the color wheel. I've memorized it, I've memorized it."
Kang Gi-yeon gave a round of applause to Lee Cheong-hyeon, who was imitating me. I felt like the two of them were ganging up to tease me. I hoped it was just my imagination.
Once a well-crafted mask was placed in Kang Gi-yeon's hand, all preparations were complete.
Following the announcement that filming was about to begin, we all moved to the set together.
The set for Season 1 had been very ordinary. This time, however, the characteristics were obvious at a glance. You could see a level of effort that was incomparable to the past, when they had used a generic survival program set.
I had expected the production team to work hard this time. It was because the program had been heavily criticized even before it started.
≫ If you don't have a brain, just read the script.
You guys didn't blow up because you were good, you just got lucky as hell.
≫ If you realize that the most pathetic concept among survival shows was barely saved from the brink of death,
Then please do a good job this time.
I'll turn a blind eye to the first season and consider it a pilot.
≫ Boring-ass broadcast.
It just won't die, it keeps coming back.
It seemed the higher-ups thought Season 1's success was because their program was interesting, but that wasn't actually the case.
Season 1 was merely a case of survival because the enemy general's head happened to float down the river while they were just sitting there.
Since they had already finished the budget allocation, completed the casting, and even set the broadcast time, the production team was in a position where they had to save the program somehow now that the atmosphere had turned sour.
Thanks to that, the quality of the set and the filming equipment had improved significantly. Based on what I saw during the rehearsal, even just adding a traditional paper window pattern to the background made the vibe completely different.
I also liked that they decorated the contestants' seating area like dancheong. It was frustrating that they hadn't done this before when they clearly could, but I decided to let it go, thinking that at least now we could show a beautiful side to the fans of the participating groups.
Once recording began, the Season 1 winners, Parte, were the first to enter.
"Are we the first?"
"Hello, we are Parte!"
"What are you doing when no one's here?"
"I'm nervous!"
I could hear Parte's comments from beyond the stage where we were waiting. I thought they would come in with a relaxed concept as second-time participants, but apparently not.
'Did they decide that Myth's celestial image didn't go well with the Joseon Dynasty background?'
It wasn't my business, so I didn't dwell on it. My own conduct was more important than Parte's new concept right now. There were cameras everywhere, after all.
The other groups were called to enter in alphabetical order, perhaps to avoid any controversy. Since Spark was last, we had to see off our sunbaenims one by one with cheers.
From the moment Blaider entered, Parte's commentary was non-stop.
"Sunbaenim, it's an honor to meet you!"
"Is this for real? Really?"
"My heart is racing so fast."
The press releases came out ages ago; what do you mean "is this for real"? Of course, you have to treat your seniors in the same field with respect to avoid trouble later.
Even though greeting people well is a good thing, I kept getting a sense of déjà vu. This suspicious feeling reached its peak when Onde went out.
"Hello, we are Onde!"
"Onde sunbaenims are appearing?"
"I feel like we're in the wrong place..."
Words that excessively praised the opponent while lowering themselves.
The humility of saying they were still lacking to compete with such great seniors.
But because it wasn't sincere, I could see them just repeating the same expressions from a certain point...
'I think they've caught a weird concept.'
...I realized that Parte had come out with a completely wrong image.
One that felt perfectly aimed at Spark.