Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols-Chapter 271: Request for Help (2)

It was a recent trend for the modifier ‘○○-like~’ to be omitted from choreography, but when Pink Carrot was active, that change hadn’t happened yet.
Even if the choreography was equally powerful, the points where force was applied were different. Even when using the pelvis in the same way, there were differences in frequency and emphasis.
Although IRREGULAR was built on a kitschy hip-hop base, its style was clearly different from the dances Spark had been doing.
There was Choi Jeho, who danced even a new dance as if it were his own, Kang Kiyeon, who had danced every dance there is, Jeong Seongbin, the K-pop master, Park Joowoo, who could not only sing well but also danced flawlessly, and Lee Cheonghyeon, who competed with his memory.
And me, stuck in between, who had just managed to adapt to Spark’s power dances.
I recalled the harsh practice schedule right before our debut. Now was the time for the ‘back to basics’ project for this 10-month-old idol.
‘What a pitiful idol with no vacation days.’
Once the year ended, I’d protest to UA and wring a vacation out of them. I would get Spark a break—mark my words.
Never mind that I was the one who’d pushed for five comebacks in a year—well, anyway.
I took out my frustration in the wrong place and activated the Labor Support Service.
“Guys, let’s practice!”
“You startled me. Why are you suddenly shouting?”
“Let’s practice! I’m going to master the first verse today!”
“No, it’s not that urgent!”
“It’s urgent for me! If you guys aren’t going to practice, then let me go first!”
Kang Kiyeon, throwing the laptop onto the sofa as if tossing it, stopped me. It was an evening stained with madness.
* * *
The parts for IRREGULAR were swiftly divided by Jeong Seongbin and Lee Cheonghyeon. They had also gone to get feedback from Teacher Oh Eun, and she had apparently given them an OK in one go.
In addition, we were going to speak to Ha Seomyeong sunbaenim in advance and ask for her permission, but…
Me
[Hello, sunbaenim. This is Kim Iwol.]
Ha Seomyeong sunbaenim
[I heard the news~]
[What position did you decide to take, Mr. Iwol? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
…the rumor had already spread. I was hit with a preemptive strike before I could even finish typing my message. It seemed the news had gotten out through Teacher Oh Eun.
Me
[Please check at the Music Festival~!]
Ha Seomyeong sunbaenim
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[I’ll have to watch it live with Eun]
[I’ll be looking forward to it]
Whatever our senior was expecting, we were going to deliver more than that. The outfit sketches just sent by the planning team had just arrived.
“Everyone, let’s look at the outfits together!”
Jeong Seongbin gathered the members. I also finished the greeting with my sunbaenim and headed over to him.
On the tablet, a sketch of six men, plastered in hot pink, was displayed.
“Wow.”
Kang Kiyeon let out a short exclamation.
A style that I had never worn in my Spark career… no, in my entire life, filled the tablet.
In covering IRREGULAR, Spark had thoroughly established principles.
First, to approach it with full sincerity and effort, as always.
Second, to strive to perfectly recreate our sunbaenims’ stage.
Third, to appropriately blend in Spark’s color.
Part of this plan was the earlier agreement to ‘recreate our sunbaenims’ outfits exactly.’
From top to bottom, shoes, and props. We needed to distribute them according to the number of members, but the basis was, in the end, the original stage.
As they say, fashion goes in circles. Pink Carrot’s stage costumes now had a vibe that people might call ‘retro concept’ today, full of the sensibilities of that era.
As for adding Spark’s own unique touch, we decided to lean into subculture-inspired points, taking cues from the fact that our most recent album had a conceptual fantasy MV.
For example, things like a chain choker, a beanie with pointed ends like cat ears, and arm warmers covered in fur. Teacher Oh Eun gave us a lot of help in selecting the items.
“At least it will go well with our hair!”
Lee Cheonghyeon exclaimed with a positive mindset.
Well, of course it would. His hair was sky blue.
I hurriedly searched for my name in the sketch.
And I discovered that my share included a fluorescent pink cat ear headband, a pink turtleneck, slightly faded dark gray cargo pants, and black walkers. Plus, a pair of pink suspenders attached to the pants for no apparent reason, since I wouldn’t even have them on my shoulders.
“Hey.”
Next to me, Choi Jeho, quietly checking his own costume, called out.
“Isn’t this the wrong name?”
Choi Jeho pointed to an illustration of a flashy man. Instead of answering Choi Jeho’s question, I tagged the planning team in our group chat and commented: ‘Could you please double-check if the members’ outfit names were entered correctly?’
Unfortunately, the reply came back that there was no mistake.
* * *
For about two weeks, Spark was so busy their eyes could have rolled back in their heads. The overlap of regular promotions and year-end stage preparations was to blame.
We’d head to the salon at dawn for hair and makeup, shoot a prerecording, squeeze in a fan meeting or autograph session during downtime, film an ending stage, move to the company to watch the fancam footage the broadcaster had uploaded, practice while reviewing it, then move straight into year-end stage rehearsals—and by the time we were done, it was dawn again.
Even on ‘lighter; days, the schedule barely changed: hair and makeup at dawn, one event, a light variety shoot, the live music show stage, then two hours of evening livestreaming to chat with fans, and finally, back to the practice room.
By this point, everyone except Choi Jeho and me was falling apart.
The worst off was Lee Cheonghyeon, who had given up on his final exams to work on IRREGULAR’s rap-making and the rearrangement for the Music Festival.
He was wandering around with unfocused eyes like a genius possessed by madness, so I once suggested he go in and sleep first, but…
“This is a promotion for which I sacrificed my final exams. I’ll make it a success even if it kills me.”
…he refused. Even Jeong Seongbin couldn’t talk him down.
It was unfortunate to see the others worn down, but my condition was getting better by the day. It seemed that resting while the other guys were rolling around had played a part.
Having fewer small worries also helped.
Take the year-end stage, for example. I had only decided on the song, standards, and direction, but when I checked the progress, the outfits were being procured smoothly, and several graphic designs were ready. How amazing.
My headaches decreased, and as I enjoyed my work, my complexion also improved from a corpse cool tone to a semi-corpse cool tone. Just during the The Words I Want to Say promotions, the staff members told me with relief that my complexion had gotten much better.
‘Normally, I would have been busy with the year-end settlement right about now.’
It occurred to me again that many of the things that made up my life had changed. In a way I couldn’t have imagined before.
In the dark window, my reflection stared back. It was definitely my face, but apart from my features, everything else felt foreign. My pure white hair color, the clothes I was wearing, and the accessories on my wrist.
Suddenly, all of this felt unfamiliar. Even though just a moment ago, I had been checking the video of the white-haired me dancing on the monitor, and we had even taken a group photo together to show off the new outfits.
‘Can I go back to being an office worker after living like this?’
Previously, I had thought that life after achieving the KPI would naturally be like that. That I would leave Spark and return to where I originally belonged, or live some equally stable life.
Now, I wasn’t so sure. Whether this time would not come to me as an empty gap. Whether it had no meaning to me at all.
I knew it was pathetic to covet a place I didn’t belong.
And I’d never even tried to covet it before.
‘I’m scared.’
Of becoming pathetic.
It would be best if such a thing didn’t happen.
“I think we need to reconsider Jeho hyung and Iwol hyung wearing shoes with heels.”
“That’s true. Especially since Jeho hyung is 190cm even with just a bit of heel.”
Just as I was getting sentimental, Kang Kiyeon and Jeong Seongbin raised their voices.
“Then what, you want us to go out barefoot?”
Choi Jeho asked, dumbfounded.
“We’re asking you to lower the heels a bit. The Pink Carrot sunbaenims matched their heights, but we’re all over the place.”
“But that’s also Mr. Kiyeon’s fault for not growing while everyone else did.”
“Does blaming me here change anything? We need to come up with a solution. Or give me platform shoes.”
“As if Iwol hyung would let you wear something like that.”
The subject of the 100-minute debate moved to Kang Kiyeon and Lee Cheonghyeon. The manager laughed heartily, saying they were full of energy.
“I’ll consider platform soles. Please tag me on Dotion and ask them to look into a different shoe design again.”
“Want me to look first and then ask them to get something similar?”
“It will be much faster if the stylists look for it. It’s not like we know much about platform shoes.”
At my words, Kang Kiyeon nodded and took out his phone,.
They really were full of energy. They didn’t give a person a moment to think about other things.
It was as chaotic as any other year-end, but I found myself chuckling.
* * *
Kang Kiyeon’s request to change the shoes was quickly accepted. Other minor requests were also quickly gathered, and it was safe to say that the styling side had entered the final stages.
First, the procurement of the clothes was completed. I heard that thanks to the retro boom, it wasn’t too difficult to get the fabric or items.
The shoes were also easily resolved. I thought we might have to buy combat boots online if there were no walkers that fit the strapping young men, but but apparently, the modern world had everything.
‘They make these shoes in our sizes?’
‘Yeah, they had them at a cosplay shop…’
The staff member avoided my gaze, so I didn’t press for details. I just trusted they’d chosen something whose soles wouldn’t split and whose heels wouldn’t snap.
And now that all the preparations were finished.
‘This is the first time we’re dancing in shoes with this much of a heel.’
‘That’s right.’
‘Then don’t you think we need a rehearsal?’
To prevent any potential risks, Spark, under my leadership, ended up practicing in full attire (year-end special stage ver.).
In an outfit that made me wonder… if this was really okay.