Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols-Chapter 270: Request for Help (1)

“We’re not the only ones doing this cover stage, right? I don’t think we’re at the level to get two solo stages yet.”
At my words, the manager nodded.
“I heard Sticky and Berion are also appearing in the same segment.”
Familiar groups. Then where did the rest go?
“And Parthe, All Over, and Log are said to be doing a different stage.”
“What kind of stage?”
“A cover stage of previous Grand Prize-winning groups from the Music Festival.”
Their scheme was so obvious it was laughable.
It was plain to see. They had to create a new special feature to avoid being told they were self-plagiarizing every year, so they had to milk ‘IDC,’ which was a moderate hit, and since they had to take care of Parthe, they had to give them a golden item too.
But if everyone covered a legendary stage, it wouldn’t be fun, so they were asking the groups they considered to be a bit less important to spice things up.
Still, it was absurd. Did they not realize that while boy groups might dominate in fandom power, girl groups had the edge in public appeal? They probably didn’t, so they threw this ridiculous segment at us, calling it a plan, huh?
Moreover, the fact that I could see what kind of picture they wanted with a girl group cover really pissed me off.
I could see it with about 80% opacity. They must have thought that people would find it funny if men wore skirts, acted embarrassed, and sang with husky voices.
It might suit Sticky or Berion. One was a group that appealed with a lovely sensibility, and the other was pushing a cute, boyish charm.
Then what about us?
Us, who were all telephone poles with right-angled shoulders and could exude a chill even without dry ice? Some of these guys could probably hold up a pen using just their muscles.
“Manager-nim, would it be okay if we had a meeting amongst ourselves?”
For the first time since Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon’s explosive battle of nerves, a full-on emergency had occurred.
* * *
The atmosphere in the meeting room was truly strange.
Choi Jeho and Park Joowoo looked like they weren’t thinking about anything. Kang Kiyeon was about the same.
Lee Cheonghyeon looked a little excited. He probably felt that arranging a girl group song was a new challenge.
And Jeong Seongbin and I… looked like we were about to die.
Jeong Seongbin couldn’t possibly not know. The seriousness of this situation.
That was why we couldn’t say anything. Despite it being a low-noise clock, the sound of the second hand on the wall clock was clearly audible.
“There are a lot of songs with low keys among the sunbaenims’ songs. Can’t we just do one of those?”
Choi Jeho said something carefree. Fortunately, Jeong Seongbin began to explain step by step.
“Um, hyung. We have no interaction with the girl groups at all, right?”
“That’s right.”
“But if we suddenly cover a specific group’s song, it could raise suspicions. And if we do something too old, it’ll take too long to rearrange it to fit current trends.”
There was nothing worse than getting into a dating rumor at the end of the year.
Besides, it wasn’t like we could cover a song just by lowering the key. The accompaniment would have to be touched in some way, and we had to save Lee Cheonghyeon’s time for the year-end stage arrangement.
“Why? I’m confident!”
“We believe in you, too, but confidence and stamina are different issues.”
At my words, Lee Cheonghyeon snorted. He was getting cockier as he was about to turn one year older. I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign.
“And the costumes too. It can’t look like we’re joking around, but it also shouldn’t look awkward — finding that balance is hard. Obviously, we ourselves shouldn’t appear awkward with the new style either.”
At Jeong Seongbin’s words, Park Joowoo stepped up and declared, ‘Members, if you’re awkward wearing a skirt, I’ll wear it.’ He said he had worn it a lot when he was young, playing princess with his cousin nuna. No wonder he stayed still when the kids tied his hair into thirteen braids.
“To summarize, there shouldn’t be even the slightest room for dating rumors, the song has to be good so there isn’t much to arrange, and the outfit concept shouldn’t be out of touch with the current trends, right?”
At Kang Kiyeon’s comprehensive words, the members belatedly grasped the situation. Jeong Seongbin smiled bitterly.
“You might as well tell us to find a dragon.”
Choi Jeho said. Don’t people usually use the word ‘unicorn’ in situations like this? Though a dragon is very you.
“Seongbin hyung, I can do an amazing arrangement. If you just grant me permission to stay out, I’ll work and live at the studio with the A&R team and strive to become the best girl group.”
“I’ve only ever worn a full dress, but… I’ll look up what kind of skirts are in fashion these days.”
Lee Cheonghyeon and Park Joowoo solemnly conveyed their wills. Jeong Seongbin seemed to be moved by the members’ wills.
“But how come you’re so quiet, hyung?”
Kang Kiyeon asked, looking at me. Everyone’s gaze turned to me.
“Hmm.”
I stroked my chin.
“It’s not that I don’t have an idea… but I don’t know if it’ll work.”
At my words, Jeong Seongbin’s eyes widened.
“Is there a solution?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it a solution but we have her at UA. Someone who was a girl group member and has a much longer career than us.”
And so, a short while later, I took Jeong Seongbin and went to see Teacher Oh Eun.
* * *
“You have something you want to consult about?”
The teacher asked with an indifferent expression.
It was common for us to visit the trainers.
Whether it was about singing techniques or fundamentals. Since the teachers only came on certain days, we had to resolve all our assignments and difficulties on those days at once.
Perhaps because of that, the teacher also accepted our visit as nothing special.
At her impassive gaze, which seemed to say, get to the point, I clenched my two fists. Then I knelt on the floor.
“What are you doing?”
“Teacher, please help us.”
Jeong Seongbin, with whom I had agreed not to put a mark on beforehand for this matter, kept his mouth firmly shut.
Then he quietly sat next to me and also knelt.
We both remained kneeling on the carpet like stone statues until the teacher, telling us to talk first, gently tugged each of our arms.
“You want to sing one of our group’s songs at the Music Grand Festival?”
The teacher, who had succeeded in making us sit on the sofa, asked with a quizzical voice. Next to me, Jeong Seongbin was quietly brushing off his knees.
It’s not just that we want to — it has to be your song, Teacher. If not, we’re doomed.
But that would be rude to say when asking for a favor. So I just politely nodded.
“I don’t think you guys can’t pull off the song, but aren’t there a lot of good songs these days?”
“Your songs are good too, teacher.”
At my words, the teacher’s expression changed subtly.
A look that said she wouldn’t fall for flattery. It was a force befitting the teacher I had been most concerned about during the monthly evaluations.
Still, it was true that the song was good. Among all the songs that never saw the light back then, there had to be hidden gems, right?
There might be various reasons why the teacher’s group did not succeed, but it couldn’t be concluded that it was simply because ‘the songs weren’t good.’
The teacher fell into deep thought. It was a good thing I brought Jeong Seongbin. If that guy was next to her, with his eyes sparkling, appealing that he really wanted to perform her song, no one would be able to easily refuse.
“…As long as you’re not going to make a parody out of it.”
“Of course!”
We shouted joyfully at her conditional approval. We had never intended to mess around with someone else’s song anyway.
“Do you have a song in mind? Is it IRREGULAR, as expected?”
“Yes. It’s your group’s signature song, sunbaenim.”
IRREGULAR was the song that had performed the best, relatively speaking, from ‘Pink Carrot,’ the group Teacher Oh Eun had belonged to. It was also the song with the best melody among the Pink Carrot songs I had heard.
“Right, I’m sure you’ll handle the song part just fine.”
The teacher gave a small smile. I could see the infinite trust she had in the Jeong Seongbin─Park Joowoo─Lee Cheonghyeon trio.
“Is this all you wanted to talk about?”
At the teacher’s question, I shook my head.
“There’s one more thing I’d like to ask for your esteemed opinion on.”
“What’s with the esteemed opinion… Anyway, tell me.”
At my bold remark, the teacher’s eyes widened. Her hand automatically went to her mouth.
The teacher thought for a long time, then she pulled her chair towards me and Jeong Seongbin and gave us a lot of serious advice.
* * *
“And so, it’s been confirmed that we will be preparing the IRREGULAR cover!”
“Alright!”
Lee Cheonghyeon shouted with joy. Park Joowoo also looked strangely excited.
The genre of IRREGULAR isn’t even rock, so why is he like that? I wondered, but it turned out he had a reason.
“We’ve learned so much from our teacher all this time… The fact that we can sing our teacher’s song somehow feels… meaningful.”
For someone claiming he learned a lot from her, Park Joowoo had already been a fully-formed idol since his trainee days. Still, it was a commendable attitude.
“I’ve already relayed the matter in question to the planning team on my way here, so I think we can go straight into choreography practice.”
“Actually, I was just working on the choreography with Jeho hyung.”
Then Kang Kiyeon approached me with a very serious expression.
“Hyung.”
“What?”
“Do you think you can do a wave?”
A wave.
A wave, you say.
I, Kim Iwol, had learned many basics since entering UA, but I could confidently say that the most difficult among them was the wave.
It truly helped that my dance skills had improved by the time we did 『MISSION』, which included a hip-rolling move, so I narrowly avoided disaster, but before that, my wave was nothing short of disastrous.
It was hard enough to roll my pelvis twice in MISSION. How hard did I try not to look like ‘Kim Iwol Child (5 years old) Hula Hoop Practice Video’ while everyone else was doing the ‘sophisticated and sexy pelvic choreography’!
From the laptop in Kang Kiyeon’s hands, 『IRREGULAR』 played on a loop. The feast of fluid choreography was prominent.
It was truly a grave problem. I couldn’t say anything.