Chapter 97: Event Promotion (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 97: Event Promotion (2)
Even though it was only their second comeback, there was a noticeable change in the online communities.
Back during their debut, only a few people with fixed nicknames were visible, but this time, there were quite a few posts mentioning Spark.
≫ Is Seong-bin the group leader again?
└ LOL look at everyone feeling sorry for himhahaha
└ Seong-bin Is At It Again...
└ Seong-bin Is At It Againhahahahaha
≫ Looks like Spark is going with the youth concept again.
It’s fascinating. There’s no 'youth' in their faces, so how do they pull this off?
└ LOL "no youth in their faces."
└ That’s mean, OP. Except for the oldest members, the rest are literally high schoolersㅠ
└ I love it because it’s the kind of youth concept that’s hard to find in the idol scene these days.
└ Most groups have such intense concepts lately that it’s exhausting. I think they aimed for the gap perfectly.
≫ Is Lee Cheong-hyeon a genius?
I only heard a snippet, but the melody is insane.
└ The more I see Cheong-hyeon, the more proud I am of himㅠㅠ His composing career isn't even that long, but it’s amazing how he brings such great songs every time.
└ Isn't UA just pushing him?
└ Your jealousy is showing, friend;;;;
≫ UA is working hard.
They’re timing the comebacks well so the momentum doesn't die down.
└ If they don't push them now, when will they?ㅠㅠㅠ This is definitely the time to go all in.
└ For real. You have to grind hard when you're a rookie to have any chance of survivalㅠ If you don't make it after a year, it’s incredibly hard to bounce back.
Perhaps because the "anti-fans" hadn't latched on yet, the message boards were mostly filled with positive posts.
This was the perk of stanning a group that wasn't famous yet.
‘Please stay just like this... No, wait, please get famous... Taste the sweetness of success... But don't get too famous...’
Baek Hae-won turned off her phone, her thoughts a mess of contradictions.
If she read any more posts, she felt like her heart might explode from the overwhelming emotion.
‘I hope the music video comes out soon.’
Baek Hae-won prayed fervently, like a child making a wish on Christmas Eve.
And not long after, like a gift, the music video was released.
As the video began, Jeong Seong-bin appeared in a gray hoodie, walking against the backdrop of distant birds chirping.
Passing through a deserted school and climbing the mountain behind it, Jeong Seong-bin stopped in front of a certain tree.
He rolled away a large rock pressing down on the tree roots, opened the backpack he was carrying, took out a trowel, and began digging into the damp earth.
After the sound of earth being shoveled a few times.
Jeong Seong-bin’s movements stopped with the sound of the trowel hitting something.
The angle shifted to underground, showing Jeong Seong-bin’s hands brushing off the dirt and the wide-open sky above.
As Jeong Seong-bin reached down to pull something out, the camera was drawn up from the ground.
Jeong Seong-bin patted the dirt off a snack tin he had unearthed and opened the lid.
With the sound of the stainless steel container opening, the title appeared, and the song began.
『Even without an alarm, my eyes snap open
Just seeing the morning sun makes me feel good
A day like today』
As the first verse began, the screen transitioned to the whiteboard scene shown in the teaser.
Jeong Seong-bin, who had written "Operation: Have the Most Fun in the World!" in large letters, pasted a piece of old colored paper he had taken from the time capsule, and next to it, he pinned a large, printed amusement park flyer.
『That’s right, the day we promised!』
The moment Jeong Seong-bin looked directly at the camera, his part flowed out, followed immediately by a group choreography scene of the members.
The members' hair colors were vibrant as they danced in front of a carousel.
Among them, Jeong Seong-bin’s bright golden blonde and Park Ju-woo’s light pink hair stood out the most.
『To play properly
You have to prepare properly
Phone turned off
Sunglasses in a small wallet
Got everything?
Are you perfectly ready to play?』
Kang Gi-yeon was shown secretly tucking an expensive-looking camera from a glass cabinet in a sophisticated living room into his bag, while Lee Cheong-hyeon broke open a piggy bank.
Choi Je-ho laid out several outfits on his bed one by one, and Kim I-wol filled his bag with drinks.
Finally, after Park Ju-woo tried on several animal headbands in front of a mirror, the dramatized sequence transitioned back to the group choreography for the chorus.
『Playing is the best, isn't it?
In a place with a great view
Eating delicious food to our heart's content
Doing only what we want to do
I want to live every day like it’s summer vacation』
Bubbles poured down behind the members as they smiled brightly.
Entering the second verse, the members fully enjoyed the amusement park.
『A desired gift for a good child
The best vacation for a cool adult
Yes, that’s right
Even the time spent with you!』
The screen captured the members riding all sorts of attractions, Kang Gi-yeon taking photos of his friends, and Jeong Seong-bin buying six helium balloons and tying them to his friends' wrists.
Soon, the screen was covered with photos of them wearing ridiculous sunglasses and eating amusement park food.
After the happy time ended, the members left the amusement park with the parade in the background.
As the melody settled and gradually built up toward the chorus.
Led by Jeong Seong-bin, the five members—Choi Je-ho, Kim I-wol, Lee Cheong-hyeon, and Kang Gi-yeon—visited a small, remote hospital.
In the hospital room they entered, Park Ju-woo lay with his eyes closed.
『It’s a dream-like wish
But at least once
Sharing pleasant stories
Wearing a happy smile
I want to live every day like it’s a movie』
Jeong Seong-bin fastened an amusement park admission bracelet onto Park Ju-woo’s wrist, and Kim I-wol placed the headband Park Ju-woo had prepared onto his head.
While Lee Cheong-hyeon tied the helium balloons to the foot of the bed, Choi Je-ho wrote the message "Child Park Ju-woo’s wish #1 accomplished!" on a balloon.
Then, Kang Gi-yeon showed Park Ju-woo an album where he had photoshopped Park Ju-woo into the pictures they took at the amusement park.
Park Ju-woo’s face, with his eyes closed, looked natural in the photos, as if he had intentionally closed his eyes for the shot.
Having decorated Park Ju-woo playfully, the members sat around his bed and chatted happily for a long time.
『Just like right now, this very moment!』
With the final chorus, the focus slowly pulled away from the hospital and eventually panned up to the blue sky.
『With List』
The title appeared again on the brightened screen.
Over that title, a large circle was drawn, and the video came to an end.
Immediately after the music video was released, the community boards caught fire.
≫ From today on, the definition of 'youth' is Spark.
That’s just how it is.
└ The narrative is perfect for just one MV...
└ It’s actually a very sad story if you look closely, but I loved how they kept a bright tension until the end.
└ Right. It wasn't forced melodrama; it felt like they truly believed their friend would wake upㅠㅠ
≫ I’m sorry for saying they were recycling concepts when they just debuted.
Please stay 'youth' forever.
└ LOL look at that 180-degree turn.
≫ Is the title 'With List' because it’s 'With you' + 'Wish list'?
Holy sh*t.
└ Looking for someone to go fulfill Child Park Ju-woo’s wishes (1/1)
≫ Summary of Spark’s MV content/Easter eggs (will keep adding)
1. The place Jeong Seong-bin visited is the elementary school they used to attend + the item he dug up is a time capsule they buried together during their school days.
2. In the meeting scene, Park Ju-woo is the only one not caught on camera.
3. In the scenes where they prepare their things, everyone is wearing high school uniforms or packing high school IDs, but Ju-woo’s uniform jacket alone says "Middle School."
4. Among the phones checking the text to meet at the amusement park, only Park Ju-woo’s is a flip phone (it seems he had the accident before smartphones became common).
5. The members all came wearing the headbands Ju-woo had prepared = Ju-woo had prepared them in advance because he wanted to go to the amusement park together when they opened the time capsule, and the others found out about them later and brought them.
6. In the MV and album photos, only Park Ju-woo doesn't have a free-pass bracelet on his wrist.
7. All of Ju-woo’s photos have his eyes closed → Personally, this was the most chilling part, but Ju-woo’s hair length and the members' positions change slightly (they aren't photos taken all at once). It seems the setting is that the members took selfies with Ju-woo every time they visited him, then photoshopped them into the amusement park photos.
└ If you look at the time capsule around the 32-second mark, it says "Open at twen-ty"... It’s so heartbreaking and sad that they opened a time capsule made when they were kids who didn't even know proper spelling, now that they're high schoolers approaching twenty, just to wake up their friend.
└ Oh, so that’s what it was (facepalm)
└ F*ck, Ju-woo...
≫ Anyone listened to Spark’s new song?
The song is actually really good.
I wonder if they can pull it off live thoughhahaha It’s exciting to listen to.
└ Didn't Park Ju-woo actually collapse while recording this?
└ This is it.
└ The comment abovehahaha "This is it" LOL.
The reaction was good. Moreover, it was mostly praise.
Just looking at social media, there were noticeably more recent posts related to Spark.
Perhaps because half the music video was filmed at an amusement park, the screenshots were also quite beautiful.
The colors, the composition—everything came out perfectly. Maybe it was because of their pastel-toned hair, but even the members looked like part of the amusement park.
Above all...
≫ The seasonal vibe is top-tier.
The more I listen, the more I just want to ditch everything and go playhahaha
└ Exactly, it fits so well with May and early summerhaha The song is exciting too.
└ This is basically an escapism song for students whose midterms are right around the corner.
...The release timing and the song's atmosphere aligned perfectly, just as planned.
Thanks to that, it received a great response from students in the middle of exam period and office workers who were counting down the days until Children's Day even though they weren't children.
A group with low recognition like Spark had to row while the tide was in. And they had to row until their arms felt like falling off.
It meant they had to constantly feed content to anyone who watched the MV and thought, ‘Oh? These guys are pretty good,’ so they wouldn't leave.
Typically, the MV and digital track are released at 6 PM. Even if they performed on the earliest music show the next day, there would be too much of a gap.
‘It should be about time for the marketing team to upload the video.’
I checked the time at the bottom of my laptop.
6:05 PM. It was about time for people who started the MV at 6:00 to finish watching.
And right on time, as requested in advance, a rowdy agricultural experience self-produced content was uploaded to Spark’s official channel.
Baek Hae-won felt like she was losing her mind.
It was partly because her midterm grades had tanked... but also because the flood of content was tossing her heart this way and that.
After rewatching the five-minute music video over and over, Baek Hae-won decided it would be better to at least stream it properly while watching, so she had been watching the MV for 50 minutes straight while streaming.
‘Their faces are insane... The song is insane too... But seriously, their faces are insane...’
Tears were streaming down her heart. The lingering emotion of the ending wouldn't fade.
When was the last time she had felt this sense of pride and exhilaration from stanning geniuses who were actually good at their jobs?
Baek Hae-won realized that happiness wasn't far away.
She took a deep breath to calm her near-manic affection.
Then, she began to carefully select her words so that as many people as possible could accept her fangirling without feeling repulsed.
If even one of her many acquaintances would stan Spark with her, she could die with no regrets.
With a solemn heart, Baek Hae-won returned to social media, which she had briefly left to enjoy the MV.
A new post she hadn't read yet greeted her.
≫ @spArk_official
Grown-up kids' grand operation to have fun!
Let's go on a mountain village experience together!
The grown-up kid who made the wish: Kim I-wol
Special note: A grown-up kid with the tastes of an old soul
[Spark] 2X05XX Let's Go to the Mountains, City Friends ep.1
In the attached thumbnail, the six members, wearing flashy floral-patterned pants, were looking up at the camera side-by-side.
‘If it’s ep.1, that means they’re giving us a second episode too?’
If they do this and the episodes are only 10 minutes long, I’m reporting them for the crime of fluttering an angry high schooler's heart.
Making a firm vow, Baek Hae-won clicked the video link.
Then, a massive 53-minute episode greeted her.