Chapter 123: Q&A

Q

What inspired the title of the series?

Since the story has strong contemporary-fantasy elements, I wanted a title that would convey its premise intuitively.

More than anything, I really liked the shortened nickname “Flower Sunbae”!

Q

Did you have a playlist you listened to while writing the series?

During the research stage, I mostly analyzed recent idol songs, but when I actually sit down to write, I tend to listen to compilations of Korean pop songs from around ten years ago.

I still love idols very much even now. But I don’t think anything can beat the intensity I had as a student, when I would desperately try to squeeze in even one more variety-show clip or one more fan-taken photo between school and studying. I write The Sunbae Who Paves a Flower Path while remembering those feelings.

Q

Do you have a favorite scene or line from the series?

There’s an exchange I like so much that I even included it separately in the series description.

— Oh, seriously.

“‘Oh, seriously’ is too informal.”

— ...Seriously.

“‘Seriously’ is also something idols aren’t {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} allowed to say.”

That back-and-forth!

I think I like it because it’s a conversation that could only happen because both of them are idols, and because they are specifically Gowon and Baek Hanje.

Q

Where do you usually get ideas when planning a story?

I imagine a lot of writers probably experience something similar....

Whenever I’m racing to finish one story by its deadline, that’s exactly when my desire and inspiration for a completely new story start exploding like crazy.

At times like that, I don’t even need to sit there wondering, What do I want to write next? Every imaginable idea just starts popping into my head....

Then, out of all the little story fragments I’ve jotted down, I choose the one I think I can develop best and build it out.

And a few months later, once I actually start writing that new story, a whole new wave of desire and inspiration starts up again....

Q

This is your first entertainment-industry story. What made you decide to write one?

With some stories, I want to create an entirely new world. With others, I want to write about things I personally love. The Sunbae Who Paves a Flower Path came from the latter.

The way I portray Young Ace and Gowon’s careers as something close to my own ideal of what idols could be also reflects certain desperate wishes born from all the love and frustration I’ve experienced as a fan....

Q

Gowon and Hanje look stunning on the covers! What aspects did you most want to emphasize?

I asked Sukja, the artist who illustrated the covers, to emphasize contrasting elements between the two of them.

Waiting room (top) — Stage (bottom)

Tense and stiff (top) — Relaxed and smiling (bottom)

Black, fully buttoned-up clothing (top) — White, loosened and open clothing (bottom)

For Gowon on the first cover, I think the key point is the contrast between his delicate, beautiful, catlike face and his predator-like physique!

For Hanje on the second cover, the most important thing is his gaze—the kind that looks ready to stare the entire world down. Not youngest-on-top, but Hanje-on-top. And, of course, he has the looks to justify that overflowing confidence.

Oh, and as a bit of trivia: when Hanje’s rough sketch first came in, the producer and I both found ourselves saying, “Gowon. How on earth did you manage to pick a fight with someone who looked like this the first time you met him...?”

Q

The premise of an already-successful senior bottom producing the top is really interesting. Where did that idea come from?

I absolutely love the dynamic between a bottom who is already at the top of the industry and a top who appears as a super rookie in that same field.

And rather than having them become rivals in that situation, I prefer having them run toward the same goal together.

This time, I placed that dynamic in the idol genre I love.

Q

Like in the April Fools’ cover, could Gowon and Hanje still be successful veteran singers when they’re old?

Gowon is the type of person who always does the absolute best he can within whatever circumstances he is given. Because of that, he would keep performing onstage until the very end.

Hanje is as much of a perfectionist as he is passionate about performing. So if he reached the point where his body could no longer execute the kind of performance he envisioned in his head, he would cleanly step back and become a producer.

So in that sense, it does line up somewhat with the April Fools’ cover.

But both of them still have a very long time left to shine, so that is a concern for the distant future....

Q

How did you come up with the group name yACE?

^^;;; Regarding this, there was a reader who nailed it perfectly with a razor-sharp comment all the way back in Chapter 1.

I came up with it while thinking about the kind of bizarre naming and equally bizarre pronunciation rules small agencies used to come up with back in that era.

The full name is youngACE, and the abbreviation “yACE” is extremely easy to misread. Because of that, Spades are incredibly sensitive about people preserving the capitalization exactly.

Q

What kinds of relationships exist within yACE?

The Divine Trio (Cha Yensu, Kim Yeban, Yunjin) — The Fallen Trio (Kwon Taeyoung, Big Room, Hansel): They are divided according to the overall impression of their looks, with one side having a brighter, more wholesome image and the other having a comparatively darker image. They are grouped this way in a lot of official activities. The names came from the concept of that infamous debut album....

They are also sometimes divided according to their symbolic animals into the Carnivores and Herbivores, or according to age into the Older Line and Younger Line.

Those are the official categories. Unofficially, there are also these:

The Runaways: A name for Big Room, who separately works on hip-hop music outside K-Dom, and Yunjin, who is constantly disappearing to do volunteer work. When fans use the name, the intention behind it is about half affectionate and half insulting.

Children’s Choir: The nickname for Yunjin and Baek Hanje, the two vocal members who are the youngest and second-youngest members of the group.

Kwon Taeyoung X Cha Yensu: Their ship is called YoungYensu. They are also called the dad and mom of yACE. With the classic combination of a solidly handsome man and an elegant beauty, they have been yACE’s most prominent ship for ten years. They have inspired countless legendary fanfics.

Baek Hanje X Cha Yensu: Their ship is called BaekYensu. Every era has its devotees of younger tops. But YoungYensu is so overwhelmingly dominant that Hanje often gets used as the secondary top or the outsider thrown in to disrupt the relationship. ??

Q

What kind of image does Gowon have in the minds of the yACE members?

Basic premise: Oh God, one year into his career? He debuted yesterday.... That’s practically a newborn.

Our baby has a baby he calls a baby.The smaller baby (Gowon) seems to like the bigger baby (Hanje) quite a lot.You two play nicely together ^^*There are differences in intensity depending on each member’s personality, but that is roughly everyone’s general stance.

Q

Then what kind of youngest member do the yACE members think Hanje is?

Hanje is the youngest member of yACE, and during their trainee days, he was also the only one still in elementary school.

That is probably part of why even the members who are not much older than him still treat him like a child and fuss over him so much.

And then that little kid suddenly started throwing himself into everything like a madman for the sake of yACE’s success...!

The older members felt grateful, worried for him, deeply attached to him, and determined that they needed to do even better themselves.

A major reason none of the current yACE members have gone off the rails is that all of them remember, very deeply, just how hard Hanje worked back then. They do not want their own mistakes to ruin the youngest member’s effort and talent.

Q

If you had to define The Sunbae Who Paves a Flower Path in a single line?

Responsible eldest-son younger top X youngest-member older bottom.

Q

If you had to make acrostic jokes out of Baek Hanje and Gowon’s names?

BAEK: Badger him for a hundred days,

HAN: hardly ever

JE: gets through to him properly.

GO: Gorgeous cats are

WON: wonderful but crazy.

Q

Lastly, would you like to say anything to the readers following the serialization?

The Sunbae Who Paves a Flower Path is officially back in serialization and going strong. I’ll keep working hard forever!

Whenever I see the people who run alongside me in real time, chapter by chapter, I feel this incredible sense of reassurance, almost like we’re marathon partners. I’m always grateful.

Part Two will be about Gowon living up to the ridiculous love promised by the joke hidden in his own name.

I hope the rest of 2026 is happy for all of you! Thanks to you, I’m already happy!