Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols - Chapter 39
Only Krnovel
| Episode 39. Profile Shoot
Although the group name issue is still a challenge, other preparations are progressing steadily.
Today’s profile photo shoot was also part of that.
For this day, I had to go to sleep at 1 a.m. for a whole week.
This is because Jeong Seong-bin, who was instructed by the manager, prohibited working late at night for the reason of ‘taking care of the skin condition of all members.’
‘Hey, Seongbin. I’m researching reference materials for this, so it’ll take some time… … .’
‘We’ll eat breakfast together this week, so you can sleep in today and do it tomorrow morning.’
I wasn’t the only one who was under Jeong Seong-bin’s special management.
‘Hyung Seongbin, if you just write one more line of the melody, I think I’ll be able to sleep soundly!’
‘I told you that an hour ago. Cheong-hyeon, you go in now.’
I confess. I was somewhat overwhelmed by the spirit of Jeong Seong-bin, who was still a high school student. There was no room for compromise.
A combination of adequate, regular sleep, new-found youth, and expert makeup skills meant my dark circles were completely gone.
It was so great that even Choi Je-ho couldn’t help but praise it.
“You shouldn’t stay up all night. It’s better without dark circles.”
“Don’t say things like that in front of Seongbin.”
Working overtime was a no-no, but it was better than having work piled up. Accumulated work tends to cause headaches.
“Oh my. I always see him in his practice uniform, so seeing him in a shirt really makes him stand out.”
“Really? Should I take a selfie?”
Even in the midst of all this chaos, the manager and Lee Cheong-hyeon were having an exciting conversation.
It would be nice if they could share many interesting stories among themselves. Lee Cheong-hyeon came running all the way to where we were.
“Hyung! The manager said our shirts look good on you! Take a picture and leave it here!”
“Uh huh. First, you go take a hundred pictures.”
“Oh, why! Let’s take a picture together!”
“You should be thinking about preserving your face rather than asking who to take a picture with right now.”
Lee Cheong-hyeon’s face gave me a great shock when I first saw it.
However, it was natural that if you lived together, the impact of appearance would become dull and you would adapt.
I also thought that I had now gotten used to Lee Cheong-hyeon’s face…
But the handsome man who shined even after removing his makeup was completely different from when he had no makeup on.
I felt like I understood why fans were so eager to see the Hemeko trio come together.
“Oh my! Am I really that okay? How much specifically?”
“About 850,000 won per unit area?”
“Why 850,000 won?”
“That’s the price of gold right now.”
“I will make sure you pass, hyung.”
Lee Cheong-hyeon raised his thumb with a moved expression.
Over Lee Cheong-hyeon’s shoulder, I could see the video team’s camera lens pointed in this direction. I should ask them to edit out the scene just now.
As I was telling him to sit down so as not to disturb the crowd, I barely managed to get out of Lee Cheong-hyeon’s range, and then Jeong Seong-bin appeared.
‘Hair is done. Makeup is done.’
It seemed like they were all ready, so I was checking on the other guys’ progress when I noticed the tie in Jeong Seong-bin’s hand.
Our profile picture concept was ‘neat student ID’.
It’s surprisingly hard to find neat and clean frontal photos of idols. It’s even harder to find versions with neat clothes.
Your daughter also had her school uniform and suit photoshopped onto her sparkly face.
As you progress through the activity, you can pick out conceptual photos every time.
But, if not now, I would not be able to take a proof photo of my freshman year.
So I chose a white shirt and a gray tie because it was the most basic and clean.
‘But holding that means… … .’
I pointed to Jeong Seong-bin’s tie and asked.
“Do you know how to tie a tie?”
“No, our uniform is an automatic tie.”
As expected. I don’t think I knew how to tie a tie when I was in high school.
Looking around, it seemed like the two stylists were struggling to take care of the six of us.
In this chaos, it was shameless to even ask for help tying a tie.
“Come and see. I’ll give you every penny.”
“Brother, do you know how to tie a tie?”
“uh.”
I don’t think I’ve ever tied a tie for a man, but anyway.
It wasn’t difficult to tie it every morning, perhaps because it was the tie I had been tying while dozing off.
After I had made the shape look pretty, I patted Jeong Seong-bin on the shoulder.
“The end. If you think about it later, learn it. It’s not that difficult.”
“Yes, thank you!”
“Brother, me too… … .”
Park Joo-woo awkwardly held out his tie with both hands next to Jeong Seong-bin, who was greeting him brightly. It was a politeness that made it impossible for him not to tie it.
If you receive a lot of compensation, you should write in the handover statement that the tie must be an automatic tie.
Drawing a picture of the distant future, I tied a tie around Park Joo-woo’s neck to fit him perfectly.
The shoot went smoother than I expected.
Starting with Choi Je-ho, who seems to have gotten used to the camera after filming a music video once.
Jeong Seong-bin, who received camera tests at school for three years.
Even Lee Cheong-hyun was quick to adapt to the camera even at the beginning of his debut.
Park Joo-woo was also great at maintaining a calm atmosphere whether or not there was a camera.
What about me… … I’m good at putting on a fake smile, but it doesn’t look fake, so I can pass for both a blank expression and a smiling face at the same time.
‘In reality, all that’s needed is for Kang Ki-yeon to finish well.’
The five trainees, including me, held our breath and watched as Kang Ki-yeon walked onto the set for the last time.
If anything, they were ready to jump on Kang Ki-yeon and tickle her.
It definitely was like that.
“With a more smiling face! Yes, it’s natural and good!”
Kang Ki-yeon was smiling faintly but clearly.
The expression on his face as he looked at the cake in the birthday vlog was so unbelievable that it was hard to believe that he was the person who went around as the ‘young boss who watches the cremation ceremony.’
“Do you guys practice smiling at night too?”
“No, that’s the result of self-study.”
‘Smiling in a way that makes you look pretty’ is harder than you think.
A natural, bright smile makes people who see it happy, but idols have to be careful about how they look even when they smile.
If you are even a little awkward, you become a target of attack and are accused of being a forced smile.
But I can’t just smile all the time. If my smiling face doesn’t match the popular beauty standards, I’ll get malicious comments along with screenshots of malicious moments.
Although I am no match for idols, I can understand his feelings because I once saw Manager Nam off with a smile on my face, telling him to enjoy his lunch, and then got caught like a rat because the corners of my eyes twitched.
I couldn’t even drink water and worked so hard that my eyes got damaged.
anyway.
It was truly surprising that Kang Ki-yeon, who was the most reserved among us, especially in front of the camera, smiled so refreshingly.
We watched the screen intently and monitored the situation, then surrounded Kang Ki-yeon as he returned safely after finishing filming.
“Giyeon, the photo came out really well!”
“It was really good.”
“No, what can I do with just one photo… .”
If Nana Lee Cheong-hyeon had done that, he would have said, “What? Go away.” But he was very embarrassed by the compliments from Jeong Seong-bin and Park Joo-woo. It was a bit embarrassing.
“They say that when you go out into society, there won’t be many people who will compliment you. So, enjoy the moment, Kang-Gyeon!”
“Who said that?”
“Lee Wol-i, hyung.”
“When I look at it, that guy is in his second life. His thoughts are tainted by the world.”
“Unless you want to be taught manners by a worldly older brother, both of you can leave it at that.”
Aside from being worldly, I was curious about how that stone-faced guy could suddenly have an idol-like smile.
But the answer that came back was simple.
“I practiced.”
“when?”
“Just… … whenever there’s a mirror around.”
Indeed, this attitude will impress even the instructor.
The saying that hard work never betrays is truly right.
Contrary to expectations, I felt the most uncomfortable when taking group photos.
I felt cognitive dissonance at the fact that I had to be among these five people.
The image of Spark walking down the red carpet at the year-end awards ceremony was still lingering in my mind.
I thought I was prepared for the comparison from the beginning when I decided to debut by grabbing their ankles.
I felt like my face was dying as I tried to take pictures with all the sparkling faces.
To prepare for this situation, I suggested the profile photo concept and even provided the composition in advance. It was a composition where I was standing at the very end.
This way, even after I leave, I can just crop out the edges of the photo.
I promised myself that from now on, I would stand at the end whenever possible when taking group photos.
‘I should make a 5-person version later using Photoshop and back it up separately.’
The profile photo shoot ended successfully, leaving a new challenge in mind.
What should I say? It was a very strange feeling.
* * *
“After taking the photos, doesn’t it feel real that you’re really debuting? I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so nervous.”
“You need to sleep. That way you can grow taller.”
“Look at this guy ruining the mood again.”
It’s hard to believe that Lee Cheong-hyeon had run away from the pressure, but he recovered so quickly.
He was talking nonstop, eating watermelon with one hand and working on his English workbook with the other.
I looked at today’s study materials in front of me and thought.
‘At this age, solving the problem makes it more than real, you punk.’
I never thought that at this age I would be solving private tutoring workbooks that I couldn’t solve even as a teenager because I didn’t have money. I was deeply moved.
“Cheong-hyeon, let’s focus on studying for the time we decided to spend.”
“I knew you’d listen to me.”
After hearing a word from Jeong Seong-bin and Kang Gi-yeon, Lee Cheong-hyeon finally shut his mouth and began doing his homework.
In keeping with the global trend, idol groups had at least one or two foreign language speakers.
Besides, there is an awareness that everyone should be able to say at least basic greetings in English.
That’s why we were gathered in the living room of our dorm at 10:30 at night, working on our English worksheets.
Since I couldn’t cut out a lot of practice schedules, I had to meet with the instructor once a week to take a class one-on-one, and on other days of the week, I had to do the assigned amount of homework.
To be honest, it wasn’t difficult. I had already prepared for TOEIC Speaking until I started job hunting.
But feeling is a different matter.
After studying for 12 years at the behest of others and 4 years at a study that didn’t suit my aptitude, I finally managed to escape, but now I’m being dragged back to my desk again. It’s killing me.
I do recognize the need to study, because all the English expressions I remember are business English.
An idol who says to overseas fans who come to his live broadcast, ‘Thank you for taking the time to attend.’
I don’t know for sure, but I think there will definitely be rumors that he is a strange guy.
But I couldn’t complain. Even Lee Cheong-hyun, who can speak English freely, came to the living room and studied Mars with the members under the pretext of studying.
Thanks to this, Lee Cheong-hyeon was able to demonstrate his excellent English skills and became the dedicated instructor for Jeong Seong-bin, a student with a passion for learning.
“Lee Cheong-hyeon, when did you learn English?”
Choi Je-ho put down his pencil and asked, perhaps because his concentration was running out. I told you that you would last a long time anyway.
“These are all skills I honed at the English kindergarten.”
“Can I become a free talker just by going to an English kindergarten?”
“After that, there’s a series of compulsory educations, bro.”
Lee Cheong-hyeon said with a smile that seemed to burn brightly.
What’s the use of explaining that tiring feeling? There was no need to explain it.
“Brother Lee Wol too… … Didn’t the conversation go through?”
“I can only answer what I know. I’ve been so scripted.”
“For something like that, asking for a receipt is very precise.”
“You guys, you have to memorize that. If you spend money, you have to have supporting documents. Got it?”
I was reminded of the employees who had apologized for not being able to issue receipts when applying for dinner and transportation expenses.
Or, you may have uploaded only the receipt and not written down the account number, or the payment amount you wrote down is incorrect… … .
‘If you keep thinking like this, it’s bad for your mental health.’
I guess I’ll have to learn some kind of meditation technique to find peace soon. My body and mind are so worn out.