Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 67: How to Clear Up a Misunderstanding (1)
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TL: FoodieMonster007
"Should we call it a day?" Kang Kiyeon asked, looking at the clock. They had worked on the choreography for so long that it was well past time to go home.
Choi Jeho turned off the music file. His silent agreement, without a single word, reminded Kang Kiyeon of a scene from their trainee days.
"How do you and Jeho even communicate?" Lee Cheonghyeon had always been curious. He understood his own situation. He only had necessary conversations with Choi Jeho while learning choreography or because they shared a room, but as fellow dance members, they must have had much to discuss. Lee Cheonghyeon always wondered when, what, and how they talked.
Kang Kiyeon's answer was, "I'm not sure." He wasn't annoyed. He genuinely didn't know. Choi Jeho wasn't just a man of few words. He used very few words. Yeah, no, why, whatever. Choi Jeho could survive a week with just those four.
Things did improve after Iwol came, though…
After his friend of the same age arrived, Choi Jeho's vocabulary grew remarkably more colorful. He went from saying "This doesn't work?" maybe three times a year to saying it daily. He even managed long sentences like, "Stop talking nonsense and look in the mirror to find what's different."
In response, Kim Iwol would say things like, "Right, it's better when your instructions are specific. It's easier to understand than just 'What are you doing?'" That was how Choi Jeho's eloquence grew.
If not for Kim Iwol, Kang Kiyeon might have seriously confronted Choi Jeho. Or maybe the time they argued already counted as a confrontation? In any case, Kang Kiyeon desperately rationalized that he had never crossed the line.
After their argument, the way Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon communicated changed slightly. It was a truly minuscule change. Kang Kiyeon was frustrated enough to burst, but he could feel things improving, so his anger always cooled before it could flare.
For example, during their trainee days, Choi Jeho would pack his few belongings after practice and sit quietly on the sofa. When the younger members gathered their tumblers and bags, he would get up, stand before the shoe rack with his hands in his pockets, and just zone out.
So how had Choi Jeho changed now?
"You done?"
He had evolved into the considerate type who at least asked if they were ready. Every time this happened, Kang Kiyeon seriously contemplated the meaning of growth. The philosophical musings he had while reading 「Kingdom Cafeteria ~Another~」 felt pointless. In reality, dramatic growth didn't exist.
It's not like we were supposed to be awkward in the first place.
Kang Kiyeon was also one of spArk's quieter members. His acquaintances were generally taciturn, and Lee Cheonghyeon was his first friend with such an outgoing personality. In terms of disposition, Choi Jeho was actually more similar to Kang Kiyeon than Lee Cheonghyeon was.
There was no hazing or bullying from seniority. The fact that 'whatever' was one of Choi Jeho's trump cards proved it. Choi Jeho might not have been kind, but he wasn't a rigid traditionalist. Compared to school upperclassmen, Choi Jeho applied no pressure, aside from the intimidation his visuals caused.
It was closer to indifference than tolerance, but when Kang Kiyeon first became a trainee, he thought that side of Choi Jeho seemed cool. So how did he end up acting so prickly whenever Choi Jeho spoke?
He couldn't remember the trigger. As Kang Kiyeon traced back through the past, a phone vibrated. Choi Jeho answered it.
"Hello?"
Thanks to Kim Iwol's emphasis on daily exercise, the two naturally headed for the stairs. A woman's voice echoed faintly from the phone as they entered the emergency exit.
The call was short. It ended after Choi Jeho said three things. "It's fine." "No." "Yeah." Having been through so much together, Kang Kiyeon could guess who was on the other end just from Choi Jeho's reactions.
"Was that Miho?"
"Yeah."
If it had been Choi Jeho's mother or older sister, the call wouldn't have ended so quickly. His responses would have been the same, but the other side would have said much more. The calls that were dry on both ends were usually from his younger sibling.
Speaking of Miho, I feel like I should remember something…
But it was just a feeling. Nothing specific came to mind. Kang Kiyeon got into the car, unsettled by the vague sense that he was forgetting something.
Even after returning home, Kang Kiyeon dropped his bag and became lost in thought.
"What are you thinking so hard about?" Lee Cheonghyeon asked, sprawled on his bed. He laughed, saying Kang Kiyeon's posture looked just like Rodin's 'The Thinker'. Lee Cheonghyeon was even kind enough to find and show him a picture, but Kang Kiyeon just snapped.
"If Iwol catches you lying like that, you're going to get an earful."
"And you'll have a hard time surviving if he catches you frowning like that."
Kang Kiyeon's frown didn't ease even after their friendly exchange. No single episode made him think, This is it! Left with no choice, Kang Kiyeon decided to borrow his friend's electronic brain.
"Did Jeho and I ever fight back in the day?"
"Huh? Why the sudden question?"
Lee Cheonghyeon sat up and fell into deep thought.
"Nothing comes to mind. How far back are you talking about?"
"A long time ago. So you don't remember anything either, right? Then why does it feel like he and I were particularly awkward?"
"Wasn't everyone awkward with Jeho except for me? Even I wasn't as close to him as I am now. You were just getting by and then… Ah!"
Lee Cheonghyeon, who had been muttering, clapped his hands.
"You switched rooms partway through! During our trainee days, you moved into Seongbin and Joowoo's room!"
Lim Chanyoung had recommended that Kang Kiyeon share a room with Lee Cheonghyeon to help the latecomer adjust quickly.
Choi Jeho, the room's other occupant, had no complaints. The period had been so short that Kang Kiyeon had forgotten.
He had a hint, but another part made even less sense. The youngest members were roomed together to help Lee Cheonghyeon adjust. So why did Kang Kiyeon, the one supposed to be helping, move out? Lee Cheonghyeon said he didn't know anything about it.
"I never heard a clear reason, but I do think you started being prickly toward him around then. I didn't think it was because of some trouble, though."
"Then what?"
"I just thought, Is he stressed because your positions overlap? It was when we were getting evaluated every week and every month."
He wasn't wrong. Still, it wasn't like he was only comparing himself to Choi Jeho. Back then, everyone was a competitor. Besides, he had faced comparisons even before Lee Cheonghyeon arrived, so it was a flimsy reason to suddenly storm out.
"So I didn't give you any hint either?"
"Nope. Now that you mention it, I'm kind of annoyed. Were you hiding something from me?"
"We went on all those morning walks. Do you think I'd have anything left unsaid?"
"I guess not."
Lee Cheonghyeon quickly agreed and burst out laughing. Kang Kiyeon really hadn't hidden anything from his friend. Despite being his senior as a trainee and the one who brought him in, he trusted and relied on Lee Cheonghyeon enough to reveal all his anxieties.
Something critical enough to make me openly switch rooms happened, and I didn't tell Lee Cheonghyeon?
The clue seemed within reach, yet it remained blurry. A corner of his mind felt unsettled, as it often does when you forget something you once knew. Kang Kiyeon thought about the cause for a long time before falling asleep. In his dream, a very displeased Choi Jeho appeared.
The mystery remained unsolved, but the meetings continued. The next day, Choi Jeho and Kang Kiyeon diligently showed up for work to discuss the formations.
"After this move, won't the person going the opposite way get their steps tangled?"
"Does that not work?"
Choi Jeho tilted his head once, then stood from his seat. He demonstrated all the moves they had decided on so far in one fluid motion, as smooth as flowing water.
Kang Kiyeon now knew that "Does that not work?" was Choi Jeho's way of asking, "Is this difficult?" But when he first trained with Choi Jeho, he had seemed like a genius who couldn't comprehend a mere mortal's limits.
Then there was a time he found Choi Jeho really grating. It was for a while after he started using a separate room. As Kang Kiyeon gathered clue pieces smaller than a 500-piece puzzle, he spoke.
"You can do it, but the owner of this spot is Iwol."
"……"
Back then, Kang Kiyeon thought the silence meant he was being ignored or that Choi Jeho was thinking, So what? He only realized much later that it was simply Choi Jeho's loading time.
"We'll have to make it work, then."
Choi Jeho had changed too. In the past, he would have said something like, "So we should take it out?" or "Tell him to figure it out." The man whose tone was easily misunderstood, even with good intentions, now conveyed his point well. Or at least, better than before.
The door to the practice room opened, revealing Kim Iwol with his hair flying. The room was still filled with unanswered questions.
"Guys, we have a big problem."
"What is it?"
"Seongbin's mother and father are coming again to drop off side dishes!"
Kim Iwol, the strange eldest member who got more nervous about a member's family visiting than a CEO meeting, insisted they hold an emergency meeting. Seongbin tried to calm him down, saying he had told them to just leave the food at the front door, but it was no use.
"They're bringing us side dishes, and you're telling them to just leave without inviting them in? How could you! We have to at least offer them some tea!"
"How can I, when you're acting like this…!"
"Does it look like I'm pressuring you to call your families? That's absolutely not it, so don't misunderstand. I… I just want to be polite."
"What are you going to do if my dad comes as a guest?"
"Don't worry. Before your father, Cheonghyeon, even rings the doorbell, I'll personally escort him straight to One Some Place."
The previously restless Kim Iwol said this with a straight face. Lee Cheonghyeon roared with laughter at the spirited countermeasure.
Miho, Jeho, Lee Cheonghyeon, guest…
The words spun in his head. In that moment, the puzzle pieces clicked into place in Kang Kiyeon's mind.
"Ah!"
"Whoa. What's wrong, Kiyeon?"
Suddenly, Kang Kiyeon was the one who had shouted in the middle of the practice room. Compared to the old memory that struck him like lightning, this was a welcome misunderstanding.