Chapter 57: Chuseok Holidays (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 57: Chuseok Holidays (4)
How sweet is the luxury of sleeping in on a holiday?
For an office worker who usually has to wake up at 6:30 AM, rub their sleepy eyes, shower, suit up, and then squeeze into the hell-train, a holiday morning is, quite literally, time that must be "preciously wasted."
The UA trainees were likely the same. They, too, woke up early every day to dance and sing their hearts out.
So, as someone who had not only survived years of corporate life but had also become a trainee afterward, Mister Kim wanted to enjoy a rare morning of sleeping in!
"Why are you here already?" I asked, having rushed out at the sound of an unidentified outsider punching in the passcode to the dorm.
Someone had been banging on the door lock since the crack of dawn, so I’d assumed it was a drunkard.
My suspicions were proven unnecessary when the outsider, who had been struggling against the locked front door, shouted from the other side.
'Iwol-hyung! Ju-woo-hyung! Open the door!'
This early morning uninvited guest—who had just broadcasted to the entire neighborhood that Iwol and Ju-woo were inside—was none other than Lee Cheong-hyeon, a member of this very dorm. He managed to get inside before the door was broken down.
The problem was that I had engaged the safety latch, thinking no one would be coming.
I mean, who shows up this early without calling first?
I think I’ve heard the saying "beauty requires sleep" somewhere, but apparently, that was a total lie.
"This is the first time I've seen someone get annoyed because I arrived early. Look how wholesome I am!"
"You could have at least called."
"I didn't want to wake you guys up while you were sleeping."
"Looking at the situation now, didn't you end up waking everyone anyway?"
"I mean, how was I supposed to know you'd sleep with the safety latch on!"
Lee Cheong-hyeon kept pleading his innocence, but I wasn't listening.
Even while bickering, Cheong-hyeon was busy pulling things out of a large grocery bag and setting them on the floor.
"What is all this?"
"Chestnuts. Oh, and watermelon jellies! I heard you guys already ate jeon?"
"Who told you that?"
"Seong-bin-hyung. I talked to him on the phone last night. Didn't he call you, Hyung?"
Was he talking about that phone call on the Han River bridge that nearly gave me a heart attack?
It seemed Jeong Seong-bin had contacted Lee Cheong-hyeon after that call.
I thought he’d called me just to keep an eye on the members left at the dorm to make sure we didn't cause trouble, but it turned out he’d just made his rounds calling everyone. He really is a terrifyingly diligent guy.
Meanwhile, Park Ju-woo stumbled out, still half-asleep, and began moving the watermelon jellies into the cupboard.
Seeing the housework being shared so naturally made this "uncle" feel quite proud.
I helped move the food Cheong-hyeon brought into the fridge and asked again.
"So. Why did you come back so early?"
"Because I thought you guys might be bored."
"What?"
"You know what they say! You don't notice someone's presence, but you definitely notice their absence!"
Cheong-hyeon declared boldly. Perhaps the ability to say such cringeworthy things with a straight face was a prerequisite for being an idol.
I briefly wondered if it was really okay for this kid to spend his first vacation in what felt like a million years like this.
Park Ju-woo, who had finished organizing the food, also asked, "…Is it okay if you’re not with your family?"
Cheong-hyeon, however, was nonchalant.
"What's the point of staying? I'd just get nagged. Oh, but since my grades were good this time, they didn't say much!"
"Your family must be quite invested in academics."
"Not just 'quite.' Honestly, having three kids and wanting all three to do nothing but study is just greedy, if you ask me," Cheong-hyeon said firmly.
Well, if there are five people in a family and only one is pursuing music, it probably isn't easy to fit in with the rest.
And so, we sat around chatting while snacking on the chestnuts Cheong-hyeon had brought.
A few hours later, Jeong Seong-bin returned, clutching a black plastic bag.
"Seong-bin-hyung!"
Seong-bin greeted the welcoming Cheong-hyeon and handed the bag to Park Ju-woo.
Inside the bag Ju-woo took was a mountain of yakgwa.
Ju-woo looked at the honey cookies filling the bag with bewildered eyes. "What is all this…?"
"It's yakgwa. Hyung, was everything okay? Oh, Cheong-hyeon, you're already here?"
I asked, filled with a sense of dread. "…Don't tell me you like yakgwa?"
It would be a problem if he did. A single yakgwa is a whopping 140 calories.
"No, I brought them for the members to eat."
Fortunately, Seong-bin put my worries to rest instantly.
And yakgwa wasn't the only thing he brought.
Seong-bin’s mother had sent a container full of handmade dumplings. Apparently, the whole family had gathered to make them for Chuseok.
"Hyung, some of these dumplings are burst."
"Ah… those were probably made by Jeong Seong-jun."
Seong-bin let out a small sigh at the mention of his younger brother's name.
That dry tone and the voice that seemed to hide the word 'pathetic'…
My older sister probably sounded exactly like that whenever my name came up. Sorry for being a lacking brother, Noona.
I was feeling an inexplicable sense of kinship with the Jeong Seong-jun I’d never met when Seong-bin spoke to me.
"She said to keep the dumplings in the freezer and steam them. I learned how to do it, so I'll handle that."
"I know how to steam dumplings. But how did you carry all this?"
"My dad dropped me off nearby."
I see. You should have invited him in for tea… I’m going to feel so guilty when I eventually meet your father…
The blessings of holiday food didn't stop there.
Not long after, Kang Gi-yeon showed up with a box of ginger hangwa.
"…Do you guys like ginger?" he asked with an incredibly awkward expression.
He didn't seem to like ginger himself, but as someone who was obsessed with ginger tea, I gave the ginger hangwa a passionate welcome.
Seeing his friend bring a whole box of snacks from home, Lee Cheong-hyeon cackled.
"At this rate, is Je-ho-hyung going to bring something too?"
"No way. Je-ho-hyung is coming from far away."
As Cheong-hyeon joked, Seong-bin, who was opening the hangwa box with sparkling eyes, waved his hand dismissively.
"I heard it takes three hours even on the KTX…?"
Park Ju-woo also looked like he thought it was impossible.
And indeed, Choi Je-ho didn't carry anything in his hands.
Instead, he wore it on his back.
"So, you're saying you carried plum extract all the way from your house to here?"
"Yeah. My mom told me to take it."
Choi Je-ho sat down on the sofa, dropping a bag that looked heavy even at a glance.
The silhouettes of two 1.5-liter plastic bottles were visible through the fabric.
"If you don't want it, just leave it. I'll take care of it myself."
"What are you saying, Hyung! I love plum extract!"
As if afraid Je-ho might actually throw it away, Cheong-hyeon quickly snatched the two bottles and shoved them into the fridge.
*
'You want to match the holiday bonuses for everyone below Deputy Head to the same level as regular employees?'
'Yeah. That's what the higher-ups want, so keep that in mind when you're planning the budget.'
'There'll be a difference of up to 400,000 won compared to last Lunar New Year… won't there be a backlash?'
'What? Is the difference that big?'
There are companies out there that even begrudge the bonuses given to employees who have worked for over five years, cutting them every few years.
"Guys."
I spoke, thinking of the plate of chestnuts, the bag of yakgwa, the box of hangwa, and the plastic bottles in the fridge.
"Everyone gather 'round. We're starting the thank-you calls, beginning with Choi Je-ho's house."
Thanks to the kids who brought all sorts of food while thinking of one another, we all almost gained 500 grams each.
If the six of us hadn't spent every night running along the Han River in two neat rows, the sincerity of their families would have turned directly into body fat.
We did our best even during that short holiday to fulfill our duties as idols…
"I did some thinking while everyone was resting. About what this group needs to do to survive in this unique market."
If there is a God, I’d like to ask Him something.
Why didn't You fulfill Your duty and strike Yu Han-su with lightning?
I wanted to either rip up the PPT titled 'Spark Stage Names (Draft)' in front of me or poke my own eyes out for looking at it. Preferably both, and violently.
It wasn't uncommon for idol groups to use stage names.
There were times when using stage names was the trend, and other times when using real names was the mainstream.
However, stage names were supposed to be created when a means to showcase the idol more effectively was needed.
They should be decided after much discussion, considering the team's color and the members' individualities.
"Like this, stage names that contain elements showing that the six members belong to one group…"
Not by giving all six of them names that share the same character.
I took advantage of everyone looking at Yu Han-su to rub my eyes. Then I looked at the screen again.
But the words 'The Yu Family's Six Brothers' were still there.
As were the names: I-won, Je-won, Seong-won, Ju-won, Cheong-won, and Gi-won.
What were the ancestral spirits doing during Chuseok? Why didn't they take Yu Han-su away?
Since there were already precedents for things like character counts, the alphabet, or pure Korean words, I guess this was the best he could squeeze out.
I’m not exactly a creative genius myself.
And I know how pathetic it is to just criticize someone else's work without helping…
But isn't this just too tacky?
I re-read the "trend research data" Yu Han-su had brought.
Fans like groups that feel like a family? True.
It’s also true that fans often assign roles like parents, first-born, second-born, uncle, and youngest.
But does that mean we need to take the entire concept—not just a few pieces of self-produced content, but the group's entire lore—and turn it into a rowdy "brotherhood" story? Not as an album concept, but as the group's core identity?
Now that things had come this far, I was beyond angry; I was bewildered. At the same time, I was at a loss as to how to handle this.
I seriously considered whether it would be better to just leave the room right now. Nothing could be more useless than sitting here at this moment.
But I couldn't. If I did, what if 'I-won' ended up written under my profile picture?
For the record, that 'Won' apparently stood for 'One Team.'
Lee Cheong-hyeon, who looked like he’d be nicknamed 'National Petition' (Guk-min Cheong-won) the moment he debuted, looked pale today.
Sitting next to him, Kang Gi-yeon, who looked like he’d be nicknamed 'Lotto Prayer' (Lotto Gi-won), was nervously biting his lip.
"Don't our kids' real names work well enough? Using a stage name for one or two people is fine, but for everyone to use one… and matching the names like this is even more unprecedented," one of the Planning Team employees said. It was a display of integrity that made me want to swear eternal loyalty to them.
But Yu Han-su’s resolve was firm.
"Can we succeed by only doing what others do? Since UA is challenging a new market, the public will surely have expectations, and I believe we need a pioneering spirit to match that."
Yu Han-su shrugged.
I saw Lee Cheong-hyeon, sitting across from me, squeeze his eyes shut. Apparently, Yu Han-su had never heard the saying that there’s a reason people don't do certain things.
Whether he couldn't see the expressions of the people in the meeting room or just didn't care, Yu Han-su continued his presentation.
"Let's emphasize it starting from the names. A name represents a person, doesn't it?"
Why don't you just make the team chant 'Spark is always one!' while you're at it?
Make the debut song 'Only One,' and we can just perform on music shows once per album.
Teamwork is a basic requirement for idols. It’s a mandatory skill you’re supposed to have from the start, not something you go around emphasizing.
Is he trying to achieve results by stealing others' work, but since he wants to keep his pride, he's trying to force these little 'innovations'?
It had been a while since I’d dealt with such a headache-inducing type. My head throbbed.
The only silver lining was that Yu Han-su’s pitch wasn't getting a good response from the others either. Looking at the sour expressions on the Planning Team, it seemed I wouldn't even need to step in this time.
Sure enough, the Planning Team Leader spoke up.
"Understood for now. Are there any other matters we need to discuss?"
It was a subtle way of changing the subject. The Team Leader looked like they wanted to end this unproductive meeting as soon as possible.
"Ah, this is an extension of the stage names."
Yu Han-su flipped to the next slide of the PPT.
On the screen, against a white background, 'Spark Fandom Name Selection' was written in crisp Malgun Gothic font.
Wait.
Why is the fandom name coming up now…?