The next note was no less vicious.

“‘I condemn the act of eating chicken breast steak while calling it a cheat day.’ That’s the opinion submitted. What does everyone think?”

“But it’s normal food, isn’t it?”

“No, chicken breast isn’t normal food.”

Simple-minded Choi Jeho and logical Kang Giyeon clashed immediately.

“Did you write this?”

“It wasn’t me, but if something comes up when you search ‘diet food,’ it can’t possibly count as a cheat meal.”

The argument grew so heated that Kang Giyeon eventually stood up and passionately began making his case.

“Honestly, everyone agrees. It tastes similar, but it doesn’t taste the same.”

“Does it?”

“Giyeon, Iwol’s a human garbage disposal. If you explain it like that, he won’t understand.”

Lee Cheonghyeon chimed in. Park Juu, who had evolved beyond foodie into complete gourmet perfection, agreed with Kang Giyeon.

“So. You want to eat actual steak?”

“How would I know? I didn’t write the note.”

“You didn’t write it?”

Choi Jeho narrowed his eyes suspiciously. But Kang Giyeon looked perfectly confident. There wasn’t the slightest sign he was lying.

Kim Iwol, who had been quietly watching the situation unfold, turned toward Lee Cheonghyeon.

“Cheonghyeon.”

“Yeah?”

“So you didn’t really like the soybean hamburger steak either?”

Without a word, Lee Cheonghyeon turned his back on Kim Iwol.

“Then why did Kang Giyeon react like that?”

“He probably secretly felt the same way.”

Kim Iwol kindly explained things to the confused Choi Jeho.

“I think our team seriously lacks food lovers. Don’t you guys feel joy from eating? Doesn’t good food make you happy?”

As though he’d given up trying to hide it, Lee Cheonghyeon abruptly shot to his feet.

“Once a month for cheat day is fine! I’m not even asking for more dates. But for one day—just one meal—shouldn’t we at least be allowed to eat whatever we want?”

“We don’t decide each other’s menus. It’s free choice.”

“You call it free choice, but when all of you are eating chicken breast, how are we supposed to order pizza?!”

Lee Cheonghyeon smacked his chest while glaring at Jeong Seongbin like he couldn’t believe anyone dared use the phrase “free choice.”

More importantly, one free meal per month. Baek Haewon was once again reminded that these idols were famous management-idols for a reason.

“You can just order it.”

“Jeho, we have social awareness too!”

“It seriously doesn’t matter.”

“I know! I know you guys wouldn’t care! We’re the ones who feel pressured!”

Choi Jeho and Kim Iwol took turns driving Lee Cheonghyeon insane. Behind them, Kang Giyeon quietly muttered in agreement.

“I...... sometimes want to eat delicious food too.......”

“Juu.”

“Hm?”

“Soft tofu set meals do not qualify as party food by mine and Kang Puppy’s standards.”

“Ah.......”

“Yeah, Juu. Soft tofu set meals are things you can eat normally anytime.”

Kim Iwol comforted Park Juu. Was it actually real that Park Juu’s cheat food was soft tofu set meals? Memories flashed through Baek Haewon’s mind of immediately ordering tteokbokki after successfully ticketing a concert.

“So Cheonghyeon wants everyone to eat something delicious together on cheat day?”

“‘Delicious according to the younger members’ standards.’”

“Right. Delicious according to the younger members’ standards. What do Iwol and Jeho think?”

“I’m not picky, so I’ll follow the others’ opinions.”

“Ah, hyung!”

“Hyung? Cheonghyeon, we’re friends.”

While Jeong Seongbin tried to keep the discussion moving, Kim Iwol and Lee Cheonghyeon immediately started fighting. It was the messiest brawl imaginable.

“Then tell us what counts as delicious to you guys. That way we can decide.”

Choi Jeho stepped in to mediate. Lee Cheonghyeon cleared his throat, then began speaking crisply like a student at a speech contest.

“Spicy stir-fried chicken on a hot plate with fried rice afterward, shabu-shabu with kalguksu noodles added in, pasta with extra noodles and shrimp, extra-large jajangmyeon with a big sweet-and-sour pork, adding self-made rice balls when ordering tteokbokki, and being allowed to order soybean paste stew as dessert after cold noodles.”

“Isn’t that way too many carbs?”

“Iwol, I’m talking right now.”

As the endless feast of menu items continued, Park Juu’s face gradually turned pale. It looked like he was imagining himself eating all of it.

“I was kind of disappointed about that too.......”

Jeong Seongbin shyly joined in with a smile. Kim Iwol looked genuinely shocked.

“You guys eat that much?”

“It’s not that we’re big eaters. Everyone else in the world eats this much. You’re just the weird one for treating jjolmyeon like a luxury meal.”

“Jeho eats that much too...... I see.”

Kim Iwol understood immediately. The discussion surrounding cheat days ended with full respect being given to the younger members’ opinions.

After that, all kinds of notes continued exposing Spark’s bottled-up grievances to the world. Things like: If you upload a new document to the shared folder, please give editing permissions properly, and Thanks for putting deodorizer in the borrowed shoes, but it’d be even nicer if you told me first because I washed these shoes three times and they still smell like lilacs, and so on...... Every single complaint was ridiculously trivial.

“This is the last note. I’ll read it!”

Jeong Seongbin pulled out the final slip remaining in the box.

“I can see people skipping a few seconds during stretching, but let’s fill the full time properly. Skipping a few moves doesn’t dramatically increase practice time.”

“The way this is written sounds like Iwol.”

“Wasn’t Iwol the one who wrote the shared folder note earlier?”

Kim Iwol shrugged. Only the members fell into confusion. Lee Cheonghyeon immediately interrogated Choi Jeho.

“I’m asking just in case, but Jeho, you didn’t have Iwol ghostwrite this for you, right?”

“Who hires a ghostwriter for a note they’re submitting at a concert?”

“A concert? This is a class meeting.”

Choi Jeho laughed in disbelief at Lee Cheonghyeon’s response.

“Maybe...... Seongbin?”

“Seongbin wouldn’t say it this firmly. Our Seongbin is way too nice.”

Kang Giyeon immediately defended Jeong Seongbin. The leader really did seem beloved. As for how beloved the older members were...... that was another matter.

“I do agree that stretching properly is important. You can never do too much warmup.”

Even while smiling, Jeong Seongbin sided with the mystery note writer. Even tiny details like this showed how diligent his personality was.

“Still, the message itself is warm. It’s just someone worrying about their friends’ health.”

“Giyeon, are you mocking me right now for condemning cheat days?”

“You really don’t let people talk.”

Not a single note attacked another person, yet the members continued bickering nonstop. Watching them argue over pointless things made them look exactly like ordinary students.

“Everyone remembered your classmates’ opinions properly, right? Next meeting time, let’s have the people who wrote the notes personally explain why they submitted them. That concludes today’s meeting!”

Fortunately, the class meeting ended in a bright and {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} wholesome atmosphere. As soon as Jeong Seongbin finished speaking, the school bell rang.

The next meeting time probably referred to this exact time tomorrow during the concert.

Just as Baek Haewon praised herself once again for successfully getting tickets for both days—

“Hey, move the desks!”

“Hurry up and clean everything up!”

The members carried the desks and chairs toward the edge of the stage. Staff members waiting out of sight quickly came and took away the half-cleared props.

It was rare for idols to move stage props themselves.

Especially during concerts.

“Was it to maintain the concept?”

As Baek Haewon wondered in confusion, the massive black curtain covering the back of the stage suddenly dropped......

And a dazzling set of band instruments appeared.

≫ The existence of Idol Annals of the Dynasty (IAD) is justified solely because it produced “Speaker”

Trash-tier survival show, but I’ll 인정 that achievement

└ I disagree. I’m furious Spark’s debut stage for “Speaker” was wasted on Idol Annals of the Dynasty (IAD)

└ The post is right and the comment is right

≫ People who haven’t seen “Speaker”: Why does this video have so many views?

People who have seen “Speaker”: Why does this video have so few views?

└ Fact: the view trend already surpassed survival show levels ages ago

└ Every human who used to obsess over 90s rock bands came swarming in, of course the views explodedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ It already makes no sense that a nineteen-year-old wrote a song with this kind of emotional vibe, but then a twenty-year-old vocalist woke up every music nerd sleeping in their coffinsㅋㅋㅋ

≫ If they release just two or three more songs like “Speaker,” couldn’t Spark genuinely start a band-idol syndrome?

We already know they’re good at their main jobs, but there honestly hasn’t been another band this talked about lately

└ Absolutely possible

└ Might be difficult because of the non-major members’ skill level

└└ Seeing how far they got in just one year, it’s not an impossible long-term direction

≫ Why “Speaker” is a masterpiece

It understands exactly what point makes people’s hearts race

The moment the intro starts, emotions from another era come flooding back

Even though I wasn’t even born in that era......

└ That last lineㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ True, it awakens nostalgia for a time I never lived through

└ That’s why they’re getting insane support from people in their 30s and 40sㅋㅋㅋ

└ Meanwhile the fact younger fans in their teens and twenties don’t even call it old-fashioned proves it’s legendary

≫ Guys, “Speaker” has started getting picked up by the global algorithm

Don’t lose to the English comments

Let’s show the strength of Koreans

└ jijimalja

└ What the hell is thatㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Her heart began pounding.

Every step Kim Iwol took toward the white bass echoed like a heartbeat inside her head. Wide shoulder straps settled over the white school shirt he wore.

Park Juu placed the microphone stand he had dragged out from backstage at the center. At some point while nobody was paying attention, he had apparently removed his shirt jacket; he now wore only a white short-sleeved T-shirt, thin leather belt, and school uniform pants.

Choi Jeho loosened his tie and struck the snare.

≫ More than anything else, the drummer’s sense of rhythm was insane

A first-year idol learned timing control this well already??

This is the kind of talent heaven personally ordained to play drums, I’m not even jealous

With that kind of power backing him up, the sound quality’s incredible too......ㅋㅋ naturally gifted physicals really are unfair

Blue veins rose across the backs of Kim Iwol’s pale hands as he gripped the chords. Lee Cheonghyeon, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, placed both hands on the keyboard.

≫ The keyboard and bass were the hand of God

The song itself is a masterpiece and the vocalist is beyond human, but the only reason this rookie band could maintain balance was because the melody and bass players were putting on a veteran-level circus act

The song demands an insane amount of skill, and because the vocalist’s range is so wide, the amount of support and note coverage needed from the instruments is absurd—but they perform all of it perfectly live and in band style

The keyboard still has a slight sense of classical fundamentals (and even that only feels humanizing; you’d never guess this person changed genres,,) but like the critics said, the bassist is on a level that devours professionals

People always say talented bassists get snatched away immediately, and at this level they’d usually be kidnapped on sight

Jeong Seongbin and Kang Giyeon plucked their strings at the exact same moment.

≫ When teaching beginner guitar students, we always emphasize fundamentals, and these guitarists demonstrate exactly why

If you obsess over flashy speed, precision inevitably falls apart

Just seeing how faithfully they handle their roles without missing notes makes it hard to believe they’re beginners...... especially because this is not an easy song

Using two guitars for parts that could’ve been overshadowed by the other sessions and assigning them clearly defined roles was a really smart choice

“Entangled people,

boiling noise, 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

a sound that pierces

through the middle.”

The accompaniment roared loud enough to rupture ears. The lights burned so brilliantly they felt scorching.

“I’ll keep shouting until you hear me,

so pay attention now.”

And Park Juu’s voice tore straight through all that chaos at once, like chains scraping across a steel wall.

“I’m talking to you,

and if you still refuse to listen—”

≫ Did Korea always have a vocalist like this......?

I literally can’t believe what I’m hearing

Then I heard he’s only twenty and lost my mind even harder

In front of overwhelming talent, logic becomes unnecessary

Park Juu gripped the microphone mounted on the stand tightly.

Baek Haewon saw it clearly. She saw the voice Park Juu dragged upward travel along the veins in his neck and spread all the way to the tip of his jaw.

“speak louder

there’s no choice but to go louder.”

If songs had colors, then the highlight of “Speaker” would have been red.

Like Park Juu’s burning face.

Like a lighthouse that never goes dark, even above a black-blue sea.