Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

As we opened the door to the meeting room we were guided to, several cameras and about ten production staff members greeted us.

 

“Spark, welcome!”

 

“Hello, we are Spark! Please take care of us!”

 

“Wow, rookies’ energy is on a different level, as expected.”

 

The PD smiled brightly and pointed to an empty seat at the meeting room table.

 

We sat side by side facing the cameras.

 

The filming content of ‘Challenge! Life Experience’ was simple.

 

The day before the filming, cast members would have a meeting with the production team to receive information about the job they’d be tackling the following day.

 

And then they would go to the work set the next day. That was the entire concept.

 

If a specific skill was required, the production team would set up a training session in advance.

 

≫ When Yeonji heard she’d be getting scuba lessons, her face was priceless

 

Cute, like a startled hamsterㅠㅠㅠㅠ

 

└ When they said scuba lesson, I thought it would be an aquarium part-time job, but it turned out to be muljil…;;

 

└ Challenge Life really goes hard…

 

Otherwise, the cast would dive in with sheer determination and grit.

 

Honestly, as long as it wasn’t unloading boxes at a warehouse, the job didn’t matter. I’d be fine, but if any of the guys got hurt, that’d be a problem.

 

While I was thinking about this and that in my head, we finished introductions with the PD.

 

And then the main topic began.

 

“First of all, you know what kind of program this is… right?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Great. However, we have one issue.”

 

An issue from the get-go? This was really tough.

 

Looking at the flustered members, the PD said seriously.

 

“The legal working hours for minors are seven hours, so the younger members will need to clock out earlier, leaving the eldest ones to close up.”

 

That was a really big problem. My heart was already pounding at the thought of running around sweating.

 

Leaving only me and Choi Jeho to handle things in the deep end, the PD continued.

 

“Have you ever worked part-time?”

 

“I’ve only worked as a shopping mall clothing model a few times.”

 

Choi Jeho said. This guy had done a pretty cool part-time job.

 

The younger members simply shook their heads due to their age.

 

I had some experience working part-time… But I decided to stay quiet because it would be troublesome if I had to prove it later.

 

Seeing us nodding, the PD shouted.

 

“Tomorrow, Spark will work at the holy grail of part-time jobs: a café!”

 

“A café?”

 

It was a fairly popular part-time job considering their filming locations so far.

 

Cafe part-time jobs could be tough. There were lots of items on the menu and plenty of demanding customers.

 

But given the unique nature of a show that once sent a famous actor to remove beehives, I didn’t think they’d just put a group of six people in a single café.

 

‘Is it a cafe with long lines? Or a cafe near a subway station or a big franchise? Is it the time for seasonal drinks at a Starbucks right now?’

 

I roughly narrowed down the candidates in my head.

 

Unlike me, the guys sitting next to me were talking about how they wanted to wear a cafe uniform and how they liked the barista roles in dramas.

 

“A café is a staple of part-time jobs. Not only are they one of the most common jobs out there, but they’re also a familiar part of our daily lives!”

 

Then the PD opened his sketchbook.

 

“You guys, after receiving training from a professional barista this afternoon, you’ll be hosting a one-day drink giveaway event in Gangnam tomorrow!”

 

“Gangnam?!”

 

“Why are you so shocked, Mr. Iwol?”

 

As I looked at the red dot on the map, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

 

Gangnam?

 

We’d have to survive from open to close at a Gangnam café?!

 

I felt dizzy. I felt like I was about to faint.

 

“What’s wrong, Iwol hyung…?”

 

“Is it because you’re worried there will be a lot of customers? But it still feels like it’s a bit far and a bit distant.”

 

Kang Kiyeon looked at the map and answered Park Joowoo’s question.

 

“It’s Gangnam, so there should be at least a single café on the way from the station to here? They’ll be scattered around for sure.”

 

Choi Jeho also added.

 

Instead of listening to what they were saying, I looked ahead and saw the PD and production staff smiling sinisterly.

 

Yes, it was not that close to the station.

 

But…

 

“PD, could you show me the map again please?”

 

I received the map from the PD.

 

My uneasy intuition was spot on.

 

Within two blocks of the red-marked location, everything was high-rise buildings.

 

“Guys, we’re in big trouble…”

 

I murmured as if leaving a final will. My vision went dark.

 

* * *

 

Office workers were very busy during lunch hours.

 

Some companies offered great perks, with lunch breaks lasting an hour and a half to two hours, or even allowing employees to eat whenever they wanted.

 

Most companies without in-house cafeterias set lunch breaks from 12 to 1.

 

To make the most of that one hour, every step had to be efficient.

 

You had to choose your lunch menu in advance by 11 o’clock. For restaurants with long lines, you would have to dash out the moment the clock struck 12.

 

Drinks were always to-go. Restaurants that accepted reservations were booked a week in advance, and orders for cafes with apps were placed ahead of time.

 

As if following a manual, office workers moved with precision. The places where so many office workers went after eating were mostly divided into three categories.

 

To smoke, to take a walk…

 

‘…or to a café.’

 

The marked location on the map was right in the middle of a dense office area.

 

Even someone like me, who didn’t drink coffee, knew this. Every café near an office during morning and lunch hours would be packed to the brim.

 

And now, with a free drink giveaway to boot, all for the sake of filming?

 

We were screwed. They’d probably grind us down to coffee grounds by the end of it.

 

‘It’s not exactly an extreme environment, so I think they tried to balance it out by making us give out free drinks…’

 

What a lousy excuse. Even I would drink just about anything if it were free, except poison, of course, so how chaotic it would be if we were giving out coffee, which was an essential potion for office workers?

 

“Hyung, why do you keep staring off into space?”

 

Jeong Seongbin asked. In his hand was a glass of smoothie we had spent all day making.

 

I thought back to the performances the members had shown today.

 

Then I looked at Jeong Seongbin and answered.

 

“I’m just thinking about how we can finish tomorrow’s business successfully.”

 

* * *

 

‘Challenge! Life Experience’ had been facing a bit of a slump recently.

 

The reason was simple. Rumors of how grueling the program was had made it increasingly difficult to recruit cast members.

 

The show’s main content revolved around shedding light on tough, yet essential jobs.

 

Naturally, the work that the production team prepared was physically demanding.

 

Just like many other entertainment program writers, the Challenge Life writers also had to spend a lot of time casting cast members.

 

High-intensity work → Manageable enough for celebrities to attempt → But tough enough for viewers to think, ‘Wow, they’re really struggling’ → …

 

As this dilemma repeated, they ran out of material and cast members.

 

In such times, the main PD decided to take a look at the ideas that had been eliminated for various reasons.

 

Cafe part-time work was also one of the ideas that had been eliminated in the past.

 

The reasons for its rejection were varied.

 

The work was so common that it was not perceived as difficult as other ideas…

 

So the production team added challenges to increase its difficulty. They even considered aligning the episode with the launch of a seasonal drink at Starbucks, though they ultimately dropped the idea to avoid disrupting national-level events.

 

Once the concept was set, the next hurdle was casting.

 

Raising the difficulty was great, but the preliminary research suggested it would require more than one or two people to pull it off.

 

In times like this, idols were the easiest choice. They worked in groups, and the newer they were, the less picky they tended to be about easy or difficult tasks.

 

However, there were always two sides to every coin.

 

There was a reason why Challenge Life, who was desperate for cast members, didn’t call new idols unless absolutely necessary.

 

≫ ㅊㅇㅅ It’s really frustrating

 

How can someone fail to memorize table numbers all day?

 

Even from edited footage, I could memorize them!

 

I almost switched the channel

 

Koreans couldn’t stand frustrating things.

 

While viewers might enjoy watching the cast members struggling with unfamiliar tasks, they also wanted the cast members to handle things at the same level as professionals.

 

This was evident from the popularity of compilation videos titled ‘Stars Who Conquered Challenge! Life Moments’ dominating various platforms.

 

And—though not all of them—most idols who debuted these days were too young to begin with.

 

Having spent their formative years training for debut, they often lacked what people called work sense.

 

Work well, and you’ll be loved anywhere. That was the kind of entertainer Challenge Life needed.

 

So the production team first contacted Parthe, a new boy group that had recently debuted from a large agency. The broadcasting industry still trusted them, saying ‘At least major companies educate their idols properly!’.

 

To cut to the chase, the offer was declined.

 

The production team of Challenge Life forgot for a moment. The reason major companies were great was because they prevented their entertainers from appearing on cost-effective programs like this one.

 

While the writers were racking their brains.

 

‘Hey, if you’re fine with a rookie, how about this group?’

 

For the first time, the group Spark was mentioned in the meeting.

 

‘They have similar years of experience as Parthe, and there are many reviews on SNS and forums that say they are just as good.’

 

At the same time, a short video was projected onto the meeting room screen. The title of the video was ‘An Idol Unusually Gifted with Work Sense’.

 

As the video played, the fair-skinned young man in the thumbnail was captured on the screen.

 

‘Joowoo, clean from top to bottom.’

 

‘I’ve uploaded the guide to the shared folder. Check it, and let me know if you can’t access it.’

 

Short but crisp scenes were accompanied by captions explaining the situations.

 

Writing press releases, demonstrating Excel formulas, handling greasy dishes flawlessly… and more.

 

Since Parthe declined the offer anyway, let’s try this out!

 

With that mindset, the Challenge Life production team contacted UA to inquire about casting.

 

By that afternoon, they received a response: anytime would work.

 

“If we keep one regular café staff member to support them, there won’t be any problems.’

 

The main PD prepared for filming while thinking about the possibilities.

 

During the brief meeting the day before filming, some concerns arose.

 

The groups were all tall and handsome, but most of them still had a youthful look on their faces. Only the young man he saw in the video gave off the aura of having been through a lot, so he thought he could trust this guy.

 

After this long saga of twists and turns, the door to Challenge! One-Day Café finally opened on a warm day in May.