Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

The next day, the Spark team wrapped up filming with a warmer, closer bond.

 

Though I was left a bit more embarrassed than before.

 

I felt like I’d written a long message for the employee suggestion box, only to find out that my name was printed right alongside it.

 

Since Lee Cheonghyeon, who had been clinging to me like a koala, showed no sign of getting off my back, I barely held back from taking off my T-shirt, saying, ‘No need to keep it a secret, I’m going to show my upper body today!’.

 

After a hearty breakfast of ramen—even though there were six of us, the PD had suggested only cooking five packs, which made the kids look a bit glum—a welcome surprise awaited us when we returned.

 

“Guys, the next album plan has been finally approved!”

 

“Yay!”

 

While we were out sweating in the mountains filming episode two of our self-cam, UA completed all the groundwork for our comeback.

 

It seemed the team couldn’t bear watching Spark struggle anymore, so they miraculously met the tight deadline.

 

Thank you. We will repay this favor with success. Not me, but the Spark guys.

 

And it wasn’t just well-finished work that greeted me with enthusiasm upon my return.

 

[You think you’ll be okay after getting on the bad side of the industry? Arrogant punks like you never make it. That’s your future.]

 

[Aren’t you anxious because of your lack of skills? Hiding behind people who know nothing while you play your little games. How pathetic. Don’t live like that.]

 

[You. You should work hard on your image management. You have no idea how small this industry is… Rumors are already spreading. Do you understand the status of senior artists and directors?]

 

[Remember that there are a lot of eyes watching on the company. Jang Junhoo’s juniors and my acquaintances… Everyone is watching.]

 

Yoo Hansoo sent me a lot of text messages in just two days.

 

The spelling was so bad that it was hard to read. He even sent texts just like Manager Nam. Maybe he’d actually taken a course on texting this way.

 

More importantly, had he always been this dumb?

 

At least when he hit my face, he had the sense to call me to a place without CCTV.

 

It seemed this person had never been accused by someone who had less power than him in his life. Judging by the fact that he’d been leaving such a blatant record that could serve as evidence.

 

To repay him for his shamelessness, I captured and backed up all of Yoo Hansoo’s texts.

 

Apart from this spam message issue, everything else went smoothly.

 

Except for one thing, recording.

 

Since his OJT, Lee Cheonghyeon’s rap skills improved like crazy, and he directed others as strictly as his new, higher standards demanded.

 

‘Iwol hyung, should we just build harmony here once?! I think we’ll do it live too! It’s so exciting!’

 

‘Seongbin hyung, can you try to make your high notes a bit more stable? You can do it!’

 

Aside from vocal genius Park Joowoo, the other four members had to endure Lee Cheonghyeon’s strict feedback during recording.

 

The maknaes, once so close, ended up fighting for three minutes after every line.

 

As the old saying goes, fighting makes you grow. If that were true, these guys should grow to be 190cm tall by the end of this week.

 

That wasn’t all. Now I had to watch the directing with Lee Cheonghyeon, so I had to nitpick the recordings of the Spark members one by one.

 

‘Watching the directing? Me?’

 

‘You already gave feedback to the A&R team during 『Flowering』, right? It’s inefficient to relay things back and forth, so I think it would be better for you, Iwol, to watch the directing yourself and get in sync with the kids.’

 

…That was how it turned out. Thanks to that, I took on the unexpected job of pitch-checker. I also got an overload of new music knowledge.

 

Still, under the leadership of the master of music, Mr. Lee Cheonghyeon, the second song, 『With List』, was perfectly completed.

 

‘Lee Cheonghyeon, when you made a song like that, did you also prepare to dance and perform it live?’

 

‘Of course. Do you think I’d just focus on the vocals without considering the choreography and timing?’

 

Then came Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon’s bloody revenge.

 

It was an intensely productive time. At this point, I was starting to forget if I’d ever been an office worker.

 

I finished going through my phone while drinking the sports drink that Ms. Newri had kindly stocked in the practice room as a thank-you.

 

Now, all I had to do was return it to the manager like usual.

 

Well, that and finish my conversation with Mr. Polo.

 

Hellas Polo sunbaenim

 

[Mr. Iwol]

 

[Is Spark making a comeback??]

 

[Got a message about it last night]

 

Me

 

[Hello, sunbaenim!

 

The detailed schedule hasn’t been set yet,

 

But we’ll be releasing a press statement soon!!]

 

Hellas Polo sunbaenim

 

[Oh]

 

[You’re working hard]

 

[Well, the early days of debut are really crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

 

While my head was thinking, ‘Why did this person contact me?’, my fingers were already sending a message of thanks for the compliments and how honored I was to participate in the radio show last time.

 

As we exchanged a few more messages, Mr. Polo said.

 

Hellas Polo sunbaenim

 

[Are you going to wear a headband next time too?]

 

[If you are, I should prepare myself mentally]

 

As expected of an idol who once hit the top. He didn’t miss a single detail of what made waves.

 

For a guest, appearing on a radio show was a special event, but that was not the case for the main DJ. For them, it was just another day.

 

Naturally, it was not easy to create a buzz just by doing your original job.

 

It seemed he’d seen a meme somewhere titled ‘Getting Swayed by a Handmade Headband on Live Broadcast’.

 

After the recording, he’d even posted on his SNS about how he was ‘enchanted’ into buying a golden headband and putting it on a plushie he’d received as a gift from a fan.

 

I respected that. The idol power that didn’t miss even things like this.

 

Me

 

[I’ll go beyond your expectations!]

 

But no way was I letting him do that.

 

I was not about to let even a tiny bit of media attention get snatched away by an already famous DJ.

 

Then, I quickly got a reply from Mr. Polo.

 

Hellas Polo sunbaenim

 

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

 

[I’ll look forward to itㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

 

[I remember the amazing fashion you wore when you came out on Parthe episode^^]

 

At the same time, I started to think about it a lot.

 

Did I overdo it?

 

Maybe this guy… just wanted to tease me.

 

* * *

 

“Ha.”

 

Baek Haewon, who had just gotten off school, collapsed onto her bed like cheese.

 

“Life is boring.”

 

Baek Haewon sighed.

 

Baek Haewon, who had gone to the study room to study on the weekend, was miserably defeated by sleeplessness and ended up coming home in broad daylight with a white flag.

 

If only someone could bring her something exciting.

 

If only there was someone who could hand her guaranteed, juicy content and tell her the exact minutes and seconds when it got delicious.…

 

Thinking that way, Baek Haewon endlessly refreshed her SNS feed.

 

But no new posts were uploaded.

 

Where had the fan pages gone, the ones that promised they’d share every detail even if the world were ending? The feed was dead silent.

 

Just as Baek Haewon vowed to play for exactly three more minutes before washing up.

 

Right after the twenty-seventh refresh, a post she had never seen before appeared.

 

Upload time 3 seconds ago. The official account of Spark, which she had recently followed after admitting to herself she was a fan, complete with the blue verification badge.

 

‘A content!’

 

Baek Haewon clamped her mouth shut and jumped up like a fish out of water.

 

Even though the members’ personal content had been uploaded regularly until last week, Baek Haewon was always thirsty for new bait. Such was the life of a fan.

 

‘Please let it be a comeback, please be a new song…’

 

Baek Haewon prayed earnestly.

 

If the agency had been just a typical idol agency, she wouldn’t have to worry like this, but since Spark was the company’s first idol, there were a lot of uncertainties.

 

≫ @spArk_official

 

Hey guys, do you see?

 

Along with the caption was a photo taken from the ground, looking up at the sky.

 

Although it was only April, a date for early May was stamped in the corner of the photo.

 

The cryptic caption and the absence of any of the members in the photo left Haewon with one certainty.

 

A content.

 

It was a comeback!

 

UA was giving them a Children’s Day present that even Mom and Dad didn’t bother to give out anymore. With her long-faded childhood innocence resurfacing, Haewon thought with glee.

 

Then, the feeds of Bae Haewon’s friends, who usually claimed they were too old for social media, also started updating.

 

Right. Baek Haewon looked at his predictably excited friends and joined in the frenzy.

 

≫ @minamhunter

 

No, I can’t see anything

 

But I can smell the dirt a little

 

└ When did you get buried?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

└ But it seriously looks like they’re buried alive.

 

“This is life… This is life… … .”

 

Baek Haewon smiled contentedly.

 

When her sibling annoyingly asked when she planned to shower, she retorted, ‘Shut up and go first or do whatever!’ For Baek Haewon, this was a moment that required her full attention.

 

The blessing of new content didn’t end there.

 

≫ @spArk_official

 

Does anyone remember what they said here?

 

The nostalgia in the caption was perfect.

 

She couldn’t quite remember, but somehow she did. Muttering to herself, Haewon checked the image attached to the post.

 

It was an old, crumpled piece of paper with scribbled, multicolored writing in six different colors.

 

The writing was messy, as if it had been scrawled with the left hand, making it hard to decipher immediately.

 

Baek Haewon happily waited for fans who enjoyed interpreting bait to come.

 

And the very next day, the teaser was released.

 

Starting with the thumping sound of drums, an exciting melody with a different feel from the debut song, 『Flowering』, flowed out.

 

In front of a whiteboard that read ‘The Ultimate Playtime Mission!’ stood Jeong Seongbin.

 

The scene then cut to a top-down shot of the members sitting around a meeting table, facing each other.

 

Because of the camera angle, not all the members were captured on one screen, but it soon switched to other frames.

 

The teaser showed the group dancing in front of colorful amusement rides, quickly intercut with shots of each member at home gathering supplies, and then it faded out.

 

When the screen came back on, the members were standing in a line at the entrance of a sprawling amusement park.

 

With solemn expressions, they wore ridiculously flashy headbands that Park Joowoo had picked out.

 

Over this, the title, written in uneven, white crayon-like letters reminiscent of the scrawled teaser post, appeared:

 

『With List』

 

And Baek Haewon, having watched the teaser three times, clapped.

 

100 points for the kids’ visuals.

 

100 points for the cute helium balloons wrapped around their wrists.

 

And a bonus for the catchy melody, sure to get any long-time K-pop fan excited.

 

In total, it was a 300-point teaser on a 100-point scale. Baek Haewon was moved.

 

Even the colleagues of the minam hunter asked, ‘Miheon-nim, do you have enough bullets?’ It was the best compliment, as it implied that the album would be worth the purchase.

 

But Baek Haewon didn’t settle for that.

 

For a die-hard fan, the greatest risk was seeing everything through rose-colored glasses. So, Baek Haewon ventured into an entertainment forum she hadn’t visited in a while.