Chapter 98: Event Promotion (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 98: Event Promotion (3)
It was past 10 PM, but most of us hadn't made it to bed yet.
Jeong Seong-bin and Lee Cheong-hyeon were busy checking the real-time music charts, while Kang Gi-yeon had barricaded himself in the dressing room to meditate, claiming he needed to "control his mind" before the first broadcast.
Only Choi Je-ho and Park Ju-woo, who rarely ever got nervous, had already drifted off to dreamland.
I kept my distance from the two guys huddled together, seriously analyzing the charts, and flipped open my laptop. If the traffic hadn't hit rock bottom, there should be a decent amount of feedback on our self-produced content by now.
Fortunately, the MeTube video was flooded with comments.
The first one that caught my eye was quite striking.
≫ The thumbnail is seriously terrifying and hilarious lol.
I’d believe it if someone told me these were mobsters hiding out in the mountains to avoid being arrested.
└ Why are you doing this to our boys? ㅠㅠㅠ
└ But… it’s a very reasonable suspicion.
└ The #1 group where you can’t believe the majority are minors.
Hmm, the group’s perceived age is a bit much, I suppose.
Rather than saying we look old, it’s probably more accurate to say we all look like we have a bit of a temper, but it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Still, the thumbnail was pretty bad. Even to my eyes, it looked like a bunch of thugs had gone to help out their older brother who had retired to the countryside.
This is all Choi Je-ho’s fault. If it weren't for him, we might have at least passed for a group of fresh-faced young men.
≫ The two oldest are a legendary duo.
└ At least they’ll never have to worry about not getting a refund anywhere.
Wait, is it just him? Well, whatever.
Plenty of new posts were popping up below that one.
What was unusual this time was that there were quite a few posts about me.
≫ What do we think about a man with veins popping in his arms while scrubbing a pot lid?
Title says it all.
└ I-wol, if you have such a viciously sexy physique with that innocent face, you’re going to get sued under some law or another.
└ Let’s just admit it ㅠ Honestly, his face isn’t that innocent either ㅠ
└ What are you talking about?? Our I-wol is a total baby kitty.
└ He looks like a kitty 0.3 seconds away from hissing, though lol.
≫ Spark I-wol: No mercy for nonsense, but tolerates anything for the sake of cuteness.
When another member was told to pull green onions but brought back onions:
"Je-ho, have you never bought green onions at a mart before? Have you been eating onions with your eyes closed all this time?"
When a younger member said he wanted to fry a rabbit-shaped savory pancake:
"Do we really have to fry it like that?" but immediately agreed after Cheong-hyeon said, "Food that looks good tastes good too!"
It’s so ridiculous and funny how he looks so cool but has such high aesthetic standards lol.
└ Our boy loves pretty and cute things… He takes 100 photos of the members every time they have a schedule…
≫ I was wondering why all the members were sitting there wearing arm sleeves.
Turns out I-wol made them wear them so they wouldn't get splashed by oil.
But then he ended up frying all the pancakes himself lol.
Then why did he make them wear the sleeves in the first place? hahahahaha
└ For real hahahaha He gave them ironclad protection and then didn't let anyone near the stove.
└ Truly the overbearing older brother of this era…
└ "Overbearing older brother" hahahahahahaha That fits him perfectly.
≫ I heard I-wol got scolded by Seong-bin lol.
I’m so curious why he got scolded.
└ I can’t quite imagine it, but I also totally can, you know? hahahaha
└ Yeah hahahaha
Ugh, the members reading the rolling papers is too much stimulation.
UA, if you have any sense, scan them and post the full text.
└ Please.
└ Please.
└ Please.
≫ An idol helping pack up the cameras after filming.
Spark I-wol (21 / Eldest / Vocal)
He claimed it was just because it wasn't his bedtime yet, but he stayed until the staff had cleared everything.
└ Even after the cameras were gone, he didn't go inside right away. The photo the writer took on her phone… it really showed his character, I got a bit choked up.
└ The fact that he only came out after making sure all the members were asleep… that’s just too much. He said if he came out alone, the others would try to help, and they’re still young and need their sleep ㅠㅠ Spark is truly an angel.
└ F*ck ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I-wol, you’re still a baby too ㅠㅠ
The other members might have some saintly qualities, but I certainly don't.
I just have the "low-level employee instinct" drilled into my marrow. I’m the type of person who can’t close his eyes if I try to lie down while others are still working. I wonder how I’m supposed to clear up this misunderstanding.
Oh, occasionally, there were some very unique reactions.
≫ The oldest line’s physicals are insane.
Is it possible to look that handsome in just a T-shirt and floral pants? Even for an idol?
└ The kids were laughing at each other’s outfits, but I was just standing there in awe. His legs are so long, the camera just kept tilting up and up.
└ The fact that he doesn't look ridiculous in those pants is nonsense in itself;;
Posts praising our physical appearance.
Perhaps I was benefiting from being surrounded by handsome guys, but fortunately, I didn't see any sharp comments like, "The average visuals plummeted because of that one guy with the wrecked face."
'Should I be thankful for this or not?'
Well, they kept me from getting cursed at, so I’ll be thankful. May your shining visuals last forever, boys.
However, I wondered if I should just leave this be.
People are free to post what they want, but I felt uneasy, as if the attention that should be going to the other five was being diverted because of me.
Hoping that these people would at least choose someone other than me as their bias, I shut my laptop and herded all the members who were still awake into their rooms.
On the day of our first broadcast, we returned to the music show studio for the first time in about two months.
Having been here a few times, the station felt a little more familiar.
Today was a pre-recording in the dead of night. 3 AM, to be exact.
We’d had a few morning pre-recordings during our debut promotions, but never this early.
Back when I was an office worker collecting photos of Spark’s commutes, this part of the job had always made me curious.
If it’s a dawn pre-recording, what time do the station employees and staff even clock in?
The recording is at 4 AM, but the check-in is at 2 AM? Then where do the fans wait for two hours?
They performed twice today? Then do fans from the countryside leave the night before just to see two stages?
To me, someone who struggled to crawl into work by 9 AM like a zombie, that level of passion was beyond my comprehension.
And now that I was the idol in question, as soon as the dawn pre-recording was scheduled, I read through several fan accounts of early morning recordings.
The internet was full of heart-wrenching accounts filled with love.
There were stories of people taking night trains and waiting in unmanned cafes until the recording started. Some people took time off work and worked makeup shifts on the weekend just to attend, and others whose homes were so far away they had to book a hotel.
It wasn't even a full concert, just a few minutes on stage, yet they gave up so much of their time. It was something that couldn't be described as mere motivation.
'So, I was thinking we should do a reverse fan gift this time.'
I hadn't received my settlement yet, but I had some stocks that were slowly rising. Selling just a few of them would be enough to buy some simple snacks.
'During this pre-recording?'
'Yeah. I feel so bad about them coming out so early in the morning…'
'That’s true. If we’re recording at 3, the fans will have to be here even earlier.'
As the members gathered one by one to hear me out, the meeting for the reverse fan gift became quite serious.
'Actually, I think it’s right for us to hand them out ourselves, but would that be allowed?'
'The company and the fan managers would probably have to coordinate. I heard there are procedures for on-site preparations.'
The meeting mostly consisted of me offering opinions and Jeong Seong-bin judging their feasibility. The other members added their own ideas.
'How about macarons for snacks? I feel like I see those a lot!'
'That’s a good idea, Cheong-hyeon, but those usually need to be refrigerated. It might be a burden for people who can’t eat them right away.'
'True. Should we switch to sandwiches…?'
'I think it would be good to have drinks. If they’re waiting for a long time, they’ll definitely need water or something to drink…'
'I’m a bit worried about drinks since so many people said they wait in cafes. Seong-bin, what do you think of Ju-woo’s idea?'
'Bottled drinks might be okay. Some people can’t handle high caffeine, so maybe we could have one coffee and one juice option for them to choose from?'
As the discussion heated up, Choi Je-ho chimed in.
'What’s the price range you’re thinking of?'
'I’m still figuring that out. Why?'
'Then can we do self-defense spray?'
'Spray?'
That was definitely not on my list of expected items. I hadn't seen many cases of that being used as a reverse fan gift in my research.
But I could easily see why Choi Je-ho suggested it. It was more important than anything else, really.
'You said the fans have to wait outside in the early morning. It’s not like there are many shops open at that hour. It’s a bit sketchy.'
'You’re right. It is dangerous.'
'We can just split the cost.'
I was moved that Choi Je-ho was saying something so thoughtful.
Taking it a step further, Je-ho even gave us the name of the product he had bought for his younger sister before.
Je-ho wasn't the only one being admirable.
The day after this conversation, Jeong Seong-bin immediately went to the manager and requested that the company allow us to do a reverse fan gift.
'You want to pay for it yourselves? You guys haven't even been paid yet.'
'We’d feel too guilty if we didn't do at least this much…!'
We did feel guilty.
The only people who would take a night train and wait for hours in a place with nowhere to sit just to see a face for an hour are fans. If we didn't even do this much, our humanity would be in question.
When we pleaded that we felt terrible knowing fans were sleeping in saunas just to see us, UA thankfully agreed to cover the full cost of the gift.
Instead, since we saved money, we worked hard on writing handwritten letters. Kang Gi-yeon carefully selected and bought the stationery on his way home from school.
Writing the letters wasn't exactly smooth sailing, though.
Because we were writing out of concern, there ended up being more nagging than expressions of gratitude.
My letter went something like…
【Hello, this is I-wol.
Thank you for coming to see us at such an early hour.
But you know that safety always comes first, right?
If anything happens, please make sure to use the spray!
The nearest police station is a right turn at the first intersection after walking straight from the waiting area…】
…It was just a continuous stream of that.
'Wait, hyung. Are you writing a script for a public service announcement?'
Lee Cheong-hyeon looked at my letter in horror.
In response, I silently pointed to Choi Je-ho’s letter next to me.
This guy was even worse than me.
【 How to Use the Spray
Remove the cap and fire while maintaining about an arm’s length of distance from the target.
If it’s windy, make sure the wind is at your back and watch your eyes.
If someone keeps loitering nearby or seems to be following you, pretend to be on the phone and move to a crowded area…】
'Hyung, are you writing a manual?!'
'I wrote it because I thought the text on the product manual might be too small to see at night. You have to write these things clearly.'
In the end, Je-ho and I had to rewrite our letters. However, we decided to print the location of the police station and the spray instructions in large font and include them with the letters.
After all that preparation, the day of the recording finally arrived.