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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Keywords (2)
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The members of Spark, excluding Lee Cheonghyun, were generally men of few words.
Their voices weren't loud, either. Naturally, the members were all portrayed on broadcasts as having more or less the same personality.
There was a limit to how much Lee Cheonghyun could liven up the subdued atmosphere on his own.
Thanks to this, Spark's broadcast appearances were, to put it nicely, like a nature documentary.
I won't bother describing the not-so-nice version.
‘This is why it’s so hard to attract new fans.’
We were in a situation where we couldn't even get by with the classic ‘one of them has to be your type’ sales pitch.
Who's going to show up if you present a bunch of kids made from the same cookie cutter and say, "Look! We have this many identical ones, so they must be several times better, right?"
You need something to work with to promote them.
To get the fans to a point where they'd start excavating the members' lives from A to Z, it seemed we needed to at least dig a small starting hole for them.
‘At the very least, they need to be able to express some of their individuality.’
That way, we could at least find props that perfectly suited them for their debut album.
I let out a deep sigh, cleared my search history, and returned the phone to the manager.
Then, during the breaks in their group practice, I began to watch the members closely.
I recalled the email from Department Head Nam's daughter, which said that perfect character interpretation stems from affection and obsession.
Nothing was more convenient than using refined language to define something.
So, I started to codify these guys' personalities, borrowing keywords I'd seen in web novels.
For instance, for Park Juwoo, who would sit blankly in a corner during every break, I set his default image as ‘aloof puppy.’
As for Choi Jeho, the one who monopolized the daughter's affection and was destined to become Spark's shining center…
"So you... are the cool, aloof, oblivious genius type."
…I gave him a particularly flashy one.
But Choi Jeho's reply was utterly indifferent.
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Your ‘aloof’ attribute overlaps with Juwoo’s. What do you think about changing your personality a bit?"
My reasonable suggestion did nothing to smooth Choi Jeho's crumpled expression.
It wasn't desirable for a majority of the team to achieve a triple crown in being aloof, blunt, and stoic. A shame.
"Hyung! What about me?!"
Thinking I was saying something interesting, Lee Cheonghyun abandoned Kang Giyeon in front of the mirror and darted over.
"I think there was a term like ‘sunshine’ something. Be that."
"Hey, why are you compromising on mine?!"
"I'm leaving room to change it if a better expression comes up."
Just as I was assigning the third attribute to a member, the practice room door opened.
It was Min Jukyung.
"Sorry to interrupt your practice!"
A single sheet of paper was in Min Jukyung's hand as she entered with a smile.
She posted the paper she brought on the whiteboard installed on one wall of the practice room.
Then, she looked at me and said.
"We post the evaluation results like this. Nothing out of the ordinary, so everyone can check when you have time!"
She couldn't possibly be unaware of the human tendency to look at a report card the moment you receive it.
She was probably trying to sound as casual as possible out of consideration for the trainees.
I probably wore a similar expression when I told my colleagues, ‘The performance review results have been entered, so you can go ahead and check them.’
More importantly, the fact that there was nothing ‘out of the ordinary’ meant I wasn't getting cut.
Well done, Kim Iwol. You managed to survive even under these harsh conditions.
Having achieved my minimum objective, I went straight to the whiteboard.
Since I'd avoided being fired, I could graciously accept whatever the rest of the results were.
February Monthly Evaluation (Ranked)
Park Juwoo
Choi Jeho
Lee Cheonghyun
Jeong Seongbin
Kang Giyeon
Kim Iwol
※ Detailed feedback will be given during classes!
Actually seeing myself in 6th place out of six, I felt a mix of emotions, even though it was to be expected.
Maybe it was because I'd never been last in my life. I guess this is why they say you have to experience everything at least once.
+
[SYSTEM] ‘Task’ has been completed.
▷ Reward: 30 EXP awarded
▷ Accumulated EXP: 40
▷ Accumulated Points: 0
+
Right on cue, the EXP for passing the monthly evaluation arrived.
But that wasn't the end of it.
+
[SYSTEM] ‘Additional EXP’ has been awarded.
▷ Reason: Received a high evaluation from a ‘close colleague’
▷ Reward: 10 EXP awarded
▷ Accumulated EXP: 50
▷ Accumulated Points: 0
+
Whoever it was, they must have thought very highly of me, as an extra 10 EXP dropped in.
Thank you. May your family be blessed for three generations.
I resolved to grow into at least a ‘lost, but fought hard’ 6th place finisher by the time of our debut, and turned around.
Just then, my eyes met with Jeong Seongbin, who was calmly turning away after checking the paper.
At the same time, I remembered what he had said a few days ago.
‘It’s not like the company has a lot of trainees, but for some reason, the rankings have barely changed.’
Right now, Jeong Seongbin… while not completely refreshed, his expression seemed better than before.
There was still disappointment, but no darkness.
The moment I saw his face, for some reason, I felt as if the humiliation I had felt that day had been compensated for, just a little.
* * *
The advantage of being a beginner was that even a single step forward looked like a great leap in progress.
Although, for a beginner, that one step truly was a huge leap.
Perhaps because the initial groundwork was well-laid, the following lessons didn't feel so hopelessly daunting.
Moreover, UA was a company that didn't spare praise in these areas.
"Iwol, you've really improved a lot."
"Really?"
The vocal teacher nodded. It was a great environment for a newcomer to grow.
In dance class, where I was working my legs to the bone, I still had a long way to go, but there were results nonetheless.
The biggest help was that, at the very least, I no longer forgot the moves once I learned them. I didn't want to be the one to stop the music during group practice.
With a desperate heart, I diligently invested the welfare points I received when my painstakingly gathered EXP surpassed 100 into my proficiencies.
As a result, my current proficiencies looked like this.
+
Performance Evaluation (100)
― Vocal Proficiency: 5(▲)/20
― Dance Proficiency: 4(▲)/20
― Self-PR: 12/20
― Attendance Management: 18/20
― Adaptability within the Organization: 10/20
Accumulated EXP: 0
+
My Vocal Proficiency had gone up on its own, even though I hadn't put any points into it. What a good kid.
This case taught me that proficiency could be raised through means other than just gaining EXP.
It was still heartbreaking that the sum of my proficiencies was in the single digits, but it would be absurd to expect results after only a month of practice, so I decided to find meaning in the fact that the scores had risen at all.
A new task had also appeared.
+
[SYSTEM] A ‘New Task’ has been assigned.
▷ Raise Dance Proficiency to 5 before the March monthly evaluation
▷ Reward: Trial Pass to View Other Members' Resumes, Standard Planning Proposal Template 3-Piece Set for Debut Album
+
The next monthly evaluation would probably be the one that finalized the debut team.
Since I had moved up the debut schedule by a year. It was about time the group was finalized.
But then, if they were going to seriously form the debut team based on the February evaluation, were they really going to drag it out until March?
This is why in the past, they delayed the debut by two years, the group failed, society collapsed, and…
Separate from the task, the reward was truly awful.
I was interested in viewing the resumes, but the fact that it was a ‘trial pass’ was petty and soured my mood. And as for the debut album planning proposal… I had a strong feeling it would just mean more work for me.
Things like that, if you have them, you end up using them eventually. And I would be the one using them.
For that reason, I really didn't want the 3-piece proposal set.
But since my role had been fixed as a producing member, I decided it would be less stressful to just accept the situation quietly.
If worst comes to worst, I can just receive the templates and then, maybe three months later, go with the ‘Oh right, I had something like that!’ approach.
"Should we tear off the calendar page now?"
"Yeah, go ahead!"
Once Jeong Seongbin gave his permission, Lee Cheonghyun tore a page off the wall calendar hanging in the practice room.
It was the beginning of March.
* * *
An office worker's sense of time is a little different from when they're not one.
For example, as a university student, my sense of time was like this.
March-June / September-November: Semester + minor part-time jobs
July-August / December-February: Period of working like a dog at part-time jobs
Then, after joining Hanpyeong Industries, the way I perceived time changed as follows.
March-November: Busy months
December: A month of barely breathing
January: A month of not being able to breathe
February: A month of not being able to go home
Because of this, I had momentarily forgotten.
March was the month a new semester began.
Meaning the high school students in our dorm would be going to school for the new term.
I realized this when Lee Cheonghyun's alarm went off earlier than usual.
I woke up thinking the alarm seemed to have gone off early, but Choi Jeho across from me was still sound asleep.
Just as I was wondering what was up with the guy who usually shot up at the first sound of his alarm, Lee Cheonghyun got out of bed with a grimace.
"Are you sick? What's with your face?"
"I'm tired… Hyung, set your alarm and sleep more. It's 7 o'clock right now."
"7 o'clock?"
I checked the time, and it was indeed 7 o'clock. An hour earlier than usual.
"I should have gone to bed early yesterday… I regret staying up late."
Then, Lee Cheonghyun opened his closet and pulled out a familiar grey uniform.
It was the uniform I'd seen when I scraped together his past photos to make a subway birthday ad.
‘That’s right. He’s seventeen right now.’
So Lee Cheonghyun was just now starting high school.
Meanwhile, I could barely remember how many years ago it was when I started university.
It makes me worry all over again whether debuting in a team with these kids is the right thing to do, morally speaking.
"Is today the first day of the semester?"
"Hyung-nim, it's the first day of school, not the semester! And for me, it's my first day, not just the first day back!"
The moment I misspoke, Lee Cheonghyun pounced. Seeing him so full of energy just three minutes after waking up, I figured I didn't need to worry about his stamina.
I followed Lee Cheonghyun, who seemed to be heading out to wash up, and left the room.
In the living room, Jeong Seongbin and Kang Giyeon were milling about in their school uniforms.
Perhaps because it was an arts high school, the color and design of their uniforms were quite different from Lee Cheonghyun's.
≫ The alumni duo’s pics from their blueberry yogurt era are so damn rare… F*ck, why the hell didn't our boys take any selfies with faces like that? It's a neglect of duty not to take 100 selfies a day with a face like that, I’m so f*cking pissed, f*ck.
└ That’s not even a slow burn, it’s just straight-up rage.
Seeing the light purple uniforms reminded me of a social media post I had glimpsed somewhere.
When I have time, I should tell the three of them to sit on the dorm sofa and take some selfies.
"Are you guys eating breakfast before you go?"
"Seongbin-hyung said he'd make toast."
Come to think of it, there were three slices of bread on the frying pan.
It looked like they were just going to cook the bread with heat, without any jam or eggs. The world of idols is this dry, for both the mouth and the soul.
"If you're just toasting it, I can do it. You guys get ready to go."
"Huh? You don't have to…"
"I can't go back to sleep anyway. Once I'm up, I'm up."
I wasn't a great cook, but I could at least toast a piece of bread.
As I took the spatula from him, Jeong Seongbin hovered around me anxiously before retreating.
"I think there are eggs in the fridge. Want me to fry some?"
"No, hyung! We're really okay!"
"I'm fine too…"
"I'll have an egg on mine!"
Before Kang Giyeon could even finish his sentence, Lee Cheonghyun, who was in the bathroom, shouted. I had no idea how his hearing worked.
