Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols-Chapter 186: The Woes of Office Workers (2)

The path to becoming an actor was never easy.
It was the same for Gu Jahan. After deciding to pursue acting, he worked hard to persuade his parents and attended an acting academy. He couldn’t go to a performing arts university because he started late, but after joining an agency, he steadily worked his way up from supporting roles to finally landing a lead role.
But for some, it was incredibly easy.
‘Why are there two former idols in the cast?’
‘Come on, Mr. Jahan! Ms. Seomyeong is a good actress!’
‘But the other one is a complete rookie. Aren’t they from the same agency? It feels like forced packaging.’
He’d even considered withdrawing from the drama. But it wasn’t like he could just throw away his first-ever lead role over something like this.
Fortunately, they weren’t too bothersome on set. Except for the fact that the rookie idol, Kim Iwol, appeared too frequently, there were no major issues. Young people always wanted to stand out, so it wasn’t difficult to understand.
At least, not until the lead actor, Ha Seomyeong, openly started favoring Kim Iwol.
It started with a minor disagreement between Gu Jahan and Ha Seomyeong.
‘Jahan, regarding this part of the conversation…’
‘Let’s each do our own thing. It’s just exchanging lines anyway.’
‘Excuse me?’
What was there to gain from coordinating with a non-professional? Gu Jahan had no intention of taking a loss or wasting time.
When Gu Jahan refused to cooperate, Ha Seomyeong found an alternative.
‘Mr. Iwol, how about we add a little more to this conversation?’
‘You mean ad-libbing? If we consider the next development…’
He thought they were playing around. This wasn’t a playground. It was ridiculous.
Whatever they did on set, since the sequence length was fixed, it would all be edited out anyway.
So he decided to ignore them. Or rather, he intended to.
‘Younghan, no… I’m sorry. Let’s do that again.’
But he failed. The messy atmosphere made it hard to get even a simple line right. With no discipline on set, everything fell apart.
‘It’s Younghwan, sunbaenim.’
Kim Iwol said softly. Annoyed by his attitude, as if trying to teach him something trivial, Gu Jahan pretended not to hear and waited for his manager to bring the script.
Unaware of Gu Jahan’s complex feelings, the gossipmongers, who existed everywhere, chattered freely behind his back.
‘Gu Jahan is so arrogant, seriously…’
‘Doesn’t he know that he only got the role after all the first-choice actors passed on it?’
‘Of course he knows. He’s just being a jerk. He only got the role because of his height. If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t even be considered for a lead. The guy’s been in the industry forever and this is his first lead role—doesn’t that say it all?”
Gu Jahan let the sharp-edged words of the staff slide right past him.
‘Such insignificant people.’
Staff were easy to hire.
But actors were different. The amount of damage incurred by replacing an actor was substantial. Actors had a completely different price tag.
The staff, unaware that he was listening to everything, continued their conversation excitedly.
‘Those idols too. If they just filmed their parts and left, things would go much faster, but they keep dragging out the filming.’
‘Who’s worse, the 10-year veteran Gu Jahan who keeps making NGs, or Ha Seomyeong’s side?’
‘Damn it, they’re all the same.’
Those kinds of people never hesitated to badmouth anyone, anywhere. Their gossiping habit never changed.
Pathetic lives. Rather than calling them out and reprimanding them, Gu Jahan chose to simply ignore them.
Then, about a month into filming—
‘Wow… How can Gu Jahan still not act after a month of filming with that many lines?’
‘They say he’s a slow starter. Though I have no idea when he plans on starting.’
‘F*ck, it looks like he’ll start at the wrap party.’
Gu Jahan once again found himself facing a situation where people were talking behind his back.
As he expected, they were still the same. They loved to gossip and had loose lips.
But something had changed.
‘Is that Kim Iwol going to continue acting?’
‘Probably. He’s doing quite well, without any issues. And he works hard.’
‘He doesn’t seem to have a defiant bone in his body.’
‘I heard he’s just naturally respectful. And diligent.’
‘How much can you trust rumors in this industry?’
‘At least here, it’s believable. He doesn’t mess up his lines like ‘someone’.’
‘It’s true, it’s amazing he hasn’t made any NGs. The kid knows how to use his head, so even the assistant director hasn’t yelled at him once.’
He didn’t want praise from those kinds of people. Praise was only satisfying when it came from someone of a certain caliber.
But he couldn’t help but be suspicious.
Why? During that same month, neither he nor Kim Iwol had changed, so…
Why was only Kim Iwol receiving favorable reviews?
It was probably around that time. That Kim Iwol started to become a real nuisance.
* * *
Gu Jahan wanted to see Kim Iwol break.
As an actor who had to deliver sincere performances, he intended to confront the face beneath the disgustingly fake mask and say, ‘This is the real you, isn’t it? I see right through you’.
Perhaps because he was an idol, Kim Iwol didn’t crumble easily. He had a smiling face no matter what he was asked to do.
Just a kid in his early twenties. He must be like that because he only received praise from his fans and had never heard a harsh word in his life.
It was laughable, like watching a flower grown in a greenhouse.
Gu Jahan sneered.
“Any day now, you’re gonna be flipping over and showing your belly in front of the director. Just like my dog does. Who knows, Mr. Iwol. Maybe you’ll get a few more lines out of it.”
For a very brief moment, Kim Iwol’s eyes darkened.
Truly a fleeting moment, a fraction of second.
‘Just now…’
Almost as soon as Gu Jahan registered the anomaly, Kim Iwol smiled awkwardly.
A pure, innocent smile, without a trace of sarcasm.
“Well, I don’t know about that.”
Kim Iwol brushed off his wet pant leg. Then, he bowed politely and left.
For some reason, Gu Jahan felt like he had seen himself in Kim Iwol.
Or more specifically, it was like looking at himself when he silently judged the gossiping staff, thinking ‘Such insignificant people’, about the staff who were secretly badmouthing him.
Looking down on people? Who does he think he is?
That was flat-out disrespect. As his senior, Gu Jahan had every right to call out Kim Iwol’s attitude.
Gu Jahan hurriedly followed after Kim Iwol.
But just as he turned the corner, a voice forced him to hide behind the wall.
“Director, did you enjoy your lunch?”
“Yeah.”
It seemed Kim Iwol was facing a director, either from the lighting or the sound department.
“Hey, Mr. Iwol.”
“Yes, Director.”
The director called Kim Iwol again.
Right, so it wasn’t just the main PD or the assistant director that Kim Iwol was trying to butter up.
The way he acted as if something terrible would happen if anyone didn’t praise him was truly a sight to behold…
“That tone-down thing or whatever—can you ask them to go harder on it? Why should I be getting stressed out because of you?”
“Are you talking about my skin tone? I was told this was sufficient, but should it be darker?”
“Sufficient, my foot. You have to look like a human being for the picture to be good. You look like a corpse. Go see a doctor or something.”
“Yes.”
“Oh, I’m not like the PD, threatening to leak things to the press, right? I’m not saying this because I hate you.”
‘…’
For a moment, Gu Jahan’s mind went blank.
He had thought he was the only one being strict with Kim Iwol on this set.
Everyone was strangely lenient towards Kim Iwol, so he thought he should at least say something to prevent him from taking this industry lightly.
‘Any day now, you’re gonna be flipping over and showing your belly in front of the director.’
‘You look like a corpse. Go see a doctor or something.’
What was the difference between what he said and what that person said?
And…
“Thank you for your concern. I’ll relay your message to the makeup artist.”
“At least it’s not something serious, that’s a relief.”
…Why did Kim Iwol seem so used to this kind of situation?
Gu Jahan’s steps turned towards the corner.
As he rounded the corner, he saw the director walking along nonchalantly and Kim Iwol slowly straightening up after bowing.
Even though the director’s back was turned, there was no trace of anger or any other emotion on Kim Iwol’s face.
He suddenly remembered a line Ha Seomyeong had delivered as Seon Guan.
He couldn’t remember it exactly. What was it?
It was, definitely…
‘F*ck. How embarrassing.’
Gu Jahan immediately called his manager.
“Hey, are you in the car? Do you have the last episode’s script for ‘In My Office’ there?”
Fortunately, all the scripts were in the car. Although they were crumpled from being stuffed in the back seat, Gu Jahan could read the part he was looking for without difficulty.
Guan: (Shouting) Someone like you, Team Leader, wouldn’t understand how ordinary employees like us feel. When a superior sighs, it’s not that that we don’t hear it, we just pretend not to. And when we look like we’re okay even after being chewed out, it’s not because we, the youth of today, lack responsibility and are unaffected; it’s because we’re pretending to be okay! (She shouts in frustration.) We can’t act however we feel at work—that’s what being part of society means!
Beneath Ji Seongin’s dry lines, Seon Guan shouted again.
Guan: It’s not because we’re stupid that we endure, and it’s not because we lack courage that we don’t speak up. We endure even when it’s unfair and dirty. No one has the right to look down on that. (Smiling bitterly) By the way, Team Leader, it took a lot of courage for me to say this too. Because when it’s truly time to raise our voices, we have to.
In this scene, Ji Seongin began to see Seon Guan in a different light.
Then what about Gu Jahan himself?
‘Acting is a sacred craft of portraying the most human aspects through the most mechanical methods.’
Gu Jahan, who had entered the acting world because he couldn’t forget a senior actor’s words, was given the role of the arrogant team leader, Ji Seongin.
Ha Seomyeong, who was bold, proactive, and never hesitated to speak her mind, was given the role of Seon Guan.
And Kim Iwol was given the role of the quiet, socially adept youngest member of a promising team in a large company.
Was Gu Jahan given the role of Ji Seongin because he was lead actor material, or was it simply because his arrogance made him a good fit for portraying Ji Seongin?
Conversely, was Kim Iwol’s social adeptness a means of survival, or simply his personality?
Or maybe—was it simply the most polished, humane version of himself that he had learned to become, just to blend into human society…?
Kim Iwol’s went pant flashed in Gu Jahan’s mind again. So did those deep, unwavering eyes.
He felt ashamed.