Chapter 417: Concert (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 417: Concert (4)
By the time the band version of Hideout came to an end, the concert hall was thick with heat. It felt exactly like the rock festival I had attended the year before last.
After a short VCR, the setlist continued with End and On A High Note.
In certain verses of End, they sang lyrics from On A High Note, and in On A High Note, they sang lyrics from End. It wasn't until I heard On A High Note in its entirety that I realized it wasn't a mistake.
“Even so, the reason I can’t stop
Is because this time
Is so much fun”
From the upbeat, hopeful atmosphere of On A High Note…
“No matter where I go, what remains
Is a hollow city
Eternal silence”
…to the heavy, sharp lyrics of End. The two songs left opposite impressions, yet their lyrics were paired with the same syllable counts. The reason the swap didn't feel awkward was thanks to the similar sentence structures. I’d heard the members had practically ground themselves to dust preparing for the double title tracks, and now I saw why.
Then came the cover stages. Though they said the pairs were chosen by drawing lots, the combinations were so perfect they practically demanded to be called the "Tall Line" and the "Short Line." The live performances never faltered.
Seeing Spark look more composed than the people sitting and just watching inspired a sense of awe. I really felt like I should start going to the gym in the new year.
Fortunately, before Baek Hae-won could faint from excitement, Spark took a break for a comment segment. It felt like the final piece of content was approaching. As if reading Baek Hae-won’s mind, Jeong Seong-bin pushed a cart carrying a large cylinder onto the stage. Inside were large, rolled-up sheets of paper.
The giant papers turned out to be a rolling paper. Even before the members unrolled them, I felt a ridiculous urge to cry.
“Who should read first?”
“I’ll go first.”
Choi Je-ho raised his hand in response to Jeong Seong-bin’s call for volunteers. While peeling off the tape, Je-ho accidentally tore the paper a bit and got a thorough scolding from Kim I-wol.
“...?”
Examining the paper, Choi Je-ho tilted his head in confusion.
“What’s wrong?”
“There are two messages that start with ‘Je-ho-ya’?”
It seemed one of the younger members had done something cheeky… or so I thought.
Park Ju-woo was the first to notice something strange.
“Would I-wol Hyung really have written ‘Je-ho-ya’? He’d be caught immediately, wouldn't he?”
At the news that half of the younger members had fearlessly attempted a coup against the Zestral Erectus, the Spark members' eyes darted around busily. Choi Je-ho, however, began reading the letters with a nonchalant expression.
There were words of comfort, noting how hard he’d worked on his diet for the concert despite needing to eat a lot to maintain his physique; a thank you for always opening things for them whenever they had something in their hands, followed by a note that they could do it themselves so he didn't need to worry so much; and a desperate plea to please discuss the companions carefully if he ever went to an uninhabited island.
“None of these are normal except for the one Jeong Seong-bin wrote.”
“How can you be so sure Seong-bin wrote that? It could have been me.”
“As if.”
While Kim I-wol attempted a cover-up over the touching letters, Jeong Seong-bin just smiled silently.
Lee Cheong-hyeon cried while reading his rolling paper. He managed to hold it together through "best friend," but he crumbled at "the most beloved youngest members in the world."
“From now on, the word ‘love’ is banned in our team.”
The members on either side comforted the sobbing Lee Cheong-hyeon. It was heartbreaking to watch, yet it warmed a corner of my heart.
As if to prove they were true friends, Kang Gi-yeon also created a reservoir of tears. By this point, the Sparklers were crying so hard they could barely see. Jeong Seong-bin patted the sobbing Kang Gi-yeon on the back.
After the wave of sorrow passed, Kim I-wol pulled out his own rolling paper.
“Since the mood has been so emotional until now, I’ll try to keep things bright.”
“Hyung, this is no joke. The tears just come out on their own.”
Lee Cheong-hyeon said, handing him a tissue in advance. Kim I-wol checked his letter with a microphone in one hand, the rolling paper in the other, and the tissue resting on his knee.
“You mentioned earlier that there were two messages starting with ‘Je-ho-ya,’ right?”
“Yes.”
“There are three that start with ‘I-wol-ah.’ How did this happen?”
Laughter erupted from the audience. Kim I-wol pointed at Park Ju-woo, Lee Cheong-hyeon, and Kang Gi-yeon in turn. The members protested loudly as Kim I-wol ruthlessly narrowed down the suspects.
“It could be that Je-ho Hyung wrote ‘I-wol Hyung’ to avoid getting caught, and Seong-bin Hyung wrote ‘I-wol-ah’!”
“Our Je-ho isn’t that smart.”
“Isn't that a bit too much of an insult to his face?”
Kim I-wol cleanly ignored Choi Je-ho’s complaint and focused on reading the letter. For a moment, no words came out.
“Oh…”
“What is it?”
“I just realized… everyone wrote this with such sincerity.”
An unreadable expression crossed Kim I-wol’s face.
“I told you, everyone wrote with 200% sincerity. Do you think I cried for no reason?”
Lee Cheong-hyeon argued for the validity of the tears he’d just shed. Kim I-wol picked up the microphone he had set down.
“I’ll read it. ‘I-wol-ah, it’s been a while since I wrote a handwritten letter. I guess I had a lot to say. Seeing you not take your pen off the paper made me worry about what you were writing.’”
Like most letters, the introduction was light.
“You climbed up to the coldest spot, saying you’d be the roof of the team. Thanks to you taking all the snow and rain, we were able to light the fireplace.”
Kim I-wol read the sentence—a long explanation of the word 'oldest brother'—slowly and clearly.
“I hope you can come down now and warm yourself by the bonfire.”
Kim I-wol himself remained calm, but Baek Hae-won’s nose began to tingle. Her eyes felt burning hot.
“Oh dear, everyone is crying so much…”
Kim I-wol stood up awkwardly. Looking to the side, Jjae-i also had half her face covered with a handkerchief. The tears had finally broken through.
“Hurry up and read Je-ho Hyung’s part.”
“I should.”
Kim I-wol immediately accepted Kang Gi-yeon’s solution.
“...Augh, I can’t do it.”
But he retracted it just as quickly. Choi Je-ho was staring at Kim I-wol with an indifferent face.
“But since it’s content! I’ll read it quickly.”
Having made his declaration, Kim I-wol adjusted his grip on the mic.
“To Kim I-wol. You’ve worked consistently hard since our trainee days. No matter what people around you say, you’re the type who has to do what you’ve set your mind to before you’re satisfied, so I won’t tell you to do this or that.”
One could feel that he understood Kim I-wol even more deeply than in the letter revealed during the birthday live. Kim I-wol paused for a moment before reading the rest.
“Do everything you want to do. If there’s something that needs doing, tell us to do it. There are five of us left; I don’t think you need to do it all alone.”
Kim I-wol’s gaze turned toward Choi Je-ho. His face looked as if he couldn't believe Choi Je-ho had written those words. Choi Je-ho looked at Kim I-wol for a moment, then turned his head away.
I remembered something Kim I-wol had said in passing during a live broadcast once—that Choi Je-ho took on a lot of responsibility for the team. He said there were things he could trust and leave to Je-ho because he was there, and that Je-ho always followed along without a word of complaint.
‘The skateboarding was like that too. Without Je-ho, it would have been hard to create that kind of impact. I can’t tell you how reassuring it is to have a center who steps up to the front for the team.’
To that Kim I-wol, Choi Je-ho was now giving a push, telling him to do whatever he wanted from now on. Because he would continue to take on the role of supporting him.
“It might have been lonely being the only one without a same-age friend. Thanks for coming.”
Kim I-wol finally finished, his voice thick with an emotion that reached everyone listening.
With the ending song, Winter Night, the stage lights all went out. It was time to chant for an encore.
Once, an encore was a special event, but now most singers included encore songs in their setlists in advance.
The singer knows the fans will call for an encore, and the fans know the singer has prepared encore songs. In a way, it was a bit of a farce.
That was why Baek Hae-won had joined forces with the Sparklers, who had become so seasoned they were practically experts. Another fan had taken the lead on behalf of the idea-provider, high school senior Baek Hae-won, and Jjae-i, along with other "golden hands," had helped with the preparations.
≫ I’ll show them that events aren't just for singers
≫ We’re gonna show them an encore reaction
The preparation process hadn't been easy. To avoid Spark’s monitoring, they even went through the trouble of writing the group name as "Crayon" (Spark → Keu-pa-seu → Keu-re-pa-seu/Crayon) in all posts related to the fan event.
The process of contacting the Spark dedicated team through the fan manager was like something out of a spy movie. Since there wasn't a day Kim I-wol and Jeong Seong-bin didn't show up at the office, it wasn't easy to avoid the members' eyes.
Thanks to the staff shielding Spark’s eyes, the Sparklers were able to finish placing the slogans under the seats in matching pairs. From timing the event announcement to deciding how to deliver it, nothing was easy, but they had successfully reached the encore stage without any spoilers.
“Encore! Encore!”
While calling for the members, the Sparklers reached under their seats. They grabbed the slogans that had been hidden deep enough to go unnoticed.
The event slogans were designed so that two people’s slogans had to be combined to complete one sentence. They were made with the meaning that Spark and Sparklers should walk together forever.
Baek Hae-won’s slogan read: ‘Spark and Sparklers will’
‘Then my partner is…’
Jjae-i pulled out a slogan with a contrasting color to Baek Hae-won’s. The phrase ‘be together forever’ was visible.
“We just hold them together, right?”
“Yes! Should I move closer?”
Baek Hae-won narrowed the distance. The text on the back of the slogan—‘Please coordinate with the Sparkler next to you so it can be read as a single sentence!’—stood out vividly.
While continuously shouting for the encore, Baek Hae-won asked Jjae-i.
“Did you enjoy the concert?”
Jjae-i, holding the slogan perfectly in line, replied with a smile.
“So much.”
Jjae-i’s voice mingled with the sound of chimes.
“When the sun sets
The festival begins
A fantastical time
That opens the long night”
The song the Sparklers had prepared was What I Want to Say.
It was a song that captured Spark’s first year after debut in its entirety, a track reminiscent of a festival’s final parade.
The words Spark wanted to say to Sparklers, which had come like a gift at the end of the year.
So this time, the Sparklers decided to convey their hearts to Spark.
“When the surroundings are dyed
When it grows dark
A brilliant cluster of stars
Lighting up the sky”
All at once, the fans turned on their phone flashes.
They couldn't put actual stars in the sky, but in a concert hall, the Sparklers could create a galaxy.
The screens on both sides showed the fan seating. Amidst the twinkling lights, the ‘highly legible slogans’ that Kim I-wol had emphasized until his mouth was dry were clearly visible.
The next verse didn't follow. While the accompaniment played, for the first time, Spark just stood there silently, unable to sing.
“The most brilliant night
I wanted to give to you”
The crowd filled the empty melody with a sing-along. Even Kim I-wol, who tried to perform his part, couldn't bring himself to open his mouth.
“The most honest
Expression of love
I can give”
Because there wasn't a single person who wasn't cheering, the Sparklers roared whenever a member was caught on the screen. There was no greater affection than this, expressed with one voice.
“In front of your eyes
As you stand on stage
I’ll fill them with stars
Because I love you”
And, when they returned the lyrics to Spark with a slight change:
“I hope you’re happy”
Kim I-wol, the owner of that part, was shown in a close-up.
He wasn't smiling as usual, nor was he as stoic as when he was acting…
His expression was one of being completely overwhelmed.