—

The day after I gave the order, Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Giyeon bundled themselves up and went on a department store tour. To avoid leaking spoilers for Idol Annals of the Dynasty, I told them to pretend to take proof shots in front of the brands Lee Cheonghyeon modeled for. Naturally, sightings of them started popping up everywhere.

I was worried they might forget their real purpose while carrying out the camouflage mission, but it was a needless concern.

“The sound is a bit low, but audible. You won’t notice it if you aren’t conscious of it, but once you start paying attention, you hear it constantly.”

“On the other hand, in this department store, the background music gets completely buried by the sound of conversation if even a small crowd gathers in the lobby. It’s not exactly hectic, but there’s a chance we might lose the beat.”

“They have something called an ‘Integrated Broadcasting Center’ that controls the music for the entire store. One location uses an external audio company, so if that’s where the filming takes place, we’ll need to make inquiries early.”

“I heard they can turn the volume up, but because some individual shops play their own music, they can’t make the main volume too loud.”

They had done a thorough job with the research. As a reward, I handed each of them a handmade ‘One-time Nullification of Jeong Seongbin’s Patience’ coupon. Jeong Seongbin asked if I was allowed to issue such things so recklessly, but he kindly stamped the coupons anyway.

“Are you really planning to just rely on the background music?”

Choi Jeho’s question was laced with clear skepticism.

“Even if it’s for a broadcast, making a bunch of noise in a public place used by many people will only hurt our image. I have no intention of letting a ‘Controversy’ section be created on Spark’s Wiki page.”

On top of that, anything that could be prevented should be prevented. What if we’re recording in a place with unstable sound and the audio file cuts out or picks up noise?

But if we pre-record the background music, we wouldn’t have to worry. We could just add a clean track during post-production when the video was uploaded. If the issue was with the filming equipment or the site itself, the broadcasting station would handle that much.

“Once the specific branch is decided, let’s get the playlist first. Seongbin, work with Cheonghyeon to draft the comments. Juu, help Jeho and Giyeon.”

“We have to film the meeting scene the day after tomorrow. Hyung, what are you going to say you’re doing?”

“I’ll be the communications officer. From now on, all opinions go through me.”

With that, all preparations for the filming meeting were complete.

Those shameless broadcasting people... If they notify us that they’ve booked the department store with the worst facilities after all this, I’m going to pray for their viewership ratings to hit rock bottom.

Spark’s meetings always tended to stray from the production staff’s expectations.

“The important principles are as follows: providing a fresh stage experience Spark hasn’t shown before, securing immersion that can catch the eyes of passersby, and finally, refraining from causing noise.”

Even the meeting ahead of the fourth competition was no different. While everyone else was pouring out romanticized ideas of busking, Spark alone pursued a path of extreme realism.

“If we’re on the first floor, the music will be especially calm. We might have to set the concept to ‘Swan Lake’.”

“That won’t be easy...”

“I’d like to use the department store’s own playlist if possible, but if it doesn’t look like the stage will turn out pretty, let’s suggest other songs with a similar vibe.”

Whether Jeong Seongbin was flustered or not, Kim Iwol was dead serious. He even pushed his suggestions aggressively.

“We just go in, dance without a sound like a ghost, and leave. How about it?”

“What if we dance so quietly that nobody even realizes we were there?”

“The department store would love that. It wouldn’t be noisy.”

Then, Spark actually declared they would dance to instrumental music without a single lyric.

It was impossible not to think of it as a reckless challenge. However, the members were all fired up, saying they wouldn’t get another chance to do something like this if not now. Their passion was truly impressive.

The junior writer recalled the meeting scene of Parte, which had a completely opposite atmosphere. Voices had been raised, arguing about whose fault it was that the show was failing and whether they should even bother filming like this. If Han Gawoon hadn’t settled things down, a disaster might have occurred that day.

‘Honestly, even if this stage fails, it’ll be our fault.’

The writer thought to herself, swallowing her tears. Now she finally realized why almost none of the writers who were there for Season 1 remained when she was hired. When the broadcast was run so haphazardly and with such blatant bias, you couldn’t help but quit out of sheer disgust.

She couldn’t blame anyone but herself for not noticing the escape signals sooner. Vowing never to make the same mistake again, the junior writer even delayed her clock-out time—actually, she was slowly forgetting when her official clock-out time even was—and received and delivered the BGM playlist for the filming location Spark had requested in real-time. There were many hurdles to cross just to get one file, but she wanted to do at least that much for them quickly.

[Spark Lee Cheonghyeon]

– We couldn’t find anything past last year no matter how hard we looked, how did you get this so fast?!

– Thank you! You’re the best, Writer-nim!

[Spark Kim Iwol]

– Thank you for working hard until this late hour. We will do our best to prepare so we can repay your consideration!

– Have a peaceful night. See you on the day we film the practice scenes!

She didn’t know where they had managed to get a playlist from, but seeing their overflowing motivation, the junior writer tapped the ‘Best’ reaction on the last message from everyone who had texted her.

On the day of the practice room filming, which she had approached with a racing heart, she felt herself looking forward to the actual recording day after seeing Spark bring a composition that exceeded anything she had imagined.

“Please step away from the glass. Please.”

After learning what kind of stage the participants wanted to create, she wanted to help foster the atmosphere they desired, even if only a little.

She did her best to keep her voice calm as she repeated the same warnings for the umpteenth time to people who crossed the lines set up for filming or leaned against the high glass railings.

“What are you filming here?”

“We’ll be filming for about an hour.”

“What kind of shoot do you do in such a crowded department store? It’s such a hassle.”

Though the voice was full of complaint, the speaker’s gaze was already drifting past the writer’s shoulder toward the stage.

“We’ll be careful not to be noisy. We ask for your understanding.”

The junior writer replied with a smile.

Spark’s busking performance took place on a small stage set up on one side of the department store’s first floor. It was a spot usually used for pop-up events or luxury brand makeup demonstrations.

The space was cramped, but since they didn’t set up speakers or other equipment, they could use the area to its maximum. Around the time people began to take interest in the neatly arranged chairs, Spark appeared.

“Hello, we are Spark.”

Unlike their usual thunderous greeting, only Jeong Seongbin spoke the lines, while the other members substituted the group chant by bowing at the waist. After finishing the greeting, Spark sat side-by-side on simple, gold-colored metal chairs placed on the stage. A gentle piano accompaniment began to flow.

Their light-material white T-shirts, each with slightly different designs, and light beige pants gave a somewhat plain impression, but their elaborate makeup filled the gap. Dressed down to their brown suede loafers, they looked less like idols out for a busking session and more like logo-less clothing models targeting the younger generation.

After a short program intro, an introduction to the department store followed. One by one, the eyes of passersby were drawn to the crowd of cameras and bright lights.

“By the way, Mr. Giyeon, doesn’t the music we’re hearing right now sound familiar?”

At Jeong Seongbin’s words, Kang Giyeon made a gesture of listening closely. The sound of smartphone camera flashes and the chatter of groups momentarily subsided.

“It’s a familiar song. Where have I heard it?”

“Isn’t this that song? The pop song that became famous for its music video filmed in a snowy field.”

“That’s right. To be precise, it’s a piano arrangement of that song.”

The talk, reminiscent of an educational radio broadcast, wasn’t particularly exciting.

Just as a few people who had shown interest were about to turn away—

“They say certain music makes customers stay in a store longer, while other music induces faster actions.”

Jeong Seongbin’s soft voice was delivered at a modest volume.

“In that case, how about this next piece of music?”

As Jeong Seongbin finished his comment, the members began to take off their shoes one by one.

The sense that something was about to start stopped people who were about to walk away. The members at both ends handed their chairs off to staff outside the stage and cleared them away, leaving only the barefoot members on the empty stage. The flowing piano accompaniment stopped.

“Let’s listen together.”

The noise that had inevitably grown as the crowd gathered vanished completely at Jeong Seongbin’s barely audible voice.

From a distance, a new form of piano accompaniment and percussion slowly began to reveal their presence at a very low volume.

‘How about jazz dance?’

Kang Giyeon, who had been staring intently at the department store’s music list provided by the writer, had made a suggestion.

‘I think Contemporary Jazz... mixed with a Lyrical Jazz feel would suit it well.’ 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

‘Wait. Give me 5 minutes to search.’

‘For example, something like this.’

Kang Giyeon played a famous pop song and showed us a very artistic dance. It was significantly different in style from typical idol dancing.

‘Compared to the dances we’ve done, the movements might look slower or have more empty space, but it looks cool when done as a group. It’s also great for expressing things with just the body without vocals.’

‘No, Giyeon. You danced it alone and it was plenty cool.’

‘So you’re telling me to go out there by myself?’

Though he misinterpreted my words, Kang Giyeon collaborated with the roommates Choi Jeho and Park Juu, who were suspected of enjoying b-boying whenever they were bored, to create a high-level dance like a competition choreography. It was a task with a 100-star difficulty level that required splitting legs, rolling on the floor, and running and flying across the stage.

‘The connection between the dance and the music is strong, so viewers’ ears will naturally follow the music. The problem is...’

‘If all six of us don’t dance exactly the same, it’ll look distracting.’

Choi Jeho killed me with his words.

Two weeks since then. I sacrificed 280 hours of my life to the practice room of time and space, and...

—

[SYSTEM] A work order from ‘Superior’ has arrived.

▶ Assistant Manager Kim, you’re flying around now, aren’t you? I guess you’re all recovered? What did I tell you? I knew Assistant Manager Kim was faking it.

[SYSTEM] ‘Increase in Dance Proficiency’ is notified to the ‘Subordinate’.

Performance Evaluation (100)

— Vocal Proficiency: 14(▲) / 20

— Dance Proficiency: 12(▲) / 20

— Self-PR: 19(▲) / 20

— Attendance Management: 19(▼) / 20

— Organizational Adaptability: 18(▲) / 20

— Total Fatigue: 41%

—

...After painstaking effort, I was reborn as Kim Iwol, who, while not quite a Dance {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Master, had reached the level of a Rising Star.