Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

“Alright, let’s start the first group meeting now!”

 

“Yay!”

 

Everyone applauded enthusiastically at Jeong Seongbin’s opening remark.

 

True to their Korean nature, all six members were sitting on the floor, ignoring the sofa. It felt familiar and nice.

 

“Today’s agenda is ‘Setting House Rules’. We haven’t had any issues so far, but I thought we could take this time to have a discussion and ensure we all live together even better moving forward.”

 

The meeting was progressing smoothly, which was nice.

 

As it turned out, Jeong Seongbin had prepared a script and practiced after receiving the content briefing.

 

He seemed to have gained experience from being a class president or student council president. This was why you hired people with experience.

 

‘But… Should I say something first?’

 

It was easier for others to speak up once someone broke the ice.

 

I hadn’t felt any particular inconveniences living with these guys, but I had thought of a few ideas for the sake of the video content.

 

Simple and healthy suggestions like drinking a glass of water every morning.

 

While I was racking my brain trying to come up with topics that wouldn’t overlap with what the members had prepared, Jeong Seongbin spoke first.

 

“I’d like everyone in the dorm to help out when a member is doing house chores. Unless there’s an unavoidable reason like exam period.”

 

It was a harmonious and good idea.

 

Choi Jeho asked.

 

“Don’t we all clean properly?”

 

“The other day, I saw Iwol hyung folding towels alone. Hyung prepares our breakfast too, but it doesn’t seem right that he’s doing everything alone, especially doing the things we don’t even pay attention to.”

 

Hmm?

 

Was this meeting held because of me?

 

I remembered Seongbin came to help me fold towels that day

 

And when it came to breakfast, all I did was just toast some bread.

 

Suddenly becoming the subject of discussion, I felt fine, but Seongbin looked very serious.

 

The others also appeared to be taking this situation seriously for some reason. I wasn’t sure why.

 

Still, I didn’t like how the conversation was starting to sound like it was blaming the other members.

 

I wanted to show a lively and cheerful discussion among these guys, not hold some sort of disciplinary hearing.

 

‘If we don’t manage this atmosphere, we’ll have to edit it out.’

 

I quickly interjected into the heavy atmosphere that seemed to be heading towards an apology session.

 

“Who’s going to take notes on what Seongbin just said? We need a secretary.”

 

“…I’ll do it.”

 

Park Joowoo said, grabbing a marker. It was great to see him trying to do something.

 

“Then can I speak now?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon raised his hand as if he had been waiting.

 

“Sure, go ahead.”

 

“I’d like us to have more conversations with each other!”

 

“Conversations?”

 

“There’s a part of bonding that comes from talking! Honestly, don’t we say ‘Good morning’ or ‘Let’s practice’ way too much?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon had a point.

 

If we ranked who talked the most in this dorm, Cheonghyeon would be first, I’d be second, Seongbin third, and the rest tied for fourth.

 

“We should bond through conversations. Of course, things are great now too, but the younger members would like the dorm to be twice as lively!”

 

“Why are you dragging me into this?”

 

“Do you prefer a bright and cheerful dorm or a dull and harsh one? Huh? Come on, tell me.”

 

As Cheonghyeon pestered Kang Kiyeon, a playful quarrel broke out. As expected, he was a guy who knew broadcasting.

 

Riding this wave, I also expressed my agreement.

 

“I agree that it would be good to talk more.”

 

Then Seongbin added.

 

“Do we need to specify what kind of conversation it is?”

 

“Let’s just say ‘have more conversations’ for now! If it doesn’t work out, we can improve it then!”

 

“…Alright. I’ll write it down like that.”

 

With Park Joowoo finishing the record, the ‘Let’s talk together more’ agenda was nicely wrapped up.

 

After that, Kang Kiyeon and Choi Jeho took turns sharing their opinions.

 

Kiyeon suggested, ‘Let’s keep the shoes organized in the shoe cabinet’, while Jeho proposed, ‘Make sure the night light is turned on in the living room at night’.

 

Kang Kiyeon’s reason for suggesting this was that he felt bad about stepping on other people’s shoes when he came home late at night.

 

Choi Jeho’s reason was…

 

“When I come out for water at night, I can’t see anything and keep bumping into the dining table.”

 

“Right. Your eyesight isn’t good. Does it get that bad in the dark?”

 

“Yeah. That’s why I put a light there on purpose, but someone keeps turning it off.”

 

“It was yours, hyung?!”

 

Judging by the guilty expression, the culprit seemed to be Cheonghyeon.

 

Anyway, everyone agreed to leave the mushroom-shaped night light on even if the living room lights were turned off.

 

Seongbin: Do house chores together

 

Cheonghyeon: Talk more

 

Kiyeon: Keep the shoes organized

 

Jeho hyung: Don’t turn off the night light at night

 

After writing these down, Park Joowoo looked at me and asked.

 

“What about you, hyung?”

 

“Me?”

 

When it was my turn, I was about to bring up ‘Drinking water in the morning’ that I had casually thought of last night.

 

But the atmosphere felt a bit strange.

 

Why… does it feel like everyone is expecting something big?

 

‘Assistant Manager Kim, I’m asking you just this once.’

 

‘Team Leader… how can I set the team KPI as I please? I’m just an assistant manager.’

 

‘Who cares who sets it? Just make it look good, that’s all.’

 

‘If the department head finds out, we’ll be in big trouble, Team Leader.’

 

‘It’s fine. The department head said to leave it to you, Assistant Manager Kim.’

 

‘What?’

 

‘So please, do this favor. Hm? You know I don’t ask for favors like this often.’

 

That was a lie. The Team Leader asked for favors about a million and twenty-one times while I worked at Hanpyeong Industry.

 

It seems others were convinced that I would come up with something amazing.

 

Including the five members looking at me right now.

 

If I mentioned something like drinking water here, I felt I might receive cold stares for not reading the room.

 

So what should I do?

 

Write a report every time someone says something careless? Set up a dispute resolution committee when a fight occurs?

 

I was confused. The only group living situation I had experienced, including meals and lodging, was in the military.

 

I thought about everything for a moment, and then blurted out the last thing that came to mind.

 

“Let’s not ruin the practice atmosphere…or something like that.”

 

“Oh… If we skip or mess up practice, someone’s life might be over.”

 

Whatever. As long as everyone practiced hard, it should be fine.

 

Barely making it through my turn, only Park Joowoo was left.

 

“What about you, Joowoo?”

 

“Everything’s fine, but… I’d like the dishes to be done on time. …Preferably right after they’re used.”

 

It was quite a thoughtful opinion.

 

It hadn’t been much of an issue since not many people eat in the dorm, but…

 

“That’s true. Now that summer’s coming, flies will start showing up.”

 

At my words, all five of them turned pale simultaneously.

 

Fortunately, it seemed none of them had a hobby of raising insects.

 

And that was how our dorm’s first 6 commandments were established.

 

With a small amount of experience gained. It was a historic moment.

 

* * *

 

After filming raw footage that was more like a vlog than self-produced content.

 

A few days later, I received a call from the planning team.

 

“The Production Department?”

 

“Yeah. The CEO said you’ll be coming here often now, so he asked us to teach you well.”

 

The planning team staff member said they were asked to introduce me to the Production Department.

 

Apparently, there had been some talk about me behind the scenes that I wasn’t aware of.

 

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to know the organizational structure. Especially if I needed to collaborate with various teams while producing.

 

‘I was having trouble because there was no organizational chart on the company website, so this worked out well.’

 

Pleased with this timely opportunity, I had a face-to-face meeting with the teams belonging to the Production Department.

 

During that process, I picked up on some small, albeit not particularly exciting, bits of information here and there.

 

‘Is it you? The guy who carried boxes at Jang Junhoo’s music video shoot?’

 

‘I believe that was me.’

 

‘The PD seemed really impressed by that. He kept mentioning how you were working hard despite the heat. Maybe because he’s been in the industry for a long time, he really notices things like attitude.’

 

‘Jeho helped too. And we really didn’t do much at all…!’

 

Things like that.

 

I also heard things like, ‘So you’re the one who wanted to shoot your own content?’ or ‘We were just about to review the proposal you submitted!’.

 

The meaning behind these words could be summed up in two sentences.

 

So it’s you?

 

The one who’s given us more work.

 

It was a painful realization. I, who hated Manager Nam for dumping work on others, had now become someone creating work for others.

 

I smiled as innocently as possible while bowing so low my head nearly touched the ground.

 

After finishing the tour of the Production Department, as we were heading back, the staff member said.

 

“Your parents must have raised you really well, Iwol.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. I’ve never seen someone your age be this polite.”

 

Should I take this as a compliment about my upbringing?

 

Of course, that expression wasn’t quite accurate.

 

I had never received any proper education at home.

 

If I had been caught doing something wrong, they would have kicked me out of the house rather than disciplined me.

 

Fortunately, I was able to grow up without any delinquent behavior thanks to a few well-placed hits in the back from my sister.

 

But I vividly remembered struggling to learn manners at school that I hadn’t learned in my early years.

 

Learning communication skills while working in the HR department also helped.

 

So, when considering each factors, my parents had nothing to do with shaping my character—neither for better nor for worse.

 

Still, I had no choice but to reply ‘Thank you’. I knew how harsh society could be to those who had no family to rely on.

 

* * *

 

After returning from the tour of the Production Department, I found all the members gathered in the middle of the practice room.

 

It was an unusual sight, so I couldn’t help but ask about it.

 

“What are you all doing here instead of practicing?”

 

I wondered if they had already broken the rule we’d set about not ruining the practice atmosphere.

 

Just as I was considering whether I should seriously drag them one by one into the vocal practice room, Lee Cheonghyeon looked up and waved his hand.

 

“Hyung! Your timing is perfect. Let’s watch Parthe sunbaenim’s teaser together!”

 

“Teaser?”

 

“Yes, yes. It just dropped!”

 

As Cheonghyeon pulled me over, Park Joowoo and Kang Kiyeon moved aside slightly to make room for me.

 

On the phone Jeong Seongbin was holding, Parthe’s teaser, which had apparently been uploaded an hour ago, was on pause.

 

“You said it just dropped, but it was uploaded an hour ago?”

 

“We were practicing, so we only checked it during our break…”

 

What a relief. It seemed I wouldn’t need to have one-on-one talks in the vocal practice room after all.

 

“Then I’ll play it.”

 

When Jeong Seongbin played the video, a majestic and eerie sound filled the practice room.