Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

Entrance ceremonies, first days at work, sign-up days…

 

There had been many days when I  began something new.

 

Some days, there was so much to prepare that I couldn’t think straight. On other days, I kept checking my alarm in fear of being late on the very first day. Then there were days when I felt nothing at all.

 

But today, it was my first time experiencing a ‘debut day’ in my life.

 

Today, a historic day for Spark, was a busy day right from the morning.

 

‘After we stop by the salon, we’ll head straight to the set, so everyone, stay sharp! Once we’re at the station, make sure to greet everyone properly!’

 

‘Did you hear that? If anyone doesn’t greet properly, you’re in for a fun surprise tonight.’

 

‘I am really sick of you…’

 

I only added a comment to the manager’s words, but Choi Jeho responded with a frown.

 

Did he think I wasn’t sick of him? What a funny guy.

 

Regardless of Choi Jeho’s grimace, Lee Cheonghyeon remained unfazed and just radiated positive energy.

 

“Isn’t the weather great today? It’s a great start, don’t you think?”

 

I already knew the weather would be nice. Even though the sun was setting, it was always nice outside this time of year, even for winter.

 

How much time had passed since we got all dressed up at the salon and headed to the broadcasting station?

 

“Guys, let’s get out now!”

 

At the manager’s signal, Lee Cheonghyeon opened the car door.

 

There were always suspicions surrounding the profile pictures of new idols.

 

That this must have been edited, or that their skin tone couldn’t be like this.

 

But all those words would be meaningless in front of Lee Cheonghyeon’s face.

 

There was a reason why I sent Lee Cheonghyeon out first.

 

Sure enough, as soon as Lee Cheonghyeon stepped out of the car, the surrounding commotion was palpable even from inside the vehicle.

 

“Wow, hyungs! There are so many people!”

 

“Don’t be loud in public places.”

 

I scolded Lee Cheonghyeon with a ventriloquist’s whisper as I got out of the car.

 

Soon, as a line of guys with legs as long as a moving company’s ladder trucks stepped out, everyone’s gaze turned in that direction with a frightening intensity.

 

I followed them to a position where I could stay somewhat hidden behind them. I tried my best to avoid being photographed.

 

Even though it was still early, there were already people gathered in front of the photo zone.

 

They were probably fans of the artists who were appearing on today’s music show.

 

I looked at the slogans the people were holding and tried to guess today’s lineup of performers.

 

At that moment, I heard a familiar name from somewhere.

 

“Spark is so handsome!”

 

I turned my gaze and saw a woman waving her hand in my direction.

 

Spark… She said that just now?

 

Did someone recognize Spark already?

 

No, I should greet her.

 

My mind became complicated in an instant. Amidst the chaos in my head, I pulled out the mental files of countless fan-cam videos I had studied.

 

In the countless fancams I looked up while commuting to work, idols waved both hands or raised one hand slightly to greet fans cheerfully.

 

But was that really okay?

 

On such a bitterly cold winter day, where she had come to this barren place with no other fans to talk to and waited until our entry time, was a mere wave enough?

 

For me, who used to bow my head to greet people at the Hanpyeong Industry, greeting with one hand was an act that pricked my conscience.

 

So I just bowed 90 degrees. I could only hope she understood how sincerely grateful I was.

 

* * *

 

Without even a moment to lift our heads, we entered the broadcasting station after greeting everyone, only to be faced with an immense waiting time.

 

I heard that this was common for rookies, but it was different to just hear about it and actually be left alone for over 3 hours.

 

Still, it wasn’t boring. All six of us were busy with self-development activities.

 

‘Doing some productive activities in the waiting room?’

 

‘Yeah. But don’t do anything too focused. We might have to film some footage in between.’

 

As soon as I answered Jeong Seongbin’s question, Lee Cheonghyeon interrupted and asked.

 

‘Are you going to film something like a waiting room vlog?’

 

‘That too, and you’re not going to waste the waiting time of several hours doing nothing, are you? If you’re not going to nap, at least bring something to do.’

 

At my comment, for some reason, the members put on slightly determined expressions.

 

I had meant that it would be better to take a nap rather than waste energy doing useless things, but they all diligently brought something to work on anyway.

 

They all pulled out their tasks so seriously from their bags that I found myself awkwardly filming the waiting room with a camcorder the video team had handed me.

 

I approached Jeong Seongbin and Park Joowoo with the camcorder and asked them.

 

“First, leader. What did you bring?”

 

“There’s a song I want to try, so I brought some writing materials to memorize the lyrics!”

 

“What about Joowoo?”

 

“I’m going to study English… I brought a vocabulary book.”

 

The two even went so far as to neatly hold out their notebooks and vocabulary lists in front of the camera.

 

What an exemplary figure. These two were the perfect idols to introduce to kids who were at a stage where they should be focused on their studies. I should get them to do a ‘Study With Me’ livestream later.

 

Next, I filmed the maknaes who were sitting in a corner.

 

“What did you guys bring?”

 

“A cube. Lee Cheonghyeon said if I can solve it today, he’ll treat me to the convenience store,”

 

Kang Kiyeon presented a small cube.

 

Lee Cheonghyeon must have racked his brain to keep his friend from getting too nervous ahead of the debut stage. It seemed I wouldn’t need to pull out the bubble wrap I stashed from the UA warehouse.

 

Lee Cheonghyeon was busy sketching musical notes on sheet music.

 

I made sure not to capture the sheet music on camera and asked him.

 

“What song is this?”

 

“Oh, it’s fine to film it! I’m just thinking about arrangement ideas for our debut song.”

 

“Do people still draw their music scores by hand like this these days?”

 

“It can be done automatically, but I learned how to write by hand first, so I think it’s easier this way. Do you want to see it?”

 

Then Lee Cheonghyeon suddenly handed me the sheet music.

 

The notes were neatly arranged, as if they were drawn with a ruler. It was pretty cool.

 

“Are you filming the members? Are we the last ones?”

 

“No. I haven’t filmed Choi Jeho yet.”

 

I picked up the camera and took a video footage of Choi Jeho doing push-ups on the opposite corner of the waiting room.

 

I approached Choi Jeho and asked.

 

“How many are you at?”

 

“This is exactly the 50th push-up.”

 

“Don’t break a sweat. What if you use up all your energy for dancing?”

 

“This much won’t make that happen.”

 

Choi Jeho stood up with a calm face, not a hint of bragging. Then he reached out to me.

 

“What?”

 

“Give me the camera. You should be filmed too.”

 

That was unexpected.

 

I had only planned to film the members, and it never occurred to me that someone would film me.

 

Choi Jeho took the camera away from me and asked as I stood there dumbfounded.

 

“What did you bring?”

 

What did I bring?

 

I told you I hadn’t planned to do anything here?

 

If I just took turns filming these five guys, it would obviously take up too much time, so why would I bother doing something so useless?

 

It was not that we didn’t have people to film us. The video team had come to support us, after all.

 

But I couldn’t rely entirely on the video team. The style of filming for idols and ballad singers was slightly different.

 

There was a difference in group versus individual shots, and the flow or atmosphere was also a little different…

 

The problem was that this difference was so minimal that filming experts would think, ‘Isn’t that just a difference in personal taste?’

 

So, who could sense this difference enough to make me take up the camera role?

 

≫ I am begging you, film the kid’s face properly pleaaaase

 

I am not interested in the waiting rooooom

 

Stop focusing on weird thiiiings!!!

 

≫ Hey, come on… Increase the number of cameras… When they’re talking, only one kid appears on the screen…

 

└ My kid only appeared in subtitlesㅎㅎ I thought he had turned into a spritㅎㅎ

 

≫ The framing is fine

 

The problem is that the kids aren’t on the frameㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

The ones who cared were none other than Spark’s devoted fans.

 

UA, realizing the situation too late, promised to increase the camera crew next time, but until the next round of activities, Spark’s fans had to search for their favorite members by their voices alone.

 

I volunteered as a cameraman to prevent such unfortunate events.

 

Still, I wasn’t caught off guard. I’d brought along small hobby items just in case.

 

I confidently took out my supplies from my bag.

 

“I brought a coloring book.”

 

“…What did you say?”

 

I waved the coloring book at Choi Jeho, who moved his head out of the camcorder’s view to double-check with his own eyes.

 

“Coloring book. I brought colored pencils too.”

 

“Did you buy that?”

 

“No, it was in the dorm.”

 

“Why was it in the dorm?”

 

“The manager gave it to me. He didn’t use it, so he passed it to me.”

 

“Why did he even buy a coloring book?”

He bought it for you, hoping it would help you with some mental discipline.

But apparently, on the day the manager brought the coloring book, you threw a bucket of cold water on that idea at the dorm.

Since then, it hasn’t seen the light of day, so I took it. I’ll put it to good use.

“Do you like drawing hyung?”

 

Now even Jeong Seongbin had popped out of nowhere to ask.

 

This was tricky.

 

When a former member and a current member appear in the same frame, fans would have to painstakingly edit the footage with mosaics.

 

For the sake of future Jeong Seongbin fans, I lowered my head and pretended to pick out colored pencils.

 

“Not really. But it’d be a waste not to use what I have.”

 

I’d already wasted enough resources blowing air conditioning on someone like Director Nam. While he was busy overusing things, I might as well be the one to conserve.

 

As I was busy picking out my 12-color pencils, Jeong Seongbin and Choi Jeho didn’t stop chattering above my head.

 

“That’s right. Conserving is important…”

 

“Aren’t we conserving pretty well?”

 

Enough. If you’ve finished filming, just leave already.

 

When everyone wrapped up their self-improvement activities, except for Kang Kiyeon, who still couldn’t solve the cube, the manager called for us.

 

It was the time for the so-called ‘paying respects’, where we would go around the waiting rooms of artists appearing on music shows to introduce our group and give them our albums.

 

I’d heard that this practice was fading, but apparently, it still depended on the broadcasting station.

 

Still, there wasn’t really anything to worry about. I had fixed the postures of all five members… no, I had corrected them so that they would look polite no matter where they were seen.

 

With several new idol groups being created every month, there was no way that any senior artists would pay special attention to us.

 

Some of the older seniors, who were friendly with artists under UA, would say, ‘Ah, these are ○○ noona’s kids’, and take care of us.

 

Except for the startled reactions everyone had when they saw Lee Cheonghyeon’s face, it was a smooth first greeting.

 

That was until we reached the waiting room of Parthe, who were wrapping up their last performance today.