Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

‘No wonder they said they had enough footage.’

 

Once it went through editing, it was tough to even keep 10% of the footage, let alone half.

 

Especially content of rookie idols just excitedly riding amusement park rides.

 

If they only used the most entertaining parts, it wouldn’t even reach 10 minutes. And out of that, a minute and a half would probably be just precious scenes of me.

 

But suddenly having a surprise content here?

 

It was a nice twist. It even had a strong connection to the music video.

 

‘I never thought I’d be rescuing Park Joowoo at an amusement park in my life.’

 

My only memory of that had Spark and amusement parks combined together was when Spark filled in for a famous rapper at a nighttime amusement park live performance.

 

That live performance was unforgettable for many reasons.

 

It couldn’t have been easy to passionately sing in a place with almost no audience members cheering for them, but that was a matter of their professionalism, so let’s set that aside.

 

Everything was terrible: the audience’s lack of interest in the idol brought in as a filler, the poorly prepared music track, and the poor sound system.

 

Compared to that, this was much better.

 

Though my years of experience were still fewer now than back then. Life was truly full of mysteries.

 

“You didn’t tie Joowoo hyung to some ride like a Viking ship, did you? He might faint!”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon fussed. Of course, the production crew wouldn’t do something so outrageous. If they did, starting tomorrow, Park Joowoo would have to use the same shade of foundation as me.

 

“If you don’t rescue Mr. Joowoo quickly, that might happen.”

 

“Huh?!”

 

“So everyone, focus! You need to play with Mr. Joowoo!”

 

The PD clapped his hands, gathering everyone’s attention.

 

Right, we couldn’t just leave our main vocalist alone.

 

* * *

 

The rules were simple.

 

First, find the hidden hint notes scattered throughout the amusement park.

 

Second, everyone must gather at Park Joowoo’s location by 8 PM, the time limit.

 

It was currently 6 PM. While it seemed like there was plenty of time, considering the crowd and the size of the park, it might be tight.

 

“Before finding the notes, shall we discuss how we should search together?”

 

Jeong Seongbin spoke first. After months of entrusting him with group meetings, he was progressing smoothly.

 

Kang Kiyeon, Choi Jeho, and Lee Cheonghyeon then offered their opinions in turn.

 

“Wouldn’t it be better to split into groups? Moving with five people seems inefficient.”

 

“Isn’t it better to have more eyes looking than getting separated and potentially missing something?”

 

“That’s true, and since we all have to gather in the end to clear the mission, it might be better to move together.”

 

Hmm, hmm. Good attitudes. I didn’t even need to step in.

 

I was about to just cross my arms, nod, and listen, and do whatever they suggested…

 

“Then, just in case, shall we go around from the entrance together? Let’s be thorough so we don’t miss anything!”

 

…Park Joowoo will be waiting alone at the amusement park until 8 PM and then just go home, you idiots!

 

Thinking about Park Joowoo standing alone in this vast ocean-like amusement park made me feel like tears might flow from my tear ducts that I thought had long dried up.

 

Swallowing a sigh, I stopped them just as they were about to run to the entrance.

 

“I think it would be better to look around the inside of the amusement park first, what do you guys think? How about splitting into two teams and looking at the attractions and rest areas?”

 

“Would that be better?”

 

“Yeah. Your ideas make sense, but we have a time limit.  We can decide whether we need to find all the notes or just some of them after we read a few.”

 

They usually hid dummy hints in case we failed to find them, so we probably didn’t need to find every single one.

 

The production team probably didn’t expect us to find every single hint either.

 

“Then how do we contact each other in the middle? We don’t have our phones.”

 

Choi Jeho pointed out a very good point. It was exactly the question I was waiting for.

 

“Let’s use a messenger.”

 

“What?”

 

“We can agree in advance on how each team will move, and one person can continuously go back and forth between them.”

 

“Isn’t that too harsh on one person?”

 

Kang Kiyeon said, looking concerned.

 

But it’s fine I’ll be the messenger!

 

This way, I could leave the important task of finding hints to the members while checking both teams’ progress.

 

Most importantly, I’d appear less on camera. My screentime in this amusement park was enough with Kim Iwol’s screaming.

 

“Let’s decide fairly with rock-paper-scissors. We can’t just make hyung run around.”

 

“Seongbin, what is the second virtue of an idol?”

 

“Being good at your main job.”

 

“Right? Then who has the best stamina on our team?”

 

Jeong Seongbin couldn’t refute that.

 

“I’ve memorized the park map, so let’s divide the teams, quickly decide on the search routes, and then spread out.”

 

At my words, the members replied energetically. It was the moment the grand search for Park Joowoo began.

 

* * *

 

The first harvest came from Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon’s team, who went towards the attractions.

 

The note that the maknaes found near the bumper car’s exit read:

 

【Why do sparks fly from the ceiling of the bumper cars?

 

Difficulty: ★★★★】

 

“Is this a quiz show, not a hint?”

 

“Yes. They gave us this when we answered correctly.”

 

Kang Kiyeon then handed me another note.

 

【To the Aquarium!

 

Difficulty: ★★★★★】

 

The location written on the note was the aquarium, located deeper into the amusement park than the bumper cars.

 

If you looked at the hint and answered the question correctly, the next note revealed the location where the next hint was hidden, and depending on the difficulty of the question, you could find out a location closer to the destination.

 

It was an interesting structure. This way, we could manage our time to some extent.

 

But…

 

“You answered the question correctly?”

 

“Yes. Lee Cheonghyeon did.”

 

I read the question again.

 

It seemed to be a subjective question.

 

When I glanced at Lee Cheonghyeon, he winked and said,

 

“Hyung, I’m the Goldberg Machine designer of Spark High School!”

 

“Yeah, you’re the best.”

 

I gave him a thumbs-up and ran to deliver the good news to Choi Jeho and Jeong Seongbin.

 

Ah, correction. I also rode the mini train once on the way.

 

The two were waiting for me in front of the Honey Butter Corn shop where we had agreed to meet.

 

“What’s with that balloon?”

 

Choi Jeho asked, pointing to the helium balloon tied to my wrist.

 

“Cheonghyeon attached it to me. He said the messenger should be visible from afar.”

 

“Good grief.”

 

While the two older hyungs were arguing about something trivial, Jeong Seongbin approached.

 

He was holding a white note in his hand.

 

“Hyung, we also found a hint, but….”

 

【What is the unit used to measure the sugar content of corn, fruit, etc.?

 

Difficulty: ★★★】

 

“Brix.”

 

“Oh, Mr. Iwol, correct!”

 

“Huh? Really?”

 

Jeong Seongbin, who had been turning his head back and forth between me and the PD, belatedly clapped his hands.

 

At this point, I wondered if Hanpyeong Industry’s annual tradition of making us search for high-sugar holiday fruits was also intentional.

 

【To the Churro Stand!

 

Difficulty: ★★★★】

 

“Aren’t there a lot of churro stands? I saw several on the way here.”

 

Choi Jeho frowned as he looked at the note.

 

“Since the kids are moving to the aquarium, we just need to eliminate all locations in the opposite direction.”

 

“What kind of question did they have there?”

 

“A science question.”

 

After hearing my words, Choi Jeho exchanged glances with Jeong Seongbin.

 

Somehow, I felt like I could hear their conversation.

 

It was probably something like, ‘Are you good at science?’, ‘No.’  

 

Just pray there’s no question about calculating the concentration of sugar water at the churro stand.

 

* * *

 

The quiz extravaganza disguised as a treasure hunt continued for about another hour.

 

Fortunately, instead of calculating the concentration of sugar water, the question at the churro stand was about the cause of dust explosions. Thanks to Jeong Seongbin, who usually watched a lot of news, we were also able to reach the cotton candy shop near the aquarium.

 

But without a doubt, today’s MVP was Lee Cheonghyeon.

 

This guy achieved the feat of answering a five-star question at the aquarium.

 

‘What was the question?’

 

‘The scientific name of white coral.’

 

‘And the answer?’

 

‘Corallium konojoi!’

 

I was genuinely curious. How on earth did Lee Cheonghyeon come to memorize the scientific name of white coral?

 

It seemed I wasn’t the only one curious.

 

‘How did he get that right? That question was designed to be impossible.’

 

When Lee Cheonghyeon finally remembered the answer after five minutes of racking his brains, the entire production crew was shocked.

 

Lee Cheonghyeon himself, however, was unfazed.

 

‘I diligently read the ‘Slippery Sea Creatures Encyclopedia’ when I was young.’

 

‘You must have read it very diligently…’

 

We sincerely applauded him with respect.

 

As a result of all that effort, the five of us were able to combine the hints we obtained from the aquarium and the churro stand and reach the central garden of the amusement park.

 

“The last hint must be somewhere here, right?”

 

“I think so. Actually, I thought this was the final location.”

 

Kang Kiyeon said awkwardly, looking at Lee Cheonghyeon, who was looking around.

 

As it passed 7 o’clock, the surroundings were already getting dark.  So, I also thought Park Joowoo would appear somewhere in the garden, scattering celebratory flower petals.

 

‘It seemed they wanted to stall for time… but was there a reason for it to be this complicated?’

 

It seemed the production crew didn’t intend this segment to be just a time-filling mission.

 

You could tell by the difficulty of the questions and the structure where solving the mission only revealed the next location, but we had to find the notes ourselves.

 

So, I had even tried to stall for time by riding the mini train in the middle.

 

I didn’t know they would consider every possibility and even create quizzes that were beyond the difficulty of a variety show.

 

As a result, we were searching the garden high and low right before the end time.

 

That was when it happened.

 

“I found it!”

 

Choi Jeho shouted from afar.