Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols - Chapter 56



Only Krnovel

| Episode 56. Chuseok Holiday (3)

“hello……?”

Before Park Joo-woo could ask the reason for the call, the voice of what was presumed to be his aunt came through the phone.

– Joo-woo! Have you eaten?

“Yes, I ate… … .”

– With who! Seongbin must have gone to his parents’ house too!

“My brother was staying at the dorm, so we ate together.”

– Then come with that guy! The galbijjim is delicious.

– Ju-woo, did you eat songpyeon? Songpyeon? Should I have dad pack some for you at the dorm?

– You be quiet! And the quick is faster than you are going.

The phone was in chaos when someone who was presumed to be my uncle got involved.

In the moment I lost track of the conversation, the topic had shifted to ‘Songpyeon, should I send it with the pine needles removed or with them attached?’

It was a different atmosphere from Jeong Seong-bin’s house.

‘Park Joo-woo… can’t even open his mouth.’

Even though he hadn’t even started running, Park Joo-woo already looked a little worn out.

After a few more words were exchanged, my aunt said:

– Can you come for the Lunar New Year? Or should I go to Seoul sometime?

Park Joo-woo flinched at those words.

But Park Joo-woo didn’t show it and spoke in a calm tone.

“It’s okay. I’m doing well.”

And I saw it clearly. The corners of Park Joo-woo’s mouth were slowly rising.

Just by looking at the way you two call each other ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’, you can tell that you’re already a family. You’re trying to keep your distance.

After barely preventing Songpyeon from going to Seoul, Park Joo-woo ended the call.

“Park Joo-woo.”

“Yes, bro. I’m sorry. I kept you waiting for so long… … .”

“You, go to your aunt’s house for New Year’s Day.”

“yes?”

Park Joo-woo looked at me as if he didn’t understand English.

“What kind of ‘yes?’ is that? I’m going.”

“Still, it’s a holiday… … .”

Park Joo-woo hesitated and put his cell phone in his pocket.

I don’t really know what it means for several families to gather together.

“It’s a holiday, so I’m telling you to go.”

If you don’t see it even at that time, you might regret it.

* * *

We ran down for an hour.

Cool weather and a quiet riverside. Aren’t these the perfect conditions for exercising?

But this is just my opinion.

Park Joo-woo next to me was becoming increasingly more and more depressed. He didn’t say anything that was hard, but it was a bit pitiful.

Before Park Joo-woo’s breathing became more labored, I stopped walking and found a bench.

‘How are you going to hold a concert with such a lack of stamina… … .’

The system shone brightly, as if it were a scary thought. It was said that additional work support services were being activated.

I’m not in a position to talk about other people, am I?

This has nothing to do with me in the first place. I’m not even going to hold a concert.

Since I had already decided to rest, I was trying to catch my breath by drinking the water I had brought from the accommodation when I heard a loud noise coming from under my feet. Even if I could hear it roughly, it was foul language.

‘Are you drunk?’

I sat up slightly and looked down, and saw two men sitting on the stone steps a little lower. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to be arguing with each other.

“… …Are we going to fight?”

Park Joo-woo asked in a small voice.

“I don’t think so.”

I too spoke at a decibel level close to a whisper.

But my answer was in vain, and the man with the balchi became irritated again.

“Hey, f*ck.”

This time, the curses were heard very clearly. It was a tone that made it impossible not to know that the atmosphere was not good.

“I think he’s angry… … .”

Park Joo-woo muttered. This is really embarrassing.

Just as he was about to suggest that they move if it was uncomfortable, his companions stopped the man from expressing his anger.

“Brother, what are you going to do if someone hears you?”

“Listen, you idiot. I can’t even speak with my mouth shut? You idiot, you’re fucking idiot.”

The man’s swearing never stopped.

I also think about this b*tch and that b*tch, but don’t most people stop swearing like that when they grow up?

I grew up only seeing my family swear, so I only had swear words in my head, but when I realized how ugly it was, I tried not to swear out loud.

‘I guess something really made me angry,’ I thought as I closed the cap on the water bottle. I was going to get up from my seat now.

But something was strange. The man’s voice sounded familiar.

‘Where have I heard that?’

First of all, there’s no way it’s one of those spark guys.

The guys sent us a photo of their past that they found in an album at their parents’ house to prove that they had arrived at their parents’ house. – I asked them to do it because I thought it might be used in a variety show. –

If you’ve ever talked to someone, you probably remember their voice, so you probably aren’t close.

‘Is this the person you met at UA?’

While I was hesitating to take a step forward, the man got up first.

“Stop bothering me, XX! Are you going to keep annoying me? You’re nothing but a bunch of new XXs without me!”

‘Gaun, you don’t like it when hyung is annoying you? Are you upset with me then? Hyung, you’d die without Gaun and our members!’

I remembered.

The group Parte, which was monitored until recently and will become Spark’s biggest obstacle in the future.

It was the voice of Song Min-il, the center of the team and the rookie idol with the largest individual fandom.

It goes without saying that there are always preconditions in our lives.

1. Anyone can swear.

2. Idols are people.

3. Idols can swear too.

Of course, anyone can swear, but there are times when you shouldn’t.

Idols are held to stricter standards than ordinary people.

That’s why it’s better to be careful when swearing.

‘I guess there are people who aren’t like that.’

I thought as I watched Song Min-il vent his anger at my feet.

Whenever the guy was upset that Gownie didn’t look after him, he would get impatient because he couldn’t catch Gownie.

I was going to pretend I didn’t hear it, thinking that it must be some personal matter or grievance…

“Just because you got a private number, the company and the ladder are all X and XX, f*ck.”

I even heard some ridiculous reason like, “I got caught getting a sasaeng’s number and got scolded by my agency.”

A private life? You are beyond consideration, you XX.

As I was about to get up and make a noise to avoid getting my ears dirty, I heard Mr. Han Ga-woon’s sorrowful voice grab my ankle.

“Brother… … If someone hears this, it’ll be a big problem… … .”

Damn, I can’t even get up.

Fortunately, it was unusually dark because it was under a bridge, and it seemed like they couldn’t see us because they were underneath us…

If we get caught moving here, Mr. Hangaun will catch us and beg us not to post it on the community.

No, who knows, maybe he’ll be threatened by Song Min-il.

Park Joo-woo must have been thinking the same thing because he wasn’t even breathing.

Even though I tried to cover my ears out of courtesy, I felt the vibration on my thigh.

And about 0.02 seconds later, my bell filled the quiet Han River Park.

At the same time, the medley of profanities that had been playing continuously below stopped as if it were a lie.

‘X is done.’

If things were not so good, trainees who were not far from debuting would end up secretly hearing about the misdeeds of their seniors in the industry.

Park Joo-woo’s pupils were already trembling like aspen trees.

I don’t intend to let Park Joo-woo suffer. It’s my fault for choosing the wrong place to rest.

But I couldn’t just turn myself in and have Park Joo-woo stay here and hold his breath, so I answered the phone in a serious tone.

– Hello. Is this Lee Wol?

“Huh… … . Hey, what time is it?”

– yes?

“X, dude. I think I fell asleep while drinking by the Han River.”

This is the so-called ‘I was so drunk I couldn’t hear your conversation!’ operation.

This time, Parte was quiet. It was obvious to me that he was acting like someone I didn’t want to get entangled with.

Is that heart pounding over there my business? I bet you’re holding your breath, huh?

I put on a show of reenactment with all my heart, recalling the countless drunk customers I had seen while working the night shift at a convenience store during my college days.

“Fuck, my mouth is going to fall off. Hey, sorry. If I leave from here, it’ll take about… …30 minutes, right?”

As he was talking to himself, completely absorbed in the typical 20-something drunkard, Jeong Seong-bin asked back.

– Brother, is something wrong?

“Ki-hoon is next to me too. This X-boy is totally crazy. Can I just leave Ki-hoon Park behind?”

Park Joo-woo, whose name was suddenly changed to Park Ki-hoon, swallowed his saliva.

You understand. If you talk about your real name here and debut, Parte will remember the Han River.

In addition, Park Joo-woo’s voice is quite unique. Later on, even the general public, not just fans, were able to distinguish Park Joo-woo just by his voice.

Here, if Park Joo-woo opened his mouth, it could not be ruled out that those two people recognized him.

So there’s nothing we can do. We have no choice but to go with the setting that Park Joo-woo is drunk and unconscious.

“Uh, uh. I’ll be right there. I’ll call you when I catch a taxi.”

With those words I hung up the phone.

And after sending a text message to Jeong Seong-bin saying, ‘Seong-bin, I’m sorry. I’ll call you in 5 minutes,’ he scratched his head exaggeratedly and muttered to himself.

“Ah, f*ck… … . It’s like X… … .”

After that, I carried Park Joo-woo on my back.

Park Joo-woo helped me out without making me cry.

So I took Mr. Park Ki-hoon and went to catch a taxi, getting out of their sight.

* * *

– Did you run into the seniors of Parte?

“Yeah. I guess our seniors haven’t seen us.”

– What does that have to do with acting like a drunkard…?

Jeong Seong-bin asked, but Park Joo-woo and I were unable to answer.

Because as we were leaving under the bridge, we promised to keep everything we heard a secret.

Whether they were talking loudly in public or we overheard them unintentionally, it’s not right to talk about things you don’t want others to know about.

Besides, Park Joo-woo had to continue working as an idol in the future.

There’s no harm in getting into the habit of not talking about others.

“It just so happened.”

― If my brother says it’s nothing serious, then it really isn’t a big deal… … .

“Don’t worry. More importantly, why did you call?”

– I was wondering if you were doing well, hyung. And Joo-woo too.

This guy Jeong Seong-bin seems to be quite concerned about the people left in the dorm.

Wouldn’t it be better to spend the two vacations a year forgetting about things like trainee life?

‘I guess I should be thankful that I’m not going around cursing by the river.’

For a moment, I imagined Choi Je-ho or Kang Ki-yeon cursing in the river, saying, “This fucking UA!” My eyes closed tightly.

“We’re doing well. We even ate on our own, so you can rest easy too.”

– Yes, I will. Is there anything you would like to eat? I was thinking of taking something with me.

“There’s a lot of food here, so come empty-handed.”

I gave Jeong Seong-bin a strong request and hung up the phone.

When these guys all go home, they’ll only be able to eat three-color vegetable bibimbap, so what’s the point of bringing it cheap?

“What did Seongbin say?”

“Is there anything you want to eat?”

“… … I’ll send you a text message telling you there’s a lot of food in the fridge.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Park Joo-woo left the room to remind Jeong Seong-bin. Then, the surroundings became quiet.

‘Yes, this is a holiday.’

I never dreamed that I would be spending such a noisy Chuseok with the reserved Park Joo-woo.

I finally felt at ease with the familiarity that had come after a long time.

‘It wouldn’t be a bad idea to experience a holiday like this once.’

I thought it was a good experience and laid down in bed with peace of mind.

But until this point, I didn’t know.

The holidays aren’t over until they’re over.