Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols - Chapter 18
Only Krnovel
| Episode 18. Representative Interview (2)
It must have been five minutes since I came to the CEO’s office with the manager.
Everyone present for the monumental first interview gathered as Min-Kyung Min arrived, clearly having come running from work.
“You don’t have to be nervous. If you’re an artist under UA, we’re supposed to meet and say hello once a month.”
The representative started talking. Indeed, neither the manager nor Minju Kyung looked stiff.
‘UA’s job planet rating was around 3.2?’
It was a high rating for a small agency in the notorious entertainment industry. It was probably twice as high as Hanpyeong Industry.
“I passed last month because I thought it would be a period of adjustment, but are you all done adjusting now? You must be busy practicing, so think of it as a short break and relax.”
It was a grateful word to the idol who trains his body, but his fists seemed to be bruised.
Usually, if you say you’re not feeling well, they tell you to take it easy and don’t call you to the office.
After receiving buckwheat tea prepared by the CEO himself, a full-fledged conversation began.
Most of the topics were similar to those in interviews for new employees, such as “How are you?” and “Are you uncomfortable?”
“Even though I started late, Chanyoung always praised me for staying up late every day to practice without losing my energy.”
I looked at the manager and he winked at me. I really appreciate you wrapping up the rest of my studies like this.
The representative and Minju Kyung laughed and asked me questions.
“I heard you’re using Jeho and Cheonghyeon’s room at the dorm? Are you and the kids getting along well now?”
“What do you usually do during your independent practice time?”
“Do you think preparations for the next evaluation are going well? Have you thought about it in detail?”
These were extremely detailed questions for a rookie trainee in his early 20s who was just entering the industry.
However, since I had learned human resources management training in the mud, I already had dark glasses on.
To me, your two questions sounded like this:
→ Are you communicating without any problems with your team members?
→ What do you usually do to develop your work skills?
→ Have you started writing the second half of the year’s work plan? Start early because we’ll be doing surprise checks.
If that wasn’t your intention, then I’m sorry, but I answered in the most honest way I could.
“My roommates are all nice, so I’m getting along comfortably.”
… … in the same way.
What I meant was, ‘Choi Je-ho has a great personality, and Lee Cheong-hyeon works on his laptop until dawn, but he doesn’t crave me, so they are maintaining peace and getting along well.’
After exchanging several conversations like this, Minju Kyung laughed out loud.
“Sir, isn’t Yiwol really speaking sincerely?”
“That’s why. When I just listened to what Ju-kyung said, I thought, ‘All of our kids are diligent, so what’s so special about that?’”
I noticed that the sincerity that the representative and Minju Kyung were talking about was something like, ‘Yes! I will work hard!’, but I didn’t say it out loud.
This way of speaking is something I picked up while working under Manager Nam.
Or maybe the effectiveness of attendance management in resumes can be applied in places like this.
As expected, in the corner of my vision, a small phrase was faintly glowing: ‘Your excellent attendance management has been recognized and you have been highly evaluated.’
While the atmosphere was still friendly, the manager said something unexpected.
“There’s something about Yiwol that’s really sharp. The kids quickly become close to him.”
Those guys?
I don’t think so.
What great charm could there be in a person who is only one or two years older than me and whom I have known for less than a month?
That’s even when the opponent is a noob like me.
However, it seemed like my manager wanted to push me towards a rather sociable image.
“He adapts quickly and is very sociable. Whenever we’re together, Iwol secretly lightens the mood.”
It’s because it gives me some leeway in the tense practice room. Thanks to that, I eat two bowls of rice cake soup every day and I don’t get hungry.
The CEO, who was listening to the story of the well-packaged manager, said.
“People like that are truly precious. Not just in groups, but also in organizations.”
“……yes?”
I was embarrassed.
It was a type of statement I had never heard before during interviews at a company.
Even the representative encouraged me, saying, “Let’s continue to do as we have done so far.”
In an atmosphere filled with nothing but praise to the point where I doubted if it was sincere, I didn’t know what to do and just smiled mechanically. It felt awkward.
* * *
After finishing the interview and receiving experience points as a reward, I returned to the practice room only to find Lee Cheong-hyun there.
“Why are you alone?”
Lee Cheong-hyeon answered my question cheerfully.
“Jeho hyung went to the convenience store and Joowoo hyung went to the vocal practice room!”
“Seongbin and Giyeon… … Are school finishing late today?”
“It’s ID photo day, so I’ll come after that. We don’t have any after-school classes today, so we’ll finish early!”
“Oh, the photos are important.”
Those pictures will probably float around the internet for the rest of your life.
When I heard Lee Cheong-hyeon’s words, I remembered the time when I would take classes after school and do homework.
I also remember my older sister holding onto my back as she made soup with latte, saying that palm oil was mandatory in our time.
Every time things I thought I had forgotten came back to me, I felt a new sense of emotion.
“What are you going to do today?”
“I have to finish writing rap lyrics, but I’ll do that at night… … I was thinking about writing a song last time because I was told to, but there are a lot of parts I’m worried about, so I think I’ll just focus on dancing today.”
UA, where the CEO is a singer-songwriter, was the best environment to learn composition.
Lee Cheong-hyeon, who majored in classical music when he was young, also began to study pop music composition in earnest after joining UA.
As expected from a member of Spark, which is a group of outstanding raw diamonds, Lee Cheong-hyun’s growth rate has been significantly accelerated since his debut.
He grew from a rookie composer who included one song on a debut album to someone who was capable of producing an entire album in just a few years.
There was only one thing that Lee Cheong-hyeon regretted.
‘Question from 1103! If Cheong-Hyeon could change the past just once, what would he want to change?’
‘I’m a bit worried about this… … If I had to pick one, it would be that I started composing late.’
‘Didn’t Cheong-Hyeon create this title too? But I still feel regretful?’
‘I didn’t start composing early. I think I would have done better if I had studied more diligently.’
If only I had started composing a little earlier.
At the time, he didn’t know that he had a talent for making pop music, so he focused on rapping, which was his strength. However, once he started composing songs, he seemed to have become greedy.
‘There were so many kids around me who started dancing and singing early.’
I kept replaying the songs that Lee Cheong-hyeon had composed.
As the years passed, I was talking about Lee Cheong-hyeon’s songs that fit the group color of Spark.
Creativity isn’t something that can be done suddenly just by bringing forward the date like when you debuted…
If I was going to regret starting late, I should have taken a different path this time. This was especially true when I thought about Lee Cheong-hyeon’s potential.
‘If you want to debut a year early and still have a stable debut, it’s better to release the song early.’
It has long been said that the faster you upload challenges and job postings, the better.
The problem was whether the composition was something I could immediately get my mind around just by starting early.
‘I don’t know anything about the realm of creation.’
After receiving spoon-fed education for 12 years, I only studied business administration in college.
The only chance I had to be creative at Hanpyeong Industries was when Manager Nam postponed the dinner he wanted to schedule for Friday evening to lunch the following Monday.
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
“I was wondering how I could raise you into a composing genius.”
“Me?”
Lee Cheong-hyeon asked back.
I continued speaking, being careful not to let the system judge my words as predicting the future.
“Yeah. I’m going to raise him well and hire him as the team’s songwriting machine.”
“Your wish is too specific and grand, bro!”
“Is it bad to expect so much from a young and smart person? Oh, I feel burdened, so if you don’t like it, just tell me. I’ll hold myself back.”
But I already knew. That guy Lee Cheong-hyeon wasn’t the type to feel burdened by words like this.
As expected, Lee Cheong-hyeon looked at me strangely, but didn’t feel burdened.
“It would be nice if the young and smart Cheong-hyeon could become a composing machine. Maybe it’s because school started, but I don’t have the motivation, hyung.”
“What’s important about motivation in work? What’s important are deadlines and pressure.”
“yes?”
“I believe that people can do anything if they have the will to do it.”
I placed both hands on Lee Cheong-hyeon’s shoulders.
“Cheong-hyeon-ah.”
“……yes.”
“Let’s start by making a beat, after putting a lot of thought into it.”
I understand that creation cannot be forced.
But you can build a foundation to hold onto when inspiration comes.
Although I cannot share in the pain of creation, I personally created a deadline schedule with the meaning of support and gave it to Lee Cheong-hyeon as a gift.
For about a week after that, Lee Cheong-hyeon shared his progress with me every single day without fail.
Even today, Lee Cheong-hyeon wrestled with the composition program until midnight without fail.
Lee Cheong-hyeon, who had been looking at the monitor alone for a while, asked me in a quiet voice.
“Brother. But why do you tell Kang-Kyun to go to sleep when he’s late, but don’t tell me to go to sleep?”
“You have the face to grow taller even if you sleep less.”
“That was really bad.”
“If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to.”
“I don’t like that because it hurts my pride.”
Of course, I didn’t do anything shameless like keeping my child up late and letting him go to bed alone.
Instead, while Lee Cheong-hyeon was working on the song, the system predicted the work that would be assigned to me in the future and set up my schedule for the next day.
Because if I just waited for the system to pop up randomly, it would take 10 years to fill up the experience points.
It was a method of sweeping the yard before the so-called broom was called.
As expected from vocal feedback, I tried a few things based on the work I’ve done so far, and it turned out to be quite accurate.
Thanks to this, my current accumulated experience level has reached 90.
‘I wish exactly 100,000 would fall from the sky.’
While he was just drawing lines on the poor algorithm, an alarm went off on Lee Cheong-hyeon’s phone. It was a notification that 25 minutes had passed.
This was the effect of introducing the Pomodoro study method, which meant focusing hard and resting only when you have limited time.
Lee Cheong-hyeon was also adapting to the current method of working when needed and resting when needed, rather than just staring into space whenever he got stuck.
“You’ve worked hard. Is it time to go to bed now?”
“That’s right… … What about you, hyung?”
“I’ll come a little later.”
“Is this guy an elephant or a human? Why can’t he sleep like this?”
I’m more surprised that you know that elephants are animals that need little sleep.
It was then that a familiar and even welcome phrase appeared.
+
[SYSTEM] ‘Hidden task’ has been completed.
▷ Content: Recognize your perseverance from members
▷ Reward: Experience (10)
▷ Cumulative experience: 100
▷ Accumulated points: 1
+
“Cheong-hyeon-ah.”
“why?”
“You are a truly special guy.”
“What are you talking about? Go to sleep!”
Whether Lee Cheong-hyeon was jealous or not, I quickly exchanged my newly acquired welfare points for proficiency.
+
Performance Evaluation (100)
– Vocal proficiency: 6(▲)/20
– Dance proficiency: 5(▲)/20
– Self PR: 12/20
– Attendance management: 18/20
– Adaptability within the organization: 10/20
Cumulative experience: 0
+
In the meantime, vocal proficiency was also improving on its own.
The vocalist next door can do it well on his own, but I don’t know why it takes so much work to dance at our house.
I was so impressed by the guy who showed amazing growth from 1 to 5 that I decided to give him a look just once.
By raising your dance proficiency to 5, you have also completed the task of increasing your dance proficiency before the evaluation at the end of March.
+
[SYSTEM] ‘Task’ has been completed.
▷ Reward: Experience of viewing other members’ resumes, 3 standard forms of proposals for debut album planning
+
Finally, I can see the members’ resumes instead of my shabby one.