After we knocked on Parte’s waiting room door and asked from the hall, “Sunbaenim, may we come in?” a curt reply came back.

“What is it?”

It was Song Minil’s voice.

The same guy who almost ran into me and Park Juu by bad luck on Chuseok, the one who got chewed out at MYTH and blew off steam at the Han River.

We barely got permission to enter, and only then were we able to give a group greeting.

Then Song Minil stood up and asked,

“Which agency are you from?”

“UA, Sunbaenim!”

Jeong Seongbin answered with energy.

Even though we hadn’t been welcomed anywhere we went, Jeong Seongbin didn’t seem deflated. His confident attitude was worth praising.

On the other hand, the guys over there were loose to a degree that needed a bitter taste.

Proof: with a look like he couldn’t believe it, Song Minil said,

“They produce idols there now too? That’s... something.”

I mean, I think that too, but you, a third party, don’t get to say it.

For all you know, we could have awful personalities—how do you know where and how we’d snitch if you act carelessly.

And the fact that he didn’t even know our debut article had dropped showed that he didn’t monitor groups debuting out of a mid-sized company.

So big companies have a set list of targets to keep in check, huh. Not surprising.

While he kept us standing and muttered to the guys around him, I swept the room with my eyes without making it obvious.

Two guys snickered at what he said, two didn’t care what he said.

And then a few members who couldn’t quite bring themselves to stop him, fidgeting from afar.

Judging by the looks, with his pretty face and many individual fans, Song Minil had considerable influence in the team.

In Spark, the ones with many individual fans were...

Choi Jeho and Lee Cheonghyeon. Maybe I should manage those two so they don’t get particularly cocky.

Just as I started to think about how to handle our team’s pretty boys, Song Minil skimmed us with his eyes. Then he stopped in front of Lee Cheonghyeon.

“What’s your name?”

“Lee Cheonghyeon, Sunbaenim!”

“Where were you a trainee?”

“UA is my first agency!”

“For real?”

“Yes!”

Lee Cheonghyeon answered stiff as a board.

At that, Song Minil snorted, then tapped Lee Cheonghyeon on the shoulder and said,

“Are you scared? How are you going to do idol work with a little bird heart like that.”

If it weren’t for punks like you, he’d do just fine.

Every single thing he said had no polish. Not even a year since debut, and his character was already something else.

“To think you’re making me take Spark’s side.”

I prayed hard that it would be his turn to go get makeup soon.

Thankfully, the disaster of us waiting at attention until it was his turn didn’t happen.

Because someone in Parte snapped big-time about wanting to sleep.

Thanks to that person lacking sleep, we got to escape that suffocating waiting room. Five minutes that reminded me of my Hanpyeong Industries days.

I sharpened my senses to see if the Spark brats would start complaining the second they stepped out.

I’d already loaded the nag in my mouth: “Maintaining manners when you’re tired is the hard part. So don’t think etiquette is easy—work on it daily.”

But that disaster didn’t happen.

They exchanged looks, put their index fingers to their lips in a shh sign, and returned to our waiting room with a gravity that was almost solemn. Excellent posture.

With that same odd gravity, the instant the door to the waiting room shut, they sat up straight on the sofa for about five minutes.

Then Jeong Seongbin clenched both fists and stood up with resolve.

“Let’s practice.”

“Huh?”

“It’s our turn soon. Can we run through it together just a bit?”

It was a praiseworthy thing to say.

Probably they were provoked by Parte’s tremendous character. Turns out those guys might be seniors who help their juniors more than I thought.

“Can we even practice here?”

asked Choi Jeho. The moment he said it, I grabbed my bag from the floor and said,

“If we clear a little space, we can. Skip the blocking—just match angles for arm and hand moves. Juu, can you help me?”

“Yes. I’ll clear this side...!”

“Good. But don’t touch other people’s stuff without getting permission from the owner.”

“Got it!”

We cleared the clutter in perfect coordination and started extra practice.

They were already good—what good would a few more minutes do at the very last second?

Habits like this would help them, not hurt them. For now, that was enough.

And before long—

“Spark, get ready!”

It was time for Spark to take their first stage.

Backstage was bustling.

Staffers moved busily in every direction, and idols decked out in glam went up and down on cue.

From a distance you could hear fans cheering for their own idols, and the director’s calls for camera action came and went.

In the dark, a single intense violet beam showed—light leaking from the stage.

“I’m going in there.” Me. Not someone else.

If it were giving a presentation or groveling in apology in front of people, maybe—but I never dreamed a day would come when I’d be dancing and singing. In that sense, life really is long enough to see everything.

Even so, within the restrained clamor, a few voices stabbed into my ears more than others.

“Whew...”

From far off, the sound of Kang Giyeon sighing.

“Kang Gyeon, sigh too much and your luck runs off!”

Lee Cheonghyeon’s joke, like he was trying to loosen Kang Giyeon’s nerves.

“Any water?”

“Iwol hyung set some aside earlier...!”

The iron-nerve combo, Choi Jeho and Park Juu.

As I took attendance by voice like that, I couldn’t catch Jeong Seongbin’s.

I looked around; lips twitching, eyes closed, he was murmuring something.

I went up to him and called his name.

“Seongbin.”

He flinched hard.

“Yes, hyung! Do you need anything?”

“No, relax.”

If he were the type to do self mind control, I would’ve left him alone, but it didn’t seem like that.

Maybe I was right; he scratched his head with an awkward smile.

“Mm... Maybe it’s because it’s our real debut, but I feel like I’m going to mess up, so I’m nervous...”

Anyone who’d watched Jeong Seongbin would know the desire not to make mistakes comes from having truly worked hard.

But a capable person doesn’t need to feel burdened.

“Don’t worry too much. Even if it goes however, it’s just one out of the hundreds of stages you’re going to do.”

“Hyung, your perspective is really something else.”

Then he let out a feeble laugh.

He probably thought I was joking.

If he heard he’d be an idol steadily for seven years, he’d faint. Working hard right up to the brink of disbandment, at that.

“And this is an aside.”

I leaned in and whispered softly in his ear.

“Our ancestors say our fortune’s good today.”

This doesn’t trip any heavenly-secret leaks anyway. It’s a lie.

“Haha, that’s a relief!”

Relief my foot. With one line I boosted the main vocal’s spirit without a penalty.

And when each member had a mic in hand—

“Spark, you’re up!”

From afar came the call for us.

On stage it was hotter than I expected. Lights poured from above like the sun.

The audience was also much clearer than I imagined.

What kind of light stick each person held, what kind of expression they had, and so on.

Of the people here, fifty percent were probably fans of a popular group that had finished prerecording before us. The next thirty percent would be fans of another group.

The members might be afraid of performing in an environment where no one was looking at them, but I didn’t care. I’m used to presenting alone with no one listening.

I believe there’ll be no regrets, no blaming others, because I know everyone practiced like they were ready to die.

Still, if you really need someone to resent, blame the CEO who gave us a smaller budget, and blame me for yanking the money that should’ve gone to the showcase and dumping it into the music video and album. And the sky-high inflation that made a showcase unaffordable. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Anyway, we were wearing much better stage outfits, and we decided to pin on fresh name tags every time, so that was actually nice.

As I turned those thoughts over and looked around while the staff finished their checks, a few women in the front row caught my eye.

When our eyes met, they startled. Then in a hurry they unfolded the small slogans in their hands.

[♥ Congratulations on Spark’s debut ♥]

[Congrats Spark Debut + Day 1]

[Let’s walk only the fire-flower road]

Slogans for this group, no less. The fire-flower road sounded a little scary, though...

I tapped the shoulders of the Spark brats—who should be the ones seeing those slogans—and respectfully pointed out the fans’ location with both hands.

Thanks to the delay in getting ready to shoot, the boys and I were able to cluster on the side of the stage near the fans.

On Jeong Seongbin’s cue we gave a group bow, and while I waited for the members to introduce themselves one by one, something nagged at me.

Was it okay for me to lump myself in with the boys and introduce myself in front of these people?

Even so, I couldn’t give a half-hearted greeting to people who had probably waited for hours in worse conditions than ours.

I smiled as kindly as I could and said,

“Hello. I’m Iwol of Spark!”

Then the person holding the “Let’s walk only the fire-flower road” slogan shouted,

“Kim Iwol is handsome!”

“Me?”

For a moment I thought I’d misheard.

I pointed at myself to give her a chance to correct herself, but she was steadfast.

“Yeah, you!”

“Th... thank you.”

People dedicated enough to wait for hours to see idols in person were different, as expected. They didn’t spare praise even for someone like me.

But it wouldn’t do not to recognize Spark’s true jewels.

I still remembered how countless secondhand-album ghosts ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) (that’s what they called themselves) lamented.

≫ I’m so damn upset... how did I only learn about Lee Cheonghyeon this late...

≫ This crazy man Choi Jeho... how has this face been buried till now, top eight mysteries of the world

If they didn’t take a good look at the other members’ faces right here, these people would definitely regret it.

So I crouched at the edge of the stage and explained in a small voice,

“The visuals aren’t me—our other members are in charge of that. It’d be better if you focused on their faces.”

“You’re handsome too!”

And the fan didn’t back down. Her momentum was like the generals I’d read about in old Three Kingdoms stories.

Even so, I felt genuinely grateful. Thanks to her, I thought I could perform today with a little less guilt.