≫ The fact that the Daesang team and the team with the highest stage views are always different really never changes

The fact that Spark’s stage has overwhelmingly the highest views even though it was the longest performance in the middle of that garbage paid voting system says a lot

At this point this year’s Music Festival was basically a Spark solo concert

└ First place... first place!

└ There were so many fandoms talking shit when the cue sheet first dropped and people saw “11 minutes,” but the second the stage aired they all disappeared lol

└ Seriously though, why wouldn’t Spark deserve 11 minutesㅠ They carried all the best moments in “Royal Secretariat,” both double title tracks and “Hideout” hit No. 1, so they earned it, didn’t they??

└ Fr though, people still could not tell after MBC’s official MeTube account kept uploading Cheon Yunseong fancams and Hwang Jeho behind-the-scenes compilations? lol

└└ Especially when the exclusive report even came from TVMㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

≫ I honestly think I will keep remembering that final live encore stage forever

People already acknowledged how good the members are live, so I thought there was no need to brag more, but I retract that statement. I need to keep screaming about it until my throat gives out

└ Seeing comments from non-idol fans saying they keep replaying it makes me so proudㅠㅠ

≫ One-line review of the Music Festival: Did ㅅㅁㅇ really need to be center...?

They hyped him up as genius center, visual center, gave him every title imaginable, called him the entrance to the divine temple or whatever, but now that he is gone you cannot even tell the difference ㅁㅇ-ah what happened to you

└ Thanks to Minil’s parts being redistributed, Gawoon got rediscovered, so happy Naos hand (1/10000000)

└ Happy Naos hand (2/10000000)

└ Happy Naos hand (3/10000000)

└ Minil-ah! You cannot sing for shit, yet you begged so hard for killing parts, and this is how it ended! I am not even remotely sad, goodbye!!!

└└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

≫ People only dragged Spark online saying they were MBC’s favorite sons. The actual venue was basically a party...ㅋㅋㅋㅋ “Hideout” did not stay No. 1 on the year-end charts all the way to the final broadcast for nothing except one comeback stage

There was literally nobody not singing alongㅋㅋㅋ And “Speaker” goes without saying

└ I am a complete dance maniac, so I was a little disappointed when I saw “Acoustic ver.” written next to “Hideout” on the cue sheet... but it ended up being so emotional and good, my feelings got fully recharged

└ I am jealous of everyone who attended live... I can sing fan chants really well too...

└ The volume of people singing along in all the audience videosㅋㅋㅋ It looked so funㅠㅠㅠ

≫ Thirty-something old man watched the Music Festival for the first time in a while

I stopped watching because there were fewer and fewer songs I recognized and the stages stopped being entertaining, but I randomly turned it on for the first time in forever and Spik was really good...

Been looking up their songs ever since I saw them perform with a band

People around my age would probably feel pretty nostalgic too

└ Spark?

└└ Yeah, that. I messed up the most important part of the name;;;

└└└ Maybe because the song title is “Speaker”? Looking it up now, “Speaker” is the band songㅋㅋ

└└└└ Why are their names so confusing

└└└└└ Be grateful they are short. Do you even know what title trends are like these days???

└ I relate to not recognizing songs anymore, and there are not many stages worth watching either

└└ Whenever they bring out giant CG sets and stuff, instead of thinking it looks cool I just go, What even is that...? Guess I really am getting old

Spark wrapped up the year surrounded by praise.

And as the new year began, several changes followed.

First, the youngest members turned twenty. Which meant Spark had officially become an all-adult group.

As a result, the team rules became more detailed. Before, there had been an unspoken trust that the older members would naturally restrain themselves because younger members were present. Now, however, nobody else could be held responsible for anyone’s actions, so the rules were revised with the idea that each person should take responsibility for everything they did.

Second, the members’ exercise preferences began splitting apart. Ever since the issue about concert training intensity had exploded, everyone had become much more honest about expressing themselves.

Some people only liked weight training, like me or Choi Jeho. Others preferred sports. Some managed themselves purely out of professional obligation. I would not bother naming names.

Third, we closed out our second Friendship Savings Account.

Back when they were younger idols, the members had used the interest money for a company dinner. This time, however, they added part of the principal and donated it instead.

The discussion concluded that since companies were introducing ESG management, idols also needed to continuously think about ways to create positive influence.

The annual schedule received final approval as well.

Two comebacks and an overseas debut. Those three major activities became the foundation of this year’s schedule.

Starting this year, we also decided to add a slight image transformation.

We had completed the school concept through the season’s greetings package, so now it was time to show something fresher.

That was why I was currently suffering in front of a WebCell file, endlessly applying and removing filters for no reason.

Objectively speaking, I had barely participated in work during the second half of last year.

But now that most of my personal matters were being resolved, there was nothing left to interfere with me.

The encore concert had been confirmed too, which meant detailed content planning had to begin.

Encore concerts typically reused similar setlists, but we could not exactly repeat the rolling paper segments or skits word for word, so we spent an entire week deciding on games suitable for spontaneous participation.

‘Hyung, do you think I should take one more semester off?’

At one point, Jeong Seongbin finally worked up the courage to suggest it after seeing everyone being ground down physically and mentally.

Fortunately, my condition improved quickly, so Jeong Seongbin ended up deciding to return to school this year together with Park Juu as originally planned.

And all of this...

"The number of rules suddenly got way smaller?"

"The previous rules are already ingrained in everyone by now... I think they have become habits even without writing them down explicitly."

"Seongbin is pretty good at badminton. Are you going to keep playing?"

"No, I am putting it on hold for now...!"

"Ever since Seongbin hyung started going to the gym with me, he replies to my messages later than usual."

...got discussed in exhausting detail during our New Year livestream, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) excluding only the encore concert and comeback schedule.

The main content was supposed to be us wearing hanbok and slicing rice cake for tteokguk, but we ended up chatting far more than cooking.

Once Jeong Seongbin added strips of yellow egg garnish as bright as his own hair, the tteokguk was complete.

The dumplings Choi Jeho had made all burst apart, perhaps because they wanted to assert their presence, so visually the result was not exactly pretty. On the bright side, the broth became wonderfully rich.

"If I eat three bowls of tteokguk, will you let me join the eldest hyung line?"

"It is possible, but can you burn all those calories before today ends? Even after lowering the count, each bowl is still 400 calories, you know?"

At my words, Lee Cheonghyeon snapped his mouth shut.

Maybe he still wanted to rebel somehow, because he started dumping black pepper onto the soup instead.

The conversation never stopped for even a second throughout the meal.

We were far too busy to receive separate holiday vacations.

Even I was on the verge of losing my mind trying to decide Spark’s next concept.

Then, while I was in that state, a schedule came in that was not exactly difficult enough to call work, yet not relaxed enough either since I would be filming alongside high seniority celebrities.

A healing observational variety show called Let Us Eat, where viewers submitted combinations they wanted to see and the cast gathered at small countryside homes in the mountains or by the sea to cook meals together while talking about life and other topics, sent over an appearance offer.

‘The other cast members have already been decided too, right?’

Except for unusual cases, the cast members generally already knew each other.

After all, ratings improved when the lineup included combinations viewers found interesting. Publicly known circles like “the ○○ line” or nickname groups based on birth years were common examples.

And I...

‘It is the Villain Trio concept!’

‘...Excuse me?’

...ended up appearing in a special episode titled The Unexpected Daily Lives of Villains.

Cheon Yunseong was just a role, not me personally, so I had no idea why the actual human Kim Iwol had somehow also become classified as a villain.

The other guests were familiar too.

"...Iwol 씨, you came early."

"Not at all, I just arrived!"

Woo Yoonjae, who had passionately acted opposite Cheon Yunseong as his partner, arrived first.

I planned to express my deepest regrets through a heartfelt handwritten letter to Woo Yoonjae, who had earned the dishonor of being labeled a villain simply because he got dragged onto the same boat as me.

The final person appeared radiating ominous energy from far away.

"It has been a while, sunbae."

"It sure has. Been a while since I saw you outside broadcasts too, huh?"

Gu Jahan greeted me with a relaxed face.

Anyone looking would have thought we were friendly neighbors.

"It really... has been a while."

"It has. Thank you for the gift, by the way."

Gu Jahan exchanged awkward greetings with Woo Yoonjae as well.

Desperate not to let things feel uncomfortable, I practically sweated trying to keep the mood alive with comments like, "Ah, sunbae Jahan was so surprised!" and "Sunbae Yoonjae said he really wanted to see you!"

"That is true. We had not seen each other since our last project together..."

"There just were not many chances to run into each other. Still, I guess we really are connected somehow if we ended up appearing on the same program like this."

Thankfully, both of them helped preserve my dignity.

Instead of contradicting me, the seniors kindly played along with my attempts at conversation, and I felt genuinely grateful to the point of tears.

After the awkwardly warm self introductions, we spent time looking around the filming location.

By the time we finished touring the harvested rice fields, the vegetable garden covered in plastic sheets, the chicken coop wrapped in bubble insulation, the yard with the large dog, and even the storage shed, it was already time to prepare the first meal.

For efficiency’s sake, we decided to change clothes first.

"Sunbae... that is not seriously your work outfit, is it?"

"Yeah. Why?"

And so I enthusiastically scolded Gu Jahan for bringing slim fit training pants as “work clothes.”

How was it possible for a middle-aged man to live and die for appearances even more than active idol Choi Jeho? Looking at either Gu Jahan or Choi Jeho made my chest pound in frustration.

Only after dressing Gu Jahan in the spare padded pants I had thankfully brought just in case were the Villain Trio finally able to head toward the kitchen.

"We are not seriously cooking rice in a cauldron, are we?"

"There was no rice cooker inside, right, sunbae?"

"Yeah... But I know how to do it, so you do not have to worry."

Woo Yoonjae immediately erased Gu Jahan’s concerns in one blow.

"So if Jahan 씨 could clean the cauldron first..."

And while we were at it, settle a bit of old revenge too.

Thus, Gu Jahan ended up scrubbing an actual cauldron lid with the same hands fans probably praised for being as large as one.