Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

The planning team leader called out Min Jukyung’s name.

 

No more words were exchanged. The team leader took my report and left the room. I assumed they had communicated through glances about how to handle the situation.

 

I stared at the desk and waited for him to say something.

 

Then Min Jukyung grabbed my hands that were on the table.

 

“You’ve been through so much, especially with barely adjusting and preparing for your debut. It must’ve been exhausting.”

 

“…Sorry?”

 

I was flustered by his unexpected words. I should have apologized for doing something unnecessary, but I missed the right moment to respond.

 

“I’m sorry. I don’t know anything, and yet I….”

 

“Why are you apologizing?”

 

“I feel like it was disrespectful to those who have been here much longer. And I think the team leader was upset because of me.”

 

“That’s not true, Iwol.”

 

Min Jukyung was gentle but firm.

 

“The reason the team leader left is because this is a really big problem. He left first to report it to his superiors quickly. Thanks to you, we found out quickly before the company suffered losses, so you don’t have to feel guilty! You understand?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“And as for what happened between you and PD Yoo.”

 

Min Jukyung let go of the hands that he had been holding.

 

I took it as a sign. A signal that the conversation would take a slightly different turn from here.

 

‘So what am I supposed to do? The HR team is part of the management support department, so is it really that hard to do a few favors for the manager?’

 

‘Assistant Manager Kim, you’re really young. Your way of thinking is still immature. You need to realize that if a superior behaves that way, there’s always a reason behind it. How long have you worked in society?’

 

I felt like the words I had heard at the Hanpyeong Industry were changing, one by one, into Min Jukyung’s voice.

 

However, Min Jukyung still acted differently than I expected.

 

“We didn’t take care of you properly. It’s embarrassing that the management team couldn’t even handle this. I’m sorry.”

 

Min Jukyung bowed his head and apologized.

 

What should I say in this situation?

 

I had never received an apology like this before, so I had no idea. I just hoped that UA wasn’t the kind of company that forced employees to apologize profusely whenever something went wrong.

 

I couldn’t stand the unfamiliar atmosphere, so I hurriedly ran out of the meeting room, saying that I would go practice. I felt strange.

 

* * *

 

When I opened the door to the practice room, all five heads turned toward me.

 

Jeong Seongbin, too preoccupied to stop the upbeat dance music playing in the background, asked anxiously, 

 

“How did it go…?”

 

I raised my thumb and answered.

 

“I’ve tattled on him.”

 

“Wow!”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon clenched his fists and shouted. Maybe it was because of the background music, but the place felt like a festival.

 

“What did the company say?” 

 

Kang Kiyeon asked, wiping away the sweat dripping down his face.

 

As soon as he finished his sentence, everyone fell silent and looked at me.

 

“Nothing has been decided right now. But we won’t be working together for the time being.”

 

“Is that okay? I thought they wouldn’t take any major actions because it’s right before our debut.”

 

“I figured that might happen, so I also brought up the corruption issue. Shouldn’t they re-trained themselves before making us debut?”

 

“Corruption?!”

 

Their eyes widened. It wasn’t exactly pleasant to talk about in detail, so I didn’t explain it further.

 

“So, from now on, let’s stay sharp and focus on practice. Seongbin and Joowoo, you’ll make up properly after practice, right?”

 

Jeong Seongbin smiled faintly at my words and replied, ‘Of course’. Park Joowoo smiled faintly as well.

 

At the same time, the system window lit up above Jeong Seongbin’s face.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] ‘Task’ completed.

 

▷ Reward: Exp (50)

 

▷ Total exp: 100

 

▷ Total point: 1

 

+

 

* * *

 

The 50 exp points clearly showed how much of a piece of trash Yoo Hansoo was.

 

Still, thanks to overcoming that difficult mountain, I was able to improve my dance skills.

 

In addition, I was able to confirm that vocal proficiency, self-PR, and organizational adaptability had increased one by one while I wasn’t looking.

 

+

 

Performance Evaluation (100)

 

― Vocal proficiency: 8(▲)/20

 

― Dance proficiency: 7(▲)/20

 

― Self-PR: 13(▲)/20

 

― Attendance management: 18/20

 

― Organizational adaptability: 11(▲)/20

 

+

 

There was another change.

 

After completing Yoo Hansoo’s mission, the ‘Total exp’ section under my resume disappeared.

 

It seemed the feature naturally deactivated after reaching the limit of manually increasing my skills.

 

With Yoo Hansoo out of the picture, peace returned to the practice room.

 

To cut to the chase, Yoo Hansoo was not fired. Instead, he was disciplined.

 

Additionally, he was barred from any involvement in UA’s idol department.

 

As long as he stayed at UA, he’d be stuck planning Jang Joonho’s music videos—something he had prided himself on—for the rest of his life.

 

The production team leader was removed from his position. He was demoted to assistant team leader, and the team leader position became vacant. I could only hope the vacant position would be filled soon.

 

It was a satisfying conclusion for me, but it seemed the other members didn’t see it that way, as I could hear them grumbling quite often for a while.

 

While Jeong Seongbin and Park Joowoo were careful with their words because they had a fight recently, Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon were less reserved.

 

As soon as they entered the dorm, they’d take turns venting about how Yoo Hansoo’s punishment seemed too lenient.

 

“Shouldn’t they fire him immediately for hitting someone?”

 

“Well, at least we won’t have to work with him anymore. Do you think the company hands out disciplinary actions lightly?”

 

After I managed to calm down Cheonghyeon…

 

“I don’t think he’s the kind of person who would reflect on his actions just by writing a written apology.”

 

Kang Kiyeon would immediately start nitpicking. Neither side would rest.

 

“The written apology is just what you see on the surface. He was even disciplined, so that guy will probably have his salary frozen or cut next year.”

 

“Hyung, are you just looking up this stuff because you used to handle reference checks?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon asked with a suspicious look. This was all I ever learned at the Hanpyeong Industry, so what.

 

I told him to go play in his room and then refocused on what I was doing.

 

With Spark’s debut fast approaching, I had to write a press release for the media.

 

It wouldn’t give me exp, I was going to let UA write the press release, but…

 

They were going to include everything—from the members’ useless awards to music videos that hadn’t even been released yet—in the press release so I told them I’d just write it myself. I’d rather die than suffer through that.

 

I was used to writing these kinds of articles. When the executives at Hanpyeong Industries were caught up in lawsuits, I cranked out press releases like a machine—stuff like ‘ The Hanpyeong Industry: Selected as a Top 1,000 Small and Medium Enterprises to Work For.”

 

To this day, I still didn’t know who decided to call the Hanpyeong Industry a great place to work.

 

Or maybe there were 70 million companies out there that were worse than Hanpyeong Industry. It was hard to tell whether it was the former or the latter.

 

Just as I was about to finish writing ‘UA Embarks on New Ventures’, someone suddenly grabbed me from behind in a tight hug.

 

“Hyung! Do you have plans on January 1st?”

 

“You surprised me…!”

 

The culprit of the back hug was, unsurprisingly, Lee Cheonghyeon.

 

I swept off my chest and scolded him.

 

“Cheonghyeon. You know I get startled by small things, don’t you? What would have happened if I had hit you with my arm?”

 

“I gave you a super tight hug because I was afraid that would happen. My grip was no joke, right?”

 

“Would you still say that if I hit your chin with the back of my head?”

 

“I’ll be very careful from now on.”

 

Cheonghyeon covered his chin with his hand. He should’ve done that from the start.

 

“I don’t have any plans for New Year’s. Why?”

 

“Oh, then let’s all go watch the sunrise together!”

 

Sunrise?

 

Was this kid suggesting we go on some kind of retreat at the start of the year?

 

* * *

 

Hiking.

 

A hobby that had become the very soul of managers across the nation, driving them to climb a mountain even if the world were to end tomorrow.

 

This collective madness, infiltrating everything from job interviews to workplace clubs, wielded its influence like some devilish force.

 

Naturally, this hiking frenzy struck the Hanpyeong Industry as well.

 

Fueled by Manager Nam, the executives of the Hanpyeong Industry eventually formed a bizarre organization called the ‘Health/Teamwork Recovery Committee’.

 

And I, forced to join the team leaders, carried two 1.5L water bottles every weekend, following them from one mountain to another.

 

From the moment they made me carry all the water I didn’t even drink, it was clear that this committee was doomed.

 

Unfortunately, the ‘Health/Teamwork Recovery Committee’ lasted a long time, contrary to my wishes that it would collapse quickly.

 

I thought we would just go over the mountains, but we ended up going across the sea all the way to Jeju Island.

 

Of course, I was the one who had to book the ferry tickets to Jeju. I paid out of my pocket first and then reimbursed it later.

 

It was to the point that the only goal I actively set at Hanpyeong Industry was to ‘eliminate the Hanpyeong Industry Mountaineering Club.’

 

The only joy I had during that process was getting the stamp of achievement for the 100 Famous Mountains series…

 

“Hyung? Why are you suddenly stopping talking?”

 

Or at least it was supposed to be.

 

I was so shocked that I couldn’t even answer Lee Cheonghyeon’s question.

 

My famous mountain stamp.

 

The stamps that had justified those grueling hikes, the one and only source of motivation during my freedom-less weekends, allowing me to rationalize enduring that hell by thinking, ‘Well, at least collecting the stamps is fun’.

 

Those stamps, which could be said to represent everything about my life at the Hanpyeong Industry, suddenly came to mind.

 

Should I ask the system? Is my stamp still alive?

 

As soon as I had this thought, the system appeared.

 

Its response time was so quick that I almost wondered if it had its own customer service team…

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] Work instructions from your ‘superior’ have arrived.

 

▶ Assistant Manager Kim, do you treasure that ballpoint pen on your desk? I used it because I was in a hurry, but it broke. Get a sturdier one next time.

 

[SYSTEM] Due to ‘subordinate’ traveling back in time, all achievements previously earned by ‘subordinate’ have been invalidated.

 

+

 

…It’s gone.

 

Damn it, give me back my stamps!