Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols-Chapter 166: Mind Control (2)

After receiving the system’s help, the problem of throwing up after meals completely disappeared.
I didn’t feel particularly bad, nor did I dwell on unnecessary thoughts. It was just like when I had first returned to being twenty years old.
‘It seems my relatively stable mental state upon returning was due to my incomplete memories.’
If I had returned with those memories intact, I would have spent each day wallowing in self-deprecating thoughts. In that sense, the system’s choice was correct. Though I hate to admit it.
Ah, there was also one peculiar thing.
‘Hyung, do you want porridge today?’
‘Huh?’
Jeong Seongbin, through our manager, suddenly prepared porridge for me during mealtime.
He didn’t even order porridge for everyone, just for me.
‘Why porridge all of a sudden?’
‘It seems like you haven’t been eating much lately, hyung. Since you’re still eating, it doesn’t seem like you’ve lost your appetite, but I thought maybe regular food was too much for you.’
‘What…’
‘This is vegetable porridge, and there’s also pumpkin porridge and pine nut porridge.’
I was a little taken aback when he placed three separate containers of porridge in front of me. Given that there weren’t any spicy or heavy options like seafood porridge, it seemed he had deliberately chosen ones that were easy for a recovering patient to eat.
Out of consideration for his effort, I chose the least burdensome-looking vegetable porridge and ate it diligently.
‘He’s oddly perceptive in strange ways.’
Just like when he had noticed my nervousness when his parents visited. He was a really considerate guy.
Jeong Seongbin’s porridge therapy turned out to be a great help. Even though the system cured my stomach problems, if I had immediately gone back to regular food after constantly throwing up, I might have gotten sick. Jeong Seongbin diligently provided me with porridge until I finally asked Choi Jeho to bake me half a loaf of bread.
“Hyung, we have a meeting!”
“I’m coming!”
Thanks to that, not only had I fully recovered, but I was also now walking briskly toward a meeting—unfortunately summoned by Lee Cheonghyeon, our personal meeting hell.
This meeting was special. While most planning meetings were handled by our dedicated team, this one was led by us.
That was because the next album would feature Spark’s first fan song as a digital single.
The preparations went smoothly. It was a pleasure to see how efficiently Jeong Seongbin and Lee Cheonghyeon were progressing.
Even though there was a mountain of work to do, it felt great that everyone could work on something they wanted to do in a supportive environment.
“They said they’re matching the timing with the fan club recruitment, right?”
“That’s what they said. There’s no confirmed schedule yet, but they’re aiming for the end of October.”
Jeong Seongbin pulled up a calendar on the screen. The schedule was packed with barely any breaks. It really reminded me of my company days.
Since I hadn’t been closely following Spark’s activities for a while, I carefully went through the schedule, but something caught my eye.
“There’s no mention of contacting a lyricist. We have less than a month left excluding recording and promotions, are we sure we don’t need to check on this?”
“We decided to write the lyrics ourselves, remember? That’s why I prepared the demo today.”
Lee Cheonghyeon opened the shared drive.  A file named ‘Demo_LyricsReference_NoGuidelines’ caught my eye.
“We’re writing them? By ourselves?”
I couldn’t believe it. When did such an important and dangerous conversation happen?
Lee Cheonghyeon, the one who dropped the bombshell, remained nonchalant.
“Yeah. I wrote it in the last meeting minutes. You didn’t read them?”
“You put a password on the shared laptop!”
Jeong Seongbin soothed me as I nearly collapsed from frustration. They hadn’t told me anything about such a crucial matter.
Writing lyrics. And for a fan song, no less.
This couldn’t be happening. The only things I could write were job postings and proposals.
Sure, I could write glowing descriptions to make a company like the Hanpyeong Industry sound appealing if I threw away my conscience.
But a fan song with lyrics like, ‘I want to keep Sparkler by my side, even if it costs me 1 billion won a year’? Everyone would definitely quit the fandom after hearing that.
Ignoring my dizziness, Lee Cheonghyeon played ‘Demo_LyricsReference_NoGuidelines’.
Lee Cheonghyeon’s meticulously crafted beautiful melody filled the meeting room. The simple composition and classic instrumental combination gave it a fresh feel.
Just listening to it painted a clear picture in my mind: a late summer afternoon, a tree’s shadow stretching along a brick wall, and boys in white school uniforms standing beneath it.
If a song could create such vivid imagery just by listening, its composition must be highly refined. With just a few additional instrumental layers and background vocals, it could be ready for release.
‘But what kind of lyrics could possibly fit this?’
I had no idea. I couldn’t even refer to past Spark fan songs, as those were for the Spark and Sparkler of that time.
If I had known this would happen, I would’ve taken a creative writing class. Then I wouldn’t be in this predicament.
“In line with the purpose of a fan song, rather than setting a specific concept, I hope we write the lyrics with the intention of honestly expressing what we want to say to the fans.”
Jeong Seongbin summarized. With about 30 minutes left in the meeting room reservation, we decided to brainstorm individually.
I jotted down a few words that came to mind on the grid paper at the back of my planner journal.
Gratitude, thank you, Sparkler, support, benefactor, grace, light, debt…
This was wrong. With these words, I could only write something like, ‘Sparkler, our gracious benefactors and guiding light, thank you always for your support. We will repay this kindness like paying off a debt’.  And it would surely take the top spot as the worst idol fan song lyrics.
Actually, the first word that came to mind when I thought of Sparkler was…
‘Love.’
…But I didn’t have the courage to write or sing that. So I didn’t write it down.
Racking my brains, I raised my hand and asked,
“When is the deadline for this?”
It didn’t seem like a task I could finish easily.
Lee Cheonghyeon, as if I had asked the most obvious question, answered while I was tearing my hair out.
“As soon as possible.”
“Alright…”
***
With our lyric-writing task looming, our usual worksheet homework was somewhat postponed.
As a result, every night after practice, we each held a piece of paper in our respective rooms, the kitchen, or the living room, waiting for the muse of creativity that never seemed to arrive.
There was the diligent Jeong Seongbin, who would draft dozens of simple compositions and repeatedly combine them, and then there was Choi Jeho, who just sat staring blankly at a white page.
As for me, I naturally belonged to the latter group.
“How much have you written?”
Choi Jeho asked. I replied in a parched voice,
“Nothing.”
“What’s up with that?”
“I guess I have no talent for creative writing.”
How powerless could a human be? It was pathetic.
Not wanting to suffer alone, I asked Choi Jeho about his progress.
“You?”
“I wrote two lines.”
“Isn’t that half done?”
“I’m about to delete them.”
Dark circles were visible under Choi Jeho’s glasses. Right. He was the type who was clumsy with all forms of expression except physical ones.
Still, even I, a devout believer in experts, couldn’t advocate for bringing in an outside lyricist this time.
Because it was a fan song…  Talk about a dilemma.
As I repeatedly wrote and erased, our manager came to the dorm.
It was unusual, so we were all a little surprised. We wondered if something had happened again.
“Is Iwol here?”
“Yes, what’s going on?”
The manager’s face was flushed. Only ominous thoughts filled my mind.
What is it? More work?
UA hasn’t given us any work lately, though?
Is there something wrong with the company’s accounting books? I’ve almost forgotten everything about accounting, would I even be of any help?
Tension hung in the air. Then, the manager smiled brightly and exclaimed,
“You passed the audition!”
“Huh?”
Completely unexpected words tumbled out.
“Audition?”
That audition I went to after saying ‘screw it’ and pointing out historical inaccuracies like an obsessive viewer?
For a moment, I couldn’t even remember which audition it was. Too much had happened since the In My Office audition.
This was absurd. Were there really that few talents who could pull off the role of a world-weary office worker?
But I wasn’t going to accept the casting so readily. An idol’s acting activities might be a plus for the idol and the agency, but they were definitely a minus for the fandom atmosphere, public opinion, and the people working on set.
It was not like I didn’t understand their sentiment. No matter the circumstances, would those in the industry welcome it?
One of the few things UA did right in the past was not making Spark act. They probably got the hint after that one breakup MV featuring Lee Cheonghyeon—realizing that, if mishandled, even a face sculpted by the heavens could end up being a public punching bag.
This time, I fully agreed with UA’s old policy. Besides, what good would it do to stand out even more than I already did?
I should politely decline—thank them for the opportunity, acknowledge my lack of talent after the audition, and respectfully reject their offer…
+
[SYSTEM] ‘New Task’ has been assigned.
▷ Appear in the drama ‘In My Office’
▷ Reward: Dance Proficiency +0.16% per episode appearance (Bonus points awarded for appearing in all episodes)
+
“Oh my… What an honor!”
I wondered what acting had to do with dance proficiency, but it didn’t matter.
A chance to increase my stagnant dance proficiency? And all I had to do was diligently play a very, very, very minor character with only a few lines?
‘Since ‘In My Office’ is a 12-episode series, I can gain almost 2 points.’
It was a free opportunity; of course, I had to accept. I’d bluffed my way through idol life this long.
Besides, after this digital single, we had a mini-album coming up. The dedicated team was working hard on it, and I couldn’t just stand on the side doing my joyful wooden doll dance.
This reward was perfect. I decided to embrace reality.
The members surrounded me, filled with excitement. Everyone congratulated me.
Just wait, guys. I’ll be back as a dancing machine.