Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 507 - Supporter (2)

Choi Jeho’s suspicious behavior didn’t end with him just keeping his mouth shut.

 

“Jeho is checking my schedule?”

 

The image of Choi Jeho that Manager Chanyoung described felt like a completely different person.

 

It wasn’t that Jeho was indifferent to the members. But he wasn’t the type to memorize every detail of someone else’s business. If someone mentioned a specific broadcast during a meeting, he’d remember it, but he never cared about things that fell through during the discussion phase or weren’t finalized.

 

For someone like Choi Jeho to go out of his way to ask the manager something meant he was curious about things beyond the fixed schedule. After all, anyone could see where and when everyone had scheduled activities simply by looking at the Dotion calendar, so there was no reason to seek out the manager just to hear about finalized schedules.

 

‘Why is he doing things he never used to do?’

 

Doubt crept in, but I couldn’t let it show. Manager Chanyoung was already worried enough, sensing that Choi Jeho’s behavior was out of the ordinary.

 

“He also asked Mr. Daeyeon separately, so I wondered if you two had a falling out.”

 

To make matters worse, he had asked Manager Daeyeon too. Suddenly, the managers and I were all left with question marks over our heads.

 

“No way. We get along great.”

 

“I’m saying this just in case, Iwol, but if there’s trouble, you shouldn’t just force yourself to endure it for the sake of work. In the long run, that’ll only hurt you more. Being professional is important, of course, but thinking about the future…”

 

“We really didn’t fight! We even went to the gym together yesterday!”

 

Unfortunately, the misunderstanding snowballed because Choi Jeho and I hadn’t shared a room once during the entire tour. If we hadn’t gone to the hotel gym together, I wouldn’t even have had any evidence to defend myself with.

 

Since Manager Chanyoung was so worried, I went to Manager Daeyeon to hear more. I asked exactly what Choi Jeho had inquired about, and I heard something I couldn’t believe came from Choi Jeho.

 

“He checked the entire list of ads I’ve been offered?”

 

“Yes. I told him this was probably something he should ask Mr. Iwol directly and sent him away, but…”

 

What Choi Jeho wanted to check wasn’t just the list of proposed advertisements. I was truly shocked to learn he was also curious about how I was handling hospital consultations or treatments while we were abroad for the tour.

 

“He didn’t… ask me.”

 

Choi Jeho had sat next to me on the flight back home. Even then, he didn’t try to start a conversation or gauge my mood. Since he slept the whole time except for when the meals were served, I figured he was just tired and left him alone. But he was investigating these things behind my back?

 

‘Did I miss something somewhere?’

 

I was confused. I thought the issues that mattered to Choi Jeho—like member conflicts or accidents—had been completely resolved, so this situation made even less sense.

 

‘I feel like I’ve had this same uneasy feeling recently…’

 

Tracing back the start of this déjà vu, something came to mind. It was when I heard about the safety training at the action school. Looking back now, it hadn’t really been that big of a deal, so perhaps I’d simply been overreacting.

 

Even I constantly prepared contingency plans in case something happened during concerts, and I’d practically memorized every one of Spark’s schedules, including our individual activities. The only unusual part was that the person doing it was Choi Jeho; the actions themselves weren’t inherently weird.

 

‘Still, should I talk to him?’

 

I knew as well as anyone that misunderstandings caused by a lack of communication were the root of countless problems. But I had no idea how to start the conversation. I couldn’t exactly say, ‘Hey, you’ve been digging into my business lately, what’s your problem?’.

 

Just as a headache was starting to form, a Dotion notification called for me. It was an update regarding the meeting schedule for Hellas’s album. I wasn’t a mandatory attendee, so I was only tagged as a CC. Regardless, my first thought was, ‘I should go.’

 

This happened before too. When I was weighing whether or not to talk to Choi Jeho, I just didn’t feel like it, so I ignored it…

 

‘Sigh.’

 

I was already troubled by the synchronization issue, and now things weighing on my mind were increasing.

 

‘But I shouldn’t avoid it.’

 

As the saying goes, if you don’t look into a problem when it feels off, you’ll end up unable to stop with an excavator what you could have stopped with a hand-hoe.

 

I decided to have a serious talk with Choi Jeho in the near future. I quickly checked the calendar to see when the earliest day off was for both of us after the meetings and urgent tasks were wrapped up.

 

‘Where should I write this date down?’

 

I couldn’t write it on the Dotion calendar where the members and staff could see. I thought about my personal planner, but as long as Choi Jeho was paying attention to my actions, I didn’t want him looking at it. If he saw the pages written about the System, there wouldn’t even be a chance to explain myself.

 

To make matters worse, my roommate, Jeong Seongbin, was also unusually interested in what I was doing. If I tried to sneakily book a meeting room, Manager Daeyeon, who was faithful with follow-ups, would surely contact him. There were too many prying eyes to avoid.

 

Then, a secret plan occurred to me: the hologram scheduler that the System had provided as a welcome kit.

 

I used it often in the early days of my regression, but as my influence at UA grew, I hadn’t felt the need to force schedule changes, so I had forgotten about it. There couldn’t possibly be a more secure place to keep notes than a virtual scheduler visible only to me, so it was the perfect time to use it again.

 

Pretending to enter something into my phone, I summoned the scheduler. After writing down the D-day for the showdown with Choi Jeho, I checked to see if there were any further updates.

 

On the very next page, a memo I had never seen before was written.

 

[17:00 Crossroads]

 

My thoughts stalled for a moment. The System manifested itself before me as I stood frozen.

 

+

[SYSTEM] A work instruction from the ‘Superior’ has arrived.

▶ I was going to notify you separately when there was one month left, but Assistant Manager Kim beat me to it. Man, I have to hand it to you, Assistant Manager Kim, you sure are impatient.

+

 

‘Ah…’

 

I had known this was coming eventually, and I had steeled myself. I had simulated it many times while watching passing cars or dashcam footage uploaded online.

 

But having the prediction become a reality was a different matter. It felt like… receiving a sentence.

 

My mouth went dry. I repeatedly clenched and unclenched my hands.

 

If I prevented it, how much would my synchronization rate increase? I wouldn’t die in the accident itself, but would it end because of the variable called the synchronization rate? Could I really trust the System when it said it would actively cooperate to keep that increase as low as possible?

 

My head became a mess. As if to soothe me, the System spoke.

 

+

[SYSTEM] A work instruction from the ‘Superior’ has arrived.

▶ Don’t even think about running away before the handover is finished, okay? The company will follow every procedure properly~ So Assistant Manager Kim, you give it your all until the very end too. Understood?

+

 

Should I call this a relief? It felt distant. Even with a massive event like our first world tour, the System hadn’t assigned me any special missions, so I’d already suspected that the miracle I’d been hoping for—a chance to turn things around—wasn’t going to happen… but since the System said it wouldn’t send me away immediately, I decided to find a way to survive.

 

A comeback was scheduled for September, the month the accident was supposed to happen. Since the domestic tour followed immediately after promotions, the time I could spend at the action school was limited. If I hadn’t already completed most of the album work in advance, both the comeback preparations and my accident preparations would have suffered.

 

‘At least the accident date doesn’t overlap with a performance day. If I handle them one by one, I can do it. I can’t afford to panic and make another mistake, so, step by step…’

 

I took a deep breath. Then I exhaled slowly.

 

Since I found out a little earlier, time was on my side. The only unfortunate part was that things had become awkward with Choi Jeho just when I needed to increase my visits to action school, but it was far better than finding out so late that I’d have had to run out halfway through rehearsal.

 

‘Judging by the System’s tendency to be desperate to make me an idol, I suspect it might have adjusted the date on purpose.’

 

Regardless, as long as the outcome worked in my favor, that was enough. Regaining my composure, I sent a text to the action school to book a visit.

 

* * *

 

“Hyung, you’re eating really well lately.”

 

“I’m trying to build up some stamina. I’ve increased my workout volume by that much, but do I look like I’ve gained weight?”

 

“No. It’s just surprising.”

 

At Lee Cheonghyeon’s words, I reflexively touched my face. I didn’t look like my cheeks had gotten chubbier, did I? That was the one thing I absolutely had to avoid.

 

“…Do you want to eat mine too?”

 

“Joowoo, no matter how hungry I am, I’m not going to steal my dongsaeng’s food.”

 

I politely declined the lunch box Park Joowoo readily offered.

 

After the date of the accident was set, I invested all the time I used to spend at the gym into the action school. I told the members and the manager a plausible lie that it was a better workout because it consumed more energy.

 

Thanks to that, I was even able to practice against actual cars. Of course, it wasn’t as dangerous as the real thing, since I wore a protective suit and timed my movements around vehicles driving at low speed, but how many ordinary people ever get the chance to prepare for a traffic accident to this extent? Just knowing there was something I could try was an enormous comfort.

 

I ate regularly because I couldn’t afford to get injured or sick. Because I ate enough to handle the increased workload and training, it seemed I looked like someone with a greedy appetite. Should I eat in moderation and hide somewhere to eat snacks…?

 

“By the way, once everyone is done eating, could you check Dotion and vote?”

 

Jeong Seongbin, who had almost finished his lunch box, waved his phone.

 

“The design drafts for the album and the digital cover are out.”

 

At the news, the guys pulled out their phones before even finishing their food.

 

I also put down my chopsticks for a moment to check the drafts. Several versions were uploaded, starting with an album design that looked like a fashion magazine cover and a digital cover that looked like an empty locker room.

 

“The color palette’s completely different from all our previous albums. If I had to compare it to one, maybe Hideout?”

 

“It definitely has a much more classic feel too.”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon spoke while busily scrolling down. Jeong Seongbin and Park Joowoo were also engrossed in voting for the designs they liked. I watched them for a moment, then cast my vote for the design that I thought would suit them best.