Chapter 46. Group Merch Order
The deducted fatigue returned in an instant.
At the same time, strength left my legs. I nearly collapsed right onto the floor.
Even standing still, my head spun. It was a familiar sensation.
‘Wow. It’s exactly like when I used to work at a company.’
That exhaustion of having worked ten hours—whether to overcome it and exercise, or trudge home to skip dinner and sleep.
Memories of agonizing between those two choices in the past surfaced. I felt like I might cry.
But I had no room to choose.
I had a mission to debut Spark as ‘an incredible knife-like dance group.’
I bit my lip hard to keep from groaning mid-workout.
And lying sprawled on the gym floor, fighting the urge to surrender to my battle with gravity, I admirably completed today’s workout.
When I returned after recovering my exhausted body through the labor support service, the atmosphere in the practice room was slightly different from usual.
And for good reason—laughter could be heard even before opening the door.
It was unusual for a place where Lee Cheonghyeon was the only one who held private conversations.
‘What day is it today?’
When I entered the practice room, the expressions of a few guys warming up in front of the mirror were strangely excited, even giddy.
The most typical examples were Lee Cheonghyeon and Jeong Seongbin.
Combining the roster and the date, the answer came quickly.
‘Right. Today was the day their exams ended.’
Despite being in the same grade line, Gang Giyeon was maintaining the exact same energy as usual, so I approached him and asked.
“You look no different from usual even though your exams are over?”
“I didn’t study hard enough to be happy that they’re finished.”
“You really know yourself well.”
Just as I was about to applaud Gang Giyeon for not forgetting a trainee’s duty and focusing solely on debut preparations, someone jumped onto my back.
The only one among us who would do such a thing was Lee Cheonghyeon.
Sure enough, Lee Cheonghyeon shouted loudly from above my head.
“Hyung! What you told me was on the exam! That’s crazy, right!”
“So. Did you get it right?”
“Of course. If I’d gotten it wrong, you would’ve called me in and said, ‘Cheonghyeon, how can you smile after getting something you just learned wrong?’ right?”
“You know me well. And you’re good at impressions too. You could use it as a personal talent later on.”
“Ha. What should I do, knowing how to do so many things like this?”
With that, Lee Cheonghyeon laughed loudly.
Holding Lee Cheonghyeon’s thighs with both hands as he clung to my back, I said.
“What do you mean, what should you do. When you go on variety shows, you’ll have to hard carry.”
“Oh……. It’s scary because it feels so real, hyung.”
Lee Cheonghyeon’s piggyback show quickly ended thanks to Jeong Seongbin pulling him away. But Lee Cheonghyeon didn’t stop talking.
“Hyung! Hyung! Our exams are over, so should we all do something together?”
“Do something, like what?”
“Going out would be perfect, but that seems impossible because of practice schedules……. Hmm, this is tricky.”
His energy was so high I wondered if he’d gone extreme sports rather than taken an exam.
Unable to endure the excited atmosphere, Choe Jeho had distanced himself far from Lee Cheonghyeon.
“Why are you so excited? Did you do well on the exam?”
“Well, to the point where I think I would’ve been first in class if I hadn’t misaligned my OMR sheet?”
To the question thrown out like a joke, Lee Cheonghyeon casually blurted out tremendous news.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Looking at me asking back in surprise, Lee Cheonghyeon grinned.
I knew he was smart, but this was astonishingly brilliant.
I’d had to study from morning till night for days on end to barely get first place, yet this guy had crammed only during exam period and still pulled similar grades.
‘Now I understand why his family was against him becoming an idol at first.’
Lee Cheonghyeon, from an intellectual family, had clashed fiercely with his family’s opposition until debut.
To a mother who was a research institute vice president and a father who was a high school teacher, a K-pop idol must have been a rather unfamiliar occupation.
Perhaps that’s why, in the corner of Spark’s vlogs, Lee Cheonghyeon was often seen solving workbooks.
‘Sparklers, isn’t it exam period right now? Hurry up and turn off the live. I’ll finish grammar after today’s live ends too!’
‘I really have to study today. If I don’t do well on my exam, I’ll get scolded by Mom.’
Fans loved that side of Lee Cheonghyeon, calling it ‘an idol’s K-high schooler moment.’
Suddenly, at Manager Nam’s daughter’s request, I’d had to scour the vlogs and make a video titled ‘Study with Cheonghyeon (Spark Lee Cheonghyeon).’
He was so tucked away in the corner solving workbooks that when I edited the video, I had to zoom in so much his face ended up looking like a pixelated game character.
Anyway. If he felt pressure at home, I could understand why he’d been waking up at dawn to study.
Looking at Lee Cheonghyeon, who had finally gotten down from my back thanks to Jeong Seongbin’s intervention, I spoke.
“If there’s something you want to do to celebrate finishing exams, tell me. If it’s something we have to do together, I’ll do it.”
“Really?!”
“Something delicious…… won’t work since Gang Giyeon is on a diet. Skipping practice is also out. Every minute and second is precious to me right now, so my feet are on fire.”
“No, then there’s nothing left!”
“If you’re dissatisfied, aim for the next final exams.”
Lee Cheonghyeon made an incredulous expression at my words.
What, why.
It’s your grades, not mine, that came out well.
While smart Lee Cheonghyeon was struggling to find maximum enjoyment in an extreme environment limited by money, time, and food options, Bak Juu approached.
“……How about something like friendship items?”
“Friendship items?”
Friendship items.
It was a phrase I truly never expected to come out of Bak Juu’s mouth.
Everyone in the practice room—including Choe Jeho, probably—doubted their ears.
Bak Juu himself simply held out the practice room phone nonchalantly.
On the screen was a search for ‘student who finished exams.’
Below it were search histories like ‘post-exam bucket list’ and ‘things to do after exams.’
“Cheonghyeon, I thought you’d like something like this…….”
“I totally love it! How do you know my taste so perfectly?”
Lee Cheonghyeon’s face as he said that looked genuinely excited. It made me wonder, ‘Was he always a member with this much love for the team?’
“Friendship rings are nice. Hyungs, how about rings?”
“You guys are in your prime growth period. If you get them fitted now, they might not fit later.”
“Really? Then let’s get them for Jeho hyung and Iwol hyung first, since their growth period is over.”
“Can you really call them friendship rings if they’re bought at different times……?”
Before we knew it, we had put our heads together to pick out items to show off our friendship.
Among us, there were those who weren’t very enthusiastic. Namely, Choe Jeho.
He seemed to be thinking, ‘Do we really have to match something?’ so I secretly pointed at Gang Giyeon.
Then Choe Jeho obediently closed his mouth. It seemed he hadn’t forgotten the cause of their previous fight.
But even after ten-odd minutes, no good suggestions came out.
There were simply too many reasons why they were unsuitable for everyone to wear.
“Where on earth are you going to wear rabbit headbands?”
“They’re cute! And funny.”
“You just want to make the members look ridiculous.”
Lee Cheonghyeon’s eyes suddenly lit up as he suggested animal ear headbands.
“Can’t we just do necklaces or something?”
“Doesn’t Juu not wear necklaces? Since it’s suffocating.”
“Yeah……. But if we’re all matching, I’ll do it.”
“Hey, there must be plenty of good things besides necklaces!”
Necklaces, bracelets, and anklets were rejected one after another due to individual preferences.
There would have been plenty of opinions left to coordinate, but everyone seemed fixated on the notion of ‘friendship items’ and obsessed with the idea that ‘we have to match something everyone can be satisfied with!’
Still, wasting practice time endlessly on such a consuming conversation was problematic.
“Surely you’re not going to talk about friendship items all throughout practice today?”
“Gasp. Nearly 20 minutes have already passed……!”
“Yeah. This is all great, but let’s actually do what we need to do…….”
Just then, I stopped mid-sentence as it came to me.
Something that suited these guys, that everyone could wear.
A friendship item where the time spent would be worth the cost.
Three days later, a fairly bulky package arrived at the dorm. It was the friendship item we’d ordered.
While Jeong Seongbin and Lee Cheonghyeon tore open the package, Choe Jeho asked me.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Do people normally match workout clothes for friendship items?”
That’s right.
We’d all matched workout clothes that could be worn 365 days a year. In black, which didn’t stain easily.
“Can’t we just think of it as a uniform?”
“How is this any different from giving a student a stationery set for Christmas?”
“What’s wrong with a stationery set? You should say thank you and accept it.”
While Choe Jeho and I were having this pointless conversation, Jeong Seongbin approached holding clothes in our sizes. The others had already torn open their packaging.
“Hyung, should we film a choreography practice video wearing these later?!”
“That’s exactly why I got them. So if any of you lose them before we film, I won’t let it slide.”
Because I don’t want to see you filming choreography practice videos in those apocalyptic street clothes. It was genuinely painful to watch.
I deliberately didn’t engrave numbers or names.
So it won’t be obvious later when I’m no longer here.
‘It’s been a long time since we had group outfits, not since the company hoodie zip-up.’
Holding the black friendship tracksuit set, I felt a strange emotion. I couldn’t quite explain it.
* * *
The joy over their first-ever friendship item, coupled with the end of midterms, was short-lived; Lee Cheonghyeon had to return to reality immediately.
Because the deadline for the debut song was right around the corner.
In fact, Lee Cheonghyeon’s song was already of sufficiently high completion.
It was much better than when it had been included as a B-side in the past, and had received good evaluations from the A&R team as well.
But the planning PPT I’d sent for reference and instructions given during choreography practice seemed to feel like a different kind of feedback to Lee Cheonghyeon.
Lee Cheonghyeon, with his creative drive ignited, had begun fearlessly tearing apart the song and undertaking large-scale revisions immediately after exams ended.
In turn, I had to be ready to stop him if the revisions went in a strange direction, so I couldn’t sleep either, but thankfully no such disaster occurred.
After enduring a schedule more intense than exam period.
“……How is it?”
When the music playback ended, Lee Cheonghyeon asked cautiously.
Having stayed awake until near sunrise, Lee Cheonghyeon’s voice was hoarse.
I pulled out my earphones and looked at him. The circles under his eyes were black.
“You want me to be honest, right?”
“……While keeping it gentle?”
Lee Cheonghyeon answered playfully, but his mind was nowhere near joking.
There was only one thing to say to Lee Cheonghyeon like that.
“It’s the best version I’ve heard so far. Let’s go with this.”
“Really……?!”
Lee Cheonghyeon clenched his fist tightly.
A metallic sound came from his hoarse throat. He probably wanted to shout something like ‘Yes!’
+
[SYSTEM] ‘Task’ has been completed.
▷ Reward: EXP (5)
▷ Accumulated EXP: 5
▷ Accumulated Points: 0
+
At that moment, the system announcing the final confirmation of the task appeared.
“Yeah. Really.”
It was the moment they overcame the biggest mountain before debut.