Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

Lee Cheonghyeon had the shortest training period among the five trainees.

 

He wasn’t someone who had danced before, like Choi Jeho or Kang Kiyeon, nor had he learned to sing early on, like Jeong Seongbin or Park Joowoo.

 

The only talent Lee Cheonghyeon had was in classical music, which was the complete opposite of pop music, and even then, it was solely piano performance.

 

“You ranked third in both the last evaluation and this one, right?”

 

However, Lee Cheonghyeon consistently placed in the middle, sometimes even in the upper middle, during evaluations.

 

“I’m in no position to talk since I’m at the bottom rank, but I think it’s impressive that you achieve good results among those practice maniacs. It’s not something that can be done with talent and effort alone.”

 

“It could be just luck.”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon immediately countered.

 

“That might be the case. But the important thing is that you ‘always’ deliver results. In sports, they call that an ace, and in an organization, they call it a pillar.”

 

It was understandable that Jeong Seongbin and Lee Cheonghyeon were going through turbulent times and experiencing emotional instability. 

 

However, the words they needed were very different.

 

If Jeong Seongbin needed comfort, then Lee Cheonghyeon…

 

“Hey. Remember when you asked me why I told Kang Kiyeon to go to bed but told you to write a song?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“It’s because I have expectations for you.”

 

It seemed better to give him a sense of assurance.

 

“I believe that you can do it if you try.”

 

Perhaps because we were in the mountains, the wind felt as ticklish as the encouragement.

 

“Well, if you don’t like hearing criticism, should we hold a ‘Praise Listening Party’? We’ll just praise each other. It’ll be motivating.”

 

“No, that would be extremely burdensome!”

 

“When you go out into society, no one will compliment you. Cherish the opportunity.”

 

“Hyung, why do you always talk like someone who’s tasted all the bitterness of society?”

 

“I wanted to live tasting only sweetness too, but life isn’t that easy.”

 

To be honest, I wanted to tell him that if he didn’t want it, we could postpone using his original song as the title track.

 

After all, he himself had said he wasn’t mentally prepared yet.

 

Even I would want to bury my face in a washbasin if the PPT I made early in my career ended up being my lifelong portfolio.

 

Lee Cheonghyeon must have easily anticipated such a situation.

 

Because of various circumstances, and above all, my stubbornness, things had turned out this way, and I genuinely regretted it.

 

So I considered apologizing.

 

But I decided against it, thinking that an apology here would only sound like, ‘I’m sorry for pushing your song as the title track when it might not be up to par yet!’.

 

‘Instead, I’ll praise him generously.’

 

I had even praised an intern who couldn’t find a downloaded file, saying, ‘I can see your hardworking attitude’.

 

Drawing on that experience, I figured I could manage up to 30 compliments a day.

 

While I was seriously pondering this, Lee Cheonghyeon, who had been sitting calmly, suddenly stood up.

 

His face had turned pale.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Hyu… Hyung. I think I left my bag down there earlier.”

 

“Bag? This one?”

 

Only then did I remember the bag I had picked up just before I ran after Lee Cheonghyeon.

 

I had hurriedly put it down next to the bench after catching up with Lee Cheonghyeon, but it seemed Lee Cheonghyeon couldn’t see it from his side.

 

“Gasp. When did you grab that?”

 

“I brought it when I chased after you as you were running away.”

 

“Then you ran up the mountain with that bag?!”

 

“It’s just a hiking trail.”

 

You should try going around all the mountains in Seoul every weekend. This much is nothing.

 

I dusted off the dirt and gently placed the bag in Lee Cheonghyeon’s arms.

 

 Then I put both hands on his shoulders.

 

“Cheonghyeon.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I took a one-hour bus ride to find you and even brought this bag. Considering my effort, would you allow me one chance to make a boomer remark?”

 

“What… is it?”

 

“It’s nothing much. I just want to see all of us six members debut safely and impressively.”

 

I tried to hold back the strength in my hand on Lee Cheonghyeon’s shoulder and forced a bright smile.

 

Conversely, Cheonghyeon’s expression, looking up at me, grew increasingly reluctant.

 

“So… whether you’re worrying or struggling, try to resolve the issues ‘at the dorm.’ Got it?”

 

Cheonghyeon nodded passionately, seemingly understanding my message about not making people run around for him

 

If he ran away again after this, it wouldn’t end well for him.

 

After spending the remaining 30 minutes with Lee Cheonghyeon, I returned to the practice room, retracing the long road back.

 

I thought I’d be reprimanded for rushing out blindly, determined to bring back the diligent composer, but surprisingly, there wasn’t much said.

 

Apparently, Jeong Seongbin had made a tearful plea. As expected, the diligent ones tended to earn the company’s trust.

 

If I had begged for leniency, I’d probably already have been signing a termination contract.

 

Oh, there was an unexpected surprise as well.

 

The dance break choreography that Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon had worked on together for the first time was finally complete.

 

“We haven’t shown it to the teachers yet… but it’s roughly like this.”

 

Along with their nonchalant words, they showed amazing dance performance.

 

Faced with their god-like movements that seemed to say ‘Just give up already’, I could do nothing but applaud.

 

Unaware of my feelings, Lee Cheonghyeon kept exclaiming how incredible it was.

 

He seemed genuinely happy that they had choreographed a dance for his song.

 

I received a notification that the debut song selection task had been completed.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] ‘Task’ completed.

 

▷ Reward: Exp (10) 

 

▷ Total exp: 80

 

▷ Total point: 0

 

+

 

It seemed Lee Cheonghyeon had finally prepared himself to accept the reality of debuting with his own song.

 

Through the system, I could see Lee Cheonghyeon, who had regained his cheerful smile, bouncing around next to Kang Kiyeon.

 

“This is amazing! But can’t you make it even cooler?”

 

“If you can do two front flips at the front, it’ll be perfect.”

 

“Should I? I can manage to do one flip. I am going to start a special training from today.”

 

Surely he wasn’t going to ask all six of us to do that flip together.

 

My knee joints, which had been sore until recently, were starting to ache again.

 

* * *

 

Depending on the company’s situation or promotional policy, idol trainees often got exposed to the media even before their debut.

 

They might appear in advertisements or as backup dancers for senior artists, making their faces known early on.

 

For example, in Lee Cheonghyeon’s case, he appeared in a music video for a senior artist from the same agency before his debut.

 

“…So, it looks like Cheonghyeon will be playing the male lead in Jang Junhoo’s music video this time.”

 

That was Jang Junhoo’s music video. I hadn’t even thought about it.

 

‘Since the guide track was recorded not long ago, I guess it’s time for the music video shoot.’

 

Who cared about that as*hole’s music video? It didn’t matter at all.

 

If we needed to build up recognition by appearing in a music video, I’d rather work night shifts at a convenience store and use that money to put up the kids’ photos at Gangnam Station.

 

I wanted to cause a scene, saying, ‘I don’t think it’s right to drag the kids into the work of a workplace bully like that.’

 

However, this issue seemed to require prior agreement with colleagues and some careful maneuvering, so I decided to hold back for now.

 

Instead, we held an emergency meeting as soon as the manager left the practice room.

 

Except for Lee Cheonghyeon, the subject of the issue, who was forcing a smile, the expressions of us five were… really not good.

 

Even Jeong Seongbin, who usually believed in ‘a good thing is still a good thing’ philosophy, had a pale expression, so that alone said it all. It was only natural.

 

In a situation where everyone was hesitant to speak up, I was the first to break the ice.

 

“First of all, I think the risk that Lee Cheonghyeon has to take is too great compared to the benefits of getting 60,000 views on MiTube.”

 

“Why specifically 60,000 views?”

 

“I remember that’s roughly the average number of views for Jang Junhoo’s music videos.”

 

A trainee who hadn’t even debuted should be grateful for even 600 views, let alone 60,000.

 

But it wasn’t worth crushing the mental state of a pre-debut kid just for that.

 

‘I guess I really should work a night shift and put up an ad in Gangnam Station…’

 

As I was seriously thinking about how many convenience stores were in this area, Jeong Seongbin cautiously raised his hand.

 

“Um, maybe I should go instead since I’m more familiar with the senior…”

 

“Okay. Anyone else want to give their opinion?”

 

I cut it out because it was an opinion that didn’t need to be heard any further. That was as rubbish as Manager Nam’s nonsense.

 

I acknowledged his admirable attitude of trying to protect a member.

 

But sending Jeong Seongbin, who had suffered the most damage, was out of the question.

 

‘Then there’s only one conclusion.’

 

I looked at Choi Jeho, who was sitting slouched over and listening to the conversation in silence, and said.

 

“Choi Jeho, you should go.”

 

“Me?”

 

Who else, me?

 

“We can’t send the kids. But it’s not like we have the right to say no to them.”

 

“I’ll bring a recorder and make sure to keep everything documented! I haven’t had much interaction with that guy like Seongbin hyung, so you don’t need to worry too much…”

 

“No. In a normal situation, you shouldn’t even have to worry about whether to go or not.”

 

And the reality was harsh.

 

No matter how much you tried to prepare with a voice recorder, once the shooting started, it was obvious that everyone from the stylist to the filming director would be watching everything from clothes fit to behavior.

 

In that situation, it wouldn’t be strange if unexpected accidents occurred.

 

In the worst-case scenario, if the recorder got discovered, we’d get criticized, ‘The guy hasn’t even debuted yet and he’s already bringing weird stuff to work with a senior artist’.

 

‘How can I send the kids to a site where anything could go wrong?’

 

Excluding the kids, the only choice left was Choi Jeho, who was at least twenty years old and wouldn’t be easily pushed around.

 

However, Choi Jeho spoke with a reluctant look.

 

“Why don’t you go instead?”

 

“I can’t just volunteer to be in a music video with my face.”

 

“Well… if you just look at the face, you two hyungs have a similar vibe.”

 

Park Joowoo, who had been sitting quietly, said something that I didn’t agree with at all. So I didn’t pay much attention to it.

 

“How will you persuade the company? They might not agree if another trainee goes without a solid excuse.”

 

Kang Kiyeon was the only one who made a rational point.

 

However, I had already thought of a countermeasure for this issue.

 

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll go and talk to them.”

 

“You, hyung?”

 

“Yeah. I think I have a rough idea why they picked Lee Cheonghyeon.”