Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 54: Journey (1)
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TL: FoodieMonster007
After texting that he had arrived safely at the airport, there was no news from Park Joowoo for a while. I heard he passed out on the first day as soon as he unpacked, without even eating. On the second day, he was so busy with various meetings that the timing was never right. After only giving updates through our manager, Park Joowoo finally showed us his precious face on a video call on the third day.
『Good morning…!』
The hotel looked nice, exactly as I had seen in the website photos and blog reviews. We had looked up pictures of the room together because I worried that Park Joowoo, traveling alone, wouldn't be able to sleep in an unfamiliar place.
『Looks like the members are a bit cramped…』
Park Joowoo commented, looking at our side of the screen.
How could it be spacious when five huge guys crammed together to fit on one screen?
Kkuyo Kkuyo is crashing because of an error. This bug needs to be fixed urgently.
"Is it morning? It's dark behind your window."
『I matched it to the members' time…』
Park Joowoo explained with a laugh after Lee Cheonghyeon's pointed remark.
"Joowoo, you sent landscape photos to BubblePop, but you were silent in our group chat."
『I did…? No, I sent them to the members too,』
Park Joowoo said, looking extremely wronged by my words. Then, Choi Jeho, who had been in the corner, chimed in out of nowhere.
"You sent it to my private messages."
"Really? Joowoo, why are you only reporting your status to Choi Jeho? And Choi Jeho, why did you keep your mouth shut?"
『I thought I sent it to the group chat… Did I send it to the wrong place?』
"Weren't you just tired and sent it by mistake? I didn't say anything because I thought you'd post it in the group chat later."
"Ugh, you're so frustrating."
Despite my nagging, Choi Jeho remained unfazed and just opened his phone's photo album. Thanks to Choi Jeho's very late re-upload, the exotic scenery was finally shared in the spArk group chat.
"How's work?" Jeong Seongbin asked.
I can feel his hope. He wants his friend, who prepared so thoroughly in Korea, to come back with satisfying results.
Perhaps because of his fluffy hair, which looked freshly washed and dried, Park Joowoo seemed more dazed than usual.
Did he get tired quickly because he's in a foreign country?
I felt uneasy, but a single sentence from him vanished all my worries.
『Reetlamp was really amazing…』
"Well, he's a global star. Of course he's amazing!"
Everyone burst out laughing at Lee Cheonghyeon's unexpected remark. Park Joowoo also laughed, his face looking much more lively. Seeing his bright expression, I finally felt relieved.
What's important is that he's having fun.
"Your schedule is super packed, right?"
The admirable Kang Kiyeon worried about his hyung's schedule first. Park Joowoo, however, was more worried about spArk, who had to go to work now. The teamwork was very strong.
"Don't skip meals, and stick close to the manager."
Good boy Park Joowoo nodded, saying he understood without any complaints.
『I'll buy you guys souvenirs…』
And he really did come back with a suitcase full of souvenirs. It was fun to look through the gifts for the members and our families. His good taste especially shone when he gifted a vintage-style messenger bag to Lee Cheonghyeon, who had his dust bag stolen by Choi Jeho.
"I love it the most, but shouldn't this bag really go to Jeho-hyung?"
"Jeho-hyung only ever carries the same things…"
In fact, Choi Jeho was still carrying the bag that spArk had pooled their money to buy him. Despite being rough with his belongings, he never lost it. So, spArk and Sparkler could only watch in real-time as the poor bag wore out.
"If we buy you a new bag, will you carry it?"
"Do I really have to?"
I asked with a sliver of hope, but it was just as I expected.
I'll have to pool money with the guys again sometime to buy him a new one. If we plead with the fans to guarantee diversity in his airport fashion, Choi Jeho will surely accept our heartfelt gift.
"Iwol-hyung's is… this."
Park Joowoo, rummaging inside his suitcase, held out a jet-black object wrapped in plastic. Its weight and shape felt very familiar.
"I feel a considerable amount of suspicion toward things like… this… T-shirt that you give me, Joowoo."
"Take it out…"
Since I received a gift, I had to open it. As I tore the plastic, the paper covering the front of the T-shirt fell off with a THUD. Even the glimpse I got of the print was far from ordinary.
The unfolded T-shirt boasted a tremendous visual. It was as overwhelming as the T-shirt Park Joowoo had personally decorated. The pure white roses, thorny vines, and thick typography were clearly not a modern style. A chain effect, whose purpose was a complete mystery, was an added bonus.
"Didn't you mistake this for Kiyeon's gift?"
"Why are you dragging me into this, hyung?"
"It seems Iwol-hyung wants to fuel the suspicion that you have chuunibyou."
Everyone was busy whispering about the incredible visual. Looking at the size, it was a perfect fit for me. I was devastated.
"Because you and I have a musical connection…"
"Not a T-shirt-ical one?"
"Actually… it's because your reaction is funny every time I give you a T-shirt."
Park Joowoo giggled and ran straight to his room. It was utterly absurd, and so, the T-shirt, unable to contain its dark energy, became mine.
Not long after, Park Joowoo was on a plane again for the final work on the sound source and the music video shoot. He said it wasn't a three-day, two-night shoot on a flashy set like an idol music video, but a light shoot, more like filming a live video. Otherwise, the schedule wouldn't allow for a timely release.
spArk's Eternal Vocalist [Hahahaha]
Me [★★★★★ Don't buy souvenirs this time, just come back ★★★★★]
Me [Where did you learn such a mean reply?]
spArk's Eternal Vocalist [It was Seongjun]
spArk's Eternal Leader [Joowoo]
The limited-time sniper was still going strong. In an instant, he took down both me and Jeong Seongbin, and then Park Joowoo zipped away. Later, I saw Jeong Seongbin yelling his head off with his door closed. It seemed Mr. Jeong Seongjun was getting an earful.
We were busy at the dorm planning an event to coincide with the release date of Park Joowoo's song. We couldn't congratulate him in the same way Jeong Seongbin appeared on a domestic music show, but we wanted to show a similar level of sincerity, as the SYSTEM was different. So, we gathered the flood of ideas and picked out items that Park Joowoo would like.
"These are all good, but do we have time to prepare all this?" Choi Jeho asked, who had been listening to the heated meeting between me, Lee Cheonghyeon, and Jeong Seongbin. It was a useful question for a change. It wasn't like the other members were just playing around.
Instead of answering, I stood before the whiteboard and picked up a marker. "The person in question isn't here anyway. Let's write down everything we need here. Whoever has time can check things off one by one, and cross off the completed items to avoid duplicates."
The organized supplies piled up neatly in the living room over the next few days. We ordered so many packages that we even got a concerned message from Manager Daeyeon asking if we were feeling empty inside. He misunderstood it as a wave of overspending, so I explained that they were items to celebrate Park Joowoo's song release.
"Haa…"
While I pulled up a list of accommodations for the first time in a while, a sigh came from beside me. That was the third time already. The one sighing with enough force to make the floor of our rented house collapse was Lee Cheonghyeon.
"When on earth is the song coming out?"
Every work spArk had ever released had passed through Lee Cheonghyeon's hands at least once. Even excluding the majority of songs written by Lee Cheonghyeon himself, whether it was a collaboration or leading the mixing, Lee Cheonghyeon had always performed the role of a producer at least once. During Park Joowoo's appearance on 'Nae.Ga.Jang', he didn't touch the song, but he at least knew what kind of song the member would bring.
And now, for the first time since debut, a case had arisen where spArk was releasing a song, and Lee Cheonghyeon knew nothing about it. Because it was another company's work, we couldn't even listen to it. Not just Lee Cheonghyeon, but none of us could even guess what kind of song Park Joowoo was singing.
"A colleague is making a comeback, how can there be so little information? This situation is so unfamiliar to me."
Lee Cheonghyeon looked genuinely serious. Within spArk, we would comfortably let each other listen when composing melodies, when several candidate songs were chosen, or when voting, but such discussions were impossible this time. We had to wait for the song to come out without even hearing a demo.
"Lee Cheonghyeon, you're that. That… control something."
"Control freak?"
"Is that what you call someone with strong controlling tendencies?"
"Yes."
"Right, that."
Lee Cheonghyeon did not accept his friend's observation. He claimed his feelings were just interest and affection for a colleague.
"Isn't Kim Iwol the same?" Choi Jeho chimed in, lying on the sofa like a freeloader.
A stray arrow flew my way. It was so absurd that I let it go in one ear and out the other.
I saw Park Joowoo off when he went abroad, and I encouraged the leader and the youngest with their solo albums. How does that make me a control freak? At this point, it's premium free-range parenting.
Anyway, the preparations to celebrate Park Joowoo's duet were smoothly entering the final stages. All the supplies had arrived, and only the final check remained. As it is, Polo had contacted me to see how I was doing, perhaps worried about the day he was embroiled in the unauthorized matchmaking controversy…
Hellas Polo sunbaenim [What have you been up to]
[Have you eaten?]
Me [(Sent a photo.)]
[We're preparing to celebrate Joowoo's collaboration!]
[I ate a little while ago, have you eaten, sunbaenim?]
Hellas Polo sunbaenim [I don't think my meal is the issue hereㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[spArk is really closeㅠㅠ]
…I received a compliment from an unexpected source about how great our bond was. He said that it's normal to visit them on music shows for support or send a coffee truck when a member releases a solo album.
It's not that I didn't look up the industry standard. The expectations for 'supporting a colleague's solo' were quite low, to the point that just posting about streaming on Insta was considered loyal. Still, for a first activity, isn't it worth doing this much?
I wonder if I'm the only one in 'Cheer for this as if it might be his last solo song!' mode.
I asked the other guys, but their opinions were all similar. I'll just think of it as having good teamwork. If another happy event comes up for anyone, including the next in line, Kang Kiyeon, we'll just celebrate the same way.
"Joowoo said he's getting on a plane tomorrow, right?"
We had to clean the dorm before the guest of honor arrived. I went into the shared calendar to check Park Joowoo's schedule, but contrary to my memory, his departure and arrival dates had been pushed back.