Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols-Chapter 178: Company Theme Song (1)

Just as Ha Seomyeong had said, an offer came to UA soon after. They wanted a member of Spark, the same group as Kim Iwol, who was currently filming the drama, to record the OST for the drama, starting from episode 6.
It was what I had hoped for, but I hadn’t expected it to be possible. I’d assumed they would use an established singer.
‘But Jeong Seongbin really blew up in the meantime.’
Thanks to his appearance on ‘Genre-Swap’, Jeong Seongbin’s skills were recognized even by non-fans. That probably played a role in securing this offer.
The real issue was how much Park Joowoo was willing to step back when it came to vocal activities.
‘Just like the vocal position battle on IDC, if this opportunity goes to Jeong Seongbin, Park Joowoo, despite being a main vocalist, will have missed out three times.’
I agreed that opportunities should go to those with the ability. I also knew that opportunities didn’t come equally to everyone.
However, ‘Should we give Park Joowoo the opportunity earned by Jeong Seongbin’s talent?’ was a different matter.
‘He’s already given up so much…’
I had given Choi Jeho, Kang Kiyeon, Lee Cheonghyeon, and Jeong Seongbin plenty of opportunities to shine.
But I hadn’t done the same for Park Joowoo. Because the circumstances weren’t right,  because the flow of things didn’t allow it, because it just happened that way.
So, ever since hearing about the offer from Ha Seomyeong, I had been camped out in the UA office.
As soon as a related call came in, I practically begged, ‘Please let me talk to the members first! Please don’t just announce it to them all at once!’.
After reserving a meeting room, preparing two cartons of milk, and summoning Park Joowoo without Jeong Seongbin’s knowledge, I finally set the stage for a conversation.
“…Is something wrong?”
Park Joowoo asked, gripping a carton of milk in both hands. He looked incredibly anxious.
“Not really, I just wanted to talk to you.”
I poked a straw into my milk carton and took a sip. Even so, my throat felt dry.
“Joowoo, I’m asking this because I’m really curious.”
“Yeah.”
“During ‘IDC’, I ended up taking the spot in the position battle. Did you not feel disappointed at all then?”
Despite his quiet nature, Park Joowoo wasn’t the type to be overly concerned with others’ opinions.
Face-to-face, he was probably as honest, if not more so, than Kang Kiyeon. That was why it was best to be direct with him.
As expected, Park Joowoo gave a straightforward answer.
“No.”
“Really?”
“I was disappointed that I couldn’t sing ‘New World’… but I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t represent Spark.”
As he spoke, Park Joowoo slowly unwrapped the attached straw.
“Then what about when Seongbin went on ‘Genre-Swap’?”
“It was the same then.”
Park Joowoo smiled faintly. It was a relieved smile, born from the realization that this wasn’t an interrogation.
‘I wish he’d at least feel a little uneasy here…’
How could I send this innocent lamb into the harsh world of idols?
“The drama I’m filming… ‘In My Office,’ they sent an offer to UA for OST participation.”
Park Joowoo didn’t react. He just slowly inserted the straw into the carton.
“It’s a typical ballad. Since I’m an idol, they reached out to Spark, and I think they were primarily considering Seongbin for it.”
“That makes sense. ‘Genre-Swap’ generated a lot of buzz.”
“I think Seongbin should get first priority for this. But if you feel it’s unfair as a fellow main vocalist, I want to hear you out.
At my words, Park Joowoo swayed slightly from side to side. Then he closed his eyes for a moment, lost in thought, before opening them again and staring blankly, seemingly contemplating something.
Back when I was just a fan, I thought that was a sign of not concentrating at all, but now I knew. It was Park Joowoo’s way of organizing his thoughts.
As expected, Park Joowoo soon nodded.
“Hmm… I’ve sorted it out.”
“Okay, tell me slowly.”
Park Joowoo took a sip of milk and said,
“First, I think the OST should go to Seongbin. If you put him as the top choice, you must have your reasons.”
“No, you don’t have to consider my opinion…”
“Your thoughts are also a criteria for me, hyung.”
Park Joowoo was quiet but firm. Though he didn’t assert himself often, he always expressed his intentions clearly.
“…I don’t feel it’s unfair. If an opportunity that suits me comes along, then it will be my turn.”
“You trust me that much?”
“It’s not so much trust as… a promise.”
Park Joowoo stared at a spot on the table, his fingertips rhythmically tapping the carton.
“You’ve kept every your promises you made, hyung. You kept the debut concept, and we’ve had several first-place performances on ‘IDC’.”
Park Joowoo’s gaze returned to me, a smile gracing his honest eyes.
“So I’ll wait for my turn. Until we can perform as a band and sing powerful songs.”
“…….”
“I can wait until then. It’s not that I don’t have ambitions, or that I can’t be ambitious… you don’t have to worry.”
“Oh dear.”
Seeing Park Joowoo gulping down his milk, I couldn’t help but sigh.
The guilt of having to entrust this tiny guy with those killer high notes in the future was overwhelming.
As I sighed inwardly a thousand times, Park Joowoo said,
“But hyung, you’re being hypocritical.”
“What?”
“Don’t you get it…? When I do it, it’s romance.”
(TL note: Park Joowoo is using the idiom ‘When I do it, it’s romance, but when someone else does it, it’s an affair’. It’s a sarcastic way of pointing out double standards, where someone justifies their own actions but criticizes others for doing the same thing.)
“Hey, what idol talks like that?!”
Seeing my flustered reaction, Park Joowoo, after some thought, tried again.
“Then… hmm… when I do it, it’s yielding, hyung.”
“What’s that?”
“When I do it, it’s yielding. If someone else does it, it’s being a pushover.”
“Who is it? Who’s using such undignified language like ‘pushover’ in the dorm?”
“Jeho hyung.”
“Don’t come to our room for a while. You’re only going to pick up weird stuff.”
My head hurt. How was I supposed to shut Choi Jeho up? Tape his mouth with some kind of breathable bandage?
Seeing me fuming, Park Joowoo said,
“Hyung, you were worried because I don’t have any individual schedules, right?”
“Huh?”
“…Even though you hate standing out.”
I had suspected he’d figured it out. We were similar in that way—our personalities, our tendencies.
“When it’s for the team, I have to step up.”
“Right.”
Park Joowoo murmured.
“Right…”
He repeated the same word. Unnecessarily.
I shook both milk cartons to check if they were empty.
As I picked up the empty cartons and wrappers, about to leave the meeting room, Park Joowoo called out to me from behind.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah, what?”
“I’m really good at remembering promises.”
Park Joowoo’s lips curved into a small distinct smile. It was a gentle smile.
“So don’t forget.”
And so, it was decided that Jeong Seongbin would sing the OST for the latter half of my drama.
***
Filming a drama took much, much longer than expected.
Sometimes, it felt like, ‘They’re really filming all of this in one day?’ and other times, it felt like time was crawling at snail’s pace.
Today was the latter. The rooftop scene with the two lead actors seemed to be taking forever, and the waiting time stretched endlessly.
Whenever I saw people on rooftops during lunch breaks, they were all smoking. The Mai Asset Management rooftop must be a no-smoking zone.
‘After this, the team leader’s going to storm off in a rage.’
There was never a peaceful day at the Hanpyeong Industry or Mai Asset Management. And let’s not forget UA.
No, no. No random thoughts while working. Focus, focus.
The current situation was this:
Amidst a heated disagreement between the team leader and the assistant manager, Team Leader Ji dragged Assistant Manager Seon to the rooftop, yelling, ‘Assistant Manager Seon, follow me!’
So, what should the team members do while the two were away?
‘What else? Pretend we see nothing, hear nothing, and act busy.’
I displayed a dummy public disclosure document of a fictional company on one of my monitors.  It was one of the images I was told to display during work scenes.
But this…
‘This is surprisingly well-made.’
The numbers on the balance sheet actually added up. The same went for the income statement.
With this, I could calculate market capitalization and draw a few graphs.
‘It’s a dual monitor setup, so if I split the screen in two and display four images—public disclosure, web sales, news, and KOSPI…’
Even a furious boss would think I was working hard! I felt genuinely proud.
As I was happily drawing graphs with formulas for the first time in a while, the corner of the set became noisy. It seemed the two leads had finished their rooftop scene and were coming down.
“We’ll start filming the office scene in 10 minutes!”
The assistant director shouted. It was time to showcase my dead-eyed office worker acting again.