Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 74: The Start of a Second Job
Day/Night Mode:
Change Font Size:
TL: FoodieMonster007
The Park Joowoo craze continued for a whole month and completely shattered the music market. Park Joowoo's songs played everywhere, on all media. He was not just a species that disrupted the ecosystem. He devoured it and wiped it out.
Despite his meteoric rise, Park Joowoo did not become arrogant or insolent. The kid acted just as he did before leaving the country. He still danced well, sent BubblePop messages diligently, and loved taking pictures with the members.
He even went for drinks with Jeong Seongbin. After finishing his domestic schedule, Park Joowoo came home from work and declared grimly, "Jeong Seongbin, let's go for a drink…!" They tried to go secretly, but Kim Iwol's sharp hearing caught everything.
I almost nagged them about drinking becoming a habit, but I held back after realizing they only drank about once every two years. I just told them not to get drunk, and they returned after drinking responsibly. The only difference from last time was that Choi Jeho caught them.
"You guys are drinking out?"
"It's a misunderstanding! This is…"
"Your first time?"
"No…"
"And it's a misunderstanding?"
Choi Jeho seemed just curious, but Jeong Seongbin and Park Joowoo stood at attention and sweated buckets while explaining themselves.
"What's so great about it that you'd pay to go out drinking?"
"I was the one who suggested it…"
"It started when I suggested we try it. I was just curious. I'm sorry…!"
That guy Choi Jeho would faint if he saw Mr. Gu Jahan and Woo Yoonjae chugging drinks.
Still, his tone held no disgust or annoyance. He seemed willing to let it slide since they were his younger brothers.
"If you went out because of me, just buy it and drink at the dorm. If you just like going out, don't do anything stupid and come straight back."
Thanks to him, I saw Choi Jeho disciplining Jeong Seongbin. I thought the world might end tomorrow.
The main vocals waved their hands dismissively. They explained they only drank cocktails because whiskey hurt their throats. They said they wouldn't make any drunken mistakes, so I told them I understood and sent them to wash up.
"Are you allowing drinking in the dorm now?"
I sat on the sofa's edge where Choi Jeho had his legs stretched out and asked. This was the same guy who flew into a rage at any mention of his family history. His softened stance on alcohol, the very thing that reminded him of his hated father, was a major event.
"It's better they drink inside than sneak out."
"Will you be okay with the smell?"
"It's been a while since that person's business was handled. It doesn't matter anymore."
He drew lines quickly and decisively. Choi Jeho genuinely seemed unbothered. If people had even half of Choi Jeho's mental fortitude, they could live much healthier lives.
I also had a reason to crave a drink. Employees from MYTH had visited UtopiA. The official reason was a mutual agreement between companies, but I was not happy about it. I wanted to see the representatives' faces, so I waited outside the conference room with my arms crossed as the meeting ended. It was deeply unpleasant watching them flinch when our eyes met as they left the room.
Mr. Yuur followed them out and said with a terrifyingly sweet smile, "Iwol suffered for no reason. Wouldn't it be better to apologize before you leave?"
"It's much simpler than posting a notice on the homepage."
Every word he said was right. Management throws a huge fit when negative articles are published or a company has to issue an apology under its name.
The MYTH employees, being professionals, understood Mr. Yuur perfectly. The guests bowed slightly and left hastily. I wanted to tell Mr. Yuur those bastards had used the tense moment between me and Polo as a threat. Wouldn't Mr. Yuur chew out MYTH even more fiercely?
I was tempted but held back. A person has to act on their own. You become useless if you just pass your hard work to others. If the purification fails, I will have to crush them with my own power. I left the company with that thought.
"I'm sorry about this. It's already tough dealing with cameras, and now everyone's suffering because they're involved with me."
I offered Choi Jeho a sincere apology. First, there was the dating rumor with my family. Then, a single photo of me outside nearly got the team and company blamed. As a result, both artists and staff grew wary of their outside activities. Today, I had been cooped up in the dorm all day except for my commute.
"Some guy is taking pictures secretly. What's going to change if you apologize?"
"It's a matter of a guilty conscience."
"Right, so why are you feeling guilty instead of the guy with no conscience?"
"You wouldn't know, since you don't have a human heart.., but I appreciate your warm concern."
"I can't get through to you."
Choi Jeho shook his head.
Why does he think we can't communicate? I even explained that I get his intentions aren't bad, and I mean it. That jerk probably still thinks I have low self-esteem and I'm just brushing him off. Hmph.
If I had my way, I would run to MYTH tomorrow, but I had something to do before I could start breaking other companies. It was a new task for our own company's survival.
"How's the trainee business going?" Choi Jeho asked. He referred to my involvement in UtopiA's new group planning.
"Not much yet. We just got the fifth member. I'm just looking at their profiles for now."
Recruiting trainees for spArk took forever. Large agencies can find the best combination among many gems, but small-to-medium companies struggle just to gather people.
UtopiA, however, had been gathering trainees well since they started recruiting again. I heard Jukyung went to school events, audition halls, and academies like a madwoman. The number of trainees she gathered grew from two to five.
I was part of this new group's planning team. A head producer and their team usually oversee a group's production, but I was taking on a trial role as an assistant director.
It's a strange case, since this isn't the world of movies or performances.
They first suggested I be the head producer, since some idols produce their junior groups. I refused, pointing out that those seniors either started their own companies or were barely active as idols. The counter-offer was this role. The decision was delayed, so my joining was too.
It was a position where I would break even if I did well and get all the blame if I failed. If my own performance declined, I would be told to mind my own business. If spArk did well but the junior group failed, that would also cause problems.
I accepted a position with more to lose for two reasons.
One was that I wanted to develop my professional skills. My production career was just six years with spArk and a short collaboration with Hellas. Stretching it, I could add planning the 'IDC' stage or teaching for 'Stage must go on'.
If I am going to be an idol for much longer, I can't just rely on the archive I built from being a fan. A person has to grow with age, right? Your work ability does not just increase with seniority. Unless we outsourced spArk's album planning, I felt I needed to study like I was preparing for a promotion review.
The second reason, the real one, was Lee Cheonghyeon. He did not ask for it and probably does not even know he was a factor, but it is true.
Until now, I handled planning and Lee Cheonghyeon handled A&R (Artist & Repertoire).1 We each managed our part of the production. A dedicated team handled overall management, so we just did our assigned work.
After working together for so long, we had developed our own workflow. The process was second nature, and we knew how to adjust when schedules got tangled. It was ideal.
If only Lee Cheonghyeon had not been overloaded.
My work was easy to get help with. Even Park Joowoo or Kang Kiyeon were good at suggesting ideas or collecting references for me. Once I compiled them and made a decision, a dedicated team handled the rest.
But Lee Cheonghyeon's work was a battle with himself. The amount of work he produced did not correspond to the hours he spent, nor did it improve with more input. On top of that, he has to create 'music', the most important thing for an idol.
Jeong Seongbin and I occasionally gave feedback, but we only offered opinions on works in progress. It never expanded into going through the process together or finding ways to improve it.
My own proficiency had increased, and I had more help, which gave me some breathing room. I wanted to use this leeway to support Lee Cheonghyeon.
What better way to understand the process than by joining a new department?
When a new team is formed, everything is set up from zero. spArk's team was formed by reorganizing existing staff, but the new idol's team would start with a perfect framework from scratch. I just needed to pay close attention to the song acquisition process.
Discussing things from the outside, like, 'We've received this many songs, and we'll pick a title candidate from these,' is meaningless. I needed to understand the detailed process. Only then could I figure out how to reduce Lee Cheonghyeon's workload and divide the labor effectively.
My choice was filled with nothing but goodwill for spArk. Every single choice I made was for spArk's success, and yet…
…I was arrogant.
In the brief moment I looked away, Lee Cheonghyeon and Kang Kiyeon had reached a crossroads with Kang Kiyeon's solo album. It was not just stagnant. It was on the verge of regression.
Footnotes:
-
Artist & Repertoire: The division of a record label or music publishing company responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic and commercial development of recording artists and songwriters. ↩