Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 484 - Merry Christmas (2)

A heartfelt card was an essential part of any Christmas gift. Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon had also included cards with their messages back then.

 

So, I decided to make cards filled with my own sincerity. I returned to the company, opened a design program in an empty meeting room, and began working on cards with an exciting party atmosphere.

 

“Hmm… why does this look so ugly…?”

 

I added fairy lights and created a memo section that looked like it was covered in soft snow, but it didn’t satisfy me. After serious contemplation, I found the solution.

 

First, I changed all the bright red colors back to white. Then, I picked a high-quality photo of one of the Spark members that I had edited in my spare time, placed it prominently in the center, and filled the background with one of their personal colors.

 

After adding the familiar font from the cup-holder projects, putting some shadows, and throwing in a cool winter-blue color palette, I was finally satisfied.

 

“Everyone, I’m not very good at making pretty Christmas cards… Instead, I’ve made ‘Spark-mas’ cards. It’s better for the recipient to get something good-looking, right?”

 

I turned the laptop screen toward the stationary cam. Looking into the viewfinder, I saw the ‘Snowflake Fairy’ Jeong Seongbin in sharp focus. I was pleased.

 

The work on individual cards continued. I opened a new project window and started making coupons as well.

 

“The members worked really hard this year. As a form of praise and encouragement, I’m going to give them ‘Support Coupons for Well-Behaved Idols.'”

 

Making coupons was much easier than making cards. I just recycled some lucky-draw ticket designs from a birthday café project.

 

“One coupon each feels stingy, so they’ll get two. I’ll tailor the contents to what each person needs.”

 

I made ten coupon slots and started filling them out. People like Park Joowoo and Lee Cheonghyeon were easy—they knew exactly what they wanted. On the other hand, I had to rack my brain for those who rarely asked for anything from others, like Choi Jeho or Jeong Seongbin. Kang Kiyeon was exactly in the middle.

 

After decorating the borders with the fairy lights I had discarded from the card design, the coupons looked quite legitimate.

 

“I’ll print them next week. It’s too late now to do the finishing touches. I’ll be back next time to show the physical versions!”

 

After making the closing remarks, I ended the recording. D-9 until Christmas. The time to prove my worth as an Idol Santa was drawing near.

 

* * *

 

The long-awaited D-day arrived quickly. Technically, there were still days left until Christmas, but since the content had to be uploaded on that day, we needed time for editing, so we held the event early.

 

With this kind of content, the timing of filming wasn’t important. What mattered was when it was released. As long as viewers could enjoy it during Christmas, it didn’t matter if we celebrated a little ahead of schedule.

 

I hid the cameras exactly the same way Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon had done in the past.

 

Naive fools. They probably never imagined I’d weaponize their precious memories against them.

 

While waiting for them to fall asleep, I reminisced about my efforts over the past few days—efforts that brought tears to my eyes.

 

The time I had to go to a PC room because the office printer was broken; the sorrow I felt when the thick paper wouldn’t fold neatly; the time I (with permission) raided the company storage room because I ran out of official goods stickers from the Words I Want to Say album while decorating the cards…

 

But hardship always precedes reward. Currently, five boxes of sneakers, various gifts, and the card-and-coupon sets were sleeping soundly under my bed, hidden away from Jeong Seongbin’s eyes.

 

Exhausted by their schedules, the guys went straight to dreamland the moment their heads hit their pillows. This was precious data I had gathered by observing their sleep patterns for nearly a week. Considering the possibility of being caught by the high-alert Park Joowoo, I decided that if I waited safely for just 30 more minutes before heading out, no one would be able to stop me.

 

As expected, the dorm soon fell silent. I couldn’t even hear the sound of footsteps going to get water or to the bathroom.

 

I cautiously left my bed and began to act. I diligently moved the gifts to the living room, set up the camera, and then headed to Choi Jeho’s room with the Yugwa box and a large blanket in my arms.

 

I placed Choi Jeho’s gift on the dresser so it wouldn’t be mercilessly trampled by the night-blind owner, and Park Joowoo’s gift at the foot of his bed so it wouldn’t wake him. Just as I was about to set the sneaker box down next to the gift…

 

“Mmm…”

 

Park Joowoo, wearing his eye mask, tossed and turned. Fearing I’d be caught, I held my breath and lay flat under the bed. Once the noise stopped, Park Joowoo resumed his journey to dreamland as if he had never moved.

 

It was a crisis. I thought my heart would explode. I could only wonder how Kang Kiyeon had ever succeeded at this. Fearing that the next noise would actually wake them, I tiptoed around while placing the cards.

 

Compared to the first room, the maknaes’ room was like easy mode. These guys were sleeping like babies. Since they showed no sign of waking up unless I brought in a drum and started banging it, I even tucked them in.

 

“The room is… quite…”

 

I used the camera to film their storage cabinets and goods that had already been shown on broadcast, staying within the limits of their privacy. Nothing was trashy or dirty, but the room was literally overflowing with mountains of stuff.

 

“I should suggest holding a giveaway event at a fan meeting. We’ll ask everyone to put up twenty items. I can easily give away twenty of mine. If it’s to improve the environment of this room…”

 

With the determination to fill the audio I missed in Choi Jeho and Park Joowoo’s room, I provided a real-time commentary here.

 

For Lee Cheonghyeon’s gift, I prepared the Bubbly Deep-Sea Creature Encyclopedia. I bought it through an overseas proxy since a new edition came out recently. Because the shipping box was tattered from crossing the ocean, I unwrapped it and prepared a clean book cover to go with it.

 

I placed Kang Kiyeon’s gift in front of the small three-tier drawer where he kept his Kingdom Anither goods. No matter how much of a surprise event this was, opening a collector’s drawer without permission and placing things inside would have been an unforgivable crime. A hobbyist’s space was as precious as their life. I learned all of this while doing my research.

 

By the time I finished placing the sneaker boxes and cards in front of the closets, two hours had passed. For a split second, I regretted not enlisting Jeong Seongbin’s help.

 

Still, I couldn’t skip giving a gift to Spark’s best and kindest leader, Jeong Seongbin. After much deliberation, I placed a carefully selected game chip beside his pillow. Since I had confirmed the game console model with his brother, Jeong Seongjun, he’d be able to enjoy it to his heart’s content once he got some vacation.

 

“Seongbin, I won’t forget the joy of My Farm that you taught me…”

 

I even gave a thumbs-up over the sleeping Jeong Seongbin’s face.

 

After delivering presents to five grown men, I was completely exhausted. It was a workload that made me worry if the Santas and Rudolphs had ever formed a union. If one day of Santa work was this hard, I couldn’t imagine it being a full-time job. If it were me, I would have quit Santa prep immediately and gone to learn sled-making technology instead.

 

Regardless, the Reverse Santa event ended successfully. Feeling a sense of relief and achievement, I quietly slipped under my covers and went to sleep.

 

Not long after, the dorm echoed with the sound of Lee Cheonghyeon waking up and shouting that Santa seemed to have arrived early for work.

 

And my first-ever Santa part-time job was…

 

≫ A certain eldest brother’s Christmas event:

Buying the largest pizza blanket in the mall

Gifting the latest game expansion pack

Making a customized gift set from a traditional sweets shop

Buying the sequel to a favorite book through an overseas proxy

An unopened limited edition setting book with the author’s signature

+ Practice shoes and hand-made coupons

Spark really loves Spark the most… Sparklers can settle for second place…

└ Why did he give everyone else cute gifts and only give Jeho a pizza blanketㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ He saw Jeho sleeping just anywhere and wanted him to have something to cover himself with, but since it looked like Jeho’s legs would stick out, he chose a microfiber pepperoni pizza blanket because it looked big and warm ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Every time I see Iwol, I realize his thought process is completely logical, but the conclusion is always weird.

└└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Iwol: ‘It looks delicious and good, doesn’t it?’ (ignoring the recipient’s expression)

└└ The best part is that Jeho has such a blunt personality that he was actually fairly satisfied ㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ Look how quickly he dropped to the floor

└ Delivering gifts isn’t easy, is it, Iwol?

└ Hyung really gave his all to transport those gifts.

 

≫ I was thinking it was a bit of a shame the sneaker designs didn’t match, and then Kiyeon said the same thing, so I was like, ‘Yeah!! Let’s match designs before the tags are off!!’

But after hearing Iwol say you should wear shoes you’re used to when practicing so you don’t get hurt, I agreed. Yeah, health is the most important thing…

└ Seriously, I wish this guy would upload a gift recommendation video just once ㅠㅠ Office workers who have many occasions to give and receive gifts need this kind of meticulous coaching.

└ And looking at the shots, everyone received shoes that suit them ㅋㅋ At first, I thought they were sponsorships.

└ Let’s go for a group Nidas contract next year.

└ But Iwol, the maknae says he wants a friendship item. Let’s go for color-matching item next time.

└└ Like floral shirts?

└└└ You’re gonna give Iwol seizure ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ The idol is good at design and very energetic.

└ At this point, he’s basically a professional.

└ Since when was Christmas-card-making a profession?

└ What do you mean? Where is the Christmas on that card?;; There isn’t even a trace of Christmas.

└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ Coupons lovingly created by the eldest brother♡

1→2: Protein Proxy Purchase, Meeting Minutes Proxy Writing

1→3: ‘The Leader is Always Right’ Support during meetings, Meticulous PT session

1→4: Karaoke Companion, Deep Cleaning Assistance

1→5: Unconditional Praise (Carrot), Motivational (Whip)

1→6: Manga Live Broadcast Permit, 100-Photo Shoot (★100 different outfits★)

└ Just because you put a heart on it doesn’t make it love!

└ What did Kiyeon do wrong to have to change clothes 100 times for a photo shoot ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Seongbin smiled after the first coupon like, ‘Hyung always supports me anywayㅎㅎ’ and then turning into a stone statue after seeing the second coupon ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Cutie Pretty Visually trying to discard the Whip coupon as soon as he got it vs. Yeouido Securities Gray who anticipated it and brought it laminated.

└ Is Yeouido Securities Gray really his nickname?

└ There is no other adjective that fits him better.

 

≫ It’s so annoying seeing Choi Jeho sitting alone on the sofa wrapped in that pizza blanket.

Are you happy, you big, dumb log~~~!

└ That satisfied expression really triggers me.

└ 100% customer satisfaction.

 

…I received rave reviews for the thoughtful gifts and the chaotic Santa. It was a fun experience.