The impact of becoming the public favorite among public favorites was immense. “Hideout” held the No.1 spot on the charts longer than any other Spark song to date.

Once it started playing in shops across the country, it spread to listeners like an infection. On top of that, “Speaker” steadily hovered between second and third place, maintaining its position.

Lee Cheonghyeon had worried that momentum might drop while he was away taking the college entrance exam, but that never happened. Even on the final broadcast after his return, “Hideout” took home the first-place trophy.

Then came the concert announcement and the start of pre-sales, and Sparklers ignited beyond control.

≫ There’s too much to do

Gotta watch music shows, watch original content, watch lives, buy SG, do ticketing

└ I had a good impression of Spark but now I’m disappointed. They’re trying to ruin Sparklers’ social lives so we can’t even attend year-end gatherings

≫ I thought they’d rest in the second half because of IAD but I underestimated them

└ Honestly the second half feels even busier......ㅋㅋ

≫ “You don’t have enough time to do comeback, SG, and concert all at once at the end of the year?”

Then just start preparing SG two years in advance

└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ They started preparing the “Hideout” album before IAD tooㅋㅋ

└ They basically went all-in on concert prep in Q4 but the timing makes it look like last-minute crammingㅋㅋ

≫ I trust Spark

I believe they’ll get every Sparkler at least one concert seat

└ Even Iwol can’t pull that off;;;;

I wanted to help somehow, but it was impossible. Ticketing had always been the hardest part, even in the past. I could maybe secure a seat or two for someone, but beyond that was out of the question.

Idols couldn’t just hand out concert tickets through repost events either. All we could do was pray that everyone would get their “grapes” quickly without server issues.

Ah—speaking of tickets.

“Jukyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Did you not take any invitation tickets for the members?”

The concert seating chart that was about to be uploaded didn’t have a single reserved invitation section. Maximizing fan seating was admirable—and we were planning to do that—but... don’t people usually invite family?

“Oh, we decided to convert all of it into fan seating.”

“...Was that because I suggested reducing invitations?”

“No, not that! The members wanted it.”

Jukyung looked startled, but the uneasy feeling didn’t go away.

‘Jeong Seongbin has a lot of friends.’

I still vividly remembered Seongbin and his twenty friends at graduation. It was also strange that they hadn’t invited Seongjun, who practically had a stake in half of Spark’s content.

“You guys didn’t request any invitation tickets?”

When I asked in the practice room, they all rushed to explain.

“Our families said they absolutely couldn’t make it!”

Like Seongbin, whose entire family apparently worked weekends...

“And the DVD’s coming out anyway.”

...or Choi Jeho, who said they could just watch it next year. None of the reasons held up. Forget everything else—who gives their family a DVD instead of inviting them? At least think about giving them a Blu-ray setup.

The real reason came from Park Juu, who called me over to the water dispenser and hesitated for a long time before confessing.

“...We all decided not to invite anyone.”

“Why?”

“....”

“Don’t tell me it’s because I’m the only one without family to invite. That’s not it, right?”

“....”

“Are you serious?”

Park Juu avoided my gaze.

“No matter what, you should invite your families! It’s your first concert!”

I kicked open the practice room door and shouted.

“Still—”

“What do you mean ‘still’! Am I not inviting anyone because I don’t have family? I’m not inviting them because I don’t want to see them! Are people who wouldn’t come the same as those who want to? Call them right now!”

“Still—”

“What do you mean ‘still’! Am I not inviting anyone because I don’t have family? I’m not inviting them because I don’t want to see them! Are people who wouldn’t come the same as those who want to? Call them right now!”

“My sister said she’d do ticketing.”

“Stop talking nonsense and send a message right now.”

I checked Choi Jeho’s phone and sent Jeong Seongbin upstairs as a messenger. Before long, he returned with the news that invitation tickets had been secured.

“Your temper hasn’t changed at all. You’ve been quiet lately, so I thought you’d mellowed out.”

Lee Cheonghyeon clapped with an incredulous expression.

“How many did you reserve?”

“Two. For my dad and my brother. If they don’t come, I’ll return them.”

“Okay.”

“Why aren’t you inviting your mom and sibling? Aren’t you getting scolded for that?”

“I excluded people I don’t want to invite. What’s there to be scolded for?”

Maybe he thought I had taken his side—Lee Cheonghyeon leapt onto my back.

“What about you, Juu?”

I asked Park Juu, who was sitting blankly with his phone in hand.

“...My aunt’s family is all coming.”

“Book them a place to stay. It’ll be hard if they have to travel long distance after the concert.”

Park Juu looked at me quietly, then smiled faintly.

“Okay.”

It was a simple reply.

There was an overwhelming amount to prepare for a concert.

Being idols didn’t just mean practicing a fixed setlist. We had to measure outfits multiple times, review constantly changing stage movements one by one.

We also had to prepare events to insert in between. Talk time had already been set aside, so we only needed to decide the topics.

While brainstorming content that could get a good reaction without overlapping with what we’d shown at the fan meeting...

“Watching debut-era videos...?”

“Juu, I’m sorry. I can’t be on your side this time.”

...Park Juu made a disastrous suggestion. I hadn’t seen Jeong Seongbin that firm in a while. For the record, I was against it too.

“What about speaking casually time?”

Next, Kang Giyeon spoke up.

“Didn’t we already do that once?”

“We did, but it was really short. And everyone held back.”

“Giyeon, did we do something to upset you?”

At my question, Giyeon waved both hands.

“No, it’s not that! I saw comments saying people were disappointed it was too short.”

That part was true. It had been an improvised segment during the training camp, so it barely lasted a few lines. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

“If we’re doing it again, we need improvements. Like you said, we need something that encourages more intensity.”

“Do we really have to say negative things...? I don’t have complaints about the members....”

Park Juu said, but improvement was necessary.

Spark, by nature, wasn’t suited to hierarchy-breaking dynamics. If we tried something like that, it would just turn into half-hearted casual speech.

“You don’t have to complain. But it still needs to be entertaining. Otherwise, let’s think of a different idea.”

There were many suggestions about trying something new. Unit stage plans changed daily, so there was no end to revisions. Kang Giyeon, in charge of meeting notes, had already turned on a recorder early on.

After a long discussion, we had jajangmyeon as our last meal before the concert. The managers lamented that just jajangmyeon wasn’t enough before going on a strict diet. Meat could be replaced with chicken breast or beef, but carbs and oil together had no substitute.

Just as I reached for the sweet and sour pork, a notification popped up in the group chat. It was from the dedicated team.

Spark Planning – Jukyung

[Regarding the year-end music festival stage...... View more]

Several of us immediately put down our chopsticks. Only Choi Jeho kept eating calmly, screen open.

“You know, after the concert, we have to go straight into year-end stages the next week.”

Lee Cheonghyeon said, staring at his phone.

“Right.”

“Would a week be too short to prepare?”

His voice trembled—he must have seen the time allocated to us.

“Nowhere near enough.”

At my answer, the room fell silent. As if on cue, they pushed aside their bowls and reopened their laptops. I had to scold them for thirty minutes just to make them finish eating first.

The college entrance exam was over. Baek Haewon had officially become one of the “freest seniors on Earth.”

The past week had been nothing short of madness. Her test slip was worn out from being stamped everywhere, and on weekends she stayed up until dawn watching videos before waking up in broad daylight.

People said doing nothing made you lazy, but for her, there was something to do every day. She had to catch up on missed content and memorize fan chants she hadn’t learned before. She couldn’t go to the concert unprepared.

‘I deserve praise for securing all-con.’

That’s right.

Baek Haewon had secured tickets for both days of the concert!

While her friends booked train tickets for trips, she bit her nails and fought through ticketing. And she succeeded. That evening, with tickets for both the opening and final concerts in hand, she rewarded herself with spicy tteokbokki.

The next day, she immediately bought another lightstick. She couldn’t ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ stand having even one hand free. She also pulled out her go-to concert bag. Inside, her handheld fan, power bank, and file folder for slogans were already waiting.

How long had it been since she last saw Spark in person? She could barely remember.

She had preordered the Season’s Greetings, but delivery was still far away. For someone rich in free time but lacking content, she needed new material.

Hurry up and release concert merch. Someone host a fan event. Otherwise I’ll do it myself....... She refreshed social media every ten minutes, occasionally reporting scalpers trying to resell tickets.

≫ They’ll perform “Speaker,” right???

└ Please

└ “Speaker,” please

└ Those IAD bastards only got to see “Speaker” live themselves

≫ I started running from today just for the concert

Offlines are all about stamina

└ Seriously, if you don’t have stamina, even getting there is hard if you live far away

└ Thank god it’s seated standing...... otherwise I’d have to aim for second floor

The shared excitement of liking the same idol.

For Baek Haewon, the sense of belonging within the fandom was just as joyful as the thrill of supporting idols. Talking about things she loved never got boring.

She also got updates from a newly mutual-followed fansite master, “Jjaei.”

≫ I want to prepare something for the opening concert

Any good ideas?

I...... would be satisfied with just one photo you upload.......

After liking the new photo posted with the tweet, Baek Haewon carefully left a composed comment.

└ Just being in the same venue as Jjaei makes me happy.

Ha, she restrained herself. She patted herself on the back.

And on the first day of the concert, Jjaei—one of the most well-known fansite masters in Spark’s fandom—and the original-generation Sparkler known as Handsome Hunter would meet by fate, seated side by side.