Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 493 - Leaving School

“Anyone want seconds?”

 

“Me.”

 

Choi Jeho even achieved his grand dream of getting a second helping of school lunch. It just so happened that the friends who came to eat with us were members whose daily routine involved going for a second round. Before I could even figure out how such an elite squad had come together, Choi Jeho had already turned his back and left.

 

When he returned, his tray was piled high with rice just like the first time. Steam was still billowing off it. Seeing the triumphant expression on the tray-owner’s face made my blood boil.

 

“Want some of my braised beef?”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

I barely managed to swallow the word ‘no’ that was rising up my throat. They say you shouldn’t disturb a dog while it’s eating, and I couldn’t bring myself to nag him when he had grown so gaunt from the triple hit of Alight promotions, year-end performances, and concerts.

 

Thinking he might as well feast properly, I handed him my dessert fruit cup. He asked whether I wasn’t going to eat it, then glanced at my spotless tray when I said I was full. Then, he leisurely peeled off the seal and finished off the fruit as well.

 

If we had eaten this much, we had to run. Even at this very hour, Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon were likely resisting the temptation of tteokbokki and eating nothing but Cobb salad lunchboxes. How betrayed would they feel if their hyungs came back with bloated faces after stuffing themselves with regular food under the pretext of filming?

 

Fortunately, this was a high school. A place full of people who couldn’t feel satisfied unless they ran themselves ragged after eating. Unlike office workers who, despite being exhausted, mechanically walked crowded streets after lunch just to aid digestion, high school students acted as if they would explode if they couldn’t move their bodies the moment they finished eating. Choi Jeho and I went along with this flow.

 

“Hyungs, tell us without any bluffing. What are your soccer stats?”

 

Even while dividing teams for a thirty-minute soccer match, the students took balance very seriously. I also made a suggestion with a straight face for the sake of a tight game.

 

“If you’re taking Choi Jeho, give our team an ace.”

 

“What? We have to take Jeho hyung.”

 

“Are you saying you’re going to abandon me because of Choi Jeho right now?”

 

Just as I was about to feel the sting of being abandoned by the world, a bet was proposed by the neighboring class. Before I could say that no form of gambling was allowed during filming, the messenger from the neighboring kingdom delivered an absurd condition.

 

“The winning team gets to ask Kim Iwol hyung to read their ‘love fortune’, how about that?”

 

“Deal.”

 

“I don’t even know how to read love fortunes.”

 

“Oh, look at you being humble.”

 

“And wouldn’t it be better to ask about your academic fortunes while you’re at it?”

 

Regardless of whether the prize could actually be claimed, the match began quickly. Choi Jeho and I, who luckily stayed on the same team after nearly having a civil war, ran until we were drenched in sweat, recalling the days we filmed ‘Survive Life’.

 

The students, who usually spent all their time studying in the classroom, were ultimately unable to handle the armored vehicle that was Choi Jeho. Watching opposing players collapse like autumn leaves in the wake of his charge was so absurdly comedic that I couldn’t even laugh. By the end of the match, everyone was collapsed on the dirt ground, sobbing with laughter at the feast of absurd slapstick.

 

Victory went to Class 4. Choi Jeho’s goal, assisted by me, became the winning shot. The class president, who had been the goalkeeper, ran over from a distance and made a huge fuss, praising us as one-day guest players.

 

The eyes of my smiling seatmate reminded me of someone.

 

‘I had a class president like this back when I was in school, too.’

 

The word ‘Class President’ usually carried a strong image of a model student. It gave the impression of someone who was good at studying, diligent, and broad-minded—like a mini-teacher.

 

But one particular friend I remembered from my school days was a bit different.

He wasn’t a genius vying for first or second place in the class, but he was always number one when it came to being energetic. He was playful and mischievous. The reason he seemed broad-minded wasn’t because he was extraordinarily tolerant—it was because he coolly forgot everything almost immediately.

 

He was a good kid. When I was struggling to focus during a noisy self-study hour, he would always step up and say, ‘Hey guys, let’s be quiet. If I get called to the faculty office again, that’ll make ten times today!’ He was a considerate friend. He was also the type to over-exaggeratedly say ‘thank you’, telling me I saved his life over something trivial.

 

Everyone who had ever been in a class with him liked him. There probably wasn’t another high schooler who suited the description ‘thick-skinned, good-natured fellow’ better.

 

‘I wonder how he’s doing?’

 

Feeling a bit nostalgic, I joked with the class president—who asked if we could come back as substitutes for their next match even after the cameras were off—saying I’d decide based on how they behaved.

 

For my winning classmates… I couldn’t read their love fortunes. Instead, I advised them to search for ‘Choi Jeho casual wear’ on the internet when it was time to change their glasses to find a similar design, and not to taper their pant legs too much.

 

“To make a decent first impression, you need to stay neat and clean and properly take care of your responsibilities. Got it?”

 

The boys nodded solemnly, saying they understood. Choi Jeho, who had been listening silently, finally spoke up.

 

“If you got it, can I open the classroom windows now?”

 

For Choi Jeho, who lived with the scent-sensitive Park Joo-woo, a classroom where thirty boys were huddled together seemed quite overwhelming. By throwing the windows wide open before the bell rang for 5th period, Choi Jeho was able to save his nose.

 

* * *

 

Music show MC Kim Iwol provided Baek Haewon with new entertainment every week.

It wasn’t exactly a feeling of ‘so cute I am going to explode’ or ‘so lovely I can’t stand it’. It was just… every day was a continuous loop of laughter.

 

The eldest hyung who had been mature since debut. Even in stories and videos from his trainee days, he had always been the sharp, composed hyung. So there was nothing more jarring than seeing that same person come out wearing oversized animal ears and loudly exclaim beside the senior artists, ‘Ah! Are those really the people who are coming out?!’.

 

Fans, of course, would adore their idols as long as they weren’t causing scandals, but the scripts given to MC Iwol didn’t quite satisfy Baek Haewon. To Baek Haewon, a calm and relaxed hosting style, like at an award ceremony, suited Kim Iwol better.

 

Whether the writers accepted this public opinion or did their own monitoring, the awkward over-acting disappeared from Kim Iwol’s comments by the third week after he became an official MC. His tone of voice also returned to a pleasant level.

 

At the MC desk, he was still the adorable maknae type, but he now felt like a character whose inner steadiness quietly shone through.

 

Because of that, Baek Haewon had momentarily forgotten. What her favorite version of Kim Iwol looked like.

 

Contentedly enjoying MC Iwol and thinking, ‘Well, this has its own charm too’, Baek Haewon was suddenly confronted one day with a teaser of Kim Iwol confidently heading to school in a school uniform. From that day on, Baek Haewon counted the D-day ten times a day until the broadcast date.

 

The impact of School-Uniform Kim Iwol, when it finally arrived, was tremendous. Tidbits flooded in: Kim Iwol who did evening self-study, Kim Iwol who wrote ‘Businessman’ in his future career column, and Kim Iwol whose student records were filled with words like ‘serious’ and ‘diligent’ for all three years. The detail that he was a role model for his peers due to his thorough self-management was also impressive.

 

Since the accompanying member was Choi Jeho, their nonstop banter was entertaining as well. The two of them didn’t stop bickering even for a second.

 

One moment they seemed to be praising each other, only to immediately go into a defensive stance. It was mostly Kim Iwol cornering Choi Jeho, and Choi Jeho crossing his arms and hitting back with an ‘as if’ attitude.

 

School uniforms in music videos, fan meetings, or concerts inevitably involved professional styling. Those polished looks were visually stunning, but they lacked the fresh innocence of an old coming-of-age film.

 

Some people might say Baek Haewon asked for too much, but could it really be a crime to love someone so much that you wanted to see everything about them, from A to Z? Only those who had never wondered whether their favorite idol put on socks sitting on the floor or sitting on the bed had the right to throw stones at her.

 

As it happened, Kim Iwol’s actual high school uniform had a terrible design. Even on the stage where all members came out wearing real school uniforms, Kim Iwol’s outfit looked like limp green onion kimchi.

 

Baek Haewon had only been thinking it was a greedy wish to want a style that was pretty but didn’t look too much like modern uniforms, with un-tailored waist and pant legs that preserved the original fit of the clothes, and a clean, plain style without accessories. Then, Kim Iwol presented exactly that to her in full video.

 

Looking like a scene straight out of a Taiwanese youth film, Kim Iwol made Haewon resent her past self for not buying a larger phone sooner. She had to watch this on this tiny phone? Really? She couldn’t believe reality.

 

Because the uniforms, background, and people were all real, it truly felt like watching Kim Iwol during his actual student days. From the action of gently shaking a friend’s shoulder and whispering for them to wake up, to his voice answering the teacher’s questions, to the relieved expression after surviving a difficult moment, only to be startled when a randomly called number turned out to be his own—the scenes were vivid.

 

When they played soccer, she was furious that this broadcast hadn’t been made into a movie. She felt resentful that she couldn’t see the foot kicking the ball, the wrinkles in the clothes from twisting his waist, and the smile he made after a successful pass in 2160p (4K). She couldn’t understand why the world was stopping her when she was willing to waste her data on high definition.

 

Based on looks, you would expect Kim Iwol to be the prickly, picky one and Choi Jeho to be the class socialite, but it was hilarious how they ended up in the opposite roles once the show started.

 

Kim Iwol was extremely busy adjusting the height of the standing desk for Choi Jeho and sharing fruit with him. It was also Kim Iwol who was most delighted when Choi Jeho scored a goal.

 

When he went to the school store to buy ice cream or sat writing notes in class, Kim Iwol looked just like an ordinary boy his age.

 

However, when he talked with the students, his characteristic maturity was revealed. From the way he woke up his dozing partner to the way he listened seriously even to minor worries—everything was, literally, ‘Kim Iwol-esque’.

 

It was nice to see him looking so fresh and breaking into a refreshing laugh because they won a single game. It was a joy to see traces of the ‘eldest hyung Kim Iwol’ in his hyung-like behavior of consistently praising friends who did something well while playing soccer.

 

Baek Haewon finally realized that she had been thirsting to see this side of Kim Iwol.

 

This was an entirely natural phenomenon. Wasn’t Spark originally the representative of refreshing youth? Baek Haewon had simply become a youth-obsessed parrot who cried out for youth whenever the cycle returned because she couldn’t forget that first impression.

The real culprit was Kim Iwol for turning the Sparklers this way. All Baek Haewon could do was hope that he would spend the rest of his life regularly serving up youth-themed concepts as compensation.