Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

The dorm was quiet at 4 a.m.

 

Everyone else was asleep, except for me, living my bat-like lifestyle.

 

‘This is the perfect time to monitor.’

 

I turned on the shared phone I had picked up from the living room earlier and dimmed the brightness as much as possible.

 

Neither Choi Jeho nor Lee Cheonghyeon were the types to wake up from light, but it felt uncomfortable to blatantly use a phone while people were sleeping.

 

If it weren’t for Jeong Seongbin, I would have comfortably watched with the night light on in the living room.

 

If Jeong Seongbin caught me lurking in the living room at dawn, I’d have to endure a day of surveillance disguised as concern.

 

I’d rather rely pitifully on this minimum light than end up like that.

 

My only pride was being able to read every label on the soju bottles in the cafeteria fridge without glasses. But my eyesight seemed to be deteriorating by the minute.

 

What I had to do on this dark bed was to browse the comments on Jang Junhoo’s music video.

 

The goal was to see the reactions regarding Choi Jeho. I had been too busy to check it out when the music video was released, despite my initial plans.

 

As expected of a singer who was only moderately well-known in Korea, all the comments were in Korean. I wish he would fall off quickly and have 0 comments.

 

I quickly scanned through the comments that mentioned Choi Jeho.

 

≫ The song was so good that I turned up the screen brightness to watch

 

≫ Who’s the guy in the music video?

 

≫ Diligently enjoying the eye candy recommended by the algorithm

 

These were pretty much all the comments referring to Choi Jeho. Since no one knew him, there weren’t even any replies.

 

With so few comments, it was difficult to see any meaningful reactions.

 

In times like these, I had to go to community forums.

 

Thanks to Manager Nam’s daughter, I knew quite a few famous communities and bulletin boards where celebrity information was posted.

 

Indeed, there were many more raw posts here.

 

≫ Who’s the melancholic guy in JJH’s MV?

 

Damn, he’s handsomeㅎㅎ Did he train somewhere?

 

≫ Who is JJH

 

└ Jang Junhoo

 

└ Why would they even bother to feature a non-celeb?

 

≫ Isn’t he a rookie actor? I’ve never seen his face before.

 

└ Wow, finally a young and handsome male actor appears

 

└ Pls, pls;;;;; As long as he’s handsome, that’s good enough; just don’t act too badly

 

≫ He’s a UA trainee

 

└ A singer?

 

└ No, an idol

 

└ Huh, there aren’t any idols in UA

 

‘They’re quick with information.’

 

Even though UA had never released any profiles of their trainees, comments about ‘UA trainees’ were already circulating.

 

Considering the time left until our debut, the comments came at a perfect time.

 

Switching between searching ‘UA’ and ‘유에이 (yu-ei)’, I was able to find posts with more detailed information.

 

≫ Looks like ua is really debuting an idol group

 

6-member boy group, lineup confirmed

 

Scheduled to debut in the first half of next year, self-produced group

 

The guy in Jang Junhoo’s music video is also in the same group

 

└ These days every entertainment company is debuting idols;;

 

└ It’s easy moneyㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

└ A company that couldn’t even properly hold one concert for their signed artist is doing idol business?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Has the CEO gone senile?

 

└ Is this official?

 

└ [Author] A friend in the industry told me.

 

└ Why are there so many ‘industry friends’ in these communities? I don’t know a single one, yet there seem to be 500 friends of people of industry here, yet ironically none can provide proof

 

There were some unfamiliar abbreviations, so it took quite some time to search and understand.

 

But I managed to read most of the posts. This was possible because the buzz generated from Jang Junhoo’s MV wasn’t that big to begin with.

 

Someone had already compiled Choi Jeho’s dance competition videos and awards. I clicked on the links and carefully reviewed the videos.

 

I made sure there was nothing that could potentially cause problems and even deleted the search history before turning off the phone.

 

Then I headed to the living room to put the shared phone back in place.

 

But something felt off.

 

The bathroom light was off, and there was no sound of water, yet I could faintly hear someone’s voice from somewhere.

 

‘Is someone awake?’

 

The sound became clearer as I got closer to Jeong Seongbin’s door.

 

Hearing what sounded like someone groaning, I lightly knocked on the door a few times and then opened it.

 

Using my phone to light up the dark room, I noticed a particular spot where the blanket was bunched up.

 

I wasn’t sure whose spot it was, but I could guess who it was just by the sound of their voice.

 

“Park Joowoo?”

 

I softly called out Park Joowoo’s name. But there was no response.

 

I put my hand on the blanket and shook it slightly, calling his name, but Park Joowoo still remained silent.

 

‘What’s going on? Is he sick?’

 

I had a bad feeling, so I pulled the blanket back a little and placed my hand on Park Joowoo’s forehead.

 

Park Joowoo’s forehead was excessively hot. It was even damp, perhaps from cold sweat.

 

I shook Joowoo’s burning shoulders and called his name.

 

“Joowoo, wake up for a moment.”

 

“Who… Iwol hyung?”

 

Fortunately, Juwoo woke up before I had to call his name a fourth time.

 

His voice was as hoarse as mine had been a few days ago.

 

“Yeah, it’s me. I woke you up because you have a high fever. Are you feeling very unwell? Do you want to go to the emergency room?”

 

“…No, it’s not that bad…”

 

Contrary to his words, Park Joowoo couldn’t even open his eyes properly. I thought it might be due to dizziness.

 

It was a relief that he was conscious, but it wasn’t good for the high fever to continue.

 

If he wasn’t going to the hospital right away, it would be better to at least take some fever reducers.

 

‘I don’t think there are any first-aid medicines in this dorm.’

 

The pharmacy would have closed long ago at this hour.

 

Recalling the location of a convenience store near the dorm, I hurriedly woke up Jeong Seongbin.

 

“Hyung? What brings you to our room…?”

 

“I’m sorry for waking you up. But Joowoo is sick.”

 

“Joowoo?”

 

Jeong Seongbin, who was mumbling in his sleep, suddenly got up.

 

“I’m going to the convenience store now, can you watch Joowoo until I get back?”

 

“Right now? It’s too late…”

 

“I can’t tell him to hold out until morning. It’s dangerous to leave a high fever alone. I’ll be back quickly.”

 

I rushed out of the dorm with just my wallet.

 

I ran frantically. Even though there was no way the convenience store would be closed, I felt anxious.

 

‘Those guys made such a fuss over me when I just lost my voice a bit, taking care of me.’

 

Considering how Joowoo, with his lower stamina compared to the other members, had been sprawled on the floor during every break, I should have anticipated this situation to some extent.

 

Even if I hadn’t anticipated it, I should have at least prepared some basic medicines. That was the most basic common sense.

 

Especially since this was one of the tasks I used to handle at the Hanpyeong Industry.

 

‘Have you become self-centered now just because your life’s a bit easier? You old fa*ts, pathetic b*ch.’

 

Profanities kept ringing in my head.

 

Just as I was gasping for breath and cursing inwardly, the convenience store came into view. My mouth was parched.

 

“Where are the fever reducers? The ones kids take when they have a fever.”

 

“Ah, those are over there…”

 

I swept up every type of fever reducer from the section I was directed to.

 

I also grabbed painkillers and digestive medicines that weren’t immediately necessary and threw them into the basket. My hands kept shaking even though I was in a hurry.

 

While the clerk scanned the items, I looked around and asked.

 

“Is there a large hospital nearby? I’m new to this neighborhood.”

 

“Yes, it’s about a 5-minute taxi ride away.”

 

“…Thank you.”

 

My tension eased for a moment when I heard that there was a hospital nearby.

 

I barely managed to keep my legs from giving out. I felt as though my spirit had left my body.

 

The way back to the dorm felt even longer than the trip to the convenience store.

 

When I finally rushed back to the dorm with the bag full of medicine, all the lights in the living room were on. It seemed Jeong Seongbin had turned them on.

 

“Hyung!”

 

“There’s fever reducer in here. Let’s give him one first.”

 

Seongbin, who had rushed to the front door, took the bag from me.

 

As I bent down to take off my shoes, I noticed that I was wearing someone else’s sneakers.

 

Seongbin and I helped Joowoo, who could barely sit up in bed, take the medicine and then lay him back down.

 

Soon after, Joowoo fell asleep with a flushed face.

 

You scare people like that and then just go off to dreamland? It’s infuriating, but I’ll let it slide since you’re sick.

 

As we had a moment to catch our breath, I started to come to my senses.

 

At the same time, I recalled the faintly brightening sky I had seen on my way back from the convenience store.

 

“Wait.”

 

“Yes? What is it, hyung?”

 

“What time is it now?”

 

“It’s 5 am.”

 

“5 am?”

 

Just as I suspected, the morning was already approaching.

 

It wouldn’t bother me much to miss a few hours of sleep, but Seongbin had to go to school in the morning.

 

I motioned for Jeong Seongbin to lie down.

 

“You should go to sleep. I’ll watch over Joowoo.”

 

“What about you, hyung? You need to sleep too.”

 

“I’ll sleep when you guys go to school.”

 

I wasn’t sure, but I remembered hearing that it could be dangerous if a fever got too high.

 

I couldn’t just go to sleep when I wasn’t certain if Joowoo’s fever would come down.

 

I said good night to Jeong Seongbin and turned off all the lights in the living room.

 

Then, relying on the light from my phone, I returned to Joowoo’s bedside.

 

Somehow, it felt like I was going to be pulling an all-nighter today.

 

* * *

 

Fortunately, Park Joowoo showed signs of improvement as time passed.

 

I, too, was only able to relax after confirming that his fever was dropping every 30 minutes.

 

The manager, who came at dawn as soon as he saw my message, took Joowoo to the hospital early in the morning.

 

After sending Joowoo to the hospital.

 

I figured I might as well organize the medicine I had bought since there was no point in trying to sleep at this point.

 

The bag was filled with all sorts of medicines.

 

Including a few items that didn’t even qualify as medicine.

 

“…Why on earth did I buy a hangover cure?”

 

It seemed I grabbed it because it looked similar to digestive medicine.

 

It was a miracle that it didn’t break despite being tossed around in the bag while I ran.

 

The next item I pulled out was just as ridiculous.

 

“Children’s fever reducer? Did I buy it without reading the label…”

 

I let out a dry laugh at my own stupidity. It had been a hectic morning.

 

“So the manager came by this morning?”

 

Choi Jeho, who ended up having breakfast alone with me thanks to Joowoo’s absence, asked.

 

I nodded with a face that must have looked haggard from not sleeping a wink.

 

“But how did you know? It happened at dawn, wasn’t it?”

 

“I stayed up late because I was watching something.”

 

My eyes, which hadn’t gotten even 30 minutes of rest the night before, felt sore.

 

As I was rubbing my eyelids with my fingers, Choi Jeho said.

 

“Hey, at this rate, you’re going to end up dead yourself.”

 

“Didn’t I tell you to speak more nicely?”

 

Regardless of whether I asked him kindly or not, Choi Jeho was busy examining the neatly arranged medicines in the empty side dish containers.

 

In my haste to organize them, the container that Jeong Seongbin’s mother had used for radish kimchi had been demoted to a medicine box.

 

“You’ve organized the medicine just as carelessly as yourself.”

 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

 

At my words, Choi Jeho closed the lid of the medicine bottle, telling me to do as I pleased.

 

I wondered if I should start doing roll calls in the morning and evening to check on everyone’s health. Every day, I felt like I was getting older.

 

Maybe Seongbin picked up on my exhaustion, he suggested during our group meeting, ‘Let’s make sure to tell each other if we’re feeling sick’.

 

I was so touched I could almost cry. It was one of those days when my eyes were feeling hot.

 

Though, it seemed more like my eyes were getting hot not from emotion, but from increased intraocular pressure due to stress. But whatever. I just hoped no one else got sick from now on.