Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 410 - Season’s Greetings (2)

[Hwaro High School Hobby Discovery Club Activity Souvenir]

 

Won Chaehee doubted her own eyes.

 

However, her vision—which had maintained a perfect prescription since last year’s health checkup—did not fail her. Not even the artistic blurring of the preview images could obscure her sight.

 

The desk calendar mockup clearly featured Spark in school uniforms.

 

Every single item came with its own little caption: a desk calendar and photobook for club members, featuring photos from their year-long activities; a diary to organize activity plans; and even Etiquette Cards for commemorative shots, described as a ‘must-have for polite students’.

 

What caught her eye most was the sample page of the desk calendar.

 

On November 3rd, the words ‘My Birthday’ and ‘Jeho, if you just write it like that, how is anyone supposed to know it’s your birthday?’ were scribbled in the handwriting of Choi Jeho and Kim Iwol, respectively.

 

‘They have these kinds of comedy skits for every birthday?’

 

If she didn’t get to see the remaining five pages, Won Chaehee felt like she might turn into a monster consumed by jealousy.

 

She could feel the sincerity even in the diary. Anyone who had ever bought a professional planner would know: this internal layout was strictly designed for actual use.

 

In the club member list, there was a section where the recipient could write their name and choose one ‘Sparkler’. It seemed the empty Honorary Member slot was reserved for the fan.

 

Following the Polaroid set, which was supposedly taken by the members themselves, there was also a notebook said to be perfect for recording activity logs.

 

[Exchange Diary written among Hobby Discovery Club members (6p)]

[To. Honorary Member Rolling Paper (2p)]

 

‘I have to see that exchange diary.’

 

And that was that. Won Chaehee immediately clicked the Add to Cart button.

 

The highlight of physical goods, however, was the photo cards. There were four sets in total: school uniforms, casual clothes, summer vacation, and the theater festival…

 

‘Is the theater festival concept ‘The Words I Want to Say’?’

 

…Preview photos were released, showing a white-haired Kim Iwol smiling while holding a toy crown, and Choi Jeho with a gift ribbon tied around his face with chains.

 

How could she not buy Bluebird Lee Cheonghyeon reading a script? No Sparkler could ignore Park Joowoo smiling while resting his chin on a window frame set, Jeong Seongbin sitting among the jewels that appeared in the music video, or Kang Kiyeon adjusting his toy soldier hat.

 

Name tags and student IDs were standard for a school concept, so she skimmed through them after checking the design. There had been a time when she thought good photos were enough, but too many companies managed to mess up even simple ID cards with plain backgrounds and a few printed lines.

 

The tin case was labeled ‘contents included’. Thinking they might have thrown in some candy, she looked closer and saw photos of paper folded into the shape of notes.

 

[Notes sent to the Honorary Member, written one by one during class]

[Guess who sent which one!]

 

It was designed to make you feel like you were in the same class as them. Apparently, these boys weren’t sticking to their ‘study hard’ concept.

 

They had worked so hard on their group project, but then again, if they were the type to care deeply about their academic records, they probably wouldn’t have joined a ‘Hobby Discovery Club’ in the first place.

 

After that came a certification stamp given by the honorary member upon completing club activities, a deco kit for Polaroids, and then…

 

[Animal’s_pArk Soft Flint Doll]

 

…Dolls based on animal versions of the members appeared.

 

‘They put dolls in the SG?’

 

Won Chaehee hurriedly scrolled down to check the price.  After all, plushies and acrylic goods could cost anything.

 

The set, which included six 5cm-tall, pebble-shaped doll keyrings with unique animal ears or traits, cost 50,000 won. It was on the pricier side for season’s greetings, but only by about 5,000–10,000 won.

 

The dolls weren’t low-quality, either. They fit the ‘Hwaro High School’ and ‘Spark’ concept by using a flint theme, while also incorporating the amusement park character settings from ‘With List’ to give them a mascot-like cuteness.

 

Interestingly, Lee Cheonghyeon’s doll wasn’t an eagle. He had become a fennec fox with wide, pointy ears.

 

She briefly wondered if Kim Iwol, a die-hard Harpy Eagle supporter, had surrendered to production costs, so Won Chaehee searched Fennec Fox on a portal site just in case.

Unsurprisingly, the result she expected popped up.

 

[Selected by foreign media: The #1 Cutest Animal in the World, the Fennec Fox.]

 

So that was why they made the ears so big. Kim Iwol must have worried people might mistake Lee Cheonghyeon for a regular fox instead of a fennec fox. Won Chaehee let out a short laugh when she saw Fennec Fox written in massive letters under Lee Cheonghyeon’s name.

 

Needless to say, Kim Iwol also avoided the disaster of being turned into an octopus doll. After all, if the others were cute chinchillas and foxes, releasing only Kim Iwol as a ‘katsuobushi edition’ would be basically asking for stoning from fans.

 

(TL note: Katsuobushi is a traditional Japanese, smoke-dried, and fermented skipjack tuna (or bonito) product known as “dried bonito flakes” when shaved. It is a foundational ingredient in Japanese cuisine, used to create umami-rich dashi broth and as a topping for dishes like takoyaki and okonomiyaki.)

 

≫ More than anything, the dolls are so damn peak

They could’ve sold the full set for 40,000 won and people would still think it’s worth it

└ That’s exactly how otaku spending logic works ㅋㅋㅋㅠㅠ

 

≫ Plushies are expensive individually, but with simplified designs and mass production, you won’t lose profit

After seeing so many weird-looking plushies, this cuteness is already making me excited

└ Why does Jeho’s bear have only one yellow ear?

└ They say it’s honey

└ Please

└ Just how deep did he dip himself into the honey pot?

 

≫ The amusement park mascots in that universe are so cute

Give South Korea an amusement park where the mascots are a cat, a bear, a crow-tit, a chinchilla, a fennec fox, and a baby wildcat

└ The dance line animals look terrifying

 

Although the animals were different from the symbols used since last year’s fan meeting, most Sparklers welcomed them. Anyone would rather have a teddy bear or a fennec fox doll than an anaconda or a harpy eagle doll.

 

‘The headbands they’re wearing in the May photos must be these animal headbands too.’

 

Won Chaehee stared intensely at the blurred screen. She felt she recognized the identity of the fluffy things perched on the members’ colorful hair.

 

She scanned the detailed page from the top once more. Perhaps because it was her second time, she could see the overall flow she had missed while rushing through.

 

The notebook styled as a group project report, the group photo wearing matching headbands at the amusement park, and the concept photocards of them preparing for the theater festival.

 

‘Did they prepare for two years just to release one SG?’

 

She couldn’t believe it.

 

The final component, a large poster, featured Spark standing side-by-side in front of an old gym storage room door.

 

[Hobby Discovery Club]

[(Secret Hideout)]

 

The hand-written paper stuck above the members’ heads tugged at her heartstrings.

 

You guys… if you keep going like this, you’re really going to end up as top-tier idols…!

 

* * *

 

“The reaction to the SG is incredible. Did you guys see it?”

 

Jukyung asked. Jeong Seongbin and I nodded.

 

≫ Where can we see Mission Spark doing job experiences

 

≫ It was worth praying every day for a Happy Ending.

To think I’d live to see ‘Water Play Spark.’

I’m sorry, Earth. Thank you for forgiving humanity.

 

≫ Their timing is artistic

There isn’t a single place where they don’t appear. It’s just a digital single, but they’re doing all the music shows, a SG, and even a concert.

└ We’ve always struck even if the iron is not hot

└ Opportunity is not something to wait for, but something to seize.

 

There was no way we wouldn’t see it. After all, the more praise you hear, the more exciting it gets, right? No one could put their phones down.

 

“It’s thanks to the support from the company. Thank you.”

 

“Don’t act coy with me; you were the one in the meeting room saying you knew exactly how much margin we’d have left even with this quality.”

 

“Haha, but there really is a profit margin!”

 

“I never showed you the unit cost sheet. How did you know?”

 

Because I used to make those cost sheets. And I studied market prices and margin rates for four years. My only regret was that instead of picking an expensive vendor and draining Manager Nam’s budget, my conscience pricked me, and I went through the trouble of finding the optimal price range.

 

“What about Cheonghyeon? Is his CSAT prep going well?”

 

Jukyung’s voice became cautious.

 

With only two weeks left until the CSAT, we had excluded Lee Cheonghyeon from all work except official activities. He was using the studio like a library, immersing himself in last-minute cramming.

 

One regrettable thing was that Kang Kiyeon had given up on taking the CSAT. After our appearance on Thursday’s music show was confirmed, Kang Kiyeon willingly decided not to take the exam, arguing that the team couldn’t afford to have two members missing.

 

[Kiyeon]

[I’m sorry, Sparklers.]

[I wanted to be the ‘base’ for you…] 

 

That Bubble message after his decision was something else. I could still picture his disappointed face when he realized non-test-takers didn’t affect grade cutoffs.

 

“It would have been better if he had more time. It’s a shame we couldn’t help him prepare earlier.”

 

I wanted to say he was working deathly hard, but I held back. There was no point in raising people’s expectations; it wouldn’t do Lee Cheonghyeon any favors. The only things that mattered to a test-taker were the allowance and chocolates they got after the exam, and the exam slip that guaranteed nationwide discounts.

 

“You said you were going to make a lunch box. What’s the plan?”

 

“I’m going to prepare it in advance, keep it in the rice cooker, and then just pack it in the early morning. We have to leave earlier than Cheonghyeon anyway.”

 

“What’s on the menu? Inari sushi again?”

 

“I’m thinking of making it a tradition.”

 

“Wait, isn’t he the last person in the group to take the CSAT?”

 

I almost joked that I might take it one day, but I stopped myself. You don’t mention ‘retaking exam’ in a house with a test-taker; it’d bring bad luck.

 

Even after finishing the talk about equipment rentals, there was much to discuss. Jeong Seongbin took the lead in discussing most of the activity schedules for this week and next. I just sat there and listened. Feeling a bit like a freeloader, I busily took the meeting minutes next to him.

 

“…That should cover the concert-related items. Any additional opinions? Or anything from within the team?”

 

“Joowoo is really looking forward to the sound equipment. He’s been watching concert videos of senior artists all by himself.”

 

Jeong Seongbin mentioned Park Joowoo, who watched videos on his phone every chance he got.

 

“Actually, we’ve decided to mobilize the entire sound team. There won’t be any sound issues. I can guarantee that!”

 

“What about the on-site safety inspections?”

 

“We’ve selected a firm and signed the contract. Separate from the personnel management for entry and exit, we’ll conduct set inspections before rehearsals and the concert.”

 

At broadcasting stations, a mere idol couldn’t request a safety inspection, so we had to keep our eyes wide open every time we did a music show. Even if they hired a firm, I planned to follow them to every inspection site.

 

“You guys just focus on practicing. Got it?”

 

Jukyung’s words put my mind at ease.