novelraw Chapter 255: Recruitment Offer
Chapter 255: Recruitment Offer
Friday evening, Min Jukyung hurriedly finished what she was doing and quickly got up from her seat.
“I’ll be leaving work first!”
“Oh, oh! Hurry and go!”
Her colleagues, who had earlier heard about Min Jukyung’s alumni reunion, gestured for her to leave quickly.
In the lobby, after practically running down to the first floor, Min Jukyung met Im Chanyoung and Kim Iwol. Seeing their path leading into the company, it seemed they were heading to the practice room.
“Ms. Jukyung, leaving work?”
Im Chanyoung asked. Min Jukyung nodded vigorously.
Kim Iwol bowed deeply.
“Go home safely. Have a good weekend.”
“Oh… yeah!”Even though she had seen him for over a year, this side of Kim Iwol was always unfamiliar.
She wanted to immediately say, ‘Iwol, you don’t have to be so formal! You know!’ but there was no time. If she came late, Min Jukyung, at her age, would have to either drink a lateness penalty shot or give a toast.
Inevitably, Min Jukyung dashed out after a quick ‘Have a good weekend to both of you’. The legs of the worn-out office worker were already trembling.
* * *
The inside of the bar was as noisy as ever, no different from the old days.
“Jukyung! Over here!”
A familiar face stood up and waved. Min Jukyung also smiled brightly and hurried over.
“Why’s it been so long since we all met?”
“Life’s just been busy, that’s all.”
“Fair enough.”
When working people met up, the conversation was always the same. It was because living day by day was tough. Still, at times like this, the fatigue of the week seemed to melt away.
“Jukyung, what do you want to drink? Beer?”
“I’ll have a draft beer!”
Her classmate, hearing Min Jukyung’s answer, pressed the call bell.
While her classmate ordered various things from the part-timer who came to their table, Min Jukyung scanned the attendees.
Diagonally across from her was a face she hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Pyeong Daeyeon? Is that you?”
“Oh, long time no see.”
“Hey, how many years has it been?”
Min Jukyung couldn’t hide her surprise. It was a pleasant reunion with someone who always declined invites, saying work got in the way.
Pyeong Daeyeon smiled, took a beer glass from the waiter, and placed it in front of Min Jukyung.
“I quit my job. So now I have a lot of time.”
“You quit?”
Pyeong Daeyeon had worked as a driver for a large college prep academy for quite a while. He also mentioned driving a daycare van in the mornings. He had said the actual driving time for the daycare was short, so the place he quit must have been the academy.
“Didn’t your academy have a ton of students?”
“They switched to a dormitory system. We got notice a while back, and now that the transition’s done, I quit.”
A few friends next to them asked questions like whether he planned to only work as a driver in the future, or if he had other jobs in mind. Pyeong Daeyeon waved his hand and smiled.
“I just like driving around. It seems to suit my constitution.”
“Still. If you go through the day labor office, you never know if you’ll get work or not.”
“I’ll have to look for places with longer driving hours. Worst case, I might even try freight driving.”
Min Jukyung took a sip of the cold beer.
If he’d driven academy kids all over Seoul for years, he was probably great at managing a schedule.
He was diligent enough to also work as a daycare driver in the morning.
And while everyone else was drinking alcohol, he was the only one drinking cider.
“Pyeongdae, you going out for a smoke?”
“Nope. I quit smoking a while ago.”
“Why?”
“It’s not good for the kids if the daycare bus smells like cigarettes.”
Beyond not smoking, he even had an excellent work ethic.
“Daeyeon.”
“What is it?”
Min Jukyung called Pyeong Daeyeon.
“Do you have some time after the first round?”
An enthusiastic reaction erupted from those around them. But Min Jukyung didn’t care about that kind of fuss in the slightest.
* * *
When Min Jukyung asked where he wanted to go for the second round, Pyeong Daeyeon chose a franchise cafe. The two continued with polite small talk until their drinks came out.
When the vibrating pager buzzed, Pyeong Daeyeon returned with two cafe mochas.
“You know, Daeyeon.”
“Yeah.”
“I wasn’t sure if this might be rude, so I want to say this as carefully as I can…”
At Min Jukyung’s serious preface, Pyeong Daeyeon put down the drink he was holding.
Min Jukyung squeezed her eyes shut and asked.
“Would you perhaps consider applying to our company? We’re hiring a manager this time!”
What if it sounded like pity? What if he thought their company wasn’t good enough? All sorts of thoughts raced through Min Jukyung’s head.
When she peeked with her eyes slightly open, Pyeong Daeyeon’s face was full of question marks.
“…Didn’t you tell me last time not to even set foot in the entertainment industry?”
When he asked if she held a grudge against him or something, Min Jukyung vehemently denied it.
“I did say that! But our company’s salary standards have really improved!”
“How much?”
It was an expected question. Min Jukyung boldly stated the amount.
“For a manager?”
A look of surprise flashed across Pyeong Daeyeon’s face. Min Jukyung didn’t miss this opportunity.
“We already have one road manager, and after the probationary period, both the referrer and the new employee get a 500,000 won congratulatory bonus.”
“You know that companies that give employment congratulatory bonuses are usually the most dangerous, right?”
“Ah, this was recently implemented!”
Min Jukyung felt wronged. Watching her, Pyeong Daeyeon chuckled.
“But are you okay with this?”
“With what?”
“You’ve been at that company a long time. Recommending me could hurt your reputation, is it okay for you to recommend me so readily?”
“If you mess up, I’ll just leave this industry, too. I’ve worked enough anyway.”
Min Jukyung said dramatically. Life’s short—what’s there to fear?
Pyeong Daeyeon, stirring his drink with a straw, smiled and said.
“I’ll think about it.”
And a few days later.
A text message arrived on Min Jukyung’s phone from an unknown number: ‘This is Pyeong Daeyeon. Is the standard Human resume template okay?’
* * *
“…So, shall we confirm this as the main concept?”
“Yes!”
Finally, Spark’s last title concept for the year was decided. I was satisfied because the idea I suggested was implemented better than I had thought.
We still had to see the visual drafts from the art team to be sure, but I had a good feeling this music video would suit the year-end vibe perfectly.
“And there was an internal discussion regarding the pre-release song’s music video items.”
This time, Spark decided to release a pre-release song for the first time. The album’s song quality was outstanding, and the calculation was that a pre-release could now generate a certain level of response.
Regarding this, I had only two opinions.
First, it should share the main keywords and gist of the title music video.
Second, that it should convey a completely different impression from the title MV
And what appeared on the screen was…
[The Shoemaker Grandpa and the Little Elves]
…Elves. And little elves at that.
Seriously, what the f*ck? Why are these damn elves so desperate to come to UA? I chased away the damn grass elf, and now it’s little elves? Are their heights even suitable for little elves right now? Spark already has enough going on with the shoemaker grandpas and baby fairy Kang Kiyeon—what more do you want?
My blood pressure shot up. I wanted to lie flat on the floor and scrub it with my back out of sheer frustration.
As I was contemplating how to chase away these earthbound elves, Lee Cheonghyeon exclaimed.
“Oh, cute!”
Cute? That?
“What’s the concept exactly?”
Even Choi Jeho asked seriously. For a second, I wondered if I was the only one actually reading the words on the screen.
The team leader’s explanation continued with the next slide.
The moment I heard it, I realized.
Not all elves were the same.
Depending on the intention behind the concept—depending on how the company envisioned the story—elves could be guides to the afterlife or symbols of triumph.
* * *
Ahead of the cosmetics advertisement launch, Spark began filming self-produced content. Specifically a ‘What’s in My Bag’ video, the classic bag-unpacking type.
Indenia had also offered to provide their company building’s studio, but UA decided to film the video at the company office, being considerate of my condition. Though my body was almost completely fine now, I agreed.
Since all the members usually carried their own bags, there was nothing special to prepare. And if any of them had been the type to carry something an idol really shouldn’t be caught with, I’d have already scheduled a one-on-one talk with a ‘You think life’s that easy?’ attitude.
The only regrettable point was Choi Jeho’s dust bag.
This guy, Choi Jeho, had asked if he could use a dust bag Lee Cheonghyeon was about to throw away, and had been carrying it around as a bag substitute. Since he’d been doing this since his trainee days, the fans also came to know Choi Jeho’s bag = dust bag.
Spark’s brand was all about honesty, so it’d be weird for him to suddenly show up with a sleek new bag. No matter how stylish a bag Choi Jeho brought, only memes like ‘Male idol who leaves his luxury goods at home and only carries a dust bag’ would circulate on SNS.
So, unfortunately, Choi Jeho was stuck with the dust bag again today. Nothing ever went the normal way with him.
Excluding Choi Jeho, everyone else had proper backpacks. However, the shape, color, and type of bag varied slightly depending on the member.
Jeong Seongbin, who was a hoarder style, carried a lightweight hiking backpack. During his trainee days, he used to carry a strangely colored purple bag, but around the time of debut, Mr. Jeong Seongjun apparently had him switch to a dark gray bag.
What did Mr. Jeong Seongjun say again? It was something like, ‘Don’t get photographed with that thing while wearing my face!’. Anyway, I think it was a moment that showed his aesthetic sense.
On the other hand, Park Joowoo, who only carried exactly what he needed, used a white mini backpack. He managed it so well that he was using it cleanly without a speck of dust on it.
Lee Cheonghyeon, a hoarder comparable to Jeong Seongbin, used a 24L backpack often recommended as a camera bag. Also serving as a school bag.
It was so heavy, I didn’t know how many times I carried it for him, worried that it would stunt his growth. Thanks to that, I was the only one carrying one bag on my front and one on my back.
Kang Kiyeon brought a black backpack from a sports brand that fit snugly on his back. He said he’d been using it since his trainee days, and indeed, the bag was worn out in places. Though no matter how worn out it was, it probably wasn’t as bad as Choi Jeho’s fraying dust bag.
“Who should go first? Should we start with Iwol hyung, since he’s the oldest?”
Jeong Seongbin asked. Everyone’s gaze turned towards me.
My gray backpack for laptop storage, which had been with me since my Hanpyeong Industry days and which I had bought the same one of as soon as I regressed, was moved to the center of the table.