Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

I couldn’t relate at all to Lee Cheonghyeon’s distress as he envied the children’s happiness. 

 

The joy of children during Family Month wasn’t something I understood. In the first place, I had never even received a Children’s Day gift.

 

I had simply given an opinion to use for reference, but it seemed that empathizing with the subject of the reference was quite important to Lee Cheonghyeon. Was this the difference between a creator and an office worker?

 

I was about to ask, ‘Should I find you some lively children’s videos on MiTube?’ but ended up locking eyes with Lee Cheonghyeon, who looked on the verge of despair despite his beautiful look.

 

This is an emergency. Without that face, we can’t secure first place!

 

I quickly thought over it. And I came up with a brilliant solution with my wit.

 

“Get up and put on sunscreen.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“We’re going out, so put on sunscreen!”

 

* * *

 

“…Didn’t you say you were going out to gather some reference for composing??”

 

Kang Kiyeon, who had been dragged along under the pretext of needing a photographer, asked with a puzzled look.

 

Suddenly, a fountain of water shot up behind Kang Kiyeon. It was a water show so refreshing that it could even lift the spirits of those watching.

 

“That’s right. How is it, Cheonghyeon? Don’t you feel the inspiration flowing?”

 

“The fountain sure is shooting up perfectly!”

 

As soon as Lee Cheonghyeon finished speaking, a stream of water sprouted from the bare ground.

 

The place I led the guys to was the Children’s Grand Park, a sacred ground for children. At least, it was the place with the most children out of all the places I knew.

 

“I didn’t think I’d come back here after elementary school…”

 

Kang Kiyeon muttered to himself.

 

Well, at least you came here in elementary school. I never even came here when in elementary school, my first visit to the Children’s Grand Park was at twenty-six years old.

 

‘That too, only because Hanpyeong Industry needed someone to take promotional snapshots of their new product, and they didn’t have enough manpower.’

 

Before I could even reminisce about the bitter memories, two kids on kickboards zoomed past us, laughing loudly.

 

Worried that Lee Cheonghyeon’s spirits might drop, I pulled out a composition notebook and a pencil case from the backpack I was carrying for him.

 

“Here. You can’t go to the dorm until you reach 60% of the progress today.”

 

“This is a big deal. Are we even allowed to sleep out here?”

 

“Yeah, a troublemaker like you can sleep out for up to three days.”

 

As I sat Lee Cheonghyeon down on an empty bench, Kang Kiyeon approached and asked,

 

“Then what do I do? Do I really just take pictures of him?”

 

“Yeah. Every now and then, go over there and take a selfie in the natural light too.”

 

“What about you, hyung?”

 

“I have to film a video.”

 

With that, I pulled a camcorder from the depths of my backpack. It was a piece of equipment I had borrowed with permission from the filming crew, and I was treating it with the utmost care.

 

“Are we going to upload this as content too?”

 

At Kang Kiyeon’s question, Lee Cheonghyeon flinched in surprise.

 

“Hyung! Is this going to be posted as content? I’m a bit embarrassed!”

 

“It won’t be uploaded. I’m just recording it as a precaution.”

 

I had no intention of doing something like ‘I’m going to show everyone how you write songs!’ to Lee Cheonghyeon, who still had difficulty showing confidence in his own creations.

 

I simply wanted to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances.

 

Like if UA were to lose all the images they had collected for photocards, or if all the photos these guys took were out of focus, making them unusable when enlarged for the cards.

 

Or perhaps if we needed to include video footage in the fan song MV but couldn’t stretch the video to 4 minutes and 30 seconds.

 

These thoughts swirled in my head as the two stared at me, clearly confused.

 

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to get started?”

 

“Sigh…”

 

At my words, the two sighed with the same expression.

 

Move quickly. I’m busy too.

 

* * *

 

A vast park in early March, with warm spring sunshine pouring down.

 

The sound of leaves swaying as a cool breeze passed through, colliding with each other as if they were breaking apart.

 

The lingering scent of flowers carried on the wind, the laughter of children, the sound of water shooting into the air, and…

 

A rookie idol sitting on a bench, clutching his head in despair, agonizing over the source of pure joy, and another rookie idol diligently filming him from across the bench, and a rejuvenated older man crawling out into the blazing sun and crouching down to record all of this with a camcorder.

 

What a fantastic combination. It wouldn’t be surprising if this scene was selected as one of the landscapes of the year.

 

Kang Kiyeon, who had received a 10-minute crash course from me after taking all the pictures in the backlight, was now shining with enthusiasm, trying his best to capture the perfect shot.

 

“Kiyeon, how many pictures did you take?”

 

“I think it’s over 200.”

 

“How about your selfies?”

 

“Three.”

 

“Then stop taking pictures of Lee Cheonghyeon and go take your own selfies. Just wander around the park and don’t come back until you’ve taken more than twenty.”

 

“Yes.”

 

With that, Kang Kiyeon obediently left.

 

As I wished for him to return with some amazing selfies, I turned to Cheonghyeon, who was probably staring at his notebook behind me, and spoke.

 

“Now that Kiyeon is gone, let’s hear it.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You have something you want to tell me, don’t you? Isn’t that right?”

 

When I turned around, Lee Cheonghyeon’s eyes were wide with surprise.

 

“How did you know?”

 

“I read minds, what about it?”

 

At the Hanpyeong Industry, the only thing I learned was how to be perceptive.

 

Besides, we had shared the same room for over a year now, and we used the same practice room every day, so it would be strange if I didn’t pick up on it, right?

 

Even so, this innocent Cheonghyeon showed no sign of shaking off his surprised look.

 

Watching the kids running around energetically, as if playing tag, Cheonghyeon asked,

 

“Why are you being so nice to us, hyung?”

 

“What?”

 

Despite my resolve not to be caught off guard by any of Cheonghyeon’s questions, this unexpected question completely blindsided me.

 

Being nice.

 

Who? Me?

 

To you guys?

 

I guaranteed that no one felt as angry and sad as I did, my heart was engraved with all sorts of profanity with these guys at close range.

 

‘I haven’t done anything particularly nice.’

 

Except for situations where I had to accomplish a mission assigned by the system, I had always tried to minimize my intervention in Spark.

 

All I did while hanging out with these guys was bake bread, fold laundry, and leave the night lights on.

 

Wasn’t being ‘nice’ something more… kind and gentle?

 

Like checking in on them often or occasionally giving them pocket money.

 

Seeing my expression say, ‘I don’t understand what you’re talking about,’ Cheonghyeon continued.

 

“Normally, when someone around you isn’t doing well, people don’t go this far to help, do they?”

 

“What do you mean by ‘this far’? You mean bringing you to the park?”

 

“Not just that.”

 

What did I do for him?

 

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t recall doing anything deserving of such a comment.

 

“Since you mentioned the park, I’ll give you an example. People usually sympathize or give advice, but they don’t go out of their way to help, materially or spiritually.”

 

“Well, it’s because I can’t completely sympathize with the burden you feel, nor can I give you technical advice.”

 

“What’s surprising is that you don’t just stop at offering encouragement in that situation.”

 

“As you live, you’ll meet at least 150 million people who are kinder than me. Besides, you live under the same roof as Jeong Seongbin.”

 

“Hm, how should I put it, hyung and Seongbin hyung… are in different leagues.”

 

“Is that an insult?”

 

“How did you know?”

 

Cheonghyeon playfully responded and burst out laughing.

 

Just then, I heard a commotion in the distance.

 

When I turned my gaze, I saw Kang Kiyeon walking toward us, surrounded by children.

 

Seeing him accept a toy from one of the kids, it seemed they had asked him to open something for them…

 

“Hyung, is he shooting bubbles at the children?”

 

Eventually, Kang Kiyeon began shooting bubbles from a giant bubble gun, entertaining the children with a bubble show.

 

Cheonghyeon clutched his stomach in laughter, then he ran out of his seat, asking to be included.

 

‘They never cease to amaze.’

 

Thinking this, I began neatly organizing Cheonghyeon’s notebook and writing tools, which were on the verge of being crumpled. Somehow, I had a feeling that by tonight, Cheonghyeon would come up with a great melody.

 

Not knowing that a dark cloud was looming over the group, casting a shadow from afar.

 

* * *

 

After receiving the new KPI, I took some time for reflection and asked the members what they thought had gone well, what they were disappointed in, and what they hoped for in future activities.

 

It was because I had resolved to do my best to meet their needs until the final KPI was achieved.

 

It was during that conversation that Choi Jeho said this.

 

‘I don’t want to talk about family as much as possible.’

 

In the past, Spark, especially Choi Jeho, didn’t mention family often. This became even more pronounced as time passed since their debut.

 

Perhaps it was thanks to Manager Nam’s daughter, who was a fan of Choi Jeho, that I also unintentionally came to know the reason why Choi Jeho didn’t want to talk about his family.

 

≫ My younger sibling is in the same class as Jewang-nim’s sibling, and apparently Jewang-nim’s parents are divorced.

 

(TL note: Jewang = Jeho + Wang (King).)

 

It seems his father drank and gambled a lot;;

 

Jewang-nim barely took a drink on Yoonseul Live, so I guess he learned from that and avoids alcohol and gambling, I am relievedㅇㅇ

 

└ Can’t someone report this b*tch?

 

└ XX XX, delete the post

 

└ You’re relieved, you said?? It’s not like he’s a psychopath or something;;;

 

‘It said that his mother and father split up.’

 

These days, many people thought divorce wasn’t a big deal, and there were plenty who believed it was better for people to split up than to live with terrible parents.

 

There were always some family members who made a person cringe just at the thought of them. For Choi Jaeho, his father seemed to be such a figure.

 

So I told him that I couldn’t promise anything definitive, but that I would try my best to avoid such questions. There was no need to explain how often family-related questions popped up in society—it would just be a waste of words.

 

I really did intend to try my best.

 

“Hey, Kim Iwol.”

 

Choi Jeho, looking furious, approached me and asked.

 

“Is the next content idea yours too?”

 

His voice was low, a tone I had never heard from him before.