Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

Survival programs had a powerful presence in the K-pop field. 

The moment a promising program aired, it grabbed all the attention. Established idols fret over losing fans, existing fandoms watch their timelines flooded with program-related content, and the participants engage in fierce battles of wits, trying to make a splash.

 

For the sake of the broadcasters’ enormous advertising revenue, those involved repeatedly attacked and defended, spending their emotions, time, and even money until the program ended.

 

Of course, ‘IDC’ initially didn’t have that much influence. Nevertheless, viewers suffered daily.

 

≫ Why the XX did I get myself into this mess?

I got XX for what, just to see something good?

 

Even I, someone who had never watched a survival show, knew that viewers shed tears of blood, held hostage by their chosen participants.

 

I booked UA’s meeting room the day my vacation ended.

 

And I shoved all the Spark members inside.

 

‘It’s shameless of me to say this after insisting we participate, but we need to align our stories about why we joined.’

 

This was to solidify Spark’s stance on ‘IDC’.

 

Fans tried to see their idols in a positive light, no matter what they did. If their idol missed a note on stage, they’d worry if it was due to poor condition. If the choreography was intense, they’d praise it as cool while also expressing concern for their idol’s joints.

 

But when their idol entered a competitive environment, things changed.

 

Even if they knew rationally that their idol was a hard worker who practiced diligently, their hearts became uneasy. They started to imagine their idol making another mistake at a crucial moment.

 

In an era where synchronized dance was essential, they became nervous if the choreography wasn’t perfectly in sync.

 

They imagined the moment a video updated in slow motion with captions like ‘The real skill level of ◯◯◯, who was praised as a synchronized dance idol’.

 

They become anxious, hoping their idol will do well, praying they wouldn’t have to hear the phrase ‘Keep making mistakes is a skill too’, unable to watch the ongoing performances with peace of mind.

 

And I had no intention of putting Sparklers through that experience.

 

I was grateful enough that they accepted me as Spark; I couldn’t add more suffering to their plate.

 

‘Our reason for joining is to be on stage more. Our goal is to make every performance enjoyable.’

 

‘Isn’t that obvious?’

 

Lee Cheonghyeon asked.

 

‘Before you answer, I want to ask everyone. What do you think makes a performance enjoyable?’

 

Then they each gave their answers.

 

Flashy performances, singing good songs, having a twist, being perfect.

 

Finally, Jeong Seongbin, who had been listening to each member’s answer, spoke.

 

‘Isn’t it a well-done performance?’

 

‘As expected of Seongbin. You understand the fandom well.’

 

A performance without any shortcomings.

 

A performance that anyone would have to acknowledge.

 

A performance that allowed viewers to simply enjoy it comfortably, without any anxiety, with complete faith in their idols.

 

‘Remember Challenge Life? In our country, doing well still directly translates to enjoyment.’

 

And we planned to make every performance enjoyable.

 

As if sensing what I was about to say, the members gulped.

 

‘Let’s create performances that no one can argue with if we win first place, and that will make people question it if we don’t win.’

 

‘…’

 

‘Let’s go in with the mindset that we’ll win, no matter who we’re up against. Enjoyably.’

 

And so, Spark’s concept was decisively determined to be ‘doing whatever we want without caring about others’ opinions, but being so skilled that no one can really say anything’ — The ultimate fun-makers. Entirely one-sidedly.

 

* * *

 

By hopping onto the last train of the ‘IDC’ casting, Spark became the youngest group on the show. We were a fresh new group that had only been around for 4 months since debut.

 

“Spark is the youngest group on our program, how do you feel about that?”

 

Perhaps because of this, many of the interview questions during the pre-meeting were related to our experience level.

 

Questions like, ‘Don’t you feel burdened being the youngest?’ and ‘Are there any senior groups you’re close to?’ were exchanged.

 

In reality, the biggest age gap was only six months.

 

It was not like we hadn’t discussed this when we decided to participate.

 

Except for Jeong Seongbin and Lee Cheonghyeon, the rest of them had the social skills of a rock. They wouldn’t do anything to warrant criticism, but they weren’t exactly the outgoing type either.

 

Still, thanks to the smile training they’d received since their trainee days, the proper idol demeanor was ingrained in their bones.

 

Even now, they were continuing the interview with the production crew in a friendly atmosphere.

 

This was enough.

 

Unless they found someone they wanted to befriend on their own, I had no intention of forcing them to be sociable just because they were on the same program.

 

Relationships were only important within the same group; they didn’t necessarily have a positive impact on performance.

 

“We don’t know which senior artists we’ll be working with yet, but we plan to enjoy ourselves!”

 

Jeong Seongbin replied.

 

For the record, that was a lie.

 

I had already shared with the members who I remembered and anticipated would be on the show. Because of this, we even had to practice acting surprised about being the youngest group.

 

First, out of the six groups, the undisputed main attraction of this season, Parthe.

 

An eight-member performance group that debuted last year.

 

‘Let’s avoid getting involved with Parthe as much as possible.’

 

‘Huh?’

 

‘Let’s avoid them.’

 

The members were taken aback by my declaration.

 

‘Why is that?’

 

‘Isn’t that a stark contrast to what you said about aiming for first place, hyung?’

 

I kindly explained to Lee Cheonghyeon, who had suddenly become combative.

 

‘I’m not saying we should avoid them to avoid being compared.’

 

‘Then why?’

 

‘I’m saying we should avoid them because nothing good will come from getting involved with them.’

 

As soon as I finished speaking, Park Joowoo averted his gaze. He seemed to be recalling the memory of hearing Song Minil’s medley of curses while running by the Han River.

 

Even putting aside Song Minil’s issues, Parthe was also known for being quite controversial, just like Spark used to be. Even I, who knew almost nothing about idol affairs, could recall a few major incidents if I thought about it hard enough.

 

Dating sasaeng fans, two-timing, tax evasion, attitude controversies…

 

There was no need to say more. For Parthe, nothing was allowed except the most objective evaluation. End of story.

 

After Parthe, the next most promising group was All Over.

 

They had good chemistry with Parthe and received the second biggest benefit in ‘IDC’.

 

I didn’t remember this team at all, so I searched them up again. And I discovered a face I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten.

 

Someone from the team went to jail.

 

I was confused for a moment whether ‘IDC’ was also a program known for its controversies. So I decided to allow nothing but objective evaluations for this team as well.

 

Conversely, there were groups I didn’t have any particular impressions of. For such teams, I only shared their group names.

 

‘And Log, Sticky, and Berion sunbaenims will be there as well. We’ll be the youngest.’

 

‘Hyung, how do you know all this…?’

 

‘Thorough meticulous analysis.’

 

They didn’t seem entirely convinced, but whatever.

 

“What is Spark’s target rank?”

 

“They say to dream big, so how about winning first place?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon said, smiling naturally.

 

Jeong Seongbin and Park Joowoo also smiled brightly. I could see the cold sweat running down their backs, but I’d give them extra points for at least not showing it outwardly. I hoped they’d maintain this attitude until the final broadcast.

 

* * *

 

After the pre-meeting, we gathered again in UA’s meeting room.

 

It was to prepare for the self-PR performance that would take place on the first day of filming for ‘IDC’.

 

I, the one who actively wanted to be on the ‘IDC’, took on the role of presenter and concept proposer. Thanks to that, I spent my entire vacation making PPTs.

 

“Cheonghyeon, have you turned on the recording?”

 

“Yeah. We can start!”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon gave me the okay sign.

 

This guy, as soon as it was his turn to be the note-taker, he immediately paid for an app subscription, saying he’d use the AI caption generation function to create the transcripts.

 

Since he said he’d supplement any missing parts himself, I let him do as he pleased.

 

Anyway, the important thing wasn’t Lee Cheonghyeon’s digitization, so let’s move on.

 

“Then, we’ll begin the concept meeting for the June XXth ‘Idol Dynasty’ self-PR stage. Everyone has checked the agenda I shared beforehand, right?”

 

“Yes, I’ve compiled the opinions the members posted and uploaded them to the group chat.”

 

Jeong Seongbin copied the messages from the chat window and displayed them on the monitor. At the same time, Kang Kiyeon, who was sitting by the door, turned off the lights in the meeting room.

 

“Half of you wanted to use the youth concept, which is Spark’s signature, and the other half thought we needed an image change. Are the opinions you each posted still valid?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

They nodded their heads.

 

The screen was filled with the arguments they had sent by the deadline.

 

I told Jeong Seongbin he did a good job, then scanned the monitor once more.

 

Jeho

 

Summary: Wants a new concept

 

Reason: Maintaining the same image won’t leave an impression

 

Seongbin

 

Summary: Wants to keep the existing concept

 

Reason: Considering the nature of the self-PR stage, I think it’s right to show the team’s color.

 

Joowoo

 

Summary: Wants to keep the existing concept

 

Reason: I think the current concept suits the current members well

 

Cheonghyeon

 

Summary: Wants a new concept

 

Reason: In a survival program, it’s necessary to make a strong first impression / Excessively similar concepts can be boring / Since many programs often have stages dedicated to fans, I think it’s more appropriate to use the youth concept for a fan dedication stage.

 

Kiyeon

 

Summary: Wants to keep the existing concept

 

Reason: There must be a reason why fans like our current concept → I expect there won’t be much public resistance.

 

They even included their reasoning. Excellent.

 

As for Lee Cheonghyeon… I feel like I’ve raised a tiger cub.

 

“I think everyone made valid points. So I’m going to propose a plan that incorporates these opinions as much as possible.”

 

I immediately flipped to the next slide in the PPT.

 

The main theme of this performance, ‘A Rookie Idol’s Haphazard Entry into a Survival Show’, appeared.