Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 461 - Group Trip (3)

The land of dreams and hopes, Animation World.

 

Visiting this place were the icons of youth, providing joy through song and dance…

 

“Man, since the clothes are so vibrant, the colors really pop even if you just take photos randomly. No retouching needed.”

 

…Six men covered in floral patterns.

 

There was a time when I thought the most humiliating moment of my life was performing the ‘wooden puppet dance of joy’ in front of professional trainees. However, that was merely a delusion of my younger, naive days.

 

I could now guarantee that the most shameful moment in my 29 years + α of existence was ‘waiting for Lee Cheonghyeon to press the shutter button while wearing a colorful shirt and an animal-ear headband as a group.’

 

“And what was it you said we had to buy later?”

 

“Popcorn.”

 

Kang Kiyeon spoke those terrifying words with a deadpan face. I shall designate ‘waiting for popcorn to come out while mixed in with children, wearing animal ears and floral shirts as a group’ as the number one most frightening moment in my 29 years + α of existence.

 

“Jeho hyung, you hold the phone. I’m still not skilled enough to master the six-person selfie.”

 

“Give it here.”

 

Choi Jeho took the phone. As the lens pointed toward me, the corners of my mouth lifted automatically. How sad—the conditioned reflex of an idol.

 

For all the preparation they put in, the guys didn’t seem particularly interested in the rides. Instead, they spent their time taking photos or buying souvenirs. Since we were already buying things, I wanted them to get the prettiest items possible, so I diligently helped compare Plushie No.1 versus Plushie No.2.

 

“This place really… just never ends.”

 

“Seriously.”

 

Park Joowoo marveled while looking at the map. Everywhere looked like a storybook world brought to life. If there were such a thing as the pinnacle of theme park architecture, this had to be it.

 

How did they even clean giant sets like these? Rain and snow must leave stains eventually, so how did they maintain such vivid colors and shine? When I asked Lee Cheonghyeon, the person in charge of today’s theme park itinerary, he replied that if I left an inquiry email, they’d get back to me within business days.

 

After riding about two calm attractions with short wait times and eating an incredibly expensive lunch, we set off on another walking expedition. If I had turned on a pedometer, it probably would have exploded by the afternoon.

 

Around sunset, we found seats to watch the parade. There was still plenty of time left, but apparently, you had to claim spots early. Usually, people try to snag the best spots, but as the number of people recognizing Spark grew, we preemptively occupied a bench in the furthest corner.

 

As twilight settled, the scenery became even more spectacular. The streetlights, rides, and shop windows were brightly lit.

 

“Even just the night view is amazing.”

 

“It’s romantic.”

 

Kang Kiyeon chimed in. Indeed, I had already witnessed two proposals while walking around today.

 

While drinking the beverages Jeong Seongbin and Park Joowoo had bought and chatting together, the area around our secluded bench gradually grew dark. An announcement rang out, signaling the start of the parade.

 

The show that eventually began was larger in scale than I expected. Several large ships appeared, and small boats circled the lakeside at a staggering speed. Brilliant lights and electronic displays sparkled incessantly. Every time fireworks burst in the sky, gasps of awe could be heard from afar.

 

“Incredible…”

 

The sound of fireworks being launched, the thump of them exploding, and the sound of sparks fading away blended with the music to fill the air. Flashes of light exploded and poured down like rain.

 

Reaching the highlight, the fireworks swallowed all the sounds of the people and bloomed fully, covering the night sky.

 

I quietly turned on the System. Then, I executed the Welfare Service that showed my sister’s status.

 

[SYSTEM] ‘Welfare Service’ usage details

▷ Relation: Blood relative

▷ Health Status: Good

▷ Psychological Status: Good

▷ Other: Enjoying leisure time

 

If the system only retrieved my sister’s information one-sidedly, then there was nothing to be done, but if it was connected both ways, I hoped this scene would somehow reach her dreams. Because it was far too beautiful to keep to myself.

 

***

 

“You want me to wash first?”

 

“Yeah. I’m going to check if there are any messages from the lawyer.”

 

At my words, Choi Jeho obediently gathered his clothes and disappeared. Before long, I heard the sound of running water.

 

While Choi Jeho was showering, I pulled out the smartphone that had been temporarily returned to me for the duration of the trip as an anti-lost-child measure. There weren’t any urgent messages I needed to check. Since I had the phone on, I tried to look around, but the recommended search terms, videos, and even ads were all plastered with foreign content.

 

‘So the algorithm changes this much just by changing location.’

 

Terrifying, the age of the internet.

 

‘I want to at least check the evaluations of how our promotions ended.’

 

It weighed on my mind that our last schedule before the hiatus had ended in an accident. Since the only crumbs for fans for the time being would be Bubble Pops, lives, and self-produced content, it felt like I had caused a massive disaster and then run away.

 

Furthermore, these guys barely filmed any videos, insisting that the trip should be a vacation, not work. If they had planned to release a ‘Spark’s Hilarious Group Travelogue’, my heart would have been at least a little more at ease, but even that had gone up in smoke.

 

No idol wants the promotions they worked so hard to prepare to end on a bad note. With a heavy heart, I searched for ‘Spark’. It was the first time I’d done so since the accident.

 

≫ So we’re supposed to believe the support structure collapsed because the materials suddenly malfunctioned?

Sure, nothing in the world is 100%. Sudden accidents can happen with incredibly low probability.

But why does it keep happening to our boys…? that’s what upsets me.

└ I’m also furious that articles keep framing it as ‘lack of safety awareness’… Whether it’s concerts or anything else, the kids try their best to prevent any avoidable accidents.

└ Exactly T_T Is it too much to ask for them to do acitivities safely without getting hurt… T_T T_T

 

≫ Kim Iwol definitely has something.

How did he even notice that?

 └ Whether it’s a sixth sense or whatever, it seems certain he has it.

 └ Looking at the video, if they hadn’t dodged it, at minimum someone would’ve broken bones

 └└ Where can I see the video? I can’t find it.

 └└└ They’ve all been taken down now.

 

 ≫ It’s a miracle no one was hurt

 Between the defective materials that went unnoticed during installation and a member being right under the falling light, it could have been a major tragedy.

 └ Right. At first, I was at max anger mode because I was so shocked, but after realizing we might have had to just watch it happen without being able to do anything, my blood ran cold.

 └ Seriously, it fell right where Jeho was standing… I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened.

 

 ≫ Now that it’s over safely, I’ll say it: trust saved them.

 Iwol called Jeho because he sensed an accident, but Jeho ran to grab his hand in the middle of a performance without knowing anything just because a member told him to.

If he’d stopped for even a second to ask ‘why?’ it would’ve turned into a major accident. Thinking about that makes me realize how amazing it was, but in the middle of a performance? That couldn’t have been easy

 └ For real. And it was during his own part too, while he was standing front and center

 └ Before ‘The Emperor’, he said in a live that he listens to everything Kim Iwol says.

 └ Huh??? Which live?

 └ The solo live he did after coming back from the first Unmanned Rest Area visit.

 └ I remember this… I thought Jeho was just shielding Iwol because he was getting so much hate, but he actually meant it

 └ Hate…? Why…? Unmanned Area was fun though.

└ IW asked JH on a broadcast why he ‘lived like a wild man’ → people started saying the member who stayed comfortably in the dorm was mocking the member who suffered → then rumors spread that IW was jealous of JH being the center + that he wanted to play the authoritarian eldest-hyung role and saw JH as a thorn in his side, etc. It kept escalating until JH stepped in and said, ‘What KIW says is never meant to hurt the members’, and things finally quieted down after that.

 └ The first ones to pour oil on the discourse mentioned in the comment above were the anti-fans

 └ It wasn’t mocking at all, it was stuff like ‘you should have built a house’ or ‘avoid UV rays’, but I still remember the media play making it look like Iwol was bullying the guy…

 └ The ‘center jealousy’ thing is ridiculous, too. He even followed Jeho to his filming sets to cheer him on since their trainee days.

 

 ≫ I’m a Sparkler who was at the scene, and I really want the kids to rest.

 I was so shocked seeing the light fall right in front of me.

 But imagine how the kids right under it felt…

 I still remember Seongbin’s and the kids’ faces, the shock is still vivid. If someone had actually been hurt, it would have been a real trauma.

 └ The OP must have been so startled… T_T

 └ Agreed. I’d rather see them healthy for a long time than see them frequently for a short while now.

 

There were all sorts of stories. I expected things to be noisy, but it was even worse than I imagined. There wasn’t a single community that wasn’t talking about the incident.

 

“What are you looking at?”

 

“Whoa!”

 

While I was engrossed in reading the posts, I heard Choi Jeho’s voice from above.

 

“Didn’t Jeong Seongbin tell you to stay off the internet?”

 

“I’m turning it off now.”

 

His tone was strangely threatening. Afraid he might actually snitch to Jeong Seongbin, I hurriedly turned off the phone.

 

“Take this.”

 

Choi Jeho, shaking the moisture from his hair with a towel, placed a plastic bag on the table. It was quite bulky. When I opened it, it was filled with capsules.

 

“What’s this?”

 

“Stuff Lee Cheonghyeon pulled from the gacha yesterday. He told me to give it to you, but I forgot.”

 

“Why is he giving this to me?”

 

“He said you’d know once you saw it.”

 

With that, he went off to finish drying his hair. I cracked open one of the colorful capsules, and a very tired-looking cat figurine came out. The cat was holding onto a subway handle with one hand and carrying a briefcase with the other.

 

‘What kind of gacha is designed like this?’

 

Puzzled, I opened another capsule. This time, it was a cat with its shoulders and bag all scrunched up, as if it were on a crowded elevator.

 

The contents were all cats. Specifically, haggard cats. A cat with a turtle-neck posture, a cat being hit by paperwork, a cat with a wrinkled necktie… they kept coming out.

 

Inside the capsules were small instruction sheets. Assuming the large title was the product name, I turned on my translation app and took a photo. The caption that immediately appeared was this:

 

[Office Worker Baby Kitty]

 

What kind of neighborhood black company worked baby kittens this hard? My heart ached for this filthy modern society that exploited not only humans, but cats, too. Following my first overseas souvenir, the limited-edition theme park popcorn bucket, my second souvenir was now a collection of exhausted cat keyrings.