Chapter 43: Building Team Rapport (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 43: Building Team Rapport (2)
When you become an office worker—especially a bottom-of-the-barrel rookie—there’s a high probability you’ll end up doing certain tasks.
“I-wol, where are we having the company dinner today?”
“Team Leader Jo recommended a barbecue place, so I made a reservation there!”
“Barbecue? Sigh. My clothes are going to reek of smoke.”
From securing spots for company dinners and booking fried chicken joints for welcome parties to selecting regions for company retreats and mapping out hiking courses for executives trying to check off their ‘Top 100 Mountains’ list.
In recent years at Hanpyeong Industry, there wasn't a single schedule I hadn't booked.
And besides, that guy Department Head Nam? I heard he stuffed his face just fine with meat whenever I wasn't the one booking.
And there I was, thinking I’d been tactless by picking a barbecue place, apologizing about thirty times.
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[SYSTEM] A ‘New Task’ has been assigned.
▷ Music Video Location Scouting
▷ Reward: Experience Points (Varies based on the condition of the filming location)
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I’ve never scouted a filming location before. What am I supposed to do?
It seemed this System intended to hold me fully responsible for everything I changed after coming back to the past.
If this wasn't the System picking a fight with me for changing the song, I didn't know what was.
The first background that came to mind—and the easiest—was a school, but the phrase "varies based on the condition of the filming location" gave me pause.
It seemed that location selection and art direction were now being factored into my producing competency.
Usually, they film in at least two places, like an outdoor location and an indoor studio... Do I have to consider all of that?
I was someone who always believed in the power of experts.
Why are experts called experts? Because they’re good at what they do.
Yet, I couldn't understand why I had to do this when there were perfectly capable professionals available. I was an expert in purchasing office supplies, for God's sake.
The bigger problem was that I had no memories of traveling anywhere. I’d spent my college years working part-time jobs and my career working overtime.
If I’d at least traveled around, I might have a sense of things, but right now, the only "memories" I had were of the many good restaurants near Hanpyeong Industry.
I don't have time to go out and pound the pavement now.
The sweet days of actually getting some sleep lately were officially over as of today.
The thought of "scuba diving" through the sea of information until dawn made me want to cry tears of joy.
If it was a job that had to be done anyway, it was better for my mental health to start as soon as possible. Work is a beast that visits without any regard for your personal circumstances.
Just as I was about to get out of bed—only two hours after lying down to sleep—a familiar alarm went off near my head.
It was Lee Cheong-hyeon’s alarm.
The alarm was silenced instantly. Soon after, I heard the sound of Lee Cheong-hyeon struggling to get up.
“Why did you set an alarm for this time? It’s 5:00 AM.”
I whispered quietly so as not to wake Choi Je-ho, just in case Lee Cheong-hyeon had set it by mistake.
However, the answer I got was that it wasn't a mistake.
“Midterms are coming up soon... I’m going to study a bit before heading to school.”
“What?”
Without me realizing it, the high schoolers' exam period had crept up on us.
Up until high school, I spent a significant amount of time studying.
Aside from eating, washing, and sleeping, I did almost nothing else.
There were many reasons why I studied so hard.
Because in this country, academic background is still viewed as important.
Because if I was focused, I wouldn't notice the shouting matches happening in the house.
Because if my grades were good enough to get a scholarship, I could go to college.
By a stroke of luck, I received rewards far beyond my efforts. I had a lot of help from my older sister, but the end result was that I managed to get out of that house.
That’s why I didn't regret the time I spent only studying, nor did I remember it as a painful period.
And after graduating from college, I lived a life far removed from academics.
I’m sure that was the case.
I thought to myself as I looked at the Student Group huddled together in the living room with their workbooks open.
How did things end up like this?
After waking up together at dawn, Lee Cheong-hyeon spent an hour studying in the living room while I searched for MV locations.
Then, Lee Cheong-hyeon started scratching his head in frustration.
“What are you doing?”
“There’s a part I don't understand. My answer key is at school, so I can't even check it right now.”
Luckily, it was a problem I could solve, so I gave him a quick explanation. Afterward, Lee Cheong-hyeon asked if he could ask me more questions if he got stuck in the future.
A few days later, with exams imminent, the students decided to have a massive study session in the living room after practice.
With me.
Wait a minute. Why am I here?
“You told us to let you know whenever we needed help.”
“Did I say that?”
Since Jeong Seong-bin, Lee Cheong-hyeon, and Kang Gi-yeon all had different weak subjects, I had no choice but to sit at the table with them.
It was a stroke of luck—or perhaps misfortune—that I still remembered what I’d learned for my own exams.
Jeong Seong-bin and Lee Cheong-hyeon, who managed their grades well, only asked questions occasionally. But Kang Gi-yeon...
“Gi-yeon, I think your pen has stopped moving.”
He looked like his soul had left his body.
He seemed to handle other subjects well enough, but he had completely hit a wall when it came to math.
Consequently, I had to stop looking for my fifteenth abandoned school location to give Kang Gi-yeon a math lecture worthy of an educational TV channel.
Drawing on my past experience working multiple tutoring jobs, I explained the concepts, and Kang Gi-yeon’s pen finally began to move.
As I sipped the electrolyte drink Park Ju-woo poured for me to cheer me on, I really felt like I was back in a tutoring session.
“Hyung, why did you decide to become an idol?”
Lee Cheong-hyeon asked me as he took a break to drink his juice.
In the distance, I saw Park Ju-woo flinch as he was putting juice back in the fridge.
Right, that kid still thinks I’m doing this because I couldn't afford college tuition.
I intentionally asked back in a loud, nonchalant voice.
“Where did that come from?”
“Just because. You seem really good at studying, so I wondered what made you interested in idols after graduating high school.”
That was actually something people used to wonder about Lee Cheong-hyeon.
He’d played classical music as a child, and as he got older, he’d prepared for a gifted high school, only to suddenly join as an idol trainee and enroll in a general academic high school instead.
I couldn't exactly tell him, “Yeah, I didn't have a shred of interest originally, but there was no other way to handle both filial piety and a career change at the same time.”
Practicing the ancient wisdom that one cannot spit on a smiling face, I gave him a bright grin, pointed to a fresh page with no problems solved yet, and said:
“Cheong-hyeon, is that really important right now?”
“Of course studying is more important, Hyung-nim.”
Whether Kang Gi-yeon was looking at us like we were idiots or not, Lee Cheong-hyeon refocused on his workbook. In a way, his concentration was miraculous.
I watched Lee Cheong-hyeon plow through the problems at a terrifying speed, as if he’d never spoken at all.
Should I prepare a proper answer for why I became an idol?
This was a question that could pop up again anytime, anywhere.
For now, I’d dodged it by teasing Cheong-hyeon, but it would be hard to brush it off by saying "I just happened to get cast" when I was practicing so intensely it was almost embarrassing to show others.
At least I didn't get tongue-tied.
I didn't realize that the experience of politely responding to all the nonsense Department Head Nam spewed would come in handy like this.
Back then, after about a year, I’d become like an automated answering machine, capable of diverting conversations naturally.
At that moment, I believed I could handle any future situation with my quick wit.
It was a very naive thought.
As you live, you realize that things you could never imagine in your own world actually do exist.
Like a good boss, or a professor who gives very little homework.
There were things like that for me, too.
Things I’d "never had," like a company that provides lunch as a benefit, or a younger sibling.
And this included "good guardians."
Some people say that family discord remains in their minds for a long time and causes them pain, but my case was a bit different.
“We couldn't sleep because it was so cold, and Mom kicked us out because she said she was fed up. Don't you remember? It was the middle of winter.”
“I don't remember any of that.”
“Wow, I’m the only one who loses out then. How can you forget that when you even got frostbite?”
I was actually the type who remembered almost nothing.
I only remembered how frustrated my sister was because she, unlike me, remembered everything from our childhood in vivid detail.
I’d met countless adults in society.
But they were teachers or bosses, not "guardians."
So, in my entire life, I had never seen an adult who shared an emotional bond with someone my age.
“Your parents are coming?”
In that sense, Jeong Seong-bin’s parents, who were scheduled to visit the dorm soon, were going to be the first "type" of adults I’d ever encountered.
“Yes. Since the debut is confirmed, they said they wanted to cook something delicious for us.”
“Whoa! Seong-bin hyung’s parents are coming?”
From what I heard, Jeong Seong-bin’s family had visited the dorm occasionally in the past to stock the fridge.
I... I wasn't mentally prepared for this yet.
If I’d had friends, I might have met their parents while hanging out at their houses.
Regrettably, I wasn't exactly the social butterfly type.
As the meeting date approached, I started getting nervous.
Even if they’re all adults, the etiquette you show to a professor, a doctor, or an executive is slightly different.
My own home was a mess and raised a ruffian like me, but Jeong Seong-bin’s home was the one that raised Jeong Seong-bin.
It would be a disaster if I unintentionally acted out of line toward people from such a family. They say people are the only ones who don't realize when they’ve made a mistake.
If I unknowingly did something that violated social norms...
“Over my dead body! I will never accept my son debuting with a rotten guy like that!”
“Please trust him just this once, Mother!”
...It would be a catastrophe if a situation like that occurred.
I have to stay sharp.
Since returning to the past, this was the second most bewildering moment I’d faced, right after the realization that I had to become an idol.