Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

“It’s perfectly fine. My nose has never been better.”

“Sure it is.”

“Choi Jeho, you wanna pick a fight?”

When I shot back, Choi Jeho shrugged his shoulders.

I ignored him and focused on Park Joowoo.

“Joowoo, as his best friend, what do you think? Do you think Seongbin is really angry?”

“How should I put this…”

“Express it in a percentage.”

“Maybe… 97%.”

So, it was at a critical level. This was serious.

Watching me bury my head in my hands, Choi Jeho asked.

“Are you scared of Jeong Seongbin?”

“The happiness index of subordinates fluctuates depending on the mood of their superiors. If the team leader is unhappy because of me, how could I not care?”

“Just leave it. He’ll calm down after he sorts out his thoughts.”

“I’m sorry, but is that a story from your own experience?”

“Yeah.”

Is that something to be proud of, you b**ch?

 I’d sunk to the level of being on par with Choi Jeho. I felt a little sorry for Jeong Seongbin.

I swallowed a sigh and said.

“It can’t be helped. I have to apologize to Seongbin.”

“Apologize? Aren’t you just going to add fuel to the fire?”

“No, I’ll explain some measures to prevent it from happening again.”

“So you’re going to pour fuel to the fire.”

I wanted to put a gag order on Choi Jeho, who kept putting a damper on everything I said, but I held back. Our country had freedom of speech.

“Then what should I do? Do you want to see Seongbin’s heavy expression throughout today’s practice?”

“I don’t care. It’s not because of me.”

Choi Jeho raised an eyebrow at me.

He didn’t care as long as it wasn’t him getting into trouble. Seeing that carefree face of his, I felt a deep anger rising from my gut.

“…I don’t want to see it either, but that doesn’t mean that the preventative measures that you mentioned… will appease Seongbin.”

Park Joowoo said carefully. It was saddening. There was no one on my side in this world.

As I pitied myself, Park Joowoo glanced at me and added.

“But if that’s really what you want to do, go ahead…!”

Forget it, man…

* * *

As I expected, Jeong Seongbin came back home with his anger intact.

Kang Kiyeon, who had walked home with him, shook his head behind Jeong Seongbin.

So as soon as Jeong Seongbin arrived, I knelt down and offered a heartfelt apology.

I roughly admitted my negligence in not taking care of my health properly, apologized for surprising my colleague, and promised that something like this would never happen again.

‘…That’s not something you can guarantee, hyung.’

‘I’ll pray to my ancestors for a health-monitoring guardian spirit.’

I also extended my apologies to the ancestors whom I’d only taken advantage of. Please, do not forgive this disrespectful descendant.

However, I meant it when I said that I would never do this again. Even if I didn’t have a guardian spirit for health checkups, I did have a fatigue index that could be measured in percentages.

Perhaps sensing that I had some assurance, Jeong Seongbin’s expression wavered slightly.

I took advantage of Jeong Seongbin’s moment of hesitation, appealing to his concern for his injured teammate, his sympathy, and, of course, the guilt he must’ve felt for losing his temper at an older member.

In other words, I just kept begging on my knees.

His face turned pale and he accepted my apology. He must have been moved by my sincerity.

The highlight was when Jeong Seongbin sighed, saying, ‘Hyung, you really…’ with a voice that was about 80% filled with exasperation

Anyway, thanks to Jeong Seongbin’s generous acceptance, our afternoon practice went very smoothly.

At least, until Yoo Hansoo called.

When I called back after seeing a missed call on the phone I got from the manager, the guy immediately yelled as soon as he picked up.

― You XX XX, ignoring my calls?

This crude languange. Lack of phone etiquette.

And even the anger that transcended the limits of space. He really reminded me of someone.

“I’m sorry, PD-nim.”

I politely answered the phone. The Spark members who were scattered here and there jumped in surprise.

I motioned for them to sit down and be quiet.

Then Lee Cheonghyeon mouthed.

‘Put him on speaker!’

Yeah, no.

No matter how worn out my conscience was, I knew that I shouldn’t let the kids hear such bad adult conversations.

Even in the midst of all this, Yoo Hansoo’s medley of curses continued.

“It’s not that I didn’t answer on purpose, it’s just that we all have to turn in our phones.”

— And so what, XX? Do I have to check your schedule before I call you? Huh?

“No, of course not. I am sorry, PD-nim.”

― Sorry? Why the XX are you to say sorry after messing with me like this?

And Yoo Hansoo was already beyond reason.

At least in my previous life, I had never met a boomer like this before I met Manager Nam. This life was progressing too fast.

Just as I was about to squeeze out a fake tear to pity myself, my eyes met Jeong Seongbin’s. His gaze seemed to ask if I hadn’t forgotten a promise we made before.

‘Alright, alright, I get it.’

I got up quietly on my knees.

I apologized to Yoo Hansoo with only the barest hint of sincerity, and then I mouthed to the guys without making a sound.

‘I’m going to record this.’

They understood and let me go without saying anything.

So I pressed the record button on the emergency exit and watched Yoo Hansoo babble for a long time.

I waited until Yoo Hansoo yelled, asking if I was even listening, then replied in the most dejected tone I could muster, apologizing profusely and assuring him that I was listening carefully

I leaned my back against the wall of the emergency exit, feeling that this conversation would take a long time.

And this premonition was never wrong.

Only after 20 minutes did he finally get to the main point.

― You XX, you dragged Ahn Yuri to this too.

Ahn Yuri was Newri’s real name. I had expected that this might’ve set him off, and sure enough, he was boiling mad.

“PD, I…”

― What? Making excuses now? XXX, you’ve already caused a mess, and now you have something to say? Huh?

“…”

― Who do you think you are, crossing the line like that? Just because you got a few compliments from the company, you think you’re something special? Haven’t you heard the saying, ‘a frog in the well’ before?

It was unfair. They were the ones who cautiously asked for my opinion first. And if he wasn’t going to listen to what I said, why even call?

This guy was truly stuck in his ways. He should spend this time figuring out his own survival.

― You’re not afraid of anything, are you? But you know what? Your reputation in the industry is already XX bad. If you get caught in one wrong move, you’ll go straight to hell.

“I’m sorry, PD-nim.”

Of course, I’m not sorry at all.

A whistle-blowing idol was one thing, but an embezzling employee had even worse prospects. He should start realizing how far he had fallen.

— You messed with the wrong person. You think I don’t know people in the industry who can bring you down? Behave properly, Jang Junhoo’s out there talking about you too.

Jang Junhoo.

I thought Yoo Hansoo only filmed Jang Junhoo’s music video, but they must have really hit it off. If they were close enough to gossip about me behind my back in private.

Or maybe Yoo Hansoo was just bluffing to scare me.

It didn’t matter either way. Neither Yoo Hansoo nor Jang Junhoo could be a threat.

“Jang Junhoo… sunbaenim?”

― Yeah. You’re famous for being rude. Jang Junhoo was really keeping an eye on you.

It would actually be helpful if they were close. I could expose them both as a duo. ‘PD and senior artist team up for harassment’— what a catchy headline.

I played with my fingernails with one hand and spoke in a very flustered voice.

“That can’t be true. I’ve only greeted sunbaenim a couple of times.”

― You threatened Jang Junhoo. Insubordination is a serious crime. You get that?

No matter how serious of a crime insubordination might be, did it even compare to abuse of power? That kind of logic only worked in the military.

Yoo Hansoo didn’t stop talking after Jang Junhoo’s name was mentioned, probably because he thought I was genuinely flustered.

― From what I’ve heard, you were really being rude over something trivial. You went on about how Jang Junhoo threw a water bottle, and he took your phone for inspection. You called it abuse of power?

“PD-nim, that’s—”

― If that counts as an abuse of power, then what I’ve done to you must be way worse, right? Did Jang Junhoo throw the bottle at anyone? Did he smash your phone? Oh, I broke your MP3, so I guess you’d report me for abuse of power too?

I definitely would. This would make perfect evidence. It was downright impressive how he kept adding more offenses on top of the embezzlement suspicion.

I covered my mouth and desperately held back my laughter.

In this f*cked up world, things could still go your way. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket today.

And then, as usual, he started swearing.

I had recorded enough, so I was about to apologize profusely and hang up when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

Getting caught here wasn’t ideal.

Involving a staff member might silence Yoo Hansoo temporarily, but such a mild punishment was not enough. If I played this right, I could send off Jang Junhoo and Yoo Hansoo as a bullying duo.

So I greeted the shadow in the loudest voice I could, even though I couldn’t tell who they were.

“Hello!”

Yoo Hansoo’s swearing stopped. Soon after, footsteps came up the stairs, and an employee from the agency came up.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I was just answering a call…”

At that moment, the call ended and the phone screen lit up brightly. I tilted the phone slightly so that the employee could see the screen, and the name I had politely saved as ‘Producer Yoo Hansoo’ appeared.

“Is PD Yoo still calling you?”

The employee was shocked. I waved my hand desperately and said.

“No, it’s been a really long time since I last spoke to him!”

It was true.

But, more importantly, I wanted to go back to the practice room and check the recording.

Even so, the employee didn’t leave right away.

“Did PD Yoo say something again?”

“No, really…!”

At that moment, my nose started itching at the worst possible time. 

Worried that the inside of my nose might start bleeding again, I quickly lowered my head.

I pretended to sniffle and put my hand under my nose, but fortunately, it was dry.

Just as I was about to raise my head in relief, the staff member shouted in surprise.

“Are you crying?!”

Huh? Me?

No, wait.

Maybe… it could be seen that way?

Being caught mid-call with a boss who’s been tormenting me, and then suddenly hanging my head and sniffling…

It would be easy to misunderstand. I didn’t think I’d come off as so delicate, but the circumstances were unfortunate.

I put on my brightest smile, explaining that it wasn’t what they thought.

However, the staff member saw my behavior as that of a ‘brave trainee holding back tears and trying to act cheerful,’ which made things difficult

In the end, I had to put off checking the recording until the evening and politely send the employee off on their way.