Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

Our strategy was this.

 

#Take 1.

 

Lee Cheonghyeon joined Jeong Seongbin and Kang Kiyeon halfway home, and the two youngest members asked their leader what happened.

 

Cheonghyeon: Hyung, is something going on these days?

 

Kiyeon: We weren’t going to say anything because you seem like you’re trying not to show it, but we’ve been worried…

 

In this way, they looked like they had been observing their hyungs’ reactions lately and had finally decided to bring it up.

 

Then, Jeong Seongbin, who was soft-hearted, would definitely give an answer. Jeong Seongbin was not the type who would treat others poorly just because he was upset.

 

#Take 2.

 

At the same time, in the practice room hallway near the water dispenser, Choi Jeho awkwardly tried to talk to Park Joowoo.

 

Jeho: You, uh… Did you have a fight with Jeong Seongbin?

 

Jeho’s lines were not very smooth, but it was intentional, designed to give the impression of hesitation.

 

First of all, Park Joowoo would be surprised. This was because the number of one-on-one conversations between Choi Jeho and Park Joowoo was practically 0.

 

Although Park Joowoo probably would hesitate for a while, he’d eventually respond.

 

The more information we could get, the better. If Jeho could at least pick up one key point, it would be a success.

 

I had no expectations to hear the A to Z of the incident from the silent brat and the quiet softie. So just extract the important things.

 

#Take 3.

 

When Jeong Seongbin was called to see the manager and Park Joowoo went into the vocal practice room, the rest of us gathered to share what we had found out.

 

“So? Did you find out anything?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon was the first to answer.

 

“Wow, unexpectedly, Seongbin hyung didn’t open his mouth much.”

 

Oh no. This was doomed from the start.

 

“You should have shaken Seongbin’s heart even if it meant faking tears. Were you just messing around?”

 

“I was ready to shed tears even if it meant poking my eyes out! But Seongbin hyung just kept changing the subject so pitifully!”

 

“Honestly, I couldn’t ask anymore because it was too sad to see.”

 

Kang Kiyeon, sitting with his arms crossed, nodded at Lee Cheonghyeon’s protest.

 

“Then tell me what you heard. Cheonghyeon, you first.”

 

“They didn’t have a huge fight or anything. It was just a few differences of opinion.”

 

“Then what do you think, Kiyeon? You share a room with those two.”

 

“Even if I wanted to say they don’t fight… They barely talk in the room.”

 

Kang Kiyeon shrugged, looking like he was at his wit’s end with the silent cold war between the two hyungs.

 

“But saying that they have a fight doesn’t feel right either.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“It’s more like they’re avoiding each other. Usually when you fight, you get angry at the other person or something like that.”

 

Certainly, that was unusual. There was a clear difference between someone leaving because they didn’t want to see you and someone avoiding you because they were too ashamed to face you.

 

Kang Kiyeon continued.

 

“Seongbin hyung said he feels like he might’ve said something he shouldn’t have.”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon also chimed in on Kang Kiyeon’s words.

 

“That hyung isn’t usually the type to say the wrong things. Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding between those two?”

 

“True.”

 

I also agreed with Cheonghyeon’s assessment.

 

Then, an unexpected remark came from someone unexpected.

 

It was Choi Jeho who came up with a useful answer.

 

“It’s true that those two are awkward with each other.”

 

“What?”

 

“I heard they both said some harsh words to each other.”

 

I was so bewildered that I forgot to ask, ‘What are you talking about?’ and just blinked.

 

They spoke harsh words? Jeong Seongbin and Park Joowoo? Those two, who were as soft as tofu at heart?

 

When we crowded around him, Choi Jeho started talking about the conversation he had with Park Joowoo.

 

‘You were arguing about whether you should report Kim Iwol’s incident to the company?’

 

‘…Yes.’

 

‘Didn’t this topic end already when Kim Iwol asked us to drop it?’

 

‘I guess Seongbin was still worried.’

 

It seemed Jeong Seongbin had wanted to try to persuade me one more time.

 

And Park Joowoo had tried to dissuade Jeong Seongbin.

 

“Joowoo said to Seongbin, ‘I don’t know what the circumstances are, so let’s not dig into it too much.’”

 

“…”

 

I was thankful that Jeong Seongbin didn’t bring up the issue again.

 

However, it was unclear why Park Joowoo was suddenly considerate of my position and spoke up for me.

 

If I had to guess, it might be because Joowoo had overheard more than anyone else about my personal issues that revealed my family history.

 

He had heard that I couldn’t go to college because I didn’t have money (this was Park Joowoo’s misunderstanding) or that I didn’t have a good relationship with his family, so Park Joowoo must have imagined a lot of things about me.

 

On the contrary, I felt like I could understand Jeong Seongbin’s position now.

 

I still didn’t agree with Jeong Seongbin’s opinion that we should report Yoo Hansoo.

 

But anyone would feel shocked if a close friend strongly opposed something they believed was right.

 

“Seongbin must have been upset.”

 

“Is that really the case?”

 

“He’s already upset, and now his friend is trying to stop him. It must have unsettled him.”

 

It had disheartened me too when the teammates I had believed I could rely on betrayed me by siding with Manager Nam.

 

Anyway, having figured out the cause of the problem, the Emergency Response Committee disbanded before Seongbin and Joowoo returned.

 

And, as fate would have it, I, the one who’d unintentionally sown the seeds of discord, decided to activate the ‘stick’ function while the members went back to practice.

 

Since it was a function similar to looking into someone else’s mind, I had been refraining from using it, but because it was not a personal matter between the two, I decided to use it for the public good this time.

 

[SYSTEM] Please write a combination name.

 

▶ [ ]

 

‘I think the fans called them Main Vocal Bros… The system probably would reject it as cliche.’

 

What a vicious system.

 

This was the same jerk who had rejected my combination name until I tied together Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon with ‘Sandpaper-Dapper’.

 

As expected, this time again, I had to face countless ‘Improper combination name’ windows.

 

The combination name that finally got approved was… one of those game nicknames you sometimes see in funny internet memes that my classmates used to share.

 

[SYSTEM] The combination name is confirmed as ‘

Mumruffin2

^[1]

The literal translation is ‘long-tailed tit’, it’s some kind of bird. I looked up its nickname and picked the name I considered the cutest after a lot of agonizing. Fyi, its strong competitors are: poke pudding, bumbarrel, Huggen-Muffin, and fairy bird, among many others.

’

 

I gave that name because those two looked the most harmless on the team… I just hoped that no one found out about my naming skills.

 

Predictably, when I activated the stick, it gave off a ‘I’m upset!’ vibe.

 

[Jeong Seongbin – I wish you treat me as a friend more casually → Park Joowoo]

 

[Park Joowoo – I wish you could let go of some of your burdens → Jeong Seongbin]

 

It was a touching friendship.

 

As expected, they were friends who had been by each other’s side for over 7 years before. But this time, it was almost ruined because I got involved.

 

If I were a morally responsible person, I should have resolved this issue amicably even if it had nothing to do with KPI.

 

I joined the practice formation, thinking that I had to call an emergency meeting, which had been held countless times so far and would likely be held countless times before our debut.

 

* * *

 

The next day, after practice, I called all the members who had returned home into the living room of our dorm.

 

“Today’s agenda… I didn’t mention it in advance, but I think everyone already knows.”

 

At my words, Jeong Seongbin flinched visibly. Park Joowoo glanced at Jeong Seongbin and immediately turned his gaze away.

 

“Before that, there’s something I want to say.”

 

The members looked at me.

 

“A few days ago, I should have thanked you for worrying about me, but I didn’t. I’m sorry.”

 

I started by apologizing to prevent the atmosphere from turning into a scolding of Jeong Seongbin for his excessive concern. Today, my goal wasn’t to blame anyone.

 

They seemed a bit surprised by this unexpected start, but I didn’t stop and moved on to the next point.

 

“I still think it’s better not to tell the company. However, I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable because of my decision. That’s why I created a space where we can all talk.”

 

“…”

 

“It’s been a few days, so everyone’s calmed down, right? Let’s start by discussing whether you all want to report PD Yoo Hansoo to the company.”

 

My plan was to vote on whether we should report Yoo Hansoo, and if the votes were split, we’d discuss and come to a unified decision.

 

However, the vote was almost meaningless.

 

Because all five members, excluding me, agreed that Yoo Hansoo should be reported.

 

If I had known these guys would act like this, I would have taken pictures on the day I got hit. It felt a bit ironic after I had nagged Jeong Seongbin to leave some evidence.

 

As I felt regretful, Park Joowoo asked.

 

“Do we really need evidence? We all saw your face that day…”

 

“He’s the kind of guy who could deny everything. We’d be lucky if he didn’t claim the trainees conspired to get him ousted.”

 

Park Joowoo’s face turned pale at my words.

 

It was unfortunate, but it couldn’t be helped. Yoo Hansoo had even meticulously called me to a meeting room without CCTV, so what else could I do?

 

“But it’s not like there’s no evidence at all.”

 

I pulled out a bundle of papers from my pocket.

 

It was the remains of an MP3 player that I had bought through a second-hand transaction that Yoo Hansoo had broken.

 

I had kept it, hoping to at least salvage the motherboard.

 

Unfortunately, both the battery and the memory were broken in half, making it beyond repair.

 

“This is my MP3, but PD-nim smashed it. I picked up the pieces to prevent anyone from stepping on them and getting hurt.”

 

Looking at the pieces of the MP3 player, Jeong Seongbin asked with a pale face.

 

“PD-nim broke this?”

 

“Yeah. I bought it second-hand, so it didn’t cost much, but the company would surely understand that people who break other people’s things aren’t normal.”

 

The members’ expressions darkened as they stared at what was left of the MP3, now too broken to even be called that.

 

Lee Cheonghyeon frowned and asked.

 

“What did he do to make an electronic device so broken?”

 

“It broke after being stomped on a few times. Also, didn’t I tell you not to get frown lines on your face?”

 

“Are frown lines important right now?”

 

Isn’t it obvious? In the history of idols, nothing’s more important than that.

 

“Anyway, if that’s what you all think… I’ll try to handle this.”

 

As I began picking up the MP3 fragments again, Kang Kiyeon shrugged.

 

“Will you be alright? From what you said, that PD sounds like a real piece of work.”

 

“I’ll just act even worse.”

 

It seemed he didn’t know what it looked like when an employee who had been bullied at work finally snapped.

 

“Then, Seongbin, I’m sorry to interrupt practice, but I’ll step out for a bit.”

 

“Where to?”

 

“Where else? The Artist Management Team.”

 

Choi Jeho’s eyes widened.

 

“You’re going now?”

 

“Yeah. Didn’t you all say to handle this as soon as possible?”

 

At this, Lee Cheonghyeon looked somewhat uneasy.

 

“Is it okay if we don’t come up with any countermeasures?”

 

“I’ve thought about it all, so don’t worry.”

 

It would be difficult to continue practicing with this kind of depressed mood and stagnant atmosphere.

 

Now that we had come to a conclusion, it was time to move. I dusted myself off and got up.

 

“Wait a minute, hyung. What are you going to tell them?”

 

Jeong Seongbin asked with a worried face.

 

I smiled brightly so that Jeong Seongbin could sleep with a peaceful mind tonight.

 

“How else? I’ll make sure they can’t hear my story without shedding a few tears.”