Debut or Die-Chapter 336
The film company summoned TeSTAR to the United States just ten days after the group accepted the offer.
It looked like filming was already well underway.
We must have slipped into an already-progressed schedule.
But they even offered a cameo?
I’d thought it was a gesture of reconciliation and ambition, but I needed to leave room for other possibilities.
It could be to make us look bad.
I thought about warning them to brace themselves, but there was no real need.
“A single passing scene can still mean waiting around for hours. They wouldn’t clear your whole day for nothing.”
“Ohh.”
“Hollywood systems might be different, but we’ll definitely be lower priority, so keep that in mind....”
Bae Sejin started listing on-site problems like a bombardment.
The whole “we’ll refresh mid-tour with a movie cameo~” vibe was gone thanks to him. Everyone straightened into the posture of rookies going to a new job meeting.
Bae Sejin tried to smooth things over even now.
“...But it could be good! Acting on film is definitely appealing!”
The effect was minimal.
“That might be true.”
“Whether we can execute it well is another matter, though.”
“...I used to be an idol too! You can do it!”
“You can’t generalize from one person’s case....”
“Right~ Let’s do our best!”
“...??”
Kim Rae-bin was shut down and Big Sejin smoothed the mood.
Good block.
Bae Sejin still looked like he wanted to keep persuading, but we left it there.
I skimmed the OST materials they’d sent while killing time on the plane.
Of course it was in English.
I’d expected they wouldn’t translate it for us—time was tight.
The agency had given a summary translation, but the quality wasn’t great. Once the label independence is over, we need to hire a full-time professional translator.
The relief was that Cha Yoo-jin and Seon Ah-hyun had briefed everyone, so we all had a good grasp of the film.
In summary:
[A delivery guy’s story who, after Earth has been half-destroyed, stumbles into space through a spontaneously formed warp gate and embarks on a dangerous, thrilling adventure!]
They only borrowed the SF format; the actual style felt like a mix of western and superhero film.
And the ruined Earth story uses the same game-series universe as Ruins Factory.
I cross-checked terms I’d seen while monitoring 127 Section and names that appeared in the new game.
It was a bit confusing in English.
“If you need any term explanations, I can tell you....”
“Thanks.”
“Mm!”
I listened to Seon Ah-hyun in the seat next to me and pieced things together.
I double-checked what role we’d play as cameos.
Hmm... they wanted an homage to the starting characters from the game we’d collabed on before.
We’d appear briefly in a combat scene.
There wasn’t much to prepare. There was only one line of dialogue.
Because the film company had bought the world-rights, there were no copyright issues—exactly as I’d expected. The scenario matched my expectations, so I could map out likely effects and side effects in my head.
...Hmph.
I predicted one thing.
We could easily end up a laughingstock.
It felt like an overly one-dimensional interpretation and intervention. Makeup was another worry.
There were no Northeast Asian major characters among the main cast.
Even if all seven of us appeared at once, making a good impact would be hard, and avoiding awkwardness would be difficult.
“Hmm.”
“M-Mundae?”
“Ah, I want to look at the script booklet.”
I set aside the documents about our appearance and pulled out the scenario summary again.
My mind was spinning.
We were twelve hours from arrival in America.
We finally arrived in the U.S.
We entered quietly and moved privately. Luckily, T1 hadn’t started press releases crowing yet.
The first place we went after that was... straight to the film set.
Interesting.
“Uh... aren’t we doing the OST meeting first?”
“They said they can’t change the shooting schedule. Everything’s split by the hour.”
Despite the scale, the site was running smoothly and quietly by people who knew their roles.
“.......”
“...I thought it’d be chaotic.”
Even Bae Sejin looked a little taken aback. The site guide who’d attached to us smiled and said in Korean,
“This kind of specialized division of labor is Hollywood’s advantage.”
“Ah, right.”
After a few words of explanation and greeting the assistant director, we were left waiting by the trailer.
“.......”
“Hmm.”
Everyone exchanged a wry smile as if they’d noticed the mood.
“They’re leaving us idle.”
“Right.”
They did hand out blankets and snacks well, but they hadn’t even started our makeup.
Only our managers and staff seemed to be running around.
‘It’s going as expected.’
It looked like things hadn’t been properly checked. Since our rise to the first tier we hadn’t received such a throwaway treatment in Korea. This was amusing.
“The managers must be working hard~”
“Communication must be off. Should I go check?”
I was sketching my own plan when Cha Yoo-jin jabbed my side.
“...?”
What now.
He mumbled sullenly.
“This isn’t normal!”
“So?”
“This is mean.”
Cha Yoo-jin continued, mouth moving but barely audible.
‘Act like you didn’t hear.’
“...!”
[It’s a fairly classic move.]
Oh... I see.
They were pretending to ignore our staff as if by accident.
This crossed the line.
I folded my arms.
“Evidence?”
[In Hollywood, actors are basically the top. Look at how they’re treating us. They’re treating us like extras or props, not actors.]
“.......”
Makes sense.
They’d been careful with the time schedule earlier, and since our contract had no special clauses and time was generous, they figured they could mistreat us.
“Yujin, what’s up?”
“Uh.”
Cha Yoo-jin shrugged and looked at me. Like he wanted me to translate.
I cut to the point.
“I think they intentionally delayed us to the last minute to make us shoot at the end.”
“...Ah.”
Everyone sighed as if they’d guessed the vibe.
Ryu Cheong-woo gave a wry smile.
“Just like Bae Sejin said.”
“No, I was just comparing to shoots we did in Korea. This place seems different.”
Bae Sejin spoke with a stern expression.
“If it’s deliberate... it’s harassment.”
Kim Rae-bin was stunned.
“...Is this the racial discrimination thing?”
Right. That.
“There was urgency, and we’re foreigners, and recognition plays a part.”
When something pops into a fully scheduled run, how they treat it depends on real power.
In their perception we looked powerless.
“.......”
I checked the others. No one was furious.
We’d all experienced rough treatment before we hit a million sales.
“We’ve been through hell since before debut,” they were calm. I shrugged.
“Anyway, we have a meeting tonight. Let’s have that first and talk later.”
I asked the one who had spoken up.
“What do you think?”
[If we back out here, they’ll claim we refused due to schedule and call it a breach of contract.]
“Oh, right.”
“Yeah!”
Seon Ah-hyun accepted immediately. If the two who’d had foreign exposure reached the same conclusion, it made sense.
“Hmm.”
“This is awkward.”
Despite being pissed off, these guys love work and showed allergy to being punked.
“Mundae, what do you think?”
As for me.
I crossed my arms.
“I... wouldn’t mind breaching the contract.”
“...!”
“What, it’s not like I’m dying to do the cameo.”
I looked at the hard-faced Bae Sejin.
“You’d be really disappointed if the Hollywood move fell through...”
“Hey!”
Bae Sejin snapped. The mood lightened for a second, but he calmed himself.
“I don’t want to shoot in a situation like this. It’s not my name alone; it’s the group name attached.”
“Hyung....”
Those who’d seen the last few days of his advice and fake excitement reacted automatically.
“Right. It is too small a role for Sejin.”
“It’s not like that!”
I snorted.
“Just kidding. I don’t think it’ll go as far as a contract breach.”
“...?”
“Why, why?”
“They usually won’t give up an OST that easily.”
“They’ll probably come out friendly at the meeting to avoid breaking ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ things.”
“...!”
If they listen to the finished track and decide to drop us, they’d be idiots.
Even if on-site staff treat us like extras, the OST people won’t screw around now.
They’ve already been forced to take things seriously once.
“Kim Rae-bin made it that good.”
Whether or not I did political maneuvering with the brief, the finished product was genuinely excellent and that’s why it passed.
“Oh....”
“Rae-bin really is a genius.”
“That’s too much praise. I’ll keep working hard.”
Right. Breathe and keep moving. The mood was settled. The conclusion was basically reached.
Big Sejin shrugged.
“Shall we go then?”
Members glanced around and Seon Ah-hyun nodded.
“Let’s go.”
“OK~”
At that moment Cha Yoo-jin leapt from the trailer as if he’d been waiting.
“...!?”
Those who turned to look were ignored.
“Find the manager first.”
“Yep.”
We left with the plan to discuss things after the meeting and actually took care of the company staff as we exited the set.
The staff made a show of stopping us and then followed.
‘They must have worked hard.’
“If it comes to it, we’ll say our mental distress caused tour schedule problems and claim damages.”
“Good.”
Everyone’s fighting spirit rose.
Even Bae Sejin puffed as we entered the hotel.
“We don’t have to put up with that rudeness, right?”
“Right.”
And actually, from the moment they first guided us on set, our plan had been to drag out the meeting to delay filming.
They were helping, without us having to execute anything.
I shrugged.
“Thanks, territorial attitudes.”
So we skipped the first day’s cameo shoot.
It was the first schedule punk in TeSTAR’s group history.
That night’s meeting.
Surprisingly, the film’s executive producer came.
Uncommon.
The top practically came out for OST work.
“Shouldn’t the director be here...?”
“They say directors don’t have that much authority here. You saw the division of labor.”
“I see.”
Luckily the interpreter didn’t translate our mutterings.
After the usual brief hellos and brief intro with a T1 staffer, the interpreter carefully relayed the producer’s words.
“She wants to know if there was any problem on set, why you didn’t shoot.”
Ah—so that’s why the producer was here.
It looked like T1 had filed a report after we left the set and the higher-ups had gotten involved.
I nodded.
“We were left waiting indefinitely with no explanation. The trailer was cold and we couldn’t risk hurting our throats and jeopardizing the tour.”
Using English would limit my vocabulary and sound like I was trying to match them. I didn’t plan to. The interpreter translated my words and the producer nodded as if she understood.
Then she said this.
“Hmm... she regrets how things happened, but rescheduling the shooting is almost impossible. She’d hoped you would have respected their time a bit more.”
“...!”
Oh, come on.
Bae Sejin bristled.
“No, it wasn’t like that....”
“Hyung, hyung, wait.”
Right. They probably thought we were venting over the prank with the keywords and mistakenly took it out on the cameo shoot.
Just then, a torrent of polite English came out.
[It’s absolutely not normal to make people wait indefinitely without instructions. Our staff’s messages weren’t properly relayed to the assistant director either. Respect is mutual, isn’t it?]
“...!”
Seon Ah-hyun poured out a long statement in English.
His face was pale but his gaze was firm.
No one had agreed to that situation.
Big Sejin was impressed.
‘Ah-hyun must really be pissed.’
‘Indeed.’
I kept my mouth shut. The producer looked a little taken aback but not angry; Seon Ah-hyun’s words seemed to steer her toward a proper reading of the situation.
A moment later the interpreter spoke again.
“There seems to have been a mutual misunderstanding. They will respect your time more on set.”
“...Yes.”
Seon Ah-hyun fell silent. He didn’t look entirely satisfied, but I patted his back.
Well done.
That was enough to set the tone. Seon Ah-hyun gave a faint smile.
I spoke up again.
“Then, shall we reschedule the cameo for another day and another scene?”
“...!”
I’d strip them clean while making it look like we were conceding.
