Spark’s BubblePop attendance averaged over twenty five appearances a month as a baseline. When even squeezing out sleeping hours wasn’t enough, they occasionally skipped a day to force the members into bed for the sake of the next schedule’s quality, but outside of unavoidable situations like that, every member left messages almost daily.

Even Spark’s standards for whether BubblePop activity was “frequent” or “sparse” weren’t exactly normal. Someone like Choi Jeho, who posted whatever came to mind, naturally sent messages faster and more often than the more cautious Jeong Seongbin.

But nobody thought Jeong Seongbin sent fewer messages because he was “lazy.” The difference was only whether he sent ten messages a day or twenty. It was nowhere near enough to spark complaints about sincerity.

The same went for Park Juu. He was the type to send all kinds of things like Choi Jeho, and recently his replies had only become a little slower. There was no reason for people to start claiming he was neglecting fanservice.

And yet.......

≫ Are these idiots seriously treating an idol like he’s their friend? Tell the akgaes to watch what they say

≫ The members already squeeze time out of nowhere to practice and even do sessions, what more do you people wantㅋㅋ Did you personally fund his solo album or something??

≫ I know newer fans have been especially bad lately but it’s seriously stressful...... Juu’s said so many times that he likes singing with the members

≫ Are those crazy bastards out of their minds? Spamming for three hours demanding solo stuff, how the hell is the artist supposed to reply to messages like that

≫ Guess I should thank the people who went out of their way to drag screenshots over here for making sure ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ something Juu never even mentioned almost got buriedㅋㅋㅋ What did they think they accomplished by posting this? Wanted people to curse them out?

......the screenshots and posts floating around looked far from ordinary.

The post mentioned most often was this one.

≫ I heard Spark’s BubblePop replies were legendary so I got excited, but he’s never replied to me once

Disappointing......ㅋㅋ Don’t go around marketing them as loving their fans

The four attached screenshots contained a long list of messages the user had sent Park Juu.

< Juu

.

.

.

[Juu why aren’t you replying????]

[Juu you want to go solo too, don’t you]

[During “Speaker” you hogged all the vocal parts by yourself and pretended otherwise, honestly that hypocrisy’s even worse...... You can be honest. I’ll understand everything]

[I can tell you’re reading these]

[The 1 disappeared again]

[This is too much, how many messages have I sent and you still haven’t replied once??]

[Did you get scared? ㅎㅎ cute]

[Juu but I’m serious. I really wish you’d go solo]

[We’re the only ones who understand that you originally wanted to be a solo singer]

[Park Juu answer me]

[I don’t want to criticize you either. I’m only saying this because we’re the only people who can speak objectively to you right now]

Everyone already knew that after “Speaker,” Park Juu had gained a huge influx of individual fans. Even just looking at livestream chats or MeTube comments, people searching specifically for Park Juu stood out immediately.

The people who entered the fandom through Park Juu’s vocals never broadened their interest toward the other members. For someone who fell in love hearing Park Juu carry an entire song by himself, idol music parts were far too short to satisfy them.

That dissatisfaction soon turned into criticism.

≫ He would’ve been hugely successful even as a solo artist, so why become an idol......?

And it’s not like his company is some tiny place that can’t support solo activities either. Feels like he lacked vision

≫ How long does Juu have to keep sacrificing himself......

One person does the singing while others go on variety and TV building recognition

It upsets me whenever I watch, but I know our boy probably feels worse than anyone so I try not to say too much

Negative comments that appeared in group settings were easy to drown out with other messages. Even they themselves had seen countless times how fans of the individual members, along with full group fans, overwhelmed them by sheer numbers.

But BubblePop, where only Park Juu was present, was different. Gaslighting that occurred in an isolated space was difficult to stop in real time. Even if only one out of every hundred people acted like this, considering BubblePop’s subscriber count...... just imagining it made his head spin.

‘I can’t believe things got this bad.’

I tried talking to Park Juu immediately, but failed. Of all days, it happened to be the weekday Park Juu appeared as a fixed radio guest.

“What about Juu?”

Jeong Seongbin, who I had stopped on the way, asked.

“It’s nothing serious. I was monitoring things and got curious about something.”

“The solo talk?”

Jeong Seongbin hit the mark directly. After startling me, he smiled awkwardly.

“It suddenly became a hot topic, so I talked to Juu about it.”

“Just the two of you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why leave me out?”

“You were busy, hyung. And it wasn’t an urgent problem.”

Jeong Seongbin said Park Juu hadn’t been as shaken as I’d imagined. In fact, hearing about Park Juu’s attitude through Jeong Seongbin made him sound surprisingly calm.

“So he just asked how he should handle it?”

“He knows the existing fans love him as Spark’s Park Juu, and he understands that the newer fans want to see more of him specifically. I think he’s been thinking about it a lot.”

That was an incredibly wise and admirable attitude, but still.

“Was Juu really not too stressed?”

“No. Don’t worry too much. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

“No, I’ve got plenty of time too.”

I barely managed to calm Jeong Seongbin before his eyes turned triangular, then left the room. At that point, foolishly enough, I thought I could finally relax a little.

The situation changed drastically when an overseas label offered Park Juu a solo album deal.

Everyone at UA was thrilled. It was unusual enough for an offer like this to come in despite Park Juu already belonging to another company and the contracts being complicated. Even UA said they would need fresh legal consultation.

“......I don’t want to do it.”

Park Juu rejected the offer immediately. He did not even ask for time to think.

“Juu, you can think it over a little more before deciding.”

Minjugyeong, who knew Park Juu had originally joined the company dreaming of becoming a solo singer, tried to persuade him gently. But Park Juu remained firm. Even Jeong Seongbin, caught in the middle, ended up looking uncomfortable.

There was no guarantee Spark would ever be able to release solo albums. The shortened contract period was the biggest issue, and they also could not ignore the fact that group activities had to remain the top priority.

On the other hand, bringing in an outside label would act as a kind of shield. UA could prioritize Spark’s activities while simply saying, “An offer came in, so we made an exception for this one project.” Opportunities like this might never come again.

And beyond that, this was a chance to release an album on the global market. Park Juu unquestionably had talent. If an opportunity had appeared that could bring him one step closer to his dream, then as his teammate, I should have supported him wholeheartedly.

As people dispersed in an awkward atmosphere, I lightly tapped Park Juu on the arm. He turned toward me.

“Can you spare me some time?”

Park Juu nodded willingly. We settled into an empty conference room, each holding a cup of warm water.

“Juu.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you really not want to release a solo album?”

Park Juu stared at me for a moment before lowering his head. Fidgeting with the steaming paper cup in both hands, he answered.

“Yeah.” 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

“Even if it’s a band album?”

A band album had been proposed from the homeland of rock itself. That was why I had sat Park Juu down again even after he’d already refused.

“Yeah.”

Even then, Park Juu refused to budge. He avoided my gaze, but it didn’t seem like his mind would change.

“Can you tell me why? It’s not like you never thought about going solo before.”

“.......”

“I’m not trying to pressure you. I just want to know what you really think.”

Park Juu stayed silent for a long time. As usual, the only movement was the slow sway of his body from side to side. I waited for him to finish sorting out his thoughts.

“Hyung.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“I like things the way they are now.”

His voice was firm.

“I don’t want anything else. Recording with the members, performing on stage together...... that’s enough.”

Park Juu took a sip of water. Overlapping with the sight of him now were memories of an old livestream I had once watched.

‘Juu, please cover a RoseD song......? I like RoseD too, but if I want to cover them I need to practice first. I can’t really recreate the old feeling anymore....... I think it’s because I changed my singing style. I’ll practice hard.’

‘Band songs...... hmm. Yeah....... It’d be nice if I got the chance someday.’

The old Park Juu, who could barely count on one hand the number of songs he’d sung all the way through alone, who had never once been able to perform the music he truly loved on stage.

“Even if it’s just once, you still hate the idea?”

“.......”

“You don’t get many chances to sing songs focused only on vocals.”

Lee Cheonghyeon had spent every activity cycle performing his own music. Choi Jeho and Kang Giyeon danced as much as they wanted, and Jeong Seongbin sang on competition programs and OSTs without restraint, while Park Juu quietly did only what was given to him. In two years, there had only been two stages where Park Juu truly performed exactly what he wanted.

Even at concerts, he had sung Jeong Seongbin’s OST together with him. It was painfully obvious how few personal stages he would probably receive in the future, and how slim the odds were that those rare opportunities would perfectly match his tastes.

“You could do the kind of real band music you actually wanted. The members worked hard too, obviously, but if you performed with people who specialize in session work, then surely.......”

“Stop.”

Park Juu cut me off. His gaze had turned cold.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Juu.”

“I’m not doing it alone.”

“You might not want to right now. But who knows how you’ll feel later.”

I carefully chose my words. There were things Park Juu needed to be reminded of. Things that had to be pointed out.

“The members might not be able to do band music with you again. Of course the company would support you if you wanted it, but usually, the amount of time it takes for an idol group member’s first solo album to come out is.......”

“After I decided to become an idol, I never once said I wanted to go solo. You know that too, hyung.”

Even though you still regretted it.

The words lingered inside my mouth, unsaid.

“Juu, I’m not saying this because of public opinion.”

“.......”

“You love singing. And the genres you like are really different from the kinds of songs groups perform. So.......”

Park Juu’s face twisted.

I had no choice but to stop speaking.

“Don’t talk like I don’t love our songs.”

With an expression that looked moments away from tears, Park Juu rose from his seat.

That was the end of the conversation.