XVIII. Chapter 17

It’s been one month of Kim Sunggyu worked as Nam Woohyun’s manager. Their teamwork was getting better. Nam Woohyun was not as rebelling as before and Sunggyu had totally adapted worked as an idol’s manager.

Promotion time for the new song would be finished in a week. Therefore, this week was the busiest time for Woohyun. Sunggyu bravely asked advice from another idol’s manager how to comfort their artists. He had done everything he could to make Woohyun’s image better.

Slowly, people’s judgment about Nam Woohyun changed. Kim Sunggyu recalled his dad’s request when Kim Junghyo gave this job to his oldest son. He smiled when he read articles about Woohyun’s improvement in attitude.

Woohyun’s schedule was finished after he performed. It was almost 1 AM when they got back to Woohyun’s apartment. He performed every day, interviews, TV Shows, and just like that, another week has passed.

When the promotion time was done, both Woohyun and Sunggyu were tired as hell. Sunggyu didn’t bother to look at his K&M documents anymore. He let Dongwoo took over everything at once. Of course, Dongwoo didn’t have a choice but working on Sunggyu’s job too except signing documents and made the decision. There were lots of days where he didn’t even have the energy to drive to his own apartment. Sunggyu slept at Woohyun’s guest room that some of his things were left there.

On the next day, they slept in until noon. When Sunggyu opened his heavy eyes, it was 11.54 am. He felt light after slept in. In addition, Woohyun didn’t have schedule until proposal or job offer came. He played on his phone while lying on the bed.

No voice heard until Nam Woohyun came into his room aka guest room. “Hyung, you wake up?”

The temporary manager saw Woohyun walked in. “Why?”

Woohyun grinned, “I’m hungry.”

The CEO chuckled. “Me too.”

Sunggyu made up the bed immediately before washing up. Woohyun asked him to eat outside, a restaurant which Sunggyu never tried before. Sunggyu followed Woohyun to the restaurant as he said it was near. They were walking until Woohyun showed the restaurant with his gesture.

“Jjan!”

Woohyun smiled brightly when he told Sunggyu. The older man was confused. It was a small restaurant. When they came in, there were not a lot of tables. Sunggyu could see the owner was cooking. The smell was tantalizing. The menu was written on the wall including the prices.

They sat on the corner. As Sunggyu didn’t know what dishes were delicious, he let Woohyun ordered for both of them. He looked around only to see some customers were eating and the waiters.

Once the foods were served, Woohyun had this happiness loaded on his face. “Hyung, you should try this,” Woohyun offered the food. “Everthing is delicious!”

Sunggyu took a bite and agreed. He hadn’t eaten home-made cooks in a while. When he cooked, he used frozen food and it’s not healthy. Suddenly he missed his mom’s cooks.

While Sunggyu ate, he listened to Woohyun story where he always eats here when he was a trainee. The prices were cheap, big portion, and delicious. “It’s like a heaven for me back then,” he said.

Because Sunggyu never heard this kind of story, he listened very well and responded well. When they finished eating lunch at the nostalgia restaurant for Woohyun, the idol and Sunggyu briefly walked around.

“I eat really well. Thanks, Woohyun,” said Sunggyu.

The idol grinned. “Next time, we eat here, okay?”

“Haha, alright. Now, where are we going?”

Nam Woohyun contemplated. “Can I eat shaved ice?” Sunggyu frowned because they just ate lunch. “Shaved ice?”

The idol nodded. He pouted and pointed at a dessert place in front of them, floor 2. Sunggyu was thinking, but he saw the puppy eyes from Woohyun. He let out a sigh. “Alright. Let’s eat shaved ice.” Sunggyu thought it as Woohyun’s reward as he had worked so hard.

Woohyun was very happy that he ran to the dessert place. This time, he chose a table beside window. “Hyung, what do you want?”

Sunggyu was not fond of sweet food, so he declined. “You order it. I’ll pay this time.”

“Really?” his eyes got bigger.

Sunggyu nodded. “Yes.”

He rested his cheek on his palm on the side, stared at Woohyun who was eating happily like a child. He smiled and remembered that his brother always acted like this to him. Suddenly he was bothered about Myungsoo. After he said the truth, Myungsoo was kind of keeping distance between them. He sighed and regretted a bit.

Well, this might be the process.

“Sunggyu hyung, do you want some?”

Woohyun offered his strawberry shaved ice. Sunggyu took a bite when Woohyun gave him the spoon. It was too sweet. “It’s good.”

“Hyung, are you sure I can eat this much?” Woohyun wondered about the calorie. But Sunggyu didn’t care about calorie on the day like this. “Just eat whatever you want.” It was Woohyun’s cheat day.

“Yes, you’re the best. If it was my past manager, they won’t give me a rest day like this, you know?” said Woohyun.

“Really? Why?” Sunggyu replied.

“Hmm.” Woohyun thought a lot to remember his past. “They were very inconsiderate. I just hate them,” Woohyun sulked.

“They worked for the company. Became my manager was their job, but they forced me too much.”

“Forcing you? Such as?”

“From my profile, they knew I have phobia of dark places and ghosts. I can’t do sport as good as others. But, they kept making me to do shows which dark places and ghosts included. Height is not my phobia, but I can’t handle standing on the edge to do bungee jumping.”

Woohyun knew that Sunggyu was listening, so he continued, “That’s why I cursed a lot on the show. They think I’m always like that because of the editing. Slowly, I rebelled a lot because I’m afraid and hate those kinds of shows. Thank goodness, since you become my manager, everything calmed down.”

Hearing Woohyun’s vent, telling the truth, Sunggyu was upset. As a CEO of K&M, he received many complaints about how the company treated their employees. He tried his best to make them comfortable and enjoy their job, giving insurance, and many more.

Was his Dad one of the bad people in Woolim?

“That’s very bad! No wonder you were labeled as a bad person,” Sunggyu replied. “You did your job and tried your best, but your environment doesn’t support you. That’s why people turned their back from you.”

Nam Woohyun felt comforted hearing Sunggyu’s words. Finally, someone who could understand his problems.

“You are not at fault. It’s their fault for not understanding your circumstance which leads to misunderstanding. Next time, I’ll make you become a guest in a show you want. You can tell me which shows you want to do and I’ll try to make sure you appear in it properly.”

Nam Woohyun widened his eyes. “Are you sure? You can do that?” He was in disbelief when Sunggyu did not only listening to him but also gave a solution.

“As long it’s a Korean TV show, I can.”

The idol felt the urge to hug his manager. He hugged Sunggyu tightly in happiness. “Thank you, hyung! Really really thank you!”

Another Woohyun’s problem solved. He Woohyun’s back. “Yeah, now, finished your shaved ice.”

He watched Nam Woohyun who ate the rest of shaved ice cheerfully. After this, he reminded himself to tell this to his father about Nam Woohyun.

-o-

That night, after Woohyun slept earlier, Sunggyu called his dad. It rang a few times before he answered. “Hello, Sunggyu?”

“Dad, I want to ask about Woohyun.”

His serious tone was heard. His Dad understood. “Go on.”

“Was it you who chose Woohyun’s managers in the past?”

Kim Junghyo heard his son’s upset voice. He frowned. “No, it was people from HR. What’s wrong?”

“Then, do you know how his past managers behavior toward Nam Woohyun?” he asked again.

“Of course no! I only received the report, son.”

His dad heard another deep sighed. “Dad, where are you?” asked Sunggyu. “At home.”

“Wait for me.” Sunggyu hang up, took his coat and went to his parent's house. Kim J