Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols - Chapter 37
Only Krnovel
| Episode 37. Setting the rules for the company
“Then, we will now proceed with the first group meeting!”
“and!”
Everyone applauded enthusiastically at Jeong Seong-bin’s opening remarks.
All six of them are sitting on the floor, leaving the sofa behind, in case anyone thinks they’re Korean. It’s nice and familiar.
“Today’s agenda is ‘setting house rules.’ Actually, there have been no problems so far, but I think we should have some time to talk so that we can get along better in the future.”
The progress is also clean and good.
As it turned out, Jeong Seong-bin had created a separate script and practiced it after receiving information about the content.
It seems like I’ve accumulated a lot of experience in giving presentations while serving as class president and student body president. I’d rather use a career position for this kind of fun.
‘More than that… …Should I say something first?’
Once someone opens the door, it becomes easier to talk from then on.
There wasn’t anything in particular that I felt uncomfortable about while living with the guys, but there were a few things I thought about considering the length of the video.
Small, healthy things like making sure to drink a glass of water in the morning.
While I was racking my brain and thinking hard about what kind of material would overlap with what they had prepared, Jeong Seong-bin spoke first.
“I would like everyone in the dorm to help out when a member is doing housework. Unless there are unavoidable circumstances like exam periods?”
It seemed harmonious and a good idea.
Then Choi Je-ho asked back.
“Don’t we all clean properly?”
“Not long ago, I saw Lee Wol-hyung folding towels by himself. He also prepares our breakfast, but I don’t think he does everything by himself, even the parts that the members don’t pay attention to.”
hmm?
Was this meeting held because of me?
I remember that day too, Jeong Seong-bin came at the end and we dried the towels together.
Even if I say I prepare breakfast, all I do is bake bread.
I suddenly became the main character of the agenda, so I didn’t care, but Jeong Seong-bin looked very serious.
Even the other guys seemed to take this situation seriously, though I don’t know why.
Still, it wasn’t good for the conversation to go in a direction that seemed to blame other members.
I want to see these guys talking big and being cute, not have a confirmation hearing with them.
‘If this doesn’t capture the mood, it needs to be edited out.’
I forced myself into a heavy atmosphere that seemed like I was going to have to reflect right away.
“Who can write down what Seongbin just said? I’m looking for a daily secretary.”
“… … I’ll do it.”
Then Park Joo-woo took out his board marker. It was great to see him trying to do something.
“Then can I speak now?”
As if he had been waiting, Lee Cheong-hyeon also raised his hand and shouted.
“Yeah, do it.”
“I wish there was more conversation between the members!”
“conversation?”
“There are parts where you get closer while talking! Honestly, don’t you think the proportion of ‘good morning’ or ‘let’s practice’ is too high?!”
Lee Cheong-hyeon was right.
If I were to rank the most talkative people in this place, Lee Cheong-hyeon would be first, I would be second, Jeong Seong-bin would be third, and the rest would all be tied for fourth.
“The idea is to foster camaraderie through conversation. Of course, it’s great now, but I wish the youngest members’ dorms were twice as bright as they are now!”
“Why are you forcing me into this?”
“Do you like bright and cheerful accommodations or do you like dreary and rough accommodations? Huh? Tell me.”
When Lee Cheong-hyeon attacked Kang Ki-yeon, a pretty intense fight broke out. As expected, he was a guy who knew broadcasting.
I also expressed my agreement with this trend.
“I agree with you that it would be nice to talk more.”
Then Jeong Seong-bin added.
“Can we not specify a specific story?”
“Let’s just ‘talk a lot’ for now! If it doesn’t work, we can improve it then!”
“… … Okay. I’ll write it like that.”
The ‘Let’s Talk Together’ agenda was also successfully organized as Park Joo-woo finished recording the minutes.
After that, Kang Ki-yeon and Choi Je-ho gave their opinions one by one.
Kang Ki-yeon said, “Put your shoes neatly in the shoe rack,” and Choi Je-ho said, “Make sure to turn on the mood lights in the living room at night.”
The reason Kang Ki-yeon suggested it was because he felt bad about having to step on other people’s shoes at the entrance when he came back to his room late at night.
Choi Je-ho’s reason is… … .
“When I go out to drink water at night, I can’t see anything and I keep bumping into the table.”
“That’s right. Your eyes aren’t that good. You can’t see much in the dark, right?”
“Oh. That’s why I put the light there on purpose, but someone kept turning it off.”
“Did you put that there, hyung?!”
Judging by the way my feet are shaking, the culprit is probably Lee Cheong-hyeon.
Anyway, everyone decided to turn off the living room lights but leave the mushroom-shaped mood lights on.
Seongbin: Let’s do all the housework together
Cheong-Hyeon: Talk a lot
Kiyeon: Putting shoes neatly
Jeho Hyung: Don’t turn off the mood lights at night
Park Joo-woo, who had written until then, looked at me and asked.
“What about your brother?”
“me?”
When it was my turn, I tried to bring up the ‘drink water in the morning’ idea that I had thought of the night before.
But the atmosphere was a little strange.
Why… … does it seem like everyone is expecting something great?
‘Manager Kim, I’ll ask you just this once.’
‘Team Leader… … How can I set the team KPI on my own? I’m just a proxy.’
‘What does it matter who decides? As long as it’s suitable, it’s suitable.’
‘If the manager finds out, it’ll be a big problem, Team Leader.’
‘It’s okay. The manager also told me to leave it to Manager Kim.’
‘yes?’
‘So, let me ask you a favor. Okay? I don’t usually ask for favors like this.’
That’s a lie. The team leader’s request came up about a million and twenty-one times while I was working at Hanpyeong Industry.
I guess I was confident that I would bring something great to others.
Including the five members who are looking at me right now.
I had a feeling that if I mentioned something like drinking water here, I would be met with cold stares, as if I didn’t understand the mood.
So then what should I do?
Do you write a statement every time you say something thoughtless? Do you open a dispute resolution committee and resolve it when you have a fight?
It was confusing. It was the first and last time I experienced group living, including food and lodging, in the military.
I thought about everything for a moment, then blurted out the last thing that came to mind.
“Let’s not ruin the practice atmosphere… ….”
“Oh… … If we put off practicing or something, someone’s life will be over.”
I don’t know. I guess it’ll be good if everyone practices hard.
After barely getting my turn, the only one left was Park Joo-woo.
“What about you, Joo-woo?”
“Everything is fine, but… … I wish you would wash the dishes on time. … … As soon as possible, if possible.”
It was a very thoughtful opinion.
There weren’t many people eating at the accommodation so it wasn’t much of a problem…
“That’s true. Now that summer is coming, flies will start to flock.”
At my words, five faces turned blue at the same time.
Fortunately, it seemed like no one had a hobby of raising bugs.
So the first six commandments of our accommodation were established.
With little experience, it was a historic moment.
* * *
After filming the raw footage, it was closer to a vlog than a video.
A few days later, I received a call from the planning team.
“Production headquarters?”
“Yeah. The CEO said that you’ll be coming here a lot these days, so he asked me to teach you well.”
A member of the planning team said that he was asked to introduce the production headquarters.
I guess there was some kind of back story going on about me without me knowing.
Well, it wouldn’t hurt to know the organizational structure, especially if you have to collaborate with multiple teams while producing.
‘I was having a hard time because there was no organizational chart on the company website, so this is a good thing.’
I was delighted by the opportunity and had a face-to-face meeting with the teams in the production headquarters.
During the process, I was able to hear some small stories here and there, even if they weren’t fun.
‘Are you that guy? The guy who carried the box from where Jang Jun-hoo was filming his music video?’
‘I think that’s right.’
‘I guess the PD was really impressed by that. He said a lot about how hard it was to work in such a hot weather. Maybe it’s because he’s someone with a long career, but he really pays attention to things like attitude.’
‘Jeho helped too. And we really didn’t do anything special… … !’
Things like this.
Besides this, I also heard things like, “I thought you said you wanted to do a self-portrait this time?” and “I was going to see the plan you posted soon anyway!”
The meaning contained in these words could be summarized in just two sentences.
Is that you?
The guy who gave me more work.
It’s heartbreaking. I used to hate it when Manager Nam would pass on work, but now I’m the one creating work for others.
I smiled as innocently as I could and bent down as much as I could so that my head barely touched the floor.
As I was returning from my tour of the production headquarters, an employee said:
“Your parents must have raised you very well.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. I’ve never seen kids your age so polite.”
Could this be interpreted as meaning that he seems to have been well-educated at home?
Of course, there was a flaw in that expression.
Because I never received any proper education at home.
Because if I had been caught doing something wrong, they would have kicked me out of the house rather than disciplined me.
The only good thing was that he was able to grow up without ever committing a single deviant act thanks to the fact that he was spanked on the back by his older sister.
However, I vividly remember the struggle I had to endure at school to learn the manners I had not learned in my childhood.
Working in the HR team also helped me relearn the art of speaking.
If you look at it one by one, it turns out that my parents had absolutely nothing to do with the formation of my personality, either in a good or bad way.
Still, I couldn’t help but say, ‘Thank you.’ I know how cruel society can be to people who don’t have a family to lean on.
* * *
When I returned after finishing the tour of the production headquarters, all the members were gathered in the middle of the practice room.
I couldn’t help but ask about this part because it was an uncommon sight.
“What are you doing instead of practicing?”
Could it be that he’s already broken his rule of not ruining the practice atmosphere?
Just as I was seriously considering dragging them into the vocal practice room one by one, Lee Cheong-hyeon raised his head and waved his hand.
“Hyung! Your timing is perfect. Let’s watch the teaser together with the Parte seniors!”
“Teaser?”
“Yes, yes. It just came up!”
As Lee Cheong-hyeon dragged me away, Park Joo-woo and Kang Ki-yeon moved aside to make room for me.
On the air conditioner that Jeong Seong-bin was holding, the teaser for Parte, which was said to have been uploaded an hour ago, was floating in a paused state.
“You said it just came up? You said it came up an hour ago?”
“I checked it during a break from practice… … .”
That’s good. I guess I won’t have to do a one-on-one interview in the vocal practice room.
“Then I’ll turn it on.”
As Jeong Seong-bin played the video, a majestic and eerie sound filled the practice room.