“Next…” the secretary said in an utterly lifeless manner.
“Good morning! My name is-” the tall man wearing a tuxedo said cheerfully.
“It’s none of my business. Go inside the room,” she interrupted him and pointed to a room.
“O-okay…?”
The man went in the room to find three men sitting behind a long table. They were looking through the papers on their table, too busy to even look at the man who stands before them.
“G-good morning to you all! My name is Kim Jonghyun, and I would like to apply to be one of your artists’ manager,” he said cheerfully again.
There was no response.
“E-excuse me? I’m here to-” he tried to get their attention.
“We heard you loud and clear, Jonghyun-ssi. You don’t need to repeat yourself,” one of the men spoke. He wore large, thick-rimmed glasses, and his nametag wrote ‘Jung Jae-jin’.
“Look, we’ll be honest with you, Jonghyun-ssi. We’ve been conducting these interviews the whole day, and we’re…how do I say this? Exhausted…tired…” another one explained. He had black hair with white highlights. His name: Goo Hyung-bin.
Jonghyun nodded his head to show he understood what he meant.
“So here’s the thing. I’m going to ask you one question to decide whether you’re worthy of our time, okay?” the third man said. He had a trimmed moustache, cleanly shaved. ‘Shin Hee-min’, his nametag read.
“I understand, sir,” Jonghyun answered in a polite manner.
“Good,” Shin Hee-min said. “What makes you different from all the other applicants? What’s special about you?”
Jonghyun thought for a moment for an answer that would convince the judges to accept him, and after a moment of silence, he said, “I love your artists.”
“I-I’m sorry, what?” Goo Hyung-bin asked, confused.
“I love your artists, sir. I happen to be an avid fan of them, especially Kwon Yuri, and I-” he said enthusiastically.
“Stop,” Jung Jae-jin stopped him from saying any further. “We’re not here to listen to you ‘spazzing’ about how much you love our artists. Ne-”
“Wait,” Jonghyun said. “I mean, please wait. I was getting to my point.”
“Go on,” Shin Hee-min said.
“Thank you,” Jonghyun said sincerely. “As I was saying, I love your artists here, and I want to help them. I want to guide them through their everyday activities. I want to be their shoulder to cry on when they have problems. I want to be someone who they can share their problems, experiences-happy or sad-and concerns with. I want to protect them from whoever plans to hurt them. I-” Jonghyun said with passion.
“You want to be their bodyguard?” Goo Hyun-bin asked.
“N-no, what I-” Jonghyun tried to explain himself.
“No, I was just joking,” Goo Hyung-bin said. “I understand what you mean. Now, anything else you want to add?”
“Nothing else, sir,” Jonghyun was going to say more things, but he had lost his momentum when the judge supposedly ‘joked’ him.
“Okay, now… Tell us more about yourself,” Jung Jae-jin said.
“Okay,” Jonghyun started. “I am Kim Jonghyun. I’m currently twenty-seven years old, and I can speak four languages-Korean, Japanese, Chinese and English. I am…five feet and ten inches tall. I go to the gym from time to time to make sure that I’m ‘fit’ enough to be one of your artists’ manager. I-” He had meant the word ‘fit’ to be a play on words, but the judges didn’t seem to get it.
“Enough,” Shin Hee-min commanded.
Jonghyun was startled at what the judge had said. Was it my way of speaking? Was it what I said? Was it too boring? Do they hate me? Am I not qualified? These thoughts filled Jonghyun’s mind when he heard Shin Hee-min say…
“You got us at ‘I can speak four languages’,” he smiled.
“Thank you for your time, Jonghyun-ssi. We’ll inform you of our decisions through e-mail,” Goo Hyung-bin said.
Jonghyun was filled with joy and said, “Th-thank you so much, Jung Jae-jin-ssi,” he bowed. “Goo Hyung-bin-ssi,” he bowed again. “Shin Hee-min-ssi,” he bowed for the last time and exited the room.
Jonghyun went back to his apartment and could do nothing else but wait for that fateful e-mail that would decide his life.
A few weeks later, his long-awaited e-mail came, and it read:
Dear Kim Jonghyun,
Congratulations! You have been chosen by the judges to be one of the new managers of JY Entertainment. Your enthusiastic attitude to manage their artists has moved the judges, and they have never seen anyone so eager to be a manager. After some discussions, they have decided to let you manage one of JYE’s top artists (and your number one idol), Kwon Yuri! Congratulations once again, and we hope to hear your reply as soon as possible.
Yours,
Goo Hyung-bin
JYE Public Relations Officer
Jonghyun couldn’t believe what he just read. He was accepted to be a manager, no-not only that… He was the manager of his idol! He waited no longer and immediately replied to the e-mail.
The next day, he reported to JYE for duty, and for the first time in his life, he would finally be meeting his one and only goddess not as her fan, but as her manager.
He entered the practice room where Yuri was supposed to be, and there she was… He didn’t mind that she was only wearing her sweatshirt and sweatpants, and that her hair was all messy. He was still stunned by her beauty, and he stood there in awe of the goddess that danced before him.
Everything was perfect… Jonghyun gets to be his idol’s manager, and he gets to see her almost every day…and travel with her. They were going to be together almost every single day. The only problem was that…he didn’t really know who he was managing…
There she is… My beautiful goddess…my source of happiness…my inspiration...the-
“Yah! Are you my new manager? Are you just gonna stand there?!” Yuri shouted.
The…love of my life…?
