Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols-Chapter 260: Recovery Period

“What is this?”
I asked, looking at the thing attached next to the clock. Lee Cheonghyeon answered.
“It’s a wireless receiver. Cool, right?”
“Then what exactly is this situation?”
“What do you mean, ‘what situation’? It’s a situation where Jeho hyung and Kang Kiyeon joined forces to install a receiver in our dorm.”
Lee Cheonghyeon kept spouting nonsense.
“To be precise, they didn’t join forces. Only Jeho hyung used his strength.”
“Kang Kiyeon just read the manual.”
“As expected of those two. Even if they can’t collaborate, they still somehow manage to pull things off perfectly.”
Then he clapped his hands, saying something that could be either a compliment or an insult to Kang Kiyeon and Choi Jeho. With my dull head, I couldn’t even guess what Lee Cheonghyeon was thinking.
“I guess I asked the wrong question. Let me rephrase: Why is this installed in our dorm?”
“Ah, that’s what you were curious about?”
Lee Cheonghyeon grinned. The guy led me to our room.
Where he pointed with his palm—the bedside table next to my bed—a small wireless call button was attached.
“Press it.”
Lee Cheonghyeon said. His voice was strangely devoid of humor.
When I pressed the button, a small ding-dong sound came from the living room. It wasn’t as loud as in a restaurant, but it would definitely be audible on a quiet night in the dorm.
When I went out to the living room, the number 2 was displayed on the monitor.
“Why this…”
“For emergencies.”
Choi Jeho cut in.
“Emergencies?”
“Press it if something happens.”
What on earth does ‘if something happens’ mean?
Just as I was about to retort, I realized why these guys had gone through this troublesome act. And why Lee Cheonghyeon had been beating around the bush.
“…Why the number 2, of all things?”
“Because your name is Iwol…”
Park Joowoo answered carefully. What a ridiculous explanation.
“We thought this would ease the mental burden on you, hyung. The company bought it for us, so you don’t have to worry about the cost.”
Jeong Seongbin said.
Until recently, these guys had been taking turns using Choi Jeho’s bed, standing watch like an unofficial guard duty. I had shooed them away, saying I was all better now.
These guys seemed to have interpreted that as ‘Iwol hyung finds the goodwill burdensome.’ They installed the call button as an alternative. In a way that I would consider ‘efficient.’
‘Sleep comfortably, but call us if you need to, that’s what this means.’
It was so absurd I couldn’t even laugh. It would be more believable if someone told me this was a dream.
“We bought the adhesive type, not the screw-on type. You don’t have to worry about taking it off later.”
Kang Kiyeon held out the manual. The text was densely packed.
“The spare batteries are in the drawer, and it has a one-year free repair warranty.”
Choi Jeho added. Then he pushed us, saying that he had already showered and that whoever needed to shower should get washed up.
The entire time I was going back to my room to get my pajamas,  my eyes kept drifting toward the monitor in the living room. Once I was by the bed, all I could see was the call button.
Do you really have the energy for this, when you’re barely getting three hours of sleep a day?
Aren’t you sleepy? Aren’t you tired after taking care of me in shifts for days? Isn’t it a hassle to look into things like this?
My finger unconsciously moved toward the call button. As I was fiddling with the button, I accidentally pressed it. With a ding-dong, a clattering sound came from all over.
“Hyung!”
“Hyung…!”
Jeong Seongbin and Park Joowoo came running in, out of breath. When I put a finger to my lips, shushing them to be quiet since it was the middle of the night, they belatedly covered their mouths.
In the midst of it all, Lee Cheonghyeon came running out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist.
“What is it?!”
“Cheonghyeon, what are you wearing?”
“How can I get dressed when I haven’t finished showering? Were you testing it?”
“I pressed it by mistake.”
At my words, Lee Cheonghyeon let out a deep sigh. I looked at his head, which still had foam in it, and said.
“From now on, even if you hear the bell, don’t come out if you’re in the bathroom. You might slip.”
“Alright, so just go to sleep.”
Lee Cheonghyeon shook his head as if he was fed up and went back to the bathroom. And so, our dorm acquired a semi-permanent receiver and a wireless call button that we could take with us even if we moved out.
* * *
UA and Spark’s gifts didn’t end with the call button. The next day, on my way to work, I received a smartwatch from Manager Chanyoung.
“Starting today, we’re going to check your ECG after choreography practice.”
Kang Kiyeon opened the box as he explained. I just sat there, watching the smartwatch being unwrapped.
“Let’s do a test run and check the results. If it’s within normal range, we’ll stick with the current choreography version. If it seems too taxing, we’ll make adjustments.”
“No, I’m really fine. The choreography isn’t even that hard this time.”
“Yes. Lee Cheonghyeon, does this app have to be linked to hyung’s account?”
Kang Kiyeon cleanly ignored my words and discussed with Lee Cheonghyeon whose account to link the smartwatch’s ECG app function to. I couldn’t help thinking — I’m one thing, but these guys really go all out.
They really did put the smartwatch on my wrist and check my heart rate after practice. And only after thoroughly reading how to interpret the test results and comparing them with my results did they let me go.
“This is the first time I’ve been treated like such a VIP.”
A hollow laugh escaped me. It was a level of care I had never imagined.
Then Jeong Seongbin, who had been alternating between looking at my wrist and his phone screen, looked up at me.
“Hyung, everyone deserves this much help.”
“……”
“It’s not just anything — it’s about health. We don’t think it’s excessive, so don’t feel too burdened either, hyung.”
Jeong Seongbin stood up, stretching his knees with a refreshed face.
“Shall we rest for 5 more minutes and then practice again?”
I wouldn’t mind practicing again right away. I really was fine. The system would protect me as long as I continued my idol work.
Still, letting them worry more than this would’ve been impolite.
“Let’s do that.”
I have to listen to the boss—it can’t be helped, you know.
* * *
Time passed breathlessly. During that time, Spark worked their feet to the bone.
Because of the pre-release track, we had twice the usual amount of things to prepare — stages, music video, photo cards. We changed in and out of outfits constantly, transforming into leather workshop elves one day and storybook characters the next.
The schedule was also tight. Because we had to secure a minimum promotion period even after pushing back the timetable for my sake, we decided to open the comeback announcement and album pre-orders at the same time for this promotion. No matter how we looked at it, there was no date to open the teasers.
Even my hair follicles were busy. Following Park Joowoo, this time it was my turn to go white-haired. I thought my scalp was going to burn off.
‘Joowoo, my hair stings, is this right?’
‘It was like that for me too…’
Then Park Joowoo handed me a conditioner. It was the brand I had ordered for him when he had bleached his hair. My frustration doubled.
I thought I’d only have this kind of hair at my 80th birthday party. I still get startled every time I looked in the mirror.
‘I liked my black hair back during Winter Night.’
Based on the pre-release song Winter Night, the most flamboyant hair color I had tried was the gray hair from With List. I had thought that would be my life’s biggest rebellious move.
But as they say, humans are foolish creatures who can’t see an inch ahead. I crumbled helplessly before the comeback.
Because of the concept, the other guys also had to bleach their hair at least three times as a base. Except for Choi Jeho, who had black hair, everyone’s hair was like cotton candy.
“You know, our hair looks like a flower garden.”
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
At Lee Cheonghyeon’s mutter, Kang Kiyeon asked with a look of disgust. It might not have been the best compliment, but I couldn’t think of a more accurate one.
And on a certain day in late November, which approached swiftly.
“Everyone, this is our new manager, Mr. Pyeong Daeyeon!”
Spark was assigned a new manager.
“Hello, I’m Pyeong Daeyeon. I look forward to working with you.”
A man of average build bowed deeply and greeted us. Everyone except Choi Jeho swallowed hard.
To know the full story, we need to go back a few days.
Spark was called to the meeting room, all members together, for the first time in a long while. These days, we were rarely called unless it was for group-related matters, so we had headed to the meeting room, bickering over things like, ‘It didn’t make sense to buy a smartwatch with company money,’ and ‘No, we definitely got permission.’
As we entered the meeting room and greeted everyone, Ms. Jukyung was already seated. Manager Chanyoung, after confirming that all of us had entered the meeting room, also closed the door and came inside.
Ms. Jukyung couldn’t be unaware that we were busy. The fact that she wanted to speak to us in person, not through a messenger, meant that this matter was that important.
‘Don’t tell me she’s quitting?’
A sense of anxiety washed over me. Cold sweat ran down my back.
“Uh, um… want something to drink?”
Even that line was a signal this was going to be a long conversation. Sirens rang in my head.
No. This company is finished without Ms. Jukyung. You promised me a salary increase for employees and a revision of the job title system, CEO! I shouldn’t have believed such nonsense!
Just as my heart was about to be drenched in bloody tears, Ms. Jukyung clasped her hands together.
Please don’t apologize. Just please don’t say you’re leaving the company at the end of next month.
Ms. Jukyung, you brought me here. You can’t leave until I leave! No one can leave before I leave!
I wanted to stuff my fist in my mouth and sob, but I couldn’t. Ms. Jukyung broached the subject with difficulty.
“Guys.”
“Yes.”
“Well… you all, you’ve got a new manager.”
Oh, so you’re not quitting?
What a relief. Thanks to that, I felt like I had just been born again. I felt confident I could do anything right now.
Unlike me, who was secretly relieved, the guys next to me were stiff. They also looked very displeased.
‘Well, it’s not exactly welcome news.’
It was only a short while ago that Hong Unseop did that crazy thing. We’d only just started to feel stable again after kicking him out, and now someone new was coming in—it was natural to feel uneasy.
However, we couldn’t go on without hiring a manager forever. Wasn’t the reason we hired Hong Unseop in the first place because we were short on manpower?
“This time… is it someone we can trust?”
Jeong Seongbin asked cautiously. Even though he must have known that you never know a person until you peel them open.
At Jeong Seongbin’s words, Ms. Jukyung laughed awkwardly.
“Well, he’s my old classmate.”
“What?”
It was shocking news. I felt like I was starting to sweat again.