After becoming certain that I had to et my parents at least once, I made a plan of my own.
To resolve the situation of them refusing to get involved with , I had to give them the impression that they could profit through . So that they would co find on their own.
To do that, I had to give off the impression of a successful celebrity in everyone’s eyes, but it took ti for an idol targeting the 10-20 age group to make a na for themselves among the middle-aged.
There were many ways to drastically shorten that ti, but among the ans that had no moral issues and spread quickly nationwide, nothing beat comrcials.
‘Dramas take a long ti for the final cut to co out, and long-running variety shows only start getting exposure once they’ve established themselves.’
Moreover, comrcials didn’t need to be promoted by UA. That was the domain of the advertisers or agencies. My goal was to get maximum effect with minimum effort.
After deciding on the direction of my approach, I took the ti to explore which advertisers to appeal to. There was no better place than the financial industry for running a massive ad campaign, but there were almost no precedents of male idols being cast, so I aid for a place with more potential.
A field that was looking for a model with an upright image, often promoted the brand or company itself rather than a specific product, and had a large enough budget to sign a long-term contract with a platform.
After diligent research, I ca to a conclusion. The path I had to take was that of a public relations ambassador or a public service announcent. The hurdle to becoming a model would be lower compared to a large corporation or a luxury brand, while the scale of marketing would expand to the regional or even governnt level.
Next, all I had to do was use the capital I already had. Taking the opportunity of being reborn as a ‘labor defender idol’ through my past actions, I spoke my mind without holding back even as a stand-in in the ‘Sharing Worries Session’ and I even did another webcel special lecture. When I was invited to a Tube variety show, I talked about the dark side of the entertainnt business and ways to improve it, within a range that wouldn’t get UA stoned.
At the end of that series of actions, I…
‘Hyung, did you see this? Your nickna got super long.’
‘Nickna?’
‘The man whose personal color is Yeouido office worker gray, the gaphone of the workers, the soul of the proletariat trapped in a young body, the one who uses two brains—Do Younghwan’s and Iwol’s, the sincere Iwol conch, the walking law firm specializing in the Labor Standards Act, the man who can’t live without labor laws…’
‘That’s really long.’
…beca that. It ant I had successfully established a sound image.
After my efforts, my hard work bore fruit.
“A public relations ambassador?”
“Yeah, they said you were the number one candidate!”
Ms. Jukyung said with a bright smile.
It was a real relief that it turned out well. Moreover, it was a nationwide public relations ambassador position. It would be hard to find a more perfect condition.
“The Ministry of Employnt and Labor… ambassador?”
…except for the fact that I had really beco a labor-union idol.
I was a little flustered. I hadn’t expected to be chosen by such a high-level institution. At most, I thought I’d be promoting a start-up support policy or a workplace bullying counseling service. I thought getting airti on Line 2’s commute-hour subway videos would already be a win.
“It’s a trend for the governnt to push for youth policies these days. It seems they were looking for a young face to promote it.”
Ms. Jukyung added an explanation. It was a part I had sowhat guessed.
I didn’t look like one of those ‘obscenely rich celebrities’, so I wouldn’t get s like ‘Yeah right, as if an idol who makes easy money from promoting this can relate’, and as a freelancer, I was a good promotional tool from the perspective of supporting young artists. Wasn’t it a casting with many good excuses in many ways?
‘Looks like my face is really going to be all over the country.’
An advertisent of the caliber that the Ministry of Employnt and Labor would put out would be broadcast on all dia, including TV and radio. Moreover, if it was to promote a new policy, a budget of a different dinsion would be involved.
“It’s a public service announcent, so the appearance fee isn’t high, but it’s an image no other idol has shown before, and it suits you well. I think it’s a great opportunity. What do you think, Iwol?”
Ms. Jukyung asked. The answer was, of course, Yes.
***
Adults also have dreams. And they say there’s no age limit to achieving your dreams.
『We paint a better world.』
After 30 years of waiting, a certain ordinary citizen, Mr. Kim, also achieved his dream.
『A future where labor becos a part of life, not just a ans for living.』
I had beco the Ministry of Employnt and Labor ambassador I had dread of… no, the public relations ambassador. If you wish for sothing earnestly, anything can co true.
『We protect your value—the Ministry of Employnt and Labor.』
Actually, I didn’t wish for it that much, but I was so speechless I just said whatever. If I ever imagined appearing in ministry materials, I thought it would be as a ‘workplace abuse case’. Life really is unpredictable.
Seeing myself in a proper suit, cosplaying as a professional-looking office worker, felt surreal. Watching the rough cut made lose all sense of reality.
“Where exactly is this going to show again?”
I asked Manager Chanyoung beside , and he answered:
“The subway billboards and inside the trains in downtown Seoul, about 200 major bus stops including Seoul Station, and the elevators of the Ministry of Employnt and Labor and its affiliated organizations. It’ll be on TV, too.”
“Will it only be on public broadcasting channels?”
“They said the exposure will be low, but it’ll show on other channels as well. There’s a chance it might air as a mid-roll ad on sports channels too, but that’s not confird.”
“You said there would be print ads too, right?”
“The posters will be officially distributed to community service centers for their bulletin boards, and a reduced version of the poster would be included in the KTX monthly magazine.”
It looked like my face was really going to be plastered everywhere. What would those people think when they saw the face of the son they had kicked out?
When you got curious about things like this, you could just use a search portal. If you put in search terms that a normal person might think of, like ‘public relations ambassador salary,’ ‘public relations ambassador benefits,’ ‘public relations ambassador activity fees,’ etc., you could get a rough idea.
Most articles said that although ambassadorships were technically honorary, in practice, they were often accompanied by substantial appearance fees.
When they realized that the child they threw away was making money and making a na for himself, they would be the ones to re-establish the contact they had cut off. With a low, friendly attitude.
They wouldn’t fail to predict the butterfly effect, even if only a few contents said it made money. Once their minds started turning, they’d start calculating my potential value.
‘I don’t think the effect will co imdiately with just one ad, but still.’
You can’t be full on the first bite. For now, I was satisfied that the first button had been luxuriously fastened, and I decided to set a more thorough bait based on this good environnt.
What would those people say when they saw ? ‘I need to get paid for raising you’? ‘You’ve succeeded beyond what you deserve’?
I thought for a mont and then stopped. Because I had promised Jeong Seongbin with a pinky swear that I wouldn’t repeat bad thoughts. There were plenty of better things to spend my ti on.
***
≫ Congratulations Kim Iwol on becoming the Ministry of Employnt and Labor’s Public Relations Ambassador
No lie, it’s real
(Photo)
└ The way he’s all dressed up in a suitㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋso annoying but cuteㅠㅠㅠ
└ The Ministry of Employnt and Labor’s muse, Kim Iwol
└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ I knew this might happen but seeing it for real feels weird
└ My own little labor consultant has beco a world-class celebrity
≫ An article is out
‘Spark’s Iwol Appointed as Ministry of Employnt and Labor’s Public Relations Ambassador… An Unconventional Move’
└ An unconventional move, indeed
└ As expected of the man who made us morize ‘dial 1350 without an area code for counseling’
└└ But he’s an idol…
≫ Specs of the newly appointed Ministry of Employnt and Labor Public Relations Ambassador
Can tie a manual necktie
Has practical skills to create school record templates
Uses over 20 WebCell shortcuts
Holds a record of creating a Docean page in 10 minutes
Debuted on OTT as an office worker actor
Set program record viewership by acting as a resigning employee
Provides free public workplace consultations
And lastly
Has experience in conducting multiple lawsuits due to labor disputes
From now on, if Iwol makes another complaint, you’re dead too, UA. If you don’t want to beco a defendant, act right.
└ Totally agree with the last lineㅠㅠ If you don’t want to be on the cover of a dispute casebook, do it right.
└ A person who’s been writing a shady planner since before he even got his ID card… his birth is different from ordinary people.
└ How’s any regular employee supposed to compete… I feel deprived just reading
└ Labor-silver-spoon
└└ What the heck is a labor-spoonㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ It’s absurd and funny how his career looks so consistent when you write it out like thisㅠㅠㅠㅠ
After the fact that I had beco the public relations ambassador for the Ministry of Employnt and Labor was announced, a flood of passionate reactions poured in from all over.
So said the concept acting was getting old, others thought it was simply funny. Thankfully, most fans took it as ‘You don’t see idols like this every day’.
As for the opinions telling to tone down the concept, I could handle that by drawing a strict boundary between ambassador duties and idol work. In the first place, I had no intention of making a bigger fuss after landing the ad. I didn’t want viewers to feel fatigued from being overexposed to .
I’d achieved my goal, so now I just needed to wait for my image to circulate properly while preventing it from spiraling into sothing weird.
‘No matter what, the most important thing will be the next coback.’
I frantically pressed the left and right arrow keys, checking the calendar. According to the annual plan, I had to start planning the album right away to release the next album at the right ti and prepare for the concert at the end of the year.
I opened my notepad to see if there were any good ideas among the ones I had saved, when Jeong Seongbin’s phone vibrated.
“Hyung, can I take this call?”
“Huh? Go ahead.”
Jeong Seongbin, who had asked for permission, bowed his head and answered the phone.
“Yes, hyung.”
Since Jeong Seongbin always called upperclassn ‘sunbae’ or ‘sunbaenim’, the fact he used ‘hyung’ ant the caller was a manager. There were no other older people Jeong Seongbin was close enough to to talk to on the phone.
Given the timing, it was probably Manager Chanyoung. He still handled most urgent matters and ergency notices.
Without realizing it, I had rudely guessed who was on the other end of soone else’s phone call. I was about to reflect and focus on my laptop again when Jeong Seongbin answered.
“The mbers? They’re all at the dorm.”
Verbally, they told us not to wander around at night, but UA rarely cracked down hard on Spark. Not only were the Spark mbers not the type to go around causing trouble, but after their debut, their schedule beca so tight that once you put them in the dorm, you didn’t even need to monitor them; they would just go into their rooms on their own.
And to suddenly do a surprise room check on Spark like that?
I had a bad feeling. Sothing was wrong.
“…What?”
Jeong Seongbin’s voice grew louder. His face was filled with bewildernt.
“Yes, yes. I’ll tell the mbers right away. Yes, I understand.”
I could feel it. The energy of the schedule being ssed up.
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