Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 420 - Collaboration

The chicken she ordered on her way home arrived right on time. Won Chaehee unboxed the chicken and set it out on the dining table. She even popped open a can of beer, a rare treat.

 

According to the leaked timetable, there should be about an hour to spare. During that time, Won Chaehee started a load of laundry and folded the clothes that had been left on the drying rack to make room for the new load. It was a shame the chicken was getting cold, but she wanted to eat the good stuff while watching Spark.

 

It was unexpected that Spark had been allocated more than 10 minutes. She had hoped their treatment might improve a little, but she didn’t expect this level of preferential treatment.

 

Everyone seemed surprised, but no one attributed it to the agency’s power. Everyone knew UA lacked that kind of influence.

 

Still, if it was Spark, they’d definitely pull something off. And at the very least, their stage wouldn’t be harshly criticized. That was the reason Chaehee could order her chicken with a peaceful mind.

 

‘Was it one collaboration first, then a solo stage much later?’

 

Their order of lineup was fairly late, too. She supposed this was when people used the term ‘Times have really changed’.

 

She had heard that some people lose interest and stop stanning once their flop idols become successful, moving on to find new rookies. Won Chaehee couldn’t say she didn’t understand that feeling. However, she felt it would be hard to relate to that when it came to Spark. It wasn’t every day you got to taste success this thrilling.

 

She also liked that this year they were given fairly decent content, unlike last year, when they had them cover an outdated girl group song. It was a relief that Spark was smart; otherwise, they might have been criticized as an idol group already falling behind the times not long after debut.

 

The lineup for the collaboration stage was well-balanced. A four-member group made only of centers was formed, consisting of Doah from Ond, Heerang from Berion, a center from a new rookie group she didn’t recognize, and Choi Jeho.

 

From the moment this news broke, fans’ expectations skyrocketed. After it was revealed that they would cover a legendary song released over ten years ago, the entire fandom was practically set ablaze.

 

‘The synchronized choreography of that era was truly something else.’

 

They would get to see a cover dance of a song that made history with its flashy group choreography—and performed by a collection of members known for their dancing skills. It would’ve been stranger if the lineup didn’t get a strong reaction.

 

And it wasn’t just the dancing that was worth looking forward to.

 

While Spark was an outlier, most idol groups were put together with a wide spectrum of visuals to satisfy various tastes. If there was a fox-like visual, there’d also be a bunny-like one. A tough-looking member would be paired with a soft, tofu-like counterpart. In other words, the true nature of Choi Jeho, the Boss Monster of the Snowy Mountains who had been pretending to be just another Northern Grand Duke, was about to be fully exposed.

 

≫ Was our Jeho always this scary……?

It’s weird……

Jeho is supposed to be a chubby baby bear…

└ Doah is a much more senior idol, but why is our Jeho…… our Jeho…… he’s definitely not old-looking, but…

└ Heerang is younger? Okay, understandable. But I can’t wrap my head around Doah being older. Sunbaenim, our Jeho didn’t lie about his age, I swear…

 

≫  Sparkler fans are so used to Spark visuals

They think everyone else is just warm, sunshine-type handsome guysㅋㅋㅋ

Our Heerang is the actually  the Cold-Handsome Type in his team ㅋㅋ큐ㅠㅠ

└ Sparklers are always amazingly good at identifying handsome men, but they’re bad at distinguishing the ‘temperature’ㅋㅋ

└ It’s because we live in a freezer……

 

≫ Whaaat?

Mr. Heerang isn’t a Warm-Handsome Type……?

Even with that pure vibe…?

└ Based on photos alone, he’s the epitome of a clean-cut, proper guy ㅋㅋ

└ Isn’t that Berion meme famous? The chaebol who succeeded alone while watching his troublemaking childhood friends grow up unchanged

└ Was that chaebol man Mr. Heerang?

└ The chaebol man turning into a pure female lead overnight…

 

≫ Guys, weren’t we stanning Summer Refreshing Idols?

How did we become The Last 6 Survivors of the Trans-Siberian Railway and their followers?

└ We’ve been brainwashed.

└ I thought it was summer…

 

≫ Choi Jeho’s beauty is lethal

In many sense

└ Doesn’t lethal clearly mean only one sense, no matter how you look at it?

└ Shhh.

└ Seriously, he’s f*cking, f*cking handsome.

└ One Choi Jeho is worth ten lions

 

Choi Jeho’s visuals—where he looked like he’d kill you with his gaze if he kept his mouth shut, and looked like he’d say ‘Die’ if he opened it—were once again in the spotlight. His face and dancing, once hidden by banana leaves, had never ceased to be a hot topic since they were first unearthed.

 

The fact that the other members were friendly toward Spark was also a plus. It was thanks to a gathering of people with no jagged personalities. Round and kind personalities created synergy the more they were together. On top of that…

 

…The revelation of Kim Iwol’s heart-wrenching support turned it into a festival for all four fandoms.

 

Why were other fandoms happy about Kim Iwol supporting Choi Jeho?

 

≫ Doahㅋㅋㅋ He said he got long texts from Iwol-nim every lunch ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Doah became a successful fan before me…… Iwol, send long-form BubblePops to your fans too. You’re already a top-tier filial son, but still.

└ ㅋㅋ The only reason we know he got long texts is because Doah came to BubblePop every time he got one to brag about it ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Iwol tells him to take good care of Jeho, and Doah ends up reporting everything. What Jeho ate, why his shoe sole came off…

└ Doah, stop it. Iwol-nim is going to block you at this rate ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ Holy sh*t

Mr. Ogami in a sleeveless shirt.

└ Mr. Heerang wearing such bold casual clothes for once?

└ Apparently, Iwol gave it to him as a gift ㅠㅠ He said he bought it because he thought it would look good while monitoring Jeho’s practice video.

└ I was wondering who Ogami was; it’s Mr. Heerang’s last nameㅋ First time I’m hearing it ㅋㅋㅋ

└ Hire Kim Iwol as the group’s stylist

└ Mr. Iwol…… the rumor that you make every male dancer wear sleeveless at least once was true. Thank you. You have saved a woman’s life.

 

≫ Didn’t expect this from JH

He doesn’t look like the type, but I guess he takes selfies often.

I feel like there are more selfies of our bias with JH than the ones our official account posted during promotions

└ Apparently it’s a rule in SPK to take a selfie whenever they do something new (new clothes, new menu, new hair, etc.).

└ What kind of rule is that ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ (Photo)

└ Why is this actually real?

└ That line is even written in huge letters

└ The blessing of the Selfie God bestowed upon a rookie junior…… Thank you.

 

‘Because there’s no idol who pours out fan service like Kim Iwol….’

 

Because of Kim Iwol alone, the amount of new content released was impossible to count. While other fandoms were busy picking up the falling photos and stories, the Sparklers were busy vacuuming up anecdotes about Choi Jeho across all three different groups.

 

That long journey was nearing its end. Won Chaehee cracked open her beer as she watched the member introductions for the special unit ‘Four You’. Few drinks went down as smoothly as beer while looking at a TV screen filled with Choi Jeho’s face.

 

Soon, Choi Jeho’s outfit appeared, looking like the word ‘bold’ had been manifested into clothing.

 

There was no need for complex explanations. A deep-cut black velvet shirt, leather pants, and black shoes created an excessive visual effect with a simple composition. A choker made of the same material as the pants was layered with thin silver chains.

 

Previously, they had layered him with see-through inners, and before that, just a jacket over a bare chest. In contrast to the weather getting colder, Choi Jeho’s clothes only became simpler. Only the muscles filling out the fit hinted that he probably wasn’t that cold.

 

With style points already secured, his performance was, needless to say, perfect.

 

≫ Mentor Jeho really went all out in his main job moment

Now I see why he looks at survival show trainees like ‘Why can’t they do this?’

└ He’s a guy who became a mentor, not just a judge, only 2 years after debut ㅋㅋ Say no more

└ Right. In his eyes, the kids who came to dance probably looked like they were just doing nursery rhymes ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ If you just read the subtitles, he sounds really kind. I watched it without sound because I forgot my earphones, and he felt like a kindergarten teacher in the captions

└ He’s not the type to speak harshly or pick fights, but his natural face…… his voice……

└ It was a mid-low tone that was too harsh for the babies

 

≫ Kim Iwol, bring out a sexy concept right now

I still remember you saying you’d consider it once the ink on the youngest members’ IDs was dry.

We can’t let Choi Jeho go to waste like this.

└ I watched MISSION and Under Bar while covering my mouth, but this time I’m covering my phone ;;;;;

└ To think everyone will be an adult next year…… The world must be lying to me

 

≫ Turns out, I like tall, muscular men doing waves

I like it a lot……

└ I thought I liked pure-hearted men until now, but I was wrong. My type was just Choi Jeho.

└ He’s too good-looking to be some firewood-chopping country guy. if he were born like that, he’d have been someone important in the village from birth

 

Fans in their late 20s to mid-30s were particularly enthusiastic. Won Chaehee, who was exactly in that age group, was no different.

 

While the MCs were talking, Won Chaehee searched for ‘Four You’ on MeTube and kept refreshing nonstop. It wasn’t until three hours later that she became enraged because the broadcasting station people didn’t upload the video immediately.

 

* * *

 

During the breaks in between, Won Chaehee moved busily. She put the remaining half of the chicken in the fridge and stir-fried instant rice into the leftover sauce. By the time she returned with her second course, another stage was nearing its end.

 

[……And here is the group that showed a fire-like presence this year!]

 

[Let’s see the stage by Spark!]

 

Spark was mentioned along with introductions of about three other teams. Parthe had already gone by much earlier. It was obvious they had intentionally spaced them as far apart from Spark as possible.

 

She already knew the song list. Since Speaker and Hideout were the most recently released hits, she had expected them even before the list was posted.

 

However…

 

‘What is ‘End + On A High Note’?’

 

It looked like they had mashed the two songs together. Since Lee Cheonghyeon was preparing for the CSAT, joining them together would have been the fastest way to arrange them. Still, knowing his tendency to avoid relying on others for music production, he probably hadn’t handed everything over entirely.

 

After adding cheese to the fried rice and popping it in the microwave once, the familiar orange light was filling the screen. It was the ‘Orange of the Spirit of the People’.

 

With a familiar snare sound, bright lights flooded the stage.