The aftereffects of the sexy concept craze were severe. Agonized groans could be heard everywhere.

“Sparklers always tell us they like whatever we do, right? But there are definitely concepts they like more. I’m sure of it.”

“The difference in the cheering volume was.......”

At the blunt observations from Kang Giyeon and Park Juu, the Sparklers lost all dignity. They really wished the members would pretend not to notice things like that.

Next came Jeong Seongbin and Park Juu’s friendship duet.

It was already a familiar pairing, but today’s unit stage carried a special meaning.

While the two of them were splitting the OST Jeong Seongbin had released for the first time, the volume of the instrumental faded low during the interlude and.......

“Seongbin.”

......a VCR from Park Juu suddenly began playing without warning.

“Were you surprised? I wanted to do a surprise event, but I didn’t think I could fool you...... so I’m filming this now, ten hours before the concert.”

Even while doing something that was either timid or absurdly bold, Park Juu looked bright and cheerful.

“......It still feels like a dream that the two of us, who spent our trainee days together, are standing side by side at a concert today, singing your song together.”

The Sparklers, who had been laughing at Park Juu’s antics, slowly changed expression.

After Jeong Seongbin released an OST first and began doing solo stages in In My Office OST and Idol Annals of the Dynasty (IAD), public opinion trying to drive a wedge between the two had increased significantly. If not for Kim Iwol’s issue, rumors of conflict caused by unequal push and promotion would probably have exploded first.

“Even when we’re not preparing for concerts, you always tell me I can say whatever I want to you whenever I want. Maybe you thought that was enough.......”

Park Juu spoke in his usual slow voice, but gentler than ever before.

“My wish is...... to keep singing and dancing forever with the members, on the stage we’re standing on right now.”

The Park Juu onstage looked toward Jeong Seongbin. Jeong Seongbin couldn’t take his eyes off the screen.

Every Sparkler knew how desperately Jeong Seongbin wanted people to hear Park Juu sing.

Whenever Park Juu uploaded a cover song, Jeong Seongbin was the first to listen. Whenever they filmed karaoke content, he always shoved the remote and microphone into Park Juu’s hands first. And now Park Juu was saying this to him.

“To my one and only, most precious friend in the world, Seongbin. Thank you for asking me to become an idol.”

That he loved the life he had now more than anything.

Jeong Seongbin’s shoulders shook as he cried. Park Juu had to sing the second verse alone. Patting his friend on the shoulder, he finished singing the song that his friend had, for the first time, offered to the world by himself.

The vocal stage full of tears and the rap stage overflowing with exhilaration showcased the youngest members’ insane diction. Wearing post-apocalyptic protective suits layered with all kinds of gear, Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Giyeon delivered a full-fledged rap performance so good it was dizzying.

During the instrumental break, when Kang Giyeon stripped off the top half of his protective suit and tied it around his waist, people everywhere grabbed their heads in agony.

And when Lee Cheonghyeon suddenly stopped dancing and walked toward the audience, everyone was too stunned to even scream. Fans had seen him at fan signs, offline events, the ride home, even music shows. But Lee Cheonghyeon, fully styled specifically for a concert, looked like a masterpiece painting come to life. People suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to join the underground organization supposedly founded and exclusively occupied by Kim Iwol himself: the Lee Cheonghyeon Love Association.

After the song ended, another video began playing. Lee Cheonghyeon, with light purple hair, sat in a park with a laptop open in front of him.

“Hyung, he’s shooting bubbles at the kids over there.”

Bright spring weather. Faded lavender hair. Formal speech heard for the first time in ages outside official schedules.

It was Lee Cheonghyeon from debut days.

The camera turned toward the fountain. Kang Giyeon was standing among a group of children, firing bubble guns with one in each hand.

“Jeho hyung, it’s raining.......”

“You want me to make kimchi pancakes?”

“Yes......!”

As though this had happened many times before, Park Juu confidently requested kimchi pancakes while Choi Jeho naturally rose from the sofa. Park Juu stayed glued to the frying pan the entire time Choi Jeho poured in the batter.

“Seongbin, what are you doing?”

“Decorating my notebook.”

Everyone burst out laughing the moment the familiar notebook appeared. Saying they were stickers Choi Jeho had brought from Gwangju, Jeong Seongbin carefully peeled them off one by one and stuck them into the notebook. The arrangement honestly wasn’t very pretty.

“Hyung, give me the camera.”

“You want to film up close?”

“No, I want to film you.”

“Me? Why?”

“You’re the only one not in the shot.”

After the reluctant response, Kim Iwol appeared onscreen. Fans went wild at the sight of him in an ordinary T-shirt and sweatpants. They had seen Natural Concept Kim Iwol before, but Truly Natural Kim Iwol was rarer than wild ginseng.

“What kind of pose would you like?”

“Uh...... I feel like anything I do will look awkward.”

“Please make a hand heart.”

Back during debut days, Kim Iwol had constantly been asked to make hand hearts. It was because even if he was holding something, he would still set it down and use both hands properly.

Even when the members were alone together in the dorm, Kim Iwol always made hearts with both hands. His slightly embarrassed smile filled the giant screen.

Then the sound of a piano flowed through the speakers......

“I remember you,

the one who watched over me”

......and the opening line of “Third Letter” began.

The members, seated side by side on the platform chairs, picked up their microphones one after another.

“At the end of every drawing,

you were always there.

To meet you,

I kept drawing and drawing,

even in my dreams.

You, and us.”

“This hand,

wondering if someone would take it,

I carefully held it out

with a trembling heart.”

“And someone held it.

That hand was so warm,

I wanted to hold on forever

and keep running.”

“I erased and erased again,

and wandered so far around,

but still......

won’t you listen to me?”

The memory of hearing “Third Letter” for the first time came flooding back. Back then, just the fact that the members had released a fan song had been enough to move everyone to tears. But the current Baek Haewon understood the true weight behind the lyrics now.

Kim Iwol raised his microphone.

“Please tell me

it’s okay to give you this heart.”

The past two years of Kim Iwol trying to show only good sides of himself to the fans flashed by. No fan who had witnessed all that effort could possibly turn away.

“Please let me give it a name.”

Everyone knew that every step Kim Iwol took was for the fans. Giving them the nickname “Sparklers,” putting titles on every one of Spark’s songs—none of that was possible without affection. Without immense affection.

“Love.”

Kim Iwol’s eyes met the fans’. Eyes black as space curved into a smile toward them.

The emotional roller coaster dragged both Baek Haewon and over fifteen thousand Sparklers up and down without pause. The travel pack of tissues she had brought just in case had completely run out.

Even after the fan song listening session ended and it was time for comments, the Sparklers were still sobbing uncontrollably. They knew too vividly every twist and turn that had happened between the release of “Third Letter” and now. The flustered members desperately tried comforting the crying fans, but it was hopeless. From the first floor seats to the restricted-view seats on the third floor, the entire venue had become an ocean of tears.

“Sparklers, if you keep crying like this, we can’t show you the next content!”

At Lee Cheonghyeon’s firm words, the tears stopped almost miraculously. Choi Jeho laughing like he found it absurd while still telling everyone to stop crying made people want to arrest him on the spot.

Baek Haewon hurriedly wiped away her tears.

Because Sparklers were good people.

Then a chalkboard drawing appeared before the admirable audience. A piece of chalk slowly moved across the board, writing out words.

[Break Time]

When the stage lit up again, desks and chairs had been set out. Spark, now changed into school uniforms, entered one by one from the edge of the stage.

While the other members sat down, Jeong Seongbin dragged in a whiteboard. Then he wrote “Class Meeting” across it in huge letters.

“Guys, we need to have a meeting now. Can everyone focus?”

The instant they heard Jeong Seongbin speaking casually, everyone realized it.

A skit!

“Class president, why does our class have meetings so often?”

Lee Cheonghyeon raised his hand to ask. There was genuine sincerity in his complaint.

“If there had been fewer complaints submitted, this wouldn’t have happened. But the complaint box was completely full, so we had no choice.”

Jeong Seongbin shook the small box sitting on the desk.

“So today, we’re going to spend time resolving our classmates’ complaints. I hope everyone thinks carefully and helps as if they were your own problems.”

“Can I submit a complaint about ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ us having too many meetings next week?”

“Sure. I’ll pass it along to the teacher.”

Lee Cheonghyeon slowly lowered his hand at Jeong Seongbin’s merciless response. After confirming there were no more complainers, Jeong Seongbin pulled a note from the box.

“Here’s the first complaint. ‘I wish people wouldn’t stare so hard whenever we get break time during gym class.’”

“Juu.”

“It’s Juu, isn’t it?”

Kim Iwol and Kang Giyeon’s gazes simultaneously turned toward Park Juu. His flustered face was blown up massively across all three screens, including the main display.

“I...... it’s not me......!”

“You’re the only person who would ever say something like that.”

At Choi Jeho’s firm response, Park Juu’s face turned bright red.

“It actually is me.......”

“You could’ve at least tried denying it a little harder......!”

Jeong Seongbin sounded genuinely heartbroken, which somehow made it even funnier. Their friendship was truly beautiful.

“It’s because you guys stare too much.......”

“We do?”

Kim Iwol asked back. Park Juu nodded violently.

“We’re just timing it.”

“You stare even after setting the timer.......”

“If you’re late, the break time gets wasted.”

“Sometimes I want just ten more seconds to rest.......”

The lopsided back-and-forth between Choi Jeho and Park Juu was fascinating. The funny thing was that although Park Juu was clearly at a disadvantage, he never actually lost.

“You guys love exercising! I just kind of like it......!”

“No, we don’t love it either.”

“Don’t lie.”

At Kim Iwol’s reply, Park Juu’s expression instantly went cold. The icy aura matching his natural visuals practically poured off him.

“That can’t be explained as anything except love.”

Lee Cheonghyeon leaned backward laughing. It was a reaction of absolute agreement.

“But you like arm workouts, Juu.”

“That’s not the only thing we do.......”

Kang Giyeon tried to calm him down, but failed. Park Juu genuinely looked miserable.

“It’s not that I hate working out. I’ll still work hard. I just wish the break times were a little longer.......”

“So being stared at made you feel pressured?”

“No, it’s just that Iwol and Jeho’s eyes are scary.......”

Even Jeong Seongbin’s attempt to soften things failed. The camera zoomed in one after another on Kim Iwol and Choi Jeho’s eyes. The sharp upward slant of the older members’ eyes looked downright terrifying aimed at Park Juu. All anyone could do was pray for the main vocalist’s safety after this segment ended.