Episode 109. Vacation
Since it wasn't vacation season yet, I spread out a mat on one side of the quiet beach.
Then I set up a parasol I'd rented from a nearby cafe and pushed Lee Cheonghyeon into the shade.
"There. Now play on your own."
"Yes, sir!"
When I unfolded the portable table we'd rented together, the kid pulled out his laptop on his own.
Every time the sea breeze blew, waves rolled gently before my eyes.
Do geniuses have inspiration welling up just from looking at scenery?
I've never lived life creatively except when writing cover letters, so I don't know.
While Lee Cheonghyeon tapped away at his laptop, I caught up on the monitoring I'd been putting off.
Even on the bass video where my hands had gone completely stiff from playing after so long, the fans had left nothing but nice comments. I was grateful for that.
Thanks to finishing all the other minor tasks on the train, I became free much earlier than I'd expected.
In the meantime, Lee Cheonghyeon was focusing on his screen to a frightening degree.
Whether it was thanks to the Pomodoro Technique or because I'd dragged him around everywhere and made him work so much, his concentration had evolved to a level worthy of admiration.
If he kept growing like this, Lee Cheonghyeon would be able to write songs in the middle of a night market without noise-canceling headphones.
Anyway, I couldn't disturb a guy who was working hard on his own job, least of all when I couldn't even help him.
I sat quietly with my mouth shut, periodically checking if there were any calls from the company.
Then my gaze suddenly landed on something.
A cigarette butt was lying right in front of my mat. It was the exact same brand that Manager Nam used to send me out to buy.
I'd brought him all the way to this great spot for a creative experience; what business did cigarettes have here?
The cigarette butt, showing off its white existence on the sand, was incredibly irritating.
I tried my best to ignore it, but once spotted, the butt lingered in my head like the smell of Manager Nam's cigarettes.
I barely held back a sigh rising from my diaphragm. Then I grabbed my wallet and stood up.
"You want anything to eat?"
"No. Are you going to the convenience store?"
"Yeah. Don't go anywhere and stay put."
"As if I would!"
I went straight to the convenience store. I bought two volume-based trash bags and a pair of stainless steel tongs and came out.
Alright, today I'm beautifying this section of the beach.
Picking up trash at the beach was quite rewarding.
Except for the fact that I regretted wearing a baseball cap instead of something to properly shield my face from the sun. No wonder the volunteers wore sun caps.
A few passersby blatantly threw their trash into my bag instead of the trash can standing right there, which was annoying, but I held it in.
Because children playing in the sand saw me and gathered ten pieces of trash each. It felt like my dead faith in humanity was coming back to life.
More than that, there was an insane amount of shell casings on the beach. Isn't setting off fireworks at the beach illegal? Somehow I picked up more casings than I had in the army.
Muttering to myself for a while, I'd dart out like a wasp the moment I spotted a cigarette butt, even getting near other people's mats.
Realizing I'd been rude, I apologized politely and turned to leave, when the mat's owner shouted, "Aren't you Spark?!"
You seeing this, you Spark bastards? You're not unknowns anymore.
She asked if I could give her an autograph, but neither me picking up trash nor her visiting the beach had any proper writing tools.
I had no choice but to ask for her understanding, return to my spot, rummage through my backpack, grab a few memo sheets I'd tucked into my diary, and head back with Lee Cheonghyeon.
And while the ladies were admiring Lee Cheonghyeon's face, I placed a ballpoint pen in his hand.
So we held an impromptu signing session on "I'm quittin' the company" memo pads—Min Jukyeong had given them to me. She'd said they were extras, so I'd taken some. And by the time we'd filled both volume-based bags, the sun was setting beyond the horizon.
When I returned to our spot, Lee Cheonghyeon was lying on his stomach looking at the sea.
"Hyung! I'm not slacking off, I just needed some contemplation!"
"Who's saying anything?"
Why's he so jumpy when we're on vacation?
Well, back when I was at Hanpyeong Industries, vacation wasn't rest either. Back then, I was on three-minute standby for Manager Nam.
"If you're done with work, rest while doing what you want. Who knows when you'll get to rest again."
"Wow, that's so scary."
What's really scary is that you guys might get to rest for life in seven years. But I'm an adult, so I won't say that out loud.
"Go dip your feet in at least. We have a towel."
"Just looking is enough for me!"
"Humble."
Lee Cheonghyeon laughed. Perhaps it wasn't empty words—light shone from the kid's face.
"It's not humility, though? I just checked something off my bucket list?"
"What? Spacing out at the water?"
When I asked back, Lee Cheonghyeon's expression turned strange. He looked like he regretted bringing it up.
Should I dig deeper, or let it go and pretend I didn't notice?
If I asked, I'd seem like an insensitive bastard; if I let it go, I'd look like a cold-blooded jerk who didn't care about his members.
But either way, if I had to choose, being a bit insensitive was better than being cold-blooded. We already had Choi Jeho for the insensitive role on this team.
"What's the bucket list item that you're watching my reaction like that?"
"No, um…."
Lee Cheonghyeon scratched his cheek and averted his gaze as he spoke.
"…Now that I think about it, it sounded like a spoiled thing to say?"
"Do you have to consider that when writing down wishes too?"
"That's not it!"
Hah. Talking with kids is so hard.
"I just wanted to try coming to a place like this and leisurely looking at the sea."
"What's privileged about that? It's ordinary."
I answered roughly and sat on the mat.
Just like when he ran away to the mountains, this kid might have a habit of restoring his mental state in nature.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Right. He was the son of a well-off family.
Then it made sense why he was worried about sounding spoiled.
"Why? Were you afraid I'd go 'Wow… Lee Cheonghyeon, what a spoiled thing to say' if you said you couldn't step on white sand because you were on yachts every summer?"
"No! That's…!"
"Really not?"
"…."
"Why worry about stuff like that? It's not like you rubbed it in my face that I'd never ridden a yacht."
More than that, I was curious if he'd actually ridden a yacht. Did rich people really ride those during vacation?
Lee Cheonghyeon saw my curiosity-filled gaze and stepped back with a disgruntled look.
"Cheonghyeon."
"What."
"Did you really ride yachts every summer?"
"Do I look like a third-generation chaebol heir?! Why is a practical person like you acting like this?"
Lee Cheonghyeon scolded me, asking if I'd watched too many dramas.
And he clarified that he wasn't even a golden spoon, but since I'd once seen Lee Cheonghyeon rank in the top 13 golden-spoon idols in the past, it didn't really resonate.
"It's the opposite. This is my first time being so close to the sea."
"Really?"
"My parents don't like going on trips. Even when we traveled, our destinations were always set in stone. Libraries, museums, exhibition halls."
"So you spent academic vacations."
"When I played piano, we did go other places…."
"Don't tell me you went to recitals?"
"Of course. Thanks to that, the sea I saw when taking off from Incheon Airport became the closest I'd ever been to the sea."
Lee Cheonghyeon muttered, all while continuing to gauge my reaction.
He probably thought talking like this, not even a month after the story of me getting beaten at home came out, was a kind of deception.
"So. Do you like it here?"
I asked, looking at the kid who had folded his knees and sat up at some point.
"I like it. My mind feels at ease, and the scenery is great!"
"Then that's good. Come again with the other kids next time."
"Why are you trying to slip away? If you're coming, we should all come together!"
"I'll sit it out. I'm at the age where checking real estate prices at tourist spots is more fun than playing."
"That's just unbelievable."
Lee Cheonghyeon snorted.
But I meant it.
If there ever comes a day when you come to the sea again, I hope you come with Spark, not me. Don't come back with just your face all sunburnt like the old days.
* * *
Lee Cheonghyeon and I spent several hours feeling the sea breeze, having deep conversations about music.
Lee Cheonghyeon did all the deep talking while I just responded, but if words were exchanged, it was a conversation, right?
We talked about Spark's musicality, the members' tones and potential for growth, and catharsis in popular music, and before we knew it, the sun had set. Thanks to that, we got to see the night sea.
While Lee Cheonghyeon washed up first, I read the updates posted in the Spark group chat—they'd all arrived home—and opened my laptop.
I'd been planning to leave a post on the fan cafe, but the category where members left one-line memos was repopulating rapidly.
I wondered if a sighting report had dropped, and indeed….
≫ Lee Wol, did you go to Busan with Cheonghyeon??
≫ Guys, tell us the Busan trip review LOL
≫ Holding breath until the producing line travel vlog drops (Day 1)
…It was about us. You guys really went straight home.
As I read through the comments fans had posted, I found a link to the original sighting post.
≫ Saw a celebrity for the first time in my life
(Photo proof included)
I was spacing out at the water in Busan with my friend when someone was walking around the shore picking up trash
Thought it was a nice thing to do~ but then saw his face and he was really really really really really handsome
My friend and I kept going like, hey isn't that a celebrity?? I think he's an idol, and we kept trying to figure out who it was, and it was Spark's Lee Wol!
We were looking it up on our phones to figure out who it was when he ran toward us
My friend and I were like, shit, is he gonna tell us not to take pictures ㅠㅠㅠ we didn't take any though ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
But he came to pick up a cigarette butt…… awkward
He apologized for getting too close. He had good character.
I worked up the courage to ask for an autograph, and he said he didn't have paper, told me to wait a moment, then brought back another member whose face was glowing
They were both wearing sun sleeves so it was funny, but anyway
They signed for both me and my friend but the memo pad condition LOL
(I'll hide my name!)
I asked if he'd bought them with money, and he said he just uses what company employees give him LOLOLOL
Then he thanked us for recognizing him and went back to picking up trash. It really felt like a comedy skit
└ What does he look like in person? He looked handsome in the concept photos going around
└ Feels like washing my eyes with eyewash; my eyes are at peace
└ Understood immediately
└ The memo pad LOLOLOLOL
└ He held it out saying it's all he had, and my friend and I burst out laughing ㅠㅠ LOLOLOL
It couldn't have been a more detailed review. There was nothing but embarrassing material, yet they viewed it favorably, so I was nothing but grateful.
Since promotions had ended, there wasn't anything in particular I needed to watch out for.
After organizing even the unnecessary materials I'd prepared for the 'With List' planning, all the tasks I'd planned were finished.
'How long has it been since things were this uneventful?'
Work actually ending.
It was a foreign sensation. A feeling I hadn't experienced in a very long time since joining Hanpyeong Industries.
"Hyung, why did the atmosphere suddenly get so relaxed?"
"Does it?"
"Yeah. The dissonance is no joke."
Maybe I'd looked terribly uncomfortable, because Lee Cheonghyeon hurriedly told me to go wash up and pushed me toward the bathroom.
Strictly speaking, I hadn't even achieved half of my KPI yet.
If my prediction was right, a signal related to that would arrive before long.
Until then, I should at least be able to take one shower in peace.
And after taking that amazing shower….
"Hyung, I think you need to check the group chat right now?"
…The signal I'd somehow been expecting had arrived.