Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 66: Behind the Scenes of the Studio
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TL: FoodieMonster007
Idols who composed music often set up their own studios. They usually started in a studio provided by their company.
Once they had enough experience, they would get a personal studio and move out. They looked for spaces that could fit their equipment, had a relaxed atmosphere, and were convenient to commute to.
Conversely, some old-timers stubbornly held onto their cramped company studios. The protagonist of this story was spArk's composer, Lee Cheonghyeon.
Lee Cheonghyeon was UA's youngest trainee awaiting his debut when he first received the empty studio. The smallest space, leftover after established artists received theirs, became his share. The studio was so cramped that Lee Cheonghyeon nicknamed it the 'cubbyhole'.
In his cubbyhole, Lee Cheonghyeon wrote songs and rap lyrics, and sometimes even studied. His already cramped studio only grew more cluttered.
"Should I ask if they can at least replace the sofa?" Kim Iwol suggested, unable to watch any longer.
He felt sorry for Lee Cheonghyeon, a high school senior cooped up in a poorly ventilated room without a decent storage cabinet. Kim Iwol also frequented the studio more than the other members, which played a big part.
Every time he visited, Kim Iwol felt dismayed. To him, Lee Cheonghyeon always let his younger brothers choose rooms first and gave up comfortable car seats. Lee Cheonghyeon's studio was nothing more than a one-person study room.
Kim Iwol even offered to replace the table with his own money, but Lee Cheonghyeon refused, insisting it was perfect.
"It might not look like much, but this is a personalized space custom-fit for me!" Lee Cheonghyeon declared.
"It doesn't even look like there's room for you to sit down. What do you mean, 'personalized space'?" Kim Iwol retorted.
"As long as there's room for the equipment, that's all that matters!"
"So it's okay if the person using it can't get in? If you get any bigger, it looks like you won't even be able to reach your chair."
Since Lee Cheonghyeon was busy with work during a sensitive time, Kim Iwol didn't force a cleanup that Lee Cheonghyeon himself said was unnecessary. The room wasn't dirty, so there was no rush.
Then, Lee Cheonghyeon's college entrance exams ended, and the workbooks disappeared from his studio.
The environment did not become noticeably more pleasant, however. Only a few things were gone. It was still cramped, stuffy, and the furniture was old.
"Seongbin."
"Yes, hyung."
"Do you think Cheonghyeon's studio is pleasant?" Kim Iwol asked.
Jeong Seongbin could not answer easily. He offered a response he had mentally refined several times.
"A little… lacking…"
"So you couldn't leave out the word 'lacking'. Right… that's the core of it."
At least the basement practice room was spacious. The studio had nothing to boast about. It was too inadequate a space for the composer responsible for spArk's longevity.
From that day on, Kim Iwol searched for remodeling companies in his spare time. He downloaded interior design apps, looked at room decorations, and filled his bookmarks with furniture shopping sites.
"But what are you doing right now?" Jeong Seongbin asked.
Kim Iwol showed him the laptop screen. "I'm running a furniture placement simulation."
"A what?"
"You can get a rough idea if you just know the floor space. I even added a door matching the studio's layout so it won't block it. If it were an apartment, I wouldn't have to do this manually. I even went to take the actual measurements for this."
Only then did Jeong Seongbin notice the large, 7-meter tape measure on the table.
"A trolley can't handle all the stuff in there," Kim Iwol said. "We need to build in a set of drawers."
"Build in drawers?"
"It's better for maximizing a limited space. The sofa, too. If we get a good one, he can at least catch a wink of sleep, right? Every minute is precious for Cheonghyeon, so he should have that much convenience."
The floor plan even included images of furniture with their dimensions. Jeong Seongbin was astonished, wondering when his hyung had made something like this.
The area under Kim Iwol's eyes was dark as he tapped at his laptop. It seemed even if his dark circles doubled, Kim Iwol would not stop running the simulator.
"Um… hyung."
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Wouldn't it be better to get him something when Cheonghyeon gets a new studio outside the company? Like a sofa, or the drawers you mentioned."
Now that Lee Cheonghyeon was an adult, he would likely get his own personal space. Kim Iwol, however, was firm.
"What's inconvenient now needs to be improved now. It's better to fix it early than to use something cheap and ruin your back health in the long run just because you're worried about the cost."
After that, Jeong Seongbin listened for about 30 minutes to a vivid description of the sofa's condition and the wobbly table legs. It was enough to make him reflect on his own indifference to his struggling younger brother. Wasn't he the leader!
Feeling sorry, Jeong Seongbin visited the studio the next day. The familiar scene felt unusually suffocating, perhaps because he had heard Kim Iwol's criticisms.
"Iwol wants to tear this place apart? I'm sure I told him I was fine with it," Lee Cheonghyeon said, puzzled even after hearing the full story. He looked like he did not agree with his hyungs' opinions at all.
"Hyung, look at it objectively. Who needs to buy furniture more urgently, me or him?" Lee Cheonghyeon asked.
Kim Iwol did not own many things. Since their debut, he had only bought a few outfits for work. His other purchases were mostly supplements for everyone, medicine for the first-aid kit, or dorm consumables.
"Iwol shouldn't be picking out a laptop stand for me. Tell him I'm fine, so he should look for a clothes steamer or something. If we pool our money, we can all use it at the dorm. That'd be nice."
"If it's that, I'll buy it," Jeong Seongbin offered. "If I ask Jeong Seongjun, he'll recommend a model."
"What are you talking about? Do you think I'm some shameless punk who'd extort a shared clothes steamer from a hyung who's a year older than me?"
Jeong Seongbin silently held up his wrist. The group bracelet Lee Cheonghyeon had gifted them shone brilliantly above his cuff. Lee Cheonghyeon's eyes darted back and forth.
"Anyway, I'm satisfied with my current environment. I'll explain it to Iwol again myself."
Lee Cheonghyeon soothed the still-disappointed Jeong Seongbin and sent him away. Then, he opened his phone and summoned the hyung who always acted in extraordinary ways.
Me [Hyung] [Shouldn't you talk with your little brother?]
The reply arrived instantly.
Our Eldest Hyung [Should I call?]
Me [Come to Cheonghyeon's 'Cubbyhole-Studio-That-Is-So-Lacking-I-Can't-Bear-To-Look-At-It-With-My-Own-Two-Eyes-And-Therefore-Requires-Immediate-Remodeling'.]
The read receipt appeared and vanished instantly. Soon after, running footsteps sounded from outside.
Lee Cheonghyeon was fairly confident in arguments. Conveying his points with logical thinking, clear pronunciation, and a steady tone was not difficult for him. He was not the type to get discouraged by a single rebuttal and had the guts to push his own arguments. He even enjoyed talking with people who had different opinions.
He felt it was 'impossible to reason' with two types of people. First were people who thought only they were right. Having grown up with self-assured parents, Lee Cheonghyeon was not fond of people who resembled his family.
Second were people whose thoughts he could not figure out. This category had different aspects. For instance, Choi Jeho was a man of few words with muted reactions, making it hard to grasp his intentions. This was the opposite of Park Joowoo, who was also quiet but whose likes and dislikes were visible. Lee Cheonghyeon only realized Choi Jeho was truly thoughtless after they became closer.
Another case was people who flustered him with behavior beyond common sense. These types were usually unscrupulous human trash.
Then, while categorizing people, the somewhat heterogeneous Kim Iwol appeared. He was a peculiar person, a man of common sense who said reasonable things, yet his conclusions jumped to strange places. He applied normal standards to the wrong things. He was clearly a good person, not trash, but the nickname 'madman' was surprisingly fitting. In Lee Cheonghyeon's life, no one fit the word 'oddball' as well as Kim Iwol.
People said Lee Cheonghyeon's way of talking was becoming similar to Kim Iwol's, but Lee Cheonghyeon disagreed.
How can they say I resemble that hyung when he's so weird? I feel so wronged!
To the humane Lee Cheonghyeon, it was absurd.
'Impossible to reason with' did not directly translate to 'dislike'. Lee Cheonghyeon liked both Kim Iwol and Choi Jeho.
He was just baffled. The reason for this long introduction was…
…because Kim Iwol had been ranting for fifty minutes about UA's clueless act of sticking a promising talent in a cubbyhole. No matter how much of a Cutie Pretty Visual Lee Cheonghyeon was, he could not muster the courage to interrupt the filibuster.
You need to be able to reason with someone to have a conversation.
A sensible back-and-forth was impossible with that man whose eyes had gone wild. Lee Cheonghyeon instantly grasped that any rebuttal was meaningless. In that sense, he was truly a wise person.
Nevertheless, Lee Cheonghyeon had a reason why the remodeling was unnecessary, so he raised his hand.
"Can I say just one thing~."
"Go ahead~." Kim Iwol closed his planner and gestured for him to speak.
"I don't want the environment improved. So no measures are necessary."
"If it's because you're used to the layout, we don't have to change the positions. Is there another reason?"
"It has to be uncomfortable so I'll want to leave work quickly."
"What?"
Kim Iwol's eyes went wide. He looked like he had heard a completely unexpected remark.
"It has to be stuffy and without blankets so I'll want to focus, finish quickly, and go back to our cozy dorm. If a space to lie down and rest appears, I'll just end up procrastinating. I hate wasting time."
"You're saying you're intentionally maintaining a moderate level of discomfort?" Kim Iwol asked.
"What if the studio becomes too comfortable? Then I might get sick of communal living and start carving out my own path. I'll stay here until three or four in the morning just because the studio is nice. Does that seem desirable?"
The examples Kim Iwol dreaded poured out relentlessly. After listening for a while, he nodded with a bewildered expression.
"I… guess so."
Although Kim Iwol was not an easy opponent, the clever and stubborn Lee Cheonghyeon succeeded in getting his point across. Kim Iwol respected Lee Cheonghyeon's wishes and cleanly folded his grand plan. Their words might not always get through, but their hearts always did. This was why Lee Cheonghyeon enjoyed conversations with this strange hyung.
That night, Lee Cheonghyeon recounted his discussion with their eldest hyung to Kang Kiyeon. It was a waste to keep such an interesting story to himself.
"…So that's what happened! Isn't Iwol really peculiar?"
"You, who's willing to keep using a sofa with dead cushions just so your discipline won't slacken, are just as much of a handful," Kang Kiyeon replied.
"What are you talking about?" Lee Cheonghyeon jumped up, protesting. He shouted for Kang Kiyeon to think again.
However, no matter how many times Kang Kiyeon thought it over, Kim Iwol and Lee Cheonghyeon were one and the same to him.