Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 449 - Sharing Recent News (1)

The day of departure was perfect in every way. The weather was clear, our conditions were refreshed, the lineup was reassuring, and the destination was a place where no unexpected incidents could occur. Even if Choi Jeho roamed around in #FF6600 pants, who would even notice?

 

Because of that, I didn’t even nag them while they were packing. I only packed my own clothes… well, I did tell them to pack sunscreen and skincare products. Still, I didn’t run around the place yelling at the top of my lungs like before.

 

“You didn’t pack a towel today?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon asked with a puzzled expression when he saw my backpack. Usually my bag was stuffed to the point of bursting, so he seemed surprised this time. Meanwhile, he himself had brought a whole suitcase—who knew how much he packed.

 

“I just packed a few changes of clothes and essentials.”

 

“That’s rare. You’re always worrying about getting splashed with water.”

 

“I figured that wouldn’t happen this time.”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon let out a smirk as if something were funny and then walked away. Having filmed a pictorial all day, he climbed into the furthest corner of the van and pulled an eye mask over his face, saying he needed to recharge to play later tonight.

 

“Park Joowoo, are you sure it’s okay for all of us to go?”

 

Choi Jeho asked as he looked around the packed van. I was a bit worried, too. The apartment was spacious, but Spark as a group took up a significant amount of volume.

 

“It’s fine. If there’s no room, I’ll sleep on the veranda….”

 

“Shouldn’t you be putting us on the veranda instead?”

 

“How could I do that to guests…?”

 

While we chattered seriously, the car sped along and eventually passed the tollgate. Manager Daeyeon, who dropped us off, set out on a long journey again to have grilled clams for dinner.

 

“Joo!”

 

“Noona…!”

 

A warm, affectionate reunion followed, and we gave a gift to Park Joowo’s aunt, whom we were seeing for the first time since the concert, thanking her for inviting us.

 

“My goodness, what do you even eat to grow taller every time I see you?”

 

“I didn’t grow anymore, hyung!”

 

Heo Sihoo marveled as he looked at Lee Cheonghyeon. Seeing as my ‘radar’ wasn’t going off, even if he did grow, the centimeter digit probably hasn’t changed yet.

 

“I saw the April Fool’s broadcast! You all looked great!”

 

Park Joowoo’s sister showered us with compliments and handed Kang Kiyeon a pile of Kingdom Cafeteria merchandise.

 

“They aren’t ‘Another’ goods, they’re from the original series, but I have two of each!”

 

“I don’t know why you always buy two or three of the exact same thing.”

 

“Mom. How many times do I have to tell you that buying two—one for use and one for display—is the basic rule for merch?”

 

Park Joowoo started to say something beside them but stopped. Judging by the state of the merch, which hadn’t even been unwrapped, I suspect he was going to say something like, ‘But you’ve never used the ‘use’ version either’. Kang Kiyeon carefully tucked the gift into his bag.

 

For lunch, we all made sandwiches together. They were simple ham and egg sandwiches that Park Joowoo had apparently eaten often since childhood. There were no strong ingredients like onions, and they didn’t even put ketchup and mayonnaise together.

 

‘She must have adjusted them to Park Joowoo’s palate.’

 

Sliced ham that had been blanched to remove grease and salt, thinly spread low-sugar strawberry jam, and milk bread. Every single ingredient was as soft and non-stimulating as possible. Of course, that would change if someone like Choi Jeho piled on jam by the spoonful and stacked ham and cheese on top.

 

Suddenly, I remembered the time we made sandwiches at the daycare center. Was that right after IDC Season 1 ended?

 

Compared to back then, these guys had really grown—both physically and in ways you couldn’t see. Moreover, they had all become adults.

 

‘Time really flies.’

 

How many KPIs have we cleared since then? And how many minor missions?

 

And, setting all that aside….

 

“Jeho hyung, there is seriously no soul in your sandwich.”

 

“What do you even have to do to give a sandwich a soul?”

 

…The time I had spent with these guys was about to surpass the time I spent stanning them through a screen. What a twist of fate.

 

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

 

Jeong Seongbin held out a sandwich from beside me. Biting into the bread, I gave a vague answer that it was nothing.

 

***

 

After the meal, under Heo Sihoo’s lead, we all went to a PC Room. We divided into teams centered around the experienced gamers, Jeong Seongbin and Kang Kiyeon.

 

“I’m nervous about Seongbin hyung….”

 

Sensing the aura of a powerhouse, Kang Kiyeon requested that Heo Sihoo coach him as a courtesy. Jeong Seongbin readily agreed.

 

After some crash-course training, Spark sat with their backs to each other for the first time since debut. A civil war broke out in the vast cyber world.

 

The result was disastrous.

 

“Seongbin hyung, you’re using a smurf account, aren’t you!”

 

“How did you know?”

 

“Who wouldn’t know! That’s foul! You should have matched the tiers!”

 

“The conditions weren’t exactly right for tier-matching.”

 

According to Kang Kiyeon, Jeong Seongbin was an incredible player. Seeing as Heo Sihoo, who was giving live-commentary as he moved between us, said the same thing, the defeated Kiyeon wasn’t just making a groundless claim.

 

“Hyung, you’re always in the practice room, when did you even find time to play games?”

 

“I mostly played before I became a trainee. After joining the company, I did it occasionally with Jeong Seongjun when I went home.”

 

“Wow… how did your skills not rust?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon, a member who knew a bit about gaming, marveled. Choi Jeho and I, not understanding a thing, just spent our time lying prone in the grass or spinning in circles on the spot.

 

Jeong Seongbin’s outstanding skills weren’t limited to just one game. Whether it was a racing game or a game about popping water balloons, Jeong Seongbin dominated every time.

 

“Choi Jeho, your character is throwing up.”

 

In team matches, the losing characters started spewing streams of water from their eyes and mouths. Characters these days sure were expressive in their sorrow. It was a bit pitiful.

 

“Hyung, take off your items.”

 

“No. These are symbols of my glory.”

 

“Limited edition items are a cheat!”

 

“In the martial world, there may be honor, but no master willingly gives up their internal energy, Kiyeon.”

 

Despite saying that, Jeong Seongbin readily removed his golden shoulder pads and the weird-looking pony car. Heo Sihoo explained that the more bizarre the design, the better the item. If the real world worked like that, Cyborg Spark would have won the Grand Prize that year. I couldn’t tell if reality was good or bad.

 

“At least Joowoo did really well.”

 

“True, Joowoo hyung was a surprise.”

 

“That’s because I trained him.”

 

At Heo Sihoo’s words, Park Joowoo smiled like a shy child. It wasn’t for nothing that Park Joowoo was good at finding items in the bushes, had top-tier cornering skills, and managed to survive on his own even when trapped in a water balloon. It seems Heo Sihoo taught his younger brother quite a lot.

 

After the PC room experience, we split into pairs according to our preferences. Lee Cheonghyeon went with the local, Park Joowoo, to a bakery to finally buy bread he’d missed out on last time, while Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon headed to the riverside for a run.

 

I was more than willing to accompany them to the bakery, but….

 

‘You’re going there…? Reduce the numbers.’

 

‘Is it that bad?’

 

‘You have to go compact. Don’t even dream of filming a video there. If you have to leave a review, film it when you get home. Joowoo, you know what I’m talking about, right?’

 

‘Yeah….’

 

…Since Heo Sihoo gave advice with such a serious face, I decided to follow it. Those guys took a taxi, saying they would go to a branch with as few people as possible.

 

As for what Jeong Seongbin and I decided to do?

 

“Sir, we’re ready to order!”

 

We came on a gourmet tour. For the first round, we had spicy stir-fried tofu and mung bean pancakes, and we planned to have a second round at a Kal-guksu place once we digested. For the record, I was on the ‘one meal is enough’ side. It was Jeong Seongbin who said he wanted to eat both.

 

We sat huddled in the furthest corner waiting for the food. Jeong Seongbin hummed a tune.

 

“Did you want to eat this that badly?”

 

Jeong Seongbin said he had been to this place a few years ago. He said he had been regretting not being able to return for a long time. He added that even when we had the KAIST schedule, he secretly had many things he wanted to eat.

 

“Back then, Uncle asked, ‘When are you kids going to grow up and have soju with me?’ But now Joowoo and I are already adults.”

 

Jeong Seongbin said something very similar to what I’d been thinking earlier while making sandwiches. People say autumn is the season for deep thoughts, but for Spark, it felt like spring had brought a wave of sentimentality.

 

“Still, no outdoor drinking. You know that, right?”

 

“It’s not an issue of indoors or outdoors; you shouldn’t drink at all if possible, hyung.”

 

Jeong Seongbin turned serious. It was a godsend that the Dead Note was back at the dorm. I watched with wide eyes to see if Jeong Seongbin had packed that notebook.

 

We emptied the dishes in an instant. After doing some round-trip walking exercises by the nearby river with our hats pulled low, we went to the Kal-guksu place and ordered noodles. Jeong Seongbin, who handled spicy food well, even enjoyed the kimchi that came with a warning label.

 

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you eat this well. Not since the potluck party.”

 

“Well, we’ve been having back-to-back schedules.”

 

“You know we have to start the university festival tour again soon, right?”

 

“Cough…!”

 

Jeong Seongbin, who had something go down the wrong pipe, coughed and looked for a tissue. I hurriedly pulled some out and handed them to him. They say you shouldn’t disturb even a dog while it’s eating—I nearly caused a casualty.

 

“Sorry, just eat with a peaceful mind. You can work out once we get back to Seoul.”

 

“My mind isn’t becoming peaceful at all….”

 

Jeong Seongbin clutched his shirt. When I made a fuss about going to buy digestive medicine, he calmed me down, saying he was fine, and picked up his chopsticks again.

 

News that Spark was distributed all over Daejeon spread across social media before long. Stories popped up in real time—like Lee Cheonghyeon holding tongs at a bakery while Park Joowoo stood behind him like a dark mage, ‘controlling’ him to pick bread, or Choi Jeho buying a drink for Kang Kiyeon at a vending machine and almost leaving without his change and get scolded for it.

 

Basically, they were all being spotted here and there while running around having fun. No wonder the group chat had been so quiet.

 

Since we couldn’t let crowds gather any further, Spark’s surprise outing came to an end. Having eaten two full meals, Jeong Seongbin and I were the last to head back.

 

“Why did you buy so much bread?”

 

“Soohoon hyung bought it for us….”

 

An unexpected name came up. Apparently, the place Park Joowoo and Lee Cheonghyeon went was near the school.

 

“I contacted him just in case since we were in the area, and he actually came out. It’s official: he has no friends.”

 

“And? Did he come out specifically for you?”

 

“He was going to just pay for the bread and leave, so I told him to buy us drinks too.”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon grumbled as he brought the bag of bread to the Aunt. While he was bragging about the purchases to the Aunt and the noona, Park Joowoo leaned in and whispered to me.

 

“Cheonghyeon was the one who bought the drinks….”

 

“His brother couldn’t make it to the concert, so I’m glad he got to see his face this time.”

 

“Me too.”

 

Park Joowoo smiled. From afar, I heard Kang Kiyeon asking which one was the signature bread.