“Guys, are you all heading home in one car again today?”

“Yes!”

Im Chanyeong nodded and pulled out the car keys.

This was the first time all six of them had ridden together in a single vehicle since the manager staff increased. The catalyst had been Kang Giyeon’s suggestion.

“Seongbin hyung, would it be too cramped if we all used one car?”

“All six of us together? Why?”

Kang Giyeon said Kim Iwol had been getting anxious frequently ever since the nightmare. It was obvious how restless he became whenever the car Pyeong Daeyeon was driving disappeared from view.

Kang Giyeon even brought Lee Cheonghyeon in as a witness.

“If the members are okay with it, I think it’s better if we all stay together. Once he gets in the car, he just stares out the window the whole time.”

And so, Jeong Seongbin informed Kim Iwol that, due to “restructuring staff operation policies,” they’d be using one vehicle for the time being.

Kim Iwol asked whether it wouldn’t be too cramped, but he didn’t dislike the idea.

The members, whose builds had noticeably filled out over the past few years, had to hunch their shoulders inward even after rearranging the seats.

The kindhearted youngest members voluntarily offered to sit in the miserable three-person back row.

“You can’t make the hyungs sit shoulder-to-shoulder like that.”

“I agree with Lee Cheonghyeon.”

Jeong Seongbin decided to squeeze himself between the younger members. Whether Kim Iwol or Choi Jeho sat between Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Giyeon, the width would still be tight either way. At least if he went there himself, the younger members’ shoulder blades might survive.

“Should I sit in the back......?”

Park Juu had offered too.

But nobody expected more consideration from a friend who already struggled enough just sitting in the passenger seat.

When they told him to swap occasionally with Cheonghyeon or Giyeon if he really felt bothered by it, Park Juu simply nodded and said okay.

Kim Iwol calmed down surprisingly quickly—to the point where it almost felt like seeing him trembling all over at dawn had been a dream.

Listening to the younger members had been the right call.

“Whose concept was today’s set again?”

“Yours, Cheonghyeon.”

“Guess I’ll be making history with my beauty then.”

Lee Cheonghyeon joked at Kim Iwol’s answer.

Everyone snickered.

The set concepts had been designed around emphasizing each member’s birthstone. Starting from the opera house decorated with golden lace curtains during their first broadcast, Spark had built one massive, extravagant set after another.

It was the result of Kim Iwol’s obsession with creating beautiful visuals.

And yet Kim Iwol himself couldn’t fully enjoy the promotions.

At first, he’d been consumed with worry over Park Juu’s issue. Then midway through promotions, he himself started looking troubled.

The fact that he still managed to carry himself without causing any talk among fans was impressive in itself.

“Cheonghyeon, you said you’re going to school after prerecording, right? You can ride with Daeyeon later.”

“Oh, it’s been forever since I rode in Daeyeon hyung’s car!”

The moment Lee Cheonghyeon bounced excitedly, chaos erupted in the back row. Flattened beneath the commotion, Kang Giyeon started shouting furiously.

“You’ve got radio later tonight. Do you even have the stamina for that?”

Kim Iwol turned around and asked.

“I can just sleep at school, so it’s fine.”

“You sound exactly like Giyeon.”

“Hyung, comparing me to him is honestly cruel to me.”

“Huh? Not cruel to me?”

And just like that, the two started bickering again.

Only after Jeong Seongbin laughed and told them, “Let’s keep it quiet,” did they calm down somewhat.

If even those words stopped working someday, what would he do then?

Jeong Seongbin thought he urgently needed to come up with countermeasures.

“Oh right, Juu hyung. Did you bring your bag?”

“Yeah, why......?”

“I copied over the thing you asked for onto paper. Take it before I forget.”

Lee Cheonghyeon pulled an L-folder out of his large backpack.

The file passed through Kim Iwol’s hands before finally reaching Park Juu in the passenger seat.

“What’s with the file? There wasn’t another meeting I didn’t know about, right?”

Kim Iwol narrowed his eyes sharply.

Ever since discovering he’d been the only one unaware of the line distribution issue, Kim Iwol had quietly become obsessed with the possibility that he might be missing something.

“It’s about ‘My Favorite Playlist.’ Has absolutely nothing to do with you, hyung.”

Even after Lee Cheonghyeon explained, Kim Iwol remained suspicious.

Only after Park Juu laughed and confirmed it himself did Kim Iwol slowly sink back against the seat.

“Juu hyung just asked me to look over a few lyrics. That’s it. Satisfied now?”

“You discussed lyrics with him? Not Seongbin?”

“The lyrics were in English......”

“Ah.”

Park Juu’s wide-area sniper shot left Jeong Seongbin wounded.

Kim Iwol clamped his mouth shut too.

“Sorry, hyung. Basic conversation skills only go so far when it comes to lyric writing or translation......”

“No, Seongbin, being able to freestyle conversation that well is already impressive!”

Kim Iwol hurriedly tried to defend him.

Choi Jeho openly mocked Kim Iwol for it.

If only things could stay around this level of atmosphere.

Jeong Seongbin often wondered whether he was wanting too much.

Compared to the days when they trained under a company with no idol management experience while enduring harassment from senior artists, or when they worked under a producer who was absolute trash, their current lives were already overflowing with blessings.

Produce results that wouldn’t disappoint the fans.

Grow steadily, step by step.

Never regress or stagnate.

Everyone was looking forward.

Even if obstacles appeared, they always removed them and kept moving.

Jeong Seongbin truly liked the direction the team was heading in.

And yet, at the same time, even while knowing it was greedy, he found himself wanting something more.

Something that could become an answer.

Something that could motivate them when the time came.

Someday, when a crisis arrived that couldn’t be overcome with the younger members’ consideration or the older members’ jokes.

Or when someone became more exhausted and wounded than they were now, and their steps slowed.

Something that could become the force pushing them forward.

“If we had to pick a leader among us, I always thought you were the most suited for it.”

If only to live up to the trust Kim Iwol had continuously placed in him since they first met.

Jeong Seongbin steadied his resolve.

There would still be many things he needed to do for the group.

≫ The set is ridiculously pretty this time

UA definitely knows how to spend money

└ I was bitching so hard because literally every schedule was prerecording but now I feel stupid because the set looks so luxurious...... I just stared blankly at itㅠㅠㅠㅠ

└ Thank god Iwol didn’t drag in another dying computer repair shop set

└ But honestly now I think even that would work too

└ Vintage retro whatever, they’d pull all of it offㅋㅋㅋ Iwol, let’s hop in a time machine once

≫ Friends who changed their wallpaper to the set photos

How did you take screenshots?

No matter when I capture it, someone always gets caught in frameㅠㅠ

└ Fan cafe!! After the broadcast, Iwol uploads edited versions

└ OMG so THAT’S why there are solo shots of the set with no people...... I thought everyone stitched together multiple screenshots

└ My baby’s even making wallpapers safe for undercover fangirling now......

≫ Lee Cheonghyeon officially became a masterpiece in real life

(photo)

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ I laughed forever at this choreographyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The eldest hyung really became part of the picture frame itself just to turn Lee Cheonghyeon into a painting

└ The whole saga of turning Lee Cheonghyeon into fine art is already hilarious but then the close-up hits and suddenly it’s not funny anymore...... my brain just goes blank

└└ If you watch the MV reaction videos, everyone goes “wow......” during this sceneㅋㅋㅋ

└ Whoever gave Lee Cheonghyeon those odd-eye lenses deserves a bow

└└ They’re not vivid colors either, it’s soft purple and blue so it’s even prettier! Speaking of which, guys, Iwol said gold prices are going up because of the gold drapery

└└└ Gold’s cheapest right now. I bought tiny gold pieces during debut era and now the price is almost double

└└└└ Insane

≫ Spark’s new choreography really shines in full group shots

Kim Iwol turns into a 180cm+ shopping mall employee during his part, then stretches out his arms and fingers during Kang Giyeon’s part to create tree branches

Using members’ backs as tables

★★★★★ Lee Cheonghyeon picture frame ★★★★★

└ But Choi Jeho blowing on Jeong Seongbin’s fingers like he’s putting out a candle absolutely has to be seen in close-up

└ And adding Juu lowering the hand covering someone’s eyes from behind so their gaze is revealed

└└ Why are you even commenting something that obvious

└ The dance lines and directing feel weirdly perverted (positive meaning), but they restrained the expressions and movements enough that it never crosses into “too much!”

“Bright” received praise across the board.

There were especially many posts complimenting the visual aspects.

Keyword analysis also revealed that alongside “musicality” and “public appeal,” the word “aesthetic” ranked unusually high.

The associated imagery included maturity, extravagance, and sophistication.

I think it’s fair to say the group’s image has changed to some degree now.

Perfect material for a brand image improvement portfolio.

If someone from UA actually used this as leverage to successfully change jobs......

I’d send them off wishing them a happy future while crying tears of blood.

The sun’s already set, so they’d better have raised my salary too. I’m really trusting you here, CEO.

While one phone delivered good news, another kept flashing in front of my face and irritating the hell out of me.

 [SYSTEM] A work directive has arrived from “Supervisor.”

▶ Kim Assistant Manager, does ignoring reality change anything?

 For the past few days, the System had been provoking me with the persistence of a swarm of gnats.

More precisely, ever since the Synchronization rate rose.

At first, I hadn’t noticed because I’d been too overwhelmed to care, but once I realized it, I saw it had been sending the same kind of messages repeatedly.

 [SYSTEM] A work directive has arrived from “Supervisor.”

▶ How long does Kim Assistant Manager plan to keep denying reality?

  [SYSTEM] A work directive has arrived from “Supervisor.”

▶ Can someone who works in society really afford to be this weak?

 It annoyed me so much that I went back to check what message had started all this bullshit in the first place.

The earliest message the System had sent was this:

 [SYSTEM] A work directive has arrived from “Supervisor.”

▶ Is Kim Assistant Manager still afraid of death?

 So this fucking thing sent that immediately after I found out about Park Juu.

If the System had possessed a physical body, today would’ve been the final day for both of us.

The System simultaneously possessed a strangely caring side that tried to look after me and an inhuman side that felt utterly detached.

That was why I’d tried not to waste emotional energy reacting to every word it said.

Afraid of death?

How could anyone stay calm when people beside them might die......?

My thoughts suddenly halted.

Something rapidly assembled itself inside my head.

At one point, I’d believed the System was threatening me using my sister as leverage.

I thought the reason it cared about my condition or safety to some degree was simply so I could continue fulfilling KPIs, and that if I failed, I’d just end up transferred to Hanpyeong Industry and that would be the end of it.

But if the System truly had perfectionist tendencies, then why would it care about my mental state at all when it had absolutely nothing to do with KPI completion?

Whether I couldn’t feel pain or was emotionally unstable, as long as I completed the missions, wouldn’t the end result still be acceptable?

Even if it was supposedly for maintaining smooth work performance, the logic still didn’t line up.

If that were the case, then it should also have given me some method to control the Synchronization rate that interfered with activities. Just like it had provided means to reduce accumulated fatigue despite the side effects.

Unless it wasn’t capable of stopping synchronization in the first place......

Ah.

You...... somehow—

So in other words, you can’t interfere with “my death,” including voluntary death, can you?