Chapter 85: Our Company's All-Round Entertainer (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 85: Our Company's All-Round Entertainer (4)
I couldn't empathize at all with Lee Cheong-hyeon, who was currently agonizing over his belated jealousy of children's happiness.
I knew nothing of a child’s joy during the Month of Family. For starters, I had never even received a Children's Day gift in my life.
I had only offered my opinion as a reference, but it seemed that empathizing with the subject of his reference was quite important to Lee Cheong-hyeon. Was this the difference between a creator and an office worker?
I was about to ask, "Do you want me to find some videos of energetic kids on MeTube?" when I locked eyes with Cheong-hyeon. With that handsome face of his, he looked like he was about to fall into a deep slump.
This was an emergency. We couldn't hit number one without that face!
My mind raced at top speed. Exercising my quick wit, I came up with a secret solution.
"Get up and put on some sunscreen."
"Huh?"
"I said put on sunscreen! We’re going out."
"…Didn't you say we were going out because he needed a reference for his songwriting?"
Kang Gi-yeon, who had been dragged along under the crime of being a necessary photographer, asked with a look of doubt.
Suddenly, a pillar of water erupted behind Gi-yeon’s back. It was a water show so refreshing it cooled the hearts of everyone watching.
"That's right. Well, Cheong-hyeon? Do you feel the inspiration surging?"
"The fountain is certainly surging impressively!"
As soon as Cheong-hyeon finished speaking, jets of water shot up from the bare ground.
The place I had led them to was Children's Grand Park, a sacred land for kids. At least among the places I knew, this one had the most children.
"I didn't think I'd ever come back here after elementary school…" Gi-yeon muttered.
Well, at least you came here in elementary school. I, on the other hand, was visiting Children's Grand Park for the first time at twenty-six.
‘And that was only because Hanpyeong Industry needed someone to take snapshots of their new product and said they were short-staffed.’
Before I could drown in bitter memories, two children on kickboards zoomed past us with loud laughter.
Fearing that Cheong-hyeon’s shoulders might slump further, I took the songwriting notebook and pencil case out of the backpack I had been carrying for him and handed them over.
"Here. You aren't going back to the dorm until you achieve a 60% progress rate today."
"This is bad. Do they allow people to sleep outside here?"
"Yeah, they say naughty children like you can sleep outside for up to three days."
While I settled Cheong-hyeon onto an empty bench, Kang Gi-yeon approached and asked, "Then what do I do? Do I really just take pictures of him?"
"Yeah. Occasionally go over there under the natural light and take some selfies, too."
"What about you, Hyung?"
"I have to record videos."
With that, I pulled a camcorder from deep inside the backpack. It was a piece of equipment I had borrowed after asking the filming team for permission, so I had packed it as carefully as if it were a sacred relic.
"Are you going to upload this as self-produced content, too?"
Lee Cheong-hyeon looked startled by Gi-yeon’s question.
"Hyung! Is this going to be content? I’m a bit embarrassed!"
"It’s not. I’m just filming it as a precaution."
I had no intention of doing something like "I’m going to show everyone how you write songs!" to Cheong-hyeon, who was still struggling to find confidence in his own creations.
I just wanted to be prepared for any eventuality.
For instance, if UA lost all the photo images they had saved for photocards, or if all the photos these guys took were out of focus and the pixels broke when enlarged for the cards.
Or perhaps if we needed footage for a fan song music video and couldn't manage to fill the four minutes and thirty seconds.
Unable to read my mind, the two of them stared at me as if they didn't understand.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you doing your jobs?"
"Sigh…"
At my words, the two of them sighed with identical expressions.
Move it, move it. I’m busy too.
A vast park in early March, bathed in the warm spring sunlight.
The sound of leaves rustling and brushing against each other like breaking glass whenever a cool breeze blew.
The scent of flowers wafting from somewhere, the laughter of children, the sound of water jets erupting, and…
One rookie idol sitting on a bench, clutching his head with a look of misery as he agonized over the source of pure joy; another rookie idol across from him, working hard to photograph him; and one rejuvenated middle-aged man crouching under the scorching sun, recording the whole scene with a camcorder.
It was a wonderful combination. It was a picture-perfect scene that wouldn't be out of place if selected as the landscape of the year.
After receiving a ten-minute crash course from me because he had been taking all the photos against the light, Kang Gi-yeon was now working hard to capture the best subject with sparkling eyes.
"Gi-yeon, how many photos did you take?"
"I think it’s over two hundred."
"What about your selfies?"
"Three."
"Then stop taking pictures of Lee Cheong-hyeon and go take your selfies. Stay within the park, and don't come back until you've taken at least twenty."
"Yes, sir."
With that, Kang Gi-yeon obediently left his spot.
Wishing for him to take some legendary selfies, I spoke to Lee Cheong-hyeon, who was staring intensely at his notebook behind me.
"Now that Gi-yeon is gone, go ahead and say it."
"Pardon?"
"You have something you want to say to me, don't you? Am I wrong?"
When I looked back, Lee Cheong-hyeon’s eyes were wide with surprise.
"How did you know?"
"I’m a mind reader, that’s why."
The only thing I had gained at Hanpyeong Industry was a keen sense of intuition.
Besides, we’d shared a room for over a year and used the same practice room every day; it would be stranger not to know.
Even so, the innocent Cheong-hyeon showed no sign of hiding his surprise.
Cheong-hyeon watched the children running around energetically as if playing tag and asked, "Hyung, why are you so good to us?"
"What?"
My resolve not to be flustered by whatever question he asked was rendered useless by this unexpected attack.
Good to them?
Who? Me?
To you guys?
I could guarantee that no one else felt as much anger and sorrow as I did, engraving all sorts of profanities into my heart while being in such close proximity to them.
‘I haven't exactly been good to them.’
Except for situations where I had to achieve missions given by the system, I had always tried to minimize my interference with Spark.
All I had done while hanging out with these guys was bake bread, fold laundry, and leave the mood lamp on.
Being "good" to someone usually meant being… kinder and more affectionate.
Like asking how they were doing or slipping them some pocket money once in a while.
Cheong-hyeon continued, noticing my expression that clearly said, I don't understand what you're talking about.
"Usually, when someone around you says something isn't going well, people don't go this far, do they?"
"What do you mean by 'this far'? Bringing you to the park?"
"It’s not just that."
What else had I done for him?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't remember doing anything that warranted such a comment.
"Since you mentioned the park, I'll use it as an example. Most people would just empathize or give advice; they wouldn't help out materially and spiritually like this."
"That’s because I can't fully empathize with the pressure you feel, nor can I give you technical advice."
"The fact that you don't just stop at cheering us on in that situation is what’s amazing."
"As you go through life, you'll meet about a hundred and fifty million people kinder than me. More importantly, someone like Jeong Seong-bin lives under the same roof as you, doesn't he?"
"Ayy, Hyung and Seong-bin Hyung are… how should I put it? You’re in different categories."
"That’s an insult, isn't it?"
"How did you know?"
Cheong-hyeon replied playfully and burst into laughter.
Just then, a commotion could be heard from a distance.
Turning my head, I saw Kang Gi-yeon, who had been walking toward us, surrounded by children.
Seeing him take a toy from one of the kids, I assumed he had been asked to open something or fix it…
"Hyung, he’s shooting bubbles at the kids."
Eventually, Kang Gi-yeon began providing a bubble show for the children, firing a giant water gun that sprayed bubbles fiercely into the air.
Lee Cheong-hyeon laughed so hard he clutched his stomach, then ran off, saying he wanted to join in too.
‘They really are something,’ I thought as I neatly organized the notebook and writing tools that Cheong-hyeon had been on the verge of crumpling. Still, I had a feeling that Cheong-hyeon would come up with a good melody by tonight.
At that time, I had no idea. I didn't know about the dark future that was about to sweep over the group.
After receiving the new KPI, I had spent some time reflecting and asking the members about their individual strengths, weaknesses, and what they hoped for in their future activities.
It was because I had decided to accommodate their wishes as much as possible until the final KPI was achieved.
And during that meeting, Choi Je-ho had said this:
‘I’d prefer not to talk about family-related stories if possible.’
In the past, Spark—and Choi Je-ho in particular—had not mentioned their families often. This became even more true as they gained more years of experience after their debut.
Whether it was thanks to Department Head Nam’s daughter, who was a huge fan of Je-ho, I also unintentionally learned the reason why Choi Je-ho didn't want to discuss his family history.
≫ My younger sibling is in the same class as The Emperor’s sibling, and they said The Emperor’s family is divorced.
Apparently, the dad drank and gambled;;
The Emperor barely drinks even on Yunseul Live, probably because he learned from seeing that. He won't drink or gamble lol. So relieved.
└ Can't we report this kind of jerk?
└ Hey, you crazy bastard, take this down.
└ Relieved?? Are you a psychopath?;;;
‘He said his mother and father had split up.’
These days, many people say divorce is no longer a flaw, and many believe it’s better to separate than to live with a terrible parent.
However, for some people, there are family members who make them sick just by thinking about them. For Choi Je-ho, his father seemed to be that kind of existence.
So, while I couldn't give him a definitive promise, I replied that I would try my best to help him avoid such questions. It was pointless to explain how easily family-related questions cropped up in society.
Still, I really did intend to try.
"Hey, Kim I-wol."
A visibly angry Choi Je-ho approached me and asked.
"The next self-produced content—did you plan this one, too?"
His voice was low and heavy, a tone I had never heard from him before.