Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols Chapter 527 - Those Left Behind

The day they filmed a variety show with only five members. Spark climbed into the car immediately after the recording ended.

 

“Are you guys going straight to the dorm?”

 

“Yes!”

 

Jeong Seongbin answered energetically. The schedule had ended too late for them to stop by the practice room. It was already past midnight.

 

After buckling his seatbelt and taking a breather, Jeong Seongbin pulled out his phone. He hadn’t been able to contact Kim Iwol once, who must have been alone at the dorm all day. It was a habit he had naturally developed from living in a group with someone who would raise hell if they looked at their phone for no reason during a recording.

 

Jeong Seongbin entered the group chat intending to leave a message saying they were on the way, but he noticed something strange.

 

‘Why does it say there are only five members?’

 

The capacity, which had always been six, had changed to five. There hadn’t been a notification saying someone had left the chat. When he checked the participant list, Kim Iwol’s profile was gone.

 

“Did anyone hear Iwol hyung say he was changing his number?”

 

“Why do you ask?”

 

“Because he’s not in the group chat anymore.”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon replied that he hadn’t heard anything. Choi Jeho’s answer was the same.

 

It wasn’t just the Spark group chat Kim Iwol had vanished from. He had evaporated from every single chat window—the room with the company staff, and the room with the eight members of Spark and the managers.

 

It was strange for someone like Kim Iwol, who valued prompt notifications, to change his contact information without a word.

 

Tilting his head, Jeong Seongbin checked his email inbox, which was flooded with notifications. There were mountains of automated emails mentioning shared drives and Dotion.

 

The titles and contents were all identical, save for a few words.

 

[Kim Iwol has transferred ownership of a file…]

 

[Kim Iwol has transferred ownership of a document…]

 

[Kim Iwol has transferred ownership of a file…]

 

[Kim Iwol has invited an editor to a document…]

 

[Kim Iwol has transferred ownership of a folder…]

 

[Kim Iwol has invited an editor to a folder…]

 

The folders with changed ownership contained a mix of shared documents Jeong Seongbin already used with editor privileges and documents he had never seen before. A sense of dread washed over him.

 

“Daeyeon hyung, you don’t know Iwol hyung’s new number either?”

 

Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Pyeong Daeyeon pulled the car over in a legal stopping zone. While the managers called each other, Jeong Seongbin anxiously checked every single email.

 

“…You’re arriving at the dorm soon? Yes, we were right behind you, so we’ll be there in five minutes…”

 

A message came through that the lead vehicle would check the situation as soon as they reached the dorm. In place of Pyeong Daeyeon, who was too flustered to do much at the moment, Jeong Seongbin tried to calm the members sitting in the back seat.

 

“Now that the trial is over, he might have changed it to avoid calls from his family. We’ll go ask him when we get there.”

 

This didn’t resolve the mystery of the folders and files that had been dumped on them. But this was the only thing Jeong Seongbin could say to his colleagues right now.

 

Just as the car Jeong Seongbin was in entered the parking lot, his phone rang. It was a call from Kang Kiyeon. The moment he pressed the answer button, a trembling voice called out to Jeong Seongbin.

 

— Hyung.

 

Something felt ominous. The hand holding the phone shook involuntarily. In the silent car where everyone was holding their breath, they could hear the other party clearly even without putting the call on speakerphone.

 

— Where did Iwol hyung go?

 

Jeong Seongbin’s mind went blank. Choi Jeho threw the car door open.

 

The time it took to get from the parking lot to the dorm was agonizingly long. He had never felt the numbers on an elevator panel change so slowly.

 

Jeong Seongbin burst through the front door, which hadn’t even been fully closed. Park Joowoo was standing in front of the bedroom door closest to the shoe rack.

 

“Joowoo.”

 

The person whose name had been called turned his head. His expression was so complicated that Jeong Seongbin couldn’t find the words to describe it.

 

Park Joowoo stepped back. Only then did Jeong Seongbin finally look at the state of his own room.

 

Half of the room was empty. There wasn’t even a single pillow on the bed.

 

Jeong Seongbin opened every drawer and wardrobe he could reach. His roommate’s neatly organized clothes and belongings had vanished without a trace.

 

“What is all this?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon, who had followed him inside, asked almost to himself. His tone suggested he couldn’t believe the sight before his eyes.

 

“It’s a hidden camera prank, right? How else could all the stuff disappear like this?”

 

A hollow laugh seeped through his words. Lee Cheonghyeon ran a hand through his hair. Just as he was about to say, ‘Even so, this kind of prank is taking it too far’…

 

Jeong Seongbin sprinted to the desk and turned on his laptop. He logged into his account. The rest of the title that had been cut off when viewed on his phone, the body of the emails, and a multitude of new folders filling the webpage appeared on the screen.

 

Kim Iwol, who was exceptionally skilled at document work and OS programs, used to pass on small tips even when the members didn’t ask. One of those tips from the early days came to mind.

 

‘If you put special characters like parentheses or braces in a filename, that file will appear first when you sort by name. It’s useful for frequently accessed folders or documents that need to be updated in real time, so you could use it when naming those.’

 

This function was applied without exception to Spark’s shared drive, which was now so crowded with unfamiliar folders and files that it looked like a system error.

 

[(XX.11.02.) Handover Document_Author_Kim Iwol]

 

The document didn’t open immediately despite several double-clicks.

 

How heavy is this file? Just as Jeong Seongbin had that thought, the lagging browser window turned white and then displayed the document.

 

(XX.11.02.) Handover Document_Author_Kim Iwol

 

Kim Iwol Handover Document

 

Table of Contents Click links to move to each page

 

─ [Spark] Things to do immediately upon reading this document

─ [UtopiA] Regarding contract termination

.

.

.

 

Jeong Seongbin doubted his own eyes.

 

Kim Iwol had always insisted, ‘A document should be concise and clear, first and foremost’. The summaries prepared for reports were to be brief, while documents explaining the details were to be separated and attached separately. The members had heard this until their ears were worn out.

 

Which was why the situation before his eyes was all the more incomprehensible. There was no way Kim Iwol would upload a document over 100 pages long. That hyung valued visibility and communication efficiency above all else.

 

Without even seeing the kind explanation that clicking the links would move him to pages, Jeong Seongbin unconsciously scrolled down. The screen jumped to the page ‘Things to do immediately upon reading this document,’ where the intended audience was designated as Spark.

 

Things to do immediately upon reading this document

 

1. Deliver the envelope in the desk drawer to Manager Chanyoung.

There is a check inside. To avoid the risk of loss, do not send it to the company via quick service or registered mail; make sure to deliver it in person.

 

2. Get sufficient rest.

Don’t try to do too much in one day. It will be night when you get back from filming, so everyone just go to sleep for now.

 

3. Familiarize yourselves with the correct posture/attitude to take when a member resigns.

File Location: Shared Drive > (XX.11.02.) Handover_File Collection_Author_Kim Iwol > Search for ‘Correct Posture’

You guys don’t have any schedules for the next two days, right? I’ve made a guideline, so check it when you have time.

 

4. Review the 3rd Full Album Planning Draft.

File Location: Shared Drive > (XX.11.02.) Handover_File Collection_Author_Kim Iwol > Search for ‘3rd Full Album’

This is the album planning draft for the comeback early next year we discussed before. I thought it might not be adopted, so I didn’t include the planning fee for this when calculating the estimated penalty. You don’t need to worry about this part, but I wrote it down in case you were curious.

 

5. Request Managers to dispose of the bed frame / mattress.

I’ve already attached the waste disposal stickers. There is an expiration date on the stickers, so they must be thrown out before then.

 

Jeong Seongbin opened the desk drawer as soon as he finished the first sentence. He saw two document envelopes with familiar designs. On the outside of the sealed envelope, the words ‘Contract Termination Request Documents (Kim Iwol)’ were written in large letters. The other envelope had a label that said ‘Handwritten Letter (Original).’

 

He knew what the intent behind sealing them was, but Jeong Seongbin’s hands ruthlessly tore the tape. A stack of crisp white documents was pulled out with frantic movements. A small paper bag tumbled out of the envelope he was about to set down.

 

Staring intently at the title ‘Contract Termination Request,’ Jeong Seongbin picked up the paper bag at his feet. When he opened it with trembling hands, a single cashier’s check was revealed.

 

He had once heard that when people find themselves in an overwhelmingly shocking situation, their minds simply stop functioning. That was exactly what happened to Jeong Seongbin. Throughout the time he laid the check on the desk and flipped through the contract termination request, his mind remained blank.

 

Even after seeing the calculation sheet for the cancellation penalty at the very end, Jeong Seongbin wondered if he was dreaming. But the moment he confirmed that the number on the calculation sheet was exactly the same as the amount on the check, he was violently thrown back into reality.

 

How.

 

Since when.

 

Lee Cheonghyeon pushed the frozen Jeong Seongbin aside and took over the desk. Biting his lip and reading word by word, Lee Cheonghyeon opened the folder containing the handover files. Searching for ‘3rd Full Album’ brought up a document titled ‘[Planning Draft] Spark_3rd_Full_Album.’

 

Lee Cheonghyeon stared at the screen for a long while before letting out a hollow laugh. With a face so flushed that tiny veins stood out at his temples, he breathed out in a way that was indistinguishable between a laugh and a sob.

 

“This hyung is insane.” 

 

Lee Cheonghyeon said. His eyes trembled. 

 

“Where the hell is this guy right now?”

 

Park Joowoo grabbed his dongsaeng as he looked ready to bolt out of the dorm with bloodshot eyes. Jeong Seongbin was afraid. He didn’t want to know what had made Lee Cheonghyeon that angry.

 

And yet, human nature was such that even when you knew something would break you, you still looked… Jeong Seongbin approached the now-empty desk again…

 

[Planning Draft] Spark_3rd_Full_Album

 

Spark 3rd Full Repackage Album Planning Proposal

 

…And he saw Kim Iwol’s suggestion to restructure all their existing title tracks into 5-member versions.

 

Jeong Seongbin tried to guess where this dream had begun. And he prayed to wake up from this terrible illusion as soon as possible.

 

Sadly, it was a night far too early for sleep.