Chapter 66: New Year's Wish (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 66: New Year's Wish (2)
The story behind this sudden talk of watching the sunrise went like this.
Lee Cheong-hyeon, who had stopped by someone else's room to borrow something from Kang Gi-yeon, found Park Ju-woo having some "healing time" by watching videos of Buddhist temples.
Since both of them were easygoing and got along well, they sat side-by-side and chatted, showing a deep interest in each other's activities as they often did.
Huddled together, watching videos like "Touring Korea's Temples" and "Finding Nature in the City" on a small spare phone, they were eventually led by the algorithm to a video titled "Top 10 New Year's Sunrises You'll Regret Missing."
The sight of the brilliant red sunrise, marking the beginning of a new year, left a powerful impression on Park Ju-woo, who rarely went out, and Lee Cheong-hyeon, who had spent his childhood doing nothing but studying.
Since we're about to debut, it would be great if we all went to see the sunrise together.
How wonderful would it be to strengthen our teamwork while looking at such a magnificent view!
That was what they thought. And so, they ran straight to the leader, the one with the decision-making power over group activities.
Upon hearing the idea, Jeong Seong-bin reportedly agreed enthusiastically, saying it was a great idea. Kang Gi-yeon supposedly said he’d go if everyone else was going.
"…And what did Choi Je-ho say?"
"Jeho-hyung said he likes the idea!"
"Him? You're not joking?"
"No. He said his body has been feeling stiff lately anyway."
Lee Cheong-hyeon's words were a total shock.
To think he’d willingly participate in a group activity that wasn't even for work. Moreover, his reason for going was that he wanted to stretch his body. I guess the dance training he’d done so far wasn't enough for a guy who had performed every kind of dance imaginable.
While I stood there dumbfounded, Lee Cheong-hyeon went into full sales mode, showing me photos of a temple.
"How about here, Hyung? It says it's a little over 2km. Don't you think that's manageable?"
This kid clearly thinks two kilometers on a mountain is the same as two kilometers on flat ground.
Suddenly, I felt the urge to see this young friend try to collect stamps from all 200 of Korea's famous peaks. I should tell him to try that challenge next time.
Regardless, if everyone wanted to see the sunrise, we had to avoid the temple Lee Cheong-hyeon had picked. The view there was mediocre.
Seeing a New Year's sunrise really requires a stroke of luck.
Department Head Nam had dragged me along for years, but I had never once experienced a sunrise that made me think, This is it.
Thanks to him, I usually had to descend the mountain with shoulders that felt like they were exploding from carrying his share of cup ramen and thermoses, and eardrums that had already burst from listening to him curse his "rotten luck" for three hours, wondering how he could come so many times and never see a single sunrise.
To prevent this young soul from getting hurt, I told him in advance how much the sunrise depended on luck, and pointed out that we all knew there was actually no difference between the sun that rose on December 31st and the one on January 1st.
To which Lee Cheong-hyeon replied:
"If we go and manage to see a sunrise that's so hard to catch on our very first try? Then that’s a total jackpot, Hyung!"
I’m telling you, it doesn't just "show up" like that.
My chest felt tight, as if I were chewing on frozen hardtack. I was already tired, and the hike hadn't even started.
The only saving grace was that this hike would be with the younger generation, who were tech-savvy.
Since they were young, unlike Department Head Nam’s crowd, they’d probably pack what they needed on their own. At the very least, I wouldn't have to scrape together information on hiking sticks from online malls.
Sure enough, Jeong Seong-bin and Lee Cheong-hyeon had already started searching for hiking gear and trails online.
"It's winter, so it'll be really cold, right? Does anyone not have a scarf?"
"I only have my practice sneakers. It’s a bit much to wear those to a mountain, right? We’re not going that high, so maybe I can just wear Converse?"
Taking my silence as permission, the boys were incredibly excited.
Regardless of their passion, there were more than a few things in that short conversation that bothered me, but I didn't bother to intervene.
Watching the sunrise has nothing to do with the KPI of becoming an idol.
Why should I volunteer to take care of them outside of working hours…?
"Kang Gyeon, are you going to wear your padded jacket?"
"It'll probably be hot once we start climbing. Let's dress light."
Wait. I think I just heard the two youngest members having an insolent conversation.
"We can just bring heat packs."
"There's nowhere to throw away trash on a mountain, so why pack so much? Cheong-hyeon, you don't even get that cold. Just dress moderately."
"What do you mean 'moderately'? Do you all want to catch the flu? Do you want to do your debut stage in front of a pharmacy?!"
The shout escaped my mouth before I could stop it. The members' eyes went wide as they stared at me.
What am I going to do with you, you little pre-frozen pollacks who don't even know the cold of a winter mountain…
In the early hours of January 1st, under the guidance of our manager, we all climbed the snow-covered mountain together.
The biting, skin-piercing air could be felt even through the padded jacket the manager had lent me. My breath clouded my vision.
"Wow, if I hadn't listened to I-wol-hyung, I would've frozen to death…"
Lee Cheong-hyeon, armed to the teeth with a neck warmer, thermal underwear, and heat packs, said as he rubbed his arms.
Of course. Did you think you’d only be waiting an hour or two for the sun to rise?
Standing still for hours on a pitch-black winter mountain is no small feat. Aside from physical strength, you have to fight the cold.
Worried that the precious main vocals' throats might get damaged by the cold wind, I constantly supplied them with the warm honey-ginger tea I had prepared back at the dorm.
Their shoes were fitted with the crampons I had ordered the moment the talk of a sunrise came up.
In their hands, they each held a hiking stick that I had eventually researched and ordered myself.
Does it look like too much gear? It’s a hundred times better to be over-equipped than to have someone sprain an ankle on a mountain right before their debut. Honestly, I should just get a membership at a hiking gear mall at this rate.
"When is the sun coming up?"
Kang Gi-yeon asked. His gloves were covered in snow, likely from building a fancy stone tower with Lee Cheong-hyeon.
"It should be soon. You even built a stone tower just to make a wish when the sun rises?"
"Lee Cheong-hyeon insisted that if we wish twice, it’s twice as likely to come true."
How precious.
But the world isn't that easy, kid. I prayed every day for Hanpyeong Industry to fire me, and it never happened.
Just as I was about to indulge in memories of my past days of prayer, Choi Je-ho, who had been sharing fishcake soup with the manager, called out to us.
"Hey, isn't that the sun rising?"
"Huh?"
No way.
A proper sunrise is harder to see than you’d think.
If it's even slightly cloudy, the sun gets hidden, and more often than not, it just gets bright without anyone even noticing.
Besides, even if the sky is clear, it’s still a bit early for the sun to be visible.
"Oh, it really is!"
"Hyung, come here quickly…!"
Jeong Seong-bin and Park Ju-woo shouted to us. A faint orange sunlight was falling over their faces.
I told them so many times not to use their voices in the cold.
I also told them not to run on the mountain, yet Lee Cheong-hyeon and Kang Gi-yeon were sprinting toward the other members.
They all seemed to need some mental discipline.
But before that.
"How is it, Seong-bin-hyung? Glad we came, right?"
"Yeah. It's really magnificent. Right, Ju-woo?"
"…Yeah. I'm glad we came."
"Jeho-hyung, you make a wish on our behalf. You're the oldest."
"Kang Gi-yeon, why are you always picking on me? Make Kim I-wol do it."
Amidst the crowd marvelling at the rising sun, I spoke to the boys who were grumbling among themselves.
"Forget it. Just make your wishes before the sun is all the way up. That’s why you came here, isn't it?"
At my words, the four of them, starting with Jeong Seong-bin, closed their eyes. Except for Kang Gi-yeon, the other three even clasped their hands together.
I approached Choi Je-ho, who was standing next to them with his arms crossed, and asked.
"Why aren't you making a wish?"
Choi Je-ho gave me a look of pure disgust.
Well, excuse me. Since you followed along so obediently, I thought you wanted to make a wish too.
Choi Je-ho glanced back and forth between my expression and his younger brothers making their wishes, then closed his eyes while standing at a slight tilt, as if he were just playing along.
I borrowed the manager's phone and took a photo of the five boys standing in a row with their eyes closed, bathed in the morning sunlight as they made their wishes.
And while they wished to their hearts' content, I quietly watched the rising sun.
A wish.
A wish, huh?
The only thing I’d ever wished for in my life that felt like a real wish was to quit my job.
To commemorate seeing the sunrise for the first time on a mountain I had climbed so many times, I made a wish for something other than resignation for the first time.
I hope my sister is happy until we meet again.
…That was it.
Sure enough, as soon as I finished my wish, Lee Cheong-hyeon ran over and asked.
"Hyung! Hyung, what did you wish for?"
"I wished that no one would have a voice crack during our first broadcast."
"Gasp… I should have wished for that too."
And so, I descended the mountain, treading on the snowy path with the five troublemakers I would have to part with once my wish came true.
Unless you skip practice for days on end, you don't suddenly lose the ability to dance well.
Naturally, dance practice right before a debut isn't about fixing what you can't do, but about perfecting the overall quality.
It was the same for singing. The same for practicing looking at the camera and the team chant.
While everything else was a matter of reinforcement to show a better side of themselves, there was one thing that was entirely different in nature.
"Seong-bin-hyung, can't we eat dinner early today…?"
"Gi-yeon, are you hungry…?"
The lifelong homework of an idol: dieting.
The Spark boys were quite thorough when it came to self-management.
Their self-management hadn't veered off course once in the past seven years. Even in the photos accompanying the articles about their disbandment, their jawlines had remained sharp.
That meant they had always maintained extreme physical conditions.
At least Kang Gi-yeon had been allowed to eat dinner with chicken breast until now because he needed to grow tall, but with the debut right around the corner, he was forced to eat nothing but greens.
Beside him, Lee Cheong-hyeon looked like he had given up on life. You should be grateful that, thanks to me, you even have the option of exercise plus diet control.
"I want chicken… fried chicken…"
"Then I'll take the pickled radish…"
Next to Lee Cheong-hyeon, who was craving chicken, even Park Ju-woo, whose appetite usually hovered near zero, was muttering nonsense.
I approached the two "wilted green onions" and said.
"You can just eat the chicken and exercise more."
"Do you know how high the calories in chicken are?! To make up for that, an hour or two wouldn't even come close!"
"You know it well. Then endure it."
"Seriously, Hyung, if someone stabbed you, icicles would come out instead of blood."
Despite his grumbling, Lee Cheong-hyeon stood up immediately.
It’s about time they hit their limit.
In the first place, it made no sense for boys at an age where they should be eating well to not sneak a single snack.
With members ranging from the "unseasoned" Master Park Ju-woo to Kang Gi-yeon, whose motto was surely "A well-fed ghost has a better glow," they seemed to have endured well by watching each other until now.
I couldn't even remember the last time I had jjolmyeon.
The sauce at that one place was really delicious. What a shame.
"I'm hungry because I'm eating less and moving more."
Jeong Seong-bin laughed awkwardly.
This was serious. For a guy who rarely complained to say that meant his stomach was practically stuck to his spine.
Jeong Seong-bin scratched his head and laughed.
Looking at him, I was suddenly reminded of my own childhood, when I was hungry every single day.