Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 441 - Reappearance (1)

The next day, Park Joowoo and I left the dorm early. For this trip to Daejeon, Manager Daeyeon came along with us.

 

‘It’s not even an official schedule. We’ll be fine on our own.’

 

‘Safety must always come first. You know that, right, Mr. Iwol?’

 

And so, unable to refuse, we ended up hitching a ride in the car driven by the manager.

Everything was fine. Really, everything was fine, but…

 

‘Why the hell did Choi Jeho tag along?’

 

Park Joowoo, who was supposed to meet me secretly at the entrance at dawn, showed up dragging Choi Jeho along without warning. For someone who claimed to have come out without knowing anything, Choi Jeho looked remarkably well-groomed.

 

Regardless, Park Joowoo’s wishes were the priority. When I asked if it was really okay for the three of us to go, Park Joowoo readily agreed. Thus, Choi Jeho, who joined us that morning, sat next to me, busy happily munching on puffed rice snacks.

 

“What? You want some?”

 

When our eyes met, Choi Jeho pulled out a piece of puffed rice and held it out.

 

“I’m good.”

 

“Suit yourself.”

 

Choi Jeho retracted the snack and popped it into his own mouth. I couldn’t exactly snap at him, so I just held back.

 

“Just be careful not to spill crumbs on Joowoo.”

 

At my words, Choi Jeho glanced at Park Joowoo, who was sandwiched between us.

 

For once, Park Joowoo hadn’t taken the passenger seat. He insisted on sitting in the back. Since he had seemed incredibly restless, I asked him what he wanted, and that was how we ended up in this seating arrangement.

 

“Did he take his motion sickness medicine?”

 

“He said he didn’t want to today.”

 

Having boarded a long-distance vehicle without medicine, Park Joowoo fell asleep within five minutes as if he’d passed out. Since he had been busy with the final broadcast and a commemorative live stream until the previous day, it was only natural for him to be exhausted. When I tried to coax him with some roasted potatoes bought at a rest stop, he struggled to open his eyes and managed to eat just two.

 

“Hyung, just how many rice cake skewers did you buy…?”

 

“He’ll probably spend three hours on the stair climber later. Just leave him be.”

 

Despite the criticism, Choi Jeho didn’t care and deftly finished off his so-tteok so-tteok. It was a speed you wouldn’t expect from someone who had just emptied a bag of puffed rice.

 

The car started again after even the manager finished his fish cake bar.

 

“Do you feel nauseous?”

 

“Maybe because I slept… I’m okay.”

 

“If your stomach feels bad, drink some ionic water. Kim Iwol bought it.”

 

Choi Jeho shoved a plastic bottle into Park Joowoo’s hands.

 

“Let’s air out the car once, though. Smelling food for too long makes motion sickness worse.”

 

I opened the window on my side. Choi Jeho rolled down his window as well. A crosswind blew through. Park Joowoo’s hair became a total mess.

 

“How is it?”

 

The air cooled down instantly. Park Joowoo stared blankly and said nothing. Though he’d only been hit by a bit of spring breeze, his face had already turned red.

 

***

 

The charnel house we visited in the early morning was quiet. We were the only visitors. The sound of shoe heels clicking against marble echoed through the hall.

 

Park Joowoo asked the staff for directions and found the alcove. Upon arriving at the wall filled with vaults, he moved while comparing the text on his phone screen to the inscriptions on the vaults one by one.

 

Park Joowoo said he had never been here before.

 

‘Until I finished elementary school… only my aunt and uncle came. They were afraid I’d be traumatized.’

 

They probably couldn’t bring themselves to bring along a nephew whose wounds hadn’t yet healed. 

 

I heard that even when Park Joowoo asked for the location recently, his aunt worried a lot about whether it was okay to tell him. Seeing him on Genre-Switch must have increased her concern. Park Joowoo mentioned with a smile that she finally gave him the address and location when he told her he was going with his members.

 

‘Once I grew up, I just didn’t come. I didn’t know… what I was supposed to do once I got here.’

 

The day the competition ended, Park Joowoo gathered the members and explained everything.

 

I still hear hallucinations. My obsession with the color white or cleaning is a mental issue of mine; it’s not because I think you guys are dirty.

 

Behind each of his actions was a wound. Park Joowoo said he wanted to stitch them up, even if it took time. The reason he hadn’t been able to visit his family was likely because so many of those wounds were holding him back.

 

Park Joowoo, who was leading the way, stopped at a certain point. Then, he slowly knelt down. At his eye level, there were two urns.

 

“Wow.”

 

Park Joowoo placed his hand on the glass door. Small photos were displayed inside.

 

“My mom looks so young…”

 

As if patting someone’s head, he gently stroked the photo through the glass.

 

“He looks more like an older brother than a dad. In a few years… he’d feel like a friend.”

 

Park Joowoo stayed like that for a long time, showing no intention of calling a staff member to place the flowers he brought inside.

 

Choi Jeho and I stepped outside to give him some time alone. The weather was beautiful. As we sat down on a bench, silence settled between us.

 

“Did you know we were coming here?”

 

“Of course I did. Why else would I come?”

 

Choi Jeho snapped back. Then, as if reconsidering, he corrected himself.

 

“I knew, so I came.”

 

“What?”

 

The nuance had shifted slightly. It gave the impression that he hadn’t just followed along, but had come because this was a place he should be.

 

“I heard the gist of it last night.”

 

“…Ah.”

 

“I didn’t think it was right to just tell him to ‘have a good trip’ and stay behind.”

 

Coi Jeho added while looking at the well-kept landscaping. His words reminded me of the past Choi Jeho, whose attitude was so different it was hard to believe it was the same person.

 

‘Anyone would be pissed off if they were suddenly told to get lost. Isn’t it natural for the atmosphere to fall apart?’

 

“Your personality has changed a lot.”

 

“Maybe.”

 

Choi Jeho leaned back against the bench. Seeing as Park Joowoo used to view Choi Jeho as an older figure he wanted to rely on in the past, perhaps to Park Joowoo, Choi Jeho had been a decent hyung then and now.

 

“…You were here?”

 

Park Joowoo’s voice came from behind us. He was holding his phone, probably having searched for us. Choi Jeho let out an ‘Ah’. So you didn’t pick up the call, you bastard.

 

“Did you greet them properly?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Good job.”

 

I brushed myself off and got up. We walked down to the parking lot with Park Joowoo between us.

 

“Let’s all come together next time.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

“Today it was just me and Choi Jeho who came to visit them with you.”

 

As if he hadn’t considered the whole group coming, Park Joowoo vaguely avoided my gaze. He probably felt sorry to suggest bringing the younger members too. Same for his friend, Jeong Seongbin. Asking Lee Cheonghyeon to arrange a memorial song would’ve been even harder.

 

“If the others are okay with it…”

 

“They will be. And when you’re ready too. If you don’t feel up to it, you can just drag me or Jeho along.”

 

“Can I really do that?”

 

“Of course. Look at my shoulders and his. You could lean on us and sleep for two hours—we’d hold up just fine, so just tell us anytime.”

 

“I’m not going to sleep next time…!”

 

Feeling embarrassed after sleeping so much, Park Joowoo rattled off excuses. Despite saying that, the kid slept soundly the entire way back. It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t help but chuckle while covering him with a blanket.

 

***

 

We had overcome a harsh ordeal, but the aftereffects of the storm remained. Since so much had happened, the fans, the company, and above all, the Spark members themselves needed a change of pace.

 

However, Spark taking a vacation wouldn’t help shift the atmosphere within the fandom. Even if we increased our own content, the lack of planning time would likely lead to low-quality criticism, making it worse than doing nothing.

 

Given the situation, variety show appearances became essential. Not a static interview or documentary-style show, but something funny. And for Spark, there happened to be a perfect opportunity to lift the spirits of their tired fans.

 

“An offer came from ‘Unmanned Rest Area’?”

 

The show that had contributed significantly to Spark’s public recognition was sending a love call to UA once again.

 

Although the deserted island setting was harsh, the show itself wasn’t extremely demanding. Unmanned Rest Area wasn’t a show that required heavy labor or extreme energy consumption.

 

The weather was good, too. By late March, the scheduled filming date, it wouldn’t be too cold or too hot in Korea or at the filming location. Considering how successful the previous appearance had been, it was a great opportunity.

 

The problem was that the production team had a condition.

 

“They said they really want Jeho and Kiyeon to come, plus one more member.”

 

The Sandpaper Duo had become mandatory participants. Right, considering each clip of those two pulled in over 5 million views, the staff must have wanted to taste that glory again….

 

Thanks to that, the group’s image was in great peril. Just when they had managed to refine it into the Epitome of Elegance, it looked like it might revert to a tropical primitive forest. It felt as if the sky was falling.

 

“I don’t mind going again.”

 

“I’m down for it too.”

 

Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon spoke without a care in the world.

 

You two going isn’t the problem. The real issue is who has to go with you. Someone had to be sandwiched between these… atrocious blockheads.

 

Part of me wanted to go. To be precise, I couldn’t send the others off while I was in my right mind. I didn’t want to go through the helpless experience of watching them turn the show into a prehistoric spectacle on TV again.

 

However, my volunteer effort was flatly rejected this time too. To be fair, I had expected it. Who would send a person who was coughing up blood and had internal bleeding not long ago on a shoot that required a long-distance flight?

 

If I’d known things would turn out like this, I would have managed my health more strictly. I was starting to understand the ‘#RegretfulMaleLead’ tag I saw on web novel platforms.

 

‘But sending someone else….’

 

Lee Cheonghyeon had to be excluded. His schedule was already packed.

 

Jeong Seongbin was slightly better off, but not by much. Being the leader of an idol group meant there were far more things to take care of than what appeared on the surface. Knowing Jeong Seongbin’s personality, he’d want to be responsible for communication with the company even from a deserted island, so I didn’t want to increase his workload.

 

And Park Joowoo was absolutely out of the question.

 

Just as I was about to negotiate again by offering to undergo a full medical checkup…

 

“Can I go…?”

 

…Park Joowoo volunteered for the shoot that included flying, bugs, and sleeping outdoors as a package.