Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

When I was young, I often went hungry.

 

It wasn’t because we were poor. I realized that our family wasn’t poor when I looked at the income level for national scholarships.

 

It was simply because none of the adults in the house were interested in a child’s food and living care.

 

During that time, if a single snack disappeared while the grown-ups watched TV, or if food in the fridge was reduced, I would get scolded like I had committed a crime.

 

The space called ‘home’ at that time was full of things I couldn’t understand.

 

Why couldn’t I eat even though we had food? Why did saying I was hungry result in punishment?

 

No matter how much I thought about it, my questions were never answered, and my hunger only grew.

 

So, I would secretly cook a cup of instant noodles and sneak out to the apartment’s recycling area to dispose of the evidence. I did this until I started making my own money and could eat outside the house.

 

Since then, the word hunger stirred complex emotions in me. You could say it tugged at my heartstrings.

 

These guys starved even though no one would yell at them for eating food, it made me feel sorry for them.

 

They weren’t exactly the kind of irresponsible people who would eat and then just lie down without a care in the world.

 

After some thought, I glanced at them and said quietly.

 

“…Then let’s order one and share it.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Jeong Seongbin looked at me wide-eyed like a startled rabbit.

 

“Grilled chicken, but on the condition that we drink water instead of soda. If that’s fine with you, go ahead and order.”

 

“Of course, that’s fine!”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon shouted, regaining his energy as if he hadn’t been depressed.

 

Jeong Seongbin, though hesitant, started seriously researching which chicken brand to order.

 

In the end, they scraped together the last bit of their conscience and ordered just one charcoal-grilled chicken. From the place with the fastest delivery time.

 

It was a stark contrast to my colleagues, who swore they would cut back on coffee, yet still put three packets of coffee mix into their tumbler the very next morning.

 

While they were busy setting the table, I opened the chicken box that arrived first. I carefully divided the steaming chicken into five portions, evenly placing them on plates.

 

As I was meticulously dividing the pieces, there was a commotion in the kitchen.

 

“What? What is it?”

 

When I asked, the guys surrounding the table turned around and looked at me.

 

Lee Cheonghyeon called out to me with a shaky voice.

 

“Uh, hyung.”

 

“Yeah. What is it?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon put his hand into the bag that Jeong Seongbin was holding.

 

What came out of Lee Cheonghyeon’s hand was… a cola.

 

“They said the owner threw it in as a freebie. We can’t not drink it… What should we do?”

 

“Yeah, nice try.”

 

So that night, we ended up having an unexpected chicken party with a bonus gift.

 

Oh, I didn’t eat any, so it would be more accurate to say ‘they’ had the party instead of ‘we’.

 

Still, I did my best by running with them along the Han River. In fact, I ran the longest, so that said it all.

 

That night, for the first time, I had the precious experience of sneaking out to the recycling area with others instead of alone to throw away the late-night snacks.

 

And I went to sleep, hoping that the Spark members wouldn’t wake up with puffy faces from eating those extra salty pieces of chicken.

 

* * *

 

With only one person, Yoo Hansoo, out of the picture, things went smoothly. The Spark members rarely caused any trouble, so everything was satisfactory.

 

‘Iwol, you must have had a hard time.’

 

‘Thanks to all the support from the company, I’m doing fine now…’

 

‘You’ve worked hard. Gosh, I didn’t expect that from PD Yoo…’

 

Except for the fact that I was burdened by sympathies from all sides.

 

Because of the whole situation with Yoo Hansoo, I couldn’t attend any meeting without people first asking how I was doing before getting to the main agenda. It was an overwhelming amount of attention.

 

The meeting room today was the same way.

 

There were so many people patting my shoulder, telling me to speak up if things got tough. I barely had time to lift my head from all the 90-degree bows I was giving in in gratitude.

 

As I was returning to the practice room, receiving lots of warm gazes, Lee Cheonghyeon suddenly looked in my direction and waved his hand.

 

“Hyung! Great timing. Our teaser is out!”

 

“Teaser?”

 

I thought it felt familiar.

 

That line was exactly the same as what Lee Cheonghyeon had said when Parthe’s debut song teaser came out. It had been a long time since then.

 

“Really? How was it?”

 

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen it yet.”

 

Then Kang Kiyeon moved aside slightly to make space.

 

“You didn’t see it? Why?”

 

“I thought hyung would be here soon.”

 

Could it be that he was waiting to watch it with me?

 

I glanced around and the guys were busy bustling around, saying, ‘Then should we play it now?’, ‘Should we watch it on the laptop?!?’.

 

I didn’t get it. Wouldn’t they want to see their own debut teaser right away?

 

I shrugged and sat down in an empty spot, telling them to do whatever they wanted.

 

As the chaotic atmosphere died down, Jeong Seongbin said.

 

“Then I’ll play it now.”

 

When Jeong Seongbin hit the play button, the dark screen split vertically.

 

Through the gap, Lee Cheonghyeon’s ankles were revealed as he ran in his mismatched canvas shoes with untied laces.

 

Next, Choi Jeho’s hands hesitated while placing pliers into a bag, then switched to grabbing a small hammer instead.

 

Then, we saw the back and shoulders of Park Joowoo, standing still in front of a fire extinguisher at a large supermarket, wearing a backpack. A grainy instrumental track played in the background.

 

Immediately after, the camera focused on Jeong Seongbin’s eyes, engrossed in reading something.

 

Then, the scene shifted.

 

Kang Kiyeon’s hand, emptying the cans and bottles out of the recycling bin behind the school, and my hand, tearing up a notebook and throwing it on the floor in a dark space, passed by one after another.

 

The moment Jeong Seongbin, who reappeared, inserted the key into the lock on the door of the warehouse.

 

The screen suddenly turned black with the effect of suddenly being cut off.

 

Soon, the faint crackling of a match being lit was heard, and a small white flame appeared on the black screen, slowly dissolving into ash.

 

“Oh…”

 

With a small gasp from Lee Cheonghyeon, the others groaned softly, pulling away from the small phone screen.

 

Everyone seemed nervous. Even though we monitored so much on-site, this felt like a new experience.

 

‘Still, it definitely feels different because it passed through the hands of experts.’

 

It was exactly the vibe I had wanted to go for. With this, my trust in the experts rose again.

 

“What do you think, Iwol hyung? Did it turn out the way you expected?”

 

Jeong Seongbin asked cautiously.

 

“Yeah. It’s appropriately vague.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“That’s exactly what I was going for.”

 

To put it nicely, it was a classic teaser featuring rebellious characters.

 

By only showing a part of the body, the sense of mystery and visual beauty stood out, and the sound harmony was also great.

 

To put it badly…

 

≫ I just watched Jang Junhoo’s music video. I support you, Jeho!

 

≫ I saw the profile pictures, but which scene was Lee Cheonghyeon’s? Cheonghyeon, please show your face! I’ve watched it three times and still can’t figure out where you are…

 

You could say it lacked impact. Not including a synchronized dance scene certainly contributed to that.

 

“I’ll check the comment first and then join, so everyone, go start practicing first.”

 

“Can’t we just check them and practice together?”

 

“I told you, Kang Kiyeon, that monitoring is prohibited.”

 

Was there any need for their self-esteem to take a hit before they even debuted?

 

I pushed the members away to the mirror and then sat in the empty corner. Then I placed the laptop on my thigh and slowly scrolled down.

 

As expected, there weren’t many posts related to the teaser in the comments section.

 

There must have been many music videos depicting adolescent youth struggling through life.

 

Especially in today’s market, where strong concepts were trending, it was even harder to grab attention with a pure-hearted concept.

 

If this teaser made you expect such an ordinary music video, then this teaser was a huge success.

 

‘This one is a bit more interesting.’

 

I read the comment I found while scrolling down the screen again.

 

≫ Hey guys, you guys are finally debuting ㅠㅠㅠ Please show lots of love to Spark, the famous group full of visualsㅠㅠㅠㅠ Please support them, everyone!!!

 

Kim Iwol♡ Choi Jeho♡ Jeong Seongbin♡ Park Joowoo♡ Lee Cheonghyeon♡ Kang Kiyeon

 

I had expected that some people would have picked their favorite members after the press release.

 

But I didn’t expect them to leave comments like this for a group that only revealed six slightly edited ID photos.

 

And…

 

‘Why does my name have to be at the front?’

 

I fiddled with my name, which was placed in front of Choi Jeho’s.

 

The names the commenter wrote were in the order of our ages and birthdays. They probably compared our dates of birth registered on the portal site one by one.

 

The oldest member of Spark that I knew was Choi Jeho. Naturally, fans always started their cheer chants with his name.

 

So, seeing a comment that didn’t start with Choi Jeho’s name felt oddly unfamiliar. Almost like it was directed at something foreign, not Spark.

 

A sense of guilt surged through my mind.

 

How should I deal with the complicated emotions that always come up at moments like this? This was also homework.

 

‘Isn’t it better to be stuck in the middle and then fall out later?’

 

I tried to slightly cover my name with my left thumb.

 

Then I pressed and rubbed my name, pretending as if I was wiping the dust off the LCD screen so that my action didn’t look strange.

 

≫ Hey guys, you guys are finally debuting ㅠㅠㅠ Please show lots of love to Spark, the famous group full of visualsㅠㅠㅠㅠ Please support them, everyone!!!

 

♡Choi Jeho♡Jeong Seongbin♡Park Joowoo♡Lee Cheonghyeon♡Kang Kiyeon

 

“…Yes. This is right.”

 

I smiled at the familiar sight. Maybe because of the heat, my fingertips were tingling.

 

After reading through the few comments, I turned off my phone and got up.

 

“Hey, Spark Visuals, can I join you now?”

 

“Of course!”

 

But I still had to think about it.

 

When I left someday, what three-letter word would be natural to replace ‘Kim Iwol’ in the fan chant?

Iwol-ah, this is only chapter 67. Some transmigrated idol lasted for 600+ chapters. You ain’t going anywhere, bud.