Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols - Chapter 45
Only Krnovel
| Episode 45. Family Invitation Event (2)
People in the HR team said to me, who had been living on the diatomaceous earth foot mat of Manager Nam for several years, “I think Mr. Lee is really good at hiding his emotions.”
Even when Manager Nam swore at me or threw documents at me, I always listened to him with the same attitude.
It was hard to believe that my secret technique of ‘not giving off a X vibe’, which was acknowledged even by those who were experts at reading the organizational atmosphere, was seen through by Jeong Seong-bin, who was only nineteen years old.
I pretended to ask casually, took the mug from Jeong Seong-bin, and asked while rinsing the inside.
“Did it seem to you that I was nervous?”
Jeong Seong-bin answered in a lighter voice than before, perhaps believing that I wasn’t upset by my parents’ surprise visit.
“Yes. Oh, it wasn’t obvious from your expression or tone of voice!”
“If I let it show like that, my nickname will be ‘Dongtae Eyes’ as soon as I debut.”
“Ugh… … .”
Jeong Seong-bin was startled and closed his mouth.
What’s wrong with Dongtae’s eyes?
When idols don’t control their facial expressions without a good reason, isn’t it because they’re prepared to hear that?
Still, I needed to know where Jeong Seong-bin had noticed it. That way, I wouldn’t make a stupid mistake somewhere.
“Then what did you see that made you think that?”
I pretended to do the dishes as if it was nothing special and observed Jeong Seong-bin’s expression.
There was no sign of discomfort or wanting to hide something on Jeong Seong-bin’s face.
“Is that so?”
“what?”
“I don’t know exactly what made you feel so nervous. I guess I just had a feeling.”
It was an answer that made people lose their courage.
It seemed foolish to have worried for even a moment that I might have given a clue somewhere.
It’s much better than being blatantly stupid, though. I said with a much lighter heart.
“It’s good to be quick-witted, but don’t be too concerned about what other people think. That’ll make you tired.”
“Okay, that’s right, bro! Can I just send a text to mom to make sure she got home okay and help her clean up?”
“I wonder if there’s anyone here who can sort things out other than you? Just go and contact me.”
Jeong Seong-bin managed to get my permission for something so trivial.
Call your mom.
It was something I couldn’t even imagine. In the first place, I didn’t even have their contact information on my phone.
I wiped the water off the sink, thinking that next time someone’s parents come over, I should ask them if they got home okay and if they’d contacted me.
* * *
‘Manager Kim! Please reserve a pension in Jeju Island. One with lots of parking space and an ocean view.’
‘Is it a pension?’
‘Uh, uh. Is it okay if a family of three can stay there? Check my vacation schedule and make arrangements accordingly.’
‘Did you take a vacation, sir? When will you… … ?’
‘I just submitted my application. Can I make a reservation today? When I asked, they said that if I don’t make it quickly, there won’t be any rooms left.’
I didn’t even get to use a single day of my vacation during the holidays, but Manager Nam used it all up.
Once that gentleman took a vacation, he could easily use it for 4 or 5 days in a row.
The responsibility of taking care of Manager Nam’s vacation was entirely mine.
One day it’s round-trip airfare, another day it’s lodging, and another day it’s theme park reservations.
I had to prepare a full course of conversion just for one Nam Bujang.
It would have been better if it had been a domestic trip.
On days when Manager Nam planned an overseas trip with his family or went on a golf tour with his classmates, he had to stay in the company office until 10 p.m., struggling to decide between Saipan and Guam, places he had never been to before.
Because of this, I often thought that maybe it would have been better for me to get a job at a package tour agency.
Of course, these random thoughts were completely put to rest by a complaint from a customer who had just returned from vacation.
Because I realized that I had no talent for planning package tours.
‘Manager Kim, how come all I can see from my room is the gloomy ocean? I paid a lot of money for an ocean view, but I didn’t see a single clear ocean during my entire trip.’
‘Sir, that’s the weather in Jeju Island at that time… … .’
‘And why didn’t you make a reservation at the croaker restaurant I mentioned? You waited for 20 minutes and then went to another restaurant. Is Manager Kim going to compensate for my time?’
‘As I told you last time, that grilled mackerel restaurant doesn’t take reservations… ‘
‘Anyway, Manager Kim, you’re making things so frustrating. Since it’s me, just let it go. If it were anyone else, I would’ve cursed at you already. Do you get that?’
“I don’t know, XX… … !”
I woke up with a single scream of vulgar language. It had been two hours since I had been in bed. It was so vivid that I had difficulty breathing.
Was it because I searched here and there to find out where the music video was filming? My dream was so scary.
I was worried that if I ever found myself in a situation where I met someone with the third last name Nam, I would foam at the mouth and collapse.
I felt feverish, but once I woke up, it seemed like it would be difficult to fall asleep again.
I struggled to get out of bed, cursing Manager Nam, who had been haunting me like an evil spirit for nine years.
As I came out into the living room, the mood lights that Choi Je-ho had turned on were glowing dimly.
I sighed as I sat down at the table holding my communal laptop, relying on the faint green light.
If this isn’t voluntary overtime, then what is?
Fortunately, the process of selecting the filming location was almost finished.
Because we had to stick to the budget that we had heard about by poking the planning team, we couldn’t pursue overseas location shooting like a group like Parte, but there were a few pretty good locations.
Even unlike the Hanpyeong Industry days, when receiving a site estimate from UA, I could confidently ask the site rental company, “Can I get a site estimate first?” This was a revolution in the cost processing industry.
‘Manager, it’s a discount period now so I need to pay right away. What payment method would you like me to use?’
‘That’s what I’m talking about. First, Manager Kim scrapes it and then charges me all at once.’
‘yes?’
‘I can’t tell Manager Kim my card password. Do I have to send him a text message every time he makes a payment?’
It was an environment that couldn’t even be compared to the time when I had prepared for Director Nam’s trip with my own prepayment. I was quite satisfied with this.
If I were in charge, I would have submitted the approval and completed the consultation, but I was only the proposer.
My role was to report on the expected draft, unit price, and availability of sponsorship.
In other words, this is all I had to do.
After pouring in another hour or so, I was able to schedule an email to be sent to the planning team.
Then the system lit up brighter than the mood lights.
+
[SYSTEM] ‘New task’ is awaiting approval.
▷ Content: Scouting music video filming locations
+
I felt relieved after finishing something that had been pending for several days. I also felt a little bit relieved.
‘While I have some time left to concentrate, should I look at some more costume concepts?’
Thanks to the work support services, the remaining fatigue level was still 40%.
After doing some light stretching, I looked for various outfits and pounded away at my laptop’s keyboard until its battery died.
* * *
Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but there were some things that didn’t go as I expected.
The bigger problem was that it was clearly ‘my problem’, different from Jeong Seong-bin’s wandering or Lee Cheong-hyeon’s running away from home.
I stared at the large mirror on the wall of the gym for a long time.
Compared to how I looked nine years ago in my memories, my body was noticeably thinner.
‘The muscles aren’t too thick.’
It was strange that even though I was wearing clothes, my physique was so different from a long time ago.
Even though he says he doesn’t work in logistics right now, his level of activity is probably similar, as he dances day and night and even exercises.
In that situation, it was difficult to accept the fact that I had less muscle mass than before.
What on earth is the reason? Is it because I eat healthy food?
Now that UA even supports my food expenses, I eat salad and chicken breast, whereas when I was a college student, I always ate high-calorie ramen and instant foods.
If it was a diet issue to begin with, the difference would be in fat, not muscle.
It would be a problem if muscle mass did not increase even though I was controlling my diet and exercising.
When performing choreography, if the dancer does not have enough strength, it can give the impression that the dancer is dancing roughly.
≫ All the members are gritting their teeth and dancing, but he’s the only one who’s mumbling and slurring his words. He looks like he doesn’t want to do anything, like who forced him to debut
└ You said you practiced your debut song for half a year? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Did you hibernate alone for half a year?
└ If you received different choreography from the choreographer alone and realized it 3 days before debut and did it in a hurry, then okay?
└ Hahahahahahahahaha I have no choice but to admit this
I couldn’t put pressure on my debut stage, which would become someone else’s portfolio.
I thought I needed to build up my body to avoid that kind of situation, so I pushed myself harder with PT, but the results were actually lackluster.
Then there was a point where the thought occurred to me.
This was the description I saw when the Additional Work Support Service first came out.
‘I’m sure there was some talk about side effects.’
As I tried to recall the relevant information, the manual I had seen at the time appeared before my eyes. The item I was looking for was at the very end.
+
[SYSTEM] ‘Additional work support service’ is notified to ‘.’
▷ If you wish to work additional hours but feel that physical limitations are preventing you from achieving your KPIs, we will provide support to ensure that you can work additional hours smoothly.
.
.
.
▷ Physical side effects may occur for various reasons, such as when the service is used for a long time, fatigue accumulates excessively, or the temporarily reduced fatigue level exceeds a certain level.
+
No, if it’s a system designed for a successful idol debut, shouldn’t these side effects be eliminated?
Since I started receiving this service, I have never turned it off.
So, if the side effect of not gaining muscle mass occurred, it was likely due to the extended period of service use.
‘Should I just turn this off when I exercise and then turn it back on when I’m done?’
As far as I remember, my current fatigue level is 40%. The fatigue level deducted through the support service was 20%.
A total of about 60% would be considered average for a modern office worker. Almost all office workers in Korea are in a zombie-like state.
I clicked ‘Yes’ when asked if I wanted to cancel the service.
Then the system disappeared with the message that the changes were being applied.