Chapter 407: Study With Me (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 407: Study With Me (1)
Thirty minutes had passed since the only sounds to be heard were the scratching of pens, the rustling of turning pages, and the rhythmic clacking of keys.
Baek Hae-won, who was about to treat herself to a long stretch, caught sight of the chat window, which was currently being flooded with "lol"s.
≫ Je-ho, that’s enough. You’ve done your best. Just stop now.
≫ Lmao, Gi-yeon, hurry up and go get the groceries. Just tell them a Sparkler ordered you to.
≫ How can neither of them stay focused for even ten minutes? Hahaha. Honestly, same though...
On the screen, Choi Je-ho was furrowing his brow and pushing up his glasses every five seconds. He hadn't turned a single page.
Kang Gi-yeon was just as fierce in his display of concentration—or lack thereof. With one hand supporting his forehead and a ballpoint pen clutched in the other, he looked more serious than anyone. However, the pen in his right hand was shaking violently.
≫ Why does English have to be so hard on the poor kid?
≫ Je-ho, it’s not too late. Switch to a different book.
≫ This live stream... I wonder how long they can actually keep this up.
≫ The Producing Line hasn't moved an inch.
≫ Hang in there, boys! ♥♥♥♥♥♥
≫ If Seong-bin had studied like this, he probably wouldn't have won a gold medal.
The viewers watching this lonely battle from afar were busy eating popcorn. Everyone’s attention was fixed on who would be the first to drop out.
And the winner of the glorious title "Person Least Suited for Studying in the Spark Cup" was...
"Hey, what did you say you wanted to eat?"
...Kang Gi-yeon. Surprisingly, Choi Je-ho was still staring at his book, though he was currently wiping his glasses for the third time.
"Pizza."
"How are we supposed to make pizza right now? There’s nothing but cabbage in the fridge."
"Pizza."
"Talk about something possible. And the calories..."
"I’m taking the CSAT!"
"You think I’m not taking it because I don't want to?"
The youngest members only quieted down after being hit by Seong-bin Hyung’s sharp glare. With one final sigh, Kang Gi-yeon disappeared from the frame.
≫ Lmao, Gi-yeon is looking up recipes.
≫ His posture is basically a Master Chef here to judge. Lmao.
In the distance, Kang Gi-yeon could be seen as a tiny figure, standing with both hands on the kitchen table, looking down at his phone. Even from that distance, his shoulders looked as wide as the sink in Baek Hae-won’s house.
‘You guys mentioned you wanted to see Gi-yeon in animal pajamas, so I looked into it. I even bought one, but we had a shoulder issue, so he couldn't wear it. The shoulder line didn't fit, so the seams just poked straight up. Gi-yeon’s shoulders are wider than they look.’
She suddenly recalled Kim I-wol’s detailed lecture on "Just How Wide Are Kang Gi-yeon’s Shoulders?" from a previous live stream...
The heavens were truly indifferent. Why was it that she couldn't remember a single thing from the online lecture she’d watched two hours ago, yet a live stream from three months ago was so vivid in her mind?
Baek Hae-won pulled herself together. Fortunately, the Spark members had also returned to their tasks without further chatter.
In the middle of her session, she heard the sound of the dorm's front door opening. She was curious, but she forced herself to focus on her Korean History workbook.
A long while later.
≫ Lmao, omg, look at Je-ho stretching dough in the back. Hahahaha.
Having finished organizing her notes on incorrect answers, Baek Hae-won looked up to see Kang Gi-yeon, half-hidden behind a massive grocery bag, and two thick arms stretching flour dough in mid-air.
A lot had happened to Spark during the brief time Baek Hae-won had been immersed in her studies. So much had happened, in fact, that she couldn't keep up just by reading the chat and had to quickly scrub back through the video.
Choi Je-ho, who had seemed secretly proud of Kang Gi-yeon’s early dropout, failed immediately after the fifteenth foreign character appeared in his textbook.
After a hushed discussion in the corner of the screen, the two of them headed out. They returned an hour later, laden with bags in both hands.
In the meantime, Park Ju-woo had finished all his homework. Fans suggested he translate the lyrics of his favorite songs since he had nothing left to do.
The problem was that Park Ju-woo was such a hardcore rock enthusiast that he already knew the lyrics to all his favorite songs by heart. When it came to rock, there wasn't a single song he didn't know the lyrics to.
He seemed to want to be given a task, but the soft-hearted Ju-woo chose to retreat rather than disturb the concentration of the three members who were currently emitting lasers from their eyes.
Walking toward the empty kitchen, Park Ju-woo stopped in front of the table. He picked up a memo that had been left there.
The surprise note, which was also revealed to the Sparklers, read:
To the next person who drops out:
Could you please lay some parchment paper on the table?
They said they need to roll the dough.
Ju-woo diligently laid out the parchment paper all by himself. He even took out a large bowl.
He wandered around for a while looking for something, and when she sped up the footage, she saw him wrapping plastic wrap around a cardboard mailing tube.
Just as Ju-woo—who truly had nothing left to do—was wandering around with the mailing tube gleaming under the fluorescent lights (which the viewers found a bit eerie), the Dance Line returned from their grocery run.
It was 10 PM, a night where half the members were studying with fire in their eyes. And so, a pizza party began in the kitchen.
The three of them communicated entirely through hand gestures. It seemed they didn't want to interfere with the purpose of the broadcast. There was a reason why Baek Hae-won hadn't noticed anything strange for so long.
Just as Kang Gi-yeon was shrugging his shoulders for the tenth time as if to ask what they were talking about, Jeong Seong-bin rubbed his eyes. Getting up from his seat, Seong-bin trudged back after grabbing some eye drops.
"If your eyes hurt, stop there. Your eyesight won't come back once it's gone."
Kim I-wol firmly made Jeong Seong-bin "retire." Seong-bin turned off his tablet after uploading his compiled notes to the group chat.
The camera shook for a moment as the angle changed. Now, the screen only showed Kim I-wol and Lee Cheong-hyeon sitting side-by-side, focused on their work.
Soon, a new notification popped up saying Spark’s live stream had started. Checking it, she saw a cooking live stream by the Pizza Team. Seong-bin spoke in a whisper.
"Since more people have dropped out, we’ve turned on another camera so you can see all the members. If you like quiet studying, please watch Hyung and Cheong-hyeon’s side. If you need some ASMR, watch ours!"
"Can't they watch both at once?"
"I-wol Hyung said they can use the multi-view feature."
While Choi Je-ho and Jeong Seong-bin chatted, Baek Hae-won calmly turned on her tablet, which had been charging. Her screen was small enough as it was; what was the point of splitting it? Good things should be viewed in full size.
Silence or noise, it didn't matter. Just don't leave me alone in this barren land of studying...
Spark was serious about making authentic pizza. While Jeong Seong-bin went to wash a cheesecloth, the sound of Choi Je-ho giving the dough a thorough beating hit Baek Hae-won’s eardrums. If she hadn't been healed by the sound of Park Ju-woo chopping bell peppers, she might have had nightmares all night.
Kang Gi-yeon directed the entire scene. His determination to gift his friends the best homemade pizza was evident.
Whether Choi Je-ho was slamming the dough into a stainless steel bowl or not, Kim I-wol and Lee Cheong-hyeon didn't budge. Their typing speed neither decreased nor increased. Some viewers even suspected they were just doing typing practice.
≫ Don't people usually stop typing when they're thinking?
≫ Even during typing practice, you're bound to make mistakes. Lol.
≫ This is insane. Neither of them has looked away even once.
≫ I guess this is what it takes to get straight Level 1 grades...
≫ I need to make sure my mom never sees this.
≫ Please never appear in my parents' algorithm again.
≫ Lmao.
≫ Let's ace the CSAT, Cute Pretty Visuals!
While Lee Cheong-hyeon read the answer key and Kim I-wol tapped away at his laptop, the dough entered the oven.
"I'll set it to the fermentation function for about 40 minutes."
"What should we do while we wait...?"
"Should we take some questions for the first time in a while?"
At Seong-bin’s suggestion, the three of them headed toward the youngest members' room, which was said to be the largest in the dorm, but...
"Isn't there no room in their room...?"
...the location was changed due to Park Ju-woo’s comment. Two sat on the floor and two sat on Choi Je-ho’s bed as they began reading the chat.
"Someone’s asking if Je-ho Hyung changed his glasses."
"Yeah. Did I change them the day before yesterday?"
"It was three days ago...!"
"Je-ho Hyung stepped on them and they snapped in half!"
Hearing this hilarious episode only through audio brought tears of blood to her eyes. They had agreed to study together; no one said they’d have a tea party while leaving her to study alone.
Even while feeling betrayed, Baek Hae-won found herself feeling happy as she memorized English vocabulary. Contradictory...
While the older and younger brothers were dedicated to their tasks, the remaining members held a productive Q&A session. During those full 40 minutes, the number of viewers swelled just like the dough in the oven. Even fans who had only intended to watch highlight clips flocked to the news of the cooking experience.
While Park Ju-woo, with his hoodie sleeves rolled up, rolled the dough with the plastic-wrapped mailing tube, Choi Je-ho began stretching the remaining dough with his bare hands. This was the scene Baek Hae-won had witnessed after finishing her incorrect answer notes.
"Aren't you being a bit stingy with the cheese?"
"We're in our promotion period... Does it not look like pizza?"
"It looks like it was made by a petty owner."
At Gi-yeon’s words, Jeong Seong-bin poured on the pizza cheese.
"We can't look petty in front of the Sparklers...!"
Park Ju-woo, looking a bit flustered, hurriedly added more toppings to the pizza. He seemed to sense that if he wasn't careful, it would turn into a triple-cheese bomb pizza.
And on the other side...
≫ Guys, please look at Je-ho too.
≫ Choi Je-ho, The Master of Cooking.
≫ The owner is generous and the pizza is thick.
≫ This place is a Chicago-style pizza hotspot.
≫ I'll take the pizza baked by that owner over there, please.
...Choi Je-ho, The Master of Cooking, the man who had mastered the essence of Chicago-style pizza, the generous chef who had never in his life made a pizza with insufficient toppings, was busy putting his heart and soul into creating an "Accelerated Aging Pizza."