Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 104: A Certain Idol
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TL: FoodieMonster007
Han Gawoon never desperately wanted to be an idol.
He only auditioned because his academy announced a major agency was holding one. An acceptance call came quickly. The company immediately placed him in the debut lineup, and he debuted with his seniors despite a much shorter training period.
Idol life was full of controversy and trouble. Maybe it was because everyone hyped him up, saying that starting at a major agency was a different starting line.
For a group of men who had yearned for their debut for so long, his hyungs' attitudes were endlessly frivolous.
They received an abundance of affection and attention. When they made mistakes, someone cleaned up the mess before they could even worry. They only had to do the work they were given, with no need or time for self-reflection.
Accustomed to hearing hundreds, even thousands, of people ask if they were struggling, they acted like they had the hardest job in the world.
When a new song and choreography came out, they prepared for a comeback. When a schedule was set, they went to the shoot. After their domestic standing narrowed, they went abroad. Many of them said that was better.
Why bother memorizing new songs and choreography for a comeback when it was easier to just do what they already knew? They were too busy laughing at someone's comment about how the pay was better that way.
They had no goals. The only conversations the members had in their dorm were about what they bought with their earnings and where to party without reporters catching them.
Even that had quieted down now that about half of them had moved out to live alone.
There was a time he could not voice his opposition to injustice, but still thought to himself.
This isn't right.
He definitely had days where he tried to act with a clear conscience, but it seemed he had gradually grown numb.
Even so, Han Gawoon could not bring himself to go completely off the rails. If he had just acted like the other members, he would not have been criticized for being a prude, but even while living with his eyes turned from reality, he always hit the brakes at the last second, never crossing the line.
The life of an idol was not something to be proud of.
The fatigue from an upcoming schedule felt greater than the thrill of cheering fans and the sea of light sticks filling a concert hall.
≫ Gawoon, you are the hope of Naus.
≫ I truly believe in you.
He just could not betray his fans' expectations.
— After everything that's happened, did the fans ever leave you, sunbae-nim?
Parthe had disappointed the people who cheered for them many times. For all the expectations placed on them, they failed to show their good side.
Instead, cameras repeatedly caught their shameful moments.
But even when Han Gawoon himself could not lift his head in shame, his fans were busy comforting him. They told him they believed in him.
— The fandom won't get exhausted and give up before it becomes a major issue. There's no such fandom in the idol world. They'll keep knocking on that door until they get a result.
Throughout his not-so-short entertainment career, Han Gawoon had parted ways with many people. Parthe had no staff who stayed with them for long. Everyone left quickly, and newcomers soon filled their empty spots.
The company employees, except for the higher-ups, also changed quickly. The manager being replaced was a daily occurrence.
He remembered how he could not laugh at Song Minil's joke, "Are we going to become the most senior people here?" The only ones who never changed were the fans.
— What an employee fears most when personally reporting their company is 'being buried without receiving any attention or support.' It's not easy to fight a battle you know you can't win alone. If the fandom can just help fan the flames, if they can just give the assurance that the world is watching MYTH, I believe many more people will come forward to testify about the damages.
"……"
— Those people will then hand you, the sunbae-nims, a weapon to fight the company. They're people who have been at MYTH for years, who have heard all the rumors and seen all the internal conflicts. They won't be ignorant of how to lend Parthe their strength.
Parthe had little interaction with the staff. By the time he felt something was wrong, their relationship had already soured beyond repair.
Once the group began handling most of their schedules overseas, communication was all but severed.
However, only employees who had belonged to MYTH could tell Parthe, who could not even distinguish what was unfair from what was not, 'The way the company treated you back then was a problem.' That was what Kim Iwol was saying.
"You could have just pretended not to know and comfortably watched someone else's fight. You're very kind."
He did not mean it sarcastically. It was genuinely amazing.
Yet Kim Iwol was nonchalant.
— How can the words 'comfortably watch' even apply when someone is suffering?
It was not because they would get caught in the crossfire if MYTH became chaotic. The simple fact that it was because it was not right sent ripples through Han Gawoon's heart.
[I hope you will use this as an opportunity to shake off what has been tormenting you, sunbae-nim.]
Han Gawoon briefly saw an overlap with the Kim Iwol of the past. He recalled Kim Iwol's bright smile at the end of the 'Act on' filming.
"There's nothing tormenting you anymore, Silhan-ssi. So just do what you want to do here."
Han Gawoon wanted to be free. He wanted to relieve his guilt and escape his lethargy.
Above all, he did not want to be a pathetic idol who left scars on the people who had liked him.
Whether he made his fans into fools deceived by lies, or into benefactors who had sent him unwavering faith, was all in his hands.
For the first time in a long while, Han Gawoon left the dorm for a reason other than work. He headed to Song Minil's house.
The owner of the house did not welcome Han Gawoon's visit. To be precise, he did not welcome Han Gawoon.
At first, Han Gawoon had suggested they meet up. Song Minil just sent a single text saying he was too lazy to go out. Han Gawoon kept calling until Song Minil picked up.
After about the twentieth call, Song Minil unleashed a torrent of curses.
"If you won't come out, hyung, I'll come to you."
Han Gawoon hung up after only saying those words. He rang the doorbell several times before Song Minil finally showed his face.
Han Gawoon stopped him as he yelled at his manager, asking if he let just anyone into the house. After sending the manager away, Han Gawoon forced his foot into the doorway.
Instead of chasing out the uninvited guest, Song Minil flopped onto the sofa. His expression clearly showed it was not even worth the effort to argue.
Han Gawoon followed him into the living room and stared intently at his hyung's face. Then he slowly looked around the house.
The house Han Gawoon had lived in with his family when he was young was not even this big. All the team members had achieved too much success at too young an age.
Maybe that's why their sense of reality dulled.
"Why are you here?"
Before Han Gawoon could answer, the TV volume grew louder. The volume increased every time Song Minil pressed the remote's button.
"Let's turn off the TV for a second and talk."
"Just talk. I can hear you."
His indifferent voice was drowned out by boisterous laughter. Song Minil's gaze was already fixed on the TV.
Once, the two of them were stars who appeared there every day. They were on everything from music shows and variety programs to the news.
After headlines about them setting new records turned into negative stories, their broadcast appearances gradually dwindled. Now, they were too busy staring blankly at the monitor, not even knowing what to do.
"Turn it off and let's talk."
Han Gawoon repeated the same words.
Song Minil did not react.
A thin hand snatched a bottle rolling on the floor and hurled it at the TV. The screen shattered with a sharp crack.
"What the hell are you doing, you crazy bastard?"
"I told you to turn it off."
"What?"
Han Gawoon was not the type to get easily excited. He became even calmer in important situations. His tone was as low as the shattered fragments scattered on the floor.
"I said let's turn it off and talk. The company is in such an uproar, and you still don't feel the gravity of the situation?"
Only then did Song Minil's eyes turn to Han Gawoon.
"Why did you suddenly show up and start this shit?"
"Because you caused all this trouble and now you're acting like you don't know anything about it."
"Tampering? That's old news."
"Is it over just because the talk died down? At this rate, we'll be shelved until our contracts expire."
"Gawoon-ah."
Song Minil stood up. His habit of patting and pushing someone's shoulder was still there. He had never said it before, but he realized it now.
I hate this habit of Song Minil's.
"Since when were you so eager to work that you're making such a fuss?"
"……"
"If you want to do schedules, then shut up, renew your contract, and go on a shitload of tours. I'm out."
"……"
"You really don't know your place, do you, our Gawoon? You've thrown all your manners out the window."
"And you, hyung. Do you think you'll be fine after leaving the company?"
"Are you trying to pick a fight?"
"You've ruined your image, so you can't even dream of becoming an actor. You'll want to go to another agency, but MYTH will block you. Hell, who would even give you an offer to appear on a single show, afraid of getting on the company's bad side?"
"You seem to think the contract renewal is just some issue that'll be noisy for a moment and then die down. The talk about MYTH soliciting favors might come and go, but the fact that you're on MYTH's bad side will follow you for the rest of your life. You can't even figure that much out?"
"……"
"I'm saying we should talk about how not to get buried, whether we leave the company or not. Does everything end just because you retire from the entertainment industry? Are you confident you can live seeing 'where are they now' articles pop up on entertainment news whenever people start to forget? MYTH took down articles for us until now, but from now on, they won't even be shared before they're published. How are you going to handle that in real-time?"
For the first time, Han Gawoon laid a hand on Song Minil. Veins bulged on the hands that gripped his collar.
"I don't want to care about the future of the person who dragged the team down. If anything, I'd wish for you to be ruined. Why do I have to hold onto the hyung who ruined the group I bet my entire life on, take the blame, and beg for your cooperation?"
The corners of his eyes burned hot. He truly did not want to ask Song Minil for anything more. He wanted to grow distant from him forever. He was sick and tired of everything.
However, Kim Iwol's words had persuaded him. An unresolved anguish still lingered in a corner of his heart, and he still cherished and loved the name Parthe, which his fans had loved.
"As long as we're not dead, we have to keep living, so let's just make a little breathing room. When an opportunity is given, get a grip and take it."
"……"
"Let's at least have the bare minimum of human decency, hyung."
Now that he could atone for his mistakes, even just a little, by helping someone, he decided he would no longer remain silent.