Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 45: One-Day Errand Center (1)
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TL: FoodieMonster007
"I'm home!"
Jeong Seongbin came home from work just as the three of us, all inexperienced with confessions, were struggling. We immediately dragged Jeong Seongbin into the maknaes' room the moment he asked what we were doing. He had to listen to the entire story of our desperate trial and error.
"If you were struggling that much, you should've just looked at the wiki…!"
"Not looking at the wiki was a promise between us. I can't break it just to get a reward a little faster."
"For someone who says that, your eyes are practically spinning, hyung."
Kang Kiyeon sarcastically jabbed at the others and handed the paper I held to Jeong Seongbin. It was the 'Dot Iwol's Interpersonal Relationship Analysis Map'. It listed the gifts given to the residents and checked who had shown a favorable reaction.
"Based on this, we'll decide on a candidate for my business partner. If I give that person their favorite gift, I might be able to form a partnership contract. That's the conclusion we reached."
"So much for this being a healing game… Is there a district office here?"
Jeong Seongbin asked. He had learned where to register a marriage from fan jokes, despite having no plans to get married, but would a town like this even have a district office? At best, it would be a township office, and you would probably have to ride the village chief's cultivator to get there.
Unfortunately, Jeong Seongbin's arrival was not much help. Although he had a younger brother who was an event maniac, that brother had never prepared a proposal. Kang Kiyeon just spouted nonsense, saying that for a lifelong contract, we should unlock a new map and confess on a new continent.
"Don't you know about amusement park proposals or firework confessions? You need at least that kind of event to welcome a life partner!"
"But Menol confessed to Uron in a back alley."
"That's why I don't like him."
Kang Kiyeon suddenly became gloomy when Lee Cheonghyeon mentioned 'Kingdom Cafeteria Another'.
To appease the youngest, Jeong Seongbin and I searched the entire base map for the most romantic location possible. After much hardship, our chosen battleground became a cliff by the coast where waves crashed.
"But who are you going to bring here?"
At Lee Cheonghyeon's piercing question, we all grew solemn again. Choi Jeho and Park Joowoo showed no sign of returning. The four of us could only stare intently at the 'Dot Iwol's Interpersonal Relationship Map'.
I scanned the photos of the residents, whose faces I had since memorized. Then I retraced the records of the friendships I had built in the game. After a moment of thought, I decided on the colleague I would propose a lifetime of farming with.
"I'll go with… Arthur."
"Is there a reason?"
Lee Cheonghyeon asked, looking at Arthur, who was proudly on the friends list with a full intimacy gauge.
"He lives the closest to my house."
"Right. It's best to have a colleague you can meet often."
"That's right," Jeong Seongbin agreed.
Only Kang Kiyeon's expression turned sour.
"For such a simple reas…"
"Do you think we're looking for someone to swear an oath of brotherhood right now? Give it up. This hyung is only thinking about getting the reward."
I packed my inventory with the cookies and sugarcane that Arthur liked. Then, I waited for the right moment when Arthur was passing by the seaside and spoke to him.
[▶ Would you like to gift 'High-Quality Cookies' to 'Arthur'?]
[Arthur: Wow, these are my favorite cookies! Thanks, Iwol!]
[▶ Would you like to gift 'Sweet Sugarcane' to 'Arthur'?]
[Arthur: How did you know I liked this? You're really the best friend!]
[▶ Would you like to gift 'Blooming Chamomile' to 'Arthur'?]
[Arthur: The scent is so nice! I feel like something good is about to happen!]
I gave him every item that seemed to suit his taste, as if I were about to give him everything I had.
[Arthur: Iwol… you're the only one who makes me this happy. From now on, won't you paint a bigger future with me?]
['You have become 'Life Partners' with 'Arthur'. A reward will be given.]
"……"
And with that, Dot Iwol finally had a family. We hugged each other and savored the joy, dragging in a reluctant Kang Kiyeon. The scene was practically a festival.
"I should report this on BubblePop. I need to share this good news right away."
"Send a screenshot too."
"I took a picture from behind when the 'Complete' message popped up!"
Thanks to Lee Cheonghyeon and Jeong Seongbin's help, I shared a long, lively review accompanied by photos. I must have looked incredibly proud, because Kang Kiyeon even took a two-shot of me and my game console.
"Wow, the sun's set!" Lee Cheonghyeon, who had gone out of the room first, exclaimed in surprise.
When I followed him, the sun had indeed completely set. We had spent the entire day playing the game.
I was enjoying the afterglow of our achievement while breathing in the fresh living room air when I heard the door lock disengage.
"We're home…"
"Off work."
The ones who opened the front door were Park Joowoo and Choi Jeho. They did not show up when we were looking for them, but the moment we no longer needed them, they appeared as if they knew by some ghostly instinct. I was about to explode.
"Why are you only coming now! What were you doing! If you were going to come together, one of you should have at least come earlier!"
"What's with you?"
"If you knew how much the members needed you, you should have come home early!"
"Did something happen…?"
"He's just overly immersed in the game, so leave him be."
Kang Kiyeon's dry comment stabbed me like a dagger. I later found out that among all the resident characters, Arthur's route was apparently the easiest to complete.
Lee Cheonghyeon, spArk's composer and rapper, was recently enjoying some rare downtime.
Saying an idol is free during a promotion period might make him sound insincere. It might seem like he is not handling the schedules he should be, or that he is coasting through an important period.
However, Lee Cheonghyeon's leisure was entirely relative. His usual daily life, which served as the point of comparison, had nothing that could be called rest. Even when the team wrapped up promotions, he had to write songs for the next comeback. Once the songs were finished, he would write the rap lyrics and start recording. Since an album doesn't contain just one song, Lee Cheonghyeon's song-writing factory ran without a single day off.
In between all that, he would wake up at dawn to study before getting in the car, making up for less study time compared to his peers. Then he would go to university to attend lectures. From the moment he got in the car for his personal schedules, he would work on his assignments.
When the comeback schedule was set, he would begin dance practice. Once group activities, which required them to move as a unit, began, it became difficult to set aside time for personal schedules. Therefore, any previously delayed solo schedules, like photoshoots, were all concentrated in the period right before the comeback.
Because of this, a phenomenon occurred where his additional duties would decrease once the team actually made their comeback. Since they made their comeback during the school break, he didn't have to rush between school and the broadcasting stations. Usually, he would study during the break to prepare for the next semester, but this time he had decided to take a leave of absence, so he was able to put some distance between himself and his books for a while.
Lee Cheonghyeon, who used to expend energy from the moment he woke up until he fell asleep, started looking for something to fill his now-relaxed schedule. He even joined in on his older members' hobbies.
Then, an idea suddenly occurred to Lee Cheonghyeon.
What if, at a time like this, I take the lead and film some self-produced content? I could secure an item, provide more fan service, and have fun myself, couldn't I?
Lee Cheonghyeon's mind, overflowing with creativity and imagination, began to expand endlessly the moment it was set in motion. Inside Lee Cheonghyeon's head, he was already endlessly pulling out a list of things he had to do.
Having grown up under a hyung who worked like a bulldozer, he was decisive in his actions. Lee Cheonghyeon, who loved his members so much that he did not even need to observe them further to select a topic, first sounded out his friend.
Me [Kang-geon Kang-geon ]
[You're busy these days, right? ㅠ]
MBF [? So-so.]
[Why?]
[Is there something you want to do?]
Me [Wanna film some self-produced content where you suffer with Cheonghyeon?]
[I think I'd get a boost of energy if my friend joined me~]
[★★★★★ Definitely not forcing you!]
[It's definitely not that it's too hard for me to do alone]
[I just asked because I thought it'd be fun to do together~]
MBF [The word 'suffer' doesn't seem to match your explanation…]
[If it's self-produced content, isn't it something we have to film no matter what?]
Me [It's because I have something in mind]
[But I bet Iwol hyung would love what you just said]
[It's the model answer for an idol]
[Can I screenshot this and send it to him later?]
MBF [Sure;;]
His friend, who was incredibly busy, readily agreed to Lee Cheonghyeon's request. Lee Cheonghyeon immediately shared the details.
Me [We asked to do a reverse MISSION, so the hyungs matched us with Moonstruck Love this time, right?]
[For the hyung-nims who came out looking sexy so they wouldn't make the younger members look like bluffers]
[I was thinking of having a time to serve the hyungs]
MBF [We're doing Santa again?]
[It's July.]
[If we're doing it, we'll have to order Hawaiian Santa outfits.]
Me [It's no fun if we do the same thing again]
[And Santa is already buried ㅠ Kim Oh-hyung said that Santa waited 730 days just for revenge]
MBF [That's not easy to top.]
[So this time, are we doing something other than giving gifts?]
[We've done the 'serving' thing a few times with the butler content, won't it be boring?]
Me [We're not serving them]
[We are]
Lee Cheonghyeon revealed his ambition with grim determination.
Me [Going to become the hyungs' errand center!]
The indicator that the other person was typing appeared and disappeared repeatedly for a long time. The reply that came after about three minutes held a pure curiosity.
MBF [Why are you voluntarily taking on the role of the youngest that no one asked you to do?]
Even so, Kang Kiyeon did not say he would not do it.
Lee Cheonghyeon swiftly stole the self-produced content proposal template from Kim Iwol's shared drive. Although the procedure had now been simplified to just writing keywords on a Notion page and tagging the relevant department, he had to move stealthily to avoid the hyungs' eyes.
Next, using the document-writing skills he had honed through years of participating in planning meetings and university team projects, he created a splendid proposal and submitted it to the company. The dedicated spArk team, who had been uploading self-produced content every week since their debut, unlike others who only did so during promotion periods, delivered the happy news that it was approved at once.