Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 506 - Supporter (1)

[Hellas Polo sunbaenim]

[It’s a relief to hear it’s just a simple survey.]

[We were worried we had to talk about something much more macroscopic, like presenting a vision or something.]

 

Ah, another victim of a results-driven society…

 

[Hellas Polo sunbaenim]

[I’m sorry.]

[I feel bad bothering someone as busy as you over something so minorㅠㅠ]

[Since it’s the first project after the reorganization, I was worried that doing things our way might affect Spark or the existing processes.]

 

Although Spark’s digital single was released after the company reorganization, the actual work had been progressing before that. The mini album planned for after the world tour and domestic tour was also still being prepared by Spark’s former dedicated team.

 

Naturally, Hellas’s album became the first real project for the new business division. Given the circumstances, they were probably worried about becoming the rolling stone that disturbed the established order.

 

Even though I was abroad, I wasn’t performing every single day, and answering didn’t take much time or effort, yet Mr. Polo apologized politely. I replied sincerely that it was no trouble at all.

 

[Hellas Polo sunbaenim]

[Since it’s about work, Yur hyung was going to contact you himself.]

[But I felt like you found him too difficult to talk to, so I said I’d do it instead.]

[Just in case you felt slighted that a junior member was the one asking ^^]

 

[Me]

[Not at all.]

[Thank you for your consideration!]

 

[Hellas Polo sunbaenim]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

 

[Me]

[Haha… ha.]

 

If it weren’t for Mr. Polo, I might have had a nerve-wracking conversation with the boss sunbaenim. I silently offered my deepest gratitude for Mr. Polo’s excellent judgment. Talking with such a considerate professional member of of society really did put me at ease.

 

Our brief chat ended with Polo enthusiastically wishing for Spark’s tour to conclude safely and successfully. I sent a sticker of myself bowing and left the chat.

 

Then, three minutes later, I went back in. I cautiously called Mr. Polo out again and left a long brick of a message.

 

[Me]

[Sunbaenim,]

[I agonized dozens of times over whether this would be overstepping my bounds, but there is a concept I desperately wanted to suggest to you seniors, so I’m taking the liberty of messaging you. I am well aware this might look like childish behavior and I plan to reflect deeply… Read More]

 

Mr. Polo read the message immediately. The great sunbaenim was silent for about three minutes, then sent a massive brick of a reply back.

 

[Hellas Polo sunbaenim]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ… Read More]

 

There was text at the end of the long string of LOLs. He said thank you, that he really liked it, and that he would definitely suggest it to the members. He also mentioned that since I was the one looking out for them, I shouldn’t be the one apologizing.

 

[Hellas Polo sunbaenim]

[.

.

.

You’re saying this for our benefit. Right? If we end up using it, I should be buying you dinner!]

 

But the words didn’t really register. I’d been nervous from the moment before I hit send.

 

[Hellas Polo sunbaenim]

[Did I laugh too much? I didn’t mean it in a bad way! It’s just that you felt like a dongsaeng to me.]

[Truly, thank you.]

[Who else would put this much thought and sincerity into another group’s concept?]

[Looks like I’m the one who owes you a meal. Haha.]

 

In any case, I survived thanks to his ocean-like generosity. Vowing never to act out like this again, I decided to take solace in the fact that I gave a senior a good laugh.

 

* * *

 

As the tour raced toward its final destination, various videos filmed abroad began to be uploaded to Spark’s official MeTube channel. The editing for the vlogs and self-produced content we had sent back was finally complete.

 

Following the ‘Making Of’ and ‘Behind Series’ for the digital single, Spark’s ‘World Trip(?)’ videos immediately began asserting their presence everywhere.

 

≫ Peak J-type group behavior:

They decided everyone’s roommates for the entire three-month tour before they even left.

└ I lost it when they pulled up the room layouts for every country and made a roommate chart. Seriously;;;;;

└ These Content-born Monsters…

└ At this rate, they’ll even decide whose room to do the livestreams in ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ They actually tried to, but since they didn’t know what the hotel rooms would be like, they decided that if the rooms were the same size and condition, they’d all gather in whichever room was farthest from the elevator.

└└ Relentless.

 

≫ Spark, the group famous for not mincing their words (Auto-play Warning)

Early-debut Cheonghyeon said Iwol hyung’s English pronunciation for ‘Can I have a receipt?’ was his charm point.

Then that same hyung: ‘Receipt, please’.

└ He’s pretty good at everything else, so why is this the thing they keep bringing up?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ Overwhelming fluency

└ Is Kim Iwol not doing English ads anymore…? I liked seeing his handsome face every time I commuted, so I’m sad the ad was taken down…

└└ I thought they’d renew the contract, but they didn’t ㅠ There wasn’t even any controversy, so maybe they couldn’t agree on the advertising fee?

└└└ There were even articles saying user traffic skyrocketed after he became the model. Would they really skip that just for the fee…? There must be another reason.

└└└└ He was the guardian spirit of the subway, protecting us from matchmaking service ads… Please come back.

└└└└└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ Kim Iwol sent the pizza blanket to the laundry service.

Reason: He was afraid Choi Jeho would bring it on the tour.

└ The highlight was Jeho actually trying to pack it and then asking where it went ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ He didn’t just wash it; he sent it away ㅋㅋㅋ

└ Because if he’d just washed it himself, Jeho would’ve dried it and packed it anyway.

└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ Seongbin ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

He said the last time he lay in the same bed as someone else was in elementary school when he spilled juice on Mr. Seongjun’s bed and had to sleep together ㅋㅋㅋ

└ I completely lost it watching those two lie next to each other with their hands folded neatly on their chests ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ The bed already looked tiny, and the funniest part is that it only worked because Jeho was excluded ㅠㅠ

└ If Jeho was there, someone would have definitely fallen off that night ㅋㅋㅋ ㅠㅠ

└ Seeing how Seongbin only teases Kiyeon, he really must see him as a dongsaeng ㅋㅋ Secretly the biggest Kyeon bully.

└ Then they woke up the next morning with one arm hanging off the bed each. ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

 

≫ Why is our tiny woodland-creature main vocalist suddenly so manly?

Was a hotel robe always such a form-fitting garment?

└ And he’s the type to take it off because it’s suffocating…

└ Am I the only one who lost my mind seeing Joowoo open a drink for Cheonghyeon?

└└ He has a gentle smile on his face, but the veins popping out on the back of his hand are seriously insane.

└ Whenever I watch their livestreams and self-produced content, I worry about how our soft-tofu Joowoo is supposed to survive this harsh world. Then I see his everyday photos and my heart starts hurting for a completely different reason.

 

≫ Reactions of the hyungs when the maknae (famous for his casual style) wore a palm-sized mini backpack as a fashion item:

Eldest: Kiyeon, wait, let’s capture this in a photo. (Hardcore record-keeping enthusiast)

Leader: The bag is cute~ (Praises the bag)

Singing Teacher: It suits you~ (Praises the style)

11-month-older hyung: Amazing, where did you buy it? (Extorting mall info)

???: What are you even planning to put in this bag? (Critical hit)

└ That’s just his way of showing interest~~~

└ I cackled seeing that Jeho couldn’t even fit his fingers inside ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ 9:26 Seongbin quietly pressing his lips together in the corner when Iwol hyung tells Jeho hyung to stay quiet if he doesn’t know fashion.

└└ Oh man, why did I miss this ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

≫ Why did the ice cream melt so tragically?

Did the fridge break???

└ Iwol was bringing the ice cream back but got distracted taking photos of Kiyeon, so it ended up like that.

└ It’s even more annoying that Jeho and Joowoo are eating it like there’s nothing wrong, even though it looks like slime ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ The Deserted Islanders are eternal.

 

The overflowing attention was overwhelming. To repay the gratitude, all I could do was post tons of photos on the official account and send a barrage of BubblePop messages. So, I did my best to open a ‘Kim Iwol Cup: Unlimited New Photos’ session.

 

Living busy days and nights, the tour finally reached its final stretch. After filming the interviews for the Blu-ray release, the goal of this long journey—which had felt so distant—was finally in sight.

 

“What should we do first when we get to Korea? Practice for the domestic concert?”

 

“Before that, Jeho hyung has a magazine photoshoot scheduled, right? And there are interviews for Cheonghyeon and Kiyeon, too.”

 

“Me too?”

 

“Yeah, it was added to Dotion the day before yesterday.”

 

Spark sat around a tablet, checking the schedule they had to tackle after returning home. Since I already had the contents memorized, I stepped aside. Choi Jeho approached me.

 

“Why aren’t you accepting any commercials?”

 

He asked while gulping down sparkling water. It was a brand provided in the concert waiting room. It looked like he had grabbed a leftover one to drink. He was frugal in the strangest ways.

 

“It’s not like you aren’t getting offers.”

 

“Thankfully, they’re giving me more than enough.”

 

“Are you being picky with work?”

 

It was a heavy remark that could be misunderstood depending on the listener. But knowing his intention wasn’t ‘Are you not going to do work you don’t like? Are you full of yourself now?’ but rather ‘Is there a reason you’ve started filtering work?’, I wasn’t bothered.

 

However, I couldn’t exactly answer, ‘I’m lying low to avoid causing damage to advertisers and the agency because I don’t know when my synchronization rate might spike.’ So, I just gave a vague excuse.

 

“I think I need work that lets me change my image. Up until now, most of my jobs have made me look like an office worker or a government official. Dramas, public service ads—that sort of thing.”

 

“That’s your characteristic, though. Is there a need to change it?”

 

“If I want to remain an idol, I have to build an image that fits. At this rate, you guys will be doing concerts while I’ll be giving performance reports.”

 

Despite my words, Choi Jeho’s expression was full of dissatisfaction. When I responded with a ‘What do you want me to do?’ look, he let out a sigh.

 

More importantly, why did he always soften his tone when talking to the others but keep speaking to me exactly the same way as always? Was this revenge because I was constantly getting on his case? If so, I couldn’t really argue with that. I’d just have to shut up and take it.

 

“It’s not like I’m planning to sit around doing nothing until the right job comes along. I’ve decided to participate in the album planning for the Hellas sunbaenims.”

 

“Why? We’re preparing our own album too.”

 

“To add to my portfolio. I set the schedule for when I’m not busy, and no one pressured me to it. I’m getting paid properly too, so you’ll count it as work, right?”

 

Strictly speaking, it was because I felt a debt of gratitude toward Mr. Yur and Mr. Polo. Doing something like this was the least I could do after hitching rides in their car, freeloading meals, and even staying at their place.

 

“You’re talking about building an idol image, and then the next thing out of your mouth is ‘portfolio.’ What kind of idol says that?”

 

Oblivious to my complicated feelings, Choi Jeho grumbled. He seemed to want to say more, but instead of adding any words, he simply walked away.