Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 78: MBF (2)
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TL: FoodieMonster007
The weather on Jeju Island was incredible. As if to cheer on our impulsive journey, a fierce wind blew, and rain poured down instead of confetti to welcome the tangerine pouch hunter duo.
My hair was flying around so much that at a glance, you could not tell if you were looking at my face or the back of my head. There was no need to worry about a disguise.
"What is this…!" Kang Kiyeon muttered from under the airport roof.
He looked as if he could not quite believe he had embarked on this grand quest for a tangerine pouch. The rain was blowing in sideways, making his clothes damp.
"Once you've decided to find a tangerine pouch, you have to see it through."
"When did you even decide that?"
"I'm quick to make up my mind."
Kang Kiyeon wore a bewildered expression.
"With this weather, we don't have to worry about running into many people. We're lucky from the start, aren't we?"
"Even if the weather were clear, most people would be heading to their accommodations by now. It's almost 8 PM," Kang Kiyeon said, looking at his watch.
He sounded like a pitiful youth who had no idea the best part of a trip began in the evening.
As someone who used to read a lot of travel blog reviews, I could not help but feel sorry for Kang Kiyeon, a frog in a well. Still, since you have decided to be an idol, you should only play in wholesome places during the day and go back to your room at night.
I still had not gotten my license, so we traveled by taxi. There were a few souvenir shops open late, so we decided to target the ones that had not closed yet.
Thanks to the list I had prepared in advance, I could input the addresses without wasting time fumbling around. The shops were clustered in a specific area, making it easy to plan our route.
"You made a list again?"
"Isn't that obvious? Our time is limited. To move efficiently and visit as many places as possible, you have to plan this much."
The taxi driver who overheard our conversation mistook Kang Kiyeon and me for resellers. For a moment, we were about to become vicious middlemen who sweep up limited-edition Jeju goods and sell them at a premium.
I managed to explain that we were just innocent tourists.
The first place we visited was a brand with multiple stores, like a franchise. Since they ran a large business, the store was big and their hours were long.
Besides, if I check whether the company handles similar products, they'll be able to look it up on their system without me having to go to other locations, which means less wasted effort.
It was a way to reduce the trouble of legwork just by visiting one branch. You know, like those situations where they say, 'We don't carry that product at this store, but the ○○ branch has it in stock!'
The fact that they would have a product image was also important. A comment like, 'I think we had a product with a similar design!' would only add to the confusion.
When we had to make the most of our limited time, it was a waste to act based on speculation. Going to a place that has the product image and comparing it is the fastest way.
The souvenir shop was full of tangerine-related goods. Every single one had a cute face drawn on it.
Kang Kiyeon's simple pouch was nowhere to be seen. Even after asking the clerk, we came up empty-handed.
The second place we visited was not much different. It was another corporate souvenir shop, and while they handled different items, they did not have the same pouch from the Metube screenshot.
While waiting for the new taxi we called, we bought a bag of tangerine jelly. We had skipped dinner and come straight across the sea, so we were incredibly hungry.
As we shared the jelly we had just bought, Kang Kiyeon asked.
"Should we book a taxi tour for tomorrow? I heard if you book one, you can use the taxi for the whole day."
"No. The places we're going are all in alleys, so there's no good place to park, and as we wander around the nearby shops, we don't know where we'll end up or how we'll get there. We might stay in one place for a long time, so it's better this way."
It was a five-minute walk between the first and second shops. At the first souvenir shop, our stay was prolonged because we were asking about products.
In a situation with so many variables, it was better to call a car when needed rather than keep the driver waiting. As expected of a tourist spot, a car arrived quickly.
We repeated the cycle of traveling, visiting a shop, and traveling again until 11 PM, and only then was our day over. While others were looking at the night sea, we spent the day looking only at soju glass sets with seascapes on them.
The last taxi, driving down the darkened roads, dropped us off in front of another souvenir street. It was an accommodation I had deliberately chosen with the intention of doing an 'open run'.
Instead of checking in right away, Kang Kiyeon and I visited all the nearby 24-hour unmanned souvenir shops. If we found a similar pouch, we noted down the manufacturer.
It felt a bit wrong to just get information and leave empty-handed, so we bought a few postcards every time we entered a store, and we ended up with enough to make a postcard book.
It was 1 AM when we opened the door to our accommodation, a thick stack of postcards in our arms. The Daily Hideout, said to be a renovated house, was small but cozy.
It was perfect for travelers who had braved the wind and rain in search of a tangerine pouch.
I felt alive after washing up with hot water. My mind felt sharp again.
I sat Kang Kiyeon, who was steaming from his hot shower, down on the bedding and began briefing him on the next day's schedule.
"Tomorrow, as soon as we wake up, we're going to eat bracken yukgaejang and then do a full sweep of the street. It's a good thing the haejangguk place opens early."
"You don't have to do that, hyung."
"Why? We've only gone through half the list. We have to move diligently if we want to check them all before heading to the airport."
"……"
I was organizing the phone numbers of the souvenir manufacturers, but no answer came back. When I looked up, Kang Kiyeon's lips were pressed tightly together.
"You said you were proactive enough to search for trips to Jeju Island. So why are you so lukewarm now?"
"How did you know I looked up trips to Jeju?"
"Is there anything I don't know about spArk?"
Park Joowoo was the one who spoon-fed me the information, but I did not bother explaining that. Sorry, Joowoo. This hyung of yours has completely snatched away your achievement.
A hesitant Kang Kiyeon finally, and with difficulty, started to speak.
"It's just… we postponed the meeting to come here, and you're going through all this trouble, hyung, but we have nothing to show for it, so I'm starting to wonder what we're even doing."
I did postpone the meeting to stay on Jeju Island a little longer. I practically begged and pleaded.
They said they could have pushed it back a few hours even if I had not begged, but since I had requested the schedule change anyway, I thanked them so profusely my head nearly touched the ground.
I am not sure about the 'trouble' part. I did not expect much of a result from the beginning.
We came looking for a discontinued, nostalgic item. There was no way we would succeed on the first try. I had fully anticipated this before we left, so there was nothing to brace for or regret.
"I should have given up when it didn't show up on the second-hand trading apps. It's just a cheap souvenir I bought while riding a bus, how could I possibly find it again…"
"You even checked the second-hand markets?"
"Before we came here. I even tried changing the region and searching after we arrived, but it wasn't there."
Kang Kiyeon sighed.
"If you were sincere enough to search for it even during that chaotic time, then you should be looking even harder. You should be saying, 'Hyung, since we're already up late, let's keep looking until 2 AM.'"
"……"
"Right? Am I wrong?" I asked, but Kang Kiyeon remained silent.
"Wasn't it because it was that precious to you that you wanted to buy it again?"
There was nothing more effective for drawing out a sincere conversation than creating a comfortable atmosphere, and for creating a comfortable atmosphere, there was nothing more effective than lying down.
I pulled the covers over myself and lay down. I even struck the pose of resting my chin on my hand, something I strictly forbid the others from doing.
When I confidently took the 'if you don't like it, you can be the eldest hyung' stance, the corners of Kang Kiyeon's mouth lifted slightly.
"It's true I cherished it, but that's not why I was planning to come to Jeju Island."
My project to create a comfortable atmosphere was very effective. The kid pulled his pillow over and placed it between his legs.
It was the perfect height to rest his arms on.
"Then what was the reason that made you think you had to come here?"
Kang Kiyeon smiled, all the tension gone from his face. It was more of a simple laugh than a hearty one.
There was also a hint of awkwardness mixed in.
"Because Lee Cheonghyeon would be upset."
"Cheonghyeon?"
He was saying that he was willing to go as far as coming to Jeju Island to find the pouch, not for himself, but for Lee Cheonghyeon. It was an unexpected answer, and it made sense that it was unexpected.
Kang Kiyeon had not mentioned Lee Cheonghyeon once during the entire trip to Jeju Island.
"Cheonghyeon is very attached to group items."
"What he shows the hyungs is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm sure all the members are like that, but you know how affectionate he is. He's the kind of guy who wouldn't seem strange even if he suddenly suggested we spend all his money on high-end jewelry for a friendship item."
I also agreed with Kang Kiyeon's opinion. When it came to the members, Lee Cheonghyeon tried to give as if he had nothing of his own.
It was a good thing Jeong Seongbin and I had thoroughly educated him on processing receipts and hiding his card. Otherwise, there was no telling what he might have bought.
"It's not just that he likes to coordinate outfits. Lee Cheonghyeon feels a sense of belonging from those things. Like how you need a team to have a team bracelet, or friends to have a friendship item. Imagine losing something like that."
Just as Kang Kiyeon said, Lee Cheonghyeon was particularly fond of items that commemorated the group. It was similar to how Park Joowoo preferred spending time together.
He wanted to buy even a travel clothesline together, and he kept the old team practice clothes and bulky animal pajamas without throwing them away.
"It would be better if he at least showed he was disappointed. With Lee Cheonghyeon's personality, do you think he'd say anything even if he's upset? To the hyungs, he might seem straightforward, but Lee Cheonghyeon doesn't say everything on his mind. He has a surprisingly defensive side."
This was also a side of him I was well aware of. If Kang Kiyeon was normally cautious but charged ahead at crucial moments, Lee Cheonghyeon was the opposite.
In daily life, he would freely state his opinions even when unasked, but if something bothered him, he would hesitate and hold his tongue. Just like how he was scared his self-composed song would become the title track as a trainee, and how he could not even properly ask me for a single reason when I ran away from home and came back.
Before I regressed, his emotions must have just exploded like that.
I remembered Lee Cheonghyeon confronting Jeong Seongbin, who had suggested it would be better to stop their activities. He could not say with what kind of heart he had protected the team, or how hurt he was by his hyung's words.
The image of him bursting out in anger, crying, 'How could you tell me to leave?' was vivid.
"Lee Cheonghyeon would deny it, but I probably know him better than he knows himself," Kang Kiyeon said.
In that moment, I saw an overlap of Lee Cheonghyeon in Kang Kiyeon. The youngest member, filled with overflowing confidence about the other.
A laugh escaped me before I knew it.
"Why are you laughing?" the kid asked.
There was only one thing I could say to him.
"You'll deny it, but I feel like I've just confirmed that in some ways, Cheonghyeon also knows you better than you know yourself."
Looking puzzled, Kang Kiyeon slowly blinked his eyes.
I was certain that right now, a song like a rainy, cloudy, and opaque sea was flowing through his mind.