Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols-Chapter 185: The Woes of Office Workers (1)

“Younghwan, can you scrape together all the recent news on ZA Corp.? Even if it’s about the chairman’s wife changing her Ferrari from yellow to red. Anything.”
“Yes, I understand.”
After assigning the ZA Corp. research to Do Younghwan, Seon Guan checked her monitor again. The graph was trending upwards.
‘When Team Leader Ji checked it, there definitely weren’t any issues that could cause losses.’
Ever since Ji Seongin acknowledged her ability, the two had been working together quite well and achieving success after success. Their smooth collaboration had even earned them their recent incentive bonus.
But now…
The product that she and Ji Seongin had carefully designed, now being heavily backed and pushed by Mai Asset Management, was flashing a warning sign just as they were about to launch it out in earnest.
To others, ZA Corp.’s graph would probably appear red, but in Seon Guan’s eyes, it was clearly black.
The names of companies whose stock prices would rise appeared red.
The names of companies whose stock prices would fall appeared blue.
And a black graph meant…
“…It’s going to be suspended from trading.”
“Huh?”
“ZA Corp might end up as scrap paper. Because of funding issues!”
…It meant delisting.
* * *
‘Ms. Ha Seomyeong, you’re a really good actress.’
I tried not to judge others, but I couldn’t help but be impressed by Ha Seomyeong’s performance.
Her flustered expression when falling in love, her flustered expression upon discovering a mistake, and her flustered expression when facing a major problem were all different. It just made me think that experience truly made a difference.
‘Come to think of it, Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon were also very expressive.’
The only expressions I could pull off were a ‘joyful smile anticipating leaving work’ or a ‘smile of pure happiness brought on by paycheck’, but their smiles had a wider spectrum than that.
Maybe that was why I received the mission to appear in ‘In My Office’—to study these kinds of things and improve our dance performance. I couldn’t grasp the system’s intentions, so I could only speculate.
‘Even if my acting is kind of stuck in a rut, I do try to put my soul into it.’
In fact, I’d never been told that my expressions looked awkward or unnatural. Perhaps it was because the expectations for me weren’t high, but at least it meant I was not a nuisance on screen.
In that case, I was doing well enough on my own—but I still needed to find a direction to improve further.
For example, diligently observing my seniors’ acting to find areas where I was lacking, or paying more attention to my interactions with others…
“Mr. Iwol, could you throw this away for me?”
…Or keeping my seniors in a good mood.
* * *
For Jang Junhoo, UA was his playground. So his antics were simple.
As long as his family didn’t find out, it was fine. That was Jang Junhoo’s mindset.
On the other hand, Gu Jahan tended to justify his actions.
This is a filming site, and the main role at a filming site is the actors, and the set should revolve around the actors—that was his ideology.
His tendency to pick fights with cast and crew who weren’t actors by birth stemmed from the same logic.
Although this was his first leading role, his pride from having worked in acting for over ten years since becoming an adult seemed to play a part.
‘He feels the need to discipline those who disrupt the sanctity of the filming set.’
And Gu Jahan’s co-star was Ha Seomyeong, a former idol. Although their starting points were different, their actual work experience differed by only a few years.
Even when Gu Jahan blatantly showed his displeasure, Ha Seomyeong didn’t respond. In other words, the ‘establishing dominance’ Gu Jahan wanted didn’t happen.
That kind of person only felt secure only when they had someone beneath them. For the sake of showing off.
‘Look closely. If you make a mistake, You could be treated like this too if you mess up.’ That was Gu Jahan’s goal.
And I got caught in that show of dominance. How convenient. I was an active idol with only a few lines, yet I kept getting more screen time thanks to my senior idol-turned-actor taking care of me, and even the directors seemed to favor me.
“Mr. Iwol, work hard. There are plenty of people who would kill for this position.”
“Seriously… we need to stop idols from crossing over into acting. It lowers the quality of the work. Don’t you feel that when you deliver your lines?”
Whenever we happened to be waiting together, Gu Jahan would constantly whisper these things to me. Anyone who saw us would think we were close.
Though no one would misunderstand, given how often Gu Jahan called me a ‘lowly entertainer’.
But wasn’t he being a bit hypocritical? Ha Seomyeong was a better actor than him.
If he was so envious of her double career, he should make a flashy idol debut himself.
Because he was so annoying, I only pretended to listen, and Gu Jahan started giving me errands.
Things like, ‘Oh—that? I’m not holding anything right now, so toss mine too while you’re at it,’ or ‘Could you bring my bag to the waiting room?’
One time, Ha Seomyeong caught him and the two of them got into a huge fight. Of all days, it was the day Gu Jahan had to confess his feelings to Ha Seomyeong with the line, ‘Yes, I’m bothered by you, Ms. Seon Guan. Are you satisfied?!’ I was so worried that the filming would be ruined that day.
So, while I was grateful and felt sorry to Ha Seomyeong, I had decided to just quietly go along with Gu Jahan’s nonsense so as not to cause trouble for the production or Ha Seomyeong.
Gu Jahan felt the same way. Perhaps judging that it wouldn’t be beneficial to provoke the lead actress, Ha Seomyeong, he now only bothered me when she was filming.
“Mr. Iwol, about that coffee I asked you to throw out earlier—did you already get rid of it?”
“Yes, I just threw it away.”
“Oh, you already threw it away?”
Gu Jahan frowned as if troubled.
You told me to throw it away quickly, jack*ss. He was getting on my nerves. I’d been living so peacefully since things calmed down at UA.
“Come to think of it, I think I left my personal cup holder on it.”
At that, he stopped talking. Silence followed.
It was obvious what he wanted to say.
“Is it important?”
“Yes, it’s a gift from a fan. I need to find it.”
So, it’s something your fan gave you, and now I have to find it.
I really thought I’d never go trash diving again after leaving the Hanpyeong Industry.
What a fool I was.
“I’ll look for it, sunbaenim!”
I replied with a bright smile.
What workplace doesn’t have its share of jerks? This is just how everyone gets by.
* * *
Although it varied from set to set, on the set of ‘In My Office,’ large plastic bags were used as trash cans.
Even though they separated their waste, the amount of trash produced by dozens of people was always enormous.
And I was currently searching through those trash bags to find a disposable takeout cup that
might
have belonged to Gu Jahan. What a pain.
In the first place, if it really had some kind of unique cup holder, I wouldn’t have missed it and thrown it away. He probably just made something up to mess with me.
Nevertheless, there was only one reason why I was doing this.
I couldn’t tarnish the group’s name at someone else’s workplace.
Unfortunately, the actions of one celebrity often became representative of all celebrities. If I defied Gu Jahan, tomorrow’s entertainment news would be filled with headlines like, ‘Idol’s Excessive Insubordination, Impacting Not Only His Main Career But Also the Acting World…’ I’d been in the news enough times unintentionally to know this.
‘I have to make it through 12 episodes to get the proficiency, so I can’t get kicked off midway like someone else.’
As I grumbled and tried to reorganize the messed-up recycling, my hands and feet were constantly busy.
System, I’m being a good moral citizen, so can’t you give me something? My pants were soaked in coffee, and I was still patiently sorting through paper cup holders without snapping.
But the system didn’t show up. F*** the system. F*** it all.
Instead of the system, someone else showed up.
“Mr. Iwol, you haven’t found it yet?”
Yeah, this guy, Gu Jahan.
Why? You gonna give me a reward if I find it, you bastard?
“No, sunbae. Nothing special’s turned up.”
“Ah, guess I was mistaken then.”
Even then, Gu Jahan didn’t apologize or say thank you for my effort.
I was genuinely curious. What do people like this gain from this kind of behavior?
The simple pleasure of tormenting others? Isn’t that something you’re supposed to outgrow in elementary school?
Many thoughts crossed my mind, but I still had to navigate the social landscape of the workplace. I tried my best to smile brightly and innocently as I replied,
“I’m glad you didn’t lose anything important, sunbaenim.”
Maybe that backfired—Gu Jahan’s expression only worsened.
“Mr. Iwol, don’t you have any pride?”
“Excuse me?”
“Is it because you’re an idol? Gotta keep that smile on for appearances, huh? Can’t even show when you’re pissed.”
What does that have to do with being an idol? Does he think regular people want to show how annoyed they are at work?
There are probably about 50 million people in South Korea alone who are burdened with the woes of hiding their true feelings. If you’re gonna pick a fight, at least come up with a better excuse.
‘What a load of crap.’ I tried sending a telepathic message, but it didn’t reach Gu Jahan. His mouth continued to babble incessantly.
“You grin no matter what I ask you to do, you come running whenever someone calls you, you poke around and touch everything like someone desperate for praise. You really think that means you’re doing well?”
= I hate that even in a tough work environment, you’re smiling, getting along with everyone, stepping up to help out, and actually making it work!
…Wasn’t that what he was saying? That was what it sounded like to me. If he was so jealous, he should bring cable ties and tie some LAN cables himself.
I’d already told the Spark members that it was a sin for idols not to smile, and I had no intention of being the only one not managing my expressions. Not going when someone called you was just being socially inept.
I silently pulled my foot out of the trash bag.
Gu Jahan, watching me, said,
“Any day now, you’re gonna be flipping over and showing your belly in front of the director. Just like my dog does.”
Gu Jahan, who had long crossed the line of decency as a colleague, had now crossed the line as a human being.
“Who knows, Mr. Iwol. Maybe you’ll get a few more lines out of it.”
So, really.
What did he hope to gain by insulting others in such a lowbrow manner?
Author's Thoughts
GRAAAAAAH!!! &#$*&#$&*#$