Episode 74. Scheduled Resignation Date
“Great work, everyone!”
“Thank you!”
I bent at the waist and shouted my greetings the instant I heard the sound of “cut.” It was the moment yet another music show recording had come to an end.
This made it the third music show already.
As I collected today’s prop—the so-called “Lee Cheong-hyeon’s It Item” ballpoint pen with the doll attached—I thought to myself.
‘Just how many more music shows do I have to do……?’
The moment the first music show had ended, the System had definitely appeared before my eyes.
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[SYSTEM] A work order has arrived from ‘The Manager.’
▶ Deputy Kim, I saw the draft you put up! But I’m too swamped today. Yours isn’t urgent, right? I’ll make sure to look at it this week, so please be understanding. Got it?
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It was urgent as hell.
My heart felt like it would burst, like an office worker who’d run so hard during lunch break their legs felt like exploding, only to hear the estimated wait time at the bank was fifty minutes.
Given the situation, I’d been staying up all night with my eyes wide open, afraid I might miss the System’s mission completion notification while asleep.
Spark’s hot debut had already happened last week to begin with.
So even if they needed a week for verification, it should’ve ended a long time ago.
‘Shit, so even saying you’d seen it was a lie!’
I was too complacent. A guy who talked like Department Head Nam would never look at a draft on time.
No matter how much I’m the subordinate here, this is too much. Doesn’t the System’s world have a Ministry of Employment and Labor?
‘……I was really going to write the handover document starting today.’
Spark’s first promotional period is six weeks.
These six weeks were the optimal promotional period I’d fought UA to secure, a chance to raise Spark’s public recognition even a little.
I’d planned to finish one promotional cycle and leave the team from the start, but I wouldn’t feel at ease until my resignation letter was processed on the System’s side.
I anxiously shook the pen. The carrot doll attached to the end bobbed wildly.
I had completely cut off any factors that might let Department Head Nam—no, the System—suddenly say, “Deputy Kim, your performance is too poor. You’ll have to work a bit longer.”
Spark’s music video views had already surpassed twice that of their past debut numbers.
Part of it was thanks to Spark’s poor past performance, but even in the community monitoring I did daily, Spark was steadily making a name for themselves in a positive sense.
≫ The assignment distribution is perfect.
A delinquent who sleeps as soon as he gets to school → A model student who stayed up all night doing homework
A delinquent who brings a weapon to school → A model student who brought his supplies
A delinquent who seems like a real mastermind → Group leader
An outsider with a mysterious vibe → Safety manager
A guy who only goofs off in class → A golden-handed model student devoted to assignments
A delinquent in a messy uniform → A model student who takes on all the hard work
└ So they were a dream team.
≫ Where did you sell the doll’s neck, you bastard?
A male idol.gif frantically hiding his pen while everyone else pretends to write with theirs during the music show ending.
└ What’s the name of the guy hiding the pen??
└ They say it’s Spark’s Je-ho~
≫ Who knew six high school boys doing homework at school could be this addictive?
I can’t stop replaying it.
└ It really does look like a fun assignment，especially the students’ faces.
≫ Stage ending item evolution history.zip
Group assignment lot > ruler > pen hahaha Looking forward to what they’ll bring out next.
└ Deeply worried they might bring a gourd and smash it on their heads for the final broadcast……
└ hahahahahahaha
Of course, I wouldn’t let them smash anything on their heads. I’d strictly forbidden any actions that could harm their faces.
Of all the posts I’d read so far, this was my favorite.
≫ I thought another sacrificial lamb of that damn agency had appeared，
but they’re fucking good on stage…… Must have the main family’s genes after all.
Of course, not every review was positive.
There were all sorts of posts，from criticism disguised as hate to blatant disparagement.
But I didn’t pay them much mind.
About half concerned my fancam，in which my skills were noticeably inferior to the members’，and the other half were attention-grabbing posts that stuck to any celebrity.
Please bear with me a little longer，everyone. The eyesore of a clumsy amateur，Mr. Kim I-wol，will be leaving soon…….
The results were better than before，and I’d figured out roughly what to do for the next year or so.
Determined to prevent the System from secretly going back on its word，I resolved to start writing the handover document as soon as possible.
“Hyung，we’re going to post the live notice!”
Right.
I just had to get through tomorrow’s live broadcast.
* * *
Baek Hae-won had spent the last several days immersed in MeTube.
It was all because of an idol group that had debuted just a few days ago.
Having debuted now，why were they so good on stage，and why did they have so much content bait?
After swimming nonstop for four hours in an ocean of content，Baek Hae-won had to admit with a heavy heart. She had fallen for Spark.
‘I should’ve waited until they got a bit more popular…… Then I’d have fellow fans at least……. No，they say the earlier you become a fan，the better…….’
Baek Hae-won’s mind was nothing but anguish.
The reason Baek Hae-won still clutched her phone even in her exhausted state was because of that damned idol group.
After yesterday’s music show，a live broadcast notice had gone up on the official SNS of the newly created group ‘Spark.’
≫ ★ Notice ★
Guys，we have a presentation soon……
Is everyone free tomorrow evening?
Let’s prepare together at our place!
Don’t forget to bring your phones!
It was an extremely simple yet utterly conceptual notice. Was there ever such an ordinary yet characterful announcement?
And that long-awaited live broadcast soon approached Baek Hae-won as she chatted with acquaintances on SNS.
[Spark] (2X0227) Starting our group project presentation!
‘They even put the date in the broadcast title…… Makes it easy for fans to back it up…….’
Without thinking she would become that fan，Baek Hae-won pressed the broadcast button.
Six people wearing matching black tracksuits of the same design appeared on screen，sitting gathered together.
『Manager，I think our broadcast is on. Is that right?』
Spark member Kim I-wol，who had been looking at a tablet，asked someone off-screen in a small voice. Of course，Baek Hae-won heard everything through her earphones.
‘First of all，manners pass.’
Personality was extremely important in deciding whether to become a fan.
Once you started liking someone，you could overlook considerable flaws，so it was Baek Hae-won’s creed—hardened through years of trials and tribulations—to fasten the first button properly from the start.
“Where is there an idol whose personality exploded in front of a camera?”
“There are plenty. It’s definitely not that my former main group was like that……”
“Actually，it is，dammit.”
‘No，no. Focus，focus!’
Focusing on Spark right in front of her was a hundred times more beneficial than thinking about those bastards who’d been buried in the industry.
Feeling that the connection was smooth，the members began the broadcast with a group greeting.
『We’re finally doing our first live broadcast since debut. Applause!』
As leader Jeong Seong-bin spoke，everyone followed him and clapped.
Seeing that，only one thought crossed Baek Hae-won’s mind.
‘My Seong-bin…… How does he survive in this cold-hearted group when he looks so soft all by himself…….’
Based on Jeong Seong-bin sitting in the center，fiercely imposing figures flanked him on both sides—Gi-yeon to the left and Cheong-hyeon to the right—while in the back row sat hyungs who looked like they’d just come from collecting debts.
Fortunately，the hyungs’ way of speaking was very gentle.
『Choi Je-ho，want to look at the comments?』
『Yeah，I’ll read them.』
One of them was a bit like a cyborg，but well. Anyone could be nervous during their first broadcast.
『We have so much we want to say since it’s our first broadcast…… Iwol hyung，could you bring that out?』
『Yeah.』
At Jeong Seong-bin’s request，Kim I-wol pulled out a large foam board from behind the sofa.
1. Debut impressions
2. MV behind the scenes
3. Today’s TMI
4. Future plans
It even had today’s conversation topics written in order.
‘Isn’t that the board they used for member introductions in their self-produced content?’
At the familiar colors and recognizable size，Baek Hae-won couldn’t stop her rational suspicion. Reusing props…… you guys are quite environmentally friendly…….
But more importantly，what TMI? Was that really something worth talking about so seriously?
Baek Hae-won was a bit confused.
However，unaware of this，Spark stuck a red star shape that looked made of felt onto “1. Debut Impressions” and talked about the joy and gratitude of debuting.
Cheong-hyeon’s revelation that Kim I-wol couldn’t sleep for several days after debut was quite interesting.
In the self-produced content，he had seemed like a rigid，by-the-book type with a screw loose somewhere.
They finished their debut impressions by sharing brief thoughts in turn. Next up was the MV behind-the-scenes.
『We can’t leave this out when talking about this music video. Goldberg!』
Cheong-hyeon pulled out a paper printed with a scene from the MV from under the table. It was anyone’s guess how many visual materials were hidden beneath the camera.
Then Jeong Seong-bin said something surprising.
『Cheong-hyeon made this Goldberg device all by himself.』
『Ah，Iwol hyung planned it and I only designed it! The members all helped make it!』
So in the end，it meant Cheong-hyeon himself had designed that massive device.
『Cheong-hyeon worked really hard…….』
Park Ju-u said with a smile. It seemed Baek Hae-won was the only one surprised by this.
Was it easy to make every movement click into place like stop motion? She didn’t know much，but she thought the calculations had to line up perfectly.
Right on cue，Kang Gi-yeon pointed this out.
『We failed a lot in the middle. Went through a lot of trial and error.』
『Really. We suggested splitting it into cuts，but Cheong-hyeon said he wanted to do it in one take.』
『That’s why it came out so cool! Love to our members who helped!』
As the back-and-forth between Kang Gi-yeon and Jeong Seong-bin ended，Cheong-hyeon sent winks and hearts in every direction.
Then Kim I-wol kindly turned Cheong-hyeon’s body to face the camera directly. Thank you，Speedy I-wol!
『It’s been a while since I used my head，so it was hard but fun! I don’t think I have to study math for a while!』
『Even so，Lee Cheong-hyeon，isn’t your exam period coming up again in about two months?』
『Ah，Je-ho hyung……!』
Their bickering was truly wholesome. It felt like what you’d get in a boys’ class at Baek Hae-won’s school.
‘A lifestyle-immersion high-teen…….’
Similar comments were appearing on the SNS timeline she’d checked briefly during the live.
Baek Hae-won was thinking she’d browse some fandom communities when the broadcast ended，but the conversation topic moved on to the third item.
She figured TMI would be about what they ate today or what snacks they saw at the convenience store.
Baek Hae-won set her phone down for a moment，thinking she’d take this chance to grab some snacks.
But she couldn’t go get the snacks. Instead，she was busy doubting her own ears.
Clearly，Kim I-wol on screen was telling a very ordinary story about what he’d eaten today.
『Choi Je-ho ate a steak egg salad. The sauce was mustard，but he said it wasn’t very appealing today，so Ju-u set aside the Oriental sauce he didn’t eat，and Je-ho poured that on instead. He left the yolk，right? Seong-bin…….』
The level of detail was almost identical to how she herself used to jot down notes on the way her bias mixed his rice so she could copy him.