Chapter 421: Role Model
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 421: Role Model
Dressed like sci-fi enthusiasts, Spark opened their set with Speaker. Won Chae-hee noted Park Ju-woo’s transparent horn-rimmed glasses and Jeong Seong-bin’s combination of a checkered shirt and a leather guitar strap as the best styling choices of the night.
It was also a treat to see Kim I-wol with his bangs down for the first time in a while. Styled like that, he truly looked like an outsider geek genius who spent all his time studying in his room, only picking up the bass as a hobby. Though, it was hard to believe someone who did nothing but study could have forearms like that.
Having seen the band perform live at their concert, Won Chae-hee thought it was a wise decision to use a pre-recorded video for Hideout and perform Speaker live. It would have been a waste for such a stage to be seen only by a small number of Sparklers.
Sure enough, Van Park received a great response from the international audience. Many people sang along to the chorus. It was a song worthy of its overwhelming success on overseas charts. Thanks to the dual-vocal live performance with Jeong Seong-bin, even those who had only seen the finals of the Idol Dynasty Annals could enjoy something fresh.
Everything was perfect, except for the fact that the sound quality was worse than Spark’s solo concert—especially for people claiming to create a global music festival. She desperately wanted to tell them to go ask UA for a consultation. It was a shame, but it wasn't Spark's fault.
Next, the pre-recorded video for Hideout began to play. The background was an abandoned factory decorated with LED camping bulbs, old movie posters, and neon signs to create the feel of a secret space.
The members of Spark sat huddled together on small stools as they sang. Jeong Seong-bin’s acoustic guitar created a cozy, intimate atmosphere.
‘So that’s why Jeong Seong-bin’s name was on the arrangement….’
Kang Gi-yeon looked incredibly cute wearing knit earmuffs while maintaining his signature cool expression. Park Ju-woo’s cape also did a lot to soften his icy impression.
≫ My impression of Spark during their debut was: "Wait, how is this a group where the majority are minors?"
Now it’s just: "Wait, how is this a 'refreshing' boy group?" I just keep repeating it like a parrot.
└ They really look like youthful boys during promotions, but every other moment they look like chaebol male leads. Such a weird group.
≫ They’re fine when they’re just by themselves.
But they shouldn't be around other people.
Because then, no matter what happens nearby, our boys look like the culprits.
└ LOL
└ Seong-bin was definitely the "warm-hearted handsome guy" among Sparklers.
└ Our baby harvest chinchilla’s head is almost touching the ceiling of the recording booth~~!!!
≫ Senior line album detail cuts, athlete pictorial style.
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It’s not just sports; they’re definitely the rugby team.
Won Chae-hee recalled a post she had seen passing by on social media and found herself agreeing. It was a daily occurrence for Sparklers to wonder whether they should worry about the members' faces getting sharper and fiercer every year, or if they should be glad they were all getting scarier together so no one stood out.
As the song neared its end, the flickering LED bulbs felt strangely familiar. Just as Won Chae-hee was thinking it was a common prop, the title of the next song appeared at the bottom of the monitor.
『End + On A High Note │ Composed by: Lee Cheong-hyeon, Lyrics by: Jeong Seong-bin…』
The ending scene of the On A High Note music video was similar to this. Such a resemblance was clearly intentional. After all, Kim I-wol was the type of person who believed that "useless elements are merely a waste of capital and resources."
A familiar accompaniment began to flow. At the same time, there was something unfamiliar about it.
It didn't take long to figure out the cause of the déjà vu. Two songs that Won Chae-hee knew well were blended in an unexpected way. It was as if they had originally been one song—as if they had been created with this specific result in mind.
Belatedly, Won Chae-hee remembered that there was one more name listed for the arrangement of the track, which had been transformed into a fast-tempo, powerful dance song.
『…Arrangement: Kim I-wol, Lee Cheong-hyeon』
The songs that had slowly bled into each other during the concert had completely merged into a new form by the end of the year. It was clear this was a calculated masterpiece. Kim I-wol, you tenacious, thoroughbred professional idol.
While the pre-recorded video played, Spark must have changed, as they returned in new outfits. Wearing bomber jackets, vintage denim pants, and jumpsuits, the members ascended on a lift and strode across the stage. The numerous instruments layered into the high-teen-style song evoked the feeling of a festival.
Gold confetti rained down over the members' bright smiles.
Even so, the reason we keep climbing
Is because these memories are precious
She remembered the sunlight and raindrops sparkling together on the surface of the sea in the End music video. And the colorful petals fluttering in On A High Note.
Because they make my heart race
Beyond the zoomed-out screen, the various lightsticks visible in the crowd overlapped with the highlights of the two music videos.
Let’s leave on an endless journey
The choruses of the two songs intertwined and surged. The atmosphere of a long year coming to a close filled her small studio apartment.
It was past midnight, but sleep wouldn't come. Gu Ja-han had been lying in bed for four hours, but his mind was as alert as it had been before he lay down.
Three hours ago, he had taken the batteries out of the clock because the ticking was annoying and tossed it onto the sofa. Two hours ago, he had changed all his bedding because the blankets felt uncomfortable. Just a moment ago, he had thrown on some clothes and gone out to smoke a cigarette in the heavy snow. Still, his eyes refused to close.
[Looking down on people recklessly does not help one get through life.]
There it was again. Every time he tried to clear his head, that text message surfaced.
"That brat, trying to lecture his senior."
Gu Ja-han closed his eyes irritably.
Normally, Gu Ja-han would have quickly forgotten the words of an insolent junior and turned on the TV.
What did I do that was so wrong?
I apologized. And after that, I think I took good enough care of him.
[I am sincerely grateful for the way you have looked after me in every way, both materially and spiritually.]
Even he admitted it.
How can a person be good to everyone? Why should anyone even live like that in the first place? It’s only natural that there are people you don't get along with in life. Why should I have to hold back my words when I have a mouth to speak with?
He didn't even want to recall the foul mood he was in when he first received the text. He had been so dumbfounded he was speechless. Gu Ja-han had to exercise superhuman patience just to hold back all the things he wanted to say and send a simple "Fine."
Every day since then had been hell. Several times a day, resentment would flare up. It made his blood boil to think that the kid must have seen him as human trash. The fact that he hadn't lashed out verbally showed how much he had changed, yet being condemned over something so trivial made him furious.
[However, I am uncomfortable with kindness that is limited only to me. This is because I cannot turn a blind eye to someone else being ignored. Knowing how well you have treated me makes me feel even more apologetic and conflicted.]
Even when he asked his manager if his personality had improved lately, he only got positive answers. What does a punk who’s barely even grown up know?
But then, once the anger subsided, a sense of defeat from an unknown source would wash over him.
It was because Kim I-wol’s way of speaking—pointing out the parts of him he didn't want to acknowledge—hit the bullseye.
If the other person had been someone who only spoke empty, self-righteous words, he would have felt better. He would have cursed them for being a hypocrite just like him and forgotten about it.
But Kim I-wol was someone who lived exactly as he spoke. He never badmouthed others recklessly and never went out of his way to do things that would make him hated. He did the work he was given, whether it was fair or unfair.
At one point, Gu Ja-han hadn't understood why he lived like that and had looked down on him, thinking it was pathetic and frustrating…
≫ [Best] That guy has such rotten luck.
He never received special treatment, never talked back to his family or used violence, but in one day he became a power-tripping, unfilial brat.
Fake news is so scary.
…When he thought of Kim I-wol, who had been lashed by the public despite doing nothing wrong.
[Public opinion is a truly terrifying thing; it is easy for things to be distorted and for words never spoken to be created. In an entertainment industry where one never knows what kind of misunderstandings might arise even if one lives honorably, I do not know what value there is in inviting risk upon oneself.]
[If you have done nothing wrong, you can at least stand tall. In a society that does not easily listen to the truth even if one is flawless, it will be truly difficult for someone with actual faults to survive.]
He couldn't say he didn't understand the heart with which Kim I-wol had written those lengthy words.
Even toward Kim I-wol, who had lived as uprightly as possible, people were cold-blooded. Everyone was busy trying to tear a person apart.
[They say it’s a world where even sinners live well, but criticism inevitably gnaws away at a person.]
Gu Ja-han had seen with his own two eyes how Kim I-wol, who had stepped forward confidently because he had nothing to hide, had collapsed at the press conference.
[I hope that you, Senior, do not walk a precarious path, nor do I want you to be deeply hurt by ignoring the accumulation of verbal abuse just because you seem fine right now, should something happen in the distant future.]
"Fuck. So annoying."
Could the way he stood up again and smiled in front of people as if nothing had happened—despite being on the verge of getting a hole in his stomach—be dismissed as mere professional ethics?
This was a matter of values. A kind of milestone held by someone who had decided which direction to take in life.
It was a lesson learned from life’s scars—something one wouldn't think about if they hadn't lived fiercely or hadn't been broken before.
Gu Ja-han sat up. He picked up his phone, which had been tossed at his feet, and checked how many people were left in his contacts. Even in a list where he hadn't saved many names, there were plenty of people who weighed on his conscience.
Gu Ja-han tapped the contact at the very top. It was a company employee he had snapped at and lost his temper with not too long ago.
He had no idea what to say first. His fingers hovered over the keyboard for a long time.
< Gil Ha-eun
Me
[Ms. Ha-eun. This is Gu Ja-han….]
Gu Ja-han began to type, very slowly and with great difficulty.