Debut or Die-Chapter 240
Big Sejin looked a little taken aback, then immediately changed his expression and gave me a sly smile.
“Oh, you looking for something?”
“No. I just switched rooms with you, Bae Sejin.”
“...The room?”
“Yeah, just for today.”
I sat down on the edge of his bed, where Bae Sejin normally slept.
“Let’s talk for a bit.”
“.......”
A brief tension flickered across Big Sejin’s face, but his words came out smoothly.
“...So, what do you want to talk about?”
I wanted to say, “What’s with your attitude these days, asshole,” but I held back.
‘If you’re not trying to pick a fight, don’t talk like that.’
Instead, I laced my fingers and calmly began with what needed saying.
“First... thank you.”
“......!”
“I heard you had a rough time holding down the fort while I was unconscious—dealing with the company and the hospital and everything.”
I continued evenly.
“I feel like I never properly thanked you... so even now, it feels right to say it. Thanks for caring.”
“.......”
He looked as if he’d taken a punch.
“And thanks for worrying about me... are you crying?”
“Huh? Ah, no... uh.”
Big Sejin’s eyes were red as he blustered.
“I’m just moved, okay~!”
...Moved, maybe—more like relieved.
‘Not quite the reaction I expected.’
He must’ve been going through his own turmoil these past few days. His embarrassment gave way to a looser, more genuine laugh.
“Ah, this is kinda awkward.”
Good—his tension eased. I crossed my arms.
“No need to be awkward. Anyway....”
Now it was my turn to ask.
“Hey, have you been pissed at me or something?”
“...What?”
“Feels like it’s been ages since I said anything and you just nodded ‘You’re right~’ without giving your own opinion.”
“.......”
I tapped the bedframe with my finger. Seeing his tension spike again made me uneasy, but better to clear it ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) now than let it fester.
“Let’s get it out now. If you felt it was unfair that I got a one-sided apology and that was the end of the matter when I brought up the concert....”
“Why would I think it was unfair?”
“......!”
“...No, I—I guess I was... kind of thoughtless then. I was just trying to be careful with my words~”
But that didn’t feel genuine.
I said exactly what I thought.
“I don’t think that’s it.”
“......!”
“You probably just wanted to smooth things over, but if you keep not voicing your own opinion, that’ll backfire.”
I sighed and kept going.
“So, I apologize for planning a solo concert without consulting everyone, since the team is in a rough spot....”
“I already said that’s not it.”
Big Sejin ground his teeth. Then he couldn’t hold it in and spoke seriously.
“Mundae, do you think I’m some kind of sociopath?”
“......!”
“Do you think I was pissed off because you planned a solo concert? That it’d cause problems for the team?”
“.......”
He wasn’t angry at me?
Big Sejin took a few deep breaths as if to calm himself, then collected his thoughts.
“Have you never considered that I was just worried you’d overdo it after waking up from a coma?”
“...I did think that might be part of it.”
“You thought that, but you assumed I was annoyed thinking it’d hurt the team more. Isn’t that it?”
“.......”
I don’t recall him ever speaking so directly before.
Now he was on a roll, almost confessing.
“You always do this whenever someone gets hurt or there’s controversy. Yes, I care a lot about this career. Of course I want to do well. But I also... worry about my friends.”
“.......”
“Aren’t we friends? Honestly, I didn’t care about performing—I just wanted you to wake up.”
“......!”
“And then you finally did, and you threw out another crazy idea... right when I’d just....”
Big Sejin’s voice caught in his throat and he fell silent. Only after hearing him out did I realize why he’d acted that way.
He’d been scared.
His close friend almost died—and then I’d fought with him on top of that—so he’d been trying to tread carefully.
‘He took my slip-up far more seriously than it warranted.’
And he thought of me as such a close friend.
“.......”
It hit me anew. Big Sejin is still in his early twenties—the age when most people are goofing off in college.
He’d grown so used to having backups that unconsciously he judged himself more strictly than the others, like a peer coworker.
‘I was wrong to reduce him to nothing but career and benefit analysis.’
He’d been through an awful lot for me. I hesitated, then nodded.
And spoke sincerely.
“Alright. You were trying to look out for me, and I misread it as annoyance. I’m sorry.”
“...It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. And...and you are my friend. I never doubted that.”
“......!”
I thought of the status window and all the unresolved mysteries.
“I’ve just been so strapped for time, desperate for results right now.”
“.......”
“I’m sorry. This isn’t about the solo concert—it’s that I’m sorry I made you feel hurt.”
Big Sejin nodded silently, but I could see tears dripping onto his blanket.
Still, the air felt clearer.
“......Whew.”
I flopped onto Bae Sejin’s bed. The real owner would freak out seeing me there.
And I thought,
‘This is like something out of a manga....’
Not an adventure story, yet here I was proving my friendship in tears. Life really is unpredictable.
It was embarrassing—but not pointless.
“.......”
A moment of awkwardness passed, but in the more relaxed air, we lapsed into silence.
After a bit, Big Sejin seemed fully composed and cheerfully broke the quiet.
“Ah~ This is really awkward now.”
“I’m more embarrassed to be crashing your room like this.”
“Hey, enough. I was the one who cried!”
Big Sejin smiled softly—enough charm to grow horns on his butt.
“But Mundae, Mundae.”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you so wound up all the time?”
“.......”
“I’m no one to talk, but we’ve passed the point where we need to panic about results. Isn’t it okay to take it slower? ...We’ll still be a group five years from now.”
“...I hope so.”
I could admit that now. But I also thought about reality.
“But no one knows what will happen. Even if I want to do this five years from now, I might not be able to. There are too many variables.”
“.......”
“So, to make sure we can still be together in five years, I’m doing everything I can right now.”
...Leaving aside some unrealistic details, it was a clean truth.
I heard Big Sejin sigh and chuckle under his breath.
...A chuckle?
“Mundae, are you secretly with the National Intelligence Service or something?”
“......??”
“I mean, that sounds like something an agent would say~”
Why dredge up that long-dead bait?
I stared incredulously, and Big Sejin giggled.
“You said you have amnesia, but you sometimes recount old stories so precisely.”
“......!”
“And weirdly, the dates don’t match?”
“...!!”
Come to think of it, nobody had asked about “Park Mundae”’s past in the last two and a half years. I’d forgotten.
So this... must be because I sometimes slipped into talking as “Ryu Geonwoo” by mistake.
A cold sweat broke out.
‘Damn.’
But Big Sejin didn’t press further. Instead he flopped onto his own bed.
“Well, everyone’s got secrets.”
“.......”
“Still... if you ever want to talk, I’m all ears. A friend like me who keeps things confidential is rare~”
I stared at him across the room. He didn’t even know about status windows or resets—he’d probably only suspect I was lying about my age.
‘Still....’
Still, somehow I felt more at ease.
I let out a small laugh.
“Yeah.”
“......!”
“I’ll tell you when I can.”
Once all status effects are cleared, maybe one day we’ll spend two nights and three days drinking and finally hash it out.
...And maybe it’ll work.
I added jokingly,
“...Until then, cut me some slack. Appreciate your cooperation.”
“.......”
Big Sejin fell silent, as if digesting something complex, then slowly replied.
“Cooperation with the National Intelligence Service?”
“Hey.”
“Ha ha! Okay~”
He was laughing mischievously, but I could tell he wanted to smooth things over.
“Oh, Mundae, it’s already midnight~ If we want to practice tomorrow, we should sleep early!”
“Alright.”
I tousled my hair and got up to turn off the light.
“Oh~ Leading by example and turning off the light? Roommate of the day is awesome~”
“Let’s just sleep.”
“Right.”
In the room of my namesake roommate, the light went out. We went to sleep in comfortable silence, and I knew that from tomorrow onward, things with him would feel natural again.
The only side effect was that Bae Sejin returned to the living room looking rather lonely.
...Maybe I should switch roommates again sometimes.
“Costumes are ready~”
“Whoa.”
“D—do you think these are okay...?”
“Given our past experiences, I’m sure the fans will love them!”
“Right~”
In any case, concert preparations proceeded smoothly, and soon the broadcast day arrived.
On the day of the talk concert “Follow Your Heart,” hosted by Park Mundae with TeSTAR as guests, the grad student didn’t go to the lab for the first time in a while but sat at her home desktop.
‘There’s the instant-expert, but no instant-master,’ she’d quipped to herself as she fretted over her career choices—this was a rare dopamine boost.
“Ah... this is so great.”
It felt like the first time in ages she could relax and see Mundae again. After that hellish eighteen days, seeing him recovered left her emotions so full she could barely function—now, she felt okay.
She was excited.
‘Since it’s a talk concert, it won’t be too strenuous!’
Above all, she loved the buzz of everyone’s eager anticipation!
‘I bet Mundae’s excited too.’
She giggled as she exchanged a few fluttery messages with her home-admin friend, then logged into the concert platform.
‘Gotta sign up to post real-time comments!’
Though the platform was a bit niche to her, its user-friendly interface and good causes overcame any hesitation. Even if she’d been reluctant, she wanted to leave a comment for this concert.
‘I might not see it live, but I want to cheer him on...!’
She was so grateful Mundae recovered and was back in good health.
‘I’m officially a fangirl now!’
She set her hands on the keyboard and waited for the concert to begin.
Moments later, a black screen flashed rainbow lines and a countdown started.
3 3 3 3
Love you TeSTARㅠㅠ
Lol so many people
Charity concert love it~
3!
Ahhh watching Cheong-woo
Comments flew by, then the screen lit up to lively classical accompaniment.
Seven chairs on stage—just like the poster.
TeSTAR weren’t there yet.
Ooh
Where’s TeSTAR
Pre-show?
‘Now they’re appearing? Mundae goes first, right? He’s the host?!!’
As the grad student slapped her knee in excitement, the voice came over the audio.
[“Welcome, everyone, to our audience-participation talk concert.”]
“......!”
It was Park Mundae.
It’s Mundae
Only his voice?
Where will he appear
“Huh, he’s definitely coming out first!”
Just then, as she hurriedly typed “Mundae is the best!” in the comments,
[“Before we begin, we need your choices for a smooth program.”]
Words appeared on the venue’s back-screen.
[“TeSTAR are”]
Awesome
Cute
“...??”
Her eyes went wide as she stared at the screen.
Comments filled with question marks and laughter.
But Mundae’s calm voice followed.
[“Combine the # key on your keyboard with your number choice and post it in the comments. We’ll count your selections on screen.”]
[“Please choose ‘Follow Your Heart.’”]
Hearing that, a few people quickly tested the combo.
#1
#2
The moment they appeared in the chat, the on-screen tally updated.
[“TeSTAR are”]
Awesome (25)
Cute (31)
A clear reflection.
Whoa!
They’re using this in a concert lol
And so began the 21st-century remote talk concert.
