The sound of wheels rolling over asphalt rang out.

『No need for a map』

Someone appeared on the screen riding a black skateboard. A broad back cut across the road.

『Meeting by chance

And becoming friends

That’s how you and I began』

As the man on the black board passed, a red-haired boy sitting by the roadside came into view. White socks pulled up to his ankles, and flashy sneakers with thick cushioning stood out.

『I believe in the destiny

That you proved』

Another person rode a board along a tree-lined path in a wide park. At first, only legs wearing shorts were visible, but soon his whole body appeared, topped with soft, cotton-doll-like lime-green hair. The board slid along the rail of a wooden deck.

『Whatever you want

To you, who dove right in

I’ll give you everything』

The background shifted to a cement wall and floor covered in graffiti. All six members appeared together.

Lee Soohoon was able to find Lee Cheonghyeon immediately. Lee Cheonghyeon had a unique look, with green mixed into the middle of his ambiguously blue hair.

His clothes looked like rags. His style was exactly like that of a classmate who claimed to buy clothes at vintage shops. The T-shirt printed with all sorts of things, including cats and pies, paired with faded grey jeans, made Lee Soohoon think many things.

The red-haired one, on the other hand, appeared in new clothes. Instead of neon sneakers, he wore a white hoodie and long, wide pants, with a yellow belt that hung lower than his shorts.

Cheonghyeon must have other outfits, too. Lee Soohoon chose to take comfort in that thought.

The sound of wheels scraping was heard again. Lee Cheonghyeon was caught on screen tilting his board and pulling off a flashy 360-degree spin. There were paint smudges on his face.

Just as Lee Soohoon expected, his clothes had changed. He was in a pair of well-fitting denim overalls. The splashes of various colors of paint weren’t great, but it was still better than the earlier outfit with the short-sleeved shirt and arm covers. The rap was too fast for Lee Soohoon to understand.

“Do people really grow their hair out like that?”

As Lee Cheonghyeon danced, the hair covering the nape of his neck fluttered in the wind. A refreshing, wide smile filled the screen.

『The memories are right here』

Next up was a fair-skinned person.

Lee Soohoon almost didn’t recognize him because his hair was dyed a deep pink. Wearing black latex gloves, he was diligently spraying paint onto a board.

『The scent of winter

The warmth of the sunlight

I know you gave them to me』

Lee Soohoon finally figured out the name of this man who kept catching his eye. According to the search bar, this person was “Kim Iwol.”

As if trying to draw a new design on the board, Kim Iwol applied masking tape to areas where the spray shouldn’t touch. The long strip of yellow masking tape Iwol tore away led into a rail marking on the next screen.

『Believe in the heart

That I will gift to you』

A blonde man rode his board excitedly in an urban skate park. His oversized shirt fluttered in the wind.

Starting with the blonde man standing in the center of the park, they gathered in the square one by one.

『Whatever you want

Not anyone else

I’ll look only at you』

The music had grown louder than before.

Lee Soohoon didn’t know exactly when the volume had increased, but it wasn’t to a distracting degree.

As Lee Soohoon nodded his head to the beat, a man entered his vision. It was the orange-haired one who had shown his face at the very beginning.

The man on the board tapped a wall with his wheels, came back down, and then leaped into the air. The board rose with him, spinning several times at a peculiar angle in mid-air.

『I will become

Your breathing room』

The video ended with a shot of someone’s shoe landing back on the wheels of the spinning board. Lee Soohoon plugged his charger into his phone and headed for bed.

“What’s up? You’re not going straight to sleep for once?”

His roommate, who was lying on the opposite bed watching videos on a tablet, asked.

“Had something to watch.”

“Did the academic notice go up?”

“No, a music video.”

“Whose?”

“Spark.”

Lee Soohoon expected the usual “Why are you watching stuff like that?” remark. But his roommate didn’t add anything else.

Lee Soohoon suddenly realized he’d never really asked his roommate questions before.

“What about you?”

“Huh?”

“What are you watching?”

“The LoL World Championship broadcast. Last year’s. Do you even know what LoL is?”

“I do.”

He had heard that word several times.

“Did you ask because you thought I wouldn’t know?”

“I doubt many people think you would know.”

He had °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° asked just in case, but the response was unexpected. Lee Soohoon was shocked.

“I’ve been watching a lot of popular culture content lately though?”

Seeing Lee Soohoon looking genuinely bewildered, his roommate said,

“I’ve never met anyone in my life who uses the phrase ‘popular culture content.’ It just means your interests... are a bit far from us ‘Muggles.’”

“Muggles?”

“Oh dear, Soohoon.”

The roommate shook his head.

“You didn’t watch that MV because you’re interested in it, did you?”

“If I wasn’t interested, I wouldn’t watch it.”

“Didn’t you watch it because your brother is in it?”

For the first time in his life, Lee Soohoon felt the sensation of his eyes snapping wide open. Furthermore, he didn’t know that families of celebrities often hid their relationships for various reasons. Lee Soohoon asked naively,

“How did you know?”

“Anyone who knows your face would know.”

“My brother said we don’t look alike, though.”

Lee Cheonghyeon resembled their mother, while Lee Soohoon resembled their father. That was what all their relatives said.

“Your impressions are different. You look like you’d have a soft personality based on your face, while Lee Cheonghyeon looks cold.”

“You even know his name?”

“You’d have to be a spy not to know Lee Cheonghyeon. If you meet someone who doesn’t know him, make sure to report them to the authorities, okay?”

Had Cheonghyeon become that famous? Even while wearing those ragged clothes?

“The guys didn’t know, but the girls were certain.”

“Why?”

“They said that aesthetically and statistically, you’re the only one who could be the brother.”

It was hard to understand. Yet the roommate seemed to have fully grasped the logic behind it.

It was too late to continue the conversation. Lee Soohoon quietly pulled up his blanket and lay down.

“Whatever you want...”

The uniquely accented part that repeated in the song he just heard kept coming to mind. Lee Soohoon thought about the song for a full 20 minutes before falling asleep.

Around the time of the title track release, Spark worked without a moment to breathe.

The results were proven through broadcasts. Forget once a day—every few hours, one of them was on TV.

Choi Jeho went from being a dance survival contestant to a judge just one year after his appearance last year. Jeong Seongbin, recognized for his ballads, landed a new drama OST. Kang Giyeon went to the countryside alone to do farm work and earned the nickname “Nature Boy” (presumably influenced by his time on the deserted island). Park Juu appeared on a radio show hosted by a music critic and chattered away about his deep musical tastes.

However, Lee Cheonghyeon, who had been flying high and shooting ads, was almost bedridden with worry until recently. It was because the new song felt different from Spark’s previous tracks.

“What on earth is the problem?”

“I admit the vibe is different, but the song is good, so isn’t that enough?”

“It won’t work if people don’t think ‘This is a Spark song’! Why? Where did it go wrong?”

As Lee Cheonghyeon nearly tore his hair out, I gently grabbed his wrists. I kindly told him there was nothing to worry about.

Lee Cheonghyeon’s music reflected what he saw and heard. “Starlight” and “Night,” which he arranged for IDC Seasons 1 and 2 respectively, were based on classical music, while “End” was based on the image of the sea he saw during vacation.

Lee Cheonghyeon wrote half of “Hideout” inside a car. Since working on the In My Office OST, he had developed a habit of focusing on external sounds rather than listening to music when riding in a car alone.

As a result, the things Lee Cheonghyeon heard most while writing the song were outside noise and...

“Street music.”

A studio track heard through earphones or personal devices sounds different from BGM played loudly outdoors, even if it was the same song. A person wearing a headset focused on the details of the audio and each individual instrument, whereas the ears of a person passing by a shop were grabbed by the hook, the vocals, and a strong drum beat. A song that felt noisy in headphones could feel exciting outdoors, while a track that seemed bland in a café could later reveal emotional depth when listened to closely.

Actually, after asking for the company’s understanding and playing “Hideout” only on the floor where the dedicated team was located...

“Oh?”

...I was able to confirm that the “impactful” parts—one of our existing strengths—remained intact, while the interlude that Lee Cheonghyeon had disliked for being crude flowed smoothly into the melody parts. In other words, it was perfect for being played everywhere once it charted.

Lee Cheonghyeon thought he had lost the Spark spirit, but it was the same as always, just with the emphasis placed elsewhere. The weight was shifted toward simplicity rather than sophistication, and there were definitely positive effects that followed such a change.

“Hideout charted immediately!”

“The performance of ‘Speaker’ is rising too...!”

Songs played on the streets possessed public appeal. And songs with public appeal were fundamentally addictive.

“Speaker,” which shared a similar emotional tone to “Hideout” but in a different genre, also rode the wave of the new release’s momentum and promotion.

Since the song was good to begin with, it was bound to be mentioned whenever there was an opportunity. This digital single release just happened to be that opportunity. Considering the nature of the album and MV as a breather, it was an absolutely perfect choice.

“Did you know it would turn out like this, hyung?”

Lee Cheonghyeon asked while looking at the charts.

“I just believed in your genius learning ability.”

Lee Cheonghyeon tended to rely on a vast amount of knowledge rather than animalistic intuition. It was just that his reaction speed from reaching a conclusion to creating the work was like a monster. If you were to ask him “Why did you make this decision?” and tear down the process one by one, you’d realize there was a reason inferred from big data behind every choice he made.

“Thanks to you, I have nothing to do.”

Even after hearing my silly joke, Lee Cheonghyeon beamed with a bright smile.