Chapter 46: Ordering Group Merch
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 46: Ordering Group Merch
The fatigue that had been briefly warded off returned in an instant.
At the same time, the strength left my legs. If I hadn't been careful, I would have collapsed right there on the floor.
Even though I was just standing still, my head spun. It was a familiar exhaustion.
Wow. This feels exactly like when I was working at the company.
The memory of my past self surfaced—the one who used to agonize over whether to overcome this ten-hour-workday level of fatigue and exercise, or to drag my body home and just pass out without even eating.
I felt like I might cry.
However, I didn't have the luxury of choice.
I had a mission: to make Spark debut as a "razor-sharp choreography group."
I bit my lip hard to keep from groaning while I exercised.
I fought the urge to just lie on the gym floor and surrender to gravity, successfully completing today's workout.
By the time I returned after recovering my exhausted body through the Labor Support Service, the atmosphere in the practice room was slightly different than usual.
It was obvious why; I could hear laughter even before I opened the door.
This was unusual for a place where Lee Cheong-hyeon was typically the only one engaging in personal chatter.
Is it some kind of special day?
When I entered the practice room, the expressions of the guys warming up in front of the mirror were strangely excited.
Lee Cheong-hyeon and Jeong Seong-bin were the most prominent examples.
Combining the roster with the date, the answer came to me quickly.
Right. They said their exams ended today.
I approached Kang Gi-yeon, who maintained his usual level of tension despite being in the same grade as the others, and asked, "You don't seem any different even though your exams are over."
"I didn't study hard enough to be happy about them being over."
"Your self-awareness is perfect."
I was about to give a round of applause to Kang Gi-yeon for staying faithful to his duties as a trainee and focusing only on debut preparations, when someone jumped onto my back.
There was only one person among us who would do such a thing: Lee Cheong-hyeon.
Sure enough, Lee Cheong-hyeon shouted right into my ear.
"Hyung! The stuff you taught me showed up on the exam! It was awesome!"
"So? Did you get it right?"
"Of course. If I'd gotten it wrong, you would've called me over and said, 'Cheong-hyeon, are you really laughing after missing something you just learned?'"
"You know me well. And your impression is pretty good, too. You could use that as a personal talent later."
"Ha. What am I going to do with so many skills?"
Lee Cheong-hyeon let out a loud laugh.
I supported his thighs with both hands as he hung on my back and said, "What do you mean, 'what'? You'll have to hard-carry when we go on variety shows."
"Oh... that sounds so real it's scary, Hyung."
Lee Cheong-hyeon's clinging show ended quickly thanks to Jeong Seong-bin's intervention. However, Cheong-hyeon didn't stop talking.
"Hyung! Hyung! Since our exams are over, should we all do something together?"
"Do what?"
"Going on a trip would be perfect, but that's probably impossible because of the practice schedule... Hmm, I'm torn."
His energy was so high you'd think he'd just come back from an extreme sport rather than an exam.
Unable to stand the hyped-up atmosphere, Choi Je-ho kept a significant distance from Lee Cheong-hyeon.
"Why are you so excited? Did you do well on the exam or something?"
"Well, as long as I didn't shift my answers on the OMR sheet, I think I might be first in my class?"
To my jokingly tossed question, Lee Cheong-hyeon casually blurted out incredible news.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Lee Cheong-hyeon grinned at me as I asked back in surprise.
I knew he was smart, but his brilliance was truly startling.
I had to study for days on end, from morning till night, just to barely scrape first place, yet this kid managed a similar result just by cramming during the exam period.
I can see why his family opposed him becoming an idol at first.
Coming from a family of intellectuals, Lee Cheong-hyeon had faced heavy opposition until his debut.
To his mother, a deputy director of a research institute, and his father, a high school teacher, being a K-pop idol must have seemed like a foreign profession.
Perhaps because of that, Lee Cheong-hyeon could often be seen solving workbooks in the corners of Spark's vlogs.
— Sparklers, isn't it exam period right now? Turn off the live stream and go study. I'm going to finish my grammar after this live, too!
— I really have to study today. My mom will scold me if I fail the exam.
Fans loved those moments, calling them "K-high schooler moments."
Consequently, at the request of Department Head Nam's daughter, I had to scrape through vlogs to create a video titled "Study with Cheong-hyeon (Spark Lee Cheong-hyeon)."
He tucked himself into the corners to solve workbooks so often that I had to zoom in so much his face looked like a character from a dot game.
Anyway. If he felt pressure from home, I could understand why he woke up at dawn to study for his exams.
I looked at Lee Cheong-hyeon, who had finally climbed down from my back thanks to Jeong Seong-bin's nagging, and said, "If there's something you want to do to celebrate finishing exams, let me know. If it's something we can do together, I'll make it happen."
"Really?!"
"Delicious food is... out, since Kang Gi-yeon is on a diet. Skipping practice is also out. Every second is precious right now, and I'm feeling the heat."
"Hey, then there's nothing left!"
"If you're unhappy about it, try again after the next finals."
Lee Cheong-hyeon looked at me with an incredulous expression.
What? Why?
Those were your grades, not mine.
While the clever Lee Cheong-hyeon struggled to find maximum enjoyment in an extreme environment where money, time, and gourmet food were restricted, Park Ju-woo approached us.
"...How about something like a friendship item?"
"A friendship item?"
A friendship item.
It was a phrase I never expected to come out of Park Ju-woo's mouth.
Everyone in the practice room—including Choi Je-ho, probably—doubted their ears.
Park Ju-woo calmly held out the spare phone used in the practice room.
The screen showed a search for "students after exams."
Below that were search histories like "post-exam bucket list" and "things to do after exams."
"I thought Cheong-hyeon might like something like this..."
"I love it! How did you know my taste so perfectly?"
Lee Cheong-hyeon's face looked genuinely excited as he spoke. It made me wonder, Was he always this affectionate toward the team?
"A friendship ring sounds good. Hyungs, how about rings?"
"You guys are in a growth spurt. If we get them now, they might not fit later."
"Is that so? Then Je-ho Hyung and Iwol Hyung should get theirs first since they're done growing."
"Can you really call it a friendship ring if we get them at different times...?"
Before we knew it, we were all putting our heads together to select an item to flaunt our friendship.
Of course, some weren't very enthusiastic. Namely, Choi Je-ho.
Since he seemed to be thinking, Do we really have to match something? I secretly pointed toward Kang Gi-yeon.
At that, Choi Je-ho quietly shut his mouth. He clearly hadn't forgotten the reason for their previous fight.
However, even after ten minutes, no good ideas emerged.
There were too many reasons why certain items were unsuitable for everyone to wear.
"Where on earth are we going to wear rabbit headbands?"
"They're cute! And funny!"
"You just want to make the members look ridiculous."
Suddenly, a crazed Lee Cheong-hyeon suggested animal ear headbands.
"Can't we just do necklaces or something?"
"Doesn't Ju-woo avoid necklaces? Because they feel stifling."
"Yeah... but if we're all matching, I'll wear one."
"Ayy, there must be plenty of better things than necklaces!"
Necklaces, bracelets, and anklets were rejected one after another due to individual preferences.
We could have reached a compromise if we wanted to, but everyone seemed obsessed with the idea that "we must find something everyone is satisfied with!" now that they were hooked on the concept of a "friendship item."
Still, it was problematic to waste practice time indefinitely on such a trivial conversation.
"You're not planning to talk about friendship items for the entire practice session, are you?"
"Gasp. It's already been almost twenty minutes...!"
"Yeah. It's all well and good, but we have to do what we need to do..."
Just then, as I was speaking, an idea struck me.
A friendship item that would suit these guys, that everyone could wear, and that would be highly useful for a long time relative to the cost.
Three days later, a fairly bulky package arrived at the dorm. It was the friendship item we had ordered.
While Jeong Seong-bin and Lee Cheong-hyeon were opening the box, Choi Je-ho asked me.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Do people usually get workout clothes as friendship items?"
That's right.
We had ordered a set of training suits that could be worn 365 days a year. In black, so they wouldn't get dirty easily.
"Can't you just think of it as a uniform?"
"How is this any different from giving a student a stationery set as a Christmas present?"
"What's wrong with a stationery set? You should say thank you and take it."
While Choi Je-ho and I engaged in our petty banter, Jeong Seong-bin approached us with clothes in our sizes. The others were already tearing off the packaging.
"Hyung, should we wear these later when we film the choreography practice video?!"
"That's why I got them. So, if you lose them before we film, you're dead."
I really didn't want to see another choreography practice video of them wearing their cringe-worthy personal clothes. It was painful to watch.
I intentionally didn't have numbers or names engraved.
That way, it wouldn't be obvious even if I left the group later.
It's been a while since I've had a group outfit, not since the company hoodies.
Holding the black friendship training suit set gave me a strange feeling. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
The joy of finishing midterms and getting our first friendship item was short-lived; Lee Cheong-hyeon had to return to reality immediately.
The deadline for the debut song was right around the corner.
In truth, Lee Cheong-hyeon's song was already high quality.
It was much better than when it had been released as a B-side in the past, and it had received good evaluations from the A&R side as well.
However, it seemed that the planning PPTs I sent for reference and the instructions during choreography practice felt like a different kind of feedback to Lee Cheong-hyeon.
His creative fire ignited, Lee Cheong-hyeon began a massive overhaul of the song as soon as exams were over.
I also lost sleep because I had to stop him if the revisions started going in a weird direction, but fortunately, no such disaster occurred.
After enduring a schedule tighter than the exam period.
"...How is it?"
Lee Cheong-hyeon asked cautiously as the track finished playing.
His voice was raspy from staying awake until nearly sunrise.
I took the earphones out and looked at Lee Cheong-hyeon. The dark circles under his eyes were deep.
"You want me to be honest, right?"
"...But maybe phrase it gently?"
Lee Cheong-hyeon answered playfully, though his heart was clearly anything but playful.
There was only one thing to say to him.
"It's the best version I've heard so far. Let's go with this."
"Really...?!"
Lee Cheong-hyeon clenched his fist.
A raspy sound came from his strained throat. He probably wanted to shout something like "Yes!"
+
[SYSTEM] 'Quest' completed.
▷ Reward: Experience Points (5)
▷ Cumulative Experience Points: 5
▷ Cumulative Points: 0
+
At that moment, the system appeared, announcing the final confirmation of the task.
"Yeah. Really."
We had just crossed the biggest hurdle on the road to debut.