Episode 192. Final Version Released (1)
All members of Spark appeared for this concept photo, each biting something.
Jeong Seongbin held a pen. Gang Giyeon held a mask strap—looping one strap around his index finger and pulling it to create an absolutely killer visual. Bak Juu held a syringe cap, I Cheonghyeon a plastic card, and Choe Jeho leather gloves.
Finally, Gim Iwol bit a lipstick cap.
Let me say that again.
Gim Iwol bit a lipstick cap!
His black comma hair cast shadows over his face. Because of the thickness of the case, his mouth was stretched slightly wider than the other members', and grayish shading settled over the corners of his lips.
The inside of the black, glossy case was painted red. That part became the focal point capturing all attention in the dark photo.
≫ Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick? Gim Iwol lipstick?
└ Let's calm down and lipstick, everyone. We're all lipstick anyway. We're all grown-up lipstick. Doing nothing but talking about lipstick like this feels like an obvious scheme targeting lipstick. It's so lipstick.
└ It's scary here
What do you mean Gim Iwol lipstick?????
≫ Has Gim Iwol lost his mind
≫ One thing to check when this album drops: the producer's name
You can't leave now even if you die. Bury your bones in UA
└ But if Iwol's name is on it again this time……?
└ Then UA dies
≫ Spark's last concept photo dropped!
Hey Iwol-ah
Iwol-ah…… the world is such a dangerous place these days……
If you do a concept like this, what are you going to do if the noonas snatch you away, really
└ Honestly, at this point Iwol listed himself on a marketplace asking to be snatched. The noonas are innocent
≫ Pale, bloodless skin like white jade + red lips + black hair + suit = maxed-out visual overload, bells ringing
My baby is showing the dignity of an adult member, I'm so proud I could die, fuck
≫ Ah, I'm so fucking dizzy
I'm disillusioned by the reality that I can only own this digitally
└ I wish they'd just release this as a photocard…… I want to buy a toploader and decorate it with the lipstick concept
└ Wow, your bag strap is 3m?
└ It's 214m
≫ I have no idea what concept they're going for, but I know I have to buy the album
UA is good at business…… making me buy the album without a single spoiler
≫ I have pretty high expectations for the photocard
I can look forward to it, right? I'm looking forward to it?
As a result, Baek Haewon had ended up endlessly waiting for Spark's new song and MV to drop.
The title track she had briefly heard in the recently released highlight medley had been so good.
The mood was quite different from Spark's usual songs, but that had only raised the fandom's expectations.
A sign that something big was coming. She felt a thrill of anticipation.
Please let there be awesome outfits. Please don't let it be a low-budget set.
She had been praying for every possible thing under the sun when an alarm rang on her phone.
Spark's new song MV had been released.
* * *
A dark conference room with only drum beats and electric guitar sounds layered in the background.
Centered around Jeong Seongbin sitting at the head of the table, Bak Juu and I Cheonghyeon sat in the left row, while Choe Jeho and Gang Giyeon sat in the right row.
At Gim Iwol's gesture from the podium, light flickered on in the projector.
A man's photo and brief resume flashed on screen: "Needs protection from threats due to internal whistleblowing."
Jeong Seongbin, who had been spinning his pen, leaned back. The chair's backrest tilted slowly.
The tip of the pen tapping on paper was shown in close-up, then separated from the body by Jeong Seongbin's fingers.
The scratch of a fountain pen overlaid the guitar sound.
Black ink flowed from the nib, and as the title 『MISSION』 was scribbled on paper in handwriting, the camera instantly cut.
『I want
The last person standing
By your side
To be me』
Gang Giyeon, wearing a techwear-style jumpsuit, sat on the hood of a black foreign car.
Because he sat with one knee bent, his pant leg rode up, revealing sharply structured work boots wrapping his ankles and the line of his leg rising to his calves.
'Fuck fuck fuck fuck.'
Baek Haewon debated whether to pause the MV. But hesitation was a luxury.
『Hold your breath and wait』
The group dance part appeared almost before the phrase ended.
All members in gray suits with black accents.
Silver decorations shining on leather harnesses.
And…….
『The moment
You call for me』
……the exposure that made Gim Iwol seem out of his mind.
Baek Haewon hurriedly pressed the spacebar. Then she interlaced her fingers, rested her forehead on them, and took a deep breath.
She looked into the distance too. The title of a self-help book on the top shelf, which she couldn't even remember buying, was clearly visible. So her eyesight wasn't going weird.
'My heart feels like it's going to burst.'
What on earth was she supposed to do with this overwhelming emotion?
She wanted to scream right now. She wanted to shout to her fellow Handsome Hunter members, "Aaaahk, Spark has done something, everyone!"
But she couldn't. Because Baek Haewon hadn't even watched half the MV yet.
'Don't go talking on the timeline without me, friends……'
Praying earnestly, Baek Haewon calmly dragged the progress bar forward. It seemed she needed to rewatch Gang Giyeon in the jumpsuit from the start.
Rewatching him like that, Gang Giyeon was truly incredible. A tightly cinched waist belt, glossy work boots. There was nothing lacking.
And the long-awaited group dance scene reappeared.
First, Gang Giyeon—the protagonist of this part and the one in charge of the song's intro—wore a black halter-neck knit of a tight-fitting material with a matching gray suit.
Every time Gang Giyeon extended his arms to the side for the choreography, the tips of his collarbones were distinctly revealed under the light.
Silver piercings shone between his teal hair, slicked back without a single stray strand. The piercings connected by thin chains swayed and moved along with Gang Giyeon's head movements.
His peer I Cheonghyeon wore a similar suit, but the inner layer was different. His inner was a mock neck. Over it, a harness of sturdy material was wrapped tight.
Bak Juu's outfit didn't look much different from I Cheonghyeon's.
But Baek Haewon's trained eyes immediately caught the white skin faintly visible above his closed jacket.
'He's wearing a crop top underneath!'
Baek Haewon cursed UA out inwardly. You put him in a crop top and hide it? Tasteless bastards.
Then she switched gears and greatly praised UA.
How do they know that showing it subtly like this drives people crazy? Bastards with taste.
Jeong Seongbin seemed wrapped up tight in a three-piece suit, but with slits in the jacket sleeves and pant hems, his wrist bones and ankle bones were revealed every time he moved. Perhaps because his entire body was covered by clothes, his round bones stood out particularly.
Hadn't Gim Iwol said at a fan meeting? That he wouldn't even think of a sexy concept until the younger members got their ID cards and the ink dried.
'Did that mean the hyungs would take charge of the sexy concept?'
Just look at Choe Jeho standing right behind Gang Giyeon.
A bare-torso harness.
A bare-torso harness.
It was so shocking she couldn't help muttering it over and over. A bare-torso harness.
Choe Jeho's body was far too solid for the single jacket button to handle. Every time Choe Jeho moved, his bare torso was fully exposed inside the jacket. He must have applied oil, as his abs reflected a subtle light.
His glow was otherworldly. Baek Haewon once again felt keenly that there was something wrong with her vocabulary.
The dark gray suit, even more saturated than the younger members', was intensely stimulating. On top of that, the leather harness running from the choker down along the line of his chest cleavage…….
No, how did this MV pass review? If they just buttoned his jacket, even this Choe Jeho could be released for all ages, was that it?
It was so absurd she felt a headache coming on. It was the first time she learned that humans could suffer from being too happy.
And surpassing all these members to rank as the number one shock point, the protagonist, Gim Iwol.
Baek Haewon played the video. As Gang Giyeon's part ended, Gim Iwol appeared just like before.
In an absolutely killer outfit.
Baek Haewon paused the video again. It hadn't even been two seconds.
Her hand moved toward her mouth as if bewitched. Her instincts screamed that to maintain her last dignity as a human being, she had to cover her mouth now.
Like Choe Jeho, he was bare-chested, but Gim Iwol's skin tone was extremely fair.
Perhaps because of that, instead of a harness, Gim Iwol had silver body chains draped under his cropped jacket. It was a detail she had missed earlier because she was blinded by the fact that he was bare-chested.
Even after making people's eyes pop, Gim Iwol didn't seem satisfied. That's why he exposed his back like that, not knowing how scary the world is.
With his back to the camera, every time Gim Iwol danced, his jacket repeatedly lifted and fell. When shadows settled over his spinal erectors, Baek Haewon's heart sank with them.
And when he turned his body forward—she couldn't even. She had heard he was strict with his diet and exercise, but who could have imagined his muscles would be sculpted like that?
Mom, our group's number one vampire is an abs hunk……. Baek Haewon felt like she was going to faint.
The most infuriating thing was that impossibly immoral back tattoo.
A tattoo on a model idol like Gim Iwol? Do they want to see how terrifying the savage Sparklers are? You carved a bouquet on the broad, white back of a 183cm giant? I haven't even done anything good lately, why do gifts keep coming out?
Baek Haewon jumped to a search portal. Then she searched frantically to find the flower dominating Gim Iwol's back. But since there were still over four minutes left in the MV, she had to return.
Someone will have found the flower pinned to Gim Iwol's back by the time I finish watching the MV. Trusting her colleagues, Baek Haewon focused on watching the MV again.
The scene returned to the conference room.
The image of a man being forced into a car with his eyes covered appeared on the projector screen.
『Until the path to the stage
I'll escort you
Match your steps
I'll wait』
Jeong Seongbin, dressed like a third-generation chaebol heir, pulled out a black file from among luxurious books.
When Jeong Seongbin spread the paper taken from the file on the solid wood desk, a huge blueprint appeared.
'So it's a story about rescuing a threatened man.'
I Cheonghyeon, who had entered the building with a forged ID, swept his gaze across the lobby with a relaxed face among people leaving work.
I Cheonghyeon's view was soon edited like CCTV footage and connected to the laptop Choe Jeho and Gang Giyeon were watching.
While individual cuts of the member in charge of each part overlapped with the main story, the Spark members scattered to their respective zones.
After Bak Juu injected and knocked out a staff member in the video room, I Cheonghyeon came in and turned off all the CCTV power.
Immediately after, Choe Jeho and Gang Giyeon, who had been waiting in the darkness, received the signal and entered a high-floor office from the building's outer wall. Breaking through the city nightscape, the two cornered the person who appeared to be the target.
Meanwhile, Gim Iwol walking through a port packed with containers under a clear sky appeared on screen.
From behind a container, someone seemed to aim a gun at Gim Iwol, and a targeting reticle appeared.
The moment he pulled the trigger.
Thud!
With the sound of something bursting, the screen turned red as if hit by a paint round.
What wiped away the stain were hands in black gloves…….
『The goal is only one
Remaining by your side
That's all』
……the hands of Gim Iwol, wearing a smiling face.
Sitting astride the fallen men, Gim Iwol skillfully spun and opened the magazine.
Looking at the magazine ruined by lipstick, Gim Iwol twirled the lipstick he took from his pocket in his hand.
Gim Iwol turned back the way he came.
Open containers and lipstick boxes with "For Export" written on them pouring out passed by in the background.
Eventually, Gim Iwol was able to face the man still blindfolded and tied up, isolated at the port.
'It's a movie, a movie.'
Baek Haewon was touched by the heartwarming rescue drama, but only for a moment.
The story, which she had thought beautifully concluded with the fantastic group dance and Bak Juu spraying sleeping gas and exiting, entered a new phase.
An office turned into a disaster zone was revealed under a dim dawn sky.
The big shots threatened overnight made calls everywhere with angry expressions.
Then on the laptop screen that Choe Jeho and Gang Giyeon were watching from the building rooftop, footage was transmitted of the man they thought Gim Iwol had rescued, still tied up.
At that moment, the boxes surrounding the man began to burn.
'No way, a plot twist where Gim Iwol was the hidden mastermind?'
Please. Spark is one! You tasteless UA bastards!
Baek Haewon was outraged.
But just before Baek Haewon grabbed her monitor.
The song stopped. It was an artificial halt.
Assistant Manager Gim hates idols.