Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 88: Collaboration Cafe (1)
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TL: FoodieMonster007
After the release of Kang Kiyeon's solo album, spArk's official SNS was flooded with voices cheering on the youngest member's first challenge. The eldest hyungs sent lunch boxes, while the other members and Lee Cheonghyeon sent a coffee truck to support Kang Kiyeon.
Did Kang Kiyeon not say there was no need for a big celebration?
By spArk's standards, this was indeed modest. They had not remodeled the dorm, nor had they rented a pension for a long-distance group trip.
Thanks to this, Kang Kiyeon was able to maintain his focus and complete his schedule without the pressure of having to meet high expectations.
We have a comeback next month, after all…
It seemed unlikely that he would be in a mood to relax and enjoy himself until the group activities were also over. It would be better to wait until the end of the year, after clearing all schedules, to just lie in bed and rest.
Of course, he would be swamped with year-end stages and concerts then, but anyway.
He thought he would feel relieved when the promotions ended, as he had done his best. However, now that he had faced his final performance, the sense of longing was immense.
It was not regret from seeing things he failed at. It was closer to the feeling that, having had such a wonderful experience, he could have learned so much more if he had promoted for longer.
It was gratifying to be able to return to the team with a clear heart. Just as he had confidently told Choi Jeho, he was looking forward to his turn to do fun things with the people he liked.
With a much lighter heart, Kang Kiyeon got into the car.
[Kiyeon-ah, what are you having for dinner tonight?? Give me a recommendation!!]
[You worked hard on your last performance ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I had so much fun watching your promotions!]
[Kiyeon-ah, what are you eating for dinner? Let's at least eat the same menu.]
[Have you eaten? I'm about to eat now ㅠㅠ]
[♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥]
[All I saw was you again today. My standards keep getting higher because of you. I wish you'd take responsibility.]
[I love you, Kang Kiyeon.]
[I know this is shameless, but could you give us just one more black-haired selfie?]
As expected of Koreans, a people powered by rice, there were a ton of BubblePop messages worrying about Kang Kiyeon's meals. When he sent a message saying he was contemplating what to eat, recommended menus popped up in real-time.
[I think I'll eat one of the things you recommended.]
[I do want tteokbokki, but…]
[Tteokbokki is dangerous…]
Among those who were building their bodies, there was no one who did not know that tteokbokki was dangerous. Although he like Korean snacks and fast food, the calories were too harsh to ignore.
Even though his mouth was watering, Kang Kiyeon, the professional idol, resolutely endured and refrained from getting tteokbokki to-go. Unless someone in the dorm could not overcome their long-term diet and persuaded Kim Iwol to successfully place a delivery order, his conscience ached at the thought of ordering six servings of tteokbokki with his own hands.
Isn't it about time for Lee Cheonghyeon to start craving chicken? I'd have nothing more to wish for if I could just snatch one piece from the side.
As the car drove on, all he could see were the unlit signs of fast food restaurants. The eighteen-hour fast, brought on by his busy day, was ruining him.
Fortunately, the vehicle arrived at the dorm before Kang Kiyeon could lose his sanity.
"Euion, you can head straight in. I'll go up by myself."
"Are you sure you don't need me to escort you?"
"The elevator is right there."
The manager's clock-out time was much later than his own as an idol. Knowing the situation, Kang Kiyeon sent Dong-uion home right away.
Dong-uion bowed his head repeatedly before driving the car out of the parking lot. After sending his dongsaeng off, Kang Kiyeon, now alone in the elevator, felt a sudden wave of fatigue.
The delicious smell wafting through the elevator made it even worse.
Is this… that thing I've only heard about, 'my sugar is dropping'?
It was something the company staff often said. Kang Kiyeon could not even begin to grasp what a sugar crash felt like. The idea that one could feel their blood sugar dropping in real-time was unimaginable.
The image of Park Joowoo smiling wryly at him and a wide-eyed Kang Kiyeon was still vivid. He sincerely hoped that this current phenomenon was not just the aging curve. After all, was Kang Kiyeon not an idol still in his prime…
Just as he resolved to eat some glucose candy when he got inside, the elevator doors opened. The faint smell of food became a thick cloud in front of his door.
Unless they were filming their own content or a vlog, it was rare for spArk to order delivery. Even on the rare occasion a monumental event occurred that called for a small celebration, they never did something as cheap as enjoying outside food while leaving one person out.
They ate together and worked out to death together. Therefore, the owner of this tempting aroma had to be another apartment.
"I'm home."
But he was mistaken. The moment he opened the front door, an intense smell of food assaulted Kang Kiyeon.
The mix of spicy and sweet scents was dizzying. It was a smell that was rarely encountered in the dorm.
The angle made it hard to see, but the kitchen was in an uproar. He could hear a clattering sound, as if someone was taking out dishes in the middle of the night.
The messy, bustling atmosphere reached all the way to the entryway.
"What is everyone doing?"
Kang Kiyeon's eyes widened as he took off his shoes. The kitchen light had not changed, the members were sitting at the dining table in their usual pajamas (judging by the clatter, it seemed they had sat down in a hurry), and there was no floral tablecloth.
The only difference was that the table was laden with food, and it was filled with all sorts of desserts and fast food.
"What are you really doing?!"
Kang Kiyeon shouted, unable to hide his bewilderment.
Kim Iwol smiled and answered, "Playing collaboration cafe."
It was a phrase Kang Kiyeon had never heard before in his life.
A tall, elegant glass was filled to the brim with green melon soda. A scoop of vanilla ice cream and a canned Cherry on top made it the very picture of a classic soda.
The carbonation was so strong that bubbles rose ceaselessly inside the glass. There was also watermelon juice and a steaming hot tea.
The foods crowding the table were all far from typical tea-time fare. He had never seen a romance fantasy where a cup of black tea was paired with tteokbokki, chicken, and hot dogs.
If that were the case, countless young ladies would have had to manage their health with weight training instead of social dancing.
"What… did you say this was?" Kang Kiyeon asked again, doubting his ears.
"Playing collaboration cafe."
But Kim Iwol's answer did not change. He quickly looked around, but there was not a single camera in sight.
In other words, this whole thing was not for a variety show. That, in itself, was even more surreal.
"You're hungry, right? I heard you didn't eat a single meal today."
Kim Iwol said gently. He was indeed fasting, but he was not hungry enough to devour six drinks and a tteokbokki, fried food, and soondae combo at 10 p.m.
More than that, he was so shocked that he had forgotten his hunger.
Lee Cheonghyeon pulled out the empty chair next to him, urging him to sit down first. Kang Kiyeon sat down, still dazed.
What on earth is 'playing collaboration cafe'?
Kang Kiyeon's mind was filled with nothing but question marks. He had heard of the existence of collaboration cafes.
To use an idol culture analogy, they were like pop-up events or birthday cafes. It was a common enough offline event that he could not possibly not know about it, a place where you paid a high price to eat low-quality food and receive random merchandise.
But why was it happening in their dorm? And at this ungodly hour!
A tablet was pushed in front of Kang Kiyeon, who still could not grasp the situation. A ridiculously long list of menu items was crammed onto a simple, shoddy layout that showed no effort whatsoever.
The Soda Kingdom's Legendary Drink with a Thousand-Year History, the Golden Cream Soda
The Love-Hate Melon Soda That (Almost) Brought a Renaissance to the Soda Kingdom
A Rich Oolong Tea to Melt Away an Adventurer's Fatigue (Hot only)
The Ill-Fated Tangmo Pan That Can Never Become a Soda
The naming sense was extraordinary. He felt a sense of deja vu.
He had never been to a cafe that sold such a menu, yet it felt familiar, as if he had seen it on the internet.
"What will you order?"
Kim Iwol asked. He was acting like a customer at a real cafe. Kang Kiyeon almost played along naturally.
"What… am I supposed to order?"
"Isn't it obviously three items per person?"
"Hyung, you read something weird online, didn't you!"
"Weird? I just accumulated information by collecting reviews."
As he stood there dumbfounded, Kang Kiyeon noticed that no one had touched the food. The tteokbokki, which was innocent despite not fitting this skit, was destined to keep getting cold.
The ice cream on top of the soda was already melting. Having no other choice, Kang Kiyeon decided to play along for now.
"The Cream Soda… the Tteokbokki as Fiery as Denovan's Temper, and Prince Mariba's Golden Olive Boneless Chicken."
The moment Kang Kiyeon finished speaking, Park Joowoo moved the tteokbokki and Jeong Seongbin moved the chicken onto his side plate.
Do collaboration cafes normally serve food like a buffet? Kang Kiyeon gave up on rational thought.
When he saw Choi Jeho sticking paper picks with soda, watermelon, and vanilla stickers on each food item, he truly gave up on all thought.
"Here are your random benefits~. It's one per menu item!"
Beside him, Lee Cheonghyeon took it a step further. He pushed three pitch-black cards, which he had pulled from who-knows-where, next to the plate.
Kang Kiyeon was genuinely not curious at all. He wanted to ignore them so badly, but the world would not let him escape.
The cards he flipped over with a trembling hand turned out to be selfies of the members, taken on the day they cosplayed for 'Kingdom Cafeteria Another'. Each photocard had two members on it.
In essence, he had gotten all six members. Park Joowoo clapped his hands and congratulated him, "It's a full set…"
"Don't tell me this is an event to celebrate my last performance?"
At the guess he threw out, Kim Iwol smiled brightly. It was a smile that, unlike a refreshing one of joy, was full of ominous energy.
Having shared meals with Kim Iwol for over five years, Kang Kiyeon knew just by looking at his eyes. That was the face of someone about to mercilessly tease a younger brother who had dared to refuse his colleagues' celebration.
It seemed that now that everything was over, Kim Iwol's pent-up grudge, patience, and love for his members, which he had held back so as not to interfere with work, had all exploded.