Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

The position performance ended successfully.

 

It was great to exchange friendly goodbyes with Berion members and return to the waiting room in high spirits.

 

But then, something strange happened—Park Joowoo wouldn’t look me in the eye.

 

“Hyung.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I’m really disappointed….”

 

Suddenly, Park Joowoo surprised me with a shocking statement.

 

Could it be that my vocals didn’t meet the high standards of the world’s greatest maestro, Park Joowoo?

 

Maybe he was already considering switching to a five-member team instead of having to deal with a sub-vocalist like me…

 

“How could you sing New World without including me?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You asked me to start a band with you… I love that song too…”

 

I forgot. This guy’s a rock fanatic.

 

But I felt wronged. This song was just a band song, it didn’t have that much of a rock style.

 

Still, I couldn’t make excuses hastily.

 

Because Park Joowoo’s expression looked genuinely heartbroken…

 

“If only Jeho hyung could be convinced, we’d have our six-member band…”

 

“What about the others?”

 

“I already talked to them. They all agreed….”

 

To think the team’s main vocal was secretly conducting these shady operations behind the scenes. I was stunned.

 

And he even planned to persuade Choi Jeho? Honestly, I had to applaud his nerve.

 

As Park Joowoo made a face like a melted marshmallow, I broke out in a cold sweat trying to console him.

 

A guy like Lee Cheonghyeon would immediately cheer up if I said, ‘Cheonghyeon! Your talent shines as brightly as your face!’  This guy never sulked, which made calming him down all the harder. Oh, my life.

 

Thankfully, Parthe’s Han Gawoon stole Joowoo’s attention with his incredible high note.

 

“Gawoon sunbaenim sings really well.”

 

Jeong Seongbin also expressed his admiration from the side.

 

He didn’t stand out much because he he had been overshadowed by the other Parthe members, but Mr. Han Gawoon was undeniably a main vocalist. And one carefully selected by a large agency.

 

Imagine someone like that given a stage for a talent showcase—of course, he’d shine like a fish in water.

 

The audience seemed to share our sentiment, as Mr. Han Gawoon’s team took first place in the vocal position competition. Berion and I took second place.

 

Choi Jeho’s unit placed third among the dance units. He seemed more relieved that the competition was over than anything else.

 

And Lee Cheonghyeon….

 

“Thanks for believing in me, my members!”

 

…won first place by a landslide.

 

Cheonghyeon, you’re working hard to make up for us useless hyungs. Keep up the good work.

 

***

 

To commemorate the end of the third competition, we decided to watch IDC’s live broadcast together this week.

 

I wanted to tell them to practice instead, but it was Lee Cheonghyeon, who had won first place, who suggested it, so I couldn’t refuse.

 

Besides, this episode was going to feature Spark’s second-round stage.

 

So we all huddled together in the practice room, a laptop perched on a chair.

 

“….Wouldn’t it be better to watch this on TV at the dorm?”

 

“We’re going to practice right after this anyway.”

 

“Then we can just come back. The dorms aren’t that far.”

 

“I’d rather work overtime than commute twice.”

 

I scolded Choi Jeho, who clearly didn’t understand the misery of returning to work after already leaving for the day.

 

“Ack, only 5 minutes left!”

 

“Don’t worry. Even after it starts, there’ll be about seven minutes of commercials.”

 

I calmly soothed Lee Cheonghyeon and focused on the live chat on my burner phone. The speed of new chats appearing was incomparably faster than during the first episode monitoring.

 

“Hyung, there’s zero-calorie cola and ion drinks, which one do you want?”

 

“Me? Water.”

 

“Room temperature water?”

 

“That’d be great.”

 

A little while later, Kang Kiyeon brought me lukewarm water just as the broadcast started.

 

The show alternated between clips of other groups’ planning meetings and their performances that appeared before ours.

 

Watching the footage, the expressions on Spark’s faces grew more peculiar.

 

“….Hyung.”

 

Park Joowoo, who was sipping lukewarm milk next to me, called out.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Doesn’t it feel like we’re going to look really weird on this episode?”

 

“Not just feel—we will look weird. I’d bet our team’s shared drive password on it.”

 

“Hey, that’s really important, how can you bet it so carelessly?”

 

When was our UA cyber safety training again? I should suggest Choi Jeho attend the next session too.

 

“Well, the fact that we even have a shared drive password already disqualifies us as normal.”

 

Kang Kiyeon muttered from a distance. Damn it, you’re getting extra cybersecurity training too.

 

Just as I was about to ask the manager to add Spark to the training list, the fifth performers, Log, finished their stage.

 

≫ Please give lots of love to LOG ♥

 

≫ You guys did so wellㅠㅠㅠ

 

≫ How long has the broadcast been on?

 

≫ Overall stage quality seems better than the 1st competition

 

The chat window was also bustling with activity.

 

At this rate, the viewership ratings would be pretty good. The production crew must be thrilled.

 

“Are we the only ones left now?”

 

“Yes. But the timing is awkward, so it’ll probably be after the commercials, right?”

 

Jeong Seongbin answered, checking the time.

 

It would be nice if the editing cut off at an interesting point, like right before the stage started or during an interview aimed at the rival team.

 

Of all things, why would they insert the commercial break right before the boring idea meeting scene? Everyone would change the channel before the ads even ended.

 

I grumbled inwardly and gulped down the water in my mug.

 

But as they said, things don’t always go the way you want.

 

『Today’s agenda, as previously shared, is ‘Item Planning for IDC’s Second Competition.’ Everyone checked the notice, right?』

 

Following the extremely ordinary scene of Jeong Seongbin leading a standard meeting in formal attire, a cut of the production staff murmuring appeared with the caption ‘Producers murmuring’.

 

≫ ?

 

≫ Manager?

 

≫ What’s an agenda?

 

The chat was full of question marks. Next to me, Jeong Seongbin silently downed his sports drink with a resigned expression.

 

Before I could grasp the situation, the screen switched to a commercial.

 

It was an advertisement featuring the MC Yur sitting in an expensive-looking single-person chair in a luxurious gray studio, wearing stylish headphones.

 

『The best way to listen to good music, Hallenka』

 

MYTH must be rich. That ad placement couldn’t have been cheap.

 

‘Did Spark start doing commercials in their third year?’

 

Choi Jeho and Lee Cheonghyeon occasionally filmed solo commercials, but group commercials came much later. In fact, they went on hiatus for half of the three years before commercials started coming.

 

But since we were currently working steadily without much rest, it wouldn’t be strange for an offer to come in at any time.

 

So now I have to think about commercials too? Just thinking about it gave me a headache.

 

I knew most people would react with something like, ‘A rookie idol getting ad deals? You should be grateful just getting one!’.

 

But that only applied when the commercials were normal.

 

‘Would female fans buy a $200,000 electric razor that doesn’t even come with photocards….’

 

Putting aside whether it suited Spark, shouldn’t they advertise products that consumers would want to buy while thinking of their idol? This damn company had no consideration for the fans.

 

Look at Yur. Good commercial visuals, headphones that a singer’s fans would like to use, and an audio equipment commercial in the middle of a music program. The three elements fit together perfectly.

 

If Spark got an ad offer, I’d reject anything subpar with all my might. For the first time in a while,  I felt a surge of purpose.

 

While contemplating the past, present, and future of Spark’s commercials, the advertisement ended. The screen returned to UA’s meeting room.

 

After that, all sorts of captions appeared.

 

Idols suspiciously well-versed in meeting culture, rising tension, fierce debate, is this an idea meeting or an office drama….

 

Every time a member spoke, the captions provided detailed explanations. Meanwhile, the chat descended into chaos.

 

≫ Guys, are we even speaking the same language?

 

I don’t understand what you’re saying

 

≫ Is Spark filming a skit?

 

≫ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ Why does it feel like I haven’t actually clocked out, even though I have?

 

≫ I have a couple’s journal with Park Joowoo

 

≫ This is a bit;; too much

 

≫ The team leader’s schedule is way too packed

 

≫ The rare social butterfly idol who learns business language when others learn foreign languages

 

≫ I wanted to see you guys film an office drama, not work with you guys in an office

 

People laughing endlessly, those suddenly suffering even after work, and those who thought the staged act was too much were divided into a 2:6:2 ratio and reacted intensely.

 

Oh, there were also comments mentioning me in between.

 

≫ Not just anyone gets into S University

 

≫ The team atmosphere seems goodㅎ Doesn’t seem overly disciplined

 

≫ Iwol, it’s not too late, go to college, you can be an elite

 

≫ A talent stolen from corporate life

 

Rather than the individual Kim Iwol, the focus was on ‘the strange kid who got accepted to S University and then dropped out to become an idol’… but anyway, that would all add to my self-PR score. I’d gratefully accept it.

 

But there was something I didn’t understand.

 

“How else are you supposed to run a meeting?”

 

“What were you doing, hyung, when Parthe and Log’s meeting room scenes were shown?”

 

“I was looking at the chat.”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon sighed at my answer. You can tell they’re bad at planning just by looking at their stages, so why bother watching that?

 

“Alright, I’ll catch it later in the replays.”

 

“It’d be better if you didn’t. I think your blood pressure will just go up if you watch it, hyung.”

 

“Kang Kiyeon’s right. Just keep living your life as is, hyung.”

 

“You guys have completely given up on me, haven’t you?”

 

Despite my comment, Kang Kiyeon and Lee Cheonghyeon didn’t retract their statements.

 

***

 

Baek Haewon’s social media was abuzz with quirky reviews about the idol group.

 

≫ The captionsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

The production team claims they had no involvement in Spark’s meetingㅋㅋ

 

└ Our kids are professional office workers now? What is this nonsense?

 

└ Honestly, even if it were staged, the quality is next-levelㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

└ They were more ‘serious’ than anyone else.

 

≫ Since it’s come to this, let’s just go with an office-themed self-produced content

 

Manager Jeong, gather everyone under your wing!!!

 

└ But it has to be the team next to us, not our team

 

└ Please… don’t let them come to my department…

 

Office self-produced content? Our kids in suits?!

 

The mere thought set Baek Haewon’s heart on fire.

 

‘I believe in you, UA…!’

 

Placing a sliver of hope in UA, who hadn’t disappointed them with their concepts yet, Baek Haewon focused on Spark as they appeared on stage.