Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

Chapter 243: Forbidden Food (2)

“When is the ambulance arriving?”

“They said three minutes.”

As someone answered, staff members opened the meeting room doors and pushed the table to the side, clearing the way for the stretcher to come through.

The meeting room was filled with the sounds of retching, someone patting a back, and the noise of furniture being moved and people coming and going.

While they were endlessly waiting for the ambulance to arrive…

Kang Kiyeon picked up the drink cup that had been on Kim Iwol’s seat. Then, he opened the lid and sniffed it.

Kang Kiyeon’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“Joowoo hyung.”

Kang Kiyeon pulled Park Joowoo, who had been standing back, by the elbow.

“Does this… possibly have coffee in it?”“Huh?”

All Kim Iwol had consumed was this latte. But if he was throwing all of it up…

With that thought, Kang Kiyeon had smelled it. It seemed to have a faint coffee scent.

But since it could just be his imagination, he turned to Park Joowoo, who had sensitive senses, for a cross-check.

Park Joowoo tilted his head and sniffed the drink. Then, he brought the cup to his lips.

Kang Kiyeon was startled.

“You’re drinking it? What if there’s something weird in it?”

“It’s in there.”

“What?”

Park Joowoo, rolling the tip of his tongue in his mouth, said.

 “Coffee… is in it.”

With bustling footsteps, the paramedics arrived. Chanyoung was visible behind them.

Kang Kiyeon snatched the drink cup from Park Joowoo’s hand.

‘Tell me if you’re sick.’ 

Kim Iwol had promised him he would.

‘I’m not feeling well. Could we take a short break?’ 

And Kim Iwol had kept his promise. He hadn’t hidden it when his condition worsened.

Yet now, that same Kim Iwol was writhing on the floor. He, who had been composed even when he injured his head, was now barely conscious.

All because of a single drink someone handed to him.

His hyung was trying so hard to change—so why did nothing around him ever change?

“Which guardian will be going with him? One person can ride along.”

“Yes, I’ll…” 

Chanyoung stepped forward at the paramedic’s words.

At that moment, Kang Kiyeon slammed the drink cup into the trash can.

A loud bang echoed through the meeting room. The room fell silent.

“Jeho hyung.”

Kang Kiyeon’s eyes were bloodshot.

“Instead of Chanyoung hyung, could you please go?”

As Kim Iwol was carried out, the staff approached the members.

“Guys, are you okay…”

“Don’t come closer.” 

Kang Kiyeon said. His voice was sharp. Sticky droplets from the spilled drink clung to his fingertips.

“Why would you put something he can’t eat in his drink?”

“What?”

“You’ve known since before debut that Iwol hyung can’t have anything with caffeine. So why did you put coffee in there, and make it so subtle he wouldn’t even notice?”

“What are you talking about? Mr. Chanyoung, did you buy a caffeinated drink for Iwol?”

 Min Jukyung asked Im Chanyoung.

However, Im Chanyoung looked as if he had no idea what was going on.

“A drink? I didn’t bring anything today.”

“What?”

“The kids didn’t ask for anything, and Mr. Unseop’s matter seemed more urgent. I was planning to meet with him while the others were in the meeting, so I didn’t have time to stop by a cafe…”

 Im Chanyoung stammered out an explanation.

Behind the pale Im Chanyoung, Hong Unseop appeared.

“Mr. Chanyoung, what are you doing here?”

A blank face. Eyes that betrayed no thoughts.

Hong Unseop, looking around the meeting room that seemed to have been swept by a typhoon, said, 

“Oh, Mr. Iwol isn’t here. Did he step out?”

Ignoring the nonchalant voice, Im Chanyoung spotted a post-it note that had fallen on the floor.

A member’s name and a drink name, written in his own handwriting.

But it wasn’t new. It was a little crumpled, its edges showed signs of having been wet then dried, and the adhesive side was dusty.

“Mr. Unseop.”

Im Chanyoung called his junior’s name.

“Did you pretend to be me and buy the drinks?”

The expression on Hong Unseop’s face as he turned to meet his gaze was utterly expressionless.

“No.”

Hong Useop was defiant.

Pushing aside the two managers who were blocking the doorway, Jeong Seongbin ran out. Jeong Seongbin sprinted in the direction of the CCTV control room.

* * *

It was dark and quiet all around. As if blackout curtains had been drawn, there wasn’t even a trace of light.

I wanted to open my eyes, but my eyelids were heavy. The throbbing pain had disappeared, leaving behind a feeling of stuffiness.

Vaguely, I remembered collapsing in the meeting room. I must have fainted right there.

I didn’t know how to describe the pain at that time. It felt like my whole body was being crushed by something enormous, making it impossible to breathe. At the very least, I didn’t want to experience it again.

“…I sent Chanyoung hyung to handle the admission procedures.”

I thought no one was around, but I heard Choi Jeho’s voice.There was a faint murmur, as if he was on a call. I couldn’t make out what was being said.

Maybe it was because I had just woken up—when I focused, the conversation became a bit clearer.

─ Admission?

The person on the other end of the call was Jeong Seongbin.

More importantly, what admission? I’m fine now. Even if the company is covering the hospital bill, I can’t keep being indebted to them like this.

— Did you tell the doctor it might be from caffeine?

“I did, but they said that’s not the problem.”

Caffeine?

Now that it was mentioned, the symptoms seemed similar to when I had unknowingly drank an energy drink back in college. Since then, I’d avoided beverages altogether, worried they might contain caffeine.

‘Barley latte had caffeine in it?’

Something felt off. The manager wouldn’t have bought drinks without checking for caffeine. Manager Chanyoung had never made such a mistake.

But according to Jeong Seongbin, I had consumed caffeine. And that was the reason I was lying here now.

However, I’d never been this sick just from drinking a bit of something with caffeine.

If I accidentally consumed something with caffeine, my heart would race unpleasantly, and I’d feel nauseous, but that was usually the extent of it.

It was the first time I’d blacked out like this. The first time my heart had hurt this much. Usually, drinking water and sleeping for a few hours would be enough to recover.

It definitely used to be like that, so why couldn’t I even open my eyes now?

Choi Jeho provided the answer to this question.

“They said he might go into cardiac arrest.”

─ What?

“His pulse is abnormal, so they need to monitor him. I couldn’t catch all the details ‘cause they were talking fast… but apparently his EKG results were bad. There were signs of early warning. That’s why he’s being admitted. The caffeine just triggered it.”

Cardiac arrest.

For a moment, I wondered if I had misheard. But Choi Jeho didn’t correct himself.

So, I almost died? Just from drinking one wrong beverage?

─ How long does he have to be hospitalized?

“For now, just one day. So I’m gonna stay here overnight too. He doesn’t seem like he’ll regain consciousness either.”

No, I’m awake. It’s just that my eyes won’t open. I don’t even feel bad right now. I’m in a perfectly fine state, I swear.

More importantly, why is a celebrity sleeping in a hospital? What if sasaengs show up? Ask the manager to request security from the hospital, and you go back to the dorm too.

As I was diligently sending telepathic messages, Choi Jeho said.

 “I told Chanyoung hyung to just handle the admission and leave. Not to come in.”

Wow, good for you. Now get yelled at by Seongbin and go home too.

I waited for Jeong Seongbin to gently coax, soothe, and whip Choi Jeho into returning to the dorm.

However, Jeong Seongbin on the phone was quiet.

Instead of chiding Choi Jeho, he said something even more severe.

─ If his condition is that bad, we’ll come over too.

“It’s not that serious. They said they’re just monitoring him just in case.”

I had been too stunned by the situation of fainting and waking up, and flustered by the fact that I had unknowingly consumed caffeine and the story that I might have a heart attack, so I hadn’t noticed, but…

I belatedly realized that the guys’ voices were overly subdued.

And that whenever the manager was mentioned, Choi Jeho would get choked up.

If someone had collapsed and it turned out that Manager Chanyoung was the cause, UA wouldn’t have entrusted Manager Chanyoung with the admission procedures.

Nevertheless, the fact that these guys were trying to separate me from the manager meant that even if it wasn’t Manager Chanyoung’s fault, they harbored hostility towards the company staff.

In other words, me collapsing from drinking something I couldn’t eat wasn’t someone’s mistake, but intentional. And by a very close company associate.

And that ‘someone’ was probably…

“That a*shole Hong Unseop? Did he finally admit it?”

…Yeah. Not even surprising anymore.

The call between Jeong Seongbin and Choi Jeho continued for quite a while. I, too, was able to learn the truth of the incident by eavesdropping on their conversation.

“He went through the trash?”

— Yes. He waited until Chanyeong hyung gave us the coffee and tossed out the labels, then he picked them up. We confirmed it on CCTV.

“Is he f*cking crazy?”

I agree. While you’re at it, ask him why he did it too.

My desperate wish didn’t reach Choi Jeho. Instead, Jeong Seongbin answered my prayer.

─ We confronted him at the company while watching the footage together, asking why he did it…

“And?”

─ …

“Why did that b*tch pull that bullsh*t?”

Even with my eyes closed, I could feel Choi Jeho’s anger. Jeong Seongbin must be feeling something similar.

At this point, I was curious too. Yoo Hansoo at least thought I had damaged his reputation, but what grudge did Hong Unseop have against me to do this?

My curiosity was soon resolved by Jeong Seongbin.

─ Do you remember when we asked to change our manager? Iwol hyung mentioned Yoo Hansoo then.

“Yeah.”

— He apparently thought we’d take his side to some extent.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

─ He probably thought that since he took care of our schedules and stuff, and this was the first time there was a problem, we would take various things into account and give him the benefit of the doubt.

Taking care of schedules is your f*cking job, Mr. Unseop…

And how is this a mutual conflict? You just went and caused a giant mess all on your own.

“Runs his mouth a lot for someone who screwed up all by himself.”

For once, Choi Jeho and I were in agreement. It was just a shame my body wouldn’t move, so I couldn’t give him a thumbs-up.

─ Since Iwol hyung was the most vocal with his opinion and took the lead in leaving, he probably thought hyung was fostering an atmosphere of isolating him.

“So he intentionally targeted Kim Iwol and did that?”

─ Yes. And…

Jeong Seongbin answered after a long silence.

─ He thought if Iwol hyung fixed his picky eating, he could be recognized as a manager again.

“What?”

I could sense the disbelief in Choi Jeho’s voice. This was another fresh development.