Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols
SS Chapter 105: Stress (1)
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TL: FoodieMonster007
After I contacted Mr. Han Gawoon, I did not spend much energy on the matter. I was confident that MYTH's clutches would not reach us.
I only checked on the situation from time to time. I felt deeply moved that we could now ignore the bullshit happening in someone else's house instead of just taking it.
I also had no luxury to pay attention to other things. Our comeback was just around the corner. When you max out your practice time for preparations, you do not have spare resources to waste elsewhere.
I was, after all, an active idol who could not afford to slack off.
It would be putting the cart before the horse to neglect my own practice just to watch the chaos over there.
Things on MYTH's side seemed to be slowly catching fire. Every time I finished a scheduled activity, some new piece of news would break. It was impossible to avoid the articles completely, but I could grasp the important issues just by looking at the meeting minutes uploaded to Dotion, so I stopped searching for it excessively.
From what I observed, it seemed someone who felt pressured by their former company had posted on an anonymous site.
This was the internet, where a single post could spread everywhere. The trend of indiscriminately sharing others' posts to attract views helped a post with less than ten comments move from one channel to another.
In a battle of public opinion, nothing is more important than quickly gathering interest, so this turned out to be a good thing for the victim.
People in similar situations flocked to the post. As they started coming forward in the comments, one or two at a time, saying, 'I'm in the same situation,' a current affairs channel left their contact information to receive tips.
While the victims gathered like that, a different argument broke out.
≫ Isn't that agency famous for its gangster-like behavior?
Do kids these days not know…?
└ Unless you were a fan during the Hellas era, you wouldn't know.
└ Stop exaggerating… Any fan of an idol from that company knows. Why are the fans of this company so proud of being old-timers?
└ You're not talking about the idol whose popularity plummeted because of his terrible personality, so now he's stuck touring endlessly overseas, are you…? I sincerely hope you're not using that to say, 'We have a lot of complaints about the agency tooㅠㅠ.' That's basically the company setting him up to make money without getting blamed. Can't you tell the difference?
└ Who said they wanted to make money by going on endless world tours without a break?? It's pathetic how you selectively turn a blind eye to the overwork controversy;
└ Now you're even trying to argue that only your group was overworked. Do you even know what real overwork is?
└ Anyway, idol fans sure love their misery olympics.
└ How can you treat this like a battle when you see how much the seniors suffered?
On one side, MYTH's long-standing issue with slave contracts flared up. It was a topic that came up every season, but its re-emergence at this time was significant.
It was the kind of issue that could be immediately linked to internal whistleblowing from former employees if given a single point of connection.
When a problem arises, most companies do not respond right away. They usually test the waters and wait for the embers to die down.
Besides, since spArk just dropped its comeback announcement, they'll probably stay quiet just to avoid getting entangled.
As expected, MYTH did not move right away. Even if they were paying attention, they would be too busy placating their executives' bullshit to notice the complaints spreading online.
I knew because I had played the part of the 'real deal' next to old geezers who could not even sue over negative reviews on Job Planet. When your priority is to grab and crush the person who just handed you a defeat, you ignore the risk of being reported yourself and become incapable of predicting the coming crisis.
When things gain traction like this, the tables can turn in an instant. The working-level staff would hope the voices of discontent scattered without uniting. However, the right moment had already passed.
If this blew up, it was safe to say there was no way for MYTH to quietly clean it up.
I wonder if Mr. Han Gawoon has talked with the members.
I never asked him directly, thinking it would be a difficult matter. He might think I was interfering nonchalantly when he was facing a huge problem.
In the old days, idols who disappeared from the stage might start a business or learn a trade to live a second life, but that is difficult these days. In an era where your every move could be exposed until the day you emigrate, it could not be easy to decide to go head-to-head with the company, risking your career and personal safety.
Whatever choice they made, I would respect it.
"Hyung, you said you have a meeting after we eat?" Lee Cheonghyeon asked.
We were just about finishing lunch.
Today's schedule was very simple. Morning practice, eating lunch boxes in the practice room, attending a meeting, and afternoon practice. I came in early because I worried I would not get enough practice time due to the meeting, so it already felt like 3 PM.
"Yeah, the outline for the promotions should be ready. There was one thing we couldn't confirm the date for last time, so we'll fix that too."
"The filming date for our promotional video is still undecided. Should I go up with you and check on it?" Jeong Seongbin asked, pausing from eating his lunch box.
I told him to keep practicing and that I would go ask. My preparations were done once I read the weekly work report and the updated changes posted before the meeting.
Trying to work right after a meal makes you sleepy, so I guess scheduling meetings in the afternoon is an unwritten rule for office workers.
After brushing my teeth and grabbing the materials, it was time to go up. I trudged into the meeting room, where everyone greeted me with faces full of dark circles.
"You look gaunt. Is it because the comeback is so close, Iwol-ah?"
"You look just as tired. What time did you get off work yesterday?"
"I'd have to check my clock-out time to know. You guys didn't make it back to the dorm yesterday, did you?"
"Haha…"
A tearful exchange of greetings passed between us. The sight of us pitying each other was beautiful.
"To report on the matter we discussed last week…"
In reality, all the processes were entering their final stages, so there were no particular issues to speak of. If anything was unorganized at this point, that would have been the bigger problem.
Since this was just a final confirmation meeting, no one was on edge. It was a sense of stability you could only feel when preparations were going well.
"…Then we'll request the ad settings like this. Any objections?"
"Nope~"
"There are no changes to the spArk fan support truck we shared beforehand, right?"
"Yes, we're proceeding as planned!"
"Okay."
Once even the minor details were checked, everyone let out a deep sigh. Having reached the end of a long journey, everyone was in a zombie-like state. At the suggestion to get something to eat, Dong Euion-ssi brought some snacks from the breakroom. A low-sugar drink was passed to me, since I was on a diet.
"MYTH is still in chaos, right?"
Small talk is an indispensable part of any meeting. The topics of conversation varied from company to company and department to department. At Hanpyeong Industry, I heard endless stories about the stocks Department Head Nam bought or about the hopeless state of people these days. At UtopiA, the most common topics were the dark backstories of entertainment industry figures and dating rumors.
At Team Spark… the hot topic is always who looked the weirdest in that week's original content.
I felt a bit awkward recalling our team's unbelievably noisy meeting times. Only a few of the members were talkative, but I did not know why we all became chatterboxes whenever we got together.
Today's main topic was MYTH. The office workers' rage towards a competitor that gave them overtime during an already busy period pierced the heavens. It was even more so because everyone had their own acquaintances among those wrestling with MYTH.
They would have heard plenty of stories from these variously entangled connections in private settings, not just public forums. These connections included people they had gotten close to while working and former colleagues. So of course they would be sensitive to the situation.
"Honestly, I hope they just blow up. They're such thugs."
"Still, we have it pretty good. I heard Con-Air is completely upside down."
"Why them?"
"Their director is from MYTH, you know. Apparently, there's a lot of talk about whether he stole their project proposals or not."
"It seems like it's getting worse because their rookie group isn't getting any buzz, right?"
"Didn't their music video views do well?"
"It's all fluff. Their album sales were low, so they resorted to bulk-buying."
"Still, since the company has money, they can at least create some baseless popularity. The kids who survive that way can at least hold on until they get a chance to blow up, but the ones who don't…"
The criticism from insiders who knew the internal situation was just as scary as that from fans who had turned their backs. Since these were people who knew everything, their attacks were quite potent.
Conversely, it's also scary because it means they're still doing business just fine even after rotting this much on the inside.
A chill ran down my spine. It was a good thing the SYSTEM told me to debut with spArk. If it had told me to debut with Parthe, I would have been in for a rough time.
"Iwol-ah, is your nose bleeding?" Jukyung-nim, who sat across from me, asked.
See? It was so scary that my nose was bleeding.
…Hm?
"Huh?"
"Euion-ah, get some tissues."
"Ah, here…!" Manager Daeyeon pulled a handful of tissues from the box and pressed them into my hand.
In an instant, all eyes were on me.
"You must be tired. Right, there's no way you wouldn't be…"
"No! It just happens sometimes. I think it's just my constitution."
"Isn't it a problem in itself if it happens sometimes?"
The hot plate of discussion that had been fiercely grilling MYTH cooled down. Instead, I received the full spotlight.
"Um, was there any separate mention of the Hellas sunbae-nims or us… or any other news?" I felt so burdened that I quickly changed the subject.
We had recently been attacked together in the tampering controversy, and our promotion period was approaching. Considering the flow of the conversation so far, it was a perfectly reasonable question to ask.
"You're worried because the comeback is coming up, right? Don't worry. We've been keeping a close eye on it, and it's been quiet."
"If our promotions overlap with theirs, we end up seeing too much dirty business."
"We can't avoid it completely… I heard the Hellas side is watching them closely."
"Why? Ah, because they're worried MYTH will pull something at the end of the year?"
Hellas was scheduled to release an album at the end of the year. They seemed to be extra cautious due to their deep history with MYTH, as well as the recent friction.
I had deliberately avoided bringing up Hellas when I spoke with Mr. Han Gawoon. I did not want to drag my seniors, who wanted to keep their distance, into the mud. As repayment for them saving me, I planned to neatly take care of their former company on my end.
I could only hope they would remember me as a junior who repaid his debt of gratitude.
"There's been no talk about spArk. Their public opinion is bad too, so they probably won't needlessly poke at others."
To hear that they were not just quiet on the surface but were actually showing no movement was good news. The company staff did not know yet, but I was still on edge. I worried that if MYTH needlessly stirred things up, the fact that they blackmailed Parthe with my emotional instability photo might get exposed.
As I quietly listened to the conversation, Manager Daeyeon asked, "Mr. Iwol, are you sure you've plugged your nose properly?"
The manager's hands were once again full of tissues. My own hand was just starting to feel damp.