Chapter 386: After-party
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 386: After-party
“Finally… the long journey has come to an end.”
Lee Cheong-hyeon stood up, a spoon stuck into his can of Zero Cider. Everyone’s eyes turned toward him, except for Choi Je-ho, who was busy tearing into a chicken box in the corner.
“Who asked Cheong-hyeon to give a toast? Don’t you know he’s still a minor?”
“No one asked him, Hyung…!”
Jeong Seong-bin explained, his face pale with worry.
Regardless, the atmosphere in the dorm was like a festival. It seemed they hadn't expected to win with a band performance.
Bands have a peculiar power. they make people’s hearts swell. I hadn't anticipated such a massive gap in the text votes, but seeing how explosive the live reaction was, I figured the result wouldn't be bad.
They had been crowned the kings of NBC—at least within the context of idol history—and secured funding for a luxurious showcase. Even though they had returned home in the early hours of the morning, the boys insisted on celebrating. They set the table and popped open sodas, keeping their decibels low enough not to disturb the neighbors.
“Everyone really worked so hard. Thank you for giving it your all without showing how difficult it must have been,” Jeong Seong-bin said with a gentle smile, praising the members' efforts.
“It wasn't an easy time. I think Cheong-hyeon deserves even more praise.”
“Yeah, you definitely went through the most.”
At my words, Lee Cheong-hyeon beamed. From the looks of it, that kid is so hopped up on endorphins he won't be able to sleep a wink until sunrise.
“Do we have practice tomorrow? The scheduler is empty.”
Kang Gi-yeon asked after checking his phone.
“I think it’s best to take a day to recharge. The year-end plans will be coming out soon, and if we overdo it now and cause problems later, it’ll be like putting the cart before the horse.”
Look at that consideration for his subordinates' pace. We urgently need to institutionalize a system where only people like Jeong Seong-bin can be leaders.
“I don’t need to rest.”
Park Ju-woo stepped forward, breaking the heartwarming mood.
“I feel like I can do anything now…!”
“No, you definitely need to rest.”
I threw lukewarm water on the fire of Park Ju-woo’s enthusiasm. If a person works without rest, they eventually break down. Since I had no intention of letting another one of them go on hiatus, I had no choice but to ensure they got proper rest and mental health care.
“How are they going to handle the funding?”
Kang Gi-yeon asked in the middle of eating his chicken.
Once expenses paid by the company exceed 50,000 won, things get complicated. If it were paid to individuals as prize money, the procedure might be less complex, but that wasn't the case here.
There wasn't even a schedule for when the showcase would happen. Just thinking about it gave me a headache… but I trusted the production team to handle it well.
“Anyone going to the gym tomorrow?”
Choi Je-ho asked, pausing his meal. Park Ju-woo and Lee Cheong-hyeon looked dejected as they put down their chicken.
“I’ll go. I have nothing to do tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll go too!”
Seeing me and Jeong Seong-bin volunteer, Park Ju-woo’s face grew even more sorrowful.
“I’ll go too….”
“You can rest if it’s too much. You worked really hard practicing your vocals.”
“No, I said with my own mouth that I could do anything….”
Even if he said he could go with a face that looked like the world was ending….
Telling him to at least eat a lot if he was going to work out anyway, Kang Gi-yeon pushed all the remaining salt-grilled chicken toward Park Ju-woo. After draining the energy out of his members, the culprit, Choi Je-ho, coolly headed out for a run along the Han River.
After cleaning up, Jeong Seong-bin and Park Ju-woo returned to their respective rooms. Jeong Seong-bin, seeing me lingering in the living room, asked if I wasn't going in.
“I’m going to talk to Cheong-hyeon for a bit. You go ahead and rest.”
“Okay.”
Once I confirmed Jeong Seong-bin had closed his door, I secretly knocked on Lee Cheong-hyeon’s door. A voice from inside told me to enter.
“What is it?”
“Give me your account number.”
“Why my account?”
Lee Cheong-hyeon, who had been lying on his bed scrolling through his phone, turned toward me.
“There’s something to settle.”
“Didn't you say that if we don't want to cause trouble, financial transactions like settlements should go through the company, not personal accounts?”
“…….”
“Why? You trying to send me the money for the bracelet?”
Lee Cheong-hyeon sat up. I knew he wouldn't accept it if I used the messenger's remittance function, so I came to ask in person, but it was no use. Kang Gi-yeon, lying on the opposite bed, said nonchalantly:
“Give up, Hyung. I tried sending it ten times, and he sent it back ten times.”
“Gi-yeon, you knew Cheong-hyeon’s account number?”
“Well, we’re members.”
I felt a sense of betrayal but held it back. Even Kang Gi-yeon had failed to send the money. Knowing the account number probably wouldn't have changed the situation much.
“Earlier, Seong-bin Hyung was asking for my account too.”
“When?”
“When we were ordering chicken. Honestly, my hyungs care about their youngest too much. Look at how they won't even just accept a gift.”
“Could you please not overrate us? Seong-bin and I just don't want to be cursed at for being unscrupulous people who extorted gold from a minor.”
Despite my serious speech, Lee Cheong-hyeon just laughed happily. It was clear that not a shred of my sincerity had been conveyed.
“It’s still a long way off, but is there anything you want for your birthday…?”
“Too bad. Je-ho Hyung already called dibs on that.”
“Why is that guy doing things he never used to do…?”
Now even Kang Gi-yeon turned his back to me, chuckling.
“Anyway! The refund period has passed, so I hope you spend a happy time always wearing that Spark bracelet, whether you’re sleeping or washing! If you’re leaving, give me that cushion over there!”
Lee Cheong-hyeon pointed to a large body pillow at the foot of the bed. I told him he was a teenager who could go to a department store just fine on his own, but as he sat up with a mocking face—
“…Huh?”
Along with a rustling sound, something fell out from under the body pillow. It was a white mailing envelope folded in half.
“What’s this? Cheong-hyeon, what were you hiding under your pillow?”
“I’ve never seen this before either.”
Lee Cheong-hyeon flipped the envelope back and forth. For a moment, I saw small handwriting on the edge of the back.
[It’s for the bracelet]
The handwriting was neat and precise, as if the writer had won a gold prize in a penmanship contest. The letters were so small you wouldn't notice them unless you looked closely. It had Park Ju-woo’s traces all over it.
“Ugh, my hyungs are seriously so extra….”
Lee Cheong-hyeon’s expression froze instantly as he opened the envelope in exasperation. Kang Gi-yeon and I, peeking over his shoulder, were no different.
We stormed into Park Ju-woo’s room holding a stack of 50,000-won bills, relentlessly grilling him on whether he had emptied every ATM in the neighborhood.
“If I didn't do it this way, you wouldn't have accepted it…!”
Park Ju-woo explained with a flustered face. In the end, Park Ju-woo’s "stealth-gifting" event concluded with Lee Cheong-hyeon keeping the envelope but returning the money. I vowed to buy about six gold bars from the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation mall soon.
With the fourth quarter approaching, my head was spinning with work. There were so many things to check that it wouldn't have been strange if my eyes popped out.
The airing of Exclusive Report was something that would proceed on its own without my involvement, but since the promotion on Spark’s official account had been decided, I checked the frequency of every scheduled content upload to ensure that Kim I-wol’s story didn't appear too consecutively on social media.
Work on the digital single album had also begun. Since so many people loved "Speaker," which would be included as a B-side, we needed a fresh point for the new album while maintaining the image of a youthful boy band….
'These punks have grown too much.'
…Because Spark had grown so much physically, I needed time to ponder. I had to think about what six boys the size of wardrobes could do to look "pure."
The storyboard for the Season's Greetings was in its final stages. I had suggested a concept I wanted to try, and it turned out beautifully, perfectly suited for the merch. All that was left was to scrub and polish the Spark boys' faces and stand them in front of the camera.
'I should start planning the concert setlist soon, too. There’s not much time.'
Because Idol Dynasty Annals had cut into our schedule, the time to prepare for the concert was beyond tight—it was almost non-existent. If we postponed the digital single release until next year, we could create some breathing room, but… we were short on songs to perform at the concert, and I thought it would be better to release the album before the concert to show the live band version of "Speaker." So, I decided to grind myself down along with the dedicated team.
If anyone from the dedicated team resigns within this year, it’s all my fault. This is all because of the KPIs. If you could overlook it just this once, I will never forget this grace. But if you really must quit, please give me just one week for the handover….
This was just the group schedule; the individual schedules were even denser. Since Jeong Seong-bin had taken charge of that early on, I was only checking the members' schedules via the whiteboard in the dorm living room and the shared calendar. Jeong Seong-bin and Manager Chan-yeong probably exchanged enough messages in a day to write the Tripitaka Koreana.
The Idol Dynasty Annals behind-the-scenes videos prepared separately by the self-produced content team were being uploaded well. I had also scheduled all the items we hadn't been able to film so they could be consumed by the end of the year.
Everything was falling into place perfectly. How fortunate that the only thing lacking was time. I could sleep later. I was just grateful that nothing was falling through the cracks.
As I was finishing up my tour of the backlogged Challenge! Life Experience tasks, a screenshot of an article arrived in the group chat with the managers. It was a press release from the Exclusive Report side ahead of the broadcast. A string of celebratory emojis followed.
I searched for Exclusive Report on a portal site. Drama information that hadn't been there until recently had been created. Two short teasers of the lead actors had been uploaded as official videos, and I appeared in one of them. Information about Cheon Yun-seong was even listed in the character description section.
Role: Cheon Yun-seong
Kim I-wol
A flawless man who has everything—wealth and power—yet is never hated. Born as the sole heir to the nation’s top corporation, Cheonju Group, he has built an unrivaled position without being embroiled in any scandal. Why does this perfect man show interest in Ham I-seo?
The introduction made it look a bit like a love triangle, but since the fact that Cheon Yun-seong is a villain is officially a secret to everyone except those involved, it couldn't be helped.
It was amazing that even though the actors were notified that he was a villain when the synopsis and scripts were distributed, the secret was being kept from the viewers. When I was just a viewer, I didn't even know that everyone else knew behind the scenes.
My research into Exclusive Report continued for another hour. There was a lot of material released along with the article announcement.
After scanning through community reactions, the discussion board linked to the program, and even recommended works connected to Exclusive Report, a new article had been posted in the meantime.
'Isn't it too early for similar articles to be coming out?'
I clicked on "Latest" once more.
And the moment I read the title of the article posted three minutes ago….
≫ 'Exclusive Report' Kim I-wol, Mother's Exposé Appears: "I want my ungrateful child to repent"
……I couldn't say a word.