| Episode 68. Business Etiquette Training (1)
After the teaser dropped, mentions of Spark rose by a very slight, but still noticeable, amount.
The moment the teaser was released online, my debut also became something I could no longer get out of.
Along with that, all of us entered hell training.
You’re asking if the company wasn’t the type to force practice?
“Guys, you’re tired, right?”
“Yes, hyung……”
“I’m tired too. But our eyes are still open, so let’s try just a little more, okay?”
Yep, I forced them. They were already good to begin with, but the more time we put in, the better they got, so I was in the middle of wringing them out down to the bone dust.
After the Park Ju-u incident, I took the members’ condition into account and whipped them with delicate care. At this point, it was VIP treatment.
My own accumulated fatigue was shooting up no less alarmingly, but…… I still wake up in the morning, so I guess it’s fine.
I was about to drink some water and catch my breath when Park Ju-u came over and asked,
“Hyung, we’re practicing fan signs tomorrow morning, right……?”
“Yeah.”
Spark’s “practice” wasn’t limited only to our debut stage.
Because I’d created a separate comprehensive onboarding program for Kim Iwol’s debut.
As soon as the debut date was confirmed, I asked the company for their understanding and had the members practice stage performance during the day and fan sign and fan meeting practice at night.
UA barely provided any education related to fan service, and the reasons Spark got caught up in minor controversies early in their debut all stemmed from their responses at fan events.
≫ Writing a review after going to a fan sign and unstanning
Honestly, it’s not like I didn’t know my idol’s fan service sucked lol
When you’re a pure fan, you just cover your eyes and ears and stan anyway, right?? I was the same
I just covered for my babies like, “They’re just shy around strangers,” and shit lol
But when I spent hundreds of thousands of won to go to a fan sign and not one, but all five of them only said, “Ah…… thank you,” it gave me a fucking reality check
They’re the XXXs carrying on the legacy of the “Oh, really?” pests. I stayed up all night with my eyes wide open that day and unstanned the next day
└ This is so real…… I get a full face of makeup, buy clothes, and get new nails done to meet them, but the idols get fully styled at the salon and come in a car their manager drives, yet they make it so fucking obvious they’re tired. It pisses me off
└ OP, can’t you at least tell us who you stanned with initials?
└ SPK
└ You’re the one who spent the money, and now that you didn’t get the fan service you wanted, you’re blaming the idols lololol Did you entrust something to them?
└ I paid my own money to buy albums and won a fan sign slot, so I can’t even ask for that much? lol I hope the commenter orders a combo meal, gets only the à la carte item, and just eats what they’re given without complaining lol
The community boards back then were full of scary things like that. Department Head Nam’s daughter had gotten worked up too, saying she should or shouldn’t make PDFs of the posts.
The reason Spark botched their fan sign was later revealed through Jeong Seongbin’s mouth. All of them had been extremely nervous.
They had seen senior idols get torn apart for having dead-fish eyes at fan signs, so they knew they had to do something, but they had absolutely no idea what that something should be.
Some people accepted that honestly, while others thought it was a cowardly excuse.
But I understood Jeong Seongbin’s feelings to some extent.
Because at the time, sitting next to Jeong Seongbin was Choi Jeho, who no one knew when, where, or what he might say.
Choi Jeho had never crossed the line with his remarks at a fan sign, but considering the members had said several times that their feelings were hurt by Choi Jeho’s way of speaking back when they were trainees, I could understand Jeong Seongbin’s concern.
I myself had gone into interviews with Department Head Nam and come out with my back soaked more than once.
Whether the oldest hyung is someone you can rely on or not has quite a big influence. In that sense, Choi Jeho was a good center, but not a good hyung.
On top of that, Kang Giyeon at the time was the kind of guy who couldn’t do anything once he got nervous, so all Jeong Seongbin would’ve had to rely on were Park Ju-u, who scraped together every bit of nonexistent sociability he had and tried his best, and Lee Cheonghyeon, who was younger than him.
How could they have focused during the event? It was a relief they didn’t spout nonsense.
That said, their insufficient fan service couldn’t be justified. If you receive money, don’t you have an obligation to do the amount of work you were paid for?
So we proceed.
Spark’s mock fan sign.
* * *
Last weekend, I analyzed around two hundred fan sign reviews and Post-it notes for boy groups, made an FAQ list, and shared it in the group chat.
[★Notice★ 1. The last person to leave must check the gas stove 2. Trash goes wherever you see……]
Me
[By the day after tomorrow, think of
three answers for each question.]
[We’ll practice answering
when random questions come in.]
Cutie Pretty Visual Lee Cheonghyeon
[Maknaes have confirmed~]
Mental Pillar Jeong Seongbin
[Seongbin and Ju-u have confirmed. :)]
Mental Pillar Jeong Seongbin
[I also let Jeho hyung know! :)]
Me
[Jeho *^^* You didn’t make your younger member reply because you couldn’t be bothered, right? *^^* You’re not that hopeless of an old fart, right? *^^* If you are, I’m a little disappointed ㅠㅠ *^^*]
Center Emperor Choi Jeho
[Hey, I said I didn’t make him do it]
Whether Choi Jeho felt wronged or not, the day to check their level of preparation quickly arrived.
To create a realistic setting, we even brought a long table and chairs into the practice room, and it turned into a place that looked like the photos I’d seen in reviews.
Across from me, Choi Jeho was placing water bottles on the table for each person according to my instructions when he asked,
“But if we’re practicing, who’s playing the fans?”
“Me.”
“You?”
Choi Jeho asked back with a sour expression.
But think about it.
Me, who’ll sign autographs for three months at most, or might never even get the chance to attend a fan sign at all.
And you guys, who’ll have to do fan signs for at least seven years.
Between the two, who should practice signing more diligently? Obviously you bastards.
“Is that really a good casting choice? I don’t think it’ll be easy to meet fans like you, hyung.”
“What kind of fan am I?”
“Do you want to hear it?”
Even Kang Giyeon joined Choi Jeho’s side.
It seemed everyone was suspicious of my acting skills.
Unbelievable. Do you know how many times I replayed fan sign fancams because I had to read the shapes of your lips?
I’ve probably watched around fifteen thousand Sparklers through videos alone. Thanks to that, I could imitate the gestures of the fans sitting in front of you without even looking.
It can’t be helped.
I’ll show you. The dignity of the winner of the Hanpyeong Industries HR Team’s Department Head Nam Impersonation Contest.
The first batter of the 1st Spark (Mock) Fan Sign was Jeong Seongbin.
Judging from how his fists were clenched tightly, Jeong Seongbin seemed at least a little nervous.
Unlike the others, he appeared to be taking this situation somewhat seriously. As expected, he never disappointed.
Deeply moved, I held out the planner I’d prepared as a prop to Jeong Seongbin.
And with a bright smile, I shouted,
“Seongbin, I picked you as my bias!”
“……Pardon?”
Jeong Seongbin, who had been about to pretend to sign, stiffened and looked up at me with a creak.
How do you make my pride in you last less than five seconds? I immediately hardened my expression and said,
“Seongbin, a fan said they picked you as their bias, and you’re going to zone out? Do you want to become their former bias at a fan sign?”
“No, I was just so startled for a moment…… I’m sorry!”
“Being startled happens when you haven’t practiced enough. Keep that in mind.”
After warning the other four sitting in a row beside Jeong Seongbin, I sat back down in my chair.
Now, between the two of us, the atmosphere had gone beyond tension and become solemnly determined.
“Post-it! Check your answer to the Post-it question for me!”
“Yes, yes!”
Get your heads on straight, you punks.
Once this is over, we have to practice your fan meeting talent show too.
* * *
Until Kim Iwol said they should practice for fan signs, Kang Giyeon hadn’t thought much of it.
It wasn’t that he was uninterested. It was just that they were doing something they had to do, so there was no reason for him to feel anything special about it.
He was surprised that Kim Iwol had even had time to consider things like this. At times like these, Kang Giyeon would feel that Kim Iwol’s obsession with perfection occasionally bordered on madness.
But he had already passed the stage where he found such eccentric behavior strange.
Rather, considering perfectionist Kim Iwol’s personality, he had reached the point where this older member’s odd behavior made sense.
To the point that Kim Iwol looking at photos posted on social media and preparing the table, water bottles, and chairs in perfectly matching positions looked natural.
However……
“Gasp…… Cheonghyeon, you’re seriously so handsome…….”
The current Kim Iwol, who was speaking to the second member, Lee Cheonghyeon, was clearly not in his right mind no matter who looked at him. Either that, or he was possessed by something.
His acting, covering his mouth with a moved expression, was truly excellent. If Kang Giyeon had believed in folk religion even a little, he would definitely have thought that hyung was possessed by a ghost.
“Aw, what if you keep complimenting me like that and I get spoiled?”
As for his friend who was playing along with that……
He’d always been a weird guy.
Kang Giyeon gave up thinking.
“It’s okay. If power were decided by faces, our Cheonghyeon would be president.”
“Really? Then you can’t say that to the other members later, okay?”
“Sorry, please pretend you didn’t see that.”
They were having the time of their lives.
Kang Giyeon was about to shake his head, but stopped himself. If he insolently shook his head during a virtual fan sign, he had no idea what terrible thing might happen.
However, as if to make Kang Giyeon’s efforts meaningless, Kim Iwol’s head turned toward the members left behind.
There was not a trace of light to be found in Kim Iwol’s deep black eyes.
“Guys.”
“……Yes.”
“We’re in the middle of a fan sign, so why are your smiles dropping? Didn’t I tell you to maintain a bright smile unless you have a legitimate reason? Do you want to hear people say, ‘Spark turned into clearance-rack dead-fish fritters from their very first fan sign’?”
“We just have to smile, right? Smile!”
“Yeah, Choi Jeho, you especially. If that’s all it takes, then why haven’t you been smiling until now, making me repeat myself?”
“……”
“Let’s understand perfectly the first time I say something, okay?”
Kim Iwol emitted murderous intent from his face while only his eyes smiled pleasantly. It was the smile Lee Cheonghyeon had named “false kindness.”
Kang Giyeon gulped. If he got on the wrong side of that hyung, who had clearly lost it, there was no way he’d be able to go home peacefully today.
At this timing, of all people, the third member to appear was Park Ju-u.
Because Park Ju-u was extremely shy around strangers and had received a particularly large amount of private tutoring from Kim Iwol, everyone held their breath—while maintaining their smiles—and watched the two of them.
Praying that their proud main vocalist would at least not be dragged to the vocal practice room for harsh private tutoring.
“Hi, Ju-u!”
Kim Iwol’s lively greeting came out again, refusing to die.
Then Park Ju-u smiled faintly and replied,
“Hello. Hyung, that ring really suits you.”
What?
Park Ju-u…… to Kim Iwol?
In that gentle and affectionate tone…… What did he say?