Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 80: MBF (4)
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TL: FoodieMonster007
No one would be happy if a complete stranger showed up and asked to see their warehouse. It was just a hassle. It was rare for anyone to open their warehouse doors unless the other party promised to buy all the dead stock or offered a large sum of money for an item.
So, I made a deal with the owner. If we found the item we were looking for, I would purchase the pre-agreed quantity.
Even if we did not, we would do a bit of organizing in the warehouse during our search. The conditions were perfect for me, someone skilled in organizing materials.
"Shall we start by taking off the vinyl?"
Kang Kiyeon and I worked together to pull off the giant vinyl sheet. A mountain of orange woven fabric, previously hidden, greeted us.
"We should've brought Choi Jeho."
"Why? To buy him a gift?"
"No. To leave him here to live. He'd probably be happy."
It would be a problem if the group's center disappeared, making our presence lighter than a helium balloon, so I had to hold back. This is how much I care for my team.
Kang Kiyeon and I divided the roles to work faster. I would open boxes or tear open bags to check the contents, and Kang Kiyeon would neatly repackage them.
Whenever I sorted the inspected boxes by product line, Kang Kiyeon would clean up the dust and trash that spilled out. After using our bodies for a while, we were sweating despite the cool weather.
"…Hey, hyung. I'll just be honest and tell Lee Cheonghyeon I lost it."
"Didn't you say you didn't want to upset Cheonghyeon?"
"That doesn't mean I want to make you guys suffer. I should be the one running the sewing machine, and I should be the one making the calls…"
"I'm the one who booked the plane tickets, and I'm the one who decided what we'd do here. Why do you think you're making me suffer? I'm the one who decided to come here. You don't need to feel indebted."
Besides, rummaging through a warehouse filled with the history of merchandise was quite fun. It felt like watching the history of trends, as it was full of items that had been popular at one time or another.
Knitted card wallets were really popular. Before keychains, many people used phone straps to discreetly show their support. Didn't the printed t-shirt trend come back? Ah, a recycled pouch.
I was not bored with thoughts like these. It was also very helpful in terms of gathering references for planning spArk's official merch.
For example, by referencing this tangerine pouch, which has a simple shape but a clean design and a zipper, making it good for carrying small items…
"Found it."
"Huh?"
"I found it!"
Kang Kiyeon, who had been sweeping, rushed over, navigating through the boxes. I reached into the box I had just opened and pulled out one of the pouches that were stacked neatly like napkins.
A slightly tacky color scheme, a familiar material. It was Kang Kiyeon and Lee Cheonghyeon's 'that' pouch.
"Oh my god," Kang Kiyeon muttered. He held the pouch with both hands and pressed it firmly with his thumbs.
We returned to Seoul with the long-awaited tangerine pouch (one for Kang Kiyeon + α more) and some small souvenirs. Everyone was surprised that we had actually found the exact same item.
"How did you find this?"
"There's a thirty-minute summary and a forty-hour full version. Which one do you want to hear?"
"You weren't even gone for forty hours, how can the heroic tale be forty hours long?"
Choi Jeho retorted, dumbfounded. When I argued back asking what he expected when the pouch retrieval squad lived two days in one, Choi Jeho shut his mouth.
First, we put our heads together to discuss what to do with the bundle of pouches we had bought. Hiding them in the dorm's storage or giving them away to fans in spArk's name would get us caught by Lee Cheonghyeon, so we needed another plan.
"My noona and hyung… there's a facility they regularly volunteer at. Should I ask them if they have a use for these…?"
While we were deliberating, Park Joowoo came up with a good idea. We waited for a reply from his sister.
Fortunately, his sister welcomed the sack of pouches with open arms. We were worried we were just dumping our burden on her, but she had already decided on a use for them in that short time.
"She said she's going to fill them with candy and give them to the kids for Halloween…!"
So we even bought various kinds of candy and sent them together by courier. If we had had more time, we would have cut out and attached pumpkin eyes and mouths to the pouches, which was a shame.
We wanted to show off spArk's skills, known as the masters of small packaging, but it could not be helped. Instead, we included a thick bundle of postcards.
"And… shouldn't we do some post-processing on this?" Park Joowoo said, carefully examining the one remaining pouch after the commotion.
"Kiyeon's pouch was older than Cheonghyeon's because he used it for a long time, but this one looks too new…"
It was a valid point. Lee Cheonghyeon would definitely notice a difference like that.
"Can we even replicate the wear and tear from carrying it around like a part of himself for years in such a short time? And Kang Kiyeon kept his pouch pretty clean, didn't he?"
"It's possible because he didn't carry it around as roughly as you carry your bag, Choi Jeho."
"That's an insult, right?"
"A comparative analysis based on facts."
After correcting Choi Jeho, I inspected the opened pouch. The fabric was definitely too stiff compared to Kang Kiyeon's well-used item.
The zipper, without a single scratch, also bothered me.
"First… let's try hand-washing it and putting it in the dryer."
From that moment, the great era of the pouch's suffering began. The pouch, having flown a long way, was soaked in the sink and washed three times with laundry soap, three times with hand wash, three times with body wash, and once with facial soap before it could even acclimate to spArk's dorm.
Being wrung out by Choi Jeho after each wash was an added bonus.
We also ran it through the dryer in between. Thanks to the detailed handling process, it developed just the right amount of wrinkles without becoming as shriveled as a hand-washed fabric.
Park Joowoo took over the follow-up work. He brought a utility knife and slightly frayed the thread in areas that would be easily touched.
"This part was really worn out…"
Then he rubbed the frayed parts with his hands to create the look of worn fabric.
When it was Jeong Seongbin's turn, the pouch suffered the indignity of being placed under a book and stepped on by the weight of a grown man.
He pressed the pouch with the corner of the book, then with its spine. "When it rolls around in a bag, the pouch gets pressed and wrinkled, so let's replicate that part."
We were all speechless at his gentle stomping. Jeong Seongbin was clearly putting his heart into each and every step, but we had no idea why it sent a chill down our spines.
With each person's touch, the pouch aged rapidly. Its appearance, which seemed to have skipped over at least five years, was admirable.
"Do you think coming here was really a happy thing for it?" Kang Kiyeon asked, looking at the pouch that was clipped by a clothespin and being sprayed with perfume.
This was a measure taken based on Park Joowoo's opinion that it needed to smell like the perfume Kang Kiyeon often used.
"It came to an owner who will cherish it, so it's a happy thing for both the pouch and for you, right?"
Kang Kiyeon does not use his belongings carelessly. That is probably why he does not throw away the tangerine pouch or the bag he has used since his student days, even though he has pouches and bags he received from fashion photoshoots.
Most of those belongings were items filled with memories of his acquaintances. The initiation might be rough, but once it becomes a companion, Kang Kiyeon would surely treasure the pouch more than any accessory.
"Instead of wasting time on useless worries, you should be racking your brain on how to fast-forward the pouch's time. That's the only thing that will make the ordeal this pouch is going through meaningful."
At my words, Kang Kiyeon nodded. He approached Park Joowoo, who was spraying perfume from a meter away, and suggested blending it with another fragrance.
Until the pouch's other owner arrived, the NEW tangerine pouch dried on the veranda like a dried persimmon.
After the great commotion, night fell. The dorm finally became quiet.
Everyone had dispersed, but Kang Kiyeon remained in the living room. He was squatting motionlessly in front of the window, staring blankly at the pouch air-drying beyond the glass.
"Kiyeon-ah, aren't you sleeping?"
Kim Iwol's voice came from behind him. As soon as he turned around, he saw an expression that seemed to ask, 'What are you doing not going to your room?'
"I should sleep."
"Then why are you still in the living room?"
His reluctance to sleep showed plainly. Only an awkward laugh came out.
"I was just going to wrinkle the pouch a little more before sleeping…"
It was an excuse. Even if he lay down in bed, he felt that sleep would not come.
In that case, he wanted to at least organize his stray thoughts while looking at the tattered pouch.
"Is that so?" Kim Iwol asked back in a voice that did not believe him at all. One corner of his mouth was raised in a crooked smile.
A brief silence passed between the two faster than a glance.
"Alright. Don't go to bed too late, and stretch your legs."
Although he noticed it was a lie, Kim Iwol obediently backed off. It was obvious he was trying to be considerate of him in his troubled state.
"Okay, I'll be in soon," Kang Kiyeon answered obediently.
He did not want to further upset his hyung, who had used up all his rest time washing and drying the pouch after traveling all the way to Jeju Island.
He heard the sound of a door closing. Kang Kiyeon was truly left alone in the living room.
His own reflected face appeared over the pouch outside the window pane.
"You'll deny it, but it feels like confirmation that in some ways, Cheonghyeon knows you better than you know yourself."
Kim Iwol's words from the lodging in Jeju Island echoed in his ears. He, who knew that Lee Cheonghyeon would be upset if he said he lost the pouch but would not be able to show it.
Lee Cheonghyeon, who would offer him a song, saying it suited him well, even while knowing Kang Kiyeon would avoid it. The two of them, just as Kim Iwol had said, were similar even in ways they did not need to be.
If so, it would not be difficult to read Lee Cheonghyeon's true feelings. They would be the same as how Kang Kiyeon felt about his friend.
Kang Kiyeon recalled the moment he first heard Plan A. The feeling of his chest tightening.
The emotion of forcibly holding back the urge to ask, 'Is this really the concept you want to give me?' settled on his shoulders.