“Allover sunbaenims, you say?”

Jeong Seongbin gave a polite reaction. It seemed he remembered me telling him to stay away from Allover during ‘IDC’. Only Polo, oblivious to the situation, was beaming at the thought of making friends for Spark.

“Allover has members who compose too, you know. They said they were really inspired by watching Mr. Cheonghyeon. You don’t have a separate crew or anything, do you, Mr. Cheonghyeon?”

“No, Jeho hyung and I started out on the streets!”

“Are those the same thing...?”

Choi Jeho retorted dubiously. He sure made ‘coming from the street’ sound fancy. Though for being from that side, both of them were far too handsome.

Watching the cheerful-looking Polo, the blank-faced Choi Jeho, and the four fidgety members, I gritted my teeth.

“I’m sorry, but Allover sunbaenims are a no-go for my boys.”

“Huh?”

Polo looked at me, who had slammed on the gas out of nowhere.

Calm down, Kim Iwol. Speak sincerely and seriously, but don’t ruin the mood. You can do this. After putting Jeong Seongbin through so much during the ‘Worry Sharing Session,’ you should know how to control yourself by now!

“It’s because I ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) don’t have any friends! If these guys make new ones, I’ll be in trouble. We already have too many social butterflies in the group — if they all get new friends, I’ll end up all alone.”

You have no idea how hard it was to wrap my increasingly serious tone in humor. Honestly, I’m not even sure if it was wrapped well, but whatever.

“Mr. Iwol, what do you mean you don’t have friends! You have Mr. Jeho, and you’re close with the Verion members too!”

“I’m a greedy person, so I’m only satisfied when I have everything. I want everyone to think of me as their best friend. Please, think of this as saving one lost soul and let it go.”

At my solemn denunciation, Polo laughed until he was out of breath. Jeong Seongbin’s eyes flashed a message that said, “Do we really have to go this far?”

But we did have to go this far. Otherwise, after all that work stopping Lee Cheonghyeon from turning to painkillers, he’d just get caught up in some ridiculous controversy instead.

Seeing my desperation, Polo left a voice message for Allover saying, “Let’s protect Mr. Iwol’s friends.”

I, too, said I was sorry for being a petty person and that I hoped we could meet during their comeback. Not that I’d ever let that happen. You can say anything if you don’t mean it.

My back was damp with sweat. It was the most nerve-wracking radio show I’d been on since debut.

Staring at the opened delivery box in front of her, Won Chaehee was lost in thought. In her hand was an unopened album.

It wasn’t her first time buying albums by the box for fan-sign event raffles. If she bought this many, she could complete her photo card collection without any trades, unless her luck was absolutely terrible.

There was just one thing that was different from usual: Won Chaehee was holding one album, still sealed.

“Should I give this to Assistant Manager Yeo, or not?”

There’s always that one person you can’t forget from work. For Won Chaehee, it was Assistant Manager Yeo. Someone you respect so much you actually want to get closer to, not just as colleagues.

Usually, she’d just send a coffee gift card or buy a drink to say thanks, but this time she’d had the thought, “Since she said she liked the song, should I give her an album?”

“She was probably just trying to make small talk. Don’t jump the gun. You’re a working adult.”

Won Chaehee pulled the mask of society, which she had almost let slip, back over her face. Then, for tomorrow’s workday that she wasn’t looking forward to at all, she slowly pulled her blanket up.