Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

The sound of a rusty iron door opening echoed through the dark stage.

 

Followed by the sound of heavy footsteps, a man walked to the center of the stage, sit on one knee, rested his chin on his hand, and stared at the camera.

 

The man smiled slightly and whispered.

 

[Cheonghyeon]

 

Let’s go.

 

At the same time, the stage lit up brightly.

 

A man with black hair and round-rimmed glasses and a man with fancy gray hair and a character band on his face appeared side by side.

 

The glasses-wearing member, ‘Iwol’, was neatly dressed in a school uniform, while the member ‘Jeho’ was missing his tie.

 

[Iwol]

 

There are times when a single dream

 

Feels so vivid

 

[Jeho]

 

The power that makes me

 

unable to fall asleep

 

in the long darkness of the night

 

The next member to appear was just as impressive as Jeho.

 

[Kiyeon]

 

A flare sent

 

to the night sky

 

by lighting a spark

 

with a wish-filled fuel

 

Kiyeon, dressed far more neatly than Jeho, mimed shooting something into the air, and someone from the other side ran to the center of the stage, continuing the song.

 

[Seongbin]

 

Let the warning sound ring out,

 

Let the cheers explode

 

And when all six people gathered in line, the melody reached its climax.

 

[Joowoo+ALL]

 

Until the world heats up

 

Until it burns

 

As the music hit its stride, Cheonghyeon appeared again.

 

Now clearly visible in the lights, his clothes and hair were smeared with paint.

 

[Cheonghyeon]

 

A clear goal becomes the driving force

 

To kick off the ground and rise

 

To divide the day

 

where the sun pours down.

 

A bright smile accompanied the fiery lyrics.

 

And to match that, the choreography was well-organized, like a performance.

 

The stage was filled with refreshing blue lights and the clear smiles of the six members, harmonizing beautifully.

 

[Joowoo]

 

Let the warning sound ring out,

 

Let the cheers explode

 

[Seongbin + ALL]

 

Until my heart boils over

 

and overflows

 

As the stage stormed toward its climax, the performance ended with all six members holding a red-tipped paper ribbon, staring at each other.

 

It was truly a stage like fireworks in broad daylight.

 

* * *

 

‘F***.’

 

Only curse words came to Baek Haewon’s mind. Wasn’t it true that many people, including Baek Haewon, couldn’t help but swear when they were extremely happy?

 

Baek Haewon thought, ‘Ah… Wait a minute.’ and rubbed her forehead.

 

And then she replayed the video she had just watched.

 

After the video ended, she cursed inwardly again.

 

‘This is crazy.’

 

That was all Baek Haewon could say.

 

There were many handsome idols in the world.

 

However, it was rare for all the members of a group to be handsome.

 

Even more for all the members of the group to ‘suit her taste’!

 

Baek Haewon slapped her innocent bed three times. Out of habit, she also slapped her forehead a few times.

 

‘This… I have to watch the music video.’

 

Without even having the time to post a short message on SNS, Baek Haewon typed ‘Spark Flowering MV’ into the search bar.

 

The music video was over 5 minutes long.

 

Was it a drama style? Baek Haewon vaguely guessed and clicked the video.

 

The video started with six split screens showing six hands turning off alarms.

 

All the hands on the beds disappeared, except for the one that fell asleep again with the hand still on the phone.

 

Jeong Seongbin, who was the first to arrive and put his textbooks in the drawer.

 

Kim Iwol, who threw his school bag on the windowsill and fell asleep again on his desk as soon as he arrived.

 

Park Joowoo, who walked in quietly and stared out the window, and Kang Kiyeon, who was playing with his cell phone with his earphones plugged in.

 

The members gathered one by one in the classroom, including Choi Jeho, who came in after him.

 

And a few tools inside Choi Jeho’s bag were zoomed in.

 

‘What? Is this a delinquent story?’

 

As she enjoyed the warm-toned music video, Baek Haewon furrowed her brow, wondering if they were going to glorify delinquent behavior.

 

For a moment, she considered turning off the music video, but Baek Haewon pressed the play button again, determined to keep watching it for now.

 

After a brief scene of someone flipping an unknown switch, the camera returned to the school.

 

As all the students arrived, and the teacher came in to take attendance, Lee Cheonghyeon rushed in with his disheveled hair, and the song began alongside the title.

 

The six members all had different attitudes toward class.

 

While some members were sitting upright, eagerly participating in the lesson,

 

Kim Iwol’s forehead was still on the desk, and Lee Cheonghyeon was just doodling with another notebook spread out under his textbook.

 

What caught Baek Haewon’s attention the most was that the video kept showing Kang Kiyeon’s bracelet, Lee Cheonghyeon’s key ring on his belt loop, and Choi Jeho’s suspiciously heavy bag.

 

Of course, the music video didn’t just show drama-like scenes.

 

Every time a different dance shot came up, Baek Haewon debated whether to screenshot it now or wait until the video finished. Ultimately, she decided to watch the whole thing first and screenshot it later.

 

After the group dance shot, the background changed to a large container box.

 

The six of them put their heads together and discussed the school map on a desk full of junk.

 

As the camera followed Jeong Seongbin’s finger, it zoomed in on the paper’s edge where the word ‘Boom!’ was written.

 

‘Are they really going to blow up the school?’

 

Somehow, except for one or two of them, everyone’s expressions were unusual.

 

True to her expectations, the members started preparing something in earnest.

 

Jeong Seongbin took a bundle of papers out of Kim Iwol’s bag and stuck them on the wall following Kim Iwol’s instructions.

 

Park Joowoo also put a ‘Caution against fire’ sticker on the outside of the container box door.

 

Kang Kiyeon came out with his jacket thrown away and his sleeves rolled up because he was carrying a heavy load, and Choi Jeho had his tie snatched away by Lee Cheonghyeon who was searching for something.

 

‘Are they actually blowing up the school, not the cheers?’

 

Did they change the lyrics for their debut stage to pass censorship? Baek Haewon couldn’t help but chuckle.

 

There were also scenes in the video that she couldn’t understand.

 

It was mostly a video of a golden ball passing under objects at high speed or falling from a high place.

 

She didn’t know what it was, but if she just waited quietly, someone would definitely post a definitive interpretation.

 

So rather than pausing the video and analyzing it, it was more important to watch the dance break unfolding before her eyes.

 

Having been an idol fan for years, Baek Haewon didn’t need a screenshot to know. That their choreography was perfectly in sync.

 

Scenes of the members in school uniforms against the backdrop of an abandoned school and in jumpsuits inside the container box alternated rapidly. The song rushed toward its climax.

 

『Let the warning sound ring out

 

let the cheers explode』

 

Kang Kiyeon pushed all the planks over and Lee Cheonghyeon lifted up a welding mask.

 

Park Joowoo stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, watching everyone, and Choi Jeho passed by with a crowbar resting on both shoulders.

 

Then, Jeong Seongbin received a match from Kim Iwol and lit the fuse in front of him.

 

Flames flickered across Jeong Seongbin’s face.

 

『Until my heart boils over 

 

And overflows』

 

The camera tilted upwards toward the sky, and the screen darkened.

 

At the same time, the song stopped and it became quiet.

 

“…What is this?”

 

So the school ended up exploding, or what?

 

Baek Haewon tilted her head.

 

At that moment, the screen brightened again.

 

The classroom where the members had first gathered was revealed.

 

On the blackboard was the phrase ‘Group Assignment (Draw Lots)’ written in large letters, and the six members were gathered in front of it.

 

Each holding a lot with a red-tipped end.

 

‘Huh?’

 

It was definitely the lot that the members had held one by one at the end of their debut stage.

 

Only then did the scenes of the members toiling away, exhausted, flash through Baek Haewon’s mind.

 

‘It was a group project…!’

 

No wonder the kids looked really roughed up. Baek Haewon, currently a high school student, understood that feeling completely.

 

‘So what on earth did they do for their project?’

 

Just as she thought that, the camera zoomed in on the miscellaneous objects in front of the container wall, which had previously only served as background.

 

Wood blocks tied together with Kang Kiyeon’s bracelet and Choi Jeho’s tie were oddly arranged on various machines.

 

It was a ‘Goldberg’ device where everything was connected as one.

 

As the heat from the flames cut the string, the golden ball rolled down a split PVC pipe and along wooden chopsticks, moving ceaselessly.

 

The mysterious scenes from earlier in the music video were spliced into this sequence.

 

The metal ball knocked over a domino, bounced off Lee Cheonghyeon’s keychain, circled the container, and finally pressed a wooden button. The fishing line attached to the button pulled, and a ‘bang’ sound echoed.

 

At the same time, flower petals poured like a waterfall over the heads of Choi Jeho, Jeong Seongbin, Lee Cheonghyeon, and Kang Kiyeon, who stood under the box.

 

A handmade banner that read ‘Group Project Great Success!’ unfolded on the box fluttered shabbily.

 

As everyone shook or spat out the flower petals, Jeong Seongbin paused and asked:

 

‘But… who filmed this?’

 

The expressions of the other three stiffened.

 

The four of them slowly turned their heads toward one of the walls.

 

There, Park Joowoo, wearing protective gear and holding a fire extinguisher, pointed toward the corner of the container.

 

Kim Iwol, who had been filming with a tripod there, raised his thumb.

 

With that, everyone cheered in triumph, hugging each other, and the video finally ended for real.

 

There was even an ending credit.

 

Director Jeong Seongbin

 

Planning Kim Iwol

 

Design Lee Cheonghyeon

 

Production Kang Kiyeon

 

Support Choi Jeho

 

Inspection Park Joowoo

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Cinematography Kim Iwol

 

Only the cinematography credit had a different font and slant, as if hastily added.

 

It was truly… the perfect embodiment of a goofy group project.

 

* * *

 

Baek Haewon had a very busy time that day.

 

Even though she searched through the ocean of information, no one uploaded an interpretation of Spark’s music video, so she had to tearfully cobble together her own interpretation.

 

She also had to painstakingly savor each frame of the newly debuted group’s content that was flooding in.

 

It wasn’t until almost 10 p.m. that she finally managed to post on social media.

 

≫ Guys, don’t you want to try out Spark?

 

Their faces are delicious and they do strange things

 

└ ㅋㅋNo, don’t people usually write it the other way around?

 

└ They’re too good-looking for that

 

≫ Are you going to be a fan of SPK?

 

└ I’m not a fan yet. Um… just testing the water?

 

└ Don’t lie, you said the same thing before and then ended up watching the Marbling Series five times.

 

After writing down her overflowing feelings, Baek Haewon lay down on the bed.

 

‘If they brought out those lots for this stage, I wonder what they’ll bring next…’

 

At the same time, the chorus of the song she’d just heard kept playing in her mind. A sign it was starting to sink in.