Episode 70. First Day on the Job (1)
Entrance ceremonies, first days at a new job, sign-up dates….
There had been many days when I started something new.
Some days I was out of my mind with all the things I had to prepare; some days I checked my alarm over and over, afraid I’d be late from day one. And some days, I felt nothing at all.
But in my entire life, a “debut day” was a first.
Today, which would be a historic day for Spark as well, had been hectic since morning.
‘We’re going to the shop and then straight to the set, so everyone stay sharp! Make sure to greet everyone properly at the broadcast station!’
‘You hear that? If any of you don’t greet properly, you’ll see something interesting tonight.’
‘I’m so sick of you, seriously…….’
Even though I’d only thrown in a word to the manager’s comment, Choi Jeho replied with a disgusted expression.
Did he think I wasn’t sick of him? Anyway, he’s a funny guy.
Whether Choi Jeho looked disgusted or not, Lee Cheonghyeon didn’t care and exuded positive energy.
“Isn’t the weather so nice today? Should I say it’s a good start?”
I’d known the day would be nice. Even though I’d returned, the weather was always good for late winter around this time.
In the past, Spark had debuted on a sunny late-winter day like this too.
Date-wise, it was exactly today.
Because the debut year had been moved up due to me, I’d wanted to at least keep the debut date the same, and fortunately, things had worked out well.
How much time had passed since we’d all gotten dolled up at the shop and departed for the broadcast station?
“Kids, time to get out!”
At the manager’s signal to get off, Lee Cheonghyeon opened the car door.
Rookie idols’ profile photos are always followed by heaps of suspicion.
That it must be photoshopped, or that a skin tone like that couldn’t exist.
But such words would all pale into nothingness in front of Lee Cheonghyeon’s face.
It wasn’t without reason that I’d sent Lee Cheonghyeon out first.
Sure enough, when Lee Cheonghyeon stepped out of the car, the murmuring all around could be felt even from inside the car.
“Wow, hyungs! There are so many people!”
“Don’t make loud noises in public.”
I nagged Lee Cheonghyeon with ventriloquism as I got out of the car.
Soon, when these guys whose leg lengths rivaled moving-company ladder trucks filed out one after another, gazes turned this way to a frightening degree.
I found a spot where I’d be moderately hidden by them and followed along. My plan was to avoid being photographed as much as possible.
Even though it was still early, crowds had gathered in front of the photo zone.
They were probably fans of singers appearing on today’s music broadcast.
I looked at the slogans people were holding and tried to guess in my head who today’s lineup would be.
At that moment, a familiar name was heard from somewhere.
“Spark, you’re handsome!”
I snapped my gaze over and saw a lady waving this way.
Spark……that’s what she said, just now?
Were there already people who recognized Spark?
No, more importantly, I had to greet her.
My head became a mess in an instant. Inside my chaotic head, I dug through the stacks of fancam files I’d accumulated over the years.
In the countless commute fancams I’d looked up for a smooth commute, idols waved with both hands or raised one hand slightly, greeting brightly.
But would it be okay to do just that?
In this weather where the winter wind was so bitter, to someone who had come all the way to this desolate environment without a single fan to wait with and exchange fan talk with until entry time—could I really finish my greeting with just a wave?
To someone who had bowed until his waist broke at Hanpyeong Industries, a one-handed greeting was an act too heavy for my conscience.
So I simply bent at a 90-degree angle. I only hoped that she would understand the depth of my gratitude.
* * *
Without even time to raise my head after greeting, what awaited us next upon entering the broadcast station was an enormous amount of waiting.
I’d heard this was something rookies always went through, but hearing about it and actually being left alone for over three hours were two different things.
Still, I wasn’t bored. All six of us were busy devoting ourselves to self-improvement activities.
‘Productive activities we can do in the waiting room?’
‘Yeah. But it can’t be something you need to focus too hard on. We might film a video in between.’
Before I could even finish answering Jeong Seongbin’s question, Lee Cheonghyeon butted in and asked,
‘Are you going to film something like a waiting-room vlog?’
‘That’s part of it, but surely you’re not going to waste hours of waiting time doing nothing? If you’re not going to sleep, bring something to do.’
At my last words, the guys somehow put on slightly determined expressions.
I’d meant that rather than wasting stamina on pointless things, they might as well sleep, but they had even diligently brought something each.
Because everyone was taking out work from their bags so seriously, I ended up taking the camera from the video team in a daze and filming the waiting-room scenery.
I held the camcorder and approached Jeong Seongbin and Park Juu.
“First, the leader. What did you bring?”
“There’s a song I want to try singing, so I brought materials to copy the lyrics by hand to memorize them!”
“What about you, Juu?”
“I brought a vocabulary notebook…… to study English.”
The two even neatly held out their notebook and vocabulary book to the camera, as if posing for an insert shot.
What exemplary appearances. They were the perfect idols to introduce to a child who should be concentrating on schoolwork. I’d have to make these two do something like a Study With Me live broadcast later.
Next, I filmed the youngest members who had settled in a corner.
“What did you guys bring?”
“A cube. Lee Cheonghyeon said he’ll treat me to the convenience store if I solve it today.”
Kang Giyeon held up a small cube.
It seemed Lee Cheonghyeon had used his head because his friend was nervous before the debut stage. I probably didn’t need to take out the bubble wrap I’d picked up from the UA warehouse just in case.
Lee Cheonghyeon was diligently drawing notes on staff paper.
I made sure the staff paper didn’t get caught on camera and asked,
“What song is this?”
“Ah, it’s fine to film! I’m thinking about the arrangement direction for our debut song.”
“Do you still draw sheet music by hand like this these days?”
“I can do it automatically, but since I learned to write by hand from the start, this way is more comfortable. Would you like to see?”
Then Lee Cheonghyeon suddenly held out the staff paper to me.
Notes drawn as straight as if with a ruler were neatly arranged. It was impressive.
“This is filming the members, right? Are we the last?”
“No. I haven’t filmed Choi Jeho yet.”
I lifted the camera and filmed Choi Jeho doing explosive push-ups in the opposite corner of the waiting room.
I approached Choi Jeho and asked,
“How many is that?”
“Exactly fifty right now.”
“Don’t sweat. What if you use up all the strength you need for dancing?”
“This much won’t do that.”
As if it wasn’t bluff, Choi Jeho stood up with a calm face. And he reached his hand toward me.
“What?”
“Give me the camera. You need to be filmed too.”
It was unexpected.
I’d only thought about filming the guys; it hadn’t occurred to me that anyone would film me.
Leaving me stunned, Choi Jeho took the camera and asked,
“What did you bring?”
What did I bring?
I hadn’t planned on doing anything here.
Just taking turns filming these five guys would obviously leave no time; why would I bother with pointless things?
There were people in charge of filming. We had support from the video team.
But we couldn’t rely solely on the video team. Because an idol’s behind-the-scenes camera and a ballad singer’s camera had a slightly different texture.
From being a group versus solo, to the flow and atmosphere, they were slightly different…….
The problem was that this difference was so minute that to filming experts, it would feel like, “Isn’t that just a difference in personal taste?”
Then who would feel this difference such that I had to volunteer as a cameraman?
≫ Please film the kids’ facesssss
I don’t care about the waiting rooooom
Don’t focus on weird thingssss!!!!!
≫ No but…… try increasing the number of cameras…… when they’re talking, only one kid is on screen…….
└ My baby only appeared as subtitles too hahaha I felt like my soul was leaving hahaha
≫ Good framing is nice
but the problem is the kids not appearing on screen hahaha
The answer was the fans who loved Spark to death.
UA, who realized the situation too late, promised to increase manpower next time, but until the next promotion cycle, Spark’s fans had to find their biases by voice.
To prevent such a mishap, I had been trying to volunteer as a cameraman too.
But I wasn’t flustered. Just in case, I had brought a small hobby item.
I confidently took out my supplies from my bag.
“I brought a coloring book.”
“……What did you say you brought?”
I waved the coloring book at Choi Jeho, who had moved his head out from behind the camcorder to check with his bare eyes.
“A coloring book. I brought colored pencils too.”
“Did you buy that?”
“No, it was at the dorm.”
“Why was it at the dorm?”
“It was the manager’s. He said he wouldn’t use it and gave it to me.”
“Why did that hyung buy a coloring book?”
He bought it to cultivate his patience and to try it on you.
But on the day the manager bought the coloring book, you dumped a basin of cold water at the dorm, apparently.
After that, it never saw the light of day, so I took it. I’ll put it to good use.
“Hyung, do you like drawing?”
Now Jeong Seongbin popped up from somewhere and asked.
This was troublesome.
If a former member and a current member appeared on the same screen, fans would have to go through the trouble of mosaic editing.
I bowed my head deeply and pretended to pick colored pencils as I spoke, for the sake of future Jeong Seongbin fans.
“Not really. It’s a waste if you don’t use something you have.”
Wasting resources was already sufficiently exemplified by the air-conditioned wind blowing on people like Chief Nam. Since they’re using it all up on one side, I should save too.
Whether I buried my head picking from the twelve colored pencils or not, Jeong Seongbin and Choi Jeho didn’t stop chattering above me.
“That’s true. Saving is important…….”
“For guys like us, it’s not wasting, is it?”
Whatever. If you’re done filming, go away.
Everyone had finished their respective self-improvement activities, and while Kang Giyeon still couldn’t solve the cube, the manager called us.
It was time for the so-called “greeting rounds,” where we went around to all the waiting rooms of the singers appearing on the music show to introduce our group and give them albums.
I’d heard this custom was dying out too, but I guess it depends on the broadcasting station.
Still, there wasn’t much to worry about. I’d reformed……no, corrected all five members’ postures so they’d look polite wherever they were spotted.
With idol groups popping up several a month, there was no way senior singers would pay us any special attention.
At most, some very senior singers who were close with UA artists would look out for us saying, “Ah, so you’re ○○ noona’s kids.”
If you excluded everyone flinching at Lee Cheonghyeon’s face, it was a very smooth first round of greetings.
At least, until we entered the waiting room of Parte, who were filming their final broadcast today, which we visited last.