Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols-Chapter 309: Variety Show Tour (1)

After making a name for themselves to some extent, Spark was often mentioned even during their non-active periods. People who had seen memes, word-of-mouth, or rediscovered moments in self-produced content on social media would flow in even during their non-active periods.
≫ If I had known, I would have started stanning since the end of last year
My denial phase lasted way too long…
└ Omgㅠㅠ I feel so sad for you… The end of the year was a huge feast of content
└ I’m hitting myself on the back with both hands and feet while collecting pictures hahaㅠㅠㅠ
└ You’re like me last yearㅋㅋㅋ I thought since they debuted just this year, there wouldn’t be much content, but who knew they’d already had 4 comebacks…
≫ The white-haired guy from the Music Festival, is he originally such a crazy character?
I thought he was some noble prince, but every time he films self-content he turns into a nagging chatterbox
└ He’s usually even crazier
└ The comment aboveㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ But what the comment above says is not particularly wrong
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Agreed, that guy’s always been insane… But I think the word ‘character’ is a bit rude to express Iwol’s strangeness. Iwol is… just naturally crazy
≫ Firecrackers, when are you making a comeback?
As a debut fan, Sparkler has raised me way too gently
If your hiatus is longer than 3 months, life loses its fun
└ It’s all Spark’s fault for raising us so gently
└ Spark, take responsibility with a comeback
≫ So when’s Lee Cheonghyeon going to become a brand ambassador?
Honestly, just looking at his potential right now, wouldn’t it not be strange if he wore Molex on one arm and Hermès on the other?
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋthose brands don’t pick idols as ambassadors ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ I don’t care if it’s Gussi, just do something. Even if we can’t afford it, we can at least see the photoshoot
Of course, not all reactions were positive. Back when they were nobodies, they rarely got any hate. But after winning Rookie of the Year, jealousy and pushback grew much harsher.
≫ Kids like this always end up changing for the worse later
Especially tall kids with slender faces like CHY or KY
└ Don’t jinx the kids who are growing up well, and just leave~
└ Not totally wrongㅋㅋㅋ This is their golden time, so enjoy it while it lasts, Sparklersㅠ
└ First comment tried to let it go peacefully but you had to twist the knifeㅋㅋㅋ Worry about your own oppasㅠ We at least have something to change for the worse with. your lives are already a plagueㅠㅠㅠ Why do you only listen when you just get beatenㅠㅠㅠ
└How do you even know who my oppas isㅋㅋ I don’t even stan anyoneㅠ
└ Is there anyone who doesn’t know that the Naos flock in droves to beat up Spark whenever their name comes up? ㅋㅋa It’s been terrible since IDC daysㅠ
└ If you don’t stan anyone, why are you hereㅋㅋㅋ Muggles don’t even know sites like this existㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
…something like that. So I further strengthened the monitoring ban within Spark. Because I had no intention of showing them this mud fight.
“You should also cut back on searching, Iwol.”
“What?”
“I don’t think it’s good for your mental health. If there’s any feedback that I think you should accept, I’ll filter it and pass it on to you, so don’t directly expose yourself to malicious comments or posts.”
At the same time, I also received a monitoring ban from Ms. Min Jukyung. Even though keeping up with the trends was so important for an idol.
I suspected Kang Kiyeon had tattled with that hate-comment file he once showed me, so I confronted him, but I got nothing out of it. The guy looked extremely wronged and claimed his innocence.
However, there was little time to wallow in boredom. Thanks to the fact that we had received offers to appear on several variety shows.
Most of the programs were scheduled around the comeback for promotion, and for the broadcasts where album promotion wouldn’t really fit, we decided to go on them during the hiatus as much as possible in order to fill the gap.
The program we decided to go on this time, ‘Worry Sharing Session,’ was, as the title suggested, a simple broadcast where they received viewers’ stories, listened to their worries, and suggested solutions. It wasn’t a show that drew big laughs, but it had been loved for a long time for its content that elicited empathy from many viewers. And it was even on a public broadcast!
For a program like this, it seemed better to show a sincere attitude rather than to promote, so we moved up the schedule with the intention of showing a lot of our talking selves.
“This is our first time going on a variety show together, right?”
“Yeah, I think so!”
Jeong Seongbin, who had returned after his morning lecture, said as he changed his bag.
The dedicated team had pointed to me and Jeong Seongbin as the suitable cast for a format that involved listening to worries. I had thought that Kang Kiyeon would also be a good choice instead of me, but since Kang Kiyeon had to go to a deserted island with Choi Jeho, it ended up like this.
‘Are you sure sending you two is really the best choice?’
‘So what? You don’t want us to go?’
While Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon packed their bags, the place was chaos. Choi Jeho, not even knowing my sincere concern, was busy just packing t-shirts.
‘I just want reassurance.’
‘Don’t worry, hyung. I packed sunscreen for Jeho hyung too.’
Kang Kiyeon said sensibly. I nagged Choi Jeho to learn from Kiyeon, asking how he was going to deal with bug bites when he was only packing shorts.
And so, the two of them, with nearly empty backpacks—saying that their luggage would be taken away anyway, so they had decided not to bring much from the start—left for the airport yesterday.
“I just hope the deserted-island team doesn’t end up fighting…”
“Come on, Jeho hyung and Kiyeon don’t fight anymore.”
Jeong Seongbin smiled kindly. They really had mellowed.
Lee Cheonghyeon and Park Joowoo were given as much time as possible for the title track work. There weren’t many options in the first place.
Still, Jeong Seongbin was a considerate guy, so he’d handle it well somehow. I, too, should carefully read each and every one of the viewers’ stories with kindness, a smile, and a gentle tone.
I made a firm resolution. And three hours after the filming started, I had completely abandoned my original intention.
* * *
The theme of today’s ‘Worry Sharing Session’ was ‘I want to speak confidently! Speak, speak, speak!’ It was about people wanting to say something sharp in awkward situations but being unable to.
No matter how many sensational and cathartic revenge stories appears in the media, they were difficult to achieve in reality. In that sense, I felt that this theme was quite fitting.
That was my impression, at least until Jeong Seongbin read his assigned story.
“Hello? I am an employee who has just entered my second year at the company. I’ve just finished adjusting to the company, and I was feeling at ease, thinking I had found my place.”
The hosts nodded, saying that it was a relief. Some even jotted down a short memo about the sender’s situation.
“But then, a bolt from the blue struck me. Of the two of us, my colleague and I, only my salary has been frozen.”
“What?”
Listening quietly, a rough voice slipped out of me without my knowing. Seeing me hurriedly cover my mouth, Jeong Seongbin read the story with trembling hands.
“Of course, sharing salaries among employees is forbidden, but since we had relied on each other since we joined the company, we had become close friends who often discussed matters inside and outside the company, even after work.
In the process of talking about this year’s salary negotiation season, my colleague, who naturally thought my salary would also be raised, told me his salary increase rate, and that’s how I found out the truth.”
Sighs were heard from all around. Because the colleague hadn’t spoken with ill intent, everyone felt even sorrier for the sender.
Waiting for the venue to calm down, Jeong Seongbin read the rest of the story.
“In a state of despair, I tried to submit my desired salary to the HR team before the salary negotiation period ended, but the response I received was negative. Rather, another HR colleague I was close with started asking probing questions like, ‘How much would your salary need to increase for you to stay?’”
“Haa…”
A sigh rose from the depths of my gut. If you’re not going to raise it, then don’t raise it. Why are you probing the person? Are you trying to make them miserable?
“Mr. Iwol, you seem really angry?”
“Yes. I am confident that if you take my temperature right now, it will be 39 degrees.”
I desperately needed a painkiller. It felt like there was a stench of garbage inside my head.
“I also asked the company why I received a poor evaluation this year. Their reason for freezing my salary was that I worked less than my colleague.
Since our team has two members, we divide and handle practical work and ing, and they thought that my colleague, who was in charge of more ing tasks, was doing more work.
To prove that our workloads were similar, I organized and submitted the daily work logs that we are required to , but it was no use.”
What, then why do you ask us to our work logs if you’re not even going to look at them?
And shouldn’t the team leader have looked into this beforehand? Is the boss sleeping?
“The HR team kept asking me things like, ‘If we raised your salary by 100, would you stay?’ or ‘What if we gave you refresh leave?’ I’m furious at their attitude. How can I calmly express my feelings?”
The long and sad story ended. The MC asked Jeong Seongbin, who had read the story.
“What do you think, Mr. Seongbin?”
“I think… the sender must be feeling really exhausted in many ways.”
At Jeong Seongbin’s innocent reaction, everyone wiped their tears. It was a story that exposed a far harsher reality to an idol who had just turned twenty.
“Other things are a problem too, but the HR team was the worst. They’re poking at someone who’s already in turmoil.”
“Exactly. From the sound of it, they don’t want the sender to leave, so they’re just trying to keep them with as little money as possible.”
The MCs went through the sender’s situation step by step.
But even without going through it, I could see it clearly. It was as clear as if a video were playing. The sender’s suffocating frustration. Why on earth do the world’s assholes only choose to share such dirty environments?
“But in fact, we’ve only seen and heard this situation from the sender’s perspective. No one knows what the sender is like from the company’s perspective.”
I heard words that made my blood pressure soar.
Of course, that could be the case. But then why would the viewers send their stories to this program? And why are we listening to a story that we don’t even know if it’s true or false? Don’t you know how much a single remark like this can chip away at a person’s self-esteem?
“Mr. Iwol, your expression…!”
One of the MCs pointed at me. I must have been really bad at managing my expression.