Chapter 93: Employee Farm Experience (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 93: Employee Farm Experience (1)
The seven days of hellish OJT concluded without any major incidents.
Thanks to that, there was a significant shift in my proficiency levels, which had been stagnant for a while.
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Performance Evaluation (100)
― Vocal Proficiency: 10(▲)/20
― Dance Proficiency: 9(▲)/20
― Self-PR: 12(▼)/20
― Attendance Management: 18/20
― Organizational Adaptability: 11/20
― Cumulative Fatigue Level: 38%
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My Vocal Proficiency went up, and so did my Dance Proficiency.
As for my Cumulative Fatigue Level, ever since I learned that my nose would practically explode if it crossed 40%, I’ve been managing it strictly down to the single digits... but.
‘Why did my Self-PR drop?’
In the few days I hadn't checked, my Self-PR had fallen by one point.
I didn't realize points could actually be deducted.
I suppose scores for non-technical categories could fluctuate, but still.
‘Don't they tell you the reason for the deduction?’
If you're going to give someone a personnel evaluation, you should at least provide the reasoning.
As I grumbled internally, the system appeared.
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[SYSTEM] A work order from the ‘Person in Charge’ has arrived.
▶ Ah, Assistant Manager Kim! I saw your presentation. But, compared to the other employees, you don't really... stand out? Since it’s a relative evaluation, there wasn't much I could do. Sorry, okay?
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...Complete with a kind explanation.
This is infuriating. It’s even more infuriating because the reason is perfectly logical. How could I possibly stand out among those brilliant members?
It’s not even worth trying to fight for that one point. If you're a clumsy person, you should stay quietly in the corner to be as less of an eyesore as possible.
I don't even want to imagine how much a "protruding stone" like me would get hammered down if I tried to overstep my bounds.
‘Well, as long as my skills improved.’
The effect of the increase in Dance Proficiency was a bit special.
A miracle where I suddenly became an incredible dancer didn't happen, but instead, the physical exertion required for the same moves decreased significantly. It seemed like unnecessary energy consumption had been reduced.
The Spark kids also seemed to sense that something had changed after those seven days.
I could tell just by watching them practice more cheerfully than usual.
The favorable wind that had begun to blow influenced many things.
“Hyung! I went to the A&R Team today!”
“Why there?”
“I suddenly had a brilliant idea! I wanted to ask if we could make one more revision, even now!”
Lee Cheong-hyeon, who apparently received a buff to his creativity, was busy remodeling the title track right up until the recording session.
“How about we add as many harmonies as possible to the high-note parts this time? I think it’ll feel much richer if there are more elements in each section.”
“That sounds good. But won't the burden be too much for you and Ju-woo, Seong-bin?”
“If we aren't stacking the harmonies in the high register, Kang Gi-yeon or I can handle it. Or Kim I-wol, you could just take more parts.”
Jeong Seong-bin was also actively offering opinions to supplement the melody parts.
“Alright, from now on, we’ll spend five minutes gathering keywords for the image change. Start!”
“Dyeing, colored lenses, face stickers...”
“Wait, I can't type fast enough!”
“Memorize it. You’re fast at that, Lee Cheong-hyeon.”
Even though I still look at Spark with a bit of a jaded eye, one thing is for certain.
Every single member has become significantly better at expressing their opinions than before.
Thanks to that, brainstorming was actually productive. Yesterday, we even powered through a four-hour meeting non-stop.
By the time I finished emailing the organized details to the Planning Team, it was already lunchtime.
Just as the manager arrived with salad packs, I closed my laptop and asked.
“Manager! What happened to that self-produced content that was put on hold last time?”
Between the family issues and the sudden OJT, I hadn't been able to touch the self-produced content, but we had to film it now.
Once the comeback period started, it would be hard to handle tasks that required a lot of effort due to the stage performances.
Since the Planning Team hadn't said anything, I assumed there were no major problems and hadn't followed up, but it was time to wrap up the big projects.
The manager pulled a salad pack out of the bag and said with a bright smile.
“Oh, that? They said we’re going to a farm!”
Pardon?
A... where?
‘A weekend farm in the city?’
‘They say that kind of thing is good for a child’s emotional development. So, Assistant Manager Kim, why don't you look into that and let me know?’
That was how my relationship with weekend farms began.
Simply because I was the one who handled the application for the weekend farm, I had to do everything from buying seedlings for Department Head Nam’s plot to weeding the fields on summer weekends.
On one particularly rainy summer night, I even received a phone call like this:
‘You want me to dig a drainage path in the field?’
‘—Yeah. They said it should be fine if the furrows are dug. Did you dig them, Assistant Manager Kim?’
‘Yes, I did all that before sowing the seeds...’
‘—But looking at the rain now, it seems serious. Just go check on it once. My wife and kid are so worried they’re insisting we go see the field.’
Department Head Nam, who couldn't let a single drop of water touch the hands of his wife or child, drove me out into the pouring rain instead.
‘Sir... I’ve cleared the water paths and am heading back now.’
‘—Right, right. Good job!’
‘—Honey, are you sure we don't need to go? What if all the chili peppers fall over?’
‘—No, it’s fine. I called the farm, and the staff there said they looked over everything.’
‘—In this rain? Running a farm must be hard...’
I desperately wanted to shout to the worried wife in the distance that her husband hadn't called a farm employee, but me—an employee of Hanpyeong Industry—and dragged me all the way out here.
I thought that would be the last time I’d ever get dirt on my hands.
“Hyung, these are yours.”
Resigned, I took the pants Kang Gi-yeon handed me. The pattern was incredibly gaudy.
“Who picked these again?”
“Ju-woo hyung did.”
Our Ju-woo, you managed to find a uniform quite well on your own. You even found pants that are perfect for farm work.
Perhaps sensing my gaze—a mix of pride and agony—Park Ju-woo glanced at me and asked.
“Hyung... if you don't like them, should I trade with mine?”
“No, I like them.”
I didn't want to be seen on camera as a twenty-one-year-old man who stole his younger brother’s baby’s-breath patterned pants because he didn't like his own cosmos pattern.
Just then, Choi Je-ho, who had finished changing, popped out from the next room.
“Hey, is this length right?”
He revealed his bare ankles.
The hem of the black pants, covered in peonies, fluttered helplessly above Choi Je-ho’s ankles.
“There probably aren't many refrigerator pants that fit your height.”
The guy should have some conscience.
I pulled a pair of long socks I’d brought just in case out of my bag and handed them to Choi Je-ho.
“Wear these. Unless you want to get a grass rash.”
“Grass rash?”
“It’s a thing.”
I was giving him kind advice to pull the socks up over the pant hems if he didn't want bugs crawling in, when I heard a staff member’s voice from outside.
“Spark, we’re starting filming in ten minutes!”
“Ah, yes!”
Oh no, I haven't even started changing yet.
Since the cameras were all covered for the wardrobe change, I confidently pulled off the T-shirt I was wearing.
Then, I leaned over to pick up the group T-shirt I’d been given earlier.
“Hyung!”
Jeong Seong-bin called out to me urgently.
I was about to turn my head toward the sound, but Jeong Seong-bin was faster.
He spun me around so my back was toward the wall and asked in a voice so low I could barely hear it.
“Hyung, what’s wrong with your back?”
“My back? What about it?”
I reached toward my back, asking if a bug had gotten on me. My back didn't feel itchy at all.
But Jeong Seong-bin looked pale, as if he didn't know what to do.
“No, it’s just...”
What is it?
Did I suddenly grow a dragon tattoo or something?
Is the system going to say later, ‘Assistant Manager Kim, is a tattoo like this appropriate for an office worker? You’re getting a deduction for attendance!’?
My head began to throb.
Jeong Seong-bin led the momentarily malfunctioning me into the next room. Everyone else was busy changing, so no one paid us any mind.
After closing the door behind us, Jeong Seong-bin spoke cautiously.
“Hyung, there’s... a really big scar on your back...”
“A scar? Oh, I thought it was something serious.”
The moment I heard the word "scar," the thousands of thoughts racing through my mind came to a halt.
I do have one, a scar.
I got it when I was a kid, running away because I didn't want to get hit and ended up tripping.
Unluckily, I tore my back on the corner of a table, and the skin was left in tatters.
‘But it’s not big enough to call "really big," is it?’
The wound was certainly large at first.
But thanks to my older sister, who happened to come home and take me to the ER, the wound was stitched up immediately.
My sister even insisted I get scar removal surgery when I was a student, saying people would be scared if a healthy man had such a large scar on his back.
‘I guess if he hasn't seen many scars, he could be surprised.’
It was our first time changing clothes together, so he might have been even more caught off guard.
I spoke to Jeong Seong-bin as nonchalantly as possible.
“I got it from a bad fall when I was a kid. It’s shrunk a lot as I grew up, though.”
“It shrunk? This did?”
He’s overreacting. It’s just a slightly thick line now.
“Yeah. I never really mentioned it because it’s not visible when I have clothes on. Do I need to cover scars for broadcasts? Like tattoos?”
“I’m not sure about that, but... Hyung... at this rate, it might even show through a white T-shirt.”
“It’s not that bad. As long as the fabric is a bit thick, a white shirt is more than enough to—”
...I was answering when something felt off.
No matter how much Jeong Seong-bin cared for and loved his colleagues, wasn't this a bit much? Over a mere scar that wasn't even a dragon tattoo?
I walked over to the mirror in front of the room and stood with my back to it.
Then, I turned my head slightly to check the mirror.
“Huh?”
Wait a minute.
What’s wrong with my back?