Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

Last night, I went live from the company meeting room and made a clarifying broadcast.

 

I knew it was not the usual approach. But after weighing all the options, I concluded that this was the best course of action.

 

If I had left it to UA, I felt like they would have just repeated the past mistakes of Spark’s countless controversies, where they couldn’t properly clarify a single thing and only made things worse.

 

Moreover, considering the tendency of the entertainment industry to nitpick and manipulate public opinion, a single written statement wouldn’t be enough to quell the situation.

 

Dragging out this unpleasant issue would also be disrespectful to ‘IDC’, the show we were currently appearing on.

 

So, after thorough preparation, I spent a full hour proving my innocence…

 

“Shouldn’t you try for college again?”

 

“Are you telling me to quit the group and take the CSAT?”

 

“That’s not what I meant. Don’t you regret it?”

 

…Now Choi Jeho and a few others, including some company staff, were pressuring me, saying ‘It’s not too late, try for college again.’

 

Everyone was pretending to be so supportive while pushing me out. And here I thought they’d been surprisingly accommodating about keeping me on the team for so long.

 

I knew sensational topics would grab public attention, but I didn’t expect even the people around me to get swept up in the buzz as well. Why are you getting caught up in bait meant for others?

 

And don’t I regret it, you ask? I regret it the most! I’m shedding bloody tears!

 

≫ I knew Iwol was smart,

 

but Seoul National University… through regular admission…

 

but because of lack of money… ha

 

└ The moment this came up, the chat froze, lgnd

 

≫ I’m happy our boy didn’t receive any special treatment, but losing SNU stings too much.

 

≫ XX I’m so frustrated for him

 

He got so unfairly attacked for using a study room pass he earned with his grades

 

Over something so trivial

 

≫ But if his family is struggling, he’d get a government scholarship, right?

 

└ If you’re a freshman, the scholarship is given after you pay tuition. So he had to pay tuition first, but couldn’t.

 

└ His parents both work, how could he not pay?

 

└ 1.) Not all working people earn 4-5 million won a month. 2.) He said he became independent at 20 because he received zero support from his family. End of story.

 

≫ Common_Idol_CSAT_Score.jpg

 

└ Irrefutable 111111

 

└ Leaving here inspired

 

└ Inspired 22

 

…No. I take back what I said about me being the person regretting it the most.

 

I had already resigned myself to fate, but the fans were agonizing over my situation as if it were their own problem.

 

South Korea united by college entrance exams, how touching.

 

“Even if I try again, it’d be pointless. That day, my luck was off the charts.”

 

“Hyung, the way you’re saying it, it doesn’t sound like a joke…”

 

“Because it’s not.”

 

All the luck in my life was concentrated on the day of the CSAT. Wishing for another miracle would be shameless.

 

Besides, even if I went back to college, I’d just end up with a low 2.0 GPA again.

 

I’d juggle part-time jobs and studies, lose both my specs and grades, apply to the Hanpyeong Industry, which offered humanities majors a starting salary of 35 million won, and ruin my life again.

 

It was not that I didn’t have any regrets.

 

No, it was more than just ‘not having any regrets’.

 

College admission was my first achievement in life. It was my first experience of hope, the belief that I could do something.

 

How could I be okay with losing that? It was just that I’d resigned myself to a reality I couldn’t change.

 

‘You went to SNU? Then you should be able to handle this on your own, right?’

 

‘Assistant Manager Kim is book-smart but not street-smart. You should go back to school.’

 

…I got sick of hearing things like that. Damn it, that guy had no hand in helping me go to college, so why was he always picking on me?

 

As expected, I should have gotten the investment analyst license and gone to a securities firm, even if it meant going into debt.

 

But considering that most Hanpyeong Industry employees were highly educated, I suspected the situation would have been similar at other companies.

 

Anyway. The situation with Parthe wasn’t fully resolved yet, but at least the open criticism of Spark and me had stopped. That alone was a relief.

 

“More importantly, there’s something more pressing right now.”

 

Today was the deadline to submit the participant list for the IDC position battle.

 

The third round of IDC was structured as a position battle.

 

Each group selected representative members based on three positions: vocal, dance, and rap.  These representatives were then randomly paired with those from other groups to form units.

 

Each unit competed in a 2:2:2 format, and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places were determined by audience votes. The ranking earned here would provide bonus points in the final 4th round.

 

The reason I’d been doing my best in the competitions so far was to secure the production budget for the 3rd round.

 

Now that we had won 1st place in the 2nd round and secured the budget, I didn’t want to expend unnecessary energy in the 3rd round.

 

Spark was unlikely to win anyway, and my priority was the safe and healthy growth of the Spark members.

 

Survival programs required an enormous amount of stamina. You had to prepare everything for the stage in a short period of time, and because the preparation period was short, you had to maximize practice time.

 

If we could receive support in various areas such as planning, arrangement, and choreography, it would be much less work, but UA didn’t have the capacity.

 

As a result, the six of us literally had to work our bones off to get here.

 

It wouldn’t be surprising if someone collapsed at this point. Spark needed time to recover before it came to that.

 

“Kiyeon, you haven’t gone to the orthopedist last month or this month, right? Hand over the dance position to Choi Jeho and get some physical therapy this round.”

 

“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt that much.”

 

“You’ll go viral once the random play dance comes up anyway. Just trust me and go.”

 

“Who said I was worried about that?”

 

I went through the trouble of securing some airtime for him, yet he had so much to say. Not in the mood to listen, I just let it go in one ear and out the other.

 

“What about the vocal position…?”

 

Park Joowoo asked.

 

That was what I was worried about. I was originally going to go.

 

I wanted to give the main vocal a break, but the timing was awkward because of the controversy.

 

“Didn’t you say you’d take it last time, hyung?”

 

“I did, but the situation is a little different now… I’m wondering if it’s a good idea for me to go.”

 

As I pondered, Jeong Seongbin thought for a moment and said.

 

“How about you go as planned, hyung?”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes. Because you must have had a vision in mind.”

 

There’s no grand vision or anything like that—I just wanted to give you guys a break.

 

“You’ll do great, hyung. I believe in you!”

 

I don’t know about that.

 

No matter how I look at it…

 

≫ Told you this ***** is just attention-hungry

 

He must have coated vibranium on his thick skin

 

≫ ???: Ah, can’t resist the buzzㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

…I could already hear the noise.

 

But since I was freeloading, I’d take one for the team. Time to flex my steel vocal cords.

 

“Then all that’s left is rap.”

 

Jeong Seongbin said.

 

The official rapper of this team was Lee Cheonghyeon. While Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon also received separate rap training, they had never showcased it publicly.

 

But asking Lee Cheonghyeon, who had worked his tail off through the second round, to go out and rap again…

 

“When it comes to rap, of course, I have to go!”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon exclaimed, his eyes shining. He even clenched his fists tightly.

 

“We also need to start thinking about the final performance song. Considering the work involved in producing it, wouldn’t it be better for you to sit out this round?”

 

The final competition required an original song. Since it was a stage that needed preparation time, the rules for the third round had been announced alongside it.

 

I reminded him of the final performance, just in case he had forgotten.

 

However, Lee Cheonghyeon’s stance was firm.

 

“Hyung, you remember how we completely cut out the rap parts in the second performance, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“So I had to sing after ages, and it was a nightmare, right? Joowoo hyung scolded me nonstop, and I cried my eyes out, right?”

 

“I did…?”

 

Park Joowoo, standing nearby, looked utterly wronged, but Lee Cheonghyeon didn’t care.

 

“I’m really good at rapping, so it must’ve felt like such a waste, right? You probably sighed a lot, huh? Wishing I could’ve rapped, letting it fester into resentment, right?”

 

“…”

 

“And if it’s a rap battle, and you don’t let me go, I’ll feel heartbroken, right? I’ll cry, right? My eyes will be so swollen that I’ll have to hold ice packs until the final performance rehearsal, right?”

 

“Enough. I’ll let you go.”

 

“Excellent choice!”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon gave a thumbs up. We’d only just decided on the participants and I was already exhausted.

 

A few days later, the partners for our painstakingly chosen participants were announced.

 

* * *

 

My luck with group project partners had never been great.

 

In high school, those who barely participated would suddenly try to get credit when it was time to review school records. In college, I spent most of my time realizing how worthless human conscience could be.

 

Due to excessive part-time work, I had to prioritize and focus. I chose group projects, thinking that no one should be disadvantaged because of me, but in four years, none of my groupmates ever chose to actually do the work.

 

And what about the military? 

 

Even in a place where everyone was supposed to share the burden, there was subtle shirking of responsibilities.

 

I thought I finally escaped group life, but then I ended up at the Hanpyeong Industry.

 

A team leader who stole my achievements for promotion, a dysfunctional organization, Manager Nam who handed me a paper cup while saying, ‘Kids these days have it so easy’ as I bailed water from a sinking ship with a bucket…

 

And today, I was about to meet new groupmates.

 

Swallowing hard, I headed to the third room as directed.

 

Get it together, Kim Iwol. You’re no stranger to lousy group projects.

 

Don’t kid yourself into thinking you can have a decent, collaborative experience now!

 

Tears welled up deep inside my heart.

 

When I opened the door…

 

“Huh?”

 

“Gasps, it’s Iwol-nim!”

 

“Hello!”

 

It was Berion. All three of them.

 

* * *

 

After the warm greetings, the Berion members froze awkwardly.

 

Damn it, am I in charge of the socially adept MC role again? That would just fuel rumors that I was desperate for screen time.

 

It couldn’t be helped. They were much younger than me, so I’d hold back.

 

“Sunbaenims, did you hope for a different group and end up stuck with me instead?”

 

“That’s not it!”

 

“I really wanted to perform with Spark members at least once!”

 

Whether this answer was sincere or not didn’t matter. The important thing was to avoid any awkward silences.

 

“And Iwol-nim, you don’t have to be so formal!”

 

Yeo Seongchan, one of Berion’s vocalists and also the center, even encouraged me to speak casually.

 

When I pointed out that I shouldn’t speak that way to a senior, Berion retorted, ‘Isn’t Korea all about respecting elders?’ In the end, we agreed to drop the formalities.

 

“I’ve always wanted to perform onstage with you, hyung. What are the odds?”

 

“With me?”

 

When I asked back, Yeo Seongchan nodded enthusiastically.

 

“Yeah! When I heard the vocalist was going to be involved, I thought it’d be Seongbin-nim or Joowoo-nim, and I was worried it would be tough…”

 

“Seongchan, shut up!”

 

Another Berion member desperately tried to stop the overly excited Yeo Seongchan. It seemed Berion hadn’t fully mastered the art of keeping their mouths shut.

 

Watching Berion nervously try to gauge my mood, I grinned.

 

“Seongbin and Joowoo are secret weapons, so I’m keeping them hidden.”

 

“Wow… Hyung, you have it all planned out!”

 

Even if I had a plan, things inevitably went sideways.

 

From then on, there wasn’t much to do. Today’s filming was just about the assigned units getting acquainted and chatting.

 

‘I wonder who Choi Jeho and Lee Cheonghyeon got paired up with.’

 

As I listened to Berion’s compliments, ‘This part of Spark’s performance was awesome!’, I quietly worried about my teammates’ luck with their group assignments.