Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 450 - Sharing Recent News (2)

At night, the whole family and the members gathered to watch a rerun of Unmanned Rest Area. This was because Park Joowoo’s sister had missed the second episode. Thanks to that, I had to suffer through it twice.

 

I seriously had no idea why they broadcast reruns of this cursed program so often. I felt utterly ashamed showing the family their precious nephew rolling around in the sand and getting covered in mango juice. If the family members hadn’t enjoyed it so much, I would have had to prepare a 101-point presentation titled ‘Plans to Diversify Park Joowoo’s Image’.

 

After playing and chatting excitedly and even having a late-night snack, it was finally time to sleep. We moved the living room table into the storage room, creating enough space for the members to lie down side-by-side.

 

“Wait a moment. Before you guys wash up, please pay attention to Cheonghyeon.”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon came out into the living room holding a neatly cleaned suitcase with wheels. It was still packed to the brim.

 

“Cheonghyeon has prepared something for a cozy time between us members.”

 

“By yourself?”

 

“With Mr. Kiyeon.”

 

Cheonghyeon pointed his index finger at Kang Kiyeon. Kang Kiyeon quickly interjected, emphasizing that he had only helped out and wasn’t the primary mastermind.

 

“What is all this?”

 

What came out of Cheonghyeon’s bag were six massive, colorful bundles. Each item wrapped in plastic was quite bulky.

 

“It’s a pajama set! I ordered them to improve our teamwork. Very cute ones, too.”

 

“I told you specifically to stop spending your own money on—”

 

“I’ve already finished negotiating with the company to process the receipt as an expense in exchange for taking event-exclusive polaroid selfies.”

 

He skillfully shut me up. Then, he handed a thick pajama pack to each member.

 

Park Joowoo, who was the first to wash up and come out, was…

 

“Is he… a mouse?”

 

…He had become a white mouse. The length was short, so his ankles were fully exposed. I looked back and forth between Park Joowoo and the pajama bundle in my own hands. I comforted myself with the fact that I didn’t see any octopus suction cups.

 

Choi Jeho received a tiger pajama. I asked why it had to be a tiger when there was no way a bear set didn’t exist, but I received a rational answer: that an overly static character interpretation led to boredom. Well, since certain animals would appear endlessly in official merchandise, a little deviation wasn’t bad.

 

“And you guys are in the Year of the Tiger. I think it suits you well enough!”

 

Well, aside from the color. At this point, should I write an essay about the deplorable reality where I conceded with FF6600 shorts only to be greeted by a full-body FF6600 outfit? A good title would be ‘Vermilion: The Color of the Center’.

 

Kang Kiyeon was assigned a green crocodile pajama, and Jeong Seongbin a beige Jindo dog pajama. Since there was no snake set, Kang Kiyeon—who received the crocodile as a fellow reptile—and Jeong Seongbin—who was complimented on being reliable like a Jindo dog—both accepted their character assignments without complaint.

 

“Cheonghyeon, what’s yours?”

 

“You’ll see.”

 

Having built up our expectations, Lee Cheonghyeon appeared dressed as a honeybee, boasting a vivid color contrast.

 

“Why that one?”

 

“It goes well with flowers!”

 

Since he was right, I took plenty of photos. I decided that I should take him to an arboretum in the morning.

 

And I…

 

I became a panda for the first time in a while. After holding the fake bamboo Lee Cheonghyeon had brought, I felt like I should just flop down and stay there.

 

The Animal Pajama Commotion only came to an end after we took event polaroids, photos for future BubblePop uploads, individual shots, group shots, reptile and mammal unit shots, and versions both with and without props. Though the pajama legs were short, the list of new photos in my gallery was endless.

 

Choi Jeho, draped in his tiger skin, took a spot at the very edge of the living room floor. Watching him lie down, Lee Cheonghyeon brought over a pillow and asked:

 

“What, are we not going to fight over the sleeping arrangements?”

 

“In the middle of the night?”

 

“It’s never easy to get some sleep around here.”

 

Because of that one sentence from Lee Cheonghyeon, at midnight, the Spark-exclusive ‘Best Selfie Contest’ was held. While the previous session was for fan service, this one was strictly for the competition.

 

Choi Jeho took first place. Kang Kiyeon, myself, and Park Joowoo followed in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. Lee Cheonghyeon remained in 5th place on the grounds that he failed to fully capture his real-life looks.

 

“Hyung, you lack desperation in your photos.”

 

“I was desperate, too!”

 

Jeong Seongbin struggled to accept that he was in last place. From my perspective, Jeong Seongbin definitely had the worst aesthetic sense in Spark. He only improved because of the harsh training during his trainee days; if not for that, fans whose bias was Jeong Seongbin would surely have cried tears of blood.

 

After lying down side-by-side, we discussed tomorrow’s schedule. I strongly advocated for squeezing an arboretum into the plan.

 

“We have to take photos of Cheonghyeon among the flowers. Add the arboretum.”

 

“But aren’t there not many flowers yet?”

 

Kang Kiyeon asked anxiously.

 

Park Joowoo, who had been searching on his phone for a while, read a blog post out loud.

 

“’In April, you can see spring flower festivals’…”

 

“Let’s go.”

 

“Yeah! We can all take turns wearing the bee pajamas and taking photos!”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon went as far as suggesting that all the members should rotate through the bee pajamas. Only after setting a 7 a.m. wake-up schedule did everyone fall asleep.

 

‘The day passed in the blink of an eye.’

 

I thought while staring at the dark ceiling. I could hear steady breathing from both sides. Having run a hard course since the first day, the guys headed straight to dreamland without tossing or turning once.

 

Just then, a door opened. Not long after I closed my eyes to pretend to be asleep, I sensed a presence in the distance. The sound of the refrigerator opening and the clinking of dishes was heard briefly before vanishing. When I opened my eyes again, I saw light leaking from under the door of one of the rooms.

 

‘Are they not asleep yet?’

 

Did we talk too loudly until too late? My first thought was that we had done something disrespectful. I vowed to make sure the guys were in bed by 10:00 PM tomorrow.

 

As I lay there holding my breath, I could hear the faint sound of people chatting. I pulled the blanket over my head to avoid eavesdropping, and the surroundings grew quiet. After staying like that for a while, I pulled the blanket back down and saw the light was still on in the room.

 

In the meantime, Kang Kiyeon had rolled all the way onto the bare floor where there was no mat. I couldn’t tell if he had been pushed out because of the high population density or if he had developed a sleeping habit he didn’t have before.

 

I sighed and stood up. As I was rolling the fast-asleep kid back under the blanket, a door suddenly swung open behind me.

 

“Oh my, is someone still awake?”

 

“Ah… I was just about to go to sleep!”

 

It was Park Joowoo’s aunt.

 

“Oh dear, was there not enough blanket for Kiyeon?”

 

“No, he just rolled a bit while sleeping.”

 

“Wait right there. I’ll bring another set of bedding.”

 

I hurried after her, intending to carry it myself, but ended up making eye contact with Uncle, who was having a drink inside.

 

“Iwol, you aren’t asleep yet? Is the bed uncomfortable?”

 

“Not at all. I was just heading to bed!”

 

While I was waving my hands in denial, Aunt quickly covered Kiyeon with a new blanket.

 

“Would you like something to drink too?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Just wait. I’ll give you a warm cup of ginger tea.”

 

She then invited me to join them. I obediently sat on my knees in an empty spot in front of the small table.

 

Two cans of beer, a simple fruit salad, roasted peanuts, and ginger tea. Around a small table lacking any uniformity, Aunt, Uncle, and I sat together.

 

“Iwol, you didn’t eat much earlier, right? Shall I boil a pack of ramen for you?”

 

“I’m really fine! I already had two full meals with Seongbin.”

 

Aunt lamented that I had no fat on my face at all. I practically begged her, saying I was fine. I had to manage my weight; I was an idol, after all.

 

“Don’t feel burdened. She’s just so grateful.” 

 

Uncle said, pushing a plate of peanuts toward me.

 

“She watches ‘My Singer’ every day. Am I right?”

 

“It’s called ‘Genre-Swap of My Singer’. I’ve told you so many times but you can’t remember. And it’s the show our maknae appeared on.”

 

For Park Joowoo, Genre-Swap was a place to say goodbye to his mother and father. At the same time, for Aunt, it must have been a stage where she sent off her dongsaeng.

 

“Joowoo was the one who did well. I’m not sure if I deserve this kind of treatment…”

 

Embarrassed, I just scratched the back of my neck. After all, Park Joowoo had prepared everything for Genre-Swap from start to finish.

 

Aunt took my hand as I was doing my best to insist that I had done nothing.

 

“Joowoo has changed so much since you came, Iwol.”

 

“…….”

 

“In a good way. I never imagined Joowoo would smile that brightly, that often.”

 

I recalled Uncle’s words about asking when they would grow up and have a drink together. Back then, neither Jeong Seongbin nor Park Joowoo must have felt at ease. Their future was uncertain, and the team hadn’t fully come together yet.

 

“You must already be busy and tired just doing group activities, but you still practice instruments with him and take care of him every time… Joowoo always talks about it. He says there are no kids as kind as his members.”

 

Since there were many tormenting factors around him and no place to set his heart at ease, he might have withdrawn even further. Just as I did when I first came to UA. Compared to then, everyone had changed a lot. Everyone.

 

“When Joowoo said he was going to visit his family, I was so surprised.”

 

“…….”

 

“The most important thing to me is that my child isn’t hurting, and you and the members did that for him. I’m so grateful for that.”

 

Her warm hand caressed the back of my hand.

 

“How can I ever repay this debt?”

 

The emotion contained in her quiet voice was immeasurably deep.

 

“We’re the ones who have a debt to repay. We can’t promote without our Joowoo. Even if you say you want to take him back and live with him, we can’t give him to you.”

 

At my words, Aunt smiled brightly.

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Even if you offered to pay the penalty fee, it’d be difficult. We’ve been doing everything we can lately to keep Joowoo tied down. Unless he says he wants to run away, I’ll grab a rope and go catch him myself.”

 

I had caught Lee Cheonghyeon before; surely I could catch Park Joowoo. I was confident I could catch any runner, no matter when or where they fled.

 

I pulled out my phone and searched my gallery. Then, I zoomed in on a shared group selfie and showed it to the couple.

 

“Have you ever received this photo from Joowoo? It came out dark because we took it on the way home from work, so I haven’t posted it anywhere, but it’s from the night we finished band practice.”

 

“Oh, you’re right. The kids are carrying instruments. Was this during Hideout?”

 

“So you guys go home together like this every day. It looks good. Joowoo rarely sends photos of himself.”

 

Knowing Park Joowoo’s love for the band, Aunt was delighted just by looking at the photo. To the two of them, whether the faces looked good wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was the fact that the members were by Park Joowoo’s side and that Park Joowoo was doing what he loved.

 

“Look at his smile. It’s exactly the same as when he was little.”

 

Aunt stroked Park Joowoo’s face on the screen.

 

I showed them a few more photos. I talked a lot about Park Joowoo. I blabbed about how often Jeong Seongbin talked about what a good friend Park Joowoo was, and how affectionately Jeho treated his roommate.

 

“It’s so reassuring to have six more sons in addition to the one I have at home.”

 

Aunt said while wiping away tears from laughing too hard at the photos of the brand-new animal pajamas. Well, I had received plenty of help from the members’ mothers and fathers myself, so I didn’t deny the reassurance this relationship provided.