Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols-Chapter 279: Santa Boy Knows (2)

Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon secretly rendezvoused in front of the shoe rack. Their hands moved cautiously as they opened the shoe rack door.
To prevent any unexpected noise, Kang Kiyeon held onto the umbrellas from above, while Lee Cheonghyeon fumbled in the corner of the shoe rack from below, taking out the cam and the stand.
“We just have to install it at the points we checked earlier, right?”
“Yeah. But are you confident you won’t get caught by Joowoo hyung?”
“He’s wearing an eye mask today, so it’s fine. He must have been tired.”
Roommates were bound to know each other’s habits. At Kang Kiyeon’s words, Lee Cheonghyeon patted his friend’s shoulder as if to say he was reliable.
After their conspiracy, the two parted ways, each holding three cams. A firm resolve to succeed with the hidden camera was palpable.
Lee Cheonghyeon, who had returned to his room, carefully closed the door. Then he hid his body in a corner of the room and waited until his eyes adjusted to the dark.
The location for the first cam installation was on top of a storage cabinet where the hyungs’ beds could be seen at once. If he placed the camcorder here, he would be able to capture the hyungs waking up at the same time.
Lee Cheonghyeon, who had become accustomed to camera installation through frequent self-produced content filming, set up the camcorder with ease. He didn’t forget to check if it was recording properly.
After pressing the record button to capture the entire room, Lee Cheonghyeon took out the gifts he had hidden in his blanket. Lee Cheonghyeon, with a large felt sock on each of his arms in the dark, looked more like a thief than Santa.
Lee Cheonghyeon hung one sock on the head of Choi Jeho’s bed. Kim Iwol’s share was placed on the suitcase right next to his bed.
“Since Iwol hyung might wake up at any moment… I can’t get too close to the bed.”
Lee Cheonghyeon, who whispered to the camera, then focused on installing the personal cam. He had already checked the angles that would best capture the two hyungs discovering their socks. Thanks to that, Lee Cheonghyeon was able to move with minimal movement.
‘It’s a good thing Iwol hyung doesn’t wake up easily these days.’
In the past, Lee Cheonghyeon would have been caught by Kim Iwol long ago. And he would have been nagged, saying that if he was going to do an event like this, he should have recruited him from the start.
Thankful for the improvement in his hyung’s sleep quality, Lee Cheonghyeon diligently installed the camcorders.
Me
[Installation complete on this side]
[What about you?]
Lee Cheonghyeon ed his work progress. The reply came back a long time later.
MBF
[I’m not even halfway done yet.]
[It’s not easy to do this without Joowoo hyung noticing.]
Oh dear.
Lee Cheonghyeon earnestly cheered for his friend who must be sweating bullets. If he went over to help, the probability of waking up Park Joowoo would only double.
Fortunately, a few more minutes later, a reply came from Kang Kiyeon saying the installation was also complete.
As if nothing had happened, the two Santas secretly got into their blankets and fell into a deep sleep, unbeknownst to their hyungs.
* * *
An alarm went off, and my eyes opened. In a daze, I checked my Dotion notifications first. Was it because the last time I checked was three hours ago? There weren’t any new posts at that time.
‘Are the others planning to sleep in?’
The upstairs and the room next door were all quiet. It was different from usual, when just one person’s alarm going off would wake everyone up. There was no sign of anyone in the living room either.
As I was contemplating whether it would be better to wake the members up to eat or to let them sleep more, something strange caught my eye.
It was a lump of red felt with something clumsily stuck to it. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming.
When I sluggishly got out of bed, I saw something similar on Choi Jeho’s bed.
I got up and picked up the felt. It was large, heavy, and made a rattling sound.
‘…A sock?’
I wasn’t sure if something large enough to fit my head could be called a sock, but. In any case, its shape itself was a sock.
When I took out what was inside the sock, a glass mobile came out.
‘What is this?’
I stared at the mobile for a long time. The jellyfish-shaped mobile sparkled in the morning sunlight. It was an item that truly didn’t suit me.
I was sure it wasn’t mine, so I was about to put the mobile back, but a card inside the sock caught my eye.
On the back of the card, which had a tree drawn on a red background, were two short memos.
【To the good child Iwol who takes good care of his dongsaengs
Here’s a cute mobile for you
Hang it by your head and look at it every day!
It’s a gift for the brave child who didn’t cry all year
May you become an even cuter, more beautiful, and jewel-like Iwol next year~】
【Iwol hyung
Merry Christmas
Here’s a gift for the good adult who’s worked so hard
As Santa, I will watch over you next year too
Have a merry Christmas
-From Santa Kiyeon-】
…Are they out of their minds?
I rubbed my eyes and read the card again. But the content didn’t change.
‘This jellyfish mobile is a gift? A Christmas gift?’
I hadn’t really received a Christmas gift before. How was I supposed to react to this?
First, as Lee Cheonghyeon instructed, I tried hanging the mobile on the post of the bunk bed. But thinking it might cause a forehead injury upon waking, I moved the mobile’s location to the windowsill.
The sunlight reflected off the glass, and unable to bear the shimmer hitting his eyelids, Choi Jeho furrowed his brow and opened his eyes.
“What is that?”
“Sorry. I’ll adjust the position again.”
“Do we have to get up now?”
“No. Sleep more.”
At my words, Choi Jeho pulled the blanket over his head and turned his body. Then, at a bad timing, he was hit by a sock falling from above his head and pulled the blanket down.
“What’s this now?”
“It’s a gift from Santa. Since you’re up anyway, open it.”
“What are you talking about?”
With a face that said, ‘What nonsense are you spouting at this hour’, Choi Jeho pulled at the felt. Since he grabbed it by the bottom, all the contents spilled out onto the blanket. They were small light bulbs.
“What is this?”
“Aren’t they lights?”
When I lifted the wire, I could see a line of quite long light bulbs.
“There’s a card inside too. Check it.”
At my words, Choi Jeho stuck his arm into the sock. A card with a different design from mine, with a reindeer drawn on it, came out.
“Haa…”
“What does it say?”
Wearing the glasses I handed him, Choi Jeho read the message with a look of disbelief.
“It says to treasure my shins.”
It was a message that I couldn’t help but laugh at. While I covered my mouth and laughed, Choi Jeho, still with a furrowed brow, gathered the pile of lights.
“What time did they even go to bed?”
“Didn’t they go to bed after five?”
Lee Cheonghyeon was fast asleep on the top bunk. He looked truly peaceful, sleeping without a care in the world.
“Geez…”
I sighed and pulled his blanket up for him.
It was a few minutes after that, that my eyes met the camcorder attached to one side of the bunk bed like a side mirror.
* * *
Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon’s surprise Christmas event ended successfully. The two of them were grinning from ear to ear as they checked the recorded footage. Just like that, the hyungs became the scum who didn’t even think to prepare gifts for their dongsaengs and just cluelessly received them.
“Is there anything you want? Even now, I could…”
“Seongbin hyung, that’s an act that would tarnish our event.”
Because Lee Cheonghyeon acted that way, we were deprived of the chance to atone for our sins, even if it was late. It was utterly frustrating.
Perhaps because of that, Park Joowoo seemed to have decided on the route of happily using the gift. He came out of his room wrapped in the blanket.
“Look at Joowoo hyung. If he uses the gift like that, how proud would the person who gave it be!”
At Lee Cheonghyeon’s passionate speech, I held the jellyfish in one hand, and Choi Jeho wrapped the string lights around his head, and then we put on a fantastic runway show. The guy was delighted, laughing until he was out of breath.
“What did Seongbin get?”
“A branding iron set.”
Then Jeong Seongbin came out with a fistful of pens, a notebook, and dangerous-looking stickers.
Why on earth did Kang Kiyeon give Jeong Seongbin something like that? I didn’t even want to know.
“What about the notebook you were using?”
“I’m almost done with it. That’s why Kiyeon bought me a new notebook.”
At Jeong Seongbin’s ominous remark, we all froze like stone statues. Kang Kiyeon stealthily looked away from Jeong Seongbin.
“How… did that happen?”
As the most easily guilt-ridden among us, Park Joowoo bravely asked. We swallowed hard and waited for Jeong Seongbin’s answer.
“It’s nothing much.”
Jeong Seongbin said as he unwrapped the notebook.
“I heard from the company about the progress of the lawsuit against Hong Unseop.”
A chill ran down our spines.
Lee Cheonghyeon tightly grasped Jeong Seongbin’s two hands.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah.”
“Sometimes, one murder can prevent three ‘patience’ characters…”
At the joke that could ruin his career as an idol, I nagged Lee Cheonghyeon for over 30 minutes and cheered for Jeong Seongbin to relieve his stress with the notebook.
The Christmas miracle continued even after the morning’s gifts.
We received another rookie award from a different broadcasting station, received fan letters sent by our fans, and even had a luxurious dinner with our managers using the corporate card.
On Kang Kiyeon’s birthday, Kang Kiyeon’s parents bought us a meal. They earnestly requested that we scold and teach him a lot, saying that since their child was an only child, he only knew how to care for himself, and his life skills were lacking because all he did was dance. Jeong Seongbin and I repeatedly exclaimed, ‘Kiyeon is doing so well, Kiyeon’s mother!’
On the New Year countdown stage, I was once again standing with Choi Jeho, waiting for midnight atop the stage.
“10, 9, 8, 7…”
While we all shouted the numbers together, I looked at his side profile.
The guy who, in the past, had never even pretended to shout the numbers on a stage like this, was now moving his lips with a semblance of a smile.
‘You’ve worked hard too.’
I thought to myself and shouted along with the remaining numbers.
“3, 2, 1!”
“Happy New Year!”
Paper confetti burst out from both sides of the stage. Fireworks exploded above our heads.
Choi Jeho looked at me and said.
“Happy New Year.”
The image of Choi Jeho from long ago on the screen, wearing a hanbok and wishing a happy new year with an impassive expression, came to mind and disappeared.
“You too.”
The new year dawned.
It was the second January 1st with Spark.