Debut or Die-Chapter 215
Bae Sejin said calmly,
“Next is... your turn.”
“Yes, yes!”
Seon Ah-hyun swallowed hard, her face tense, then cried out carefully,
“I—I’ll choose Sejin...!”
“What? Ah-hyun, are you just randomly picking because you think I’m suspicious? You can’t let personal feelings get involved!”
“N—No!”
I’d never seen those two argue like that before. Even funnier, the others around them watched the confrontation with sweaty palms.
‘How did it come to this?’
I glanced at the card still in my hand, lost in thought. When we first moved in, the atmosphere had been so peaceful.
“Wow, it’s huge! I love it!”
“We still have three bathrooms, right?”
“They remodeled the back section and added plumbing for a small fourth bathroom. So it’s four total.”
“Oh.”
Since the cleaning crew handles maintenance anyway, an extra bathroom was very welcome... though the location of the dorm still bothered me.
‘We ended up in S Village...’
The same neighborhood where VTIC’s dorm was. We had no choice once E Palace got leaked—security concerns narrowed our options until we landed here. With the complex being quite large, we wouldn’t accidentally bump into anyone.
‘Let’s check the bedrooms.’
Shaking off the minor unease, I toured the dorm.
“Wow! So many rooms! I get my own??”
“There are four bedrooms. Only one person can have a private room!”
“...!”
Maybe they overheard us, because Bae Sejin suddenly gasped and murmured dramatically,
“...Alone?”
“Yes! Alternatively, three people could share a large room and the fourth enjoys the private room....”
No.
‘That image won’t look good.’
We could’ve reserved two dorm units to give everyone private rooms, but keeping us all in one building prevented rumors. It was only our second anniversary; if someone already had a private room, people might whisper that relationships were strained.
‘We need at least a year more.’
So why tack on another private room by creating a triple? That would fuel gossip about who “earned” the private space.
I jumped in.
“There’s no need to live cramped. Like you said, three double rooms and one single is better.”
“Yes!”
Kim Rae-bin looked pleased and nodded, but my mouth tasted bitter.
‘I wanted it for myself.’
I’d stepped on my own chance to double the odds, and I regretted it.
“Ooh, this room’s awesome!”
“The bed’s a lot bigger.”
With the larger dorm, the rooms felt more spacious—life would be more comfortable.
“Oh, right.”
Then Cheong-woo smirked and joked,
“How about we give the biggest room to whoever uses it alone?”
“...!”
Surprisingly, the majority threw their weight behind the idea.
“Oh! I like that~”
“Hm, the fans will feel that’s fair when they watch roommate content!”
“Ha! Really?”
Even Cheong-woo seemed surprised, but clearly everyone had pictured themselves in the private room. No wonder the room-selection game had gotten so heated.
“From a rational standpoint, Yoo-jin’s statements in the last two turns were contradictory, so the liar is Yoo-jin!”
“No, think again!”
“That’s right!”
“Okay then, Rae-bin, you think Yoo-jin is lying?”
“That is correct! I request to verify Yoo-jin’s card for the bribe allegation from last turn!”
“No way!”
Yoo-jin protested like he’d been forced to drink poison.
‘The problem is, everyone’s acting like that.’
They’d kept it up the entire turn. I gave up and rested my chin on my hand.
This was basically a simple board game mixing Mafia and a card game. Each secret profession card determined possible actions, and whoever amassed the most money won.
But with one twist: you could bluff about actions you couldn’t perform due to your profession. Lies ran rampant.
‘I thought it’d be funny.’
But in the first round, Big Sejin had won with a perfect bluff.
“Se...Sejin, aren’t you a member of the National Assembly...?”
“Uh...a florist?”
“That’s right~ Oh, ‘who’d fall for that?’—isn’t that what you say then? Ha ha ha!”
“Gah!!”
His quoting from his own MV had been impressive, so the meta became “everyone lies.” By round three, it was total chaos.
“Okay, Yoo-jin, ‘verify’—show your card.”
When you were “verified,” you couldn’t earn money for a while, regardless of truth. So every target desperately defended themselves...
But, like I said: chaos.
“Hmm...Yoo-jin is ‘police’! He took a bribe last turn, so Yoo-jin is out!”
“Ugh...”
“See!”
Now every verification nailed someone.
‘This is doomed.’
We’d been filming for over two hours, and I could already imagine the edit cutting it down to thirty minutes. Fans would demand the full cut, but if they saw it, the mood would turn somber—no one wants that.
‘The winner needs to be someone who hasn’t lied, to break this spiral.’
I had to intervene.
‘Next round...we should target Ah-hyun.’
She was the worst liar. In round four, we gently boosted Seon Ah-hyun’s position.
“I—I’ll buy this...!”
“Hm, the store takeover pays more, I think.”
“Re—really? Then...that.”
Ah-hyun steadily grew her money and, surprisingly, held her ground against Big Sejin in the argument—successfully “verifying” him at the right moment.
“P-please, I thought it through... Sejin, please verify his building-construction claim from last turn!”
“Got it, Ah-hyun.”
Cheong-woo, the acting moderator who didn’t mind a challenge, flipped Big Sejin’s card. I crossed my arms.
‘One down.’
I expected elimination, but Cheong-woo surprised me:
“...Sejin...wasn’t lying!”
“...!!”
“R-really?”
“Yes. His job could build ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) buildings.”
He’d played a double bluff.
“Come on, if he lied again I’d react differently. I have a conscience, you know!”
Lies flew again. Because Ah-hyun’s verification failed, she sat out three turns as penalty.
“Ah-hyun can’t act this turn.”
“Yes, yes...”
“Sejin also can’t earn money this turn.”
“Understood~”
Suddenly there was a surprising winner.
“The first place this round is... Mundae!”
“That’s me, thanks.”
By then the totals differed—Big Sejin had been marked heavily in prior rounds. I cursed under my breath.
‘Damn.’
I should’ve swept the money. Anyway, the final winner:
“The overall first place, who may choose any room, is Isejin!”
“Hahaha!”
Of course, that brat won. It would be fun for viewers, but my stomach churned.
‘I want to push him.’
I smiled and spoke.
“Congratulations.”
“Oh~ Mundae-Mundae, thanks!”
“A private room would be comfortable.”
“...??”
“This was about choosing who gets the single room.”
“That’s right, I envy you!”
“Enjoy your spacious solo life.”
Framing it as a done deal, Big Sejin’s expression twitched then smoothed out.
“Ha ha! Well, not exactly—”
He tried to dodge. He’d played well in the game, but didn’t want the private room—solo content appearances would drop.
‘He’ll naturally pass it along.’
Only one candidate remained.
“Ai, I’d like it too... but I think we should give the private room to Cheong-woo hyung! Our leader has supported this team since debut!”
“Uh, me?”
“That’s right, hyung~ Traditionally, elders and leaders get it!”
“Ooooh!”
“Great choice!”
Thus Cheong-woo snagged the private room, no effort on his part.
‘I envy him.’
I clicked my tongue, and a small voice piped up.
“...I’m the oldest...”
Bae Sejin quickly shut his mouth when our eyes met. Actually, he had the earliest birthday—image matters.
‘I’m technically the oldest, though.’
Watching the private-room opportunity fly away, I wryly licked my lips. A double room wouldn’t be so bad—my roommate was quiet.
“So it’s Mundae and Ah-hyun sharing.”
“Looking forward to it...!”
“Yeah, long time no room-share.”
Ah-hyun and I would room together. As soon as slots filled, her face lit up.
‘Maybe she pushed for the double room to avoid Yoo-jin, too.’
It was plausible, but not important. As for Big Sejin, he’d suffered the karma of his own gameplay—caught up in the penalty.
“Okay...so the two Sejins will share!”
Because Yoo-jin and Rae-bin, both eliminated, ended up picking the same double. Having ceded choices to Cheong-woo, Big Sejin automatically joined Bae Sejin’s room.
“Hyung, let’s get along!”
“Uh, yeah.”
They exchanged greetings a beat late—at least it wasn’t live.
‘They won’t fight.’
Once they’d clashed, they now only interacted when necessary. And the shared room was as big as our last living room—they wouldn’t bump into each other.
‘If tensions show, we can switch them.’
Officially, we’d say our sleep schedules differ wildly, for laughs.
“All right, let’s unpack and reconvene with the next roommate update!”
“Love you—see you soon~”
With that, the roommate-game segment wrapped. I shrugged and entered my assigned room to unpack.
‘This really is higher quality.’
The remodeling shone through.
“M-Mundae...let’s have fun and get along...!”
“Of course.”
I already looked forward to peaceful, noise-free sleep.
– Let’s hang out, a lot!
– Your thought’s enough.
That exchange felt ominous, but at least I’d escaped Yoo-jin as a roommate.
‘He talks too much.’
I sighed and stretched on the bed. Only the sound of Ah-hyun organizing her French embroidery and scrub brushes reached my ears.
‘Peaceful.’
This must be the perk of moving in.
...But that feeling wouldn’t last a day.
The very next morning, I had to catch another flight to L.A.
All because of one more variety shoot—this time with truly garbage content: a one-off special stage mixing in the mentors.
The problem? Cheong-woo was on my team.
‘Damn.’
It all started with that bastard’s cameo in K-NOW Episode 2.
