Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

“What happened to PD Yoo?”

 

“Don’t even use the polite honorific with that person. Do you really want to use honorifics for human trash?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon snapped.

 

Do you think I use it because I want to? I’m doing it because someone might hear us.

 

I was about to retort, but I held back when I saw the state of his face. I couldn’t leave Spark’s top visual looking like a deflated steamed bun forever.

 

“I heard he’s at the police station, but there’s been no news since then. All we heard was that he’s not cooperating with the investigation.”

 

Jeong Seongbin’s words also subtly lacked honorifics for Yoo Hansoo.

 

For even this polite person to be like this… At this point, Yoo Hansoo’s chances of getting into heaven were slim to none.

 

“I heard he held a grudge against you, hyung…”

 

“Even so, does it make it okay to hit someone? That crazy bas…”

 

“Ssh.”

 

I barely managed to calm down Choi Jeho, who was getting worked up again.

 

‘You told that writer about me, didn’t you?’

 

Yoo Hansoo had definitely said that. He also accused me of spreading rumors about him.

 

In truth, I had never told anyone about his bullying except for the planning team leader and Mr. Min Jukyung.

 

From his perspective, starting with a shaky position at UA because of me, getting hit with internal whistleblowing, earning a tarnished reputation, and ending up demoted while watching me thriving must have been too much to bear.

 

But I didn’t publicly execute him or I get him fired. I didn’t expect him to go this far over something so trivial. As expected, he was a pathetic loser.

 

It seemed that the final straw for Yoo Hansoo was the ruining of his so-called achievements.  The career he built by stealing others’ work.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] Work instructions from ‘Superior’ have arrived.

 

▶ I knew that Yoo guy would pull something like this. Didn’t I tell you he looked unhinged? He had ‘disaster waiting to happen’ written all over him. See? I told you not to provoke him, didn’t I?

 

+

 

The system seemed to know Yoo Hansoo would do this.

 

Why didn’t it just curse him to death while at it? Judging by how eagerly it was counting down to his breakdown, it probably enjoyed the show.

 

I wanted to grind the system to dust, but since it prevented a truly serious injury and even gave me an incentive, I’d hold back.

 

Seeing Yoo Hansoo even go this far, he must have been truly afraid of losing his precious reputation.

 

Did he even think about the things he’d done? Just looking at his work history, it was clear he had made enemies everywhere. If it were me, I’d be too scared to live like that.

 

More importantly, the investigation.

 

Was it finally time for the collection of Yoo Hansoo’s quotes I’d accumulated over the months to shine?

 

My heart pounded. Was it the excitement of finally delivering sweet, long-overdue revenge in my work life?  My chest tightened with exhilaration, and I felt a surge of energy.

 

“Cheonghyeon, there’s a folder with my name in our shared folder. The password is ‘zkfxhlrldnjs214dlfck’. Inside, there’s a subfolder titled [Other] Target for Revenge—Yoo Hansoo. It should be the third or fourth one.”

 

“Hyung, you’ve been keeping something like that in our shared folder?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon asked with a bewildered expression.

 

“I saved it all because I knew I’d need it someday. Copy everything onto a USB and give it to the manager. There are plenty of empty USBs in the office, so don’t waste money buying one.”

 

“What’s in that folder?”

 

“Screenshots of texts PD-nim sent me and recordings of our calls. There’s also my organized work schedule, and a journal where I poured out my frustrations about PD-nim. If they need the originals, you can just hand over my phone. I haven’t deleted any texts.”

 

“…”

 

“They say the more records, the better.”

 

The methods of collecting evidence of workplace harassment that I had looked up to report Manager Nam were finally coming in handy.

 

For him to have a criminal investigation at this point, when the internal investigation at UA is nearing its end?

 

Good, you bastard. I’ll make sure you’re ostracized not just from the company but from society as well.

 

As I relished the sense of catharsis, I locked eyes with Kang Kiyeon, who was looking at me with a strange expression.

 

“Aren’t you even angry, hyung?”

 

“About what?”

 

“Besides being shocked and reporting Yoo Hansoo, don’t you have any other thoughts?”

 

Kang Kiyeon’s expression was cold.

 

“Hyung.”

 

“What.”

 

“Earlier, I stopped Jeho hyung because he seemed too agitated, but you too…”

 

Then he closed his mouth.

 

There were two possible reasons why he was acting like this. He either didn’t feel the need to say it, or he thought it was too harsh to say.

 

Normally, these guys avoided using strong language or losing their temper.

 

It wouldn’t be bad to hear their true feelings while they were venting their frustrations at me.

 

“Say what you want to say. Just no profanity.”

 

“…”

 

“Hurry up. You won’t say it if I don’t give you the chance. If it’s something you’re uncomfortable saying in front of the others, I can ask them to leave.”

 

“Ha…”

 

Kang Kiyeon sighed.

 

“I know you’re a consistent person, hyung, but sometimes I wish you’d take it easy.”

 

“…”

 

“We were really worried about you. Furious at Yoo Hansoo, too. But when you act like it’s no big deal, it makes us feel like idiots for being so anxious.”

 

Silence followed.

 

Kang Kiyeon frowned and turned his head.

 

You think I’m not angry? I almost got a hole in my skull.

 

But that’s how corporate life is; you have to fend for yourself.

 

I had to earn enough to pay my living expenses each month, and if I took time off because I got sick, then it’d be unpaid leave, which meant I didn’t get the money.

 

Showing weakness only got you criticism, so I tried not to give them any reason to find fault with me.

 

I’d seen countless employees trying to schedule surgeries on weekends or holidays because they couldn’t take extended time off. After living like that for a long time, my own well-being took a backseat.

 

And my feelings? If I got angry just because someone insulted me, it would only make me look like the problem. How could I express my feelings honestly?

 

My thoughts started drifting towards self-pity again. I needed to control myself.

 

I had a lot to say to Kang Kiyeon. Like how 30 million other workers would probably understand me, or how I’d love to take a break too, and so on.

 

But this time, I decided to back down. I didn’t want to spark a tearful argument.

 

“Thanks for caring so much. I’ll try not to worry you next time.”

 

The look on his face practically screamed: Yeah, right.

 

They got upset whether I spoke up or stayed quiet. I could feel my head start to ache.

 

What I really wanted was for them to move on, clear their minds, and get back to practice. But if I said that, some of them would glare at me and nag me again.

 

Suppressing a sigh, I decided to step down.

 

“Okay. Everyone worked hard today, so go back and get some rest. Seongbin, get in touch tomorrow when you’re free. Let’s discuss how we’ll handle the final competition.”

 

“The final competition?”

 

Kang Kiyeon asked back.

 

“Are you seriously planning to have a meeting tomorrow?”

 

“Should we not? Are we not going to participate?”

 

“Hyung, you didn’t hear a single word I said, did you?”

 

“Kiyeon, don’t push him too hard. Hyung, the final competition has been postponed for two weeks.”

 

Jeong Seongbin stopped Kang Kiyeon, who was getting angry.

 

The postponement of the final competition was unexpected. The finals were crucial in survival programs, especially those broadcast live events.

 

There was a mountain of work to do, from venue rentals and audience recruitment to expanding the voting system. A two-week delay would mean the production crew would have to redo almost everything from scratch.

 

“Why?”

 

“One of the contestants got into an accident—how could they just go ahead with the show? Especially since it wasn’t just any accident, but something that happened during preparations for the IDC performance and caused a big commotion.”

 

Choi Jeho clicked his tongue.

 

Jeong Seongbin pulled out a wet wipe and began gently cleaning my hair.

 

“A lot of articles came out, and it became a big issue… The situation got a bit out of hand.”

 

The wet wipe came away sticky with black, congealed blood.

 

“So for now, don’t think about anything else and get some rest.”

 

Jeong Seongbin smiled awkwardly, as if trying to hide his anxiety.

 

This made it seem like…

 

‘I’m the one making them worry more.’

 

But what could I do? I couldn’t take back the words I’d already said.

 

I nodded and told them I understood, then nudged them to head home and rest, saying I wanted to sleep too.

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t until I watched the guys leave the hospital room with the manager that I finally felt the tension ease a bit.

 

Still, wasn’t it illegal for five people to gang up on a patient like that? I felt so wronged, I almost cried.

 

But there was no time for tears. I needed a plan for the final competition.

 

Originally, there were about three weeks left until the final competition.

 

Now it had been extended by two weeks.

 

It was rare for a whole group to drop out of a program because one member got injured. Usually, they just excluded the injured member.

 

However, this time, the situation was different. Not only was the injury sustained during preparations for the show, but there were internal issues at the agency involved as well.

 

In this case, UA could pull all of Spark from the program to protect the artists and manage the incident.

 

Withdrawing right before the finals wouldn’t be an easy decision, but UA was the kind of company that would do it. They always emphasized their artists’ well-being.

 

The conclusion was clear.

 

I absolutely had to recover and declare with a nonchalant face, ‘I’m perfectly okay! Let’s charge toward the last IDC performance!’.

 

Judging by the faces of the Spark members earlier, unless I made a full recovery, they wouldn’t just keep me off the stage—they wouldn’t even let me join the discussions.

 

But who am I?

 

I was someone who had never caught so much as the flu and powered through everything with a healthy body.

 

Besides, I had my trusty workplace support system to rely on.

 

With that, I should be able to make a quick recovery and return in great shape…

 

+

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Total Fatigue: 65% (Work Support Service applied)

 

+

 

…Or maybe not.

 

Why is it still at 65%?

 

Does that mean it’s 85% without the service? So, I’m still in danger?

 

It didn’t feel real.  Probably because I felt no pain.

 

Just then, someone entered the room. It was a nurse.

 

“How’s your pain level?”

 

“It’s fine. Is my injury very serious?”

 

“No, the surgery went well!”

 

Then why is my fatigue at 65%?

 

I’m not even having nosebleeds now. Is this a system error?

 

“When will I be able to be discharged? I don’t feel any pain, so I’d like to be discharged as soon as the wound heals.”

 

“Discharged? Oh dear, I guess your guardian hasn’t explained it to you yet. The doctor said you’ll need to stay hospitalized for about eight weeks to monitor your progress. Do you have something urgent coming up?”

 

Huh?

 

Hospitalized… for how many weeks?

 

But… I have a stage to perform on…?