Chapter 227: Everyone Has a First Time, But...
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 227: Everyone Has a First Time, But...
Lee Cheong-hyeon thrust a yellow hand mirror, encrusted with glitzy jewels, right under my nose.
He was right. The area under my eyes had turned as bright and clear as if I’d applied high-end concealer.
“Is this… me?”
“Maybe the problem all along was just a lack of exercise? Should we hold our own sports day at the end of every month?”
If we did that, we’d end up at the Taereung National Training Center instead of on a year-end award stage.
A radiance seemed to emanate from deep within Lee Cheong-hyeon’s skin as well. Before, he just had a halo; now, he was practically glowing from every angle. Say what you want about the System and its infuriating processes, but it certainly delivered on the rewards.
“Everyone worked hard today, so don’t overdo it. Go home and get some proper rest. We have to be at the shop tomorrow morning, so make sure your alarms are set!”
“Yes, sir!”
Everyone answered the manager’s orders energetically. As I responded, I pulled my diary out of my bag. Between the mini fan meeting, self-produced content, and variety show shoots, our schedule was packed.
The mini fan meeting was an event for people who were already Spark fans, so there wouldn't be many people there who were completely indifferent to Kim I-wol. Fortunately—and unfortunately—Sparklers generally followed an 'all-fan' philosophy. Besides, as their older brother, it would be unthinkable for me to try and pull some cheap tricks to steal the spotlight from my younger members' fans.
That meant the self-produced content or variety shows were my real chance to appeal to people who didn't know Kim I-wol yet. However, the content itself wasn't great.
Male idols making holiday food? Unless they were already fans, would people really go out of their way to watch that during the long Chuseok break when content is overflowing? Not unless the algorithm worked some serious magic.
Of course, my fantastic skills at flipping skewered pancakes might receive the blessing of the MeTube algorithm. But even then, it wouldn't be easy for someone to become a fan of 'Spark's I-wol' just from that. They’d probably just… want to eat another pancake.
While I was lost in thought, the van arrived at the dorm. I sat down at the dining table, still wrestling with the mystery of the 'Morning Star Smile.' I began organizing my thoughts by jotting down words in the margins of my diary.
The prompt didn't appear when I smiled at Lee Cheong-hyeon, but it popped up exactly during the interview. It didn't show up in front of the production staff, either.
It was the same in our waiting room. From the stylists to the coordinators, no one triggered a prompt about a 'Morning Star Smile' when I smiled at them.
People who came to cheer rather than work, people interested in idols, a general audience, people with varying degrees of affection for the team they were supporting…
The outline was slowly taking shape.
‘…Does the guide only appear when there’s someone present who can be turned into a fan by my smile?’
That made some sense. The members and Sparklers weren't 'potential customers,' and the production staff were likely too busy to even consider whether they should join a fandom or not.
Besides, a person’s heart can change over the smallest things. Even those who were cheering fervently for their group at the start of the 'Idol Unity Sports Day' could easily have their feelings hurt by something trivial.
≫ I didn't come here to see some other group's idols.
Thanks to them, I enjoyed the [Redacted] well enough. You're all handsome, f*ck.
└ Trying to shield them by saying they're shy only works for so long, god dammit… Is it enough to just drop off lunch boxes and leave? Half the fans didn't even get their coffee until after they finished eating.
└ I seriously don't get it. Is it that hard to come over to the fan section?
└ If I were a male idol, I would’ve brought a full course of lunch boxes, sandwiches, and bungeo-ppang and acted my ass off. You can avoid ruining your image just by feeding your fans and talking to them. Why can't they do that? It always causes drama.
That was why so many Sparklers had left the fandom in the past.
If things like that happened with other groups, it wouldn't be strange for someone to have a change of heart midway through the 'Idol Unity Sports Day.' Whether that person ultimately took an interest in me was another matter.
The point of the System was likely telling me to work harder when the guide appeared to recruit 'customers.' And here I was, already struggling just to be good to the fans we already had.
‘Well, if they tell me to do it, I guess I have to…’
Gathering 10,000 new fans was no easy feat. Especially for someone like me, who was constantly surrounded by a mix of criticism and praise. Most people in the world just wanted to enjoy being a fan peacefully without all the drama.
After much deliberation, I decided to approach this with a more detailed plan.
Morning Star Smile, huh… I’ll use everything I learned in acting class to master it within a week.
However, the chance to test the Morning Star Smile didn't come within that week.
Exactly one week after we started working in earnest with the new manager, I—as if by some cruel joke—was robbed of every smile I possessed.
Un-seop, the newly hired manager, had spent a few weeks shadowing Manager Chan-yeong to learn the ropes.
“The kids are generally well-behaved, so they don't cause much trouble. You just need to keep an eye on them when they occasionally get fired up over something weird and get loud.”
Hearing Manager Chan-yeong describe Spark that way made me feel a bit strange, but I couldn't argue because it wasn't wrong.
Manager Chan-yeong, who had been promoted to Team Leader, decided to continue handling sensitive issues like Kang Gi-yeon’s hospital visits and communication with the leader, Jeong Seong-bin. We were to be notified of pickups based on the schedule at the time.
On the other hand, since I had many individual schedules outside the group, I ended up working with Manager Un-seop quite frequently.
And now that we were officially working together…
— I-wol, do you happen to still have the external hard drive?
“You mean the blue one? I gave it to Manager Un-seop last week. Has it not been delivered yet?”
— Last week…?
…I was starting to feel suffocated. Truly, deeply suffocated.
After consulting with the company, I had decided to continue my producing work. Since the System had designated me as a 'Producing Member,' I didn't want to get stabbed in the back for a 'breach of contract' by slacking off just because a dedicated team had been formed.
The taste of the planning fees helped, too. I suppose you could say I felt a certain level of satisfaction from being rewarded for my work.
It wasn't that I hated the work enough to pull my hair out, and I took pride in the fact that, at least for now, I knew best how Spark should be presented to the public.
Continuing the work was fine. Thanks to the foundation I’d laid while grinding from scratch during our debut days, the meeting methods and processes were now very clean.
With all the members becoming Dotion masters—though Choi Je-ho was currently insisting that others write down his opinions whenever they commented—decision-making was swift.
However, not everyone can keep up at the same speed. Especially if they’re a latecomer starting from behind.
Manager Un-seop was exactly like that. Neither I nor UA were the type to be unforgiving of such things.
But there is a slight difference between lacking skills in office software and lacking 'work sense.' It wasn't even like the managers had to use Dotion. The problem was that Manager Un-seop fell into the latter category.
“Manager! I heard Ju-gyeong sent over the summary sheet. Could I take a look at it?”
“Summary sheet?”
“Yes, the paper organizing our self-produced content items for the fourth quarter. She said she’d give it to you today.”
“Was there something like that…? I’ll ask Ju-gyeong. Hang on.”
That summary sheet was found half-crumpled inside the bag Manager Un-seop had brought to work two days prior. Jeong Seong-bin smiled good-naturedly, saying it didn't matter if it was crumpled as long as we could read it, but I was a bit annoyed. There was no way Min Ju-gyeong would have just handed over a loose piece of paper without a clear file.
After that, Manager Un-seop’s 'I forgot' medley didn't stop for a week. From basic things like schedule notifications to food orders and member pickups, things were falling through the cracks everywhere.
Having lived the life of an office worker, I knew well how difficult it was to order food for others and manage their schedules. Since the Spark members also tended to be grateful for the hard work of those around them, they didn't say anything.
Instead, Manager Un-seop was scolded by Manager Chan-yeong every single day.
“There are six members, so how can you only order five lunch boxes? It’s not like there are many of them; you should have checked the quantity.”
“The shop reservation is at 3:00, so if you notify them at 2:00, when are the kids supposed to sleep? I told you to announce these things as soon as the schedule is set.”
“Why are the fan letters I asked you to move to the dorm still here? Didn't you say you’d do it three days ago, Un-seop?”
It seemed like he was trying to talk to him where we couldn't see, but unfortunately, I had just arrived at the UA office to give a verbal briefing on a proposal to the Planning Team Leader, so I heard everything.
That’s why I recommended that calendar app for your phone. It even has a memo function!
Regrettably, Manager Un-seop was also stubborn. I suggested taking a different route because the Olympic Expressway is congested in the evening and we might be late, but he didn't listen and we almost missed a radio appearance. He also insisted on giving banana milk to Park Ju-woo, who only drinks plain white milk. For the record, Jeong Seong-bin ended up drinking that banana milk.
Watching the manager, several people I’d encountered at Hanpyeong Industry flashed through my mind.
The new hire who started using informal speech the moment he heard his senior was younger than him; the employee who didn't take notes during handovers and later insisted he’d never heard anything; the employee who sent a company-wide email at midnight because he 'forgot' to send it earlier; the boss who wrote meeting times on a calendar but never looked at the calendar; the employee who would suddenly shut down and stop talking whenever something didn't go their way…
A deep sigh rose from the depths of my gut. But I held it in. Manager Un-seop wasn't quite at that level yet.
Everyone needs time to get used to a new environment and job. Let's think of it as an adjustment period. I renewed my resolve.
“And I-wol, I’m asking this just in case.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
As the verbal meeting was wrapping up, the Planning Team Leader changed the subject.
“You said you wanted to try this kind of concept, so I printed out some references and sent them via Manager Un-seop. I thought it might be uncomfortable to look at files in the van since you guys use shared devices. Did you get them?”
“I’m sorry, this is the first I’ve heard of it!”
“It’s not you who should be sorry.”
The Team Leader laughed hollowly.
UA really has no eye for talent. If you're going to post a job opening for the HR team next time, don't waste your money—just hire me. I’ll work two jobs for you.