Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 411 - Side Story. A Certain December 29th

How many people in the world are born on the same day as their bias?

 

Kang Kiyeon would remind himself every birthday that he had seized the 1-in-365 kind of luck. If it weren’t for his bias, he would never have known that the birthstone of December 29th was faustite, nor that it symbolized rebirth and vitality.

 

Kang Kiyeon’s birthday was also his parents’ fifth wedding anniversary. His father still told stories about how he had wondered what kind of amazing child was taking so long to arrive, only for a newborn to appear with eyes that already showed an extraordinary spark.

 

Miraculous things seemed to happen every year on his birthday at the Kang household. At his first birthday, Kang Kiyeon tried to grab a fistful of raw rice and shove it into his mouth. By his second, he was crushing sorghum red bean rice cakes in both hands. At the age of three, he dyed the wallpaper blue with toddler crayons.

 

Kang Kiyeon vaguely remembered the day he first said he wanted to dance. He had just started elementary school, and though he couldn’t remember what he had been trying to mimic, his pants were covered in dirt.

 

‘They say dancing costs a lot of money, so I need to get permission.’

 

Little Kiyeon had walked into a dance academy by himself and even brought home a flyer. Looking back, he wondered how bewildered the teacher must have been.

 

What did his mother think when her son handed her a flyer from an academy that was a thirty-minute walk past his school? He had never asked, but he remembered the look of surprise on her face.

 

For the next few days, he went around with his father to watch all kinds of dancing. For performances he was too young to attend in person, he watched through videos instead.

 

‘Out of everything we’ve seen so far, what do you like the most?’

 

Kang Kiyeon chose Korean traditional dance. In fact, the very first place he had visited was a traditional dance academy. Back then, he simply liked the graceful, flowing lines of the dance.

 

As always, his parents chose the path that would leave him with the happiest memories.

 

‘If it’s something you want to do, then you should do it.’

 

His mother, who had pursued a career as an athlete despite opposition from her own family, fully supported Kang Kiyeon’s determination. Thanks to her, Kang Kiyeon was able to dance without a heavy heart. He only realized how rare that was after making friends in the dance world. Kiyeon was the only child at the academy who never had to hear the words, ‘Our family invested everything in you’.

 

Perhaps that was why Kang Kiyeon quite often felt that he had grown up well-loved. He was driven by a sense of responsibility rather than pressure or expectations. With the single-minded desire to repay the trust placed in him and the determination to do his best in what he loved, he devoted years to dance.

 

If he had never known Choi Jeho, Kang Kiyeon would likely still be there.

 

‘You really never know where life will take you.’

 

Kang Kiyeon thought this as he stared intently at the door of the room where Choi Jeho was likely sleeping—the very cause of his unexpected career change.

 

It all started with a video someone brought him. To Kang Kiyeon, whose only experience with street dancers was a brief glimpse as a child, the short clip evoked a sense of nostalgia and novelty at the same time.

 

‘Don’t his knees give out doing that?’

 

‘It looks like he’s going to get scraped against the floor.’

 

After scrolling down a bit, he found the comments section. The atmosphere was vastly different from the comments on his own competition videos.

 

≫ The future of Korean dance is bright. This is beautiful.

≫ I feel overwhelmed every time I see our traditions being carried on~~ Great performance~~

 

If the comments Kiyeon usually saw on MeTube were like that, the comments on the shocking dance video were…

 

≫ This is f*cking insane

≫ It’s so petty how he just stares into space during everyone else’s turn and only shows up for his own part then leaves ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ The lion does not concern himself with lowly things

└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

≫ If a middle schooler has this physique, that’s basically cheating ㅋㅋㅋ

≫ F*cking handsome b*stards should be legally banned from dancing well too. We need to regulate this ecosystem disruptor

 

…They were as aggressive as the man’s dancing.

 

≫ What agency is he with?

└ I heard he’s an idol trainee.

└ Why bury his own talent like that?

 

Kang Kiyeon should never have seen that last comment.

 

“What are you staring at so intensely?”

 

“Ack!”

 

Startled, he turned around to see Kim Iwol standing there.

 

“…You’re awake?”

 

It was a time when everyone should still be sleeping. Despite the early hour, Kim Iwol was wide awake.

 

“I heard something outside the door.”

 

Kim Iwol pointed toward the entrance.

 

“I’m sorry. It’s my delivery.”

 

“Did you wake up early to organize your packages?”

 

“Yes, it’s food, so…”

 

Kang Kiyeon headed to the door, saying he would clean it up quickly. Kim Iwol followed behind him.

 

“I’ll help.”

 

“No, it’s not much.”

 

Kang Kiyeon waved him off and opened the door. A massive tower of Styrofoam ice boxes greeted him.

 

“Were you that hungry?”

 

Kim Iwol asked gently. Kang Kiyeon felt the back of his neck grow hot.

 

“No, this is… from my mom.”

 

“Ah.”

 

As Kang Kiyeon tried to rush out, Kim Iwol said:

 

“She must have sent it because it’s your birthday.”

 

“How did you know?”

 

“A birthday is an important day. Move aside. Let’s move the boxes inside first.”

 

Kim Iwol rolled up his sleeves. Kim Iwol had a habit of never letting the members—especially the younger ones—carry anything heavy.

 

Despite Kang Kiyeon’s protests, Kim Iwol carried two boxes to the kitchen by himself. While Kim Iwol was occupied, Kang Kiyeon managed to grab one box, but he was caught in the living room and had the box confiscated. In the end, Kang Kiyeon could only open the tape and put the side dishes into the refrigerator.

 

As they organized the food, the two shared a light conversation. Kim Iwol asked if his mother always sent things on his birthday and if he didn’t need to go out for a meal with his family.

 

“I have practice, and they both get off work late.”

 

“I see.”

 

“I sent them a text as soon as I woke up.”

 

“Good.”

 

If he made a lot of money, maybe his mom and dad could quit working and rest. Knowing they had to work twice as hard as others to raise a child in the arts, the current Kang Kiyeon ran forward with his eyes fixed on one goal.

 

“Do they like it when you contact them?”

 

Kim Iwol asked as he opened a container to check the contents.

 

Kang Kiyeon hesitated before answering. It crossed his mind that Kim Iwol had never once contacted his own family.

 

“It’s just saying hi. It’s normal.”

 

Pretending it was nothing, Kang Kiyeon stole a glance at Kim Iwol. Kim Iwol’s expression was no different from usual.

 

“Still, we should send them a proof shot.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I’ll set the breakfast table with the side dishes they sent. For the seaweed soup… we can just heat this up.”

 

Kim Iwol pulled out a large container from the very bottom of the box. It contained seaweed soup that had been double and triple-wrapped to prevent leaking.

 

Behind Kang Kiyeon, the rice cooker alarm went off. The smell of freshly cooked rice and steam filled the kitchen.

 

“Was the part about waking up because of the delivery noise a lie?”

 

“Half of it was true. I was lying down after pressing the cook button.”

 

He had heard from Lee Cheonghyeon that sometimes Kim Iwol would lie in bed with his eyes wide open when everyone else was asleep. Lee Cheonghyeon called it his ‘thinking time’, noting that if you talked to him at this time, his answers would always be a beat late.

 

But the important thing was that Kim Iwol had already cooked the rice. Kang Kiyeon rushed to the stove. As expected, a large pot was already out.

 

“Hyung, what time do you even wake up?”

 

“It depends on the day. Can you take out one more pot? Since it’s your birthday, you should eat the one your mother made.”

 

Even though he had woken up at the crack of dawn to make rice and soup, Kim Iwol didn’t show it at all. Kang Kiyeon snatched the container of soup from Kim Iwol’s hand. Then, he took out a small pot and poured out exactly one serving.

 

“Saving it for later?”

 

“I’m not that stingy.”

 

Kim Iwol quietly watched Kiyeon take out seven soup bowls. After setting the spoons and chopsticks on the table in pairs, Kang Kiyeon took out the ladle. He poured Kim Iwol’s soup into six bowls and his mother’s soup into the remaining one. Out of the seven bowls, two were placed at Kiyeon’s spot.

 

“I’ll just eat both. Soup doesn’t fill you up that much anyway.”

 

“You don’t have to do that.”

 

“I just really like seaweed soup.”

 

Kang Kiyeon made a clumsy excuse. Instead of pressing further, Kim Iwol opened the rice cooker.

 

“This year is ending in a few days. How do you feel?”

 

“I don’t know. I was worried about high school being different, but with debut prep, school just flew by.”

 

“Does the whole class change every new semester even at an arts high school?”

 

“It depends on the number of students in the major. For dance, it’s mostly the same people. I like that I don’t have to worry about the environment changing anymore.”

 

“That’s good.”

 

Even though he had only graduated high school earlier this year, Kim Iwol possessed a strange air of experience. He seemed to be reminiscing about a school life from a very long time ago.

 

“Was it hard to switch to being a trainee after graduating from a general high school?”

 

Kang Kiyeon asked, pretending to be as casual as possible. While he had just switched from one type of dance to another, Kim Iwol had climbed over a much larger wall. He felt that making such a decision couldn’t have been easy.

 

“Sometimes things in life flow regardless of my own determination.”

 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

 

“It means I just accepted it as fate.”

 

Kim Iwol laughed playfully. As he took out the side dishes, it sounded like he murmured, ‘Tell me about it’.

 

“Why do you give me so much rice?”

 

“So you can eat a lot and grow a lot.”

 

“Ha…”

 

He couldn’t help but sigh at the overflowing affection. Kim Iwol, who was chuckling, suddenly went into his room as if struck by lightning and came out with the phone.

 

“Hurry and take a photo. So you can send it to your mother.”

 

“A photo?”

 

He had never sent his mother photos of side dishes before. Usually, he—and even Jeong Seongbin—would just call to say they ate well.

 

“Nothing is as reassuring as seeing it with your own eyes.”

 

Kim Iwol handed over the phone with the camera on. While Kang Kiyeon took a few photos of the full table, Kim Iwol went around to wake up the other members.

 

Kang Kiyeon stared down at the photo he had taken. A strange feeling washed over him as he looked at the large table covered in various side dishes, the rice bowl filled to the brim, and the two bowls of soup.

 

“Hyung, can I send the photo first before we eat?”

 

Kang Kiyeon asked Iwol, who was behind a bedroom door. Kim Iwol told him to do as he pleased.

 

Kang Kiyeon was the type to contact his family often. So, he didn’t think his mom or dad would be particularly moved by a single photo.

 

[Mom]

– You’re eating well.

– Seeing this makes me feel relieved. ㅎ

 

[Dad]

– Even if you eat two bowls of seaweed soup, you won’t turn two years older~

– Age slowly, my son~

– If you grow up too fast, Dad will feel lonely.

 

But it seemed he didn’t know everything about them after all.

 

Kang Kiyeon sent a very long text. He filled the message window with words of gratitude for giving birth to him and raising him, and a promise to eat well.

 

Reading the reply that came five minutes later—saying it took a while to read because Dad had the font size on his phone set to large—Kang Kiyeon admitted it. At least for today, there was no one in the world more loved than him.