Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 472 - The Result (1)

The music video for Spark’s second full-length album pre-release track, Dreamer, began with Lee Cheonghyeon leaning over a desk, staring intently at a ‘Career Aspiration Form’.

 

The empty blanks on the paper were reflected in Cheonghyeon’s golden irises.

 

Between the students playing on the field seen through the window and his classmates studying in the front rows, Lee Cheonghyeon couldn’t quite hide his troubled mind.

 

『I don’t understand』

 

The walk home after school, with the unfilled form stuffed into his bag, felt endless.

 

Lee Cheonghyeon walked with his school backpack on, passing through ordinary alleyways until he reached a giant, old three-story wooden mansion built deep within a dark blue forest.

 

As he pushed open the creaking door…

 

『Everyone 

tells lies』

 

…five pairs of multicolored eyes turned toward him.

 

『They say living is all the same

No matter who you are

It’s all more or less

going to be the same』

 

In the middle of the dramatized story, solo shots of the members are inserted. The first runner was Choi Jeho.

 

Jeho’s room had entirely black wallpaper and flooring. There were no light sources, giving it a macabre atmosphere. A giant frame with a thick gold border hung on the wall.

 

Reclining sideways on a large one-person velvet sofa beneath the empty frame, Choi Jeho stabbed a syringe into a ripe tomato and pulled back the piston. Once the cylinder was full of juice, Choi Jeho opened his mouth and pressed the piston down. Juice and clumped seeds sprayed out from the thick needle.

 

『They turn around

looking for approval

and hide their true feelings』

 

A white belt dangled over the head of the returned Cheonghyeon. Park Joowoo, floating as if hanging from the ceiling, beamed at Lee Cheonghyeon below his feet. Kim Iwol leaned back in his chair and waved at him.

 

Glass lamps with flickering candles, thick books with leather covers peeling off, and faded old rugs were captured on screen like photographs from Lee Cheonghyeon’s perspective.

 

『I want to live inside a fantasy』

 

Jeong Seongbin, who was boiling something in a cauldron, held out a steaming object to Lee Cheonghyeon. The vessel, too bizarre to be called a cup, had thick layers of liquid that had overflowed and solidified over time.

 

『Even if no one cheers for me』

 

Lee Cheonghyeon flung the cup away, tossed off his bag, and burst out through the wooden door. 

 

Kang Kiyeon, who had been sprawled across a sofa patched together with different fabrics, frowned and rose from his seat.

 

The screen shifted to a black grassy field. A thick gravestone planted in the middle of the plain slowly zoomed into focus. A hand stained mottled green grabbed the gravestone, which was covered in smeared green handprints.

 

『I will

believe in myself』

 

Between strands of Kang Kiyeon’s hair dripping with dark bluish liquid, green eyes gleamed.

 

The camera shook violently as it chased after Lee Cheonghyeon. A hand motion shoving away the pursuer sent the camera crashing to the ground. Lee Cheonghyeon stopped running. Green liquid had splattered all the way to his feet.

 

With a look of horror, Lee Cheonghyeon cautiously walked toward the area off-screen where Kang Kiyeon likely fell.

 

From beneath the frame that had been pointing blankly into space, a hand suddenly emerged holding a beaker.

 

The blue-tipped hand flipped the beaker upside down and shook it. The loosely fastened cork popped free, and sticky black liquid oozed out thickly. 

 

Once the beaker emptied, the hand lowered on its own. After a very brief silence…

 

『Because we all

live while dreaming』

 

…Kang Kiyeon, his face soaking wet and a cork stuck to his hair, sprang his upper body up like a coil.

 

Park Joowoo looked out the window through the curtains with a worried expression. To prevent light from leaking into the house, he squeezed between the curtain and the glass, bringing his face close to the window. His silver-grey pupils, shrunk by the sunlight, expand and transition into a dark brown mahogany round table.

 

『I don’t understand

Why a wonderful wish

is a laughingstock』

 

The empty space that seemed to belong to Park Joowoo contained only a low round table and a chessboard.

 

Sitting at the table, Park Joowoo absentmindedly moved a white chess piece before knocking over a black one. The black piece wearing a wizard hat rolled across the white hem of his clothes spread over the floor.

 

『They say it’s nonsensical』

 

Choi Jeho picked up Lee Cheonghyeon’s bag lying beside the cup. Because he accidentally held it upside down, everything inside spilled onto the floor. 

 

A vaguely crumpled sheet of paper fluttered away before getting swept into the pile of papers raining down over Kim Iwol’s head.

 

When Kim Iwol lifted his buried head, yellowed papers cascaded down from both sides. A particularly white piece of paper caught Kim Iwol’s eye.

 

Choi Jeho and Jeong Seongbin peeked over Kim Iwol’s shoulder. Carefully unfolding the paper, they saw the words ‘Career Aspiration Form’.

 

*『They say a big wish

cannot climb over

a high wall』*

 

Kim Iwol stood before a study wall filled with identical notebooks.

 

Pulling out another notebook of the same design from inside his black long coat, Kim Iwol opened to the final page. After confirming there was no blank space left, he slid the notebook into an empty space on the shelf.

 

The pale wrist slipping a fountain pen into the pocket of the jacket beneath his coat stood out sharply.

 

『Is there any sincerity

within that worry?

I can see right through it』

 

What greeted the returning Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon was a rug hanging over the black dead tree in front of the house. 

 

When they opened the door, hazy gray natural light welcomed the two through the wide-open curtains.

 

On the polished dining table sat a spotless mug free of stains or residue, along with a single sheet of paper. Steam rose softly from hot chocolate topped with a cute bear-shaped marshmallow. 

 

Looking back and forth between the mug and the living room in disbelief, Lee Cheonghyeon picked up the paper.

 

[Standard Occupational Classification of Korea]

 

『I want to dream tomorrow too』

 

Even within the thick black smoke, Jeong Seongbin’s eyes glowed a vivid violet. Beyond the murky haze stood antique glass bottles filled with herbs and shelves packed with dishes.

 

Jeong Seongbin uncorked a small bottle containing deep purple powder. Mixed with glitter, the powder sparkled brilliantly. 

 

Tasting a bit of the powder on his finger, he slowly poured it out. The dust drifted through the air like an aurora.

 

『Whatever I want

I want to achieve it

with my own hands』

 

Water jets sprayed from a heavy marble fountain. Lee Cheonghyeon wet his fingertips and dragged them beneath the statue’s eyes in a straight line. Once the water dried, golden streaks remained like brushed-on gold powder. Ripples shimmered across his golden eyes.

 

Next to Cheonghyeon, who was sitting in front of the fountain, there was a small photograph. In the photo, he was holding a cake topped with plenty of wild berries and red syrup bleeding into the cream. Instead of joyful tear stains, his face was smeared with dried golden powder.

 

The soaked and wrinkled employment classification paper passed by the screen, followed by the streaks of gold powder left on Lee Cheonghyeon’s cheeks like thin water trails. He gently scratched at the dried corners of his eyes.

 

『Because my heart

can only be heard by me』

 

The next morning, Lee Cheonghyeon quietly left the house. Everyone silently watched his back. Even Choi Jeho, wearing sunglasses and draped in Kim Iwol’s black long coat, endured the light leaking through the half-open door to watch him leave for school.

 

A student walked across the classroom collecting papers. When it was his turn, Lee Cheonghyeon pulled out the crumpled Career Aspiration Form and held it out.

 

The smiling student’s expression subtly shifted after taking the paper. Looking at his classmate alternating glances between him and the paper, Lee Cheonghyeon gave a mischievous grin.

 

***

 

≫ I summarized the plot of this MV to a friend, and they asked me if today was April Fool’s Day

I mean, it’s a story about a water-element supernatural being whose tears produce gold dust, caught between a reaper telling him to join the Mint’s precious metals division and a bunch of mad researchers urging him to evolve into the ruler of the seas.

└ I was wondering what kind of MV could possibly match that teaser, and it turns out it’s about a supernatural creature struggling with career choicesㅋㅋㅋ

└ MV Summary: This damn tiresome magical creature household!!!

└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ The dream job he picked after the hyungs and Kiyeon encouraged and supported him: Pacific Ocean Guide.

└ I’ve heard myths where a mermaid’s tears become pearls, but Kim Iwol just couldn’t give up on the gold aesthetic ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ I was wondering why they gave us Halloween cosplay so soon after the Soda Princess cosplay.

Turns out you guys had this all planned from the start!

└ Sparklers, who didn’t even think to deduce anything because we thought our boys never give spoilers, take another L today.

└ But if you’ve undergone information security training as a Sparkler, how could you think otherwise? 

 

≫ I figured out the source of the déjà vu.

This familiar B-movie vibe, the subtly heartwarming but somehow clumsy narrative…

It’s the Flowering group project energy

└ No wonder it felt familiar.

└ It’s like Flowering’s B-movie narrative plus Bright’s aesthetic sense…

└ Ever since Bright, the way they use imagery and color has changed a lot, so even though the MV is funny, it somehow feels like a horror movie… an indescribable MV.

└ Right, if you just cut individual scenes, it totally feels like a horror game. Especially the part where Kiyeon falls and resurrects himself by pouring a potion.

└ It’s a perfect song to listen to in late autumnㅋㅋ Good timing.

 

≫ Making the night sky the background for the group choreography was such a genius move. 

Because of the choreography, it really feels like they crawl out once night falls. 

└ The details using constellations visible in autumn are insane. Go read the summary a genius Sparkler compiled.

└ Woah, I thought they just drew stars with CG.

└ Lee Cheonghyeon is Piscesㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Is Kang Kiyeon Aquarius because he carries around a resurrection potion? T_T

 

≫ Why are Kim Iwol and Choi Jeho so unintentionally hilarious?

A grim reaper buried under a mountain of work and a vampire accidentally dumping out his younger brother’s bag

└ It’s a magical universe full of fantasy vibe, but why do these guys all look like they’re missing a screw?

└ The textbook example of ‘the kids are nice, though’

└ They used up all their coolness during Bright, so there’s none left.

 

After its release, the pre-release song stayed in the real-time trends for quite a while. People who saw the keywords flocked in, new viewers posted reactions, and fans compared the MV with the self-produced content to analyze the characters all at once. The buzz was explosive.

 

Now that the fire had been lit by the pre-release song…

 

≫ I’m looking forward to the title track.

What on earth are they going to come out with?

 

…Everyone began waiting for the moment the title track would drop.